“Black Panther” actress Dorothy Steel, who rose to fame for beginning her acting career at the age of 88, has died at 95.
Although it was a life-long dream to act, Steel did not begin to pursue acting until she was 88. At the age of 92, she made her feature film debut in one of the biggest roles in her movie career, as an elder tribal leader in the 2018 Marvel franchise blockbuster movie Black Panther.
She followed up Black Panther with a recurring role as Mother Harris on the series Saints & Sinners, and she later appeared in the comedy Poms, the TV movie Christmas Wishes, Mistletoe Kisses, Daisy Winters, BET’s The Oval and also had a small role in the movie “Jumanji: The Next Level.”
Steel stated that she sat down in front of her computer every day and practiced Nelson Madela’s speeches to find the right tone for her character. She heard back from the Black Panther production team an hour after sending in her audition tape.
Steel was born in Detroit in 1926. She lived in Atlanta but transitioned at her home in Detroit.
Prior to her death, the actress was in the middle of filming Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, which started production this past June. The Marvel franchise reportedly flew her home so she could spend her final moments with her loved ones.
Her agent Cindy Butler wrote. “Thank you, Ms. Dorothy, for giving me the opportunity to ride this wave with you. Thank you too all the Casting Directors who hired Ms. Dorothy. Thank you to the world for loving on her from afar.”
HIGH DESERT, CA — Recording artist and community raptivist, Justified Smith is back on a mission in the name of FATHERHOOD! Being well known for his work in the high desert community, Justified has taken fatherhood engagement to another level by reaching out to the Hip Hop Community to stand alongside him as FATHERS IN HIP HOP.
On Sunday, November 21, 2021, Fathers in Hip Hop will be delivering a huge blessing to the fathers and their families in the High Desert and surrounding areas with the “BLESSED IN THE MESS THANKSGIVING GIVEAWAY”. It is their goal to distribute Thanksgiving Dinners to 500 Families including Turkeys and all the traditional sides.
In addition to giving away FREE Baby Diapers, Bottles & Formula along with other household necessities such as toilet paper, disinfectant wipes, cleaning supplies, and hygiene bags, they will also be raffling off a variety of prizes such as bicycles, skateboards, televisions, and other electronic devices.
During the event, Fathers in Hip Hop will be honoring 100 MEN and presenting them with Fathers in Hip Hop Acknowledgment Awards for their commitment to Fatherhood. Among those honorees are men from different walks of life. Politicians, Pastors, Professional Athletes, Influential Recording Artist, and Youth Sports Coaches. Fatherhood is the common ground for all these men being awarded.
With This Event Fathers in Hip Hop’s Goal Is to Bless the Families of The High Desert and To Show The Importance Of Strong Fathers and the roles they play in the community.
ABOUT FIHH
FIHH takes an intimate and up-close look into the testimony of various Influential hip hop artists in regards to their experiences and definitions of fatherhood. Too often these types of artist are categorized as dead-beat dads and judged by their genre of music instead of who they are as fathers.
FIHH covers testimony by men discussing fatherhood from a variety of angles, exploring resources and introducing tips to better aid men in raising their children. FIHH covers financial planning including life insurance and other means of providing security and provisions for their children’s future.
FIHH brings awareness to the importance of being an active father in a child’s life regardless of the circumstances. FIHH will expose the effects that carry over into adulthood stemming from the absence of a father figure. FATHERS IN HIP HOP is impacting fatherhood engagement around the world!
Colin Powell, the retired four-star general who became the country’s first Black Secretary of State and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has died due to complications from Covid-19. He was 84.
Powell, 84, was fully vaccinated from Covid-19, and had been treated at Walter Reed National Medical Center but was suffering from serious underlying conditions.
Powell and his wife, Alma, were tested for Covid recently and both tested positive. Powell was then hospitalized at Walter Reed. Powell had multiple myeloma, a cancer of a type of white blood cell, which can harm the body’s immune system, surgery for prostate cancer when he was Secretary of State, and, more recently, Parkinson’s disease.
Powell became the first Black secretary of state under President George W. Bush. He served twice in Vietnam — during the first tour, he was wounded in action, and on the second tour, he received the Soldier’s Medal for rescuing several men from a burning helicopter. He also received a Bronze Star and two Purple Hearts earned during his other tours in Vietnam. He also served as U.S. National Security Adviser under President Ronald Reagan from 1987 to 1989.
Powell, a moderate Republican and a pragmatist, considered a bid to become the first Black president in 1996 but his wife Alma’s worries about his safety helped him decide otherwise. Powell will forever be associated with his controversial presentation on Feb. 5, 2003, to the U.N. Security Council, making President George W. Bush’s case that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein constituted an imminent danger to the world because of its stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons.
In 2008, he broke with his party to endorse Democrat Barack Obama, who became the first Black elected to the White House.
Powell was born in 1937 in Harlem, New York, to immigrants from Jamaica and grew up in the South Bronx, going on to get a bachelor’s degree from the City College of New York.
He is survived by his wife, their three children, and multiple grandchildren.
“I am giving you three options. Choose one of them for me to carry out against you” [1 Chronicles 21:10]. Three years of famine, or three months to be defeated by your foes with the sword of your enemies overtaking you, or else three days the sword of the LORD; the plague in the land, with the angel of the LORD destroying throughout all the territory of Israel.” Choose One of them for me to carry out against you” because over and over I have warned you to repent, and you have ignored my warnings!
Now consider what answer I should take back to Him who sent me: And David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Please let me fall into the hand of the LORD, for His mercies are very great; but do not let me fall into the hand of man.” [1 Chronicles 21:13].
So, the LORD sent a plague on Israel from that morning until the end of the time designated, and seventy- thousand of the people from Dan to Beersheba died. When the angel stretched out his hand to destroy Jerusalem, the LORD was grieved because of the calamity and said to the angel who was afflicting the people, “Enough! withdraw your hand. [2 Samuel 24:15-16]. Oh,Merciful God! If it had not been for the Lord on my side, where would I be?
Listen, even though God chooses to show mercy, what about when that mercy runs out? What will you do? So, many times we take things of God for granted. Things like salvation. God’s convictions. God’s calling. God’s grace and mercy without realizing the result of doing so. But [Isaiah 5:24] reminds us that if we do not repent and return to our first love, that God’s love will be turned to anger, His blessings will turn to judgment, murder and death of the people will increase, enemy nations will threaten to attack—suddenly and overwhelmingly—and all trusted defenses will fail. It happened to Israel. It will happen to us if we don’t soon change our ways. I tell you, it’s past time to look to God, repent and beg His mercy because the similarities of the six woes in [Isaiah 5] and how they relate to us, especially America today are astounding.
Sound the Alarm: Judgment is Coming! Blow the trumpet in Zion; let all who live in the land tremble, for the day of the LORD is coming. It is close at hand- a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness. Like dawn spreading across the mountains a large and mighty army comes, such as never was of old nor ever will be in ages to come. Blow the Shofar! Another army is approaching… this one not of locust but men… who attack, scaling walls and entering houses… and this too will be a “Day of the Lord.”
The message God has given to proclaim; God has run out of patience with your unbelief and punishment is on the horizon: For He says, even if Moses and Samuel were to stand before Me, my heart would not go out to this people. Send them away from my presence! Let them go! And if they ask you, ‘Where shall we go?’ tell them, ‘This is what the LORD says: “‘Those destined for death, to death; those for the sword, to the sword; those for starvation, to starvation; those for captivity, to captivity.” [Jeremiah 15:1-2].
As Moses wrote in the book of Numbers: “God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?” [Numbers 23:19]. This is what the LORD says; while God is full of mercy, His justice will prevail. Make no mistake about it!
“I am giving you three options. Choose one of them for me to carry out against you.”
Marked for their intense drive and steely determination, Scorpios make some of the most indispensable people in a company or an organization. You never have to worry about bearing the brunt of hard work with this sign around. Scorpio’s famous for doing whatever is necessary to bring a job to completion. If you work with a Scorpio, you are working with someone who is intense, passionate, and strong-willed and who get the job done. Mr. Wallace Allen… a very lucky man…. Lol….
Happy Birthday to ALL November born.
If you would like to place your “Birthday Ad” in Westside Story Newspaper, please call (909) 384-8131.
A JW North High School math teacher has been placed on administrative leave after a video of her mockingly chanting and dancing around the classroom in a fake headdress went viral on Thursday.
In the video, the teacher is seen chanting “SohCahToa,” a mnemonic device that is commonly used to teach trigonometry in classrooms. The video captures a scene that Native American students and community members are already familiar with — the misappropriation and mockery of Native American culture.
“How many students now seeing her react that way or even on the viral videos that are going on, are now mimicking her within their discussions in their own neighborhoods now?” asked Assemblymember James Ramos
who is Serrano and Cahuilla and the first Native American person elected to the California Assembly. “And how does that make the Native American students feel or the Native American community feel?”
The Riverside Unified School District (RUSD) released a statement in response to the incident, which read in part, “Her actions do not represent the values of our district.” RUSD is currently pursuing an investigation into the incident.
“We are deeply committed to implementing inclusive practices and policies that honor the rich diversity of our district and the greater region. We will be working with our students, families, staff and community to regain your trust,” the statement read.
While RUSD has initiated an investigation into the incident and the teacher, community members expressed outrage at an RUSD Board Meeting Thursday evening. A few attendees who spoke called for the teacher to be fired immediately.
A young girl in attendance at the meeting, spoke powerfully to the RUSD Board Members. “Me and my people, we still don’t have our rights. We’ve been fighting for it. I always feel so sad,” she said.
She went on to say, “They treat us badly, they bully us, and nothing has happened for so long.” She gave a call to action to RUSD Board Members. As she stated in the meeting, “[Y]ou can change things, you have the power to change things.”
Several members and supporters of the American Indian Movement’s Southern California chapter went to the podium to speak, demanding that the teacher be fired, an apology to the student who filmed the incident, and an apology to Native Americans affected by the video.
“We want that apology. We want something done. We heard what your statement said — you’re going to ‘look into it’. We’ve heard over and over ‘we’re looking into it.’ No. We want it looked into now,” said Dee Dee Manzanares Ybarra, director of the American Indian Movement SoCal chapter and tribal chair of Rumšen Am:a Tur:ataj Ohlone.
“We’re not going to wait. We asked for an answer within a week. We expect that answer. Something needs to be done. All the evidence is there.”
In response to the video, community members organized a protest on Thursday to let their voices be heard in Riverside.
President of JW North Alumni Association, Sammie Luna spoke at the RUSD Board Meeting and talked about how it was a difficult day for everyone in attendance. She began by saying she is a proud Husky and by thanking Dr. Horace Jackson who was one of the first principals at JW North High School to champion cultural diversity.
She spoke in front of the RUSD Board, saying, “diversity has always been North’s greatest attribute and treasure.” She spoke of the incident and mentioned how this was the perfect example of why Assembly Bill 101 regarding ethnic studies is needed which she credited to Assemblymember Jose Medina for introducing the bill. Luna went on to say that “this bill is not only good for our students but also for teachers.”
Jesse Ramirez, a community member who also spoke at the RUSD Board Meeting called for the JW North High School teacher to be terminated. Ramirez also went on to explain the importance of ethnic studies bill.
Earlier this month, California became the first state to require students to complete an ethnic studies course for high school graduation.
“America is shaped by our shared history, much of it painful and etched with woeful injustice. Students deserve to see themselves in their studies, and they must understand our nation’s full history if we expect them to one day build a more just society,” Governor Newsom said in a statement.
Last September RUSD unanimously voted to make ethnic studies a graduation requirement among high school students beginning with the 2024-25 school year. Prior to this vote, RUSD offered both African American Studies and Chicano Studies courses as electives to students.
The incident at North High School further emphasized the need for ethnic studies and cultural competency in the classroom. Assemblymember Ramos explained that his upcoming bill, AB 1554, the California Indian Education Act, outlines curriculum guidelines for educating both students and teachers on California Native Americans.
“There has to be some type of change that takes place to make sure that California Indian people, and Native Americans throughout the nation, are respected and taught appropriately when they’re being discussed inside the classroom,” said Ramos. “This is an issue that starts at an early age that continues to move forward into higher education.”
The student who took the video remains anonymous and does not wish to be identified for safety reasons, according to Akalei Brown, who is Kanaka-Maoli and Taos Pueblo and a Native History/ Culture consultant. Brown has identified herself as the spokesperson for the family of the student.
“I felt it necessary to share this video with the world so they could have a small glimpse into the type of abuses Native children face in US schools every day,” said Brown in a statement via Instagram. “This is reality for Native people in the US and we’re not going to take it sitting down anymore. We’re standing up for our children and setting a new standard for the treatment of Native people.”
To the student who filmed the incident, Assemblymember Ramos urged, “??Continue to stand up, stand up for your rights, don’t let no one take those rights from you. So, stand up, keep moving forward, and there should be no — there should be no retaliation against this student for recording what they did in that classroom.”
This district has not released the teacher’s name.
SAN BERNARDINO, CA –PAL Charter Academy faced off against Lucerne Valley Saturday, October 23 at San Bernardino High School. PCA won 48-0, moving them to 2-0 in Agape League play.
The Bulls received a surprise visit from President Dr. Gwen Rodgers from the San Bernardino City Unified School District. She gave the team a boost before the game telling them she and the district were proud of them.
Dr. Rodgers then gave them a pep talk and encouraged them to bring it home for PCA and the city. The district extended PAL Charter Academy SBHS football stadium to play their season games while PCA builds their football field. PAL Charter is the longest operating and first authorized Charter school under the SBCUSD.
Head coach, Joseph Stanley, said the team played hard and followed the school’s 3D code, “Discipline, Determination, and Dedication equals winner on and off the field!” Tonight, they lived the code.
Executive Director Dwaine Radden Sr. said it was great seeing Dr. Rodgers out here supporting their players and school. It meant a lot to them and the staff. Radden noted the district has worked with him and the team to ensure they had a district facility to play their CIF games. Her visit was also coupled with making sure PCA received quality customer service from the district.
On Friday, October 29, the Bulls had a barn burner against Hesperia Christian, who is also 2-0.
RIALTO, CA— On Sunday, October 31, 2021, the City of Rialto held their annual Halloween Hi-Jinks at the Civic Center in Downtown Rialto.
Halloween Hi-Jinks is the city’s annual Halloween celebration. This year there was a New Orleans Masquerade Mayhem with free candy, games and live entertainment. Other festivities included Down in the Bayou with kid’s crafts, food vendors and Princess & the Frog movie, Mazes and a Masquerade Mask Contest.
“Another great success during our Halloween Hi-Jinks,”Mayor Deborah Robertson stated. “Thanks to everyone who participated in making this a wonderful night. Special thanks to the new Community Services Director Cynthia Alvarado and the entire supporting staff of Parks and Recreation, as well as the various City department heads in attendance. The crowd and turnout was awesome!”
SAN BERNARDINO, CA—- With excitement in her voice Sheri Lewis, Social Lites Inc. President 2021 told the young men wanting to be a part of the 2021-22 Beautillion program that she is implementing great ideas this year. “New structure, new ideas and a myriad of support from former Alumni and corporate sponsors will catapult this years’ program to greater heights,” she explained.
Edward Brantley, the father of the Sir Knight 2020 Kameron Brantley, kicked the program off with a great start by educating young men about how to retain information, knowledge and wisdom.
Also in support were former Alumni Chache Wright, Alumni 1999 and currently the President of the San Bernardino NAACP; Dr. Gregory Alexander, Alumni 1992 and Vice Principle of Arroyo Valley High School; Charles Brown, Alumni 1989, the Director of Equity for Riverside County Office of Education; Johnathan Moreno and Kamau Osonduagwuike Alumni 2018, Kameron Brantley, Alumni 2020 are hard-working and full-time students; Russell Ward, Alumni of 1984 and currently a Software Specialist for Konica Minolta, he also has been the Dance Choreographer for us for the past 25 years. Each Alum offered their overview and shared the long-lasting benefits of joining the Beautillion.
With 55 years of service and having blessed thousands of African American young men the Social Lites have collectively distributed over $2.5 million to our young men who want to attend college or a trade school of their choice. Through mentorship, leadership and character and life development skills we can help Elementary to High School students achieve their goals.
If you know of young men who fits the criteria and wants to be a part of this six-month extracurricular program, please contact the program director as soon as possible. The Beautillion Briefing is every Sunday from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Youth & Community Development Center, 468 West 5th Street in San Bernardino, CA. 92401.
Let’s be the help for our young men’s dreams of becoming better. Knowledge Is Power. If you have questions, please call Marlene Davis at (909) 709-5502.
The California state government has been reminding businesses across the state that it is illegal to discriminate against job applicants because they have committed felonies or misdemeanors in the past. Authorities in Sacramento have also taken steps to make sure businesses do not use COVID-related restrictions to deny entry to customers they do not want based on race or other factors.
So far, the state has sent more than 500 notices to businesses informing them that they have violated protections put in place to protect people seeking work.
“The California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) announced a new effort to identify and correct violations of the Fair Chance Act, a pioneering state law that seeks to reduce barriers to employment for individuals with criminal histories,” a statement the DFEH released last week reads.
The Fair Chance act, which took effect on January 1, 2018, was written to increase access to employment for Californians with criminal histories in an effort to reduce recidivism, among other goals. Employers with five or more employees are prohibited from asking a job candidate about conviction history during the hiring process or when advertising a vacancy.
The DFEH says it is implementing new technologies to conduct mass searches of online job applications that include unlawful statements. For example, some businesses explicitly state in hiring advertisements that they would not consider applicants with criminal records.
“Using technology to proactively find violations of the state’s anti-discrimination laws is a powerful strategy for our department to protect Californians’ civil rights,” said DFEH Director Kevin Kish. “DFEH is committed to preventing employment discrimination through innovative enforcement actions and by providing clear guidance to employers.”
DFEH also released a toolkit to aid employers in adhering to the Fair Chance Act guidelines. The toolkit includes sample forms and guides that employers can use to follow required procedures; a suggested statement that employers can add to job advertisements and applications to let applicants know that they will consider individuals with criminal histories; answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs) about the Fair Chance Act and an informational video that explains the Fair Chance Act.
In addition, DFEH plans to release an interactive training and an online app in 2022.
The DFEH also released guidelines for businesses that will be implementing COVID-19 related entry restrictions to protect against discrimination based on race, sex, religious background and nationality.
While businesses have been encouraged to stay vigilant with mask mandates and vaccination verification for entry, the DFEH says it has also found it necessary to preemptively address refusal of entry that could be racially motivated masked as a COVID precaution.
“As Californians navigate the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department of Fair Employment and Housing has provided guidance to protect civil rights and mitigate risk of COVID-19 transmission in employment, housing, healthcare, and, in our guidance released today, businesses open to the public,” said Kish. “We can and must uphold civil rights while simultaneously disrupting the spread of COVID-19.”
DFEH encourages individuals to report job advertisements in violation of the Fair Chance Act or other instances of discrimination.
DFEH is also encouraging the public to report housing ads that include discriminatory language that exclude certain racial groups, immigrants, people with felonies, applicants with Section 8 or HUD vouchers; etc.
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