EL CHICANo Weekly
Vol 57, NO. 52
De cember 19, 2019
Perris Hill Park transformed into Winter Wonderland By Ricardo Tomboc
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www.iecn.com Gloria’s Cor ner Pg. 3
Holiday celebr ation for l oca l students
Pg. 5
n Saturday, December 14th the San Bernardino YMCA held its Christmas Parade around Perris Hill Park. Immediately after the parade the City of San Bernardino hosted the Winter Wonderland activities. Thousands showed up for the festivities and enjoyed several events that the city and various vendors provided for the community. Live entertainment, food, photos with Santa, crafts, police department SWAT and motorcycle displays, and vendors were all part of the Winter Wonderland activities. However, one of the biggest attractions was the fourlane 60-ton snow slide that was created for saucer sledding and the occasional snowball fight! Many of these children said that they had never experienced saucer sledding before, and many said that they had never seen snow at all! Just as much fun as saucer sledding was helping the children with various activities. San Bernardino Police Explorer scouts joined the Parks and Recreation Department in orga-
PHOTO
RICARDO TOMBOC
San Bernardino Police Explorer scouts joined the Parks and Recreation Department in organizing the snow play. nizing the snow play. Many of the Police Explorers also experienced snow for the first time. At the top of the snow slide, San Bernardino Police Officer B. Nelson worked with George Hernandez who was a special
needs student at Pacific High School. Next to George was his mom Alicia Rodrigues. Working together, George was able to make several successful snow saucer sled runs.
raffled off to visitors at the event. One lady waited all day for the chance of winning a Christmas tree, and her efforts paid off as she went home with the last tree! During the late afternoon, San
15 six-foot Christmas trees were
Wonderland, cont. on next pg.
Fo u nd e r of Co m mu n it y Le a gue of Mo th e r s r e sp on sib l e for desegregating SB school district dies at 84 Community News
To y D r i v e & C a r Sh ow at Loma Lin da Ronald McDonald House
Pg. 7
INSIDE Gloria’s Corner
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Words To Think About 5 Opinion
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Legal Notices
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H OW TO R E AC H US
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onnie Sheree Johnson was born on Christmas day 1934 in Kansas City, Missouri to Oscar and Mary (Celestine) Buckles. Her family moved to San Bernardino when she was 10 years old where she attended Mills Elementary School, Sturgis Jr. High School and San Bernardino High School. Bonnie enrolled in San Bernardino Valley College and received a Certificate in Stenography. She also received her AA degree from a state college in San Francisco. Bonnie married Arthur R.D. Johnson and raised three children - Larry, Deborah, and Kae Johnson. Art was the breadwinner and Bonnie was content as a wife, mother and homemaker. From the time of Bonnie’s birth into her early adult years the civil rights movement was nonexistent. Even though the Founding Fathers had labored years before to devise a document that would be humane and just for all, it did-
n’t apply to all. During her childhood Bonnie saw the New Deal, the Fair Deal, the New Frontier, and a Great Society; however, for blacks, there was no deal at all. This situation became apparent to Bonnie when her children entered the public school system. As a stay-at-home-mom Bonnie was enthusiastically engaged in the P.T.A and other activities involving her children. It was at that time that she noted the disparity in segregated schools. Bonnie adamantly refused to deny her children the “American Dream.”
By this time the civil rights movement had begun. Led by Martin Luther King Jr.’s example, Bonnie was. Before Dr. King’s famous “I have a Dream” speech, Bonnie had a dream; her dream was to educate her children, and in order to reach that goal, Bonnie challenged the school system. Working side-by-side with activists Francis Grice and Valerie Pope, Bonnie formed the Community League of Mothers, to which she was elected
President. They led an anti-segregation boycott of the San Bernardino School District. The Dynamic Trio instituted “Freedom Schools” and took their children along with other students out of the public school system.
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JOHNSON FAMILY
Bonnie Sheree Johnson, with activists Frances Grice and Valerie Pope, led an antisegregation boycott of the San Bernardino School District as the Civil Rights movement began. Their efforts resulted in the California Supreme Court ruling that the school district was guilty of segregation and mandated an end to it.
Newspapers ran articles regarding the Community League of Mothers’ claims that “black schools” were inferior to “white schools” and were not giving their children a chance at the “American Dream.” They maintained that white schools had better books, better teachers, and a wealth of resources. The school board and local politicians denied any discrimination. This became a dangerous fight of personal sacrifice to the members of the Community League of Mothers, who received threats of hanging, cross burning, KKK activities and shootings as the protests heated up. With the aid of the NAACP, many court battles ensued, ending with the California Supreme Court’s rulJohnson, cont. on next pg.