WSSN Stories

Photo credit: Shannon McCollum

By Allison Kugel

(EMPIRE NEWS NETWORK (ENN)— Hailed as one of the most prolific standup comedians of the past three decades, D.L. Hughley has never been afraid to dig into ethnic stereotypes, economic disparity, relationships, politics… nothing’s off limits. His words are explicit and paint an accurate portrait of societal contradictions and pain in fast forward.

From his legendary standup material and his nationally syndicated radio show, The D.L. Hughley Show, to his upcoming Netflix series, The Fix (a hybrid game show/issues-based panel talk show), D.L.’s platform as an outspoken advocate of civil rights is unconventional and tinged with off-color language. But as he shared with me during our conversation, he believes that to reach people with a heavy message, you’ve got to get them to let their guard down through laughter.

His latest book, How Not To Get Shot: And Other Advice From White People (Out June 26^th)pulls no punches and offers no apologies, as Hughley puts forth his satirical and bitingly sarcastic take on racial profiling, police shootings, President Trump, and the advice that white people often give black people on how to adequately assimilate into American society. Nothing is off limits as he covers topics like black names versus white names, dressing black versus dressing white, how white people advise black people to talk to the police, neighborhood profiling, “the race card,” and a host of other hot button, racially charged issues. D.L. goes in.

The book doubles down on D.L.’s already controversial public platform. It is filled with humor, sorrow and irony, and it will make you a bit uncomfortable no matter what side of the fence you are on.

Allison Kugel: Did the motivation to write your latest book, How Not To Get Shot (And Other Advice From White People), come from a place of fear, love, hope, anger…?

Photo credit: William Morrow, an Imprint of HarperCollins Publishers

D.L. Hughley: I think all those things. Fear, frustration, anger… they all kind of mirror each other. When I was writing this book, I realized that society would never take a good look at itself unless you make it feel good; unless you give them something to make their ears tickle a little bit. My overall thought was to be clear enough where it doesn’t seem trite, and to be satirical enough where people can’t tell if I’m being serious or not. And I needed it to be angry enough to mirror the people who go through these things all the time. Watching people of color being slaughtered at the hands of police is nothing new. I grew up in Los Angeles, so it happened quite often. Everybody always wants to say they want to start this conversation, and this book is my contribution to that conversation.

Allison Kugel: Do you feel safe living in the United States?

D.L. Hughley: I don’t think I ever… black men and safety don’t go together. There are a lot of words that black people use to describe how they feel, but I don’t think “safe” is one of them.

Allison Kugel: What do you tell your kids when they ask if they’re safe?

D.L. Hughley: That we’re going to do the best we can to make sure. I think that America’s never seen a person of color that lost their life where the powers-that-be were compelled to do something about it; where they were actually moved to action. Whether it was Emmett Till or Trayvon Martin, I think they have a certain kind of distance when it comes to black people dying. The first thing they’ll say is, “Well, if you wouldn’t have done this?” or “You shouldn’t have done that.” The impetus for me writing this book was going on Megyn Kelly’s show (Megyn Kelly TODAY). I went on Megyn Kelly’s show and we were going to talk about the police and policing, and she had Mark Fuhrman (disgraced detective in the 1995 O.J. Simpson murder trial)on the same show. She didn’t tell me he was going to be on, and he went on before me. They had Mark Fuhrman on to talk about policing. He got fired for lying. He lied so much that he got a murderer off. He got O.J. off! And this is how we start the conversation about policing, and about good police versus bad police? Even other police will tell you that Mark Fuhrman was a bad [cop]. That’s how they decided to start the conversation that day. That’s when I knew I would write this book.

Allison Kugel: You’ve discussed in great detail, your previous affiliation as a gang member with the Bloods in Los Angeles. What was the life lesson from that experience for you? What was the major takeaway?

D.L. Hughley: The takeaway was a level of independence and compassion. One of the things that I always felt bad about when I was growing up was that even when I was in that situation, I knew I wasn’t ofthat situation. I knew that I didn’t belong there. I knew I would do something else. It taught me to have compassion for people who, for them, that was their natural experience. While I knew that I wasn’t born for that, that [gang] experience was organic to a lot of people. So, it was knowing that I was in that situation and not of it, and to have compassion for the guys who didn’t see any other way to live. When I was eighteen or nineteen years old, stuff got so bad, I tried to get into the Los Angeles Police Academy. I just wanted things to be different. I was reaching at anything to not give into the frustration that was all around me.

Allison Kugel: Do you fear that this book is simply going to preach to the choir rather than reaching a wider demographic of people?

D.L. Hughley: I think that people who have already made up their mind before a question is even asked, they have a certain perspective. But a lot of the book is based on statistics and facts, things that have happened and their outcome. There are always a lot of white people who want to tell you what they would do if they were black, but they can only tell you what they would do if they were black from their current perspective(laughs). They can’t tell you what it’s like. I’m sure that a lot of people who have had positive experiences with the police can’t believe that the police that pull them over are the same policemen that interact with me. They can’t believe it because it’s not their experience. But my hope is that people can at least look at this book and see that things aren’t the same as their own experience. You don’t have to have that experience to know those things do exist.

Allison Kugel: Does fame and money insulate you at all from racial profiling and police harassment?

D.L. Hughley: It didn’t insulate Bill Cosby’s son (the late Ennis Cosby). He was still shot down by violence. It didn’t insulate Tupac when he was shot. There was a member of Earth Wind and Firewho was shot by the Santa Monica Police Department for holding a fireplace holder. I think when you’re black and nobody knows that you’re famous, it doesn’t matter anyway. Before they see anything else, they see that you’re black.

Allison Kugel: There was one page in the book where you ask the reader, “Who can say the “N” word?” and then you answer, “Fucking black people, and that’s it.” Using myself as an example, not only do I not want you to use racial or religious slurs against me as a Jewish person, I have no desire to say them about myself either. Why do you even want to have the right to use the “N” word? Why use it?

D.L. Hughley: I don’t want to have the right. I wish it didn’t exist, but it does so I won’t pretend that it doesn’t. The most annoying thing is that people will blame the use of the “N” word on black people. They’ll say, “Well, if you didn’t use it, then maybe we wouldn’t use it. You use it in hip hop all the time.” That word has been a part of the American lexicon since the early 1700s. Hip hop’s been around since 1975. What came first, the “N” word or The Sugarhill Gang? To pretend that black people can stop saying it and then all people will stop feeling that way about us, and that it will go away, is ridiculous. There has never been a word in our lexicon that equates to that word, not one.

Allison Kugel: I’m going to share my perspective at the risk of you getting mad at me…

D.L. Hughley: I won’t get mad at you…

Allison Kugel: To give my perspective as a female, I have always felt that the B word was used to dehumanize women, and I can remember that word stinging from the time I was a little kid. I remember thinking, “Does that word mean that I’m less than human?” So, from where I’m sitting, a de-humanizing word is a de-humanizing word. Am I way off base with that one?

D.L. Hughley: There is no equating the two. They took a word which means a female dog, and equated it to something else, that is true. But they made up a word to describe us. The “B” word is horrible, but it had another meaning. Our word never had another meaning. They invented a word just for us. To me, there is no comparison and no other word that equates to our word.

Allison Kugel: On page 164 of your book, you cite the statistic that 72% of black births in the United States are from unwed mothers, and you do point out that it includes women who have partners but are unmarried, and women who simply choose to not be married. Then you go on to point out that one reason black women often outnumber eligible black men is because so many black men are in prison. Do you pin some of that on former President Bill Clinton’s now infamous 1994 crime bill that ultimately led to the mass incarceration of black men in the United States?

D.L. Hughley: Here’s what I will say… I remember when they banned assault rifles (a ten-year ban passed by United States Congress in 1994). It wasn’t because mass shooters were using them. It was because gang members were using them. Bill Clinton banned them at the time because of that. Bill Clinton gave black community members, black community leaders and elected officials, what they asked for, which was relief from crime. And now they get to pretend that they didn’t ask for it. They asked for that. Black leaders asked for harsher sentences, and now they get to pretend that they didn’t. I remember that Bill Clinton had a Republican congress. Everything he did would have had to go through congress, and they weren’t inclined to do anything but be hard on n*****s. I think Bill Clinton is at fault. I think the elected officials are at fault, and I think that the American population is at fault. Any time somebody sells somebody out, it’s going to be us. That includes our own elected officials, our own civic leaders and our own religious leaders. If you want to send a black man to prison, get a conservative black person on the jury. You cannot not send black people to jail without other black people being complicit in some way.

Allison Kugel: There’s a part in the book where you compare black-sounding names versus white-sounding names, and dressing black versus dressing white, in a sarcastic way. Do you think black people are more pressured to assimilate than other ethnic groups? And by the way, your kids have very Caucasian-sounding names. Was that deliberate on your part?

D.L. Hughley: It was more so my wife. I wanted them to have names where you can tell where they’re from. But statistically, if a person has an urban-sounding name they are less likely to be hired. She knew that, and I didn’t. The Washington Post did a story on biases with teachers, where if you live in a certain zip code, if you come from a single parent home, if you have a certain name, you’re judged a certain way. My wife knew all of that. I’m glad she named our kids. When it first happened, it used to annoy me, but she didn’t weigh them down with my [issues].

Allison Kugel: What’s your opinion on the song, The Story of O.J.by Jay Z and the music video for the song. Brilliant social commentary or offensive imagery?

D.L. Hughley: Brilliant is a word that’s used a lot. I think it was demonstrative. I got it. I wouldn’t call it “brilliant,” because that word is overused. I think it was clear and interesting, and satirical. But brilliant would be a whole different level or category.

Allison Kugel: I know of some people who thought it made an interesting and accurate social statement, and other people I know were completely offended by it because of the negative stereotypical images it portrayed.

D.L. Hughley: There’s a book called Whistling Vivaldi: How Stereotypes Affect Us and What We Can Do (W.W. Norton and Company). It’s about stereotypes and how they started. Stereotypes exist because somebody embodied them. I’m not saying most people, but some people did. And it was clear enough where people took that as the majority. I was on a plane one time and it was me and a bunch of other famous comics. A lady came up to us and said, “Are you guys in entertainment?” because we were in first class. They all got offended. I was like, “Motherf*cker, we are in entertainment, and we are sitting in first class, so shut up!” (Laughs). Most black people you know who are wealthy are in entertainment or they’re athletes, so stop pretending like that’s not true. It doesn’t mean that all of us are that, but a lot of people embody that fact.

Allison Kugel: Do you believe there is a reason for everything that happens, and that you are here at this time, exactly as you are, for a greater purpose?

D.L. Hughley: I think I am supposed to give a higher level of clarity and specificity to the things I see. All an artist can ever be is what they see.  I want my people, and by that, I mean all human beings, to see themselves. And I don’t want people to make excuses. This week I watched people use the bible to justify putting children in chains. Those are the same scriptures they used to put black men in chains. If there is anything I do, it’s to be an artist who is clear enough so that people will get that I’m saying exactly what I saw.

Allison Kugel: Where is the elusive bridge of communication, for example, between police officers and the black community?

D.L. Hughley: Here’s the way we have a dialogue; it starts with accountability. The same accountability you demand from us as a community, we should demand from you as [law enforcement] professionals. When a mayor in Los Angeles says we need to teach our children to respect the police, well children are just children and that’s why you have parents. You have to guide them at that age, and in the process they make a lot of mistakes. But is a reasonable solution to a communal problem to say that children need to be more responsible than trained adults? When Megyn Kelly has me on her show to talk about the police and says, “I’m going to talk with Mark Fuhrman first,” or when you tell children to act more responsible than adults who are fully trained by the state, that’s based on a false premise.

Allison Kugel: What do you think the police are afraid of?

D.L. Hughley: I can’t speak for them. I can’t tell you what they’re afraid of. But I can tell you this, that I don’t only teach my children to respect the police, I teach them to fear the police. If the police treated us like the human beings that they say they serve, then we would be okay, but they don’t. What the police do is what they’ve always done to black people, to keep us in our place. You’re suspicious if you’re somewhere you don’t belong. The reason we have all these policemen getting called is because [black people] are in places where people aren’t used to seeing them or are uncomfortable seeing them. That’s always been their mission. Maybe we should change what their mission is. Maybe it shouldn’t be to just keep us in our place. Maybe it should be to treat us like citizens. If you call the police on somebody for barbequing, for sleeping in a common area at Yale, or walking to a mall, or eating at certain places, what that tells you is the police’s goal is to make society feel safe from us. I got the police called on me in my own neighborhood, and I’ve lived there for seventeen years. My wife has had that happen and my children have had that happen. You can look around Calabasas (a tony suburb in Los Angeles’s northern San Fernando Valley)and you wouldn’t see many people who have lived there longer than me, but I’mthe stranger!

Allison Kugel: Have you had some positive interactions with the police?

D.L. Hughley: Sure. Generally, they work for me (laughs). I have three police officers that work for me. But, it’s been ninety percent [nonsense] and ten percent cool. I think white people would say it’s the other way around.

Allison Kugel: I’ve often heard black men say that if they are too outspoken about racial issues and/or if they’re platform should grow too big and too powerful, they then become a target and the government will now see them as a problem that needs to be dealt with. Do you ever think about that?

D.L. Hughley: I’m going to do what it is I believe. I can’t say how people will respond to it. That’s not my job. You gotta be doing somethingwhen you go. I teach my children to stand up for what they believe in and to be willing to sacrifice for their beliefs. And I can say that my children know who they are as people, and they know who I am and what I believe. 

D.L. Hughley’s book, How Not To Get Shot (And Other Advice From White People)is available everywhere books are sold June 26, 2018. Pre-order your copy. His hit radio show, The D.L. Hughley Show, airs weekdays, 3PM to 7PM in national syndication.

Allison Kugel is a syndicated entertainment and pop culture journalist, and author of the book, Journaling Fame: A memoir of a life unhinged and on the record. Follow her on Instagram @theallisonkugel and visit AllisonKugel.com.

By Lue Dowdy

(EMPIRE NEWS NETWORK (ENN)— Our 2017 Youth Competition Winner is What it Do!

Last year LUE Productions held a $500 youth competition titled ‘Show It Off’, and that’s exactly what Lil’ Jack did. He captured the hearts of the judges and the audience by taking First place with the classic song “Ben,” by Michel Jackson.

It’s important to sow into the lives of our young ones and support their efforts. LUE Productions is looking for more talented youth to showcase. Come to our auditions this Saturday at 1 pm. Auditions are free! For more information, please text (909) 567-1000 or contact LUE Productions on Facebook. Check out the bio of Lil’ Jack below. His name will be in lights everywhere!

Jack Musgrove Jr. is a 9-year-old singer and a proud resident of the city of San Bernardino. Jack has also proven himself to be a very talented percussionist and basketball player. He has been destined to perform on stage since he was able to crawl and join his dad, Jack Musgrove, who plays trumpet. Los Angeles area bands such as LRS, Balance, Malo and Tierra, have encouraged his musical talents and often features him on stage at local concerts.

Jack enjoys listening to different genres of music, especially old school, funk and R&B. His musical influences include Michael Jackson, Bruno Mars and Stevie Wonder. He has played all over San Bernardino including the Winter Wonderland at Perris Hill Park and Juneteenth at Anne Shirell’s Park. He sang the Star-Spangled Banner for the opening ceremony and performed at the National Orange Show.

You can see Jack perform the Star-Spangled Banner on August 3, 2018 at the San Manuel Stadium for the Inland Empire 66ers. He will also perform opening day at the Los Angeles County fair on August 31, 2018.

Jack’s dreams are to sing the Star-Spangled Banner for his favorite basketball team, the Los Angeles Lakers and to someday open for Bruno Mars. Jack is scheduled to audition for the next season of Americas Got Talent, so please wish Jack good luck!

Justified and his daughters

(EMPIRE NEWS NETWORK (ENN)— VICTORVILLE, CA— Recording artist and community raptivist, Justified Smith, is back on a mission in the name of FATHERHOOD!

Being well known for his work in the High Desert community, Justified has taken fatherhood engagement to another level by reaching out to the Hip Hop Community to stand alongside him as “Fathers in Hip Hop (FIHH).”

Some of his Hip Hop partners active in the movement include: Lynwood natives Nephew Michael and Roc Box of Rhyme Rocca Ent; Urg 7; Tha Chill from the group Compton’s Most Wanted; Diirty Og’z; Twin brothers Big2daboy and J2DaNut; Big Doty from Gardena; Gospel recording artist 2FACE and Dunamis; amongst a host of other influential artist highly respected in their individual communities.

FIHH takes an intimate and up-close look into the testimony of various Influential hip hop artists in regard to their experiences and definitions of fatherhood. Too often these types of artist are categorized as dead-beat dads and judged by their genre of music instead of who they are as fathers.

The movement covers testimony by men discussing fatherhood from a variety of angles, exploring resources and introducing tips to better aid men in raising their children. It covers financial planning including life insurance and other means of providing security and provisions for their children’s future.

Fathers in Hip Hop brings awareness to the importance of being an active father in a child’s life regardless of the circumstances. The organization will expose the effects that carry over into adulthood stemming from the absence of a father figure.  FIHH is impacting fatherhood engagement around the world!

Follow the FATHERS IN HIP HOP on social media. Instagram @Fathersinhiphop Twitter: @Fathersinhiphop Facebook: Fathersinhiphop Website: fathersinhiphop.com

Lou Coleman-Yeboah

By Lou Coleman-Yeboah

(EMPIRE NEWS NETWORK (ENN)— And yet, still, you are in need of milk. Shame on you! “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God…” [Hebrew 5:12-14]. I tell you, you got to grow up! Over and over we are told that God wants us to grow up. [Ephesians 4:14-16] “For we can no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head – Christ-…”

You know the author in Hebrews was desperately concerned about those who were lagging behind in their spiritual growth: The Hebrew Christians were lazy. The writer of Hebrews expected them to grow up, learn the foundational truths, and be well on their way to maturity. But by their own choices, they’d quit. They were stymied, moving backwards on their spiritual journeys.

Paul was both brokenhearted and angry at the many Corinthian Christians who had decided to remain spiritual babies: “Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly—mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly…[1 Corinthians 3:1-3].

I tell you, there is a clear and present danger in not growing up. You see, Satan never bothers with half-hearted people who are content with a ho-hum spiritual existence. As long as you live with one foot in the world, living according to the world’s values and for the world’s goals, Satan won’t trouble you. You can go to church and even pray and read your Bible, and he won’t mind. But the minute you wake up from your spiritual lethargy, shake off the worldly mindset, and commit yourself to radical obedience to Jesus Christ, you will not only encounter spiritual opposition, but you will know that you have chewed meat.

I tell you, as a believer you must move beyond the basics of the Christian faith and grow up in Christ. God’s plan is birth, growth, and maturity. The Word of God: It corrects, it convicts, it cleanses, it equips, and it confirms to us what the Lord has said. The days of coming to church and not understanding the Word is over. Why sit in church just to die on the vine? Grow up!

Publishers Commentary by Wallace J. Allen

(EMPIRE NEWS NETWORK (ENN)- JUNTEENTH BLUES… America became great because of slave labor! The Emancipation Proclamation ended slavery and America became the beacon of opportunity for people all over the world!

People have come from all over the planet, migrating to the “land of the free and home of the brave”! Taking their lumps and squeezing through any crack leading to an opportunity for advancement!

The heat in America’s melting-pot, easily blended the white-skinned European, but could not generate enough heat to meet the challenge of accepting and absorbing the people wrapped in the hues of red, black or yellow.

Racism is a prominent member of the same family as slavery. However, racism is more efficient if not as blatant, an expression of hate! The language of racism is guised in, ‘We need to build boarder walls!” The idea of racism occurs when we hear where the wall is to be built. When we hear the POTUS say that we need more immigrants like Norwegians or that Nazis are good people!

Racism is a dehumanizing tool that allows people to rationalize that separating children from their parents is OK! Racism encouraged slavery to capitalize by selling children!  Racism is separating Brown babies/children from their parents at America’s Southern boarder today!

We are experiencing the same brand of racism that allowed slavery to flourish as an American beauty mark, instead of the hideous cancerous sore that it is! A birthmark that still defies makeup!

It is obvious racism when Black professional athletes are distained by POTUS for taking a knee in protest. Distained for protesting the lack of equal protection for young Black men! Distained for protesting police shootings of Young Black men! Shooting young Black men, the descendants of the same enslaved Black men whose unpaid labor-built America! 

The unpaid labor from forced immigrants that made America great, did create a debt! Protest is a simple reminder!

America owes itself and world observers an explanation for the obvious hypocrisy that finds Black Americans in a “State of Emergency” in the country that was made great by the labor of their ancestors! That same explanation just might expose why the POTUS is so determined to keep Brown migrants from crossing our borders.

“Walk together children, and don’t you get weary!”

By Lue Dowdy

(EMPIRE NEWS NETWORK (ENN)— Industry Connections is WHAT IT DO! Tonight, come see what it do with ya’ girl in L.A. as we get it in.

It ain’t nothing like a networking party to kick things off for the BET weekend extravaganza. The event is sponsored by DRS Da Radio Show (LA 10510 AM) and will be hosted by ‘DJ 6PAC’ and ‘Dundee’.

The evening will consist of performances from artists all over. There will be a special guest performance by international recording artist ‘Iakopo’. Performing live out of the LUE Productions camp we have ‘Mack Pepperboy’. Doors open at 7 p.m. The show will be held at Habesha Lounge located at 5066 W Pico Blvd in Los Angeles. For tickets please visit www.daradioshow.com. Tickets are $15. Attendees must be 18 and older to enter.

Hope to see you there. Until next week L’s!

By Deborah Griffin and Ed Johnson

(EMPIRE NEWS NETWORK (ENN)— LOS ANGELES, CA— New disruptive creative technologies to SHAPE the new upcoming tech world that will catapult these next and current young generations to a world we never experienced before. The world and the industry are heavily investing in the new and upcoming minds to give access to the creators, innovators, film and sound producers.

Shape .. Saturday   … media … executive round table ….

There were many people from all over coming together to experience and contribute to this expo! The first order of business on Saturday June 2, was the executive round table panel with AT&T executives David Christopher (Pres, AT&T Mobility & Entertainment), Kevin Petersen (SVP, Device, Network & Services Marketing), Val Vargas (SVP, Advertising & Creative Services), and Wayne Purboo (SVP Video & Internet Product Management) to field questions from the media pool and comment on what’s next and how AT&T will play a role.

A question asked that came from the media audience regarding T Mobil inroads in the industry, with their impressive 2018 results from an industry mobile experience reporting site OpenSignal. The site measures data speeds and wireless coverage mapping side by side unbiased comparisons of the major carriers.

One of the panelist stated that ATT is including and innovating new services to be more diverse and strengthening infrastructure to close the speed gap. Also Introducing innovative content not exclusivity to lead the market in the development of the upcoming 5g (evolution) protocol now live in more than 100 markets.

Another question, how are you going to take advantage of the opportunities that 5g brings?  The response was, through advertising, marketing, transparency guiding principles of authentic customer experience. 5G and VR& AR will bring a whole new dimension to the market and how we experience our near future.

The different areas that will become common place with the advent of 5G, customer space, virtualized networking, how you will interact with your content. New platforms for businesses to gain effectiveness efficiency utilizing mix reality, a new computerized platform with less or no latency, content everywhere. AT&T is assisting with development of creators and the content creation and delivery for new customer experiences…Linear tv now is that limitation to be address … eliminate the satellite. dependency vs content download …

An issue was mentioned regarding concerns over use of phones and tech addiction? By giving consumers controls so that they can better manage their lives and use them as tools for productivity and resources of entertainment. By giving consumers a choice of controls and a set of assets to choose from, while not removing consumer choice.

Some technologies that are being put in place such as anti-bullying software, monitoring data consumption, and presenting messaging and notices specific to the user and their data consumption.

Check out additional photos from the event below:

By Manny Otiko | California Black Media 

(EMPIRE NEWS NETWORK (ENN)— The California Senate has approved an almost $200 billion budget which set asides money for several issues that progressive groups deem important such as education, homelessness and transportation. The budget also approves $300 million for schools to boost the academic performance of underachieving students.

This was an issue that black voters and legislators had lobbied for. However, it is a compromise with Assemblywoman Shirley Weber (D-San Diego) who had requested ongoing funding for this project. The $300 million is a one-time funding allocation.

“We cannot look the other way anymore. African-American kids in California persistently fall behind academically,” said Weber when she was lobbying for the funding.  “And this problem is not limited to low-income students either. Parents have been patiently waiting for something to change, but it has not. Providing additional resources for the lowest-performing students is now no longer an option, but a necessity.” Other takeaways from the budget include:

• K-14 education received $78.4 billion in Proposition 56 funding.
• Higher education also received a share of the budget. The University of California system received an additional $210 million, while the California State University System received an additional $260 million. 
• $15.9 billion was set aside to protect against an economic downturn.
• $500 million has been allocated for emergency aid to deal with the homelessness crisis
• The budget allocated $5 billion in Proposition 1 transportation funds to repair and maintain highways.

State Sen. Holly Mitchell (D-Los Angeles) was pleased with the areas the budget addressed. “With this budget, we continue our efforts to strengthen the state’s commitment to human infrastructure, with much needed additional resources for childcare, targeted resources for higher education and financial aid, additional funds for the courts and diversion and rehabilitative services, and significant ongoing increases to K-14 education,” she said.  In a Facebook post-Mitchell wrote,

“Happiness is: (1) when the budget bill has your name on it (2) includes major investments for California’s children and (3) it’s done!”

Assembly Budget Committee Member Melissa Melendez (R-Lake Elsinore) criticized the budget, which was passed by a Democratic majority. Shequestioned if taxpayers were getting their money’s worth. 

“California has the highest poverty rate in the nation, is ranked lowest for quality of life out of all 50 states and has become so unaffordable that one million more residents have left the state than have moved here in the last decade,” said Melendez. “At some point, you have to wonder what taxpayers have gotten for the money they send to government. It doesn’t appear to be much.” 

She added the budget didn’t address pressing issues such as rental costs and rising utility bills.  

Lou Coleman-Yeboah

By Lou Coleman-Yeboah

(EMPIRE NEWS NETWORK (ENN)- “…These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God: I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.” [Revelation 3:14-17]. Imagine that!

And you call yourself a “Christian” but you play with “Sin” like a cat plays with a mouse. You go through life “Claiming” Christianity but living like the Devil. You “Toy” with God, not considering that your life is even a vapor that appears for a little time, and then vanishes away. Where you should have prayed you played; when you should have worshiped you transgressed – sinned with your eyes wide open.  Your actions make Jesus sick! So much so that He wants to vomit you out of His mouth.

I tell you living a lukewarm life is a very dangerous situation.  Playing games with God is a very dangerous situation. Living in and out of Sin is a very dangerous situation. Toying with other people’s salvation to justify your own rotten filthiness is a very dangerous situation. If I were you I wouldn’t play games with the God of my Salvation! I wouldn’t play games with Sin! Because God’s Law of Harvest cannot be broken,and one cannot neglect God’s law without consequences [Hebrew. 2: 2-3]. You cannot serve both God and riches.” [Matthew 6:24].  You cannot live a double life and have a fulfilling spiritual life.  Period!

The consequence of suppressing the truth is that God gives the sinner over to “The Sinful Desires of Their Hearts,” “Shameful Lusts” and “A Depraved Mind” [Romans 1:24, 26, 28]. And I tell you, it is a fearful thing to be “Given Over” to your own destructive ways. God has made it clear that “The Soul Who Sins Will Die” [Ezekiel 18:4].  What shall you do?’” The answer, simple yet profound: “Repent you Hypocrite!

“He, who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the Churches.”