WSSN Stories

ATLANTA, GA— Lights, camera, action! Awakened Lounge and All Things Authentic is excited to share a sneak peek of their latest production, Jubilee Amor, coming to a screen near you in 2024. This past weekend, the cast and crew had a blast shooting behind the scenes footage and we can’t wait to see the final product!

The talented cast and crew, led by the amazing Naomi K. Bonman, Writer and Director; Lillie Mae, Producer and Casting Director; and Quintin LaFrench Cammack, Assistant Director, worked tirelessly to create a romantic drama that will have you on the edge of your seat. The story follows a former playboy and a strong woman as they navigate jealousy, tragedy, and self-discovery to find true love.

They are also thrilled to announce their incredible cast, including Nieashia Eyvette, Maurice Leggett, Tiffany Walter, Ray A Kendrick, King Judah, Lillie Mae Jones, and Akilah Khari Duncan. With such a talented team, we know Jubilee Amor The Movie will be a hit!

And to all the brands out there, they are currently accepting brand placement opportunities for the film. Send an email to namaste@theawakenedlounge.com to inquiry more about brand placement.

The killing of a 6-year-old Muslim boy in Chicago and an attack on a Sikh teen in New York are the latest signs of growing threats confronting communities in the US in the wake of Israeli-Palestinian violence.

By Sunita Sohrabji

Muslims and Sikh Americans are fearing a wave of retaliatory hate crime attacks amid the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict, which has collectively killed almost 5,000 people since Oct. 7.

Moina Shaiq, president of the Muslim Democrats and Friends Club of Alameda County, told Ethnic Media Services: “This is 9/11 all over again.”

After the horrific Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks — which killed more than 3,000 Americans — Muslims and Sikh Americans became the targets of retaliatory hate attacks. The first victim of a post 9/11 hate crime was Balbir Singh Sodhi, a gas station owner in Mesa, Arizona, who was murdered Sept. 15, 2001 by Frank Silva Roque. The killer told friends after 9/11 that he was “going out to kill some towel heads.”

Because of their religiously mandated turbans and beards, Sikhs are often mistaken for Muslims.

‘What Have We Done Wrong?’

Shortly after the Israel-Palestine conflict broke out, Shaiq said she called Fremont, California Police Chief Sean Washington to ask for extra patrol during Jumma — Friday prayers — at her mosque. Washington immediately obliged, but Shaiq said she was uncertain as to whether Muslim Americans in other jurisdictions are getting the same level of protection.

Shaiq characterizes herself as a “hijabi,” wearing the head scarf mandated by her faith. When she took her three young grandchildren to the Oakland Zoo Oct. 15, Shaiq said “people were giving me looks. I felt very uncomfortable.”

“It makes us feel so guilty, as though we have done something wrong. There is a feeling of shame and guilt we carry always. But what have we done?” she queried.

Palestinian American Boy Killed

Muslim American fears intensified this week as news emerged from Plainsfield, Illinois that a six-year-old Palestinian American boy, Wadea Al Fayoume, was fatally stabbed 26 times by suspect Joseph Czuba. According to police reports, Czuba — the Al Fayoume family’s landlord — forced his way into the apartment and first confronted Wadea’s mother, Hanaan Shahin. He proceeded to attack her with a 12-inch military-style knife, yelling, ‘you Muslims must die.’”

Shahin was able to escape to a bathroom, but without Wadea. Czuba sat on top of the little boy and repeatedly stabbed him, then sat in the apartment until police arrived.

Czuba is in custody and is being held without bail. He has been charged with three counts of murder, one count of attempted murder, two counts of aggravated battery and two counts of committing a hate crime.

Justice Department Investigation

US Attorney General Merrick Garland Oct. 16 announced that the incident would be investigated as a hate crime. “This incident cannot help but further raise the fears of Muslim, Arab, and Palestinian communities in our country with regard to hate-fueled violence.”

Ahmed Rehab, executive director for the Council on American Islamic Relations’ Chicago, Illinois chapter, told Ethnic Media Services that Wadea was buried on Oct. 16, and a vigil was held for him and his mother Oct. 17.

“I have three children. One of them looks just like this little boy. I haven’t seen them in two days because of the work I’ve been doing with Wadea’s family. Because they will never see their little boy again,” said Rehab.

‘Worst Nightmare’

He quoted Wadea’s father, Oday El-Fayoume, who said at a news conference: “I came to this city for my children. And now, I have had to bury one of them.”

Rehab said the Muslim American community is living under the specter of fear. Mosques have canceled events after hours and are increasing security measures. Parents are pulling their children out of school because of fears of bullying. “There are definitely reverberations for our community. It is our worst nightmare come true.”

He blamed Wadea’s death on the media. “You see all over the news that Muslims are now being portrayed as inhumane animals. That is why this little boy lost his life.”

School Bullying

Zaheer Abbasi, a Pakistani American shopkeeper, told EMS with a laugh: “My little boy is always making up excuses not to go to school. His belly has ached on hundreds of mornings, despite my wife’s good cooking.”

Abbasi’s tone sobered. “On Monday, when I dropped him off, I watched Rafa walk away. And then I ran to get him. He is my only child, my heart. We will keep him home for now.”

FBI Hate Crime Data

The FBI released its Uniform Crime Reports data Oct. 16, the department’s annual tracking of bias-related crimes for the prior year. In 2022, 158 anti-Muslim attacks, and 92 anti-Arab attacks were reported by local law enforcement agencies to the FBI. Anti-Jewish attacks spiked by 36%, with concerns the current Middle East conflict could drive the number up even higher.

Critics of the program note that reporting by law enforcement is voluntary, likely leading to under-counts in actual numbers of such crimes. Moreover, the characteristics of a hate crime are strictly defined, so that law enforcement often does not record a bias-motivated attack as a hate crime.

Antisemitic Attacks

Rehab told EMS the Muslim American community is reluctant to report such incidents. “If we are reported, you would see at least triple those numbers,” he said.

According to FBI data, most of the bias attacks against Muslims and Arabs were perpetrated by white males.

As with previous years, the largest number of hate crimes involved Black people — 3,424.

Sikh Teen Attacked

The Sikh American community is also on high alert, with an attack on a Sikh teen on a New York City bus Oct. 15, fraying nerves even further. The attacker, who is still at large, punched the victim and tried to remove his religiously mandated turban. “We don’t wear that here,” said the attacker, according to police reports.

“Unfortunately, our community knows all too well how major geopolitical events, as well as accompanying inflammatory political rhetoric, can bring further harm to already marginalized communities,” said Harman Singh, Policy and Education Director at the Sikh Coalition.

The organization has sent out a flyer to its members with tips on how to keep safe and how to report bias-motivated attacks. Sikh Americans were the targets of 191 hate crimes in 2022.

By Lou K Coleman

Now whether you choose to see it as truth or not, it really doesn’t matter. The Bible predicted, thousands of years ago, that the End Time Events would revolve around Jerusalem.

Woke up Saturday morning, “Israel Is at War.”  Biblical End-Times Prophecy unfolding right before our eyes and Jesus said, “When these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draws nigh.” [Luke 21:28].

Imagine that! Jerusalem, the Focal Point of End Times Events. It’s amazing when you think about it, because in [Zechariah 12:3–4] God says, “I will make Jerusalem like an intoxicating drink that makes the nearby nations stagger when they send their armies to besiege Jerusalem and Judah. On that day I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock. All the nations will gather against it to try to move it, but they will only hurt themselves.”

War in Israel – Bible prophecy being fulfilled right before our eyes. America is next. The Fall of Babylon the Great. [Isaiah 47, Jeremiah 50 and 51, and Revelation 14 and 18].

For as the armies of the world converge in the Middle East the battle will soon develop into the most devastating war of all time. Russia attacks first and then China who is already raging war on America and has publicly stated its agenda to pull the U.S. into four wars as they seek to achieve the status of Sovereign of the World.

Wake-up! Grid your loins, and if you have not received Jesus as your Lord and Savior, DO IT NOW! Ends Times Bible Prophecy is Being Fulfilled Right Before our Eyes.

Everywhere was chaos, rioting, people crying, screaming, weeping, government agencies on high alert, ambulances, sirens, alarms, darkness outside, disaster, invasions all over plundering everywhere. So many missiles coming towards America, too many to count them. Wake-up! Wake-up! Wake-up!

Biblical End-Times Prophecy Unfolding Right Before Our Eyes!

Program aimed at cultivating the next generation of leaders

PASADENA, CA— Assemblymember Chris Holden is now accepting applications for the 2024 Young Legislators Program. Now in its ninth year, the Young Legislators Program offers high school seniors in the 41st Assembly District a front row seat to the public policy and political arena.

“Young Legislators was an amazing program to be a part of. Gaining insight into the world of government functions, all while making new friends along the way easily made it an amazing experience to have. Anyone interested in government or curious about how our cities and state remain operating would enjoy Young Legislators just as much as I did,” said Evan Lyons, 2023 graduate.

During the five-month program, students will meet once a month at a selected venue to learn about the legislative process, public policy and quality of life issues that impact the lives of Californians and further develop their leadership skills.

“I enjoy this time of the year because we get to work with passionate students from across my district,” said Assemblymember Chris Holden. “I have no doubt this year’s program will again have a lasting impact on the students, and I look forward to meeting the 2024 Young Legislators.”

“I loved learning about the role and importance of both local government and agencies that work to serve their communities,” said Bess Brandow, 2019 graduate.

“The entire program was phenomenal! It strengthened my passion for politics and has made me become more engaged to further follow what I believe in,” said Osvaldo Valdiviezo who participated in the 2018 Young Legislators Program. “Also, the friendships and memories I made are something I treasure and am grateful for.”

Applicants must commit to five monthly, Saturday meetings starting in January 2024 and submit applications by December 5, 2023. Program details and application are available online at https://a41.asmdc.org/2024-young-legislators-program

By Antonio Ray Harvey, Lila Brown and Joe W. Bowers Jr. | California Black Media

From one former speaker to another, two of California’s top political brass honored one another, showing mutual admiration amid continuing political chaos in Washington.

On October 5, Karen Bass the Mayor of Los Angeles, and former Speaker of the California Assembly, hosted a reception at the Getty House — the official mayoral residence — to celebrate Nancy Pelosi, Speaker Emerita of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Singer John Legend performed, and hundreds of officials, donors, and other guests attended the event held in the mansion’s backyard just hours after Pelosi spoke at the funeral of Sen. Dianne Feinstein in San Francisco. This was also two days after the former speaker accused the new interim speaker, Patrick McHenry (R-NC-10), of ordering her to vacate her office in the U.S. Capitol. Some reports suggest the order to relocate Pelosi from her “hideaway office,” assigned to her when she was Speaker, was a direct order from the recently ousted Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA-20).

“What we’ve witnessed this week, the chaos, the disrespect of the leader, the disregard for national and international impact for the whole world to see never happened under the leadership of Madam Speaker,” said Bass referencing the United States House of Representatives vote to remove McCarthy on Oct. 3, through a motion to vacate filed by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla-1).

By Lou K Coleman

Woe, Woe, Woe! Refusing to hear the solemn warnings from Heaven, clinging to this earth as your home and your dwelling place, as if you would abide here forever. Woe, unto you! [Revelation 8:13]. Damnation and destruction will be your portion. For you have not humbled yourself. You have not honored the God in whose hand thy breath is – Under whose power, and at whose disposal, is thy life. Instead, you have set yourself up against the Lord of Heaven and because of that, He has sent the hand that wrote the inscription. “Mene, Mene, Tekel, Parsin. [Daniel 5:27]. Woe, unto you!

Then I looked, and I heard a single eagle crying loudly as it flew through the air, “Terror, terror, terror to all who belong to this world because of what will happen when the last three angels blow their trumpets.” [Revelation 8:13].

Then the fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. The star was given the key to the shaft of the Abyss. When he opened the Abyss, smoke rose from it like the smoke from a gigantic furnace. The sun and sky were darkened by the smoke from the Abyss. And out of the smoke locusts came down on the earth and were given power like that of scorpions of the earth. They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads. They were not allowed to kill them but only to torture them for five months. And the agony they suffered was like that of the sting of a scorpion when it strikes. During those days people will seek death but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will elude them. [Revelation 9:1-6].

The first woe is past; two other woes are yet to come.

Then the sixth angel sounded his trumpet, and I heard a voice coming from the four horns of the golden altar that is before God.  It said to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.”  And the four angels who had been kept ready for this very hour and day and month and year were released to kill a third of mankind. [Revelation 9:13-21].

The second woe has passed; the third woe is coming soon.

These judgments are meant to warn people to repent and turn to God, but sadly, many will refuse to do so because of their evil and doubting heart. And because of that they, too, will drink the wine of God’s fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. They will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment will go up forever and ever, and they will have no rest, day, or night…  [Revelation 14].

Her plagues shall come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judges her. [Revelations 18:8].

Woe to the Inhabitants of the Earth!

By Antonio? ?Ray? ?Harvey ?|? ?California? ?Black? ?Media?

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the “Ebony Alert” bill to help locate missing Black youth and Black women in the state of California, according to an Oct. 8 written statement from his office.

Senate Bill (SB) 673, authored by Sen. Steven Bradford (D-Inglewood), provides a notification system to address the often ignored or lack of attention given to Black children and young Black women that are missing in California.

“I am signing Senate Bill 673,” Newsom said in an Oct. 8 statement. “I thank the Legislature for highlighting this important issue, addressing well-documented disproportionality in the number of children of color who go missing every year.”

SB 673 authorizes a law enforcement agency to request that an Ebony Alert be activated if that agency determines that it would be an effective tool in the investigation of a missing Black youth or young Black women between the ages of 12 and 25 years.

The U.S. population is 14% Black. Black children are disproportionately classified as “runaways” in comparison to their White counterparts who are classified as “missing” and, therefore, many Black children do not receive the Amber Alert.

“It’s very important to have the Ebony Alert because far too often when Black Women and children go missing there is little to no publicity which hinders the effort to find them,” said Kellie Todd Griffin, CA Black Women’s Collective Empowerment Institute.

“I applaud Senator Bradford for bringing this forward and the Governor for signing the Ebony Act into law. Now we have to be diligent to ensure it is implemented effectively into practice.”

According to the Black and Missing Foundation Inc. (BAMFI), 38% of children reported missing in the U.S. are Black. BAMFI is a non-profit organization whose mission is to bring awareness to missing persons of color. It provides resources and tools to missing person’s families and friends and educates the minority community about personal safety.

AMBER – the moniker that stands for America’s Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response – was created as a legacy to nine-year-old Amber Hagerman, who was kidnapped and murdered while riding her bicycle in Arlington, Texas.

Similar to Amber Alert, California has an existing law that authorizes the issuance and coordination of a “Silver Alert” relating to a person who is 65 years of age or older, developmentally disabled, or cognitively impaired who is reported missing.

The “Feather Alert,” relating to an endangered indigenous person who has been reported missing under unexplained or suspicious circumstances, is also on books.

Newsom did note “broader concerns” he had with SB 673 and expressed them to Bradford. His administration questioned standards in the bill and stated that they “do not align with the criteria in existing alerts,” specifically the Amber Alert, Endangered Missing Advisory, Feather Alert, and Silver Alert.

“Our emergency alert system is dependent on people not being fatigued by it and thus ignoring it,” the Governor wrote. “Our challenge is to achieve balance between the imperative to notify the public quickly in cases of missing persons or dangerous situations, but to not desensitize that same public outcry by sending too many notifications.”

Black women and girls are at increased risk of being harmed and sex trafficked. A recent report on human trafficking incidents across the country also found that 40% of sex trafficking victims were identified as Black women. The county of Los Angeles reported that 92% of girls in the juvenile justice system identified as victims of sex trafficking are Black, according to the Congressional Black Caucus.

‘“When someone who is missing is incorrectly listed as a runaway, they basically vanish a second time,” Bradford said in a statement after he introduced the bill on the Senate floor in March. “They vanish from the police detectives’ workload. They vanish from the headlines. In many ways, no one even knows they are missing. How can we find someone and bring them home safely when no one is really looking for them,” Bradford stated.

Earlier this year, community advocates in Oakland’s announced a “state of emergency” in response to 10 attempted abductions and kidnappings of Black girls and women.

Oakland Councilmember Treva Reid of District 7, announced in May that of the 1,500 missing person cases reported in the city, 400 were Black women. In 2022 alone, 20% of missing cases went unsolved.

Reid supports SB 673. On May 30, the Oakland City Council unanimously voted in favor of her resolution endorsing the alert system statewide.

“A troubling number of our daughters, sisters, aunts, and mothers go missing throughout our community and they must be protected and safe in our city,” Reid stated. “It is critical that state and local jurisdictions have access to the best enforcement tools and resources to swiftly respond to the crisis of kidnappings and attempted abductions in Oakland and across California.”