WSSN Stories

June is Men’s Health Month

By Dr. John Chang, Chief Medical Officer, UnitedHealthcare of California

June is Men’s Health Month!  This annual observance brings added significance this year given the health challenges men may face in general and specifically to COVID-19. For instance, research shows men are more likely than women to experience worse outcomes due to COVID-19, including double the risk of death.

Independent of COVID-19, men also have a lower life expectancy (76 years for men vs. 81 years for women); a lower likelihood of visits to the doctor (76% of men had seen a doctor in the last year vs. 92% of women); and a higher risk of being overweight or obese (nearly 71% for men vs. 59% for women).

With that in mind, here are tips for men and families in California to consider as we celebrate Men’s Health Month!

Be a Masked Man: While initial COVID-19 guidelines may have suggested otherwise, federal and international health authorities now recommend the use of masks when people are outside the home and unable to maintain at least six feet of distance from others. In fact, a recent study found widespread mask wearing can reduce the spread of COVID-19 by as much as 80%.  Even so, the adoption of masks remains mixed, especially among men: Just 56% of men said they had worn a mask outside the home, compared to 67% of women. Tightly fitting home-made masks, including ones of cotton or silk, may provide protection for yourself and others.     

Prevention is Important: Men are three-times more likely than women to go a year without visiting the doctor, and nearly twice as likely to be without a regular go-to physician in times of sickness. This behavior may be reinforced by COVID-19, which has prompted some people to skip medical care, including wellness visits or chronic care management. Urgent health issues, including persistent chest pains, head injuries or signs of stroke such as sudden numbness in the face arm or leg, should not be ignored. To help encourage health, now is the time to schedule an annual wellness visit with your primary care physician, providing an opportunity to detect potential health issues early. If in-person appointments may be a concern due to potential exposure to COVID-19, telehealth resources are now enabling more people to connect with a health care professional, including for urgent medical care and on-going disease management.  

Reduce Risky Behavior: Research suggests that men may take more risks than women, with this type of perilous behavior potentially manifesting itself in some unfortunate consequences. For example, men are more likely to be addicted to alcohol and tobacco than women; men are twice as likely as women to binge drink; and men use illicit drugs at more than double the rate of women. What’s more, some men may be prone to push themselves physically, such as attempting a marathon, triathlon or an extreme sport. It’s a good idea to check with your physician before you engage in any extreme sport and start a slow and steady training routine. 

Remember Behavioral Health: The pandemic – and associated economic challenges – may be triggering more stress and anxiety. Unfortunately, research shows that men are less likely than women to seek help, particularly for depression and other behavioral health issues. One potential barrier may be that some men might be embarrassed to ask for this type of assistance. To help with that, men may consider a virtual visit with a mental health provider via a mobile device or computer, a service that may already be available as part of their health care benefits. Virtual visits may shorten wait times for an appointment, fit schedules, and eliminate travel time and expense. And, research shows that outcomes of a virtual visit with a mental health provider may be similar to in-person sessions for multiple behavioral health issues.

Considering these tips may benefit men now and their families in the future. And by better understanding men’s specific health challenges, especially in connection to COVID-19, we can help men in California  live healthier lives.

Via CBS News

The sight is quite jarring: Four-hundred passenger planes that would normally be zipping through the skies are now parked in the California desert, row after row, with thousands more grounded elsewhere.

Last year, the AAA said 43 million Americans went somewhere on Memorial Day weekend.  This year, the AAA isn’t even making a guess as to how many people will hit the road, but they’re expecting it to be an all-time low.

Travel will bounce back, but for now it’s just inching back, and your experience won’t be nearly the same as before.

Let’s start with your hotel.

Travelers who check back in will have a much different stay, said Hilton CEO Chris Nassetta. “You’ll go to your room with your digital key. You won’t have to touch anything other than your phone. You’ll open your room with your phone.”

And the room you open will have been cleaned like never before: Masked housekeepers will pay special attention to things like light switches and TV remotes, and when they’re done, they’ll put a seal on the door.

“When a housekeeper is done cleaning the room, we will seal it, and you will be the first one in it,” Nasetta said. “And we will not come in it until you leave or until you ask us to come back in it.”

And now, to the skies:

Air travel has dropped by as much as 90 percent, United Airlines is now flying fewer passengers per day than it has pilots.  But for those who are flying, the experience is different, and not necessarily in a good way.

Food service aboard is mostly gone, and if you’ve got to go, one European airline, Ryanair, is making passengers raise their hands for permission to use the lavatories.

That’s not the case for U.S. carriers – yet – but there’s an entirely new disinfecting program.

And no mixed drinks, according to Oscar Munoz, executive chairman of United.

CBS News travel editor Peter Greenberg asked Munoz, “I’m assuming no more pillows on the planes for a while? No more blankets on the planes for a while?”

“Yeah, things of that nature, right? You saw that after 9/11, right? We took out cutlery. And then, you know, things eventually come back. I think once again, in this particular case, once a vaccine is discovered, hopefully, you know, sort of the nervousness dissipates and we can get back to something that’s back to the old normal. But things will definitely change.”

Like other airlines, United already has systems in place to make flying safer – better cleaning of seat-backs and tray tables, and things like electrostatic sprayers to disinfect every nook and cranny.

But social distancing is pretty much impossible on a plane, and United was called out a few weeks ago when a passenger tweeted a photo of a packed flight:

I guess @united is relaxing their social distancing policy these days? Every seat full on this 737 pic.twitter.com/rqWeoIUPqL

— Ethan Weiss (@ethanjweiss) May 9, 2020

Greenberg asked, “You had a flight recently that, you know, went viral with somebody claiming that, ‘My God, there was no social distancing at all.’ What have you done about that?”

“We are gonna let you know, if you’re flying on us, a day or two in advance, ‘Hey, by the way, Peter, the flight that you’re on seems to be over X-percent full’ – 65%, 70%, we’ll figure out a number. ‘If you’re uncomfortable with that, there’s a flight leaving three hours later that, you know, has a lot of capacity.’ And so, if you’re uncomfortable and your plans allow that flexibility, that’s what we’ve sort of pivoted to, to ensure that you have that.”

Besides being less crowded, your upcoming flight may also be cheaper. You can find a lot of bargain fares right now. But since some airlines are losing $100 million a day, you can also expect fewer flights, and more turbulence ahead.

Munoz said, “For now, again, the operative term is to let’s get through this crisis for the time being, and, you know, say a prayer or whatever it is that we do to make sure that not just our industry but that the world writ large becomes a healthier place.”

And when an entire industry has basically been grounded, there’s no place to go but up.

By Manny Otiko?| California Black Media  

California is home to an estimated 11 million immigrants and many of them are Black — from Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, Europe and other parts of the world.  

According to the Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI) at USC, immigrants make up 6.5 percent of California’s Black population. That figure has doubled since 1980.? 

From Silicon Valley engineers and Hollywood celebrities to medical professionals, small storefront owners, ride share drivers and hotel housekeepers, Black immigrants are as diverse as the general population in California.  

They live in small clusters in inland valley towns and in larger ethnic enclaves in San Diego, San Francisco and Los Angeles — or they blend into suburban communities across the state, according to data collected by California Black Media to support its Census 2020 awareness mapping.  

But many Black immigrants have been uniquely affected by the coronavirus crisis. Like all Californians, they are dealing with the dangers of the disease and the economic and social uncertainties it has caused across the Golden State. At the same time, they are worried about how the global pandemic is affecting relatives back in their homelands.  

Across the United States and in California, large numbers of immigrants work in the healthcare field. Many more are other essential workers, toughing it out on the frontlines working in the service industry or in medical, transportation and sanitation jobs.? 

In California, 35% of all healthcare professionals are immigrants, according to the Migration Policy Institute.  

Mawata Kamara, who is originally from the West African country Liberia, works as an emergency room nurse in San Leandro, a suburb east of the San Francisco Bay in Alameda County. She said that her hospital currently sees about two to three COVID-19 patients a day.? 

According to Kamara, she gets confused trying to keep up with the government’s guidance regarding  the pandemic. For example, she’s currently reusing N95 masks, which used to be forbidden, she says. She also gets a stream of emails with constant updates — sometimes conflicting news — about the virus itself, safety changes or how to treat the disease.? 

“The general feeling of unpreparedness is everywhere,” said Kamara. 

As an African immigrant, Kamara says she sees the unique challenges that Black people, both immigrants and American-born Blacks, face in dealing with COVID-19. One of the reasons the disease has affected the Black community is because many people live in multi-generational families, Kamara says. This makes it very difficult to self-quarantine. Kamara said one of her African co-workers faced this situation when she contracted the disease and didn’t want to take it back home where she lived with several relatives.? 

“Self-quarantine is a luxury most people can’t afford,” she said. 

Kamara has taken to changing her clothes in the garage and cleaning her shoes before she enters the home she shares with her daughter.? 

“I don’t think anyone wants to go to work and bring it back home,” said Kamara. 

Kamara is also concerned about her native country, Liberia, which has been affected by the disease. The country currently has more than 210 COVID-19 infections. About half the patients have survived. Twenty people have died from the disease.? 

Liberia, which has a underdeveloped healthcare system, was devastated by the Ebola pandemic which started in 2014 and resulted in more than 11,000 deaths. Kamara has advised family members who were visiting the country to return to the United States so they can have access to better quality health care.? 

Although coping with the challenges of COVID-19 is grueling for Black immigrants in California like Kamara who are naturalized citizens or have Green Cards, it is even more difficult for those who are undocumented. They did not qualify for the federal $1,200 stimulus payments the federal government has been sending out.  

There are an estimated two million undocumented immigrants in California.  

Earlier this month, Gov. Newsom announced a new $75 million California state program that will provide disaster relief to undocumented immigrants in payments of up to $1,000 per household. The program will begin on Monday May 25, and the money will be awarded on a first-come, first-serve basis. See the list below for organizations that will be distributing the money.  

In Los Angeles, Lyndon Johnson is publisher of CaribPress, a publication that covers West Indian news and events in Southern California, around the United States and in the Caribbean. He is originally from Jamaica. Johnson said the disease presents a unique danger to people from his country because many of them also work in the healthcare field.  

Johnson says some of them are his family members.?“One of my sisters is scared to go to work,” he said.   

Johnson said he recently participated in a Zoom meeting with members of the Jamaican diaspora who connected to talk about how COVID-19 is affecting them.? 

The island of Jamaica has also changed its rules to deal with the disease. Jamaica currently has more than 500 infections and nine deaths. Johnson said people coming in from certain countries are automatically quarantined.  

The Jamaican economy, Johnson says, relies heavily on tourism, but COVID-19 has brought travel to his home country to a halt. According to the Caribbean Journal, Jamaica earned some  $3.3 billion in 2018 from tourism.  

Johnson said the Caribbean Comedy Series, one of the largest West Indian cultural events held in the Los Angeles area, had to be canceled this year. It was supposed to be held in March.  

Many Caribbean community organizations in California and around the country organize annual health missions, where they return home and perform healthcare checkups. Those have all been canceled as well, said Johnson.? 

In San Diego, Chuol Tut, executive director of the South Sudanese Community Center in San Diego, said there are about 4,000 Sudanese (from both South Sudan and North Sudan) living in the San Diego area. He said they are attracted to the area because of the climate, which is similar to their homeland.?? 

South Sudan is the world’s youngest country. It gained its independence in 2011 after years of conflict with Sudan, a country that is 97 percent Muslim. South Sudan is predominantly Christian.? 

Tut said the community has been impacted by the coronavirus outbreak because many of them work in front-line jobs such as drivers, healthcare, casinos and housekeeping. Currently, many of them are out of work.? 

Tut said the center, located in East San Diego, is assisting some of them apply for unemployment benefits because some of them struggle with speaking English.? 

“We try to help them as much as we can,” he said.? 

COVID-19 has also affected the nation of South Sudan. According to Tut, there are currently more than 230 cases and one fatality. Also, the country is a major trading hub with a lot of visitors coming in from neighboring countries such as Kenya, Uganda and Ethiopia. Now the government has established a quarantine zone that stops anyone from coming into the East African county.  

Back on the frontlines of the crisis in California, Kamara says she believes we are not over the worse of the pandemic.  

That’s why she is discouraged by protestors who are demanding businesses reopen. Kamara said too many Americans don’t realize the dangers of  COVID-19 because of misinformation.  

“Until that’s addressed, people won’t take it seriously,” she said.? 

Undocumented Black immigrants who want to apply for California’s coronavirus emergency assistance program should contact the following groups representing their area: 

Northern California: 

California Human Development Corporation 

(707) 228-1338 www.californiahumandevelopment.org/ 

Covering Alpine, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Colusa, Del Norte, El Dorado, Glenn, Humboldt, Lake, Lassen, Mendocino, Modoc, Napa, Nevada, Pleasure, Plumas, 

 Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou, Solano, Sonoma Tehama, Trinity 

Bay Area: 

Catholic Charities of California 

Alameda and Contra Costa: www.cceb.org 

Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo: www.catholiccharitiessf.org/ Santa Clara: www.catholiccharitiesscc.org/ 

Central Coast: 

Mixteco / Indígena Community Organizing Project (MICOP) www.mixteco.org/drai/3 

Santa Barbara: (805) 519-7776 

Ventura: (805) 519-7774 

Community Action Board Santa Cruz 

(800) 228-6820 www.cabinc.org/ 

Covering Monterey, San Benito, San Luis Obispo, Santa Cruz 

Central Valley: 

United Farm Workers Foundation (UFWF) 

(877) 527-6660 www.ufwfoundation.org 

Covering Ash, Kern, Kings, Wood, Merced, Tulare and Mono 

California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation (CRLAF) 

(877) 557-0521 www.crlaf.org/drai 

Covering Mariposa, Sacramento, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Sutter, Tuolumne Yolo and Yuba 

 Los Angeles and Orange County: 

Asian Americans Advancing Justice 

(213) 241-8880 www.advancingjustice-la.org 

Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA) 

(213) 201-8700 www.chirla.org 

Los Angeles Central American Resource Center (CARECEN) (213) 315-2659 www.carecen-la.org/ 

Inland Empire: 

San Bernardino Community Service Center 

(888) 444-0170, (909) 521-7535 www.sbcscinc.org Covering Inyo, Riverside, San Bernardino 

TODEC Legal Center Perris 

(888) 863-3291 www.TODEC.org 

Covering Inyo, Riverside, San Bernardino 

San Diego and Imperial County 

Jewish Family Service of San Diego Imperial County: 760-206-3242 San Diego County: 858-206-8281 

Special to California Black Media Partners | Hardy Brown, Publisher Emeritus, Black Voice News and co-founder of California Black Media 

Pres. Trump is tempting Christians to crowd into churches, implying your God will protect you. You have been pent up for three months now and you deserve to be free. This is a free country.  

The President boasts that we had one of the greatest economies the world has ever seen before COVID-19, so you should deny the fact that the virus is threatening your life and get out, cut loose, sing, pray, shout and hug your friends. Your God will protect you. 

His attempt to persuade “the saved” among us to just get out and go back to their beloved churches carries more weight for African Americans.   

Trump knows that Coronavirus/COVID-19, “Rona” as it is called in the hood, is killing more Blacks than any other race of people.  

Across the United States, Black Americans represent nearly 13% of the total population, but African Americans living in counties where the Black population ranges between 13% and 85%, account for more than half of all COVID-19 infections, and they make up almost  60% of deaths. Those numbers were released earlier this month by researchers at Johns Hopkins University, Georgetown University, the University of Mississippi, and Emory University.  

Here in California, Black COVID-19 patients are 2.7 times more likely to be hospitalized than their Non-Hispanic, White counterparts, and they “tend to arrive at healthcare facilities sicker and with more severe symptoms,” according to a study released just last week by Sutter Health, a non-profit healthcare network based in Sacramento.  

Knowing that Blacks are at a higher risk of dying and getting hospitalized from COVID-19, what should we make of the President’s push to get us back into our churches? 

At best, we might assume that the President is trying to till the ground in preparation for a grassroots religious uprising against popular Democratic governors like Newsom and Cuomo across the country who have become models, for many Americans, of efficient leadership in response to the coronavirus crisis. So far, President Trump’s instigation and dog whistling against state-imposed shutdowns have taken root across the country mostly among White hard-Right wing groups. 

Earlier this month, about 1,200 pastors, mostly White, in California vowed legal action against the state and told the governor they would open up their churches on Pentecost Sunday, which is May 31, with or without the governor’s blessing or approval.  

But Black clergy and Civil Rights organizations are putting up a wall of resistance, remaining cautious about the reopening of churches, businesses, and public spaces, considering the havoc COVID-19 is wreaking in our communities.  

“I’m appealing to all my men and women of faith to reject that because, clearly, we are not in the position to safely tell congregants of any faith to come in person and worship without risking their lives and risking their health,” said the Rev. Al Sharpton, President an CEO of National Action Network. “We’ve already seen churches that have prematurely opened up and people got have gotten sick and some have even died.” 

Fortunately, this past Friday, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Gov Newsom’s ban on in-person church services, after President Trump reclassified churches as essential last week.  

Several other Black members of the clergy have echoed Sharpton’s position against reopening.  

In the worst-case scenario, African Americans might assume Trump is hoping to reduce the Black voting population of seniors by using “Rona” to do his dirty work, allowing him to escape the blame. This may seem cynical to some, but it is not a far-fetched notion among African Americans watching how callously so many are approaching a return to business as usual without factoring how this disease is impacting Blacks of all ages.  

We love religion and we tap into our Christian faith for so much of the power that takes us through life’s challenges from day to day. So I liken Trump’s proposition to a famous story of seduction in the Bible: What Satan was doing to Jesus after Jesus had fasted for forty days all alone in the wilderness.  

Like the frustration we’re feeling under this shelter in place order, Satan knew Jesus was lonely and hungry and wanted to be around people because that was His main reason for being on earth as a human.  

So don’t fall for the President’s “Rope-A-Dope” stay home for just a little longer until we figure out that its safer for us.  

The only way Black people should go back to church like the President is suggesting is if they see the Blood of the Lamb painted over the door and they personally hear God speak loud and clear, “you will be safe in this church building.” Otherwise, they should stay home and wait for COVID-19 (the death angel) to pass us by. 

My friends, this is what the angels will do for you if you believe, keep the faith and trust in HIS WORD. My family’s pastor, the late Rev. William Jacks at St. Paul AME in San Bernardino, taught me that when our son was lying in the hospital bed in an induced coma for 19 days. Friends were advising me to go home get some sleep, and Rev. Jacks said to me, “follow Jesus, He will provide everything you need in times like these.” 

And he sure did. Our son miraculously pulled through and survived that ordeal, as we stood by his side, praying, and knowing that we would get to the other side of that crisis, together, as family.  

Sacramento – AB 2147 authored by Assemblymember Reyes (D-San Bernardino), which provides an expedited expungement process for inmates that have successfully participated as inmate hand crews actively assisting with fire suppression activities passed the Assembly Public Safety Committee.

Under existing law, once released from custody a former inmate must finish the terms of their parole before applying for expungement of their criminal record.  Even once those records are expunged, the person must disclose their criminal history on applications for state licenses. With nearly 200 occupations that require licensing from one of 42 California government departments and agencies, these former inmates are almost entirely denied access to these jobs, as an estimated 2.5 million California workers (approximately 17% of the state’s workforce) need a professional license to work.  Under, AB 2147 a person that served as an inmate fire-fighting crewmember would be eligible to apply for expungement upon release from custody, and if the expungement is approved could seek various career pathways including those that require a state license.

“’It is without a doubt a tremendous sacrifice of personal safety to volunteer to fight these deadly fires to keep our families, our homes, our wildlife, and our forests safe, while simultaneously reducing the impact of damages on our economy.  Assemblymember Reyes continued, “However, even with their sacrifices, their training, their dedication and their low-level risk status, many who participate in the fire camps continue to struggle to find permanent and stable employment once released. This is due to the significant barriers that have historically been placed on formerly incarcerated individuals, hindering their ability to seek and acquire employment or even the education necessary to start a career and contribute to society.”

Roughly 2500 inmates from the Conservation Camp program volunteer and train to serve on fire crews to battle fires across the state.  In 2017, 650 inmate hand crews assisted in suppressing the Pocket, Tubbs, and Atlas Fires.  In 2018, close to 800 inmates assisted with the Camp Fire and in 2019 over 400-inmate hand crews assisted with battling the Kincade Fire.

The California Conservation Camp Program was initiated by CDCR to provide able-bodied inmates the opportunity to work on meaningful projects throughout the state. Those projects can include clearing firebreaks, restoring historical structures, maintaining parks, sand bagging and flood protection, reforestation and clearing fallen trees and debris.

There are 43 conservation camps for adult offenders and one camp for juvenile offenders. The conservation camps make up approximately 219 fire-fighting crews and are jointly managed by CDCR and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, known as CalFire.

All inmates participating must earn the right to work in a conservation camp by their non-violent behavior and conformance to rules while they are incarcerated. Only minimum-custody inmates are eligible to volunteer for assignment in conservation camps.

In an average year, the Conservation Camp Program provides approximately three million person-hours responding to fires and other emergencies and seven million person-hours in community service projects, saving California taxpayers approximately $100 million annually.

Several counties across the state, including Los Angeles and San Bernardino operate inmate fire training academies for county jail inmates utilizing several hundred jail inmates.

Despite their low-level risk status, dedication and willingness to put themselves in harm’s way, many who participated in these programs struggle to find permanent and stable employment once released. This is in part due to significant barriers in place for individuals with a prior conviction, to seek employment or even the education necessary to start a career. The intent of this bill is to provide an expedited expungement process in which an inmate who has participated in the California Conservation Camp Program as an inmate firefighter can begin their expungement process as soon as they have served their time. This individual may also be eligible for early termination of parole, if the court deems that the defendant has not violated any terms or conditions of probation or parole prior to, and during the petition for relief.

Congratulations to the Hon. Cheryl Brown on graduating from USC class of 2020.

“She is the story of resilience!” Hardy Brown, son of Cheryl Brown, said.

Over the last few years she has been quietly taking graduate classes one at a time and has earned a Certificate in Gerontology. Gerontology is the study of aging and older adults. Researchers in this field are diverse and are trained in areas such as physiology, social science, psychology, public health, and policy.

“Our family is super proud of her to accomplish this all while caring for our father and making a difference in California for Senior Citizens. Way to go mom!!” Hardy Brown states.

LONG BEACH, CA—- In an effort to assist the many Californians affected by the coronavirus, which causes COVID-19, Molina Healthcare of California (“Molina”) has donated a total of more than $100,000 to dozens of local organizations across the state, supporting grassroots efforts in communities. The grants and supply donations will help the nonprofits provide hygiene essentials, food, financial support, and other resources to help vulnerable communities during the pandemic.

“We are extremely grateful, especially during these trying times, to have dedicated partners that are committed to alleviating some of the barriers that many families are experiencing,” said John Kotal, plan president of Molina Healthcare of California. “We understand that many people are feeling increased uncertainty at this time. It’s comforting to provide donations to nonprofits that are working tirelessly to ensure supplies and support are provided directly to those in need.”

Molina is providing necessities and financial donations to more than 75 organizations throughout the six state counties it serves (Sacramento, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside, San Diego, Orange County and Imperial). The organizations Molina has identified serve a wide range of populations such as seniors, children, people experiencing homelessness, individuals with mental health and substance abuse issues, people with disabilities and more.

Molina Healthcare continues to seek opportunities to supplement the resources of its community partners throughout this crisis. The leadership team is working closely with its executive task force, along with following guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and departments of health, to regularly evaluate and communicate information to its members, network providers, employees, government and community partners.

For members seeking information about COVID-19 risk factors, this week Molina launched its Coronavirus Chatbot, an enhanced digital tool available on the Molina website, member portal, and mobile app.

We must honor them with clear political action vs. the impatience of a microwave movement

As outrage, fear and angst bubble up in Georgia and, now, Kentucky over the grisly murders of Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor, one question fails to appear in the broader dialogue: How will these tragedies impact the 2020 elections?

We can’t do anything for “the culture” about either case if we’re not engaged in a targeted political strike on three Senate seats, helping Democrats retake the Senate and (just maybe), grabbing 24 electoral college votes that flip two Southern states from reliably red to blue in an end to the current White House madness.

To the novice political observer or those folks who detest politics altogether, the question seems irrelevant. To some, it may seem off-putting, if not disrespectful: “WTF you mean politics?”

But, it’s very relevant.

In fact, it absolutely determines the path and outcome of these cases, and where the rest of us end up in the meantime. Whether we accept it or not, the political dimensions are there, the very raw emotional elements in these conversations are already tipping off a general outcry for justice and retribution.  We can’t arrive at either with just hashtags, protest tears or fist pumps in the lockdown confines of our homes. Achieving both will be the result of pressures applied from an aligned mix of strategically calibrated protest, mass voter mobilization, and decisive election wins that lead to the dramatic policy (and personnel) changes needed for redress.

Sacramento – In just over eight weeks the state of California went from a $6 billion projected budget surplus to an over $50 billion budget deficit.  The Governor’s May revise reflects the harsh realities of the impact of Covid-19 on our state’s finances and the financial stability of each and every Californian. 

Over the past several budget years the California Legislature led the nation by building up the largest budget reserve of any state in the nation to mitigate a potential recession.  However, even with our prudent planning the scope and size of this Covid-19 caused deficit means that California still needs federal assistance to prevent devastating budget cuts that would have long term implications for education and our social safety net programs.

In the coming weeks the Assembly, along with the Senate will work to meet our Constitutional budget deadline of June 15^th to fine tune the budget proposal so that we can minimize cuts and began the process of building a strong future.

Via The Guardian

The singer and songwriter Betty Wright, who has died of cancer aged 66, occupied a significant position in African-American music across six decades, beginning with powerhouse gospel in the 1950s and settling on an R&B, soul and funk groove from the 60s onwards that eventually led to work with superstar rappers of the 2000s.

Wright’s career began as a young child in a gospel group in Florida, and her signature song, Clean Up Woman (1971), was recorded when she was only 17, epitomising what became known as “the Miami sound” – Floridian soul music shaped by the many facets of her home city’s cultural melange.

After years of solid achievement in the US as a singer and songwriter, in the mid-80s she set up her own record label and, although she continued to record her own material, began to make a new name for herself as a producer and songwriter, collaborating with the likes of Gloria Estefan and Joss Stone. Later still her material was much sampled – including by Beyoncé – and she was able to undertake projects with rappers such as Snoop Dogg and Lil Wayne.

She was born in Miami, to Rosa (nee Braddy-Wright) and McArthur Norris. The infant Bessie – as Betty was christened – was co-opted into the family gospel group, the Echoes of Joy, at the age of two. The Echoes worked the Southern US gospel circuit and Bessie proved to be a vocal prodigy – so much so that by the time the group split in 1965, she was confident enough to start singing on her own, in a new R&B vein, and with a new name – Betty Wright.

Willie Clarke and Clarence Reid, two Miami-based musicians, were so impressed by the young girl that they signed her to Deep City, the only African-American record label in Florida. Wright’s debut 45, Paralysed, was released in 1965, and it sold well locally. However, Deep City lacked the resources to promote records properly, and so Reid and Clarke eventually passed Wright on to Henry Stone, a distributor with experience and contacts who was launching Alston Records in Miami.

Aged 14, Wright recorded her debut album for Alston, My First Time Around (1968), which not only revealed her to be a formidable soul singer but generated a single, Girls Can’t Do What the Guys Do, that reached the Top 40s of the US and Canadian pop charts.

Although subsequent singles failed to make much of an impression, Wright continued to sing in the Miami clubs on the weekends, building up valuable contacts in the music business. Then chart success returned in 1971 with Clean Up Woman, written by Clarke and Reid, which got to No 6 in the US. Based around a distinctive guitar lick played by Willie Hale, Clean Up Woman’s breezy, danceable funk ensured that Wright would be one of the few school pupils ever to have turned 18 with a million-selling hit record behind her.

The song also helped to launch the Miami sound, whose origins Wright associated firmly with the city’s vibrant and fluctuating cultural scene. “You’ve got a little Cuba, a little Jamaica, and a little Haiti; you’ve got a large Jewish culture and you’ve got calypso,” she told Billboard magazine. “Then you’ve got people who were born here or came from South Carolina, where they’ve got a heavy African culture too. It’s a very rhythmic roots music. Even the white acts that come out of Miami tend to be very soulful. We’ve got that serious, serious conga rhythm.”

Wright continued to produce popular songs across the 1970s – Baby Sitter, Let Me Be Your Lovemaker, Secretary, Where is the Love?, Tonight is the Night – although none quite matched the success of Clean Up Woman and generally made more of an impact on the US R&B charts than in the pop sphere. A prolific songwriter, she won a Grammy for Best R&B Song in 1976 for Where is the Love?, a song she had co-written.

Signing to Epic Records in 1981, Wright quickly grew disillusioned with the restrictions of being with a major company, and so launched her own Ms B record label in 1985. With her 1987 album Mother Wit she became the first African American woman to achieve a gold album on her own label.

From that point onwards, however, Wright began to achieve greater success by working with other artists. Estefan’s US No 1 single Coming Out of the Dark (1991) featured Wright’s vocal arrangements, and Wright co-produced and co-wrote every track on Stone’s 2004 album Mind, Body & Soul, which reached No 1 in the UK.

In 2006 she appeared as a mentor on the US reality TV talent show Making the Band, and in 2008 produced two songs on Tom Jones’s album 24 Hours. Her 2011 album, Betty Wright: The Movie, featured Snoop Dogg and Lil Wayne, and was praised by reviewers as her best effort in 30 years.

Wright continued to tour almost up to her death – she sold out the Barbican Centre in London in July 2019 – and earned considerable amounts from her back catalogue. Clean Up Woman has often been sampled, while Beyoncé used a section of Girls Can’t Do What the Guys Do for her 2006 single Upgrade U.

In 1985 Wright married Noel “King Sporty” Williams, a Jamaican musician who had co-written the song Buffalo Soldier with Bob Marley. Noel died in 2015; Wright is survived by three daughters and a son. Another son, Patrick Parker, was murdered in 2005.

Betty Wright (Bessie Regina Norris), singer and songwriter, born 21 December 1953; died 10 May 2020