WSSN Stories

By Lou K Coleman-Yeboah

They wouldn’t listen, they wouldn’t see, they wouldn’t believe, and now they can’t!

Like the Old Testament Israelites and the Jews of Jesus’ day, He said, “It’s too late! Judgment is already in motion, because you wouldn’t listen, you wouldn’t see, you wouldn’t believe, and now you can’t.

Understand, God allows all nations to “go their own way. [Acts 14:16]. Both Isaiah’s generation and Jesus’ generation “had their opportunities, but for both it became too late. The whole system ended because they wouldn’t listen, they wouldn’t see, they wouldn’t believe. Don’t let that be said about you. Pay attention! Give the more earnest heed to the things you have heard, lest you drift away.” For this is the declaration of the Lord of Hosts; “Beware, I am against you.” I will make your chariots go up in smoke and the sword will devour your young lions. I will cut off your prey from the earth, and the sound of your messengers will never be heard again” [Nahum 2:13].

Many people, having heard all their lives about the grace and mercy of God, take His grace for granted. They decide on courses and actions which they know are contrary to God’s will, but figure that “God will forgive me anyway” and plunge foolishly into their rebellious way. They assume there will be no lasting damage once they are forgiven. Oh, how wrong you are. For you know that even afterwards, when he [Esau] desired to inherit the blessings, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought for it with tears.” [Hebrews 12:17]. Let this verse be a sobering reminder that there are times when it is too late to reverse the damage done by your decisions. Do not take God’s grace for granted. The Lord will utter his voice and the impact will be terrific in this generation, so said Amos.

Just look around, the events happening around the world, these events are not random. They are not “natural disasters.” They are acts of God. “These trails are a wake-up call, and they are a foretaste of the greater and final judgment still to come. “Do not be deceived! Judgment is already in motion. Wake up!

They would not accept my counsel; they spurned all my reproof. So, they shall eat of the fruit of their own way and be satiated with their own devices. For the waywardness of the naive will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them. But whoever listens to me will dwell safely, and will be secure, without fear of evil.” [Proverbs 1:30-33].

Business owners in San Francisco say they remain vulnerable to fraudulent ADA lawsuits which have targeted more than 35,000 businesses statewide.

By Selen Ozturk

Last April, the San Francisco and Los Angeles District Attorneys sued San Diego law firm Potter Handy, LLC for filing allegedly fraudulent disability lawsuits with over 300 businessowners in SF and over 36,397 businessowners statewide since 2010.

Since San Francisco Superior Court Judge Curtis Karnow dismissed the DA suit last August, however, nothing has changed to protect these businessowners from being fraudulently sued for millions more.

At least 20 businesses in the Inner Richmond neighborhood and over 100 in Chinatown were sued by Potter Handy around mid-2021 to mid-2022. Many of these businesses were not even certified as ADA compliant, or were sued over violations they could not possibly have committed.

For example, Amanda Yan — owner of Hon’s Wun-Tun House on Kearny Street in Chinatown — was sued in April 2021 for serving food at outdoor tables too low for wheelchairs, at a time when she only served takeout.

Targeting immigrant and minority owned businesses.

To gain quick settlements of $10,000-$20,000, the law firm particularly pressured businesses owned by immigrants and minorities unable to afford legal defense. Under the joint DA lawsuit, the firm would have had to pay over $30 million to refund settlements made in the Northern District of California alone, by conservative estimates.

Filed by former SF District Attorney Chesa Boudin and George Gascón of LA, the 58-page document stated that over 800 federal cases statewide were filed by Potter Handy plaintiff Orlando Garcia; over 1,700 by Brian Whitaker; and thousands more by other “Serial Filers” — chiefly Scott Johnson, who filed over 4,000 since 2010.

Given that this averages to a case daily for 11 years, the DAs alleged that “it is literally impossible for the Serial Filers to have personally encountered each listed barrier, let alone to intend to return to hundreds of businesses located hundreds of miles away from their homes .”

A Potter Handy attorney accused the DAs of exploiting the situation while they both faced recall threats. In his dismissal, Judge Karnow said that California’s “litigation privilege” covered the firm, “irrespective of the maliciousness or untruthfulness.”

Morgan Mapes — president of the Clement Street Merchants Association; secretary of the citywide Council of District Merchants Associations; and owner of Clement Street vintage shop Golden Hour — had her shop sued by Garcia for $40,000 in November 2021.

Mapes said Garcia “was quadriplegic with cerebral palsy. All pictures and information were scrubbed from the internet. About seven months later we settled for $20,000, maybe $25,000 with lawyer’s fees … We were holding on by a thread already, coming out of the pandemic.”

ADA compliance

The Potter Handy suits were filed under the Americans with Disabilities Act, which protects disabled people from discrimination, including prevention of access to publicly open facilities. Passed under George H.W. Bush in 1990, no agency (and no new tax) was created for the act; per Congress, ADA enforcement remained with individuals “acting as private attorneys general” and imposed no financial penalty for violations, only injunctive relief.

However, Potter Handy often paired its federal claims with state claims under California’s 1959 Unruh Civil Rights Act, which prohibits disability-based discrimination and allows plaintiffs to sue for a minimum of $4,000 per violation.

“You can’t have a city with infrastructure built before these civil laws were put into place and expect tenants to bear the weight,” said Mapes. “I think it should be common practice for landlords to take more infrastructural responsibility. If I put in a table that’s too tall or my fitting rooms aren’t up to code, that’s on me, but stairs or an entry ramp on the landlord.”

“The city needs to subsidize some accessibility costs,” she said. “As a queer black woman, it’s a prickly situation rallying against a civil rights issue, but this seems extortive. The vast majority of these businesses are minority-owned.”

‘They’ll keep suing’

Jimmy Hsu, who owns four businesses on Clement Street by Fourth Avenue — The Wishing Well Workshop (with his partner Jake Savas); So Fresh So Clean Laundry; Kinship Salon & Barber (with his wife); and Blue Danube Coffee House — had his salon and cafe sued.

Hsu said “Brian Whitaker complained that the salon’s doorknob was ADA noncompliant. I don’t even have a doorknob, it’s a push door! I split that $10,000 settlement with my landlord since they sued him too. I paid $10,000 myself with the cafe; they said our moveable A-frame sign was blocking the door. I posted handicap inspection signs on my businesses because they tried to sue all four and settle for $4,000 each.”

Another store on his block, Home Hardware True Value, nearly closed when they were sued in 2022 for closely-packed aisles that were impossible to properly widen.

“I had to tell to hire a lawyer,” said Hsu. “It’s the only deterrent you have, otherwise they’ll keep suing. I’m an Asian immigrant too — most of the mom ‘n’ pops here are run by those without the time or resources to defend themselves, so they settle.”

Nor did this pattern begin, for Hsu, with Potter Handy. In 2005, Patrick Connally — a disabled man who was president of San Rafael-based nonprofit DREES (Disability Rights, Enforcement, Education, Services) and, later, a KUSF radio host — threatened to sue Blue Danube for bathroom violations.

“That building was built in 1934,” said Hsu. “I did all I could with my money and space — door adjustments, handlebars — and paid an attorney to use his letterhead for a reply thanking .”

Hsu said “I think the city, state, or federal government should have some oversight body to disbar these firms from making so many fraudulent accusations. If you settle with 100 stores in Chinatown for a low $10,000, you make a clean million. What’s the downside?”

While this wave of fraudulent lawsuits remains unresolved, SF small businessowners already face another.

Between last November and February 23, 179 businesses received Department of Building Inspection complaints — particularly minority-owned shops in Chinatown, the Tenderloin, and the Inner Richmond, including Mapes’ Golden Hour — regarding unpermitted awnings or storefront gates. Over that period the previous year, five complaints were filed.

Mayor Breed has been working with the Board of Supervisors to write a law which would deprioritize non-urgent enforcement and create an amnesty program for awning owners who don’t have a permit, which can cost up to $3,000.

Nevertheless, Hsu remains skeptical: “The fault’s with a judicial system that allows this greed, but it’s just part of running a business in San Francisco now, isn’t it?”

Above: The Blue Danube Cafe in San Francisco was one of hundreds of businesses hit by fraudulent ADA lawsuits last year.

LOS ANGELES, CA— Essential Health Access welcomes Roger B. Sweis to their Executive Leadership Team as a Chief Financial Officer. Roger will lead the Essential Health finance team in fulfilling the commitment to equity in expanding and protecting sexual and reproductive health care for all.

Roger is an award-winning Chief Financial Officer with 20 years of leadership experience. In his career, he has helped mission-driven organizations take their operations to the next level. He is a Founder/Co-Founder of 13 social enterprise organizations and special assistant to founders of over 100 organizations, nonprofits, and real estate investment groups with a proven track record of successful government grant and contract management.

As Essential Access Health’s CFO, Roger will lead and oversee the organization’s financial, accounting, tax compliance, employee benefits, contracts, and facilities. He will be responsible for the strategic leadership of the finance, accounting, and administrative functions, and provide financial strategy, budget management and forecasting needs to the organization. This drives the Essential Access mission to advance health equity through a wide range of programs and services including clinic support initiatives, provider training, advanced clinical research, advocacy and public awareness campaigns.

Most recently, Roger served as the CFO of Community Health Councils in Los Angeles. In this role, he successfully managed a multidisciplinary team and the organization’s first large-scale federal audit. In addition, he led business process improvements in the HR, IT and Legal & Compliance divisions to help navigate 300% growth in revenue. Roger has also held CFO positions for organizations like Startup For America, SmarterHealth.io and The Wheelhouse Project, in addition to serving as Executive Vice President or Co-Founder.

Team awards Roger has been recognized with include American Health Data Conference’s Top 5 AHIMA Startup of the Year, Robinhood Foundation’s Social Impact Award and PepsiCo Challenge’s Innovation Grant Award.

Roger received his bachelor’s degree in finance and psychology from the University of Illinois. He received his master’s degree in business administration with a concentration in Finance & Entrepreneurship from the University of Chicago, where he was a Capstone Award Recipient. Roger is a founding team member of Impact Hub Nashville and a member of the Nashville Social Enterprise Alliance and Disruptive Innovation.

For more information on Essential Access Health, please visit www.essentialaccess.org.

By Jasmyne A. Cannick

I do not get triggered easily. However, the Pepper Tree Elementary students in Upland, Calif. who say they were subjected to racist bullying managed to trigger random memories of my own childhood, as I am sure it did for many Black adults who went to predominately white institutions (PWI) for grade school.

As a young Gen Xer, it’s funny the things I can remember and the things I cannot (IYKYK).
I don’t remember much from my elementary school days during the 80s in Hermosa Beach, but I do remember that my best friend lived up the street from me, was white, and her name was Jeanette. I remember she came from a fairly large family?—?I think they were from Texas. And I remember that her family reminded me of the Beverly Hillbillies.

Let me preface all of this with, I didn’t know anything about racism as a child other than the carefully curated Black History we were taught?—?and that wasn’t much. The first 12 years of my life were very sheltered. Now I am sure my parents have their stories about being one of less than a handful of Black families in Hermosa Beach during the 80s, but whatever they endured, as a kid, I was oblivious to it. And for a time?—?maybe too long of a time?—?I thought I was just like all of the other kids at my school.

However, back to Jeanette and me. I don’t remember why Jeanette and I became such great friends, but we did. Her parents were always nice to me, and I remember that whenever they went out to dinner at Norm’s or Bob’s Big Boy, I was always invited to go along and vice-versa.

Jeanette had big brothers and kids back then and used to like to get into things. I remember one night, for no particular reason, her brothers decided they were going to “break in” to our local elementary school. And for context, breaking in just meant sliding through the gate. This was the 80s in Hermosa Beach, after all. I was spending the night at Jeanette’s, and we wanted to tag along, and they let us. I remember it was dark, and we were running across Prospect Ave., and I heard her brother say something to the effect, “Damn Jasmyne, you’re as Black as the sky.”

We all laughed, me included. I didn’t know any better. I didn’t think he was being racist at the time because I didn’t even have a concept of racism. Maybe he didn’t either, but looking back now, it was definitely a very racist thing to say.

While I can’t remember one minute after I put a pot of water on to boil for tea or where my keys are (IYKYK), I can somehow remember that comment from Jeanette’s brother 35 years ago. Now, of course, today, it doesn’t sit right with me, but I used this example to show how racism?—?even subconsciously?—?has a way of staying with us long after the incident and into adulthood.

That’s why when I heard the story of the Ethiopian 6th grader at Pepper Tree Elementary School in Upland, California, being given a “Golden N-Word Pass,” it enraged me. He didn’t even know what the n-word meant. He just thought it was a means to an end to stop being bullied for being Black.

Believe it or not?—?using the n-word as a term of endearment is an African-American thing?—?not an African or Black thing. So being an Ethiopian, as a child, he didn’t know what the n-word meant exactly. He just thought that if he signed it, he would stop being bullied. He had to go home and ask his mom what the n-word meant. His mother told reporters that she herself didn’t know what the “n-word” was and had to Google it.

“You might think I know that but from the country where I came from n-word means?—?it’s an alphabet for me,” said Kabene Gabremariam. “So I have to go ahead and Google that and I have to learn what the meaning of which really breaks my heart.”

Similarly, listening to 13-year-old Chloe Jenkins recount her experience being the only Black person in her class and assigned to be a slave in an American Revolution reenactment triggered another experience that I still can remember. I was a slave during a reenactment of a slave auction at Will Rogers Middle School in Lawndale. In fact, I can even remember that my friend Mitzie was the auctioneer.

But that was in the 80s, and it’s 2023. And while it wasn’t appropriate back then, I would like to think that we’ve made some progress?—?but it seems that we haven’t made enough.

Why is this still happening to Black children? I am not the world’s leading expert on child welfare or parenting, I don’t even have kids. That said, no one can convince me that the children involved in the racist bullying at Pepper Tree Elementary didn’t learn this behavior from the adults around them. Kids, especially those of the age involved in the bullying, have not been alive long enough to develop the kind of hatred they are displaying. They mimic the language and behavior they see and hear at home. Whether subconsciously or consciously, what we have is a situation where if this goes unchecked, these same children are going to turn into the same type of racist adults found in our schools and police departments today that we continue to work to expose and eradicate.

And it goes both ways.

I can remember driving in South L.A. some years ago with my then-kindergarten-aged godson. Something happened with another driver, and I must have said something aloud about it, because he quipped, unsolicited, mind you, “Stupid Mexicans!”

I was so shocked, and looking in the rearview mirror, I asked him where he learned that, and he said that’s what his mom always says. He learned that day from me, that was not something he should ever say?—?even if his parents say it.

I’m telling you, kids are like little sponges soaking up everything happening around them.

It’s hard to expect a child not to be a racist when their parents have given them the green light, literally and figuratively. If you ask me, having a racist parent as a child should be considered a form of maltreatment if it isn’t already. Child abuse is not just physical violence. It is any form of maltreatment by an adult, which is violent or threatening to the child, including emotional abuse that harms a child’s emotional well-being. I’d argue that being raised by a racist harms a child’s emotional well-being.

It’s sad to know that all of these years later, this is still happening in our schools. However, I am proud of the Black students at Pepper Tree Elementary for stepping forward publicly about the abuse they’ve endured from other children. But the onus is not on them to fix the situation. It’s on the parents of the bullies, teachers, and administrators who allowed this situation to fester and get to the point it is now. We know from the suicides of 10-year-old Seven Bridges in Kentucky and, more recently, 10-year-old Isabella “Izzy” Tichenor in Utah, that bullying is real and has real effects and consequences, whether verbalized or not, on children. Bullying cannot be left unchecked.

The students and parents at Pepper Tree Elementary are doing the right thing by exposing the racism and the bullying and, in doing so, are setting an example and adding to the playbook for other Black children and their parents on how to go up against Goliath (their schools)?—?and win.

Jasmyne Cannick is a Gen X award-winning journalist and on-air contributor in Los Angeles. She writes and talks about the collisions at the intersection of politics, race, and social issues. She’s online at iamjasmyne.com.

This oped can be link to online here.

By Antonio Ray Harvey | California Black Media

This past weekend, the California Task Force to Study and Develop Reparations Proposals for African Americans received insight on how the state government might implement recommendations the panel submits in its final proposal due before July 1.

Chas Alamo, the principal fiscal and policy analyst at the California Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO), appeared remotely in front of the panel as an expert witness during the two-day meeting held March 3 in Sacramento.

Alamo offered “several paths that could be possible for ultimate recommendations” by the task force to “flow through the Legislature and become state law” and how they can “apply” to the creation of the proposed California American Freedman Affairs Agency (CAFAA). The agency, if approved, would oversee compensation the state authorizes to Black California residents who are descendants of enslaved people in the United States.

The LAO is a non-partisan office overseen by the Joint Legislative Budget Committee (JLBC), a 16-member bipartisan team. It is the “eyes and ears” of the State Legislature ensuring that the executive branch is implementing legislative policy in a cost-efficient and effective manner. Its biggest responsibility is analyzing the Governor’s annual budget.

Alamo explained to the task force how the recommendations they make will likely become state policy.

“The creation of a new agency would be initiated through the governor’s executive branch and reorganization process, but other options exist,” Alamo said. “Regardless of the path, to initiate a new agency or enact any other recommendation that makes changes to state law, fundamentally both houses from the state Legislature would have to approve the action and the governor will have to sign it.

During discussions at the Sacramento meeting, the task force began the process of clearly defining CAFAA’s role, focusing on adding clarity to the agency’s mission as overseer for other entities offering reparations in the form of assistance to Californians who qualify.

After a two-hour spirited debate at the meeting – the 13th convening of the task force so far — all nine-members agreed that CAFAA that would have specified powers and its structure would include an administrative body that guides implementation.

“The proposed entity would be an agency, independent agency, that would provide services where they don’t presently exist (and) provide oversight to existing (state) agencies,” task force chair Kamilah V. Moore said.

Khansa “Friday Jones” Jones-Muhammad, is the vice president of the Los Angeles Reparations Advisory Commission. CBM photo by Antonio Ray Harvey.

CAFAA would facilitate claims for restitution and would set up a branch to process claims with the state and assist claimants in proving eligibility through a “genealogy” department, the task force members said. A commitment to assisting with the implementation and operation of policies and programs being considered for recommendation would also be in the purview of the agency.

The concept of CAFAA is based on the defunct federal Freedman’s Bureau. On March 3, 1865, Congress passed “An Act to establish a Bureau for the Relief of Freedmen and Refugees.” The bureau’s main objective was to provide food, shelter, clothing, medical services, and land to newly freed African Americans.

Ward Connerly, the African American political activist who led the ballot initiative that outlawed Affirmative Action in California in 1996, Proposition (Prop) 209, told FOX News one day after the task force’s Sacramento meeting that offering reparations was a “bad” and a “goofy idea.”

Connerly, former President of the California Civil Rights Initiative Campaign, has made objections to reparations for about a year now as California gets closer than any government in United States history to making amends for historical injustices committed against Black Americans.

“California is a progressive state but we’re not insane,” Connerly told FOX News on March 5. “So, I think that people of this state would rise up and say ‘no.’”

The two-day meeting in Sacramento was held at the Byron Sher Auditorium at the California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA) in downtown Sacramento. Both days attracted crowds, mainly comprised of interested individuals and groups from Southern California and the San Francisco Bay Area.

Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg attended the second day of the meeting. Steinberg is one of 11 mayors who pledged to pay reparations for slavery to Black residents in their cities.

Similar to efforts in Los Angeles, Oakland, San Francisco, and Richmond, Sacramento is focused on developing a municipal reparations initiative through the city’s ongoing Sacramento Centered on Racial Equity (SCORE) initiative.

“I wholeheartedly support reparations and think everyone should,” Steinberg told the task force panel on March 4. “If government should stand for anything, it should stand for investing in communities and people who have been the victims of discrimination and disenfranchisement for far too long.”

A participant stands and waits to give public comment at the March 4 Reparations Task Force meeting in Sacramento. CBM photo by Antonio Ray Harvey.

The task force also recommended “appropriate ways” to educate the public about the task force’s findings and future reparations actions by the state.

The charge calls for building a collective base of knowledge to inform racially diverse communities in California about reparations, appealing to different ways of learning, expanding task force discussions into mainstream conversations, and inspiring reflection and action among all residents of California.

Task force members Dr. Cheryl Grills and Don Tamaki presented the proposal.

The next two-day task force will return to Sacramento at the end of March. For more information on the next meeting, visit the California Department of Justice’s website.

NEW YORK, NY— Patrick Cupid, an emerging, self-made contemporary fashion designer, unveils “Letting Go,” his ninth collection for the Fall – Winter 2023 collection. “Letting Go” celebrates the freedom of self-release from social conformity and embracing the simple joys of life through personal aesthetics.

The collection forgoes trends for a more classic approach in a focused manner that reflects the individual. Exploring the autumn of self-discovery by shedding the concepts that aren’t representative of the self while expressing a style that begins to define who you are. The collection will debut in Paris March 5, 2023.

“Letting Go” collection highlights the colors Midnight Blue to reminisce the wildness of New York’s nightlife. The colors Dalila, Electrified Orange, and Cream demonstrate a floating symphony and elegant wave of colors. These colors with floral prints will provide a bold look for the fall and winter.

The Fall – Winter 2023 Collection will integrate designs containing long flowy dresses with seductive cuts in silk material. This collection will also incorporate textured wool, that will top the look off. These designs are hand-crafted providing a chic look. To allow for a nostalgic feel.

“True style is innate and not fabricated. It is a defining characteristic that speaks in a quiet voice not related to trends but to the individual,” says Fashion Designer Patrick Cupid.

The following high-end boutique stores will carry his luxury designs: CityGirl Atelier (San Francisco, CA), Felt (Chicago, IL), EJ On Thames (Newport, Rhode Island), Sandy Glam Boutique (Rhode Island), De-Essentia (Charlotte, N. C.), Shop Boutique (South Carolina), Affaire Estrangers (Paris, France), Wolf And Badger (London, Britain).

For more information about Patrick Cupid, please visit www.patrickcupid.com, email info@patrickcupid.com and (212) 748-7302.

About Fashion Designer Patrick Cupid:

Patrick Cupid is an emerging, self-made contemporary designer fashion brand that plays the formality of elegance against the ease of elevated sportswear, enveloping a cosmopolitan instinct. The first collection, “All in Jest,” started a conversation around independent style without social restrictions in Fall 2019.

The brand tells a story of independence and evolving culture through clothing seamlessly translating from professional to social. Each collection features a custom print designed by Patrick Cupid himself, emphasizing the seasons’ concept’s philosophy.

By Lou K Coleman

“Going through your daily life and your daily routines acting as you know that you have tomorrow promised to you. You act like there is time to waste and things can wait. You put off the things of Me and you only concern yourselves with the things of this world. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. “Walk Circumspectly, Not as Fools, but as Wise.” Because I tell you, things are going to change dramatically. Do not be one of those who I have to turn away when all is said and done. Time is of the essence. [Psalms 39:4-6; 90:12]. Do not delay! You must get yourself together if you are going to be able to survive what is coming. Turn from your procrastination! Do what I’ve told you to do, and do not waste any more time! You’ve been warned! I, the LORD, have spoken! The time has come, and I won’t hold back. I will not change my mind, and I will have no pity on you. Therefore, “Walk Circumspectly Not as Fools, But as Wise!”

Listen, the Bible is actually very clear about what is coming. We are living in a very troubling time in this world. The world conditions have escalated from confusion to chaos. In Revelation God gives us three different accounts of the end time. These are given in the Seals, the Trumpets, and the Vials. Heed the warning as we near the Rapture and Great Tribulation prophesied in the Book of Revelation. For there is only one place to be safe and that is in Christ. So, consider today with some urgency your eternal life. With as much going on in our society and in the world today, tomorrow is not promised. “Walk Circumspectly Not as Fools, But as Wise!”

And he went into the synagogue and spoke boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading concerning the things of the kingdom of God. But when some were hardened and did not believe, but spoke evil of the Way before the multitude, he departed from them and withdrew the disciples. [Acts 19:8-10]. It then became too late!

By Tanu Henry and Maxim Elramsisy | California Black Media

On February 28 in Oakland, the California Black Freedom Fund (CBFF) hosted an event titled “Strengthening Democracy and Building Black Futures” followed by a reception for guests who attended.

The event included two panel discussions centered around the need for philanthropy to commit resources to building and sustaining a just, racially diverse, equitable and inclusive civil society.

“Civil society is the basis upon which you have a democracy, and civil society needs to be informed. It needs to be about achieving something. It needs to reflect the broader society,” said Angela Glover Blackwell, Founder in Residence, Policy Link, who presented during one of the panel discussions.

CBFF is a “five-year, $100 million initiative to ensure that Black power-building and movement-based organizations have the sustained investments and resources they need to eradicate systemic and institutional racism,” according to the organization’s website.

In April 2022, CBFF named Marc Philpart its Executive Director, a leader with broad experience in social advocacy working with grassroots and community organizations.

Panelists at the event included Blackwell; author Steve Phillips (Brown Is the New White); Lateefah Simon (president of the Meadow Fund); James Herard (Executive Director of Lift Up Contra Costa); Councilwoman Tamisha Torres-Walker (District 1 Antioch City Council); Kavon Ward (CEO/Founder of Where Is My Land); and James Woodson (Executive Director of California Black Power Network.

By Tanu Henry and Maxim Elramsisy | California Black Media

It was a history-making moment as Malia M. Cohen was inaugurated the 33rd California State Controller at Los Angeles City Hall on February 23. During the swearing-in, she was flanked by her husband Warren Pulley while Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass administered the oath.

As California’s chief fiscal officer and top accountant, the State Controller’s office is an independent watchdog overseeing the disbursement of state and local funds, including one of the nation’s largest public pension funds.

Cohen, a San Francisco native will be the first Black person, and second woman Controller, as the state continues to make an intentional effort to break gender and racial barriers. Two of the top four largest cities, Los Angeles, and San Francisco are led by Black women Mayors, Karen Bass and London Breed respectively, and the state also elected its first Black in Secretary of State, Shirley Weber, who previously served under an appointment by Gov. Newsom.

“Mayor Bass and Congresswoman Lee: I know that you know all too well, that no matter the campaign budget difference, no matter how much they outspend you, leadership can’t be bought,” Cohen said in her inaugural speech.

By Tanu Henry and Maxim Elramsisy | California Black Media

March is Women’s History Month, and several California organizations are celebrating trailblazing women making history in our state — whether it’s recognizing the record-setting number of women who are state constitutional officers or lauding the unprecedented number of women serving in the Legislature ((50 out of 120).

Last week, the Black Women’s Collective kicked off Women’s History Month with an event organized to help build an Economic Action Plan for Black Women. It brought together experts in policymaking, labor, economic development, and entrepreneurship.

“Black women serve as breadwinners in 80% of Black households in California with over 70% headed by single mothers,” said Kellie Todd Griffin, President and CEO, California Black Women’s Collective Empowerment Institute. Griffin was citing statistics from a report on the State of Black Women in California from 2018 and 2022.

“Typically, Black women have higher labor force participation rates than other women, meaning a higher share of Black women are either employed or unemployed and looking for work,” Griffin continued. “However, the economic safety net is not secure as Black Women makes less than most of their counterparts making .55 cents to White males, which is one of the lowest in the nation equally the wage gap in Mississippi. California falls short of the national rate at .63 cents.”

Panelists at the event included Los Angeles City Councilmember Heather Hutt (CD10); Yvonne Wheeler, President, Los Angeles County Federation of Labor; Tunua Thrash-Ntuk, President and CEO, Center by Lendistry; and Denise Pines, Co-Founder and CEO, Tea Botanics and Women in the Room Productions. Moderators were Griffin and Regina Wilson, Executive Director, California Black Media.