By Erik Cork

Rest In Power, Young King CHAD BOZEMAN.  You were just coming into your own.  You were generally regarded as “The Next Denzel” with no other contenders to this elite super-star throne.

Born in South Carolina in 1976, YOUR NAME meant BOX OFFICE to Hollywood executives who picked YOU to portray historic icons like Jackie Robinson, Thurgood Marshall and James Brown.  However, when CHAD BOZEMAN played King T’Challa in the blockbuster BLACK PANTHER, your talented name became the talk of the town.

Your fans NEVER KNEW you had been fighting cancer for the past 4 YEARS.  Everyone is now in SHOCK!!  Your close family, your colleagues and your peers are shedding inconsolable tears because 43 years old seems WAY TOO YOUNG to die.  Not many folks who might live to see 100 will achieve YOUR admirable accomplishments – no matter how much or how hard they might try.

CHAD BOZEMAN – you exuded class and dignity.  You were an elite actor who studied & perfected your craft.  You were serious.  You were skilled.  You were sincere.  You loved to smile.  You loved to laugh.

Colon cancer canceled your future performances in SUPER HERO FILMS that made Black people proud.  Grown folks showed up in record numbers to theaters wearing dashikis to represent WAKANDA and Black Pride OUT LOUD.

The acting crowd in Heaven will welcome your brilliance like we gaze at a SHOOTING STAR.  They will not do lines from any of your billion-dollar grossing movies.  It must be royal welcoming already, so far…

Regardless of who you are, you must ADMIT actor Chad Bozeman was 100 percent LEGIT.  He was a polished professional ironically ahead of his time – because TIME and LONGEVITY was not on his resume – even though iconic “King T’Challa” will LIVE FOREVER in our hearts and mind.

WAKANDA FOREVER – but more importantly, how will you wake up and LIVE YOUR LIFE tomorrow?  Chad Bozeman is receiving TRIBUTES because he lived out his dream in the midst of secret chemo treatments and private sorrow.

Rest In Peace, Young Warrior Prince.  You had the whole world absolutely CONVINCED you were invincible as the The Black Panther.  You were a COMET whose light was bright and very condensed as YOU, Idris Elba and Jamie Foxx were the 1, 2 or 3 ANSWER in a very short window of Black box office fame.  And just like Jackie Robinson, Thurgood Marshall, James Brown & King T’Challa – young CHAD BOZEMAN – the world will always remember YOUR NAME!

Margie Lee Pellum was lovingly known by family and friends as “Big Mama”, recently recognized in the San Bernardino County 2020 Black History Month “Phenomenal Woman” parade. 

Mrs. Pellum received awards from Fiona Ma, State Treasurer, San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors, City of Fontana, Congresswoman Norma Torres, Assemblywoman Reyes as well as from the organizers of the event the Concerned Citizens for the Development of North Fontana for her dedication as an educator for 35 years prior to retiring from the district.

On August 25, 2020, Mrs. Pellum transition from this life to the next to celebrate her 95th birthday  with her Heavenly Father, we thank God for her longevity. The North Fontana Community is grateful for her lifelong dedication to the thousands she touched, unlocking young minds, and always reminding us that education is the key to success. Thank you, Donald, Jerry, and Fred Christian for sharing your phenomenal mother with us. 

Services will be held on Monday, September 9 at 11 a.m. at Greater Faith Grace Bible Church located at 249 E. Randall Avenue in Rialto. The service will be live streamed from the church via www.gfgbcrialto.org.

SAN BERNARDINO, CA—- With the start of the 2020 fall semester, California State University, San Bernardino (CSUSB) will launch the School of Entrepreneurship, the first of its kind in California. The unique program, one of less than 15 existing worldwide, will boost the university’s already highly successful entrepreneurship program.

The School of Entrepreneurship, housed in the Jack H. Brown College of Business and Public Administration, further places CSUSB as a leading entity in the growing field of entrepreneurship education, said Mike Stull, a professor of entrepreneurship and director of the university’s Inland Empire Center for Entrepreneurship, who will serve as the school’s director.

“Establishing the School of Entrepreneurship is an important step for CSUSB and the Jack H. Brown College as it evolves and innovates to meet the needs of students and the local community,” said Stull. “We envision a substantial positive impact, as it will further cement the JHBC reputation as a leader in the field of entrepreneurship education and increase the college’s ability to engage with the local business community in terms of relationships, collaboration, and resources.”

As a school of entrepreneurship, it will oversee and coordinate eight major academic programs in entrepreneurship with over 20 full- and part-time faculty, Stull said.

Cal State San Bernardino President Tomás D. Morales said he was pleased to give the final approval to establish the School of Entrepreneurship, which had been championed at the department, college, Faculty Senate, and by the provost.

“The School of Entrepreneurship represents a truly wonderful and pioneering example of our mission here at Cal State San Bernardino in offering our students a challenging, yet rewarding, educational experience,” Morales said.

“The school’s offerings and dynamic faculty will inspire our students to succeed and help prepare them for life after graduation where they will become our future business leaders and leading entrepreneurs.”

“Our entrepreneurship program has evolved to the point where it makes sense for it to control its own destiny as a distinct academic discipline,” said Lawrence Rose, dean of the Jack H. Brown College. “As a school, the program will gain greater visibility and collaboration campus wide. It will be able to innovate and engage different stakeholders across campus structures. Faculty recruitment will become easier, and employers will better understand what hiring a graduate from the School of Entrepreneurship can contribute to their organizations. I also strongly believe this will allow us to deepen our partnership with the community, bringing significant resources and collaborations that will benefit all parties.”

The creation of the School of Entrepreneurship will significantly raise the university’s profile in recruiting potential students and reinforcing its efforts to become a “destination” program that draws students from beyond the Inland Empire region, Stull said.

“Students are looking for programs that are leaders and innovators in the educational field and have the ecosystem that will support their goal to create new ventures or become innovative change makers in their career field,” Stull said. “CSUSB checks all the boxes in that regard – an innovative, well-established program that is going to the next level by creating a school of entrepreneurship.”

For the existing CSUSB entrepreneurship faculty, the designation will provide an advantage in applying for external research and grant funding. It will also create a significant competitive advantage as the school recruits for top faculty talent. The designation also allows for more interdisciplinary collaboration on campus and the potential for joint faculty appointments with fields such as art, natural sciences, social sciences and education.

The school will add to the university’s entrepreneurship program’s already high profile within the inland region with potential employers, donors and other organizations, which in turn enhances support for startup ventures as well as job and internship opportunities for students in the school, said Stull, who added that the hope is that this will attract more local professionals and entrepreneurs to support the school as mentors, guest lecturers and adjunct faculty.

The CSUSB entrepreneurship program is accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), the leading accreditation for business academic programs worldwide and has evolved and grown substantially since it was launched in the early 2000s.

Enrollment has grown from fewer than 20 students in fall 2002 to its current total of 265 students.  Program officials believe strongly that the entrepreneurship academic program could nearly double in five years.

This growth will be fueled by increasing interest in entrepreneurship among students from all different fields. In fall 2020, CSUSB is welcoming its largest ever freshman class in entrepreneurship, and the school is launching several new initiatives including a dedicated graduate degree in Entrepreneurship and Innovation, collaborative entrepreneurship academic programs with Art, Liberal Studies and Education and unique new courses such as The Improvisational Mind, a collaboration between entrepreneurship and theater arts faculty. 

“We believe strongly that the entrepreneurship academic program can reach 500 students by 2025,” Stull said. “Supporting this potential growth is the fact that entrepreneurship expanded to our Palm Desert Campus in fall 2019 and is currently implementing a wide range of new courses and programs that appeal to students from every discipline on campus.”

As entrepreneurship has grown at CSUSB, the greater academic field of entrepreneurship has also grown and evolved to become recognized through research and programs as a distinct discipline in the field of business. These trends, coupled with the anticipation of future growth and development of the program, resulted in the unanimous decision by the CSUSB entrepreneurship faculty to propose the establishment of a new academic unit representing Entrepreneurship. The school, developed and approved over a three-year process, ultimately received unanimous approval from the Jack H. Brown College, the university Faculty Senate and CSUSB President Tomás Morales.

Stull said as entrepreneurship continues to evolve and grow as a distinct academic discipline, legitimate programs that aspire to national and global recognition are establishing distinct Schools of Entrepreneurship within their respective academic colleges. Universities such as Florida State University, Oklahoma State University and Drexel University are among the early adopters in establishing schools. 

“Becoming the first School of Entrepreneurship in the state of California enables us to extend our existing brand as a top entrepreneurship program and continue to be an innovator both locally and within the CSU system with regard to entrepreneurship education,” Stull said. “Potential students will be drawn to CSUSB as we practice what we preach – innovation, growth and applying the entrepreneurial mindset to achieve impact.”

Mike Stull, director of the CSUSB School of Entrepreneurship is available for interviews. Contact Joe Gutierrez at the CSUSB Office of Strategic Communication at 951-236-4522 or email joeg@csusb.edu.

About Cal State San Bernardino

California State University, San Bernardino is a preeminent center of intellectual and cultural activity in Inland Southern California. Opened in 1965 and set at the foothills of the beautiful San Bernardino Mountains, the university serves more than 20,000 students each year and graduates about 4,000 students annually. The university offers more than 70 traditional baccalaureate and master’s degree programs, education credential and certificate programs, and a doctorate program in educational leadership. Every one of its academic programs that is eligible has earned national accreditation. CSUSB reflects the dynamic diversity of the region and has the most diverse student population of any university in the Inland Empire. More than 80 percent of those who graduate are the first in their families to do so.

For more information on Cal State San Bernardino, contact the university’s Office of Strategic Communication at (909) 537-5007 and visit https://www.csusb.edu/inside.

SAN BERNARDINO, CA—– The PAL Center,  a local San Bernardino non-profit organization located in the heart of San Bernardino and Muscoy,  has been serving the Inland Empire with a variety of community programs for over 35 years.

They were among several COVID-19 front line organizations that shared in an Arrowhead United Way funding drive-thru on Thursday, August 13th at United Way Headquarters.

Dwaine Radden Sr., the PAL Center CEO, stated: “It is always great when your organization and staff are recognized with a grant for making a difference in your community.

Cars were lined up for blocks filled with community leaders to participate in this historic first funding drive-thru hosted by the Arrowhead United Way.

United Way President, Gwen Dowdy Rodgers, said: “Arrowhead United Way has always been the beacon of light for our community and during COVID-19 we continue to serve those in need along with organizations dedicated to our community during these unprecedented times    

We supported 30 local agencies affected by COVID for a total of $285,000 because of generous donor support. The Arrowhead United Way team reached out locally and to the mountain communities to make these awards.

While we continue to stay safe and maintain social distance, our Marketing lead, Christopher Ortiz, and the staff felt we could do a safe drive through check presentation, and a follow up virtual check presentation for those unable to make the drive-thru celebration. Most of the organizations were able to join us in the drive-thru celebration.” 

Radden, saluted President Gwen Rogers and the Arrowhead United Way Team, for keeping funds in our community and making sure local non-profit organizations were included in this grant. He said, “This grant will provide all of us working on the front line with funds to continue and expand needed services for our families and community.”

Visit PAL Center at www.palcenter.org, or social media Facebook, and Twitter. To make donations, or to learn more about their programs and organization, call (909) 887-7002

Visit Arrowhead United Way website and Facebook and follow up on social
Media to donate.

The PAL Center,  a local San Bernardino non-profit organization located in the heart of San Bernardino and Muscoy,  has been serving the Inland Empire with a variety of community programs for over 35 years.

They were among several COVID-19 front line organizations that shared in an Arrowhead United Way funding drive-thru on Thursday, August 13th at United Way Headquarters.

Dwaine Radden Sr., the PAL Center CEO, stated: “It is always great when your organization and staff are recognized with a grant for making a difference in your community.

Cars were lined up for blocks filled with community leaders to participate in this historic first funding drive-thru hosted by the Arrowhead United Way.

United Way President, Gwen Dowdy Rodgers, said: “Arrowhead United Way has always been the beacon of light for our community and during COVID-19 we continue to serve those in need along with organizations dedicated to our community during these unprecedented times    

We supported 30 local agencies affected by COVID for a total of $285,000 because of generous donor support. The Arrowhead United Way team reached out locally and to the mountain communities to make these awards.

While we continue to stay safe and maintain social distance, our Marketing lead, Christopher Ortiz, and the staff felt we could do a safe drive through check presentation, and a follow up virtual check presentation for those unable to make the drive-thru celebration. Most of the organizations were able to join us in the drive-thru celebration.” 

Radden, saluted President Gwen Rogers and the Arrowhead United Way Team, for keeping funds in our community and making sure local non-profit organizations were included in this grant. He said, “This grant will provide all of us working on the front line with funds to continue and expand needed services for our families and community.”

Visit PAL Center at www.palcenter.org, or social media Facebook, and Twitter. To make donations, or to learn more about their programs and organization, call (909) 887-7002

By Hermene D. Hartman

The shouting is over. The 2020 Democratic National Convention was well crafted, programed and designed. The Democrats told the stories of the candidates.

President Bill Clinton reminded us of another time when he was President. Hillary Clinton reminded us that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris could win by 3 million votes and still lose. Trust me she knows what she’s talking about.

President Barack Obama gave us a strong and forceful lesson on constitutional law. He powerfully presented in unprecedented terms how Trump as President, just didn’t have it. He pulled no punches. He stated, “I never expected Trump to embrace my vision or continue my policies, I did hope (for the sake of our country) that Donald Trump might show some interest in taking the job seriously.” “Trump has shown no interest in treating the presidency as anything but one more reality show that he can use to get more attention he craves.” He said that Joe and Kamala will rescue the economy and deeply cared about Americans, together they would get the pandemic under control.

Michelle Obama gave it to us middle of the road, southside girl style, stating the facts of the case and telling it like older generations use to say “T-I-S!” Wearing a “Vote” necklace, Michelle called Trump by his name and said “Donald Trump is the wrong president for our country.” We watched a moving documentary on democracy.

The highlight of the convention was the introduction of Kamala Harris. We heard of her background being raised as a Black woman born of an Indian mother and a Jamaican father. Her mother, a biologist and cancer researcher, raised her and her sister as a single parent, and her father left the family when she was 5 years old. Her mother is deceased. Her dad is an economics scholar and was the first Black male to gain tenure at Stanford University.

As we listened and watched Kamala accept the Democratic nomination for vice president, we wondered if we were watching a future president. She could make astounding history as the first woman and the second Black in the Oval Office. Wow. This could really happen in our lifetime. A lady from Howard University could possibly lead the White House. Hello to all of the AKA’s.

Harris meets ambivalence with some Black men as they question her deeds as a prosecuting attorney in California. She locked many of them up. She will be questioned, yet she was only doing her job. But, would you rather have Trump? That’s the legitimate question.

Dr. Jill Biden will make her very own history as First Lady, community college professor and super mom if Joe’s elected president. She promised that she wouldn’t leave her students, not even for the job at the White House. She will be the first First Lady with outside employment. Let’s see how that works and who enrolls next semester.

Finally candidate, former vice president Joe Biden. Joe presented himself in a strong speech, perhaps the best in his 47 years of public service. It wasn’t a convention speech but felt like a fireside chat. He was compassionate, elegant, dignified and real. He told his story about his hometown of Scranton, Pennsylvania where he knew real life causalities, from his Dad’s loss of job, to the accidental tragic death of his first wife and daughter.

His political journey has been from being the youngest Senator to being possibly the eldest President. When he lost his first wife and daughter in a tragic car accident in 1972, he commuted to work every day via Amtrak to and from Washington, DC every day (the trip’s about 90 minutes) and tucked his kids in bed nightly, as they got through the pain. He did this for 36 years. He lost his son, Bo, to brain cancer. You could hear Biden’s pride of his son the solider, as he went into public office, yet the agony lingers as he tell us, you never get over it. If you don’t identify with that, you are heartless.

During his speech, Biden pulled at your heartstrings as he spoke about his personal stuttering. He introduced to a young boy he met on the campaign trail, with the same problem. Biden told the 13-year-old boy how to conquer his speaking issue. “Kids like me are counting on you to elect someone we can all look up to” he said.

The convention was staged beautifully. It was different. It’s messages deliberate. Zoom was used at its best especially during the home spun roll calls. No fanfare, no balloons or confetti, no applause, no tears, and no cheers. Taped speeches were controlled and purposeful as they were delivered with everyone talking straight to the American public, from their living rooms to ours. It was cozy, casual and comfortable.

As perfect as the Democratic National Convention was, its speakers missed a few things. They missed telling us their plans on what they will do with program and policy for the future of America. Many of them ran against Trump, but did they run for a Democratic platform? We assume it will be better with Biden’s seniority and his lovely family but what should we expect? In the days to come we need to hear the Biden-Harris platform and not just see pretty faces and storytelling.

What about the eradication of racism in this era of Black Lives Matter? What about the economy, as we face a changing face of culture with the pandemic? What about police reform? What about education? Kids have missed a full year of school. We need to hear policy positions.

I like the idea very much that the future Vice President is in place. Kamala will represent a new generation. She will be groomed to assume office if need be. I like that Biden knows his way around the White House from his vice presidency days. I like the fact that he knows the Senate and can cross the aisle to get things done. I like his seniority very much. He can hit the ground running with vigor and energy as an expert surgeon. Experience matters. Biden’s experience matters.

Enters Trump…

And now comes the movement of Trump. He plans on appearing all four days of the Republican National Convention. His talks will be bold, pompous, filled with greatness and illusions of grandeur. His will be a scene from a patriot play that speaks in code to the ways of yesteryear, filled with America great slogans.

The rose garden has a new look for the television screen. Trump will tell us with boundless optimism how great he is, as he plays the political hand that has destroyed the Republican Party. He takes us backwards to a place we won’t go, as he disrupts even the post office. He challenges the system in a bold crazy way with his lovely fashionable family at his side as main speakers of the Trump parade.

His presidency is a virtual reality show. The last three years of his presidency has been flawed and Trump will tell us of the many hoaxes during his last three years.

Trump is not to be discounted, ignored or dismissed. He is ruthless and enjoys the attention of being president. He’s nothing but outrageous – from challenging birthing and calling people out of name. It’s nothing but a good hand of playing “signifying monkey.” His tactics work for him, because they are so daring. He’s like the drunk in the bar that everybody laughs and listens to, but nobody puts him out. They do nothing but give him another drink so that he can be more outrageously offensive.

Trump is not to be under estimated. He is a master of the media. He is bold. He’s an escaped convict running desperate. He’s a pied piper. All of his men have been jailed for their wrongdoing. Trump will pardon them as he can. Trump is telling us loud and clear if he loses it will be because the Democrats cheated. Perhaps the U.S. marshall will be called to remove him from the White House.

Trump with his many conspiracy theories, tells us that the post office will fail us, especially with mail-in votes. So what does he do? He removes the mailboxes off the streets and destroys the sorting machines. He has no fear. He tells us that even if he looses, he will not leave the White House. We look in disbelief and wonder, what on earth will he do next as he mounts his campaign for a second term. How much more offensive can he be? What other lunatic tactics and alien-like methodology will he use in a second term? Mrs. Obama has warned that it could get worse. This will only add to more fodder for books written about his ill and zany ways.

These are amazing times that we live in. As society changes daily, we watch old ways become new. We watch with fright and astonishment as we cope with a world pandemic, that the leader of the free world cannot embrace. He tells us it will be all right eventually, rather than pay attention to the science of the matter. Yet Trump will try and take credit for everything once a cure is found for COVID-19.

As we pray, we better damn sure get out to vote, at all cost. The vote is the only thing we can do to save America. Vote Trump out. Vote for Joe Biden. We HAVE to save our democracy. America’s at stake, please STAY woke.
The best thing that can happen to American democracy is to tell Trump “You’re FIRED!”

VOTE. Please share.

Fighting to uphold the Constitutional right to vote, Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas urged the Board of Supervisors to oppose the Trump Administration’s cost-cutting efforts at the United States Postal Service, calling it a brazen attack on Americans’ ability to vote by mail.

Acting on his motion, Board Chair Pro Tem Hilda Solis issued an Executive Order authorizing County Counsel to join litigation as amicus curiae (friend-of-the-court). The Board is expected to ratify the Executive Order when it reconvenes on September 1^st.

“We’ve fought too hard to have our voices heard on Election Day, and we cannot allow the Postmaster General to suppress our right to vote by mail and undermine a pillar of our democracy,” Supervisor Ridley-Thomas said. “It is imperative that we take a stand so voters can cast their ballots without having go to a polling station during a pandemic.”

US Rep. Karen Bass, who chairs the Congressional Black Caucus, expressed support for the motion during a Facebook Live conversation with Supervisor Ridley-Thomas on leadership and community organizing. She is among the leading Congressional representatives calling for the resignation of the US Postmaster General, Louis DeJoy, and for the Trump Administration to cease any “operational initiatives” that will have an impact on election mail.

“My father was a letter carrier for more than 30 years here in Los Angeles,” Rep. Bass said. “The US Postal Service is not only vital to our election, but also to the livelihood of so many in our communities. The Post Office is one of the largest employers of veterans. We must continue to do all that we can to protect this institution from those who are looking to destroy it.”

Supervisor Ridley-Thomas has fought for voting rights for decades. He founded the African American Voter Registration, Education, and Participation (AAVREP) in 2002, the largest organized effort to register African American and urban voters in California. This after a decade of service as the Executive Director of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, whose national organization was founded by the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.

More recently, Supervisor Ridley-Thomas has worked with Susan Burton, founder of the nonprofit A New Way of Life, to support L.A. Free the Vote, aimed at increasing the civic engagement of people in the justice system.

“As a formerly incarcerated person, I know that my vote matters. I depend on the Post Office to deliver my vote to the County Registrar Recorder’s Office,” Burton said. “We are appalled at the Trump administration’s attempt to disrupt the United States Postal Service during such a critical time.” A New Way of Life helps formerly incarcerated women successfully reenter society by connecting them to supportive services. It works to restore the civil rights of formerly incarcerated people, including their right to vote.

The USPS has always played a central role in the functioning of American democracy but has become even more critical amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Many people rely on mail not only to cast ballots but also to receive life-saving medications and other supplies during a time when it is incredibly risky to gather in one place, stand in line, and touch the same election machinery. 

Despite that, Postmaster General DeJoy recently, and just months before the November 3rdGeneral Election, decided to implement changes at the USPS without first seeking authority from the Postal Commission, and despite acknowledging that the service reductions would result in “mail left behind.” DeJoy, a Republican Party and Trump campaign donor, later canceled some of the changes after a public outcry. The USPS, however, has already removed many mailboxes from service across several states.

The Attorneys General of Washington, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and Wisconsin have all filed lawsuits opposing the changes. The Attorneys General of Pennsylvania, with California, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, North Carolina, New Jersey, and New York, are also expected to the challenge the changes in court.

By Antonio Ray Harvey | California Black Media 

Eric Garner’s mother Gwendolyn Carr says, for Black Men, selling a single cigarette, known as “loosey,” can lead to an arrest, a prison sentence or even death. 

Six years ago, a police officer put her son in a chokehold and strangled him to death for allegedly selling illegal cigarettes on Staten Island, a borough of New York City. 

Now, Carr is speaking out in a new video against California Senate Bill (SB) 793, which she says will create the same circumstances – the illegal sale and use of menthol cigarettes and aggressive, racially-biased law enforcement — that led to her son’s death. If the Senate passes the bill and Gov. Newsom signs it into law, it would ban the sale of menthol tobacco and other flavored cigarette products. 

“A new law would criminalize menthol cigarettes, which Black people smoke almost exclusively, giving police officers another excuse to harm and arrest any Black man, woman or child they choose,” Carr says in the video opposing SB 793. “A bad law has consequences for mothers like me.” 

Carr is not alone in her opinion of the bill. Across California, there is opposition to SB 793, which, if passed, would become the country’s strongest restriction on flavored tobacco products, including Newport, Kool and Salem cigarettes — three brands Blacks disproportionately smoke. 

Old and young, faith leaders, retired law enforcement officers, and civil rights activists came together to protest SB 793. At protests in Los Angeles and Sacramento on Aug. 20, they called out the inherent discrimination coded into the language and spirit of SB 793, which California Sen. Jerry Hill (D-San Mateo) authored. 

“The goal of this protest is to ensure we are heard,” said Rev. K.W. Tulloss, President of Baptist Ministers Conference Los Angeles and co-founder of Neighborhood FORWARD, a community-based social action organization. “SB 793 is a bad bill that’s not good for California. The unintended consequences of this legislation are real. Bills like this take us backward.” 

But on the same day of the protests, the Assembly Appropriations Committee passed the bill, sending the bill to the full Assembly for consideration. 

The rallies were two in a series of three held against SB793. The first one was held in front of the home of California Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Lakewood). 

Like Carr, people and organizations that oppose SB 793 say it is discriminatory because some adult tobacco products — those preferred by Whites – are exempted from the ban. 

Meanwhile, the tobacco products preferred by African American adult smokers, menthol cigarettes, are included in the ban. Exemptions in SB 793 include shisha tobacco, which is used in hookah water pipes, premium tobacco, and loose-leaf tobacco. 

The retail sale of flavored handmade premium cigars with a minimum price of $12 are also not prohibited under this bill. 

Some California residents say that the exemptions for certain kinds of tobacco nearly mirror laws that unequally penalized people for selling or possessing the same amounts of crack cocaine and powdered cocaine. 

In 1986, the federal government passed the Anti-Drug Abuse Act, which mandated stiffer punishments for people who sold crack cocaine, the rock form of the drug, which more Blacks used. Penalties for possessing or distributing cocaine powder, preferred by Whites, were much lighter. Distributing just five grams of crack triggered a federal mandatory minimum prison sentence of 5 years. But it required 500 grams of cocaine for a distributor to receive a federal prison sentence of the same length of time – a 100:1 disparity. 

Law Enforcement Action Partnership (LEAP) and the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement (NOBLE) agree that the bill has a racist element to it. They say the bill demonstrates clear discrimination and preferential treatment between two tobacco products preferred by two different cultural groups. 

“We will not and cannot stand for more policies that resemble another Black tax yet find a way to make concessions and amendments for certain groups,” Rev. Tulloss said. “Hookah is exempted, yet menthol cigarettes are not. The Speaker can make this bill fair and that’s all we’re asking.” 

Existing law prohibits a person from selling or otherwise furnishing tobacco products to a person under 21 years of age. It also prohibits the use of tobacco products in county offices of education, on charter school or school district property, or near a playground or youth sports event. 

If SB 793 passes, each violation of the law would be punishable by a fine of $250. 

“Using candy, fruit, and other alluring flavors, the tobacco industry weaponized its tactics to beguile a new generation into nicotine addiction while keeping longtime users hooked. SB 793 breaks Big Tobacco’s death grip,” said Hill said after the Senate voted 33-4 to advance the bill to the Assembly last month. 

An estimated seven out of 10 African American youth ages 12 to 17 years smoke menthol cigarettes, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In addition, African American adults make up the largest percentage of menthol cigarette users compared to other racial and ethnic groups, the CDC says. 

The coalition of SB 793 supporters include the Office of Lieutenant Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, the Tobacco-Free Kids Action Fund, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, the American Heart Association, the American Lung Association, and the Common Sense Kids, who are all bill sponsors. 

“SB 793 coauthors, cosponsors, African American thought leaders in government, health, the faith community, science, the arts and among our youth, as well as other supporters, have provided strong counterpoints to the obfuscation,” Hill stated. “We are confident that together we can ensure the strongest tobacco control restrictions in the country become California law.”

Photo by Antonio R. Harvey

Tanu Henry | California Black Media 

On July 25, the federal government’s Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program ended for most states, leaving millions of Californians without the extra cash many of them had been relying on for months to make ends meet. 

The $600 extra in federal stimulus pay was added cushion to the amount states already provide for their residents in unemployment insurance payments. Created for Americans who lost their jobs due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, the program was authorized by the Cornonavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) act, which was signed into federal law in March. 

Then, last week, the California Employment Development Department (EDD) announced that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) approved California’s application to participate in the federal Lost Wages Assistance (LWA) program — funding that President Donald Trump authorized by memorandum Aug. 8. The LWA program provides $4.5 billion to California from which $300 extra in unemployment insurance benefits will be paid to individuals for three weeks. 

“Since the beginning of this pandemic, we have sought to maximize federally funded unemployment benefits to Californians. These benefits are critical for the basic security of families and communities and for our economy, which have been so devastated by the virus and its financial impacts,” said California Labor Secretary Julie A. Su after the EDD’s announcement. 

To qualify, unemployed Californians would have to already be eligible to receive at least $100 each week in unemployment benefits and they would have to provide proof that their job loss resulted from the coronavirus crisis. 

Although the U.S. House of Representatives has approved a fifth stimulus bill, the $3-trillion-dollar ‘‘Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions (HEROES) Act, the Senate has not brought it up for debate or vote. That bill includes an extension of the $600 federal supplement through Jan. 31, 2021. 

Senate Republicans have countered the $600-a-week proposal in the HEROES act with a $400 weekly payment in UI benefits. Democrats turned down that offer in negotiations. 

Some Republican Senators opposed to the $600 payment approved in the last stimulus package argued that it does not provide an incentive for workers who were laid off to look for work. 

“We cannot encourage people to make more money in unemployment than they do in employment,” Sen. Tim Scott (D-SC) pointed out. 

While the U.S. Congress decides what should be included in the next stimulus package, for now unemployed Californians can apply to get $300 a week extra in unemployment benefits 

dating back to Aug. 1. 

“As we modernize and strengthen the state’s unemployment insurance delivery system, we will continue to leverage any additional resources the federal government makes available,” Su said.

By Dr. G.S. Potter | Contributing Editor, B | e Note

Perhaps it’s a way for Biden to somehow make amends for helping pass the destructive law and actively repair decades of damage

Reparations isn’t just about slavery. It isn’t just about broken promises following the Civil War. It might be rooted in the need to repair the damages done by these atrocities – but that’s not where it ends. The damage done to Black Americans has been continuous and ongoing for centuries. And not only must this damage be ended, but it must be repaired.

The current debate over the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, or the 1994 Crime Bill as it is commonly referred to, might offer the opportunity for us to do this.

This bill has always been a point of contention in communities working on criminal justice reform, but it has been currently highlighted in the mainstream media because of Joe Biden’s role in passing it and his refusal to outright condemn it — much to the dismay of many in the Black voting bloc he needs to win the election.

Currently, the debate surrounding the 1994 Crime Bill hasn’t amounted to much more than a wedge issue for the Democratic Party. What it can and should evolve into is a point of leverage for the Black community.

Biden needs the Black vote to win the 2020 election. The Black community needs meaningful criminal justice reform and reparations. Instead of threatening to tap out of the election because of his defense of the Act, the Black community can apply the massive amount of leverage they have accumulated to flip the script. In other words, instead of canceling themselves out of the 2020 election, Black voters can offer support for the Biden campaign in exchange for revisions … and reparations.

Even if Biden did acknowledge that the Act had a severely detrimental effect on the Black community, that would do little to repair the damages done. On the other hand, if the Black community presented a piece of legislation that undid that damage to the greatest extent possible, then we can transmute one of the most damaging pieces of legislation in criminal justice reform history into a point of power and repair.

Undoing the Damage

To be fair, there are pieces of the crime bill that were beneficial. Those should be acknowledged.

For example, the Act banned 19 different types of assault weapons and created stricter licensing standards for gun dealers, for example. Those pieces should stay in place. The overwhelming majority of the Act, though, served to increase the harassment, brutalization, and imprisonment of Black (and Brown) people. These pieces of the 1994 Crime Bill should be identified, acknowledged, and remedied. The people that suffered from these pieces of legislation should also be directly compensated for the damage done to them and their communities.

There is already a legislative effort to undo some of the damage caused by the Act. It comes in the form of the Reverse Mass Incarceration Act. According to the Brennan Center for Justice this bill – which was reintroduced to Congress by Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), along with Rep. Tony Cárdenas (D-CA) in 2019 – would include:

– A new federal grant program of $20 billion over 10 years in incentive funds to states.

– A requirement that states that reduce their prison population by 7 percent over a three-year period without an increase in crime will receive funds.

– A clear methodology based on population size and other factors to determine how much money states receive.

– A requirement that states invest these funds in evidence-based programs proven to reduce crime and incarceration.

It’s a start, but the Reverse Mass Incarceration Act clearly does not go far enough to remove the structuralized racism implemented as a result of the 1994 crime bill or repair the communities and families destroyed by it.

For example, according to the Brennan Center …

… through the Violent Offender Incarceration and Truth-in-Sentencing Incentive Grants Program. This provided $12.5 billion in grants to fund incarceration, with nearly 50 percent earmarked for states that adopted tough “truth-in-sentencing” laws that scaled back parole. Under this grant program, eligible states received money to expand their prison capacity to incarcerate people convicted of violent crimes.”

The $20 million grant programs included in the Reverse Mass Incarceration Act are designed to acknowledge the $12.5 billion in grants supplied by the 1994 Crime bill, adjust the amount for inflation, and attach federal funding to a decrease in the rate of incarceration by 7 percent. This is a small step in the direction away from mass incarceration, but it does not do enough to undo the damage done by the 1994 Crime Bill, nor does it repair that damage.

The Brennan Center goes on to explain that ….

…. the most significant and long-lasting impacts of the legislation was the authorization of incentive grants to build or expand correctional facilities through the Violent Offender Incarceration and Truth-in-Sentencing Incentive Grants Program. This provided $12.5 billion in grants to fund incarceration, with nearly 50 percent earmarked for states that adopted tough “truth-in-sentencing” laws that scaled back parole. Under this grant program, eligible states received money to expand their prison capacity to incarcerate people convicted of violent crimes.

In addition to Truth in Sentencing Laws and an overwhelming increase in prisons, the 1994 Crime Bill also promoted the use of Three Strikes Laws. As the ACLU reports …

The crime bill implemented a rash of new three-strikes laws — laws that impose automatic life sentences for people convicted of certain felony offenses if they already have two convictions on their record. Dozens of states followed suit and enacted three-strikes laws, resulting in a ballooning of the incarceration rate in certain states, especially for black and Latinx Americans.

Imposing life sentences simply because an individual has a criminal record disproportionately targets people of color, who are more likely to have a record in the first place because of unequal contact with police and the justice system. Harsh collateral consequences limit employment opportunities for returning people, especially people of color, and increase the likelihood of recidivism. The crime bill’s three-strikes provision sent thousands of Americans to prison for life based on previous offenses for minor crimes such as stealing loose change from a parked car. In 2016, 78.5 percent of Americans serving life sentences in federal prison were people of color.

The Reverse Mass Incarceration Act does little to nothing to help the individuals and families targeted by these provisions.

Reparations for Time Served

A reform bill should be presented to Biden that not only reverses these provisions, but that also identifies individuals that were incarcerated for minor offenses under three strikes laws as well as those whose sentences were extended because of Truth and sentencing laws. Their cases should be revisited, and the charges should be commuted and expunged. Individuals and families should be compensated for time served as well as the financial losses associated with loss of income, economic opportunity, and personal trauma.

In other words, reparations should be from the government and made directly to individuals for the damages that have resulted from the 1994 Crime Bill.

In addition to repairing the damages done to individuals and removing the pieces of the Crime Bill and subsequent legislation that was built off of it, there are a number of other provisions that have bolstered the mass incarceration of Black Americans that should be removed and remedied.

For example, decreasing incarceration rates by 7 percent is an important step attempted by the Reverse Mass Incarceration Act. However, this incentive does not go far enough. Not only should there be a higher rate of decrease of incarceration to receive funds, but the act should specifically outline who should be released. For example, as already mentioned, people being held for nonviolent crimes, people being held because of three strikes laws and people being held because of Truth in Sentencing laws should all receive case reviews for commutation. Individuals imprisoned for drug use and possession, mental health issues, and crimes of poverty should also qualify for commuted sentences and expunged records under any act designed to end mass incarceration.

Additionally, states should be expected to reduce the number of prisons in order to receive funding.

Undoing the “Drug War”

The Brennan Center continues that …

The number of state and federal adult correctional facilities rose 43 percent from 1990 to 2005.” Provisions can and should be put in place to incentivize the elimination of these prisons in exchange for federal funding. They additionally report that the Act “provided funding for 100,000 new police officers and $14 billion in grants for community-oriented policing, for example. From 1990 to 1999, the number of police officers rose 28 percent, from 699,000 to 899,000, partly funded by the crime bill.

This $14 billion should be adjusted for inflation and used as an incentive to deconstruct or repurpose prisons and eliminate police officers. Again, a specific process should be used in order to do this.

For example, a newly re-envisioned legislative response to the 1994 Crime Bill can be used to incentivize the elimination of police officers involved in cases of brutality and harassment. It can be used to eliminate police officers that have posted racist and racially biased posts on social media accounts. The Act can also be used to eliminate the use of police officers from schools. In this way, we can reduce the asymmetrical contact between Black communities and law enforcement while also removing racist officers and those that have specifically done direct damage to Black people.

By using the 1994 Crime Bill as a source of reversal and reparations, a model can also be created to use other pieces of legislation to undo the structural injustice that has targeted Black Americans for generations.

For example, The Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 was a federal cornerstone of the War on Drugs. This Act established mandatory minimums for drug possession, increased funding for drug enforcement, and blocked funding for drug prevention programs. Just as a true reversal of the 1994 Crime Bill could establish pathways for legislative reforms and reparations, a similar act could end the so-called War On Drugs, eliminate the use of incarceration for drug use and possession, commute sentences for those that were incarcerated under this law and derivative legislation, and give reparations to individuals and families whose lives and livelihoods were stolen as a result of the Act and the war on Black communities it encodified.

Similar legislation can be also presented at the state and local levels to remedy and repair damages caused by legislation such as cash bail practices, gang injunctions, predatory lending practices, redlining, housing injustice and a number of policies that have directly harmed the Black community.

In this way, we can not only reform the policies that have targeted and traumatized Black Americans, but we can formalize a reparation process that directly repairs the people and communities most damaged by structural racism. But it all starts with the 1994 Crime Bill.

The Black community has an unprecedented amount of leverage right now. Instead of asking Biden to apologize for his part in supporting the crime bill, legislation that truly reverses and repairs the damages done by the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 should be presented to him and the Democratic Party for his approval. Let our anger translate into reform and reparations, and let his apology be encodified in legislation. And then let’s move on to the next Act, and then the next. Until we tear down every last piece of structural racism and repair the damages done to every last Black American.

By Tanu Henry | California Black Media  

Family members, friends, former colleagues and other loved ones across California were shocked to learn about the passing of former California Assemblymember Gwen Moore on August 19. Her family has not yet announced the cause of her death.  

Moore was first elected to the state legislature in 1978 and served for 16 years until 1994, representing California’s 49^th district (redistricted and renumbered in 1990 as the 47^th district), which currently includes Long Beach, Catalina Island and parts of Los Angeles and Orange counties.  

While serving in the Assembly, Moore, introduced over 400 bills that were signed into law. She also served as Majority Whip and was a member of a number of influential committees, including the Assembly Utilities and Commerce Committee.  

Moore was the architect and political force behind California General Order 156. It is a state supplier diversity program that has, over the years, strengthened and stabilized a number of California Black-owned, Women-owned and other minority-owned small businesses by helping them secure lucrative state contracts.  

In 1994, Moore resigned from the Assembly to run for Secretary of State. Although she didn’t win that race, Moore began to pursue other opportunities outside of elected office that influenced state policy and impacted the lives of people.  

The founder and Chief Executive Officer of Los Angeles-based GeM Communications Group, Moore was a sought-after consultant and worked with several prominent clients across the state.  Her family, relatives, former colleagues and friends across California and the United States reached out to each other as the shocking news of her unexpected death was shared across her political, business and social circles.  

Moore served on numerous boards. Among them were the California State Bar Board of Trustees, the California Small Business Association board and the national board of the NAACP. She was also First Vice President of the California State Conference of the NAACP, Vice Chair of the California Utility Diversity Council and Chairwoman of the California Black Business Association. For her work in California and across the United States, Moore won numerous national and local awards, including honors from the U.S. Department of Commerce and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.  

California Black media will continue to follow Hon. Moore’s death with updates, tributes from loved ones and news about her final arrangements.