WSSN Stories

By Sunita Sohrabji | Ethnic Media Services

Combating domestic violence requires a healing-centered approach which doesn’t always remove an abuser from the household nor criminalizes him, said Dr. Aleese Moore-Orbih, incoming director of the California Partnership to End Domestic Violence (CPEDV).

“I have never come across a woman who did not want to help her abusive partner. Leaving an abusive relationship is an old paradigm. Women of color want to stay with their partners and want agencies to help the abusive partner break out of their cycle of violence,” said Moore-Orbih, in an interview with Ethnic Media Services. “For me, the call has been to help people see one another, with all their shortcomings, and still love them.”

Moore-Orbih will officially joined the CPEDV team April 19.

The Partnership founded nearly 40 years ago, represents over 1,000 survivors, advocates, organizations and allied individuals across California. The organization has successfully advocated for over 200 pieces of legislation on behalf of domestic violence victims and their children, and it brings a racial justice focus to the issue.

Moore-Orbih, a United Church of Christ pastor, whose career has focused on racial justice and violence against women, hopes to bring a new paradigm to the role, focusing on the intersectionality of factors that can contribute to an abusive relationship, including race and ethnicity, socioeconomic class, gender and sexual orientation, age, ability, and immigrant identity. The Partnership noted in a press release that she “will raise the visibility of the Partnership’s anti-oppression work, move the public discourse, and support policy and community advocacy toward more effective prevention and intervention solutions.”

“People of color already live in an environment that is hostile towards them. Their survival mechanisms are seen as criminal and violent,” said Moore-Orbih, noting the generational trauma of slavery and Jim Crow laws, the continuous murders of young Black men without cause, poor economic conditions, and housing insecurity.

“It is a system that has traditionally tried to kill people of color, who are brought up with generations of disempowerment. When things are out of control most of the time, you attempt to control it, sometimes with violence,” she said.

For Black and Brown men, masculinity is determined by power. “They have spent a lifetime trying to prove their power to their communities, and their partners,” she said, noting that Black men have traditionally been underemployed while Black women are often over-employed. Women have had to do the delicate dance of bringing in the family’s income, raising their children, and pleasing their man.

“For a woman of color, domestic violence may be fourth or fifth on the list of things they have to deal with,” she said. “I can handle him, but this is all the stuff I cannot handle.”

COVID has added an extra layer of pressure for both survivors and their abusers. “Women doing the cha cha cha all these years are quickly learning the flamenco,” said Moore-Orbih. “But this is nothing new. Our communities have been doing the survival dance for decades.”

Domestic violence has spiked alarmingly as victims are trapped at home with their abusers amid lockdown orders during the COVID pandemic. The New England Journal of Medicine reported last year that one out of every four women in the U.S. and one in 10 men are currently facing abuse from a spouse or intimate partner. At the same time, traditional safety nets have largely been shut down. Domestic violence hotlines have seen a drop in calls as many victims cannot find safe spaces from which to make calls.

Shelters are closed or operating at full capacity, and thereby cannot take on new clients. Black and Brown victims of domestic violence are less likely to call police because of a mistrust of law enforcement or language barriers.

“When COVID broke, we were all struggling trying to figure out how to provide services,” said Moore-Orbih, adding that the number of people sent to hotels tripled, as survivors had to quarantine for 14 days before they could be sent to a shelter.

“COVID became another layer of pressure for people who were already drowning in anxiety, fear, ad trauma. If a person is trying to save you, you can’t see that,” she said.

Getting a woman out of her home and into a shelter to build self-esteem and self-reliance is just one small piece, said the reverend. “She is not healed.”

Similarly, Moore-Orbih does not support criminalizing perpetrators who must also be healed via the same holistic approach.

An integrative holistic approach must be brought to both survivor and perpetrator, said Moore-Orbih. “If we are looking to make people whole again, we must address the psyche, the physical ailments, forced immigration, and slavery.”

By Manny Otiko | California Black Media

California’s newest and first Latino Democratic Senator, Alex Padilla, says he supports reparations for Black American descendants of enslaved African people. He made the statement during an online news briefing with members of California’s ethnic press organized by Ethnic Media Services.

“It’s the morally right thing to do,” said Padilla. “For me, it’s not a difficult conversation.”

Padilla said reparations would go a long way to “address institutional injustices.”

For nearly two centuries now, Black American descendants of enslaved Africans have been making the case to an unbudging U.S. government for reparations. Advocates say payments would compensate for centuries of unpaid labor and an opportunity for the federal government to make good on its promise to provide 40 acres and a mule to each formerly enslaved Black person after the Civil War.

A shift in the national consciousness last year — some attribute to organizing around Black economic and political empowerment led in part by the American Descendants of Slaves Movement and the national reckoning on race that began last summer after the killing of George Floyd — has ushered in a political environment in the United States where many legislators are much more open than they have been in the past to reparations.

“We have to be able to walk and chew gum at the same time,” Padilla said. “We should be able to negotiate and advance and infrastructure package, and immigration reform and protect the rights of voters, and work on environmental protection, and address historical injustices like this.”

Earlier this month, Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee voted to approve forming a committee to study the idea of providing reparations to African Americans.

Padilla is a veteran politician who’s worked his way up the political ladder, previously serving as a Los Angeles city councilman, as a state senator and as secretary of State before he was nominated in January to replace outgoing Sen. Kamala Harris.

Padilla said that he has been senator for less than 100 days, but he’s packed a lot into that short period. During his first couple of months, he participated in President Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial, and voted to approve the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 intended to help Americans devastated economically by the coronavirus pandemic.

In the Senate, he is pushing and supporting a number of bills on a range of issues, including proposals focused on immigration reform (providing a pathway to citizenship for essential workers) and hate crimes against Asian Americans.

Padilla, the son of Mexican immigrants, grew up in the Pacoima, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley. His father worked for 40 years as a short-order cook and his late mother cleaned houses. Both parents were local activists who fought against violence in their community. Padilla said they were the inspiration for his political career.

“Through their hard work, we had a modest upbringing to put it mildly,” said Padilla. “We grew up with the values of service to others, and hard work, but we also saw our parents get very involved in the community.”

Empire News Network

NORTH MIAMI BEACH, FL—- On Thursday, April 8, the North Miami Beach Commission voted unanimously to declare Juneteenth as an official citywide holiday. Commissioner Michael Joseph, Esq. sponsored the legislation.

This declaration is noteworthy as it makes NMB the first city in Miami-Dade County to observe Juneteenth as a municipal, paid holiday for its employees. NMB is a diverse city with more than 40% of its residents identifying as Black or African American.

“This recognition represents where we are and where we are going as a diverse and vibrant community,” said Commissioner Joseph. “I am looking forward to celebrating Juneteenth in North Miami Beach as an official city holiday.”

Several local civil rights leaders attended the commission meeting, including Stephen Hunter Johnson, Chair of the Miami-Dade County Black Affairs Advisory Board.

“I applaud the City’s leadership for the example they have set by recognizing this important day in our collective American journey. North Miami Beach has set a standard that I hope other local governments follow,” expressed Mr. Johnson.

Juneteenth is an annual holiday observing the end of slavery in the U.S. It commemorates June 19, 1865, when news of emancipation reached people in the deepest parts of the former Confederacy in Galveston, Texas.

By Bo Tefu | California Black Media

California is taking steps to reopen its economy on June 15. The plans are underway as leaders in public health and local government come up with the next steps in the state’s COVID-19 pandemic recovery.

Efforts to reopen the state are, “driven by the health and science to help nonprofit community organizations and businesses get back on track,” said Dee Dee Myers, director of the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz).

So far, the state has administered 22 million vaccines since it expanded its efforts to immunize everyone in California against COVID-19. A fifth of the vaccine doses were allocated to communities most impacted by the pandemic. According to the California Health and Human Services Agency (CHHS), the number of hospitalizations has declined as testing increases and vaccine eligibility expands.

Now, state officials aim to move beyond the Blueprint for a Safer Economy, a system Gov. Gavin Newsom put in place to reduce the risk of COVID-19 infections and implement updated public health safety measures in all 58 counties. A part of the state’s game plan is to end the Blueprint system provided that businesses and public spaces adhere to ‘common-sense’ public health policies, including the various tiers outlined for outdoor activities.

Dr. Mark Ghaly, secretary of CHHS, said that health equity is a critical piece of the puzzle that will keep the momentum for reopening moving in the right direction.

“We’re still focused on making sure hard-hit communities get vaccines made available to them in convenient ways,” said Dr. Ghaly.

State officials said that the pandemic did not affect California communities equally, even though the state implemented equity metrics for underserved communities. According to the California Healthy Places Index (HPI), 40 percent of COVID-19 cases and deaths occurred in low-income communities.

“We believe that there’s still significant demand for the vaccine, so we’re ensuring that providers in hard-hit communities are the ones that are moving forward,” said Dr. Ghaly.

The state partnered with over 180 community-based organizations and health care centers for community outreach to dispel vaccine hesitancy.

“Californians are still very interested in getting vaccinated, we’re seeing improvements in what some people call vaccine hesitancy as more communities get information and their questions answered, so that they feel confident moving forward with vaccines,” said Dr. Ghaly.

Public health officials will continue to closely monitor the state’s progress by tracking data on vaccine distribution and COVID-19 test results to achieve its goal of reopening in mid-June of this year.

People in California will still be required to wear masks as well as get tested or vaccinated depending on their occupation, as part of the state’s ‘common-sense’ health measures. The state’s long-term plans to get the economy up and running also includes allowing large-scale outdoor events to take place.

Gov. Gavin Newsom said that the state is confident about reopening the economy as people, “continue the practices that got us here.”

“We can now begin planning for our lives post-pandemic,” said Gov. Newsom.

California’s public health agencies say they are committed to tracking and containing new variants as government leaders move forward with plans to reopen the economy, state officials said.

Extension of large-scale pilot vaccine sites

The state recently extended the use of the nation’s first mass vaccination sites at the Oakland Alameda Coliseum and California State University Los Angeles.

The pilot sites operated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in Oakland and Los Angeles aim to accelerate the state’s goal to safely reopen schools and the economy.

According to data from FEMA and the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES), both sites have administered more than half a million vaccine doses since they opened in February this year.

In the Bay Area, state officials partnered with Alameda County and Contra Costa County to keep the sites running for vaccine distribution.

Keith Carson, president of the Alameda County Board of Supervisors, said the Oakland Coliseum site has administered more than 100,000 doses to residents in the county.

“Having a mix of large vaccination sites, alongside smaller community sites and mobile pop-ups, is critical for our vaccination infrastructure and meeting our goals for equitable distribution,” said Carson.

The Oakland-based vaccination site is set to operate for an extended period of four weeks. State officials said that the site will deliver approximately 6,000 vaccines on a daily basis.

Diane Burgis, chair of the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors, said that the partnership, “will provide additional resources for mobile vaccine clinics that can go where we need them most.”

The two counties continue to promote equitable vaccine distribution for local residents seeing that, “many of them are teachers and frontline essential workers from some of our hardest-hit neighborhoods,” said Burgis.

California Black Media’s coverage of COVID-19 is supported by the California Health Care Foundation.

Empire News Network

Credits family, faculty, perseverance for historic milestone

At a time when data breaches are making headlines, Alexis White is set to embark on a career that’s all about keeping sensitive data safe. The Arcadia, Louisiana native will be the first graduate of the cybersecurity program at Grambling State University. It’s not the path she initially chose but she’s glad she took it.

The degree connects students with research leaders and working professionals who specialize in combating cyber-crimes, big data, cloud computing, vulnerability assessment, and more.

White was in her junior to senior year of a biology degree when Grambling announced the addition of the cybersecurity degree. “I knew I would regret it if I did not give myself the opportunity to really live out all my interests especially since I had loved science since Barney was mixing blue and yellow to make green paint,” she says. “I made the decision to pursue the degree by doing a bit of research and after speaking with (computer science professor) Dr. Reddy and my parents, it was a done deal.”

Dr. Yenumula Reddy, department head, professor, and program coordinator for the Department of Computer Science and Digital Technologies at GSU, describes White as hardworking, intelligent, and well-prepared. She worked very diligently to complete the program and that shows her strong willpower, he says.

“Grambling and the department are proud of the first graduate and her name will be in GSU history,” Reddy says.

White has long had an interest in computer science. She attended New Tech at Ruston High School and, in her freshmen year, was selected to participate in the Cyber Security Camp at Louisiana Tech.

“I was later picked for AP physics and this is where I really started learning how to code robots which led to me joining the robotics team,” she says.

Although White began at Grambling as a biology major, the cybersecurity program is a great fit and she welcomed the challenge. “Biology is not easy by any means but the analytical side to cyber really made me focus and consider material from a different perspective…” she says. “I will say my study and learning style changed a bit. It took a couple of semesters to really get that this is different, but you can do this.”

White completed her bachelor’s degree in biology and a minor in business management in the spring of 2018. She will be awarded a bachelor’s degree in cybersecurity on April 15.

After graduation, she will complete Clinton Global Initiative classwork and later begin an apprenticeship as a cyber analyst in governance risk and compliance at Deloitte Touché Tohmatsu Limited. The company provides a variety of services including audit and assurance services, regulatory services, and risk and financial advisory services.

White says she would not be where she is today without the support and examples set by her parents Donald and Valerie White. Her father is Dean of the College of Business at Grambling who always encouraged her to do well in school. She has many fond memories of being on campus and decided early on that she wanted to attend GSU. Her mother served in the U.S. Airforce, retiring as a lieutenant colonel.

“I had so much pride seeing my mother wear her uniform, symbolizing strength, duty, courage, and heroism,” she says.

White says her entire family inspires her – especially her grandmothers.

“My grandmothers, Vera Scott White and Gatha Heard Smith, were absolutely my world growing up. I mean they carried themselves with such grace and once again were captains of our family after losing my grandfathers…,” White says. “I would say my demeanor and how I face issues really comes from them. They also were the ones to instill Christ in me alongside my parents. My parents put every ounce of knowledge and wisdom they could into me from an early age and it has really helped me.’

As she nears graduation, White says she wants people to know that “my journey was not easy, but it was achievable. If you can get yourself to think positively, keep going no matter the opposition and just do it – as Nike says – it can be done.”

She thanks her parents, professors, mentors, and others who put time and work into her. “I just want them to know just how grateful I am for the lessons and opportunities that they have given me.”

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About Grambling State University

Grambling State University, located in Grambling, Louisiana, is a historically black university founded in 1901 that combines the academic strengths of a major university with the benefits of a small college. This combination enables students to grow and learn in a serene and positive environment. The 590-acre campus offers 43 undergraduate and graduate academic programs. A member of the University of Louisiana System, Grambling State University has been accredited by 13 accrediting associations and holds accreditations in all programs required by the Louisiana Board of Regents. With a longstanding tradition of excellence, Grambling State University continues to emphasize the value and importance of each student, exemplified by our motto: Where Everybody Is Somebody.

Empire News Network

Spring commencement may be the last time fraternal triplets Stevie, Steven, and Stephon Wilson are seen together on campus. As they evolve from students to alumni, the Winnfield, Louisiana natives will chart courses that will take them in three different directions.

Upon graduation, Stevie will attend a virtual Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) prep program with the University of Miami before attending medical school. Steven will take a gap year to gain experience before attending medical school. Stephon will move into a permanent position working for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).

Stevie, the firstborn among the trio, said he chose to attend Grambling State because other members of his family attended, and he wanted to be somewhere that had a supportive environment. The biology major was inspired to pur­­sue a career in medicine when his grandmother had bilateral knee replacement surgery. There were doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals who aided her journey toward regaining mobility.

“They were straightforward, but also endlessly concerned and compassionate. This gave me a greater appreciation for the medical profession. I decided it was my purpose in life to give back,” Stevie said, noting that he and his brothers were a high-risk pregnancy. “I’m here because of those health professionals. I feel that it is my time to give back.”

Adamant about changing the distrust of doctors among the African American community, Stevie also aims to be a change agent in the medical field.

“Representation matters. More importantly, black health matters, and a lot of black people don’t trust the medical field,” said Stevie, referring to the Tuskegee experiment. “[Some people in the African American community] don’t have faith in doctors. My passion is to be a medical doctor because too many people of color and [in] different ethnic groups are dying because they aren’t being heard. This field is in need and I want to be a part of that. I want to be able to help heal this world.”

Stevie balanced his time between being a member of the Grambling State University World Famed Tiger Marching Band and many other organizations during his time at Grambling State but values the connection he has with his brothers above all.

“Although we don’t share the same facial features or height, or have telepathic abilities, ours is a bond like no other,” Stevie said. “Growing up as a triplet, particularly in a set of all the same gender, is like being assigned two best friends at birth. All of that togetherness also taught me a lot of things, along with brotherly love. Being a team player is natural for me since it was second nature in our household to do everything as a team. We once shared a womb, and then we shared a room. At the same time, the three of us are all individuals.”

Steven Wilson is in the center of it all as second in birth order. Although he researched other institutions, it was the desire to continue his family’s legacy of Gramblinites and the encouraging atmosphere that solidified his choice.

The biology major was inspired to choose medicine as a career when watching health-related and 911 rescue shows on TV. It made him want to be one of those people in the world who one day would be recognized as a front-line essential worker.

Like his brother Stevie, Steven is also emphatic about minority representation in the health industry.

“There’s not a lot of African-American males in the medical field,” said Steven. “In the next generation or decade or so, we need those black role models in medicine. Without [them], where would the medical field be? Who will advocate for the culture, the people, or the community?”

Steven’s passion for advocacy was evident during his time at Grambling State. When he was elected Student Government Association President, he used the platform to fight food insecurity on campus. With the help of Graduate Student Association president Karmel Reeves, alumni, university administration, and off-campus partners, he was able to see the work materialize with the opening of the Tiger Resource Room powered by Whataburger©.

Upon graduation from Grambling State, Steven will travel to Dallas and take a gap year to get more clinical experience before going to medical school to specialize in anesthesiology. While he looks forward to working in the field, experience in student leadership broadened his vision to include politics and health care reform.

Steven knows commencement will be an emotional day for his parents but he is also aware of what the day will mean for youth in his hometown.

“[When we graduated high school] we saw it. When we all left [for college] they were very, very emotional but us graduating and actually separating – I think it’s going to be bittersweet, but they’ll be happy because we’ll be third [generation] legacy,” said Steven. “Our motto when we left Winnfield was to set the standard for other African American minorities in our town. [For] so many young students in Winnfield, they don’t have that role model to look up to. We set that standard to let them know it can be done.”

Although Stephon Wilson initially planned to attend a different institution, he found himself at Grambling State and doesn’t regret his decision. The youngest of the brothers, he has a double major in management and computer information systems. During his matriculation, Stephon was intentional about being engaged in every meaningful opportunity. Whether it was traveling to represent the institution or being involved in a litany of organizations, Stephon made sure he was a part of it. During his sophomore year, his status expanded from student to employee when he took the opportunity to serve as Assistant Director of Transportation at Grambling State. By his senior year, he was elevated to the position of Director.

“Being the Director [of Transportation] has been a great opportunity,” Stephon said, noting that his management courses were instrumental in organizing services. “It has helped me build the skills of management, leadership, writing skills, and customer service.”

During his senior year, Stephon managed to balance his time as a student and employee while also serving as a financial literacy ambassador, Thurgood Marshall College Fund student ambassador, White House HBCU Scholar, and working for the FDIC. Upon graduation, he will move to a permanent position with the FDIC as an asset management specialist with a goal to ultimately work in the Washington, D.C. office.

For Stephon, commencement will be an emotional moment for him because it validates their mother’s advocacy for equity during the early part of their K-12 education.

“They tried to put us in special education,” said Stephon. “If it wasn’t for my mother…she’s the one that said ‘no, those boys got talent.’ When we graduated high school, we proved them wrong. Now we’re getting ready to walk and prove them wrong.”

With each of them graduating on April 15, their parents Djuana and Stevie L. Wilson said the occasion will be exciting but emotional.

“[We’ll be] crying,” said Mr. Wilson.

“It’s gonna be a bittersweet day,” said Mrs. Wilson. “People ask me now, ‘what are you going to do?’

She recalled Steven suggesting that she wear Christian Louboutin heels to the ceremony. Although she intends to wear them, she said they may come off once their names are called.

“It’s going to be some shouting and crying going on that day!” Mrs. Wilson exclaimed.

When reflecting on their time at Grambling State University, the Wilson brothers said they hope people will remember that they were leaders and respectable young men who were role models to others.

“We did it,” said Steven.

By Hazel Trice Edney

Among the first evidence presented by prosecutors in the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin in his killing of George Floyd is that it was not just 8 minutes and 46 seconds as originally thought, but rather, it was 9 minutes and 29 seconds that Chauvin knelt on Floyd’s neck.

People in the courtroom and those keeping up with the trial by media would later learn that it was even worse than the 9 minutes and 29 seconds. Moreover, they learned that Chauvin’s knee not only remained on George Floyd’s neck for as long as there was breath in his body; but – according to a pulmonary expert, Chauvin’s knee continued to press into Floyd’s neck for three minutes after Floyd was already dead.

These travesties of justice remain unspeakable to those who cringe or cry every time they hear the suffering of George Floyd as he pled for his life. And as bad as that was, the blows of injustice to the Black community, its parents and children continue to get worse.

In yet another tragic death, Minneapolis has been on nightly curfew as protestors continue to cry out for justice. On Sunday, April 11, only 10 miles away from the location of the Derek Chauvin trial, yet another Minneapolis police officer took out her revolver and shot an unarmed 20-year-old Black man. The death of Daunte Wright was characterized by the then police chief as an accident.

Despite the resignation of the now former Officer Kim Potter, who said she meant to shoot her taser at Wright and the resignations of the police chief and city manager, there is no consolation to Americans – Black or White – who have experienced these non-stop back-to-back travesties against Black people.

So far, indications are that there is seemingly no end in sight for the assaults on the Black community. Even the senseless Windsor, Va. traffic stop of U. S. Army Lt. Caron Nazario a Black and Hispanic man stopped and pepper sprayed by a rogue cop shouting misguided orders has baffled the nation. There is no solace that the cop, Joe Gutierrez, who then lied in his report about the details of the incident, was fired. It is no solace because these travesties of justice happen every day out of the sight of cameras where some of the stories are never even revealed much less believed.

On March 3, 1991, when Rodney King was viciously beaten by Los Angeles police officers, much of America was awakened by the video repeatedly shown on daily news. But across America, Black-owned newspapers have long recorded the trauma of violence against Black people, continuing from the unspeakable cruelties of American slavery. Beginning with Freedom’s Journal in 1827 to journalist Ida B. Wells’ 1895 Red Record documentation of American lynching to Black American newspapers’ Double V campaign during World War II to JET magazine’s 1955 photo of the tortured Emmett Till, regardless of how bad it got, the continued documentation of these evils well into the 21^st Century now proves that it is yet worse than we ever thought.

But there must be an end to this centuries-long nightmare. The blood of those who have recently become household names are crying out, underscoring the indescribable horrors heaped upon them and therefore upon Black people: Trayvon Martin, Stephon Clark, Freddie Gray, Eric Garner, Amadou Diallo, Philando Castile, Michael Brown, Breonna Taylor, Tamir Rice, Sandra Bland, George Floyd – and thousands of others.

And yet, we the people march and protest because we still believe. We still believe that our America, a nation built upon our backs and by the suffering of our ancestors, will someday respect us. We still believe that America, with a Declaration of Independence that promises equality of “life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness”, will someday do right by us. And, even as we acknowledge that it is indeed worse than we ever thought, we still believe that the collective voices and unified courage of Black, White and others together will give rise to answered prayers that will finally end this modern-day civil war.