WSSN Stories

By Tanu Henry | California Black Media

Like her devotion to her Catholic faith, Brenda Harris’ willingness to help others, especially disadvantaged people, was consistent and rare, authentic in a way that drew everyone to her, friends and loved ones say.

On March 5, Harris, an outspoken advocate and civil servant who influenced state education policy, died after a brief illness. She was 71.

“I had the honor of knowing Brenda for over 35 years, dating back to when she was a senior advisor at the California Department of Education. She was an extraordinary individual, an expert policymaker in the field of education and a fearless civil rights advocate,” said Dotson Wilson, former Chief Clerk and Parliamentarian of the California Assembly.

“Whether she was speaking to aspiring young students, academicians or elected officials, Brenda remained steadfast in her goal to implement sound education policy,” Wilson continued. “I consider it an honor to have known her as a colleague and friend.”

Wilson, who was the longest serving African American in the State Assembly, retired in 2019 after 26 years.

Before becoming an Education Program Consultant at the California Department of Education, an advisor to the California State Board of Education and a Professor at Sacramento State University, Harris was an elementary, middle and high school teacher in San Francisco.

Harris, who was a resident of Sacramento when she passed, tutored students and taught classes at several after-school programs and community learning centers in Sacramento and the Bay Area.

When Harris was a teenager, her family moved to Marysville, California, a Yuba County town about 50 miles north of San Francisco. After graduating from high school in 1969, she attended Gonzaga University in Washington. Later, she transferred to the University of San Francisco (USF) in 1971, where she majored in Communications and Sociology.

“She looked up to her parents as role models, both of whom were active participants in the civil rights movement and had participated in the Montgomery Bus Boycott in the mid-1950s,” said Jack Weinrieb and Meghan Grant, two San Francisco educators who wrote a biography of Harris.

“Harris would listen to her parents discuss the inhumanity of racism, injustice, and discrimination and quickly learned about the importance of doing her part in social movements,” Weinreib and Grant continued. “Harris recalls that her mother instilled an understanding that underprivileged populations have similar struggles, no matter their race.”

While she was a student at USF, Harris became close to other Black students and participated in several social and political activities on campus and in nearby neighborhoods.

She worked in USF’s financial aid office and with the school’s Drama department. And she volunteered, lending her time to community organizations serving several disadvantaged city districts with large Black populations, including the Western Addition, Bayview–Hunters Point, Haight-Ashbury and the Fillmore.

Daniel Hahn, Sacramento’s first Black Chief of Police – who served from 2017 until the end of last year – said he was always impressed by how many people Harris knew and how committed she was to helping others.

“She was extremely engaged in making tomorrow better for all people,” he said. “She was constantly introducing me to people in the city and she was always encouraging me to carry out the things I believed in. She wasn’t just talk. She always followed through with her actions.”

Harris attended St. Ignatius Loyola church in Sacramento and taught classes at the church’s Center for Ignatian Spirituality.

“Gratitude is at the core of my existence. Ignatian Spirituality made me a global citizen. Living at this moment in world history, I am to share Ignatian Spirituality with a diverse ecumenical group globally,” Harris said in a statement on the center’s website.

Regina Wilson, Executive Director of California Black Media, said Harris loved the Black press.

“She always wanted to know what was happening in Black communities,” Wilson said. “She was a faithful supporter of Black-owned news outlets across the state.”

“For her, it was more than just representation. It was about informing people, educating people and improving lives,” Wilson said.

A memorial mass for Harris will be held at St. Ignatius Catholic Church in Sacramento at 10 a.m. on April l8.

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

In February, Gov. Gavin Newsom appointed Adetokunbo “Toks” Omishakin Secretary of the California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA).

Omishakin, 44, makes history as the first African American to serve in that cabinet-level position responsible for overseeing all state agencies that regulate and support transportation and administer services related to the sector.

“@CAgovernor want to express gratitude for new appt to Cabinet Secretary @CA_Trans_Agency,” Omishaken thanked the Governor in a Twitter post after his nomination was announced in February.

“Looking fwd to continued #partnership and realizing shared vision to implement initiatives with #Equity #Climate #Safety focus, for CA’s transportation system, now and in future. #CAForAll,” Omishakin’s tweet continued.

In California state government’s chain of command, Omishakin’s role as Secretary is a step up from his last role: Director of California Department of Transportation (CalTrans).

Gov. Newsom appointed him to lead CalTrans in September 2019.

Earlier this month, Omishakin’s wife and two children joined him as he took the oath of office in Sacramento to begin serving in the governor’s cabinet.

At the swearing in ceremony Gov. Newsom said Omishakin brings experience and vision to the role.

“As head of the largest and most complex transportation system in the nation, I’m confident that he’ll continue to bring his forward-thinking leadership and dedication to serving the people of California,” Newsom stated “(Omishakin will) advance our ongoing work to build safer, healthier, and more sustainable communities that serve all Californians.”

The same day Omishakin took the oath of office, Gov. Newsom swore in Amy Tong, 48, to succeed his African American Secretary of California Government Operations Agency (GovOps) Yolanda Richardson.

Richardson resigned from the role in February, citing personal reasons. That same week California’s first African American Surgeon General Nadine Burke-Harris also resigned “to focus on her family.”

Tong previously served as Director of the California Office of Digital Innovation.  Before that, she was Director of the California Department of Technology.

“A veteran of state service, Director Tong’s deep experience in the public sector and leadership in the technology field have helped guide key efforts to make government more efficient and effective, including our work to bridge the digital divide and help state agencies navigate complex challenges during the pandemic,” Newsom said, pointing out Tong’s past accomplishments.

In his role as CalSTA Secretary, Omishakin will oversee Caltrans, the Department of Motor Vehicles, the California Highway Patrol, the High-Speed Rail Authority, among other agencies and transportation-focused committees.

He is assuming the position after President Joe Biden signed a $1.2 trillion federal infrastructure bill into law last year. The legislation will direct billions of dollars into the state for wildfire preparation, public transit projects, bridge and road repair, and broadband internet.

California will receive $25 billion from the federal government for highways under the Reconnecting Communities Initiative. The program was created to undo some of the effects of the economic and social disruption caused by highway construction through a number of majority Black communities under the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956.

The U.S. Transportation Department estimates that, between 1957 and 1977, nearly 480,000 households across the country were forced out of their homes to accommodate the highway construction, which started under President Dwight?D. Eisenhower’s administration.?Some of those highway projects entrenched segregation by isolating some of those majority-Black communities and cutting off their access to resources.

In an April 2021 interview with California Black Media, Omishakin said CalTrans needs to “engage more” with Black and Brown communities.

“We need to reach out more to people and businesses to let them know what opportunities exist,” he said.

The position of Secretary of the California State Transportation requires Senate confirmation, and the compensation is $227,178 annually.

Omishakin, born in Knoxville, Tenn., is registered without a political party preference.

Omishakin earned a Master of Arts degree in Urban and Regional Planning from Jackson State University, a Historical Black University and College (HBCU) in Mississippi. He is completing a doctorate degree in Engineering Management at the University of Tennessee.

From 2011 to 2019, Omishakin was Deputy Commissioner for Environment and Planning at the Tennessee Department of Transportation.

In August 2020, Omishakin opened the CalTrans Office of Race and Equity (CORE), which works closely with the Office of Civil Rights to combine equity initiatives. The office hosts a virtual business summit to support small business owners.

“Omishakin has implemented innovative strategies to create a more equitable, world-class transportation network for all users while improving the safety and livability of neighborhoods across the state. Under his leadership, Caltrans has worked to accelerate more than 100 roadway projects during the pandemic, adjusted operations to help keep goods moving amid supply chain challenges and spearheaded the transformative Clean California program that is revitalizing public spaces across California,” said Newsom.

By Joe W. Bowers | California Black Media

Last week, Gov. Gavin Newsom delivered his fourth State of the State address.

Before Newsom’s speech, California Republicans posted a video of Assemblymember Suzette Martinez Valladares (R-Newhall) countering the main points in the governor’s upcoming address.

After he spoke, state Sen. Brian Dahle (R-Bieber), who is a candidate for Governor, delivered the official Republican rebuttal.

Newsom delivered his 18-minute speech from the auditorium of the California Natural Resources Agency in front of a joint session of the Legislature. For him, the address was unusually brief. He remarked as he began speaking, “I don’t imagine there are many people outside these walls waiting on the words that will be said here tonight … as the people of Ukraine continue to come under assault”

Newsom touted that California is a beacon of democratic principles offering opportunity to all.

“Take our Constitutional officers here tonight,” he said. “They include the daughter of an Arkansas sharecropper, an immigrant from the Philippines, the daughters of parents born in China and Greece, one raised by a teacher from Panama, and the proud son of undocumented Mexican immigrants.”

Newsom used the expression “The California Way” to laud California’s leadership in research, innovation, entrepreneurialism, and venture capital. It is why California is the World’s fifth largest economy and why its GDP growth consistently outpaces the rest of the nation and most other large Western democracies, he said.

“In December alone” Newsom boasted, “25 % of America’s jobs were created right here in California. A million new jobs in the last 12 months. More new business starts during the worst of the pandemic than Texas and Florida combined.”

Under Newsom’s administration, Californians have received the largest state tax rebate in American History.

He continued his speech, listing more accomplishments.

“We raised the minimum wage. We increased paid sick leave. Provided more paid family leave. Expanded childcare to help working parents. And this year, with your support, we will do something no other state in America has done — provide health for all, regardless of immigration status”

Although there are numerous achievements for which the Governor can take credit, other daunting challenges Californians face every day remain. In their rebuttal, the Republicans zeroed in on those problems, which they describe as Newsom’s failures due to “one party state rule.”

Valladares began her pre-rebuttal of Newsom’s address by saying, “You can expect big claims about California leading the way on any number of issues. But if you want to know the real state of the state, just look around,” as she stood in front of a homeless encampment.

 “In every community, impoverished, mentally ill and drug-addicted Californians are living and dying on the streets. Half of the country’s unsheltered homeless live on our streets,” she said.

Another Newsom failure Valladares point out is “a tidal wave of crime that is washing over our communities.” She attributes the increase to watered-down prison sentences, early release and the elimination of cash bail promoted by “elitist politicians” and “activist district attorneys.”

In his rebuttal, Dahle focused on high gas prices.

“California has, by far, the highest cost at the pump. Cross the state line in any direction and you’ll save $1 a gallon,” he said. “Our prices are even higher than Hawaii, an island out in the middle of the Pacific.”

Dahle expressed concerned that, “when the current governor was running for office, he talked about his big plans to fix the housing shortage by adding 3.5 million new homes by 2025. Unfortunately, the big talk has brought no results.”

Another Dahle concern is, “a mass exodus has swept across California. People and businesses are leaving the state’s hostile business climate. That has real consequences.”

Newsom’s order to shut down business to mitigate COVID-19 spread disrupted lives in so many ways, according to Dahle. He also said that California schools were closed longer than any other state and the administration’s mask and vaccine mandates as well as other COVID protocols were stricter than any other state, causing learning loss and health challenges among students.

Newsom acknowledged the gas crisis in his State of the State.

“Look, no one’s naïve about the moment we’re living in, with high gas prices and the geopolitical uncertainty fueling them. In January we proposed to pause the gas tax increase. Now, it’s clear we must go further. That’s why — working with Legislative leadership — I’ll be submitting a proposal to put money back in the pockets of Californians, to address rising gas prices.”

Speaking about homelessness, Newsom noted that, “Just a few years ago, California lacked any comprehensive strategy. In just three years, we not only have a comprehensive plan, we’re also requiring new accountability and providing unprecedented investments for cities and counties on the front lines.”

He admitted, “And while we moved a record 58,000 people off the streets since the beginning of the pandemic, we recognize we have more to do.”

Newsom talked about tackling education problems by introducing a new grade he’s calling “transitional kindergarten,” and expanding before and after school programs. He is also funding universal school meals and child savings accounts.

Unapologetically, Newsom said, “our lockdowns, distressing as they were, saved lives. Our mask mandates saved lives. Your choices saved lives. California experienced far lower COVID death rates than any other large state. Fewer than Texas, Ohio. Fewer than Florida — 35 %, to be exact.”

Whether they heard Newsom’s speech or the Republican rebuttals, Californians are aware of the state of the state as they are filling up their gas tanks, searching for a house to buy, trying to rent an apartment or deciding whether they should continue wearing a mask in public.

What they need to hear from Democrats and Republicans is less rhetorical crossfire and more detailed proposals aimed at solving the many challenges of living in California.

By Lou Yeboah

Again the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, [daughter] of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say unto them, when I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man of their coasts, and set him for their watchman: if when he see the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people; then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning; if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head.  But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul. But if the watchman sees the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman’s hand. So, thou, O [daughter] of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore, thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me. [Ezekiel 33:1-7].

O my soul, my soul! I am pained in my very heart! My heart makes a noise in me; I cannot hold my peace, because you have heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war. Destruction upon destruction is cried, for the whole land is plundered. [Jeremiah 4:19-22].

The great day of the LORD is near; It is near and hastens quickly. The noise of the day of the LORD is bitter; there the mighty men shall cry out. That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of devastation and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of trumpet and alarm against the fortified cities, and against the high towers. For, “I will bring distress upon men, and they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the LORD; Their blood shall be poured out like dust, and their flesh like refuse.” Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD’s wrath; But the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of My jealousy, for I will make speedy riddance of all those who dwell in the land. [Zephaniah 1:14-18].

Warning, Warning, Warning! Prepare, for a time of trouble.  We are living in the end times, facing war, world conflict and distress and are awaiting the second coming of Jesus in the Rapture. The signs are so strong now and the evidence is so clear that any person willing to accept the truth can see that the end of the world, as we know it, is near. Warning, Warning, Warning! Escape for your life! Run to Jesus for He is the only one that can save you from what is about to take place.

I want you to know that every prophecy of [Daniel 2 and 7] have been unsealed. I want you to know that [Daniel’s 70-week prophecy] has been unsealed; The 2300-day prophecy has been unsealed. And what is to follow which refers to the future, seven-year tribulation period and the second coming of Christ at the end of the tribulation [Matthew 24-25] is nearer than we may think! Warning, Warning, Warning – The End Times are Near!

The alarm has been sounded. What will you do? “

For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying, and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. [Matthew 24:37-39].

By Antonio Ray Harvey | California Black Media

Dr. Carolyn Roberts, a professor at Yale University, provided to the California Task Force to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans detailed descriptions, both verbal and visual, of the horrific experiences Africans endured during the transatlantic slave trade.

A historian of medicine and science, Roberts said the trauma descendants of enslaved Africans suffered during transportation to the United States was only the beginning of a “broken relationship” between African Americans and the United States’ healthcare system.

“It is important for us to recognize that many critical issues that we are wrestling with today have long, old, and deep historical roots,” Roberts said. “These include racial bias and disparate medical treatment, race-based medicine, and medical exploitation. In our historical analysis, we must consider not only American slavery and its afterlife, but also the transatlantic slave trade.”

The transatlantic slave trade was the “largest forced oceanic migration in human history,” a passage that was responsible for transferring between 10 million and 12 million enslaved Africans across the Atlantic Ocean to the Americas from the 16th to the 19th century, Roberts said.

A majority of the African people taken captive were young women and men who were on the cusp of starting families. This generation of Africans ended up contributing to the enrichment of the enslavers, Roberts said.

For the voyage, Africans were placed in tiers below the decks of cargo ships that would sail up to 5,000 miles across the ocean Roberts said to make sure that the enslaved stayed healthy for the duration of the trip and arrive to their destination alive, slave traders hired medical doctors.

“A majority of enslaved people who arrived in the United States arrived onboard British slave ships,” Roberts said. “British slave ship medicine was based on systemic violence and dehumanization. (The doctors) performed invasive and forced medical inspections. Women and girls were pinned down and their legs were held open so that doctors could see if they had previously borne children.”

Drugs, whips, and pistols were used by slave traders if the enslaved women and men did not comply with the medical practitioners’ orders. Roberts said it was common for doctors to assume that Africans had the capacity to withstand extreme physical pain.

Roberts was one of several experts that spoke during the public, mental and physical health segment of the two-day meeting held in January.

Dr. Tina Sacks, an associate professor at UC Berkeley’s School of Social Welfare; Dr. Cassondra Marshall, UC Berkeley Public Health professor of Maternal, Child, and Adolescent Health; Brett Andrews, CEO of PRC (formerly Positive Resource Center) in San Francisco; and Melissa Jones, executive director of BARHII (Bay Area Regional Health Inequities Initiative) were other panelists during the meeting.

Roberts did not stop with the horrific details captured Africans suffered on the high seas. She forewarned the nine-member panel about a graphic image she was about to display. It was a black-and-white photo of a human cadaver on a gurney. Surrounded by White doctors, the image depicted a surgical examination being performed on a Black man.

These acts of inhumanity had an adverse effect on Black Americans, Roberts said, and the resulting cruelty and racism endured 157 years after slavery was abolished in the United States.

“So, a new management of healthcare enters the world. This is a form of healthcare where medical violence against Africans and African descended people became an acceptable normative, an institutionalized practice for over a century in the context of the British slave trade. This forced Black people into a unique and troubling relationship with Western medicine before they set foot in the United States,” Roberts explains.

“It also created a new understanding of the doctor-patient relationship, a relationship that was violent, personalized, extractive, and exploitative,” she argues.

Over the years, the enslaved Africans and their freed descendants learned to trust themselves by concocting their own medicinal formulas.

“They developed their own medical systems. They blended medical knowledge from Africa with medicinal plants in the Americas,” Roberts said. “However, they could not avoid White doctors who began to use their bodies to advance medical science.

Roberts holds a joint appointment in the departments of History/History of Science and Medicine, and African American Studies and a secondary appointment at Yale School of Medicine.

Roberts’s research interests concern the history of race, science, and medicine in the context of slavery and the Atlantic slave trade.

“It’s a sobering moment when we began to understand the health impacts of multigenerational racism and oppression,” Dr. Cheryl Grills, a member of the Task Force, said.

The Task Force to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans will have its eighth meeting at 9:00 a.m. on March 29 and March 30.

To watch or participate, join the livestream here.

Both her soul touching music and joyous spirit will truly be missed

The Los Angeles jazz and blues legend, Barbara Morrison died Wednesday at 72. Morrison grew up in the Detroit suburbs. Her father was a doo-wop singer, and she sang too through her young years. Her albums included “I Know How to Do It” (1996) and “Visit Me” (1999). The Los Angeles legend spent more than a decade performing a Pip’s on La Brea Avenue, a jazz club in Mid-City as well as Leimert Park Village, where she opened the Barbara Morrison Performing Arts Center. She will be missed and always loved.

By Dr. Oliver Brooks, pediatrician and CMO, Watts HealthCare 

As California moves into the next phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, children remain a key component to the state’s SMARTER plan and keeping our communities safe and healthy going forward. Children’s exposure to the virus in schools, social events, and in family settings puts them, their loved ones, and communities at greater risk for infection, making their vaccination more important than ever.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), vaccination rates for children have dropped sharply since earlier the pandemic. The decline has continued as vaccines have now been made available for children and youth 5-17. Recent CDC data shows that, nationally, approximately 9.1 million U.S. children ages 5-11 have received one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, which is only 32 percent of the age group. In California, the number is even lower at just 19 percent.

To bring it closer to home, Black and African American children in California are the second most likely to die from the virus among Californian’s younger than 18, with 1.2 deaths per 100,000 Black and African American children.

It is important to remember that children remain susceptible. More than 700,000 children and adolescents in California have been infected with COVID-19. There have been more than 6,500 pediatric hospitalizations in our state since July of last year, and we have lost too many young lives since the start of the pandemic. Vaccinations protect kids from the most dangerous impacts of COVID-19, like hospitalization.

Lagging vaccination rates for school-age children means that not only are children at risk for infection, but so are teachers and other school staff, and their families.

We have a long way to go, nationally and in California; and the journey will be only longer if we do not get more of our children fully vaccinated.

Low vaccination rates are a signal of access issues in Black and African American communities. Examples of access issues include lacking transportation to get to an appointment, internet to schedule a vaccination appointment, or not having a primary care physician.

California has taken steps to start to address these barriers to vaccination. By making your appointment on the state’s vaccine portal by visiting MyTurn.ca.gov or calling 1-833-422-4255 and indicating you need help with transportation, the state will call you to arrange an in-home visit or transportation when available. Local pharmacies and community-based clinics are also great resources to get vaccinated near where you live or work.

Fears about vaccine safety are also a factor, with some parents expressing concern that COVID-19 vaccines may harm their child. The COVID-19 vaccines had to undergo rigorous testing and clinical trials to be approved for use, and all tests have deemed the vaccines are safe for children.

Children being vaccinated against COVID-19 is essential for public and population health. However, it is also important for their physical and mental health according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. Children thrive when they can socialize with their peers as part of their overall health. Being fully vaccinated ensures they can stay healthy for school and play.

For more about COVID-19, including guidance on masking and testing, visit covid19.ca.gov. You should also visit covid19.ca.gov or the CDC.gov more timely, accurate information about the pandemic. To schedule an appointment for a vaccination or a booster, visit MyTurn.ca.gov, or call 1-833-422-4255.

The next phase of COVID-19 is here for California.  By increasing vaccination rates among children and their families, we will help protect them and the entire community from COVID-19 infections.

By Tanu Henry | California Black Media

As gas and food prices continue to shoot up at a rapid clip, Californians might be hit with sticker shock from another bill that skyrockets later this year: their health insurance premiums.

According to officials at Covered California, monthly premiums for insurance coverage could jump by as much as 100% — or an average of about $70 — for more than 2 million Californians if federal government subsidies provided by the American Rescue Plan are allowed to expire at the end of 2022.

An estimated total of 14 million Americans could be affected by the price increase.

“The American Plan built on the Affordable Care Act and provided more financial help than ever before to help people get covered and stay covered largely in response to the pandemic,” said Peter V. Lee, former Executive Director of Covered California.

Lee was speaking during a press briefing held earlier this month to inform the public about what he sees as an impending crisis if the federal government does not take action.

As a sidenote during that virtual meeting, Lee announced that he was stepping down from Covered California.

In February, the agency’s Board of Directors announced Jessica Altman, former Commonwealth Insurance Commissioner of Pennsylvania, as Covered California’s new Chief Executive Officer.

Lee said funds the federal government currently provides to states to help lower health care premiums for Americans led to record numbers in enrollment across the country, including about 1.8 million new signups in California.

The largest increases in enrollment in California were among African Americans and Latinos.

About 90% of Covered California enrollees have received discounts on their premiums through the program.

“The American Rescue Plan increased affordability by paying a bigger share of consumers’ monthly premiums. As a result, the portion that consumers pay dropped significantly by 23 % nationally and 20 % here in California,” said Lee.

“Those are big drops. That meant that two-thirds of our consumers were eligible for a plan that cost $10 or less,” Lee continued. “For a lower income consumer, low cost is a critical ingredient for getting and keeping coverage.”

Covered California is the Golden State’s federally subsidized public insurance marketplace where individuals and businesses can purchase health care plans.

Lee said nearly $3 billion from the American Rescue plan allowed California to subsidize the insurance costs of more middle-income people. The eligibility window expanded to include Californians earning up to $52,000 as a single person or $106,000 as a family of four.

Before help from the American Rescue Plan kicked in there were hundreds of thousands of Americans paying up to 30 % of their income for insurance, according to Covered California.

If the federal supplement expires, “those who can least afford it would be hit the hardest,” warned lee.

Lee says the program is helping more middle-income people than ever before.

“In California today, about one out of 10 of our subsidized enrollees earn above 400% of the poverty level. They are getting financial help that is needed and meaningful,” said Lee. “Without the extension of the American Rescue Plan, those gains would be wiped away and consumers would be faced with staggering cost increases.”

Lee says if the federal subsidies expire, the loss of funding will also hurt people who do not qualify for the subsidies and pay for insurance at market rates.

For Californians earning more than $52,000 a year, their premiums could increase by an average of more than $270 per month or nearly $3,000 annually.

“As people drop their coverage, the rising premiums would be felt by everyone. When you price people out of coverage, people that drop coverage first are healthy people. If you’re sicker, you keep your coverage,” said Lee.

“What does that mean? If the American Rescue Plans subsidies are not continued, we are very likely to see a premium spike. As health plans say, ‘next year will be the year we have fewer insured people, they are going to be sicker on average, we are going to have to boost our premiums,’” Lee emphasized.

If the U.S. Congress does not act to make the subsidies permanent – or at least to extend them — Californians will first see the new increased amount of their monthly premiums in the fall when they receive their renewal notices for 2023.

Publisher’s Commentary by Wallace J. Allen IV

Dorjil Apartments is in foreclosure… The San Bernardino west side apartment complex consisting of 34 units was built forty years ago to provide subsidized low-income housing. The foreclosure is based on administrative and financial defaults causing a sales auction to be scheduled for Monday March 21.  It is possible that a thirty-day delay of the sale date may occur. It is possible that the original developer, John Dukes will maintain control of the property.

The dilemma of ownership is a story that must include chapters on property management, property maintenance and customer service… The Dorjils were developed by Vivian Nash and John Duke creating great pride and national accolades for the project and for the Black couple. Dorjil is a great story that deserves to be told, I hope John is writing the book!

The dilemma of homelessness is immanent when one’s housing is in foreclosure.  Where will the people who now occupy the Dorjil apartments, live if the foreclosure sale takes place? Where will they live if present ownership prevails? Those questions both are rooted in the maintenance/condition of the property. The condition of the property is of immediate concern to the residents, and ultimately the responsibility of the owner regardless of who that may be.

Some residents have been withholding rents, they say, because of the property conditions… If new ownership occurs, will the condition of the property be an excuse/reason for tenant displacements during improvements?   If ownership remains the same, will residents pay rents before repairs are made? Will management handle repairs prior to collecting withheld rents? Will residents get evicted? Does the forty-year-old development continue to provide subsidized housing, or will it become the reason for housing trauma that may lead to homelessness?

The residents are organized to withhold rent because of not only maintenance concerns, but also recently about what they consider to be questionable if not illegal rent collection procedures. The management and many of the residents are at odds. I have not heard all the residents but of the dozen or so that I have heard, all of them are upset, saying they don’t trust management!

Distrust is not a good foundation for negotiation. There is a solution… I hope we find it!

By Charlene Muhammad | California Black Media

To mark Women’s History Month, The California Black Women’s Collective (CBWC) honored more than 100 Black women leaders from across the state from different professional backgrounds, including media executives, public health professionals, activists, politicians and more.

The organization also held a series of panel discussions leading up to the celebration and highlighted several policy priorities, including aging and elder care.

The Hon. Cheryl Brown, a retired California Assemblymember and a Commissioner on the California Commission on Aging said 23% of Black women live in poverty, which is the second highest percentage in the U.S. — only behind Native American women.

Brown pointed out that Gov. Gavin Newsom set aside $2 billion for the Master Plan on Aging, a 10-year project, but she questioned, how would the people the money is intended to help access the money. Brown said currently there are not effective systems in place to inform people about the help they need.

The funds, she said, will funnel down through the California Department of Aging down to county agencies.

“That’s why it’s critical to get involved on those levels,” Brown emphasized.

Ahead of Women’s History Month, a group of influential California Black women brought their perspectives together last month in a virtual “fireside chat” to take a broader look at aging and elder care in the Black community.

Whether they were expressing the joys of caring for a loved one or exposing the range of challenges Black women face as they age, the panelists shared useful insights that could shape public health policy or improve ways African American caregivers attend to the needs of aging family members.

“This is our third event as part of the California Black women Empowerment series,” said Yvonne Wheeler, a member of the strategy team of the CBWC. The event was organized in partnership with Black Women Organized for Political Action (BWOPA).

“Our goal is to talk about the issues that are important to Black women in California and today the topic is ‘Black Women Aging With Dignity and Respect.’”

During their remarks, panelists outlined resources Black women need to make sure that their needs are met while elevating some concerning statistics.

“Black women in California have many barriers in their everyday life. As we get older, the issues don’t change. The issues just get more complicated,” said Regina Brown Wilson, moderator of the event and Executive Director of California Black Media.”

“Before COVID-19, we were already experiencing financial hardship, poor health outcomes, and when the pandemic hit, older Black women were among the most vulnerable because of their circumstances, Wilson stated. “Approximately 80% of Black women are breadwinners who earn 40% of the household income. Seventy-four percent of Black women breadwinners are single mothers.”

The panelists were Brown; Sylvia Drew Ivie, Special Advisor to the President, Charles R. Drew University; Delane Sims, Founder and CEO, Senior Moments; and Shavonda Webber-Christmas, Community Benefits Program Manager at LA Care Health Plans. The women helped shed light on issues that Black women experience as they age in their older years.

Webber-Christmas said it is critical to ensure that there are culturally competent providers helping Black women navigate resources available to them and to make sure that they are practicing the self-care they need to maintain long, healthy lives.

“If you’re missing food, your likelihood of being healthy is low. So, we do try to look at the whole person and not just medical needs when we talk about the services that we contract for, or services that we provide grants for. We want those to be holistic,” she said, highlighting some of the wraparound social services LA Care provides to the people it serves.

“I think that when we talk about older women, we’re not talking about someone who just became that person,” Webber-Christmas added.  We’re talking about someone, if you look over the life course of the individual, it’s incremental. What we are doing today determines what we experience in later life.”

Sims spoke about the experiences of Black women who live longer and the various challenges they face as caregivers.  Her own father lived to be 115 years old, she shared. Sims said taking care of him became a challenge as his other caregivers aged.

“It was daunting to say the least, to be sort of thrust into caregiving and not being prepared, but just feeling like it was something I absolutely needed to do to honor my mother and certainly my stepfather. But that is also one of the challenges,” said Sims.

She encouraged Black women caregivers to seek emotional support, avoid missing meals, talk to someone and even join a support group.

Brown said Black families must take a collective look at caring for their aging loved ones.

“We have to look out for each other,” she said. “It has to be an inter-generational thing.”

Kellie Todd Griffin, convenor of the CBWC said there is an emerging trend of communal living among Black single mothers.

“They are buying homes together. Sharing in the costs of daycare and helping each other out. We have to be creative,” she said.

Griffin said it is also important for Black women to organize.

“We have got to raise our voices and knock on doors. When we show up at the Capitol and in those district offices, that’s when they start listening to us,” she pointed out. “It is important to show up to those town hall meetings that legislators have in their communities.”