WSSN Stories

By Dominique Ulloa and Lori Condinus | Special to California Black Media

As industry insiders, advocates for change, and social justice activists, we are joining forces in this Op-Ed to shed light on the critical need to strengthen California’s Film Tax Credit program through community and stakeholder participation and oversight.

Thankfully, Sen. Lola Smallwood-Cuevas (D-Los Angeles) and Assemblymember Tina McKinnor (D-Hawthorne) have been spearheading this effort in the Legislature, calling for a Film Tax program that reflects the diverse landscape of the California workforce.

The motion picture industry is grappling with a multitude of challenges, including strikes, COVID-19 disruptions, and fierce competition from other states offering enticing tax incentives.

To address these issues and support the ever-evolving industry, California plans to extend the $1.2 billion film tax credit for another five years. While we applaud the commitment of Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Legislature to retain jobs in our state, it is essential that we seize this opportunity to bring about real change for disadvantaged and underrepresented workers.

We can’t afford to settle for mere job retention or isolated success stories from underrepresented workers; this moment calls for us to strive for true accountability and inclusivity within the industry.

Looking to the future, the very essence of Hollywood as we know it may be at stake. Other states, including Texas, Georgia, Louisiana, New Jersey, and Missouri, have embraced film tax credit legislation, luring productions away from California.

According to McKinsey & Company’s 2021 Study on Black representation in film and TV, addressing persistent racial inequities could unlock an additional $10 billion in annual revenues for the industry. This presents an incredible opportunity for California to not only lead by example in equitable representation, but also bolster our economy and help shield ourselves from recession.

Throughout history, the motion picture industry has lacked the necessary mechanisms to ensure diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility in hiring practices. Version 4.0 of the California Film Tax Credit presents us with a fresh chance to make significant headway in this regard.

Previously, the industry operated mostly within the private sector, making it difficult for the state to evaluate compliance, progress, and enforce reporting requirements as it does with public sector jobs.

Under Version 3.0 of the California Film Tax Credit, the implementation of a Diversity Requirement aimed to increase employment opportunities for underrepresented workers. Unfortunately, this program fell short due to its lack of meaningful reporting requirements, community and stakeholder participation, and institutional support.

Studios receiving the tax credit were allowed to devise their own diversity plans and benchmarks.

We firmly believe we can change this by implementing a community- and other stakeholder-led film tax credit task force. This task force would be responsible for monitoring and evaluating the diversity plans of tax credit recipients, using certified payroll data to verify that the industry’s efforts to promote diversity lead to tangible changes in its workforce demographics.

The task force would also provide productions with resources to help them implement these requirements through partnerships with nonprofits like Ujima Entertainment Coalition – a Black entertainment professionals staffing liaison, networking alliance, and advocacy group – as well as by offering guidance in using the ‘Inclusion Rider’ as a process for inclusive hiring.

As the state prepares for Version 4.0, let’s make sure that the creation of high-quality film and television content right here in Hollywood is an attainable goal for all aspiring creators, free from the confines of an antiquated ‘old Hollywood’ model that continues to perpetuate exclusion. We want to ensure that the real stakeholders—the workforce and community — are given a prominent seat at the table. We can’t sit on the sidelines as passive observers; we have to show up as active participants who hold the power to enact change. So today, we are using that power to demand community- and stakeholder-led oversight as part of California’s Film Tax Credit Proposal.

As an editor, and the Founder of Ujima Entertainment Coalition, I, Dominique Ulloa, remain committed to advocating for a more inclusive and equitable television and film industry.

And, I, Lori Condinus, a labor leader and activist for over 30 years and the President of the National Action Network Los Angeles, have witnessed, firsthand, the amazing progress that is possible through labor-management-community collaboration, and I look forward to a fruitful endeavor with the Legislature and the other motion picture industry stakeholders. Let’s seize this opportunity to shape the future of California’s production landscape together.

About the Authors

Dominique Ulloa is a Peabody-Award winning editor and Founder of Ujima Entertainment Coalition.

Lori Condinus is the President of the National Action Network Los Angeles.

By Lou K Coleman

It ain’t gonna be nothing nice. Mercy would have left the building, and each man and woman will be judged according to their works which will culminates in the fierce wrath of God with unending torment [Revelation 20:12-15]. Yes, America the sister of Sodom and Gomorrah, who leads the world in every abomination known to man will be destroyed by God for their wickedness and rebelliousness. For God raised up many prophetic voices to call America to repentance and to warn that continued rebellion will lead to doom. America has refused to listen. Because of that, America has passed the point of no return, the point of “dread release”. Therefore, America will be a reproach and a taunt, a warning, and a horror to the rest of the world, declares the Lord. [Ezekiel 5:15]. From judgment to wrath, from discipline to doom. America, a nation that CANNOT be saved even by the prayer of the Righteous! Read [Ezekiel 14:12-20].

For as Nahum pronounced it is one thing for a nation to ignore God and another for it to rebel against God. Both actions will provoke the judgment of God. But when a nation goes to war with God, that nation beckons the wrath of God and thus seals its doom. America is in trouble. God has lost His patience with His unfaithful, disobedient, and covenant breaking people. As God informed Abraham in [Genesis 18:16-21], that a great outcry against the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah had come up before Him, and so He was going to destroy the cities if they were as wicked as He had heard, and so will it be for America, who hate God, who hate the things of God, who are filled with their own lust and with their own desires. America will be transformed from a lush and fruitful ground to a place which just screams death. For as surely as I live, declares the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, surely Moab [America] will become like Sodom, the Ammonites like Gomorrah?a place of weeds and salt pits, a waste land forever. [Zephaniah 2:9].

Oh, When the Wrath of God Touches America!

Then Abraham started negotiating with the Lord. He said, “If you can find fifty righteous people will you spare the city. The Lord said if I find fifty righteous people in the city, I will spare all the people for their sake. [Genesis 18: 26]. Abraham continued to negotiate with God. He dropped the number of righteous people to forty, then to thirty, then to twenty. Then in [Genesis 18:32], Abraham said to the Lord, “If I can find ten righteous people in Sodom and Gomorrah will you spare the cities? The Lord said if He could find ten, He would not destroy it for the ten’s sake. But not even ten could be found in these cities. Tragic!

Consequences of Distracted Driving and Speeding disproportionately impact Black lives

ELK GROVE, CA— June marks the beginning of summer and the observance of National Safety Month. The California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) and Caltrans are calling on all drivers to prioritize safety and help raise awareness about current dangerous driving behavior and its disproportionate impact on Black communities in California and across the U.S.

According to the latest projections from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), more than 4,400 people were killed in traffic crashes in California in 2022, or 12 people every day. A disproportionate number of those deaths affect Black communities and people walking and cycling. People outside of vehicles do not have the same protections as people riding inside vehicles.

A recent study published by the American Journal of Preventive Medicine found that, on a national level, Black people experience a passenger vehicle fatality rate 73% higher than their white counterparts, with the highest overall traffic fatality rate per mile traveled and across all modes of transportation, including walking, cycling, and driving. In California, Black pedestrians have a 65% higher fatality rate compared to white pedestrians.

In an era where screens dominate our attention, distractions behind the wheel have become an alarming issue. Using a phone to dial, talk or text doubles the risk of a driver getting into a crash. Sending or receiving a text message takes a driver’s eyes off the road for an average of 4.6 seconds. In 2020, 3,142 Americans were killed in crashes involving distracted drivers.

Other dangerous driving behaviors like speeding have also become increasingly normalized. Whether it involves exceeding the posted speed limit, driving too fast for conditions or racing, speeding was a factor in 29% of all national traffic fatalities in 2021. In California, 1,509 people were killed in speeding-related crashes in 2021.

To address the dangers of distracted driving, speeding and the disproportionate impacts each dangerous behavior has on Black lives, the OTS and Caltrans launched a call-to-action campaign that aims to establish a strong safety culture in California. You can join the Go Safely Movement and become a traffic safety champion by taking a short Community Call to Action survey to share what issues you are experiencing in your everyday travels. Your answers will assist the OTS and Caltrans in strengthening connections with communities, providing access to resources, and promoting traffic safety across transportation systems.

The OTS and Caltrans encourages everyone to prioritize safety by reminding drivers to practice the following behaviors:

• California has a hands-free cell phone law, which prohibits drivers from holding a phone or other electronic device while behind the wheel.
• Drivers under the age of 18 may not use any mobile communications device at all, whether hands-free or hand-held.
• If you need to make a call or send a text, pull over and park at a safe location.
• Be Work Zone Alert. When you see flashing amber lights ahead and you’re approaching a work zone, slow down and Move Over a lane if it is safe to do so. It’s the law.
• Avoid the temptation of using the phone while driving altogether. Put the phone in the glove box, trunk, or back seat; anywhere you cannot reach.
• Remember, there are other distractions: eating, grooming, reaching for something that fell on the floor, putting on or taking off clothing, deep conversations with passengers, or fussy children in the back seat. If you find yourself in any of these situations, find a quiet, safe place to park and address the distraction.
• Know and respect the speed limit. It’s not worth pushing the envelope to save a minute or two.
• Be aware of your surroundings: Look out for pedestrians, cyclists, and obstructions in the road, especially in hard-to-see conditions such as at night or in bad weather.

Let’s work together to create safer roadways this National Safety Month and beyond. To learn more about the Go Safely Movement, visit gosafelyca.org/thegosafelymovement, and follow Go Safely on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @OTS_CA and @GoSafelyCA.

By Lue Dowdy, WSS News Commentator | LUE Productions

I love going to comedy events or listening to audio of comedy shows. Comedy has been around for years and has always been a source of inspiration by infusing humorous content into film, theater, radio, television, and more.

In my opinion comedy is a form of medicine, like they say laughter is good for the soul. Please meet a very funny comedian doing her stand up show all over SOCAL, KYMEDIENNE.

Kymedienne has always had a funny sense of humor and there has always been something very special about her. In 1998, Kymedienne started to notice the people around her were always laughing at the witty and funny things she’d say or do. She would encounter different people and situations and would humor people from all walks of life; that is when she decided to pursue a professional career in comedy. ”Kymedienne the Fluff Puff” was born.

She began her comedy career in 2006, when she attended the Ontario Improv Comedy Class.  Her comedy instructors Johnny Dam and Gary Cannon helped her immensely. With their help and comedic guidance, she performed at the Ontario Improv in front of 300 people. The audience received her well. Kymedienne realized that her true passion in life was comedy.

Kymedinne has a fun playful way with the audience and audiences love her. She is fantastically entertaining, bubbly and very confident. She has a dramatic stage presence filled with laughter and high energy. Kymedienne is a natural born entertainer, who knows exactly how to take control of a room and take command of an audience and she does it all with laughter. Kymedienne has performed for many of the hottest comedy clubs in and around greater Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco Bay Area and Las Vegas. Here are just of few of the major clubs where she has graced the stage: Ontario Improv, Laugh Factory, Comedy Store, Comedy Union, The J Spot, Flappers Comedy Club, The Ice House, Ha Ha Comedy Club, Pechanga, Win River Casino and Downtown Comedy Club she also has hosted Antelope Valley Gay Pride and 20% LA Works Festival

In 2008 Kymedienne started her acting career. She has one of the highest rated episodes on the Tru TV Network, with her staring role on Operation Repo. Her many television credits include: Real Husband of Hollywood, Mike and Molly, Rake, True Blood, Total Blackout, Tosh.O, The Doctors, 1000 Ways To Die and We The People With Gloria Allred. Kymedinne’s film credits include: Scout starring Danny Glover, Road to Redemption starting Akon, Last Cry, and Face of Evil.

A highlight for Kymedinne came when she was asked to appear in the music video “One”, by ‘Take 6’, the Grammy award winning Christian R&B singing group. The video featured Brian McKnight, Lil’ Fizz (of B2K) and Mr. Stevie Wonder.

In 2010 Kymedienne entered the world of Radio Broadcasting as Co-Host on “The Truth w/ Cocoa Brown Radio Show”, on Hollywood Outlaw Radio. Due to the success of the show, Kymedinne was appointed Guest Relations Manager for Cocobub Media Productions.

In 2013 Kymedienne stared in these four hysterical webisode Shorts, all of which she created, wrote and produced: For Real, Bill Collector, You a Pigeon, Ain’t Got Money For That. Kymedienne continues to write and produce brand new material as well as perform stand up comedy, which will always be her first love.

By Antonio Ray Harvey | California Black Media

Last week, hundreds of community leaders, advocates, and organizers representing labor, faith-based, Black, AAPI, Latinos, women and youth rally and march were held at the State Capitol. They were supporting Senate Bill (SB) 846, which aims to increase election turnout and remove barriers to voter registration for millions of Californians.

The California Grassroots Democracy Coalition, which is the largest voting rights coalition in California, has launched a campaign to enfranchise 4.7 million unregistered voters through SB 846. This bill, also known as the Motor Voter bill, was authored by state Senators Caroline Menjivar (D-Chino) and Monique Limón (D-Santa Barbara).

The coalition, which represents millions of Californians, has embarked on a multi-year campaign to expand the electorate to better reflect the state’s diversity. SB 846 is co-sponsored by three members of the California Black Legislative Caucus (CLBC) — Assemblymembers Tina McKinnor (D-Inglewood), Chris Holden (D-Pasadena), and Mike Gipson (D-Carson).

“For decades, grassroots organizations like ours have worked year-round, mobilizing voters, organizing immigrant communities, providing legal services, running advocacy campaigns, and building multi-racial, multi-issue coalitions,” said Stanette Dixon, volunteer coordinator from Congregations Organized for Prophetic Engagement. “We are coming together to advance a new vision for California’s democracy and dismantle racist barriers to civic participation that marginalize BIPOC, naturalized citizens, young, low-income, and low English proficiency voters.”

SB 846 is being reviewed in the Senate Appropriations Committee. The bill requires the Department of Motor Vehicles to transmit specified information to Secretary of State Shirley Weber for each person submitting a driver’s license application. To be eligible for voter registration or preregistration, these individuals must be United States citizens and of an eligible age.

Several states, including Alaska, Massachusetts, Oregon, Colorado, Delaware and the District of Columbia, have already passed similar legislation with overwhelmingly positive results. Members of the coalition and other supporters marched from the state capitol and circled the Secretary of State building twice at 10th and O streets in downtown Sacramento to rally support for the legislation.

SB 846 provides a path to 100% voter registration, supporters say.

“California is no stranger to making election improvements, from creating the first version of automatic voter registration, to making it possible for all registered voters to vote by mail. Now, we have the opportunity to take the next step in modernizing California’s elections,” Limón said in a statement. “SB 846 will broaden access to the ballot box for all eligible voters.”

Data shows that due to a lack of voter registration among traditionally hard-to-reach communities, California’s current voter population is unrepresentative of its demographic, Limón and Menjivar explain.

According to the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC), 82% of California’s adults are eligible to vote, but only 64% are registered. As a result, younger, lower income, less educated and state residents who are renters are underrepresented during elections.

Leveraging its voter engagement expertise with communities traditionally ignored by mainstream political campaigns, the California Grassroots Democracy Coalition (CGDC) says it promotes legislation that expands the electorate, builds up civic education, voter registration, and turnout in underrepresented communities, according to the group’s website.

CGDC comprises 140-plus grassroots organizations that are committed to helping California’s most vulnerable communities become empowered through pro-democracy reforms.  Organizations in the network have a range of priorities, including, criminal justice reform, immigrant rights, language access, low-income communities, environmental justice, religious rights, labor unions, etc.

Julius Thibodeaux, Executive Director for Movement 4 Life, spoke about his experience as a person who was formerly incarcerated and how it affected his access to voting.  He also discussed the importance of investing in the development, health and wellbeing of youth in cities.

“In 2020, California voters restored voting rights for more than 50,000 people who are no longer incarcerated. But that’s only the first step,” Thibodeaux told California Black Media at the march and rally. “Now, the work begins to get folks informed, registered, and returning to the ballot box every fall and spring election.”

By Lou K Coleman

Oh, no you didn’t just ask “Why?” After all the warnings, the roadblocks I sent to stop you, to arrest your attention, to get you to turn around, you got the nerve to ask “Why?” You know “Why!” Over and over again, I have shown such long suffering towards you restraining My anger, giving you much time to repent and change your ways, but no, you want to sink deeper and deeper in sin and continue to do you. Claiming to be descendants of Abraham, enslaved to no one! If you were descendants of Abraham, you would have listened to Me, but you couldn’t even hear Me! You are the children of your father the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning, and he has always hated the truth because there is no truth in him. But you got the nerve to ask, “Why?” No need to ask “Why?” Disobedience always walks hand in hand with consequences. So just imagine spending ETERNITY with that on your mind! Imagine being in Hell for a million years and then thinking, “I didn’t have to come here! I could have received Christ! Oh, what a fool I was! If only I had not been so stubborn! If…if…if…!” That’s the shame of Hell: going there when you don’t have to go! Why? Why? Why?

I tell you, if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed, rather than having two hands, to go to hell…. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame, rather than having two feet, to be cast into hell…. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire— where ‘their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.’ [Mark 9:43-48].

People accuse God of being unfair in sending sinners to Hell. It is not God’s decision it is ours. We send ourselves to Hell through the decisions we make in this life. As [Ezekiel 33:4] states, “If the people hear the horn and ignore the warning and the enemy comes and takes them, they will be responsible for their own deaths. The decision is YOUR’S, not God’s. God made His decision over 2000 years ago when He gave His Only Begotten Son to die as a payment for your sins. So, if you go to Hell, you will go AGAINST God’s will. Because you chose to reject God. You harden your heart, you didn’t want to hear about Jesus, and you ignored all the ways God tried to reach you throughout your entire life. So don’t be asking why when you know why. God has no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn from your evil ways; for why will ye die. [Ezekiel 33:11]. You have been given a second chance; Go and sin no more. Lest a worse thing come upon you. [John 5:14].

I command thee this day to love the Lord thy God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the Lord thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it. But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them; I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it… [Deuteronomy 30:14-20]. This is your Exodus! Repent and live!

By Lue Dowdy | LUE Productions

Calling all my old school music lovers. The Bromatics along with a few other amazing acts will be hitting the stage on Saturday, July 1, at 6:30 p.m. at the Haven City Rancho Market, located at 8443 Haven Avenue in Rancho Cucamonga.

Get ready as Stone Gas Entertainment Production presents the Inland Empire’s Old School 70’s Summer Jam featuring the BROMATICS-Performing Motown Hits. There will be Special performances by: The Five Tempting Men; The SoulTones -Harold Melvins Blue Notes; Melodik-singing the hits of the Marvelettes; and Kim Caffey-A Gladys Knight Tribute.

Doors Open at 5:00 p.m., and the red carpet will be provided and hosted by LUE PRODUCTIONS. We are looking forward to seeing you there with your dancing shoes on!

You may purchase your tickets on Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/inland-empires-old-school-70s-summer-jam-tickets-634369806167?aff=ebdssbdestsearch

By Antonio Ray Harvey| California BlackMedia

In California, an increasing number of Japanese, Jewish and other non-Black groups are expressing their support for reparations to Black American residents of the state who are descendants of enslaved people.

Around 100 grassroot organizations, motivated in part by the efforts of the Japanese American Bar Association and John M. Langston Bar Association of Los Angeles, have endorsed the work of the task force, and are calling on California to compensate Black residents for historical wrongdoings.

Donald Tamaki, an attorney, and the only non-Black member of the nine-member state reparations task force panel, stated that the groups supporting the task force are mostly Asian, Latino and Jewish.

“They didn’t need whole lot of persuasion,” Tamaki said. “Why? Because they know the healing power of reparations. I think that, in itself, is a news story: that there’s a multi-racial group of both big and small organizations representing different constituencies.”

The United States government has previously approved reparations for other ethnic groups to address historical injustices. For instance, Native Americans have been given billions of dollars in compensation for land that was unlawfully taken from them. Japanese Americans received billions in compensation and some of their property was returned for being placed in internment camps during World War II.

Many of the injustices experienced by Japanese Americans occurred after President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s issued Executive Order 9066 on Feb. 19, 1942, responding to Japan’s aerial bombing of U.S. Military installations at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on Dec.7, 1941.

In the months following the bombing of Pearl Harbor, approximately 122,000 men, women, and children of Japanese descent were forcibly relocated to “assembly centers.” Nearly 70,000 of these evacuees were American citizens. They were then evacuated to and confined in 75 isolated, fenced, and guarded “relocation centers,” known as “incarceration camps.”

According to the National Park Service (NPS), 92,785 Californians of Japanese descent were put in temporary detention camps called “Assembly Centers.” The cities of Sacramento, Los Angeles, Oakland, and San Francisco, metropolitans with the largest Japanese contingents, were incarcerated without legal recourse.

Japanese Americans were imprisoned based on ancestry alone. There was no evidence that they had committed any crimes against the U.S. or presented any danger, NPS explained in its “A History of Japanese Americans in California: Incarceration of Japanese Americans During World War II.”

Three Japanese Americans who were involved in and knowledgeable about the Japanese American Redress Movement (JARM) testified at the California reparations task force’s public meeting held in Los Angeles on Sept. 24, 2022. They educated attendees about efforts Japanese Americans made to obtain restitution for their forced removal and confinement during World War II.

Mitchell Maki (President and CEO of the Go for Broke National Education Center, a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving the legacy and lessons of the Nisei World War II veterans) and Ron Wakabayashi (former Executive Director, Japanese American Citizens League) provided historical context on how Japanese Americans achieved a rare accomplishment in U.S. history by passing the Civil Liberties Act of 1988.

They received an official apology letter from the President of the United States and 82,000 surviving Japanese Americans were compensated with $20,000 payments, which totaled to $1.6 billion. Executive Order 9066 was officially rescinded by U.S. President Gerald Ford on Feb. 16, 1976.

Miya Iwataki – a special assistant to former California Legislative Black Caucus (CLBC) member and U.S. Congressmember Mervyn Dymally who represented the state’s 31^st District in Congress during the 1980s – was a member of the National Coalition for Redress/Reparations for Japanese Americans.

Iwataki says she drew inspiration from the activism of Black leaders like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Black Panther Party member Fred Hampton, the Tuskegee Airmen, the Brown Berets, among others. She explained that it was Black leaders such as Dymally and former Oakland mayor and U.S. Congress member Ron Dellums who supported the passage of the Civil Liberties Act.

Maki, Iwataki, Wakabayashi and other Nisei (second-generations Japanese Americans) and Sansei (third generation) are urging the state to compensate Black descendants of chattel slavery and provide a formal apology for harms suffered in California.

“First, I want to acknowledge the difference in our fight for reparations for the injustice of the (incarceration) camps and the 400 years history of enslaved people,” Iwataki testified. “We’re not here to make recommendations or to prescribe lessons learned. I am here to share the experiences of NCRR and all volunteer grassroot organizations that fought for reparations and to express our continued solidarity for Black reparations.”

In September 2022, the San Francisco Black and Jewish Unity Coalition held reparations teach-ins at Congregation Sherith Israel in San Francisco. Secretary of State Shirley Weber, who authored the legislation, Assembly Bill 3121, that created the task force when she was an Assemblymember, was one of the speakers.

Congregation B’nai Israel hosted a 90-minute reparations information session in Sacramento on June 11. Presented by Sacramento Jewish opera singer Lynn Berkeley-Baskin, over 20 people – Jewish and Japanese — attended the event to hear Chris Lodgson from the Coalition for a Just and Equitable California share his experiences as one of the grassroots leaders driving California’s movement for reparations.

Germany has openly acknowledged past aggressions committed during the Holocaust. According to a June 202 report by Steven J. Ross in the Jewish publication the Forward, the German government has paid out $92 billion to Holocaust survivors over seven decades. In the United States, the country has “failed to reckon with the consequences of centuries of slavery,” Ross writes.

“As laws advancing revisionist history sweep our nation’s state legislatures, Americans who favor a national reckoning with our own complicated past would do well to take a lesson from Germany,” writes Steven J. Ross, a history professor at the University of Southern California (USC).

“If we want to truly heal as a nation, we must first acknowledge both the long history of slavery and the pain its legacy still causes – and take tangible steps to right our collective wrongs,” Ross stated.

The task force will hold its final meeting and submit its final report to the California legislature on June 29.

The meeting will start at 9:00 a.m., in the First Floor Auditorium of the March Fong Eu Secretary of State Building, located at 1500 11th Street, downtown Sacramento.

“If there are helpful takeaways from our experience, I hope that they will contribute,” Wakabayashi said of Japanese Americans’ fight for reparations. “It would help repay a great debt. The Black civil rights movement generated the Japanese American Redress Campaign and led the struggle for human rights in this country.”

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

Two bills aimed at equipping K-12 students with the ability to discern between accurate and false news — and teach them media literacy, more broadly – are currently progressing through the California legislature.

Assembly Bill (AB) 873, authored by Assemblymember Marc Berman (D-Menlo Park), and AB 787  by Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel (D-Woodland) would mandate that schools in California offer instruction at every grade level to promote a more informed and civically engaged society.

As of June 7, both AB 873 and AB 787 are pending review on the Senate floor and have been referred to the Education Committee.

“Children today are being inundated by misinformation and disinformation on social media networks and digital platforms,” Berman said in a May statement. “The last few years have been a terrifying wake-up call to the insidious nature of online misinformation, from jeopardizing public health, to threatening the foundation of our democracy, to dangerously rewriting history. Anyone who spends much time on social media could greatly benefit from media literacy training.”

Media literacy, also known as information literacy, develops students’ critical thinking skills around all types of media platforms and instructs students to evaluate online information that affects them, their communities, and the world.

AB 873 intends to direct the  Instructional Quality Commission (IQC) to incorporate media literacy content into the English language arts/English language development, science, mathematics, and history-social science curriculum frameworks when those frameworks are next revised.

A growing number of states are now requiring schools to educate students in media and information literacy, including New Jersey, Illinois, and Delaware.

“This bill is an important step to help ensure young people are equipped with the relevant media and informational literacy skills so critical in the 21st century,” said Nicholas Harvey, K-12 Policy Director for Generation Up.

AB 787 would require, on or before January 1, 2025, the State Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) Tony Thurmond, in consultation with the State Board of Education, to survey teacher librarians, principals, and technology directors to monitor how they are currently integrating digital citizenship and media literacy education into their curriculum.

AB 787 would also require Thurmond to share the results of the survey with an advisory committee consisting of specified representatives.

A 2022 Pew Research Report found that the number of teens who use the internet at least once a day has increased by 5% since 2014-2015.  Many of these teens are active on popular social media platforms such as Twitter, Tik Tok, Snapchat, Facebook, and Instagram. Currently, 97% of teens report using the internet daily, compared with 92% in 2014-15.

Pew Research Center reports from 2018 and 2022 also found that 95% of teens have access to smartphones, and 45% are online more frequently. In addition, the reports stated that 56% of Black teens are online, compared to 55% Latinos, and 37% of White teens.

“If these practices are important and salient to our youth, then it is critically relevant for educators to acknowledge this insight as they teach, and for researchers to write about studies in humanizing ways,” according to a January 2023 International Literacy report titled, “Normalizing Black Students/Youth and their Families’ Digital and STEAM Literacies.”

Common Sense Media’s California policy manager Kami Peer, a nonprofit focused on youth and media, told the Napa Valley Register that Berman’s and Gabriel’s legislation would change the way student’s use the media to obtain information and handle ever-changing digital tools.

“We believe these two bills, if signed into law, would bring California to the forefront of this important policy area and ensure our students are well-equipped to face the rapidly evolving digital, online landscape,” Peer said.

By Jordon Culberson

Having an opportunity to watch live sports in person such as Basketball, Football, and Baseball is cool, but seeing Professional Wrestling is even better.

You heard it here folks! There is professional wrestling in the Inland Empire, and it’s called the Empire Wrestling Federation, produced by Commissioners Frank Mott and Jesse Hernandez.

The two commissioners produced a wonderful and excellent 27th Anniversary Show at the Alosta Brewery Company in West Covina California on Saturday, May 6, 2023.

Now after that wonderful event, lucky for all of us in the empire, they will be producing two stupendous upcoming events.

The first event will be “Pro Wrestling Lucha Libre: Bad Guys Have All the Fun”, which will be located at the VFW (Veteran Foreign Wars) 8737 Post, 2018 Foothill Blvd, San Bernardino California, 92410 on Saturday June 17 at 7 p.m.

General Admission tickets are $10.00 for children 12 and under and $20.00 for ages 13 and up. It will be an outdoor event, great barbecue, and night for the family will enjoy.

Many wrestlers who will be present at the event will be EWF American Heavyweight Champion, Michael Bad Wolf who defending his championship against EWF World Tag Team Champion Tio Chulo, former EWF American Heavyweight Champion, El Vato Loco, Erick Rojas who will square off against a student from New Japan Pro Wrestling, the “Lone Ranger”, and lastly, we will see the “Double Wide and Dignified King” Trailer King face off against “Beef” David “Flex” McCallion in a Grudge match.

To end the night, there will also be a World Title match between the challenger, Allan Breeze and the World Champion the “Succulent Eye Candy” Richie Slade.

Now if you want to meet those wrestlers, but don’t have the time or money to make the event no worries!

Another event will be held on Wednesday June 28th, 2023, at 6 p.m. at the Riverside Christian Assembly, in Jurupa Valley, California titled, “Pro Wrestling Lucha Libre: Belltown Brawl”.

General Admission for the event is free entry along with providing the front desk with a valid
e-mail address, and the only thing to pay for is food, drinks, and merchandise.

So, what are you waiting for? Go to one of these amazing events and enjoy yourself!