C e l e b r a t i n g 2 7 Ye a r s o f Service in Inglewood, Airport area Communities
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August 12 - 18, 2021 VOL. 36, No. 32
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As Schools Reopen, Gov. Newsom Invests $123.9 Billion to Address Financial and Safety Concerns The Coopers are not alone in their concern for struggling Black families with children returning to school this fall as uncertainty about the coronavirus and its new variants lingers. For many Black California families, especially lower-income ones, having their children resume in-person classes amidst an ongoing pandemic remains both a financial and public health challenge. But during a visit to Juanita B. Jones Elementary School in San Bernardino on Aug. 6, Gov. Gavin Newsom laid out a roadmap for the state’s safe return to in-person instruction. During the press conference, Newsom spoke about the California Comeback Plan, a COVID-19 recovery budget that includes $123.9 billion in investments in education. He was joined by Assembly Majority Leader Eloise Gomez Reyes (D-San Bernardino), Assemblymember James Ramos (D-Highland), Superintendent of Education Tony Thurmond, Gwendolyn Dowdy-Rodgers, a San Bernardino County education advocate and school board member, among others. “Our school year started Monday and we’ve had a great week,” Dr. Gwen Dowdy-Rogers, the San Bernardino City Unified School District school board president, said at the beginning
Aldon Thomas Stiles | California Black Media
On Aug. 3 in Perris, California – a Riverside County city located about 70 miles east of Los Angeles -Lincoln Cooper and Fortunate Hove Cooper handed out free backpacks full of school supplies and hand sanitizers to struggling families during a tripledigit heat wave. They were joined by a handful of volunteers that included representatives from the Moreno Valley School District. “This is the biggest back to school event we’ve ever had,” said Lincoln Cooper, president and founder of the community outreach organization the Concerned Family (TCF). “We’ve had a lot of support and we’re really thankful and grateful that we were able to help the community.” The faith-based, Black-lead community outreach organization, founded in 1993 and run out of an old fire station in Perris, has organized back-to school events in the past; but none quite on this scale, the group’s leaders say. According to Lincoln, they received over 750 backpacks filled to the brim with useful supplies. “What we had planned, initially, was not the backpacks. The plan was to remember those who lost their relatives in the COVID-19 pandemic and have a memorial for them and then assure the kids that they’re still being heard, and we are not just passing them by while they are grieving,” said TCF Co-Founder Fortunate Hove Cooper.
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Sec. of State Weber Launches Voter Registration “Ballot Bowl” for Cal College Students
Kassidy Henson | California Black Media
California Secretary of State Shirley Weber launched the 2021 Ballot Bowl: Registration Rumble, an inter-collegiate competition organized to drive voter registration among students attending all of California’s major institutions of higher learning. The competition, which began Aug. 2 and ends Sept. 14, is intended to “incentivize campuses to adopt policies and practices that boost civic engagement, to inspire students to get involved in voter registration campaigns,
and to acknowledge those who are leading the way on civic engagement at California’s colleges and universities,” according to the Secretary of State’s office. Weber says it is important that all Californians, including students, exercise their right to vote and they
should prepare to participate in the gubernatorial recall election set to take place on Sept. 14. “As an educator, I understand the great potential of California’s students to lead, to be active and to be engaged,” said Weber. “It is incumbent on public servants to ensure that student voices
are heard when decisions are made and to foster a culture of civic engagement in California’s youth. I look forward to honoring the winners and champion of the 2021 Ballot Bowl competition.” The Ballot Bowl has had a positive impact on student voter registration since it began in 2018. According to the Secretary of State, nearly 11,000 students registered to vote that year. The success of the competition continued in 2020 with 82,000 newly registered student Continued on page 2
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