Local

After months of waiting, the official arrival is now here! While teens are surrounded by a world of social media, selfies and hashtags, one teen in Fontana is making a difference by breaking the mold of conformity. Her name is Brittany Evans, 18, unlike most teens Brittany would rather be about business than taking tons of pictures to show off to her friends.

She not only has beauty and brains but she is the first in her family to become an inventor. Her invention is called Sparkbudz (patent pending) it is an all new earphone in which you can magnetically attach and detach when you are alone or with a friend.

The product is now available through IndieGoGo. She is asking for your support. For more information, visit www.Sparkbudz.com or www.Facebook.com/Sparkbudz.

REDLANDS, CA- The “Pink and Green Divas” team of Alpha Kappa Alpha, Sorority, Inc., Eta Nu Omega Chapter participated in the Stater Bros. 7^th Annual Believe Walk.  The walk benefits several cancer fighting organizations in the Inland Empire where Eta Nu Omega is chartered and their members reside.

“It is very important for us to participate in this walk because all of the funds generated will go to support cancer patients and their family’s right here in our community,” stated Team Captain Kimberly Isaac.

The members of Eta Nu Omega are very invested in health education and awareness and participate in many activities such as health fairs, monthly health education tips for members and even ran a Men’s Health Month campaign to spread the word about prostate cancer by visiting barbershops, men’s groups, and churches where they distributed materials from the Prostate Cancer Foundation. For future events, please visit www.etanuomega.org.

LOS ANGELES, CA- Maxwell Dickson: Creative Canvas Art Print Company will host the “Pink Tie Affair” art show fundraiser on Saturday, October 11 from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the California Market Center, with the goal of raising $200K for the Breast Cancer Care and Research Fund.

The event is powered by Coca Cola, Amante Restaurant, California Market Center, APT2B.com, Valley Voice, Zizi Showroom, The Cougar Chronicle, Bakersfield News Observer, Wantickets, OPI, ABS Special Events, Trea Day PR, Maddalena Vineyard Brands, Event Message Services and Gents Closet, just to name a few. “Pink Tie Affair” will feature red carpet, gourmet cuisine, wine and spirits, gift bags, massage services, live entertainment and more. Art world enthusiasts, celebrity guests, elite Los Angeles philanthropic taste-makers and socialites will be sporting pink ties in support of BCCRF a non-profit 501 © 3 organization.

The art gallery is located on the 9^th floor of the California Market Center at 110 E. 9^th Street, C919 in Los Angeles (90079). Remember to get social at the event by using the event hashtags #PINKTIEAFFAIR #THINKPINK #MAXWELLDICKSON.

By Audrey Thompson

In 1964  President Johnson, a Democrat,  received 94 percent of the Black vote and since then no Republican presidential candidate has gotten more than 15 percent of the Black vote. Today, in the new Millennium, our vote is the most reliable block of votes for the Democratic Party from local elections to the Presidential elections. We are not new Democrats, but for almost 100 years, not 45 years since the voting rights act was passed and not even since President Barack Obama was first elected, but for almost 100 years, we have been the most reliable block of voters for the Democratic Party. No other group can boast the same.

Yet, all other groups get support, money and their voices heard by the Democrats. For me, I think I have seniority! My people have been their most reliable block of voters for almost a Century. Time vested in this Democratic Party with blood, sweat and tears and nobody else can say the same. It’s so bad, you can count on one hand how many African American’s are on staff for the California Democratic Party, it’s bad, it’s real bad!

We still have the highest unemployment rate, the highest incarceration rate and the highest school suspension rate. In fact, we have the highest of all the bad things and the lowest of all the good things. The Democratic Party does not support our agendas and they don’t support our candidates. If we continue to vote for the Democrats blindly they will never respect us nor give us a thing. This election look closely at the candidate, don’t vote blindly!  Please don’t go for the okeedoke again, stop voting on a promise! As the late comedian Joan Rivers used to say, “Can we talk?”

On  Monday, October 13 at 9:30 a.m., community activists and concerned residences, led by Kim Carter, of Time for Change Foundation, will be holding a Press Conference on the steps of City Hall, to bring national attention to the back door politics of our new city leaders.  This comes on the heels of yet another scandal like the City’s bankruptcy.  Recently, during an open competitive process, a bid competition set up by the City for the purpose of community development, after receiving the highest score in that competition, the City Council final approval was placed on the agenda only to be pulled off, not once but twice!  One would think that with a “Review Committee” and the published results of that competition showing the winner (pgs. 14-16) (pgs. 370-372) that the City would honor their commitment!  But, NO!  If you don’t like the winner, you can change the rules?  The message this sends is “San Bernardino is not open for business!”  Or is it only for a chosen few?  Don’t enter the competition because it won’t work, a handshake won’t work, only back door politics work.  Are we there again?  Did we not just vote in a new regime to move our City in a new direction?

We are in a period of rebuilding our city.  No entity will be willing to come to San Bernardino to invest if the City does not hold to the competition process.  As all citizens are aware, we are supposed to be living in a free market society without the back door politics that plagued the City for the last 15 years and led to bankruptcy. This is not good for the citizens of our City or the future of our children, and we won’t stand for it.  This is the scandalous politics that we said would be long gone.  We voted in new people for an open, transparent and accountable City Council.  We stood for change and the voters’ voices were heard; we have new leadership and a new Council, yet the same only dirty politics. They are letting all businesses know that we don’t have a new regime; we are reminded of the old antics.  Has the new City Council been infiltrated or did we vote in new people who write rules and then change the game when they don’t like the result?  We live in a democratic society, a free market society with open competition.  When someone wins fair and square, there should be no rebuttals.

How can you ask people to vote for you during reelection time when you are sitting in the seat and not living up to the promises of openness, transparency and accountability?  How can you ask the citizens to trust the City to vote yes on Q when we can’t trust the results of Q; when the City takes money from agreements and then reneges?  If the City was truly moving forward, the transparency and accountability would be obvious.  Instead, what we have here smells like a rat!  According to Kim Carter: “I’m not a sore loser, because I was the winner.  This is not about me, this is about the process which is supposed to be open and transparent…a healthy competition.  Is any business safe to come here and enter a competition only to be awarded but not rewarded?”   It’s obvious the game is rigged when the rules change once the winner has been declared.  We are also seeing that the City is attempting to reward contracts following secretive RFPs which only has one person in the race.  There is a motion on the City Council agenda for October 20^th to award an out of town agency … a $200,000 contract … in which there was only one agency in the race.  Hear me clearly … no competition = agency gets awarded contract … However, a healthy competition = winner gets shafted.

It is a rigged game when the rules change if the winner isn’t what … liked?  the right color? the right gender?
the right political party?  in the right family?   As an African American entrepreneur, I have to wonder, is this discrimination or just the City changing the game when they don’t like the winner?  The government is supposed to be open, transparent and accountable.  Has there been some Brown Act violations?  To not honor the process which is clearly laid out sends the wrong signal to people outside and inside San Bernardino.  Where is the accountability?  Where is the transparency?  Where is this new leadership?

LOS ANGELES, CA-The call for submissions is open for the 23nd Annual Pan African Film and Art Festival (PAFF), February 12 – 22, 2015 which will take place at the newly renovated Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza in the heart of Los Angeles. The largest and most prestigious Black film and art festival in the U.S., PAFF spans 11 days and features an unrivaled art show boasting more than 100,000+ attendees who will enjoy the artistic works of more than 100 fine artists, designers, and unique craftsmen from around the globe and hailing from countries such as the United States, Brazil, Kenya, Senegal, Nigeria, South Africa, Jamaica and Tanzania. The Film Festival will showcase over 150 films from the world over. The diversity of PAFF is represented by its core value of Pan-Africanism in every feature selected and its special events including an extensive fine art show.

“PAFF ArtFest stimulates the Black art trade. There is education on purchasing fine art as an investment as well as sales by the artists,” said Allohn, director of PAFF ArtFest. “PAFF ArtFest showcases creativity most often excluded from major galleries and affords an exchange place to encourage art collection.”

“Through the years, our guiding principle of ‘Pan-Africanism’ as a movement remains to unify and provide a space for patronage of the expression of all people of African descent worldwide,” said Ayuko Babu, executive director and a founder of PAFF.

ELIGIBILITY:
PAFF ArtFest is juried according to the following guidelines to maintain the objective of featuring fine art, quality craft and designer merchandise.

Accepted: fine art and photography, handmade unique crafts and jewelry and designer fashions and accessories, one-of-a-kind, original pieces, designer-crafted or hand-printed T-shirts.

Gallery applications will be accepted; however, a gallery may not exhibit and sell works by more than four artists.

For complete details on rules, restrictions, fees, deadlines, booth options, equipment rentals and online application, visit www.paff.org.

TYPES OF ART:
The directory of artist and business exhibits include:
Fine Art
Painting
Illustrations
Mixed Media
Ceramics
Photography
Quilt
Wearable Art
Home Décor
Craft
Fashion
Art Wear
Jewelry
Leather Craft
African Textiles
African Crafts
Egyptian Artifacts

ABOUT THE PAN AFRICAN FILM AND ART FESTIVAL
The Pan African Film and Arts Festival (PAFF) is America’s largest, and most prestigious Black film and arts festival. Each year, it screens more than 150 films made by and/or about people of African descent from the United States, Africa, the Caribbean, South America, the South Pacific, Latin America, Europe and Canada. http://www.paff.org/

SAN BERNARDINO – Assemblymember Cheryl R. Brown (D-San Bernardino) invites the public to attend a free Senior Fraud Stopper Seminar on Thursday, October 16, from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the Hutton Community Center in Colton.  Experts will provide fraud prevention information relevant to home repair, telemarketing, unclaimed property, identity theft, mortgages, and more.

“Given the significant rise in fraudulent activity, it’s more critical than ever to hold this important discussion,” said Assemblymember Brown. “Several agencies including the California Public Utilities Commission, the Department of Consumer Affairs, the State Insurance Commission, and the United States Postal Service will join me as we host a free educational seminar to help seniors avoid being victimized by the latest scams.”

The Hutton Center is located at 660 Colton Avenue, Colton, 92324. Please RSVP to sara.garcia@asm.ca.gov or call (909) 381-3238.

Students participating in International Walk to School Day 2013

Thousands of Riverside County students from more than 70 schools will be walking and rolling to school Wednesday, October 8 to celebrate International Walk to School Day.

This one-day event is a part of an international effort to celebrate the many benefits of walking and bicycling to school and to encourage more families to get out of the car and onto their feet on the way to school. International Walk to School Day kicks off a year-long effort to create sustainable walking and biking programs to help improve fitness, air quality, and traffic flow around schools.

As in past years, thousands of students and hundreds of parents and community-based volunteers will form “walking school buses” in which groups of children, adults and volunteers walk to school together. Many sites have planned exciting activities, such as visits from local elected officials, community leaders, police officers, firefighters, and safety mascots like IEHP’s “Rad Rider” and Riverside Police Department’s “Buckle Bear.”

McAuliffe Elementary school in Riverside is one of the schools that will be participating in the special occasion. It has made Walk to School Day a weekly event. Their Fit Friday activities include music, spinner signs and fun prizes for the students who walk to school.

“Every time we walk, we get prizes,” said a Damian Armstrong a student at McAuliffe Elementary in Riverside, “but I would still walk if I didn’t get prizes, because it’s fun!”

The event is coordinated by the County of Riverside Department of Public Health and is sponsored by a combination of public agencies, police departments, city governments and community organizations. A complete list of participating schools and school districts is attached.  More information on the Riverside County Safe Routes to School program is available online at www.rivcoips.org or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/RivCoSafeRoutesToSchool.

Alpharetta, GA-–Cricket Wireless announces the launch of its Cricket Community Stars: Salute to Solopreneurs contest to recognize men and women who serve as one-person enterprises and still make it a priority to help their community.

“Small businesses and entrepreneurs are the heartbeat of most communities,” said Winston Warrior, Director of Marketing and Customer Acquisition, Cricket Wireless. “As a community brand, we’re always looking for ways to support these business owners – including our dealers and sole proprietors, thus, positively impact our customers where they live and work.”

Entry forms are being accepted online now through Oct. 19, 2014, via the Events page of cricketwireless.mediaroom.com/cricketstars. Entrants must provide details on their sole proprietorship business, community involvement and social media presence. All entries will be reviewed and evaluated by Cricket, then narrowed down to three finalists who will be named 1^st-, 2^nd– or 3^rd-place winners by a panel of judges, and receive prizes as follows:

• 1^st Place: $5,000, Free Mobile Device with 1 year of Cricket service
• 2^nd Place: $2,500, Free Mobile Device with six months of Cricket service
• 3^rd Place: $1,000, Free Mobile Device with three months of Cricket service

Finalists will be announced late-November and must participate in a Cricket-sponsored video recording which will be housed on Cricket’s YouTube channel for finalists’ social media engagement via their respective social media channels. Finalists will be recognized during in-store celebrations on Small Business Saturday which takes place on November 29, 2014. A panel of judges will review the finalists’ videos and rate the finalists based on their community involvement/improvement, clarity and creativity in sharing their business story, social media engagement, and expressed passion to be named the grand prize winner. The panel will determine the 1^st-, 2^nd– and 3^rd-place winners who will be announced mid-December. To learn more about Cricket Community Stars: Salute to Solopreneurs or to enter, please visit cricketwireless.mediaroom.com/cricketstars and join the conversation via social media using #CricketNation. The contest is open to residents of Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Washington D.C.

In addition to Cricket Community Stars: Salute to Solopreneurs, Cricket offers affordable pricing, group and loyalty plans on a reliable, nationwide 4G LTE network. For instance, the monthly savings in the Group Save plan are perfect for solopreneurs in need of separate lines for business and personal use.

About Cricket Wireless

Cricket is bringing consumers more value with a simple, friendly, and reliable nationwide wireless experience with no annual contract.  The power of Cricket is our fast, reliable, nationwide 4G LTE network; easy and affordable unlimited plans with taxes and fees included; annual loyalty rewards; and a great selection of phones customers love. Cricket, Something to Smile About.  Cricket is a subsidiary of AT&T Inc.

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Photo Credit: skidmore.edu

By Rev. Bronica Martindale-Taylor

SAN BERNARDINO, CA- Now is the time to VOTE. We need your participation in order to bring our city back into fiscal alignment.  There are groups whom are not residents of San Bernardino spending thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours putting up signs all over town urging San Bernardino voters to reject Measure Q, a repeal of San Bernardino Charter section 186 which sets public safety pay. Measure R is another measure that needs your YES VOTE. Come and learn why it is vital that you VOTE YES on both measures. We need you to be informed on what your vote means to our city.

Come join us on Saturday, October 11 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., and Thursday, October 16 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Inghram Community Center located at 2050 N. Mount Vernon Street in San Bernardino (92411). For more information, please call (909) 649-6900.