Your Community Connection
Including Inglewood Airport Area • Baldwin Hills • Crenshaw/LA • Ladera Heights VOL. 22, No. 46
November 14, 2013
Agents of Change
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By Akin Wally Smith, California Black Media
ith the state preparing to host an annual diversity conference, business and government insiders consider the question: When the California insurance industry gives, are Black communities the beneficiaries? On the eve of an annual diversity summit hosted by the California Department of Insurance, the insurance industry itself is taking careful stock of its littlenoticed impact on AfricanAmerican communities across the state. In a report released earlier this year, the industry’s increased profile in the African-American community was initially detailed in a report earlier this year, entitled “The Insurance Industry’s Impact on California’s Economy.” The 26-page study looked at a number of topics, focused on how the industry provides employment; contributes to California’s infrastructure; helps builds communities through procurement diversity; and
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California Department of Insurance conducts outreach through billion in annuity considclose ties to charitable non- erations, while insurers profit organizations. paid out $7.4 billion in According to the report, death benefits and another Californians bought life $8.4 billion in annuity payinsurance coverage worth ments. $332 billion in 2011, paid Furthermore, it also noted $14.5 billion in life insur- that insurers held $46 bilance premiums and $30.5 lion in California munici-
pal bonds at the end of 2011 and $19 billion in qualified investments through the California Organized Investment Network (COIN). In terms of jobs, the industry employed over 210,000 people with an annual payroll of $14.9 billion. The 2nd Annual Insurance Diversity Policy Summit, which will present an “Insurer Supplier Diversity Survey,” featuring reviews and forecasts on industry activity, takes place Nov. 1 from 8 a.m. to noon, at the Department of Health Care Services, East End Complex-Auditorium, 1500 Capitol Ave., Sacramento. Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones and the Insurance Diversity Task Force will lead proceedings, and its findings should be a major source of buzz for industry titans like State Farm, Farmers, AIG, Kaiser Permanente and Prudential, all of which may be represented at the summit. “Insurance is vital to eco(Continued on page 9)
The Immortal Forum
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By Thomas Bunn
t’s official! Thanks to Madison Square Garden Entertainment and Tnemec, manufacturer of the world’s most advanced line of protective coatings, I can draw, paint, and design using the newly named “Forum Red.” That’s right, the Fabulous Forum has its own color. Originally named California Sunset Red by the legend(Continued on page 10)
Mayor Butts with students. Photos by Thomas Bunn.
Desperation Ensues After Typhoon
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evastation has turned to desperation after Typhoon Haiyan swept through the Philippine islands on November 8. Reuters reported that panic over shortages of food, water, medicine and supplies has resulted in looting and violence. The typhoon has been recorded as one of the strongest storms ever, turning cities and towns in the central Philippines into areas that are unrecognizable.
Chaos and anarchy has spread from local shops and warehouses to private homes. Reports of activities in the storm’s aftermath include: • Gunfire between security forces and armed men near a mass grave in worst-hit Tacloban in Leyte province people being • Eight crushed to death when looters raided rice stockpiles in a government warehouse in the town of Alangalang, causing a wall to collapse • Looters carting away (Continued on page 2)
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