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SAN BERNARDINO, CA— This week, the San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools (SBCSS) hosted its annual SBCSS Open House! It was a fantastic day bringing together amazing its community partners and dedicated staff for a celebration of collaboration, creativity, and connection. Grateful for the positive energy and shared enthusiasm that makes our community shine!

Firefighting Equipment manufacturer Phenix Technology, Inc. announces the graduation ceremony for the first Phenix Opportunity for All Neurodiverse Work Study Cohort.

RIVERSIDE, CA. — Phenix Technology, Inc. (Phenix), a 51-year-old Riverside-based firefighting equipment manufacturer completes its first Opportunity for All Training Cohort in support of individuals with intellectual and physical disabilities. The 10-week cohort provided opportunities for four incredible individuals from the neurodiverse community, accompanied by their dedicated job coaches, in an immersive work study opportunity. Candidates spent 10 weeks learning about the rich history of Phenix, insights into the products they create, and took a deep dive into their renowned lean manufacturing program.

Over the course of the 10 weeks, they completed comprehensive learning experiences, which included: On-the-job training, personal development activities, soft skills workshops, and tailored training. Participants also had the opportunity to participate in a job fair hosted by Phenix and the County of Riverside Workforce Development, undergo mock interviews, and will now celebrate their achievements at a graduation ceremony. Best of all, one of the candidates will begin a new role with American Medical Response of Riverside on December 4, 2023, with the other three candidates actively engaged in job search activities.

“Ten weeks ago, we welcomed four new family members into Phenix. In a short period of time, we watched them grow and develop into true professionals with the skills and characteristics every employer is looking for. I couldn’t be prouder of what they have accomplished.” said Phenix OFA Program Administrator Bailey Comstock.

In June of 2023, The California Department of Rehabilitation (DOR) named Phenix Technology, Inc. as an EmployABILITY Business Grant recipient. The EmployABILITY Business Grant provides $20,000-$200,000 in funding to California-based small- and medium-sized businesses, like Phenix, to expand their operations for hiring individuals with disabilities. The grant funding assisted Phenix with strategically growing the Opportunity for All program they started in 2021.

The Opportunity for All program was started by Phenix in November of 2021 and has provided work experience opportunities for fourteen people, five of whom have accepted permanent positions with the company. The program has five components including: Targeted hiring of neurodiverse candidates, structured work study, development of a scientific academic training program for employers, identification, and support of employers in expanding their DSEI efforts, and building of awareness with local, state, and federal legislators and agencies about the impact of expanding neurodiverse workforce development.

For more information on the Phenix Technology, Inc. Opportunity for All program visit https://phenixfirehelmets.com/pages/ofa.

By Lila Brown | California Black Media

A growing number of Black Americans, relying on newly digitized federal records and other sources, are discovering direct bloodlines to Native American ancestors. These discoveries are inspiring individuals to trace and claim their Native American ancestry, leading some to apply for citizenship with tribal Nations.

When Daniel Bruce Kelly, 32, an actor and minister, began researching his genealogy, he was sure that he would identify a place in Africa where his family came from.

The Huntington Beach man who identifies as African American, says he was determined to prove his parents wrong. His mom and dad had begun discovering, exploring, and embracing their European and Indigenous American ancestry.

In his research, Kelly discovered that his great-great-great-grandfather was registered as Cherokee on the Dawes Roll, a U.S. Government record listing individuals eligible for indigenous tribal membership.

Kelly also identified other family members listed as Indian on U.S. Census Bureau records.

“At first, I was offended that my parents didn’t want to claim to be African, but then I had this awakening. You can’t talk about Native American history without talking about the Black American Indians,” Kelly said.

Similarly, Cameron Lewis, 48, a truck driver from Sacramento, says he always heard family members talk about having “Indian in the family.”

Delving into family documents, he found out that his great-great grandfather acquired land in the mid-1800s in areas of Florida inhabited by Seminole Indians.

“I found it hard to believe that Whites would sell hundreds of acres of land to Blacks in the South during slavery. The more I started digging, I found out this particular ancestor also had brothers each owning hundreds of acres of land. This is when I started coming across terms, I was not familiar with describing my ancestors as ‘mulatto’ and ‘intransigent,’ and linking them to tribes such as the Yamasee, Catawba and Creek — terms I’ve never even heard of,” he said.

The Dawes Act of 1887 gave each tribal family head 160 acres of land and each single person 80 acres. The government would hold the land title in a trust for 25 years, after which each individual would receive United States citizenship and a “fee simple” land title. Under this law, Black tribal members, known as Freedmen, were granted approximately 2 million acres of land.

In Oklahoma’s Creek Nation, about a third of the land was Black owned.

While the Emancipation Proclamation was signed by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863, slavery in the continental United States did not fully end as a legal institution until June 14, 1866, when the Creek Tribe agreed to abandon enslavement of African Americans. That was the day after Congress approved the Fourteenth Amendment.

Recent efforts to recognize historical injustices against Native Americans have seen progress, such as last month, during Native American Heritage Month, Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a Proclamation celebrating the unveiling of a monument dedicated to California Native peoples at the State Capitol.

While this progress is appreciated, many Black Native Americans feel that the history of their Black Freedman ancestors remains largely overlooked.

“We have to tell the whole of the story,” said Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr in 2022 during the 70th annual Cherokee National Holiday.

The Cherokee Nation has committed to including the descendants of Cherokee Freedmen.

“We have to acknowledge that we enslaved African Americans under our own law. If we ignore or suppress that, we do to Freedmen and their descendants the same things that has been done to Cherokee people. Any nation is a stronger nation if they tell their whole story: the tragedy, the triumph, and the chapters that are dark and difficult,” added Hoskin.

According to the 2020 U.S. Census, approximately 1.4 million Californians identify as full or partially American Indian and Alaskan Native. California also has the largest American Indian population in the country, with close to 900,000 American Indian residents.

A population map commissioned by the Cherokee Nation in 2013 shows that California has the second-largest Cherokee population in the country, after Oklahoma, where many displaced American Indians settled after the Trail of Tears.

In 2021, the Cherokee Nation Supreme Court removed the phrase “by blood” from its constitution. That change acknowledges that the descendants of Black people once enslaved by the tribe, the “Cherokee Freedmen,” have the right to citizenship, which means they are eligible to run for tribal office and to access other resources. In 2022, The University of California (UC) began waiving tuition and fees for Californians who are members of federally recognized Native American tribes.

However, debates about who is — and who is not — American Indian continues with some darker skinned indigenous people facing challenges in claiming their Native American ancestry.

Not all Native Americans had lighter skin as often shown in Hollywood movies. There are even historical renderings of phenotypically Black Indians drawn by professional artists in the early 1800s.

For people without a record of acceptance into what are considered “the Five Civilized Tribes” — Cherokee, Choctaw, Creek, Seminole and Chickasaw Indians — many have been denied citizenship.

For example, the 3x great-grandmother of Kiori Jordan-Marquering, 46, of Santa Rosa who was known as “Indian Julia,” was denied acceptance into Choctaw Nation based on her appearance.

“She is visibly Negro,” the space reserved for “office use” on her application form noted.

“My ancestor’s application for citizenship was contested in court for more than three years before ultimately being denied,” says Jordan-Marquering.

The Choctaw Nation has consistently refused to recognize Freedmen as citizens.

Only the Cherokee Nation and the Seminole Tribe of Florida recognize Freedmen as eligible for citizenship.

This resource is supported in whole or in part by funding provided by the State of California, administered by the California State Library in partnership with the California Department of Social Services and the California Commission on Asian and Pacific Islander American Affairs as part of the Stop the Hate program. To report a hate incident or hate crime and get support, go to CA vs Hate

By Tanu Henry and Joe W. Bowers Jr. | California Black Media

In an intense, 95-minute-plus televised faceoff between California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, the men traded jabs and putdowns, defended their respective gubernatorial records, disagreed sharply on how to solve the country’s most pressing problems, and expressed clashing views on the performance of the Biden-Harris administration.

Conservative Fox News personality Sean Hannity moderated the duel, during which the TV pundit, more than once, injected his opinion, and appeared to be providing subtle assists to DeSantis.

As the debate progressed, it was clear that opinions about each topic discussed was representative of the philosophical and political chasm that divides liberal and conservative America, and a preview of campaign mudslinging that is bound to intensify as the 2024 presidential campaign ensues.

“I’ll tell you why I’m here,” said Newsom said. “I’m here to tell the truth about the Biden-Harris record and also compare and contrast Ron DeSantis’ record and the Republican Party’s record” with that of California.”

DeSantis blasted Newsom’s management of the COVID-19 crisis and criticized Newsom for prevalent crime, homelessness and deteriorating social conditions in California cities.

“You have the freedom to defecate in public in California,” DeSantis said. “You have the freedom to pitch a tent on Sunset Boulevard. You have the freedom to create a homeless encampment under a freeway and even light it on fire. They’re not the freedoms our founding fathers envisioned.”

Newsom took a jab at DeSantis presidential candidacy, predicting that the Florida Governor would be endorsing GOP frontrunner Donald Trump soon.

“There’s one thing we have in common,” Newsom said. “Neither of us will be the nominee for our party in 2024.

By Tanu Henry and Joe W. Bowers Jr. | California Black Media

The federal government is investing more than $400 billion in projects around the United States through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which was passed by President Biden in 2021.

To assist minority-and-women-owned businesses benefit from the federal investment, Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) recently introduced two bills in Congress: The Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Supportive Services Expansion Act and the Accelerating Small Business Growth Act.

“Small businesses, particularly those that are minority-and women- owned, hold enormous potential to bolster our economy, but they have historically faced disproportionate barriers to succeed in America,” said Padilla in a statement.

“The unprecedented investment in American infrastructure from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law over the next decade provides a major opportunity to create good-paying jobs that uplift disadvantaged communities,” Padilla continued. “These bills would provide the resources to help women and minority entrepreneurs develop self- sufficiency in competing for federal contracts, helping to build prosperity in communities that have too often been left behind.”

President Biden has committed to increasing the participation of disadvantaged businesses in government contracting by 50% by 2025.

If passed, among other provisions, the bills would increase funding by $15 for a training program that helps minority-owned small business to compete for federal government contracts.

It would “would create a grant program to fund transportation agency programs to help underserved businesses grow and compete on an equal basis for contracts and subcontracts in federally funded transportation projects,” according to a press release from Padilla’s office.

SAN BERNARDINO, CA— Make Santa proud and make a child’s Christmas special by donating to Community Action Partnerships 2023 holiday toy drive. The Drive will be held from Thursday, November 29, 2023, to Friday, December 15, 2023. Unwrapped toys can be dropped off at Community Action Partnership San Bernardino County (Attn: Family Development Program) located at 696 Tippecanoe Avenue, San Bernardino, California 92408. For those that want to make a monetary donation, it can be made at CAPSBC.org/holidayvirtualtoydrive. Please make checks payable to Community Action Partnership of San Bernardino County.

CAPS most pressing gift need is gifts for 14- to 17-year-olds. This could be sports equipment, electronics, board games, art supplies, self-care essentials, etc. For more information, contact Charles Karsch at ckarsch@capsbc.org or (909) 723-1573 or Dennis Collier at dcollier@capsbc.org or (909) 723-1571.

By Tanu Henry, Lila Brown and Joe W. Bowers Jr. | California Black Media

On November 20, a group of 14 public and private sector executives in Los Angeles pledged their commitment to ensure that Black and other minority business owners receive a fairer shot at obtaining public contracting opportunities on infrastructure projects.

Called the Equity in Infrastructure Project (EIP) Pledge, the agreement is part of the EIP’s launch of its California Plan Initiative which was unveiled during a forum hosted by Engineering News-

Record, a publication widely recognized as “the bible of the construction industry.”

The Forum convened hundreds of infrastructure leaders from across California and around the nation. It also marked the second anniversary of President Biden’s signing of the historic federal infrastructure law.

The leaders announced that California Secretary of Transportation Toks Omishakin will serve as Chair of the EIP’s California Plan initiative.

In his remarks before the signing, Omishakin pointed out the need to move from symbolic acts of inclusion to more material efforts for achieving equity.

“We can’t just put a policy in place as if it’s good to go. We have to take additional steps like the ones we’re taking today to say we’re committed to making sure this $1.2 trillion that’s coming in from President Biden gets to firms that are often are overlooked as a part of the process,”Omishakin told California Black Media (CBM).

“Governor Newsom has done a similar effort that also ensures the investments that we’re making across California reaches communities that have been overlooked for years,” he added. “Every single person deserves the chance to be successful. It’s an honor for us to be a part of the Equity in Infrastructure Project.”

EIP’s says its mission is to build generational wealth and reduce the racial wealth gap by improving public infrastructure contracting practices to create more prime, joint venture and equity contracting opportunities for Historically Underutilized Businesses (HUBs), according to the group’s website.

EIP’s Pledge has now been signed by 55 heads of transit authorities, airports, ports, water districts, and engineering firms from across the country, and the White House has directly called upon Bipartisan Infrastructure Law grantees to sign the Pledge.

Los Angeles County Supervisor Holly Mitchell introduced the unanimously approved motion that committed the County to the Pledge.

“We commit to tripling the total number of certified small businesses in LA County with a special emphasis on infrastructure servicing small minority businesses,” said Mitchell.

“We are establishing a $2M revolving loan fund to support startup costs as small businesses obtain County contracts and we will create a network of Small Business Advocates with each County department and empower them to advance small business goals and inclusive procurement practices,” Mitchell added. We must ensure that our small and minority firms have the technical assistance they need to access these career-changing government contracts.”

The Pledge was also signed by leaders from the Los Angeles Metro, Port, Airport, Department of Water & Power, and other executives from cities around the region.

SAN BERNARDINO, CA—- The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department and District Attorney’s Office are teaming up this holiday season for “Operation Smash and Grab.”

“Deputy Sheriffs will be undercover in stores throughout the county with the purpose of arresting actors engaged in retail theft,” said Sheriff Shannon Dicus in a statement. “Working together with our District Attorney’s office, those actors will not only be arrested and booked into jail, but they will be prosecuted and held to answer for their crimes. We want the citizens of our county to have safe and enjoyable shopping experiences.”

D.A. Jason Anderson added, “This holiday season, our office remains focused on ensuring the safety of our community and businesses. By working together with law enforcement and businesses across the county, we will seek prosecution and accountability for individuals who choose to engage in unlawful behavior such as retail theft crimes, buying or selling stolen property, or organized crime schemes at multiple locations.”

SAN BERNARDINO, CA— Major Bravo and the Serrano High School Cadet Corps held their annual Bivouac on Saturday, November 25, 2023.

“The weekend was full of activities that taught the 20 plus students about land navigation, first aid, survival craft, and archery — all while enhancing their leadership and communication skills,” said District Director Kimberly Mesen, who was honored to accept a Certificate of Appreciation from the Cadet Corps during the event.

Additional thanks to CO Nance, who planned the entire Bivouac schedule, and to Mojave Archers for hosting!

UPLAND, CA—- Ophelia’s Jump Productions (OJP) will present the world premiere of Sealed Orders, written by Claremont playwright, Jean Collinsworth and directed by Ophelia’s Jump Founding Artistic Director, Beatrice Casagrán. The production will be performed at the Ophelia’s Jump Theater, located at 2009 Porterfield Way, Suite H, in Upland, from November 24 through December 10, 2023.

The cast includes Kelly Franett* (Measure for Measure, OJP) as Herman Melville, Jenny Buchanan* (Native Gardens, OJP) as Lizzie Melville, Sofia Levi as Bessie Melville, David Duarte Guzman as Malcolm Melville, Allison Meister as Mary Sullivan, Jeff Sable* (Native Gardens, OJP) as Richard Henry Dana, Ralph Merant as Robert Morris, Stacey Patiño as Olive Fairchild and Edgardo Flores as Matenga Te Hiko.

Herman Melville, author of the metaphysically loaded, Moby Dick, had four children. Two left home early estranged from a father whom they described as a tyrant. A daughter, Bessie, remained at home and never married. In the fall of 1867, Malcolm, Melville’s eldest son, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at age 18. The likely suicide was quickly covered up by the Melville family. This historically based drama explores the family dynamics that led to Malcolm’s desperate act and how the tragedy affected Melville’s later work.

SEALED ORDERS

• Written by Jean Collinsworth
• Directed by Beatrice Casagrán
• Regular Run – November 24 through December 10, 2023
• Featuring: Kelly Franett*, Jenny Buchanan*, Sofia Levi, David Duarte Guzman, Allison Meister, Jeff Sable*, Ralph Merant, Stacey Patiño and Edgardo Flores. *member of Actors’ Equity Association

LOCATION

2009 Porterfield Way, Suite H, Upland, CA 91786

TICKET INFORMATION

All seats $32 and $25 for college students with ID. Pay What You Can/Pay it Forward Thursdays. Available on opheliasjump.org or by phone at 909-734-6565. Group discounts available.