WSSN Stories

By Antonio Ray Harvey | California Black Media

This Women’s History Month, California Black Media is profiling three Black women on the leading edge of California’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic: Surgeon General Nadine Burke Harris, California Gov Operations Secretary Yolanda Richardson and Kimberly Goode, Senior Vice President of External Affairs at Blue Shield of California. The profiles explore how these exceptional women have brought their experience, knowledge and leadership abilities to driving California’s COVID-19 recovery efforts. It also looks at the challenges they have faced, the successes they have won and how they balance the rigors of their public roles with the responsibilities of their private lives.

Profile: Kimberly Goode, the Implementer

During a time when an all-out effort is underway to get Californians vaccinated, a few women leaders in California are leading the charge to reach the communities hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic, including Black families in “hard-to-reach” areas across the state.

Kimberley Goode, the Senior Vice President of External Affairs for Blue Shield of California) is one of those Black women in on the frontlines.

Blue Shield of California is the state’s “third-party administrator” as California ramps up its push to get its 40 million residents vaccinated. Goode says the company, with headquarters in Oakland, has taken a number of steps to support the state’s goal to get vaccines to all Californians – particularly those who have been disproportionately impacted — in a way that is safe, equitable and swift. Blue Shield’s provider network boasts more than 1,200 vaccination sites in California, including community clinics, multi-county entities, hospital systems, medical groups, pharmacies and others.

“The state makes final allocation decisions. The state makes all decisions around eligibility,” says Goode. “Our job is to make sure that the robust network that we’ve built is able to get that vaccine to the providers who are throughout every community in the state of California – to reach every zip code.”

Goode says their distribution efforts target areas in the state where data shows there are higher incidents of infection and death. “Those are the places we really want to double down on and make sure that we have more vaccines there, more quickly,” she said. “We make sure we partner with local community clinics, trust

“Our goal is two reach 3 million doses per week by March,” Goode added.

A public-relations specialist, Goode’s position with Blue Shield of California puts her in charge of communication and outreach on behalf of the nonprofit that generates more than $20 billion in annual revenue and serves more than 4 million members in commercial, individual, and government markets.

“There is a lot of concern about the impact of COVID-19 on communities of color and, in particular, the African American community,” says Goode. “One of the things that should give comfort to people in this process is that there are a lot of people who care about equity, and two state leaders I work with, Dr. Nadine Burke Harris and Secretary Yolanda Richardson – they are two very important voices that are ensuring that equity is at the forefront of the decision-making process, and the implementation of the vaccine distribution.”

She has more than 25 years of communications experience with several global companies, including Kellogg’s, Prudential Financial, American Express, and Allstate. She also spent time as the vice president of Corporate Communications and Corporate Affairs at Northwestern Mutual, where she was responsible for leading the company’s internal and external communications strategy.

In the summer of May 2017, Goode joined Blue Shield of California to provide strategic leadership in corporate communications, government affairs, and corporate citizenship. She is also responsible for building relationships that help advance the nonprofit health plan’s mission.

“If that’s not enough titles, I get to work on the communication, education, and equity workstream for the third-party administration work that we’re doing on the behalf of the state for the vaccination program,” said Goode, who chairs Blue Shield of California’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Leadership Council.

Goode is active professionally and in the community with a number of organizations, including the Executive Leadership Council, the Bay Area Council, Children Now Leadership Council and California Women Lead Advisory Council, Jack and Jill of America, Inc., and The Links, Inc.

At home, Goode says she has been working from home and sheltering in a “four-generation family bubble” with her husband, her two daughters, her 75-year-old mother and her 95-year-old grandmother.

“The silver lining of this pandemic has been that it has really helped me to reflect on what matters most and prioritize my time with my family – to focus on the things that are meaningful. We engage in some old fun activities. We play “Black Panther Monopoly.” It’s a board game that is a ton of fun. Just having fun with family in ways that we used to take for granted.”

But the greatest reward of her work right now, Goode says, is working for a “mission-driven company.”

“This is work that enables us to help every Californian,” she said. It is very gratifying to know that when I wake up and come to work every day (even though it is in my living room), it is not

focused on ‘how I can help Blue Shield today.” It is focused on “how can Blue Shield help Californians across the state.’”

Every tax season there seems to be a new scam. The IRS is warning the community that scammers are impersonating IRS officials in an attempt to steal your identity or access your financial information.

Please remember that the IRS will not:

• Call to demand an immediate payment.
• Ask for bank account, credit, or debit card information over the phone.
• Call and threaten legal action or to contact local authorities.

If you get a suspicious email:

• Don’t reply to the message.
• Forward the email to phishing@irs.gov then delete it.
• Don’t open any attachments or click on any links.

For more information about how to protect yourself and what to look out for, visit
IRS Tax Tips.

By Tanu Henry | California Black Media

Can COVID vaccines affect fertility? Were Black people used in the COVID vaccine research studies? Do you still need to get vaccinated if you’ve already had COVID-19? What is emergency use authorization? 

These are just four out of about 50 resurfacing questions a group of Black doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals’ answers in a video intended to penetrate clouds of misinformation about COVID-19 as it provides vital information that address lingering questions, still unanswered, that many people have about COVID-19. 

The video titled “A Conversation: Between Us, About Us,” is moderated by Palo Alto native, comedian and San Francisco resident W. Kamau Bell. The video is produced with the support of a partnership between the Black Coalition Against COVID (BCAC), a national advocacy group, and the San Francisco-based Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF), a philanthropic non-profit focused on generating data and resources to equip policymakers and the general public with important health information. 

Berkeley-based Jacob Kornbluth Productions worked with KFF and BCAC to create the videos. California Health Care Foundation, the Commonwealth Fund and Sierra Health Foundation also contributed to funding the production and distribution of the video. 

“I was a part of the expert African American panel, which is a group of providers like myself – with doctors, nurses, community people, et cetera. This is a group that was created through National Institutes of Health to review the various vaccine protocols for the different companies that were developing the vaccines,” said Orlando Harris, a public health researcher, during the introduction of the video featuring him. 

The healthcare professionals’ push to educate African Americans with the intention to reduce “vaccine hesitancy” is just one of many other similar campaigns around the country organized by civil rights organizations, government agencies, professional organizations, community groups, foundations and others. 

The information they are providing comes at a time when California is taking major steps to relax social isolation guidelines, reopen large businesses like theme parks and restart in-person learning for children attending K-12 public schools. Last week, Gov. Newsom announced that the state is investing $6.6 billion into recovery efforts that include facilitating the safe reopening of schools. 

On Friday, Mark Ghaly, California Health and Human Services Secretary, said he believes as more Californians become vaccinated the safter it would be to change the state-issued guidance on restricted activities. Theme parks could reopen as soon as April 1, he said. 

“We feel like now is the appropriate time to begin to reintroduce these activities in some fashion and, again, in a guarded way, in a slow and steady way, with the other protective factors of the blueprint all sort of wrapped around it,” Ghaly said during the news briefing. 

The medical professionals who participated in “Conversation” project say the information they share in the videos will facilitate discussions among family members and arm health workers with credible information they need to answer questions patients may have. 

“Taking off my hat as a clinician and a researcher, I have to go home and have conversations with my mom, with my dad, and my grandparents about the vaccine and why taking the vaccine is important,” explained Harris, who is also a family nurse practitioner and assistant professor at the University of California San Francisco School of Nursing. 

“Being on that panel with the rest of my colleagues and reviewing the protocols, gave me great insights,” he continued. “So, now I can have the conversation with you. I can have it with my family, and I can say, actually, we were represented in the trials and these are the numbers, et cetera. 

Black Americans are among groups least likely to get the vaccines even though their COVID-19 mortality rates are among the highest in the U.S., according to KFF. The report states that 34 % of Blacks across the country say they will “wait and see” if the vaccines are working on others before they take it. 

 “As Black health academicians, researchers, and clinicians, we understand our empathy-based responsibility to provide our community with the resources and guidance on surviving this pandemic,” said Dr. Reed Tuckson, a member of BCAC. “As such, we appreciate this partnership with KFF to produce one of the largest of its kind campaigns to creatively provide trustworthy information that will save Black lives.”

In California so far, there have been 54,128 COVID-19 deaths as of March 7. Across the state, there have been about 3.8 million confirmed cases with about 1.2 million of them registered in Los Angeles County alone. 

Dr. Pamela Simms-Mackey is chair of Pediatrics and Chief of Graduate Medical Education at Alameda Health System in Oakland. She says much of her work has been centered around promoting equity and reducing health disparities for African Americans and other minorities who have been underserved. 

“When people in their minds think of side effects, they think of something that happens that is not supposed to happen,” she said. “Soreness at the injection site, headaches, fever, a swollen lymph node. Those are vaccine-anticipated reactions. That shows your body is reacting to the vaccines. Those are good signs. You want to see that. That shows that the vaccine is working in your body.” 

Dr. Rhea Boyd, a physician at the Palo Alto Medical Foundation and Chief Medical Officer of San Diego 211, a community health organization, says she believes roadblocks that prevent African Americans from getting COVID-19 vaccines have little to do with hesitancy. 

“The barriers are accessible facts about the COVID-19 vaccines and convenient access to receive a vaccine,” said Boyd. She co-developed the project with KFF and the Black Coalition Against COVID. 

“This is a comprehensive effort on behalf of Black health care workers across the country,” she said. 

By Lue Dowdy

Continuing with National Women’s Month, this week I had to feature Queen Danielle Willis. This lady is such an inspiration, not only to me but to so many other women. I love her courage, faith, and determination, and sexiness! I’ve had the pleasure of seeing her bodybuilding transformation via social media. Not only is she beautiful on the outside, she’s beautiful in the inside. Take a look into the journey of Female Bodybuilder, Danielle Willis.

Danielle began her journey to the stage in 2017 with a passion and desire for something more in life. Under the coaching of longtime trainers’ trainer, David Ellis, Danielle started training hard in 2018. In November 2018, she won the Overall in Women’s Physique at the ‘NPC Iron Games Show’, where she qualified for nationals. In 2019, Danielle began her quest for pro by doing two back-to-back national shows. At her first show she placed 3rd in the Women’s Physique at the ‘USAs’ in Las Vegas, full of hope she decided to do the ‘North Americans’ in Pittsburg where she won 1st place and the Overall winning of the entire show in the Women’s Bodybuilding Division.

Danielle states, “Ever since I was in my 20s, I have had a heart to solve problems ailing my communities, and the Bodybuilding industry is no exception. I want to solve the individual problem of inequality in the community, and I feel compelled to fix it because I believe you can’t live properly in your life if you lack soul alignment. My message to women struggling with self-image issues, mental health, and anxiety is to be different and embrace who you are. Once you find your niche you will be celebrated for being just as you were created to be. And I want to help women define their worth through self-love, fitness and community.”

In addition to her love for bodybuilding, Danielle is still very active as a dance instructor now going on 13th years. Currently, she’s working as an instructor at the ‘IE Dance Center’ formerly known as Bowen Hayes-School of the Arts in the beautiful City of Riverside. Danielle has danced for Disney, the American Basketball League, and Baltimore Mariners indoor football team and several other organizations. For more about this beautiful Queen please see below.

Until Next week L’s!

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Danielle Stats:

• From 2010-2014 she was contracted as a dance instructor for the Riverside Arts Council. 
• From 2010-2013, she worked for the Riverside YMCA as the Performing Arts coordinator. 
• In 2012, choreographed a piece for the Mayors Ball, and directed a dance recital for the Festival of Lights at the Mission Inn. 
• From 2012-2016 she was on the leadership staff for CrossWord Christian Church’s’ Praise Dance. 
• From 2014-2017 she worked for the VOICE News and Dr. Paulette Brown Hinds as Special Projects Coordinator, where she was deeply involved in community events both local and statewide. Organizing several events notably for the League of Cities African American Caucus, and Cal Earned Income Tax Campaign. She also assisted former Assemblywoman Cheryl Brown on community projects. 
• From 2015-2017 she was an Instructor for Women Wonder Writers Write of Your Life program where I was able to advocate, encourage, and guide the at promise girls that I instructed. 
• From 2015-2016, Danielle was a board member for the Black Chamber of Commerce Inland Empire
• Served as a board member for the NAACP ACTS-O (Afro-Academic, Cultural, Technological and Scientific Olympics) Riverside Chapter. 
• Instructor for the non-profit organization the Young Visionaries, where she mentored young children in need of support and direction.

By Destinee Porter

Communication and comprehension is key! It is how your business can and will survive. If you can’t communicate in a way that people can understand, it can be frustrating. However, there are professional out there to assist in this area.

Dr. Yashima White AziLove is master communicator, Brandologist, and a marketplace mentor. She started her career as a journalist, turned marketing communication executive, in insurance, healthcare, and financial services, and entertainment industry space, before launching her firm, Magnate Consulting, LLC, which is a communications boutique serving global companies, celebrities, and people of influence with communications, brand and leadership solutions.

Her dichotomy, the other side of her, is that she the founder of an organization called, TRIP Network, which is specifically for women of faith, who feel just as called to the marketplace business in their careers, as they are to their ministry lives. So, they walk the dichotomy between their ministry and business, it is a great network of women that is growing as a global network. They are on 3 different continents now.

“I am really excited about the growth and expansion of that endeavor,” Dr. AziLove states.

By Lou Yeboah

Thus says the Lord God: ‘A disaster, a singular disaster; behold, it has come! An end has come, the end has come; it has dawned for you; behold, it has come! Doom has come to you, you who dwell in the land; the time has come, a day of trouble is near, and not of rejoicing in the mountains. Now upon you I will soon pour out My fury, and spend My anger upon you; I will judge you according to your ways, and I will repay you for all your abominations. My eye will not spare, nor will I have pity; I will repay you according to your ways, and your abominations will be in your midst. Then you will know that I am the Lord who strikes” [Ezekiel 7:2–9].

Nevertheless, speaking of that woeful time of trouble, I will not make a complete end of you [Jeremiah 30:11]. I will not utterly destroy you, but I will punish you severely—to shake you to the root of your very being in order to wake you up. For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. And unless those days are shortened by Me, no flesh would be saved [alive]; but for the elect’s sake [for the sake of God’s repentant, obedient people] those days will be shortened.” [Matthew 24:21–22].

Listen, when Noah prophesied that a great destruction was coming, he was mocked by his generation. Throughout biblical history, watchmen walked the streets warning of coming judgments, prophesying to God’s people, but often the people shut their ears and gave themselves over to pleasures, to food and wine, to buying, selling and building. But, “Thus saith the Lord of hosts… to whom shall I speak, and give warning, that they may hear?

Behold, their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken: behold, the word of the Lord is unto them a reproach; they have no delight in it….But, I set a watchmen over you, saying, Hearken to the sound of the trumpet. But you said, you will not hearken” [Jeremiah 6:9–10, 17; Jeremiah 7:27-28]. Therefore,  I indeed will deal with you in anger. My eye will have no pity nor will I spare; and though you cry in My ears with a loud voice, yet I will not listen to you. [Ezekiel 8:18].

 “Sound the trumpet in Jerusalem! Raise the alarm on my holy mountain! Let everyone tremble in fear because the day of the Lord is upon us. It is a day of darkness and gloom, a day of thick clouds and deep blackness. Suddenly, like dawn spreading across the mountains, a great and mighty army appears. Nothing like it has been seen before or will ever be seen again. Fire burns in front of them, and flames follow after them. Ahead of them the land lies as beautiful as the Garden of Eden. Behind them is nothing but desolation; not one thing escapes. They look like horses; they charge forward like warhorses. Look at them as they leap along the mountaintops. Listen to the noise they make — like the rumbling of chariots, like the roar of fire sweeping across a field of stubble, or like a mighty army moving into battle. Fear grips all the people; every face grows pale with terror. The attackers march like warriors and scale city walls like soldiers. Straight forward they march, never breaking rank. They never jostle each other; each moves in exactly the right position. They break through defenses without missing a step. They swarm over the city and run along its walls. They enter all the houses, climbing like thieves through the windows.  The earth quakes as they advance, and the heavens tremble. The sun and moon grow dark, and the stars no longer shine. The Lord is at the head of the column. He leads them with a shout. This is his mighty army, and they follow his orders. The day of the Lord is an awesome, terrible thing. Who can possibly survive?” [Joel 2:1-11].

Yet even now, declares the Lord, “Return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster. Who knows whether he will not turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him, a grain offering and a drink offering for the Lord your God? Blow the trumpet in Zion; consecrate a fast; call a solemn assembly; gather the people. Consecrate the congregation; assemble the elders; gather the children, even nursing infants. Let the bridegroom leave his room, and the bride her chamber. Between the vestibule and the altar let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep and say, “Spare your people, O Lord, and make not your heritage a reproach, a byword among the nations. Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?” [Joel 2:12-17].

I can almost hear the tears in Joel’s voice as he pleads… “Repent and return to God. Repent and plead for God’s mercy. Change the direction you are going. Stop walking away from God and start walking toward God. Turn to God with your whole heart. Change your mind, reconsider your actions, and orient yourself entirely toward God.  For NOW is the accepted time, NOW is the day of salvation. [Isaiah 49:8; 2 Corinthians 6:2]. REPENT! REPENT! REPENT!

By Lue Dowdy

Krissy Harper a Superwoman at home and in the community! I can’t say enough about this phenomenal woman. Growing up, Krissy has always been about her community. So, this week, Queen Krissy, I salute you! See below why I selected Krissy Harper for my article a tribute to amazing women in celebration of National Women’s Month.

Though Krissy wears many hats in our community, her passion is fueled by being the Director of the Legendary San Bernardino Pacesetters Drill Team and Drum Squad. As a third generation Pacesetter, Krissy has made it her mission to serve the community by marching through the streets all around the world. With a group of over 85 young people, Krissy is determined to change the world. She often tells them that, “Building Better Lives Builds Better Communities”.

If you care enough to want to see change in a person, then you’re one step closer to changing the world. The Pacesetters has been a pillar of our community for over 60 years now and it is Krissy’s desire to continue the legacy of greatness to help rebuild the city through unconditional love and service one step at a time.

If you would like to get involved with the drill team and Krissy please look them up on Facebook under ‘The Pacesetters’. I believe right now they’re recruiting for new members. So, if you like to drum or march and you’re from the town, tap in. Remember to always march to the beat of your own DRUM. Until next week, L’s!

Almost anyone who has traveled the I-15 route between Los Angeles to Las Vegas has passed by the mysterious Zzyzx (Zye-zix) Road. Some tourists stop for the obligatory snapshots, but most whiz by without learning more about this unique First District landmark.

But what exactly is Zzyzx and what does it represent? Its story is as interesting as its name.
Although during the 1860s Soda Springs served as a US Army outpost, this vast, isolated area was virtually untouched until 1944, Curtis “Doc” Springer and his wife Mary Louise Berkebile opened a sanitarium here called Zzyzx Mineral Springs and Health Spa.

The resort, named by Springer to be the last word in the English language, was the couple’s second stab at a health resort. Their “Haven of Rest” in Deer Valley, Pa., closed down in 1937 after the couple failed to pay their taxes.

Hoping for a fresh start at Soda Springs, Springer built — with the help of some drunks and drifters from San Pedro — an elaborate complex that included a church, radio station, private “Zyport” airstrip and 60 cabins, along with a health spa with mineral baths. The resort even boasted a mechanical exercise horse once owned by President Calvin Coolidge.

Springer, who gave himself the title of doctor and minister though he was neither, extolled the virtues of his health foods via his evangelist radio station, drumming up brisk business among ail- ing seniors throughout the West. Among his remedies were “Hollywood Pep Tonic” and “Antediluvian Desert Herb Tea.”

The American Medical Association came to learn of Springer through his radio show, quickly dubbing him the “King of Quacks.”

Springer’s enterprise drew to a close in 1974, when the government shut him down for food and drug law violations as well as unauthorized use of federal land. He was jailed for a few months and then retired to Las Vegas, where he died in 1986.

Today, Zzyzx Springs is home to California State University’s Desert Studies Center, run by Professor Rob Fulton of Cal State Fullerton. (The campus remains off limits to visitors without prior reservations.)

Re-written and edited by Naomi K. Bonman

March is Women’s History Month, and although it is normally used to recognize women in history that have made tremendous strives to pave the way for other women, it deemed appropriate to highlight young women who are local to the Inland Empire that were of impact to the community but are no longer with us.

Ariell L.M. Gipson left this earth on June 3, 2017. Her mother, Todella D. Brown, strongly believes that there were spiritual signs surrounding the night and location of Ariell’s death that stated she was needed in Heaven. According to Todella, the number “5” was also very prominent surrounding the day of her daughter’s death.

Ms. Ariell was headed to Unit #5. She was driving from Planet Fitness. Ariell exited the 215 freeway at “5^th Street” and was hit by a DUI driver in front of In-N-Out Burger. Ariell was transported to Arrowhead Regional Medical Center where she later succumbed to her injuries. She had just successfully completed the exam to become licensed as a LVN (Licensed Vocational Nurse). She completed her internship at Community Hospital. She was the oldest of “5” children.

While still in high school, Ariell became a Certified Nurses Assistant (CNA) and later completed her LVN exam. She was also a cast member at Disneyland where she enjoyed working.

Ariell is the Great Granddaughter of Ms. Scoot who was a Gourmet Chef and Nannie. Ms. Scoot was born in Crystal Spring, Mississippi and is the mother to Ariell’s Grandfather, Willie F.J. Brown. Brown served in the U.S. Army and Air Force ad became a U.S. Immigration Agent.

Ariell is survived by her parents Aaron L. Gipson and Todella D. Brown; her siblings Aaron Brown, Aaron Gipson Jr., Tahan Cooper, and DaShia Taylor.

Today in the light of the COVID Bill that was submitted into congress named HR 6666, as the COVID-19 pandemic, Todella Brown wants to share through her daughter’s memory that our health has always been more important than our wealth. She also recommends the movie, “5 Feet Apart” to add to people’s list of things to watch while still in quarantine. The number “5” means “God’s Grace”.