L.A Focus Newspaper January 2020

VOLUME XXV • ISSUE 1 • January 2020 >>

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CHURCH NEWS: Greater Zion Hosts Celebration of Israel PAGE

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HOLLYWOOD BUZZ: MGM Releases Teaser Trailer for Aretha Franklin Biopic PAGE

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SEE PAGE

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UPFRONT

Los Angeles County Supervisors Hope to Prevent Homelessness With New Computer Model Los Angeles County announced the development of a homelessness prevention action plan based on predictive modeling research to identify and target residents at high risk of becoming homeless...

SAVING GRACE: Vanessa Williams

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contents

L.A. Focus Publications

January2020

Left: Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas led the groundbreaking ceremony for the first of its kind service-enriched housing which will open in less than a year; Middle (L-R) Friend of Lena Kennedy, Senator Holly J. Mitchell, Cheryle Harrison from Bounce TV, civil rights legend Xernona Clayton, Councilmember Curren Price, Lena Kennedy from Community Women Vital Voices and Jihee Huh from the California Community Foundation at a luncheon celebrating Clayton; Right: Councilmember Marqueece Harris-Dawson on City Hall steps after the City Council unanimously voted to create the Office of Racial Equity.

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From The Editor Feed Your Faith & Starve Your Doubts to Death

Commentary California Is Taking Steps to Lower the Voting Age — Here’s Why

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UpFront Los Angeles County Hopes to Prevent Homelesness using New Comouter Model; 2020 New Laws

Evangelical Support for Trump On Shaky Ground?

Biz News Briefs Issa Rae Helps Open New Hilltop Coffee and Kitchen Cafe in Inglewood; Nike’s Colin Kaepernick Air Force 1 Sneakers Sell Out in Minutes; Beyoncé Launches New Adidas x IVY PARK Collection

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Money Matters New Trump Rule Could Eliminate Food Stamps for Almost 200,000 Californians

Feature Story Jackie Lacey’s Uphill Battle: The Racce is On For Who Will Be the Next DA To Head Up the Nation’s Largest Prosecutorial Office

staff Publisher/Editor-In-Chief Staff Writers Production Photographer Advertising

Lisa Collins Gerald Bell, Dianne Lugo Kisha Smith Ian Foxx Leatha Davis

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Calendar/Around LA

22 From The Pulpit of 23 Through The Storm 25 In Good Taste 26 Saving Grace Full Harvest International Bishop Clarence E. McClendon

Red Carpet Style Trumpet Awards 2019

Hollywood Buzz First Official Teaser Trailer for Aretha Franklin Biopic Released; Universal Studios Braces for $70Million Loss After “Cats” Flop

Jocelyn Delk Adams

Vanessa Williams

One On One Martin Lawrence

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Church News

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Pastor Profile

Greater Zion Hosts Celebration of Israel; Lois Evans Mourned; Rev. Dr. Clyde Oden Ties the Knot With Congresswoman Lee

Ralph Williamson

Pastor Warryn and Erica Campbell will be featured in the 2019 MLK Celebration hosted by the William E. Pannell Center for African American Church Studies at Fuller Seminary January 21 through 25.

First Lady Files Heather Bourne

honorary advisors West Angeles C.O.G.I.C. City of Refuge Greater Zion Church Family Southern Saint Paul Church Faithful Central Bible Church Mt. Moriah Baptist Church Baptist Minister’s Conference

Bishop Charles Blake Bishop Noel Jones Pastor Michael Fisher Rev. Xavier L. Thompson Bishop Kenneth C. Ulmer Pastor Emeritus Melvin Wade Pastor K.W Tulloss

advisory board Napoleon Brandford Pastor Beverly Crawford Lem Daniels Bob Blake

Siebert, Brandford, Shank & Co. Bible Enrichment Fellowship International Church Morgan Stanley Bob Blake & Associates

Church,

full Harvest International Church, Bishop Clarence E. McClendon

Eye On Gospel

Head to Head Headlines From Africa

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Game Changers

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Commentary

TYLER OKEKE AND LUIS SANCHEZ Guest Columnists

California Is Taking Steps to Lower the Voting Age – Here’s Why oung people across the country are mobilizing, marching, and speaking out on critical issues as never before, from the Youth Climate Strike and March for Our Lives to immigrant rights and Black Lives Matter. They are looking out at a world they’re set to inherit, and making a powerful case for action to create a safer, more equitable future.

Now, it’s time to let more young people use the power of their vote – not just their voices – to effect change by expanding voting rights to include young people aged 16 and 17. California could be a leader in making this happen. In August, dozens of young people like myself from across the state rallied and conducted repeated legislative visits in support of Assemblymember Evan Low’s bill, Assembly Constitutional Amendment Eight (ACA 8), which would amend the state constitution to drop the voting age to 17 for all state-wide elections. With help from our #17ToVote statewide coalition, the bill passed the state Assembly on August 26, and is now headed to the Senate for a vote. ACA 8 would be a step in the right direction to expand voting rights to young people.

The idea of opening the door for more young people to vote is gaining traction on the local level as well. In Los Angeles, the two of us worked together to pass a resolution to research the feasibility of a 2020 ballot measure allowing persons 16 years of age or older to vote in the Los Angeles Unified School District board elections.

Other California cities such as San Francisco came close in recent years, and in 2016, Berkeley voters approved Measure Y1 with over 70% of the vote.

Over the centuries, the U.S. has steadily opened the door to voting for populations that were long denied this fundamental right. From 1964 to 1973, young people were drafted and sent to Vietnam. That generation saw tens of thousands of young men sacrifice their lives without the ability to have a say and a vote. They organized and protested, and eventually voting rights were extended to 18-year-olds with the 26th Amendment, passed in 1971.

Today’s young people are also demanding a vote in order to have a voice on the urgent issues of our time. There is clear and growing momentum behind the idea of expanding the franchise to 16- and 17-year-olds. Earlier this year, Representative Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) introduced legislation in Congress to lower the national voting age to 16. Lawmakers in Oregon have proposed an amendment to the state constitution

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to do the same.

Our nation’s political climate ahead of the 2020 elections has young people paying attention and eager to lead. The issues we care about – climate change, immigration, gun violence – have been sidelined by gridlock in Washington, D.C. California is different. Young people encouraged former governor Jerry Brown to sign a law that allows young people to “pre-register” to vote starting at age 16. Since the law went into effect, hundreds of thousands of young Californians have signed up so their voter registration will automatically become active when they turn 18. But why should they have to wait?

Sixteen may be the best time to get young people voting. At this age, young people are more stable and less transient than when they begin college. They are learning about civics and government in high school, which makes it an opportune time to allow them to exercise real-world civic participation. Research suggests that when young people vote in their first few consecutive elections, the habit sets in – ultimately strengthening our democracy. And statistical evidence has found that the average 16-year-old has the same level of civic knowledge as someone who is 21.

Today’s young people, and young people of color in particular, are ready to use their voices and their votes to bring about positive change, according to recent research. At 16, young people can drive, pay taxes, and work for the first time without major restrictions.

Many young people from working-class communities also shoulder major responsibilities, such as contributing to family incomes, taking care of their siblings, or translating important information for their parents.

Young people are rising up and showing that they love their communities and care about our collective future. We need to keep removing barriers that stand in the way of civic participation and voting for all, and especially those from underrepresented communities. Our democracy depends on young people being engaged early. California can lead the way in making sure they have a voice – and a vote.

Tyler Okeke is a Power California Vote at 16 youth organizer and former Los Angeles Unified School District student board member. Luis Sánchez is the executive director of Power California

From the Editor

LISA COLLINS Publisher

“Feed Your Faith and Starve Your Doubts To Death”

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L.A. Focus/January 2020

he April 1998 obit the New York Times wrote on Craig Calvin, the former Grand Dragon of the United Klans of America, Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, described him as a cross-burning, race-baiting figure before –with a sudden 360-degree turn– he resigned from the Klan to work for “A nation where black men and white men could stand shoulder to shoulder.”

He credited his change of heart to a black woman, Xernona Clayton, affectionately known as “Big”.

At the time Clayton was heading up the Atlanta Model Cities program and as the story goes, she met Craig at a meeting she was conducting in his white Atlanta neighborhood. When the former Turner Broadcasting executive commented that she often had white friends over to her home for dinner, Craig shouted out that he would never eat at her house.

In true Xernona style, she told the son of confederate veterans, “You’ll not only be eating at my house, but by the end of the evening you’ll be eating out of my hand”.

True to form over the next few months and religious talks, she not only won him over, but got him to travel around the nation with her giving joint interviews on what reconciliation between whites and blacks could look like.

In 1967, Ms. Clayton became the south’s first Black person to have her own television show. In 1988, she was appointed a corporate vice president with Turner Broadcasting, serving as a liaison between Turner Broadcasting (TBS SuperStation, CNN, Headline News, TNT, Atlanta Braves and Atlanta Hawks) and civic groups in Atlanta and across the country.

I had the privilege of knowing Xernona, who we called “Big”, for as far back as I can remember.

She once teased at a celebratory luncheon that as a little girl, I’d followed her around because she was cute. She and my Dad were the best of friends and worked together with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., (who she drove to the airport for the fateful trip to Memphis). Xernona not only worked closely with the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., but also traveled extensively with Mrs. Coretta Scott King on her nationwide concert tours.

As a little girl, I couldn’t understand the nickname “Big”, given that she was so tiny, but I came to understand that it was her fearlessness that made her bigger than life.

Last month, I had the privilege of hosting Xernona Clayton, at a reception held at the exclusive California Club downtown. Clayton is the founder, president and CEO of the Trumpet Awards Foundation and creator and Executive Producer of the Trumpet Awards, which highlights African American accomplishments and contributions and seen in over 185 countries around the world.

Xernona is one of those rare people who can not only bring others together and

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make them laugh, but she can also inspire them and make them care–not just about her, but about each other and making the world around them a better place. She is quite simply proof positive of the impact one person can make and the embodiment of my motto for this year which is to “Feed your faith and starve your doubts to death.”

Turning to this month’s issue, we were especially pleased to share the testimony of gospel great Richard Smallwood–who’s credited with some of the greatest praise anthems in the black church– on his battle and ultimate victory over depression (see Through the Storm on page 23), given our nation’s alarming mental health crisis. Just this month the New York Times reported that forty million adults (nearly 20 percent of the adult population) suffer from an anxiety disorder with the suicide rate increasing by 33 percent between 1999 and 2017.

It’s not all that difficult to understand why given the growing racial animousities and division, the polarizing political climate, rising debt and homelessness, people shooting parishioners in churches during Sunday morning services and a President whose tweets put his mental aptitude in question.

For Smallwood, the answer was medication, therapy and sharing his story so that others could be inspired to share what they were going through and seek help.

As we welcome 2020, we would all do well to remember that the key to every man’s success is his thought. It has been said, “To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe understanding that what you can and cannot do starts and stops with you. That life can be difficult comes as no surprise.

It is our ability to stretch, rebound, learn, to be inspired and in turn inspire, teach–and despite our challenges and obstacles–to overcome and to keep dreaming like the man we celebrate this month, Dr. Martin Luther King.

None of us truly knows what the next decade will bring, but I ran across this excerpt from a poem by Minnie Louise Baskins, and I’ll leave you with it: I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year, 'Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.'

And he replied, 'Go into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God. That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way!'

Happy new year! Keep the faith.

UpFront

News Briefs

Los Angeles County Hopes to Prevent Homelessness Using New Computer Model

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s the new decade begins California will continue attempting to tackle the growing homelessness crisis that saw 21,306 more people join the homeless population in the state in 2019. The state’s spike in homelessness was higher than all other states in the country combined.

In Los Angeles alone, the new homeless count by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority revealed 60,000 joining the number of people living on the streets in L.A County, a 12% increase from the previous count. The count brought a hard truth to light at the time: despite multimillion-dollar efforts in the county, homelessness is getting worse, not better.

“Last year, despite providing housing to tens of thousands of people, we saw more and more individuals and families becoming homeless,” said Phil Ansell, the director of Los Angeles County’s Homeless Initiative.

Officials are now hoping to continue focusing on keeping people in their homes to reduce the homeless population.

To do so, Los Angeles County announced the development of a homelessness prevention action plan based on predictive modeling research to identify and target residents at high risk of becoming homeless.

“L.A County is focused on preventing homelessness, and these groundbreaking models will make it possible to reach those who need us the most before they reach the crisis point,” added Ansell.

The predictive model was developed by the California Policy Lab and the University of Chicago Poverty Lab and used data from Los Angeles County.

“The County is leveraging groundbreaking cutting-edge technology to predict and preventing homelessness,” said Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas in the release. “This is a critical element of the comprehensive crisis response we must mount to combat homelessness.”

Researchers pinpointed those at greatest risk by using data of those using various county programs like CalFresh and General Relief and coming up with 3,000 people identified at highest risk of becoming homeless in 2017 after combing through their records from 2012 through 2016. When those 3,000 were compared to a list of people who actually became homeless in 2017 they found that their predictions were correct 46 percent of the time.

UCLA believes the odds of identifying who will become homeless have now improved to 1 in 2 and those identified in the group were 27 times more likely to become homeless compared to the average person receiving services from the county.

Officials are ready to go all-in on these new results and will be dedicating $3 million to a pilot program to test the

lab’s research. An implementation plan for the pilot program is expected to be presented to the Board of Supervisors in March and funding for the program will come from County departments and Measure H. "We will be complementing existing programs with proactive efforts to identify and reach out to, at this point, single adults who we've identified as at greater risk of becoming homeless," added Ansell.

Tactics for the predictive action plan will include using the model to generate a list of clients county-wide who are at the highest risk of homelessness and currently receiving social services. Those identified will then receive individual assistance plans created by a new team made up of staff from county agencies.

This cross-agency team would also help coordinate outreach and services for those at high risk.

Those at the highest risk will also receive cash aid from the CalWorks program.

Prevention has been largely successful in the first two years of programs funded by the Measure H homeless sales tax. The county, which has spent $22 million on prevention, has reported 2,205 people and families who received assistance. 85% of these individuals were able to keep their housing.

Officials are aware that the program will not change the number of those already homeless in the county but they hope that the new tool will save money and assist in the intervention that keeps a person from going through the traumatizing experience of becoming homeless and also eventually helps refocus on the chronically unsheltered.

California Rings In 2020 With New Laws You’ll Need To Know

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L.A. Focus/January 2020

his month as Californians ring in a new year come hundreds of new laws covering a wide range of issues from renter protection and increased pay to ban on discrimination against natural hairdos.

Beginning January 1, restaurant customers can now bring–and eat with– their own food containers and silverware, veterans will be able to adopt animals for free and smoking is prohibited at state parks and beaches, with the exception of paved surfaces like parking lots. Incomeeligible undocumented youth (19-25) can receive Medi-Cal coverage, while adults enrolled in Medi-Cal may now be eligible for extended benefits, including eyeglasses, podiatry and speech therapy.

Felons who have completed their sentences and parole will no longer be excluded from serving on juries. And if you thought you were in the clear with President Trump’s reprieve on mandated health insurance, think again. Under a new state-imposed mandate, Californians who don’t have health insurance in 2020 will be charged a penalty on their 2021 tax returns, the revenues from which the Governor hopes to fund premium assistance for low and middle income Covered California enrollees.

With the Crown Act, California becomes the first state to ban discrimination both in the workplace and in school on the basis of natural hair

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styles, including braids, Bantu knots, afros, twists and locs. Under the (Creating a Respectful and Open Workplace for Natural Hair) Act, employers with grooming policies that prohibit protective hairstyles must amend such policies and train hiring managers about the new law to prevent preconceived biases about natural hairstyles from influencing hiring decisions.

If you want to know what data Facebook and Google have on you, thanks to AB 375, you now have that right.

What’s more, you can stop them from selling or sharing your data and can sue if –via data breaches– companies fail to adequately protect your information.

Renters will get an added layer of protection from AB 1482 which caps annual rent increases at 5 percent plus inflation and prevents landlords from evicting tenants with “just cause” like nonpayment of rent or lease breaches. Landlords will also be prohibited from posting “No Section 8” notices as well as routine denials against Section 8 applicants without a fair vetting process.

Among new laws affecting the workplace are SB 3 which raises the state minimum wage to $13 an hour for workplaces with 26 or more employees and to $12 for workplaces with fewer than 26 employees. AB 9 extends the time to file a workplace harassment or discrimination complaint with the State Dept of Fair Employment & Housing from one to

three years.

AB 5 limits the use of classifying workers as independent contractors rather than employees by companies in the state. Under the new law, a worker can only be classified as an independent contractor if he or she is (1) free from control and direction in the performance of services; (2) is performing work outside the usual course of the company business; and (3) the worker is customarily engaged in an independently established trade, occupation, or business. However, over 50 professions or types of businesses are exempt from the bill.

Meanwhile, taking effect in July is SB 83, which extends paid leave from six to eight weeks for people taking care of a seriously ill family member or for parents to bond with a new child.

Speaking of children, taking effect on July 1, SB 419 permanently bans California public schools from suspending students K-1 through K-5 for willful defiance — a justification for suspension and expulsion that advocates say is disproportionately imposed on black students. The bill also bans such suspensions in grades 6-8 for five years.

Overall, the suspension rate for black males in California schools is nearly four times the student average.

SB 265 makes it explicitly illegal for California schools to withhold lunch from students who have outstanding school lunch debt. And in an effort to make footNew Laws continued to page 24

Clippers Release New Report Following Certification from Governor Newsom The new year comes with new momentum for the LA Clippers arena project. The City of Inglewood released the draft Environmental Impact Report for the proposed arena campus, marking a major step forward for the state-ofthe-art complex.

The draft EIR shows how the project expects to achieve the most stringent environmental standards.

It follows the recent certification by Governor Newsom and the California Air Resources Board, which determined the Clippers project will meet landmark environmental standards. They certified that the project will be net-zero for greenhouse gas emissions.

“The release of the EIR and the start of the public process marks an exciting and major step forward for the Inglewood Basketball and Entertainment Center,” said Chris Meany, lead developer on the project.

“This report will be an incredibly useful tool as we work with the Clippers to craft and implement solutions to safeguard Inglewood’s quality of life,” said Mayor James Butts.

Los Angeles City Council Approves New Office for Racial Equity The LA City Council has unanimously approved the creation of the Office of Racial Equity that will examine issues like institutional racism and economic disparities among Los Angeles residents.

Introduced by Councilman Herb Wesson, Marqueece Harris-Dawson and Mitch O’Farrell the motion stated that the department will play “a proactive role in advancing racial equity through policy and programs.”

“The racial inequities that exist in Los Angeles are not accidental — they are the result of various historic, systemic and socioeconomic factors, including biased and discriminatory government decisions, policies and practices,” explained the motion.

“When this government was created it was not created to benefit people who looked like me,” Council President Herb Wesson wrote in a statement. “I am proud that in one of my final acts at the first Black Council President, we as a Council acknowledge the City’s role of structural and institutional racism and its role in righting those wrongs with an Office of Racial Equity that looks out for all Angelenos.”

Legislation to Provide $250 Million in Funding for HBCUs Signed Into Law The FUTURE Act was passed last month and signed by President Trump. It is legislation that provides needed funding to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and other educational institutions.

“The FUTURE Act won’t only guarantee at least $250 million per year for HBCUs and MSIs; it will simplify the Free Application for Student Aid (FASFA) and makes it easier for students to access student aid and repay their loans,” said Scott, the Chair of the House Committee on Education and Labor.

Through the FUTURE Act, HBCUs will receive $85 million per year — about $1 million per school. American Indian Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities will receive $30 million annually, while Hispanicserving institutions will get $100 million per year.

Also, predominately Black institutions will continue to reap an annual payment of $15 million.

The legislation also reduces FAFSA by 22 questions and allows the IRS to directly share applicants’ tax information with the U.S. Department of Education.

HeadToHead Evangelical Support For Trump On Shaky Ground?

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The Rev. Al Sharpton has In a separate interview for Rev. Al defended Christianity Sharpton’s MSNBC show Poltiics Sharpton Today magazine for its edi- Blasts Trump Nation, Galli said the controversy torial supporting Trump’s removal has had a positive impact on the Supporting from office, while also criticizing the Evangelicals magazine. evangelical Christians who continue “On the plus side, although we’ve to stand in support of the embattled U.S. lost hundreds of subscribers–let’s be frank president. about it–we’ve gained three times as many During a recent appearance on MSNBC’s subscribers,” Galli answered. “So I think Morning Joe, the civil rights leader and overall, at least [in] the media personality weighed in on the contro- world we live in, it’s versial editorial from the longtime magazine been affirmative.” founded in 1956 by prominent evangelical In response to the ediChristian figure Billy Graham. torial, Trump referred Sharpton said pro-Trump evangelicals to the outlet as “a far would “sell Jesus out” in order to help a left magazine, or very “shameless conman” like President Trump. ‘progressive,’ as some “I think there’s a scripture that said, ‘What would call it, which has profits a man to gain the world and lose his been doing poorly and Brooklyn own soul?’” Sharpton said, asking, “Are you hasn’t been involved Baldwin bargaining and selling your soul for some with the Billy Graham judicial appointments and some other things family for many years.” that the right wants but you’ve given up the He continued: “Christianity Today, soul of the church?’” knows nothing about reading a perfect tran“I think this is a devastating blow,” he script of a routine phone call and would said of the divisive article titled “Trump rathe….have a Radical Left nonbeliever, Should Be Removed from Office” written by who wants to take your religion & your the outlets’ editor -in-chief Mark Galli. guns, than Donald Trump as your “The reason they’re so offended is it’s President. No President exposing all of them that they would take has done more for this shameless conman over the principles the Evangelical that they’re preaching in the holy season as community, and we celebrate Jesus. They would sell Jesus it’s not even out if they felt they could get something from close. You’ll not it is the inference he is saying from the ediget anything torial and that’s sad on many levels.” from those Dems The article, which drew a reported 3 milon srage. I won’t lion unique visitors to Christianity Today’s be reading ET website, caused a lively debated within again!

Republican political circles between pro and anti-Trump supporters.

According to The Washington Post, Napp Nazworth, who sits on the editorial board as politics editor, said he quit his job because the outlet was planning to publish a proTrump editorial to counter Christianity Today.

The journalist Nazworth, who has worked for the website since 2011 said the website has sought to represent both sides and published both pro- and anti-Trump stories.

“I never got the gist they were gung-ho Trumpian types,” Nazworth said.

“Everything has escalated with the Christianity Today editorial.”

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The editor-in-chief of This rhetorical sleight of hand Christianity Today, Mark A Response to reflects poorly on Galli's intellectuGalli, wrote an editorial the Editor of al and moral honesty.

Christiantiy calling for the impeachment of Galli and every other Christian Today President Donald Trump. and conservative opponent of the In my view, this editorial only president believe their concerns serves to confirm one of the sadder realiza- are moral, and that the president's tions of my life: that religious conviction Christian and other conservative supportguarantees neither moral clarity nor com- ers are political. mon sense.

This is simply wrong.

The gist of the I and every other supporter of the preseditorial – and of ident I know support him for moral reamost religious and sons, not to win a "political poker game." conservative opposi- Galli's view is purely self-serving; he's saytion to President ing, "We Christian and other conservative Trump – is that any opponents of the president think in moral good the president has terms, while Christian and other conservadone is dwarfed by his tive supporters of the president think in character defects. political terms."

Dennis This is an So, permit me to inform Galli and all Prager amoral view that says the other people who consider themselves more about Galli than it does about the conservative and/or Christian that our president. He and the people who share his support for the president is entirely moral. opinion are making the following state- – To us, putting pressure on the Iranian ment: No matter how much good this pres- regime – one of the most evil and dangerident does, it is less important than his ous regimes on Earth – by getting out of character flaws. the Iran nuclear deal made by former Why is this wrong?

President Barack Obama is a moral issue.

First, because it devalues policies that Even New York Times columnist Bret benefit millions of people.

Stephens, who loathes Trump, has written And second, because it is a simplistic how important the president's rejection of view of character. the Obama-Iran agreement has been.

I do not know how to assess a person's – To us, enabling millions of black character – including my own – outside Americans to find work – resulting in the of how one's actions affect others. Since I lowest black unemployment rate ever agree with almost all of President Trump's recorded – is a moral issue. actions as president and believe they have – To us, more Americans than ever being positively affected millions of people, I employed and almost 4 million Americans have to conclude that as president, Trump freed from reliance on food stamps is a thus far has been a man of particularly moral issue. good character.

– To us, appointing more conservative Of course, if you think his policies have judges than any president in history – harmed millions of people, you will assess over the same period of time – is a moral his character negatively. But that is not issue. That whether the courts, including what never-Trump conservatives or the Supreme Court, are dominated by the Christians such as the Christianity Today left or by conservatives is dismissed by editor-in-chief argue. They argue that his Galli as "political poker" makes one quespolicies have indeed helped America (and tion not only Galli's moral thinking but even the world), but this fact is far less sig- also his moral theology. nificant than his character.

– To us, moving the American embassy to In the words of Galli: "(I)t's time to call Israel's capital city, Jerusalem – somea spade a spade, to say that no matter how thing promised by almost every presidenmany hands we win in this political poker tial candidate – is a moral issue, not to game, we are playing with a stacked deck mention profoundly courageous. And of gross immorality and ethical incompe- courage is a moral virtue. tence."

– To us, increasing the U.S. military Falen O. Cox continued to page 24

Headlines From Africa

A look at current news from the continent of Africa

Botswana: Former president Ian Khama is preparing to sue the

Nigeria: Minister of information Lai Mohammed is disputing the move by the the U.S.

government for defaming him in a web of lies and deceit.

Khama–accused of embezzling billions in state funds–has renounced his hand-picked successor Mokgweetsi Masisi and is now voicing concerns about the direction of the country and a decline in democracy.

Burundi: President Pierre Nkurunziza announced in late 2018 that he would make Gitega the country's new political capital. However, now with the forthcoming general elections, there is growing debate over whether or not the nation can afford the cost of relocation.

Ethiopia: Ethiopia launched its first satellite into space on Friday, as more sub-Saharan African nations strive to develop space programs to advance their development goals and encourage scientific innovation.

Ghana: President Trumps tweeting to four congresswomen that they should go back to where they came from has unexpectedly led to a tourism boom in Ghana, with applications to visit Ghana rising from 1,000 per week to 10,000 in 2019.

Liberia: Human rights advocates are increasingly alarmed by the deterioration of civil and political rights and the corruption that is occurring in Liberia under President George Weah.

Mozambique: Two and a half months after its sixth presidential elections, the situation in Mozambique remains bleak with ongoing conflicts in the north and centre of the country. Insiders fear a combination of poverty, economic grievances, political powerlessness, constitute an explosive cocktail for an escalation in violence.

government that added Nigeria to a Special Watch List of countries that have engaged in, or tolerated "severe violations of religious freedom".

Rwana: Starting 2020-2021, a new policy allows schools to use the English language as the medium of instruction in lower primary and upper primary schools.

Senegal: While the promotion of skin-bleaching is illegal under the national press code, skin-whitening is big business in Senegal, with many women choosing to ignore the health risks in the pursuit of lighter skin, based on the idea that fairer skin leads to greater social and economic success.

Sierra Leone: A court has ordered the nation to immediately revoke a 2015 policy that banned thousands of pregnant girls from studying in public schools. The court also ordered the government to take action to reduce stigma against pregnant girls and to integrate sex and reproductive health education into school curricula. 30% of girls fall pregnant and 40% are married by the age of 18.

South Africa: South Africa’s middle class is reportedly facing a massive debt problem with up to ten million people having bad debt– having missed three or more monthly payments.

Uganda: Uganda may be headed for its most expensive campaign spending as longserving ruler Yoweri Museveni faces a pop star-turned politician in the February 2021 polls, an election monitoring group said. Museveni, who has unofficially kicked off his campaign, is expected to use more than $200 million. Other presidential candidates will spend more than $10 million each.

MoneyMatters New Trump Rule Could Eliminate Food Stamps for Almost 200,000 Californians he Trump administration finalized a rule in December 2019 that will cut off food stamps to roughly 688,000 American adults by requiring states to enforce work requirements.

The U.S. Agriculture Department said the move will save about $5.5 billion over five years. The rule takes effect in April 2020.

“This is about restoring the original intent of food stamps,” said Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue on a call to reporters. “Moving more able-bodied Americans to self-sufficiency.”

About 198,000 Californians stand to lose their assistance in buying food, according to a 2018 estimates by the Urban Institute.

Under current law, able-bodied adults without dependents working fewer than 80 hours a month or in certain training or volunteering activities qualify for three months of food stamps every three years.

States and counties can waive those three-month limits if, for example, unemployment rates are high.

Currently, all but six California counties–Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, Santa Clara and San Mateo–have received waivers through August 31, 2020. Fresno has waived the limits for the past two decades.

The new rule will make it significantly harder for counties to drop the requirement. A city or county will need an unemployment rate of 6% or more, as well as approval from the governor, to qualify for a year-long exemption. Fresno had an unemployment rate of 5.8 percent in October.

“It will require almost every county to enforce the harsh time limit on providing nutrition assistance for adults who are working less than 20 hours each week, no matter how hard they are looking for a job, have irregular schedules, or are employed but unable to document their hours,” said Jessica Bartholow, policy advocate at the Western Center on Law and Poverty.

Fresno Department of Social Services Deputy Director Linda Du’Chene said the rule will harm the Central Valley’s farmworkers.

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On the Money Rihanna Scores $25 Million Amazon Documentary Deal

MANUELA TOBIAS The Fresno Bee

“We are a rural agricultural county, and we are very concerned about our clients who are working seasonal jobs. For example, it’s raining (Wednesday), so our farmworkers who may need those hours to qualify are not working,” Du’Chene said.

The county’s workload also will increase. Fresno will have to check monthly whether CalFresh recipients are meeting their eligibility requirements.

According to Bartholow, this will affect all able-bodied adults without dependents. The California Association of Food Banks estimates that could be as many as 700,000 Californians.

“Just because you don’t lose benefits doesn’t mean you’re not impacted. It means you now have to tell your boss you need a pay (stub) because you’re on food stamps. You have to spend the extra time and work to get your pay stub and send it in to the county,” Bartholow said.

The rule is the first of three Trumpera food stamp cuts to be finalized. Under all three rules, the Urban Institute estimates that roughly 3.7 million Americans would lose food stamps, including 625,700 Californians.

Congressman Jim Costa, a Democrat from Fresno, said the decision would harm thousands of residents in the San Joaquin Valley.

“I fought to maintain SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) eligibility for those who need it most in negotiations for the 2018 Farm Bill, which the president agreed to and signed into law. Now the president is going back on his word,” he wrote in a press release.

State Senate President Pro Tempore Toni G. Atkins said in a news release the decision would “make it harder for adults on the brink of homelessness to get the food they need.”

Manuela Tobias is a journalist at The Fresno Bee. This article is part of The California Divide, a collaboration among newsrooms examining income inequity and economic survival in California.

Amazon has paid $25 million for a documentary focusing on Rihanna, whose recent successes have quickly made her the world’s wealthiest female musician.

Directed by Peter Berg the documentary will give “an unfiltered look into Rihanna’s life. It gives a peek inside how the Bajan singer grew from pop star to the founder of brands like Fenty Beauty and Savage Fenty. The feature contains unparalleled access into the singer’s life with more than 1,200 hours of footage,” the report details.

Currently untitled, the documentary has been in the works for years according to Berg and will also offer a private look into Rihanna’s personality, sense of humor, work ethic, family and love.

Berg has worked with Rihanna before on the Universal film “Battleship.”

Speaking to the Hollywood Reporter Berg touched on what working on the film was like and touched on a particular moment during the project.

"That was a fun change of pace...to go travel with Rihanna around Europe, and Rihanna is surrounded by girls. We were in Nice [France]. She was going to do a concert on Bastille Day,” he said. “And that truck driver who killed all those people plowed through them right in front of our hotel.

So even in me trying to do something light, I had a very, very front-row seat to something that horrific."

Rihanna and Amazon Prime Video previously collaborated to produce and stream the premiere of her Savage X Fenty Show. The episode gave insight into the behind-thescenes making of the acclaimed show that featured the Fall/Winter 2019 collection.

CalMatters reporter Jackie Botts contributed to this story.

Biz News Briefs

L.A. Focus/January 2020

Issa Rae’s latest investment in her neighborhood Issa Rae Helps Open is a new location of Hilltop New Hilltop Coffee Coffee and Kitchen on La and Kitchen Cafe in Brea Ave after partnering with Ajay Relan and Inglewood Yonnie Hagos of Hilltop Coffee.

Now open, the new Inglewood café will offer live performances and a space for the local community to gather while enjoying the all-day food menu of sandwiches, toasts, bowls and more in a large two-story space.

“I’ve always wanted a coffee shop in my neighborhood,” Rae says in an Instagram video. “Coffee shops facilitate productivity in so many ways, they facilitate collaboration. I personally have done all of my writing in coffee shops. So it always disappointed me that there weren’t any that were Black-owned, people of color-owned in my neighborhood.”

The first Hilltop Coffee and Kitchen opened in 2018 in View Park-Windsor Hills. Relan and Hagos

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partnered to create a hub for the South LA community.

The new space is the former location of Sweetie Pies, across from the 102.3 KJLH studios.

Nike’s Colin Kaepernick Air Force 1 Sneakers Sell Out in Minutes Planning to purchase Nike’s new sneaker collaboration with the former NFL quarterback and activist Colin Kaepernick released late December? You’re out of luck as the Air Foce 1 sneakers named “True to 7” sold out just minutes after their release.

The successful sell is an extension of the so-far positive partnership between Kaepernick and Nike. Previously, the two worked together with an ad agency to create a widely celebrated and lauded ad campaign that won an Emmy for outstanding commercial in 2019.

“Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything,” Kaepernick urged in the ad, alluding to the sacrificing of his career in professional football following his decision to take a knee during the national anthem in protest of police violence.

“This Air Foce 1 season, Nike partnered with a collective of collaborators to design an AF1 that connects to their life personally,” said Nike in a statement. “Colin was identified because we believe his voice and perspective inspire many generations on and off the field.”

The shoes feature a portrait of Kaepernick and the

numbers 08 14 16 which mark the first date Kaepernick did not stand during the national anthem.

Beyoncé Launches New Adidas x IVY PARK Collection In April of 2019, Beyoncé and Adidas first announced their global partnership. In December, they introudced their first adidas x IVY PARK collection that will be available this month in stores and online.

“It is a dream come true to re-launch IVY PARK as the sole owner,” Beyoncé shared in a press release. “My team has worked hard with the adidas team in bringing my vision to life for this first collection and I am grateful and proud. From the accessories to the clothes and footwear, I wanted to design and re-imagine pieces that serve as favorite armor for anyone who acknowleges the strength in their individual style and lives freely and boldly.”

The press release also detailed that the performance gear will also include gender-neutral apparel and accessories as a celebration of “power, freedom and individuality for anyone who has the confidence to take chances and live unapologetically.”

“Adidas is the creator’s brand and has always championed the creative mindset,” added Torben Schumacher, General Manager of adidas Originals and Styles. “With Beyoncé we have the shared goal of putting creativity at the forefront of everything we do to go beyond what we’ve done before and create something entirely new.”

LISA COLLINS Publisher

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L.A. Focus/January 2020

peaking with her, it’s hard to get a read on whether or not L.A. District Attorney Jackie Lacey truly understands the uphill battle she faces in her quest for a third term to oversee what is the largest prosecutorial office in the nation.

If she is merely putting up a strong front and not letting on, she is good at it.

Chalk it up to the nature of a woman who has–at least on the surface–been remarkably unflappable in the face of controversy that has swelled over her handling of such high-profile cases as Ed Buck, the wealthy political donor accused of preying on, drugging and killing black gay men; the LAPD shooting of Brendon Glenn and the fact that under her watch 22 people –all of color–have been sentenced to death.

(That’s more than the amount of people sentenced to death in Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee and 10Virginia combined).

Growing displeasure with Lacey by community advocates, however, has set in motion a highly competitive race to unseat her. The primary challenge has come from former San Francisco district attorney and DA challenger George Gascón. A former assistant chief of the Los Angeles Police Department, Gascón has openly criticized Lacey’s record on accountability for not prosecuting police officers after shootings and has won the endorsement of the Los Angeles Democratic Party over Lacey in a move that stunned many political observers.

In October, the New York Times dubbed the race as one that could help define criminal justice reform as some national activists characterized it as “the most important district attorney’s race in the country” given that Los Angeles is home to the nation’s largest criminal justice system and because it boasts the biggest office with nearly 1,000 attorneys, 300 investigators, 30 offices and 800 staff members.

To Gascón’s credit, homicide rates and violent crime dropped dramatically under his tenure in San Francisco as popular policy initiatives included a push to end cash bail, expunging marijuana convictions with the passing of Proposition 64 and the removal of a suspects’ racial information from police reports.

Yet, some political insiders are just as quick to point out that Gascon was hardly the reformer when he served under Police Chiefs Darryl Gates and Bernard Parks.

And in San Francisco, Gascón made enemies with police groups who resented that he pushed aggressively to investigate misconduct, as well as liberal activists, who believed he should have charged cops in controversial fatal shootings. And though violent crime fell dramatically under his watch, he became a target of Mayor London Breed’s frustration over the city’s growing street problems.

In a news release following his resignation and announcing his replacement, Breed–who is listed among Lacey’s supporters– quipped that she now had “a partner who can make sure that people are held account-

able for their actions.”

There are several stark differences between Gascón and Lacey. Gascón has supported efforts to reduce the prison population that Lacey has opposed, but most notably it is their stances on the death penalty. She has continued to pursue death penalty cases after Gov. Newsom’s moratorium on executions, while Gascon believes the death penalty is broken beyond repair, will always risk innocent lives and is a waste of taxpayer dollars.

Local faith leaders gathered in front of the L.A. District Attorney’s Office on November 21, to urge Lacey to stop seeking death sentences.

The group– including Pastor Edward Anderson of McCarty Memorial Christian Church and Elder Joe Paul of the City of Refuge–also drafted a letter signed by over 110 local faith leaders pointing out that “every person sentenced to death in Los Angeles County was a person of color.”

Also in the running to replace Lacey is Rachel Rossi, a 37-year old former assistant federal public defender whose platform is supporting victims, listening to survivors, and providing access to restorative justice options. Aside from her tenure as a public defender for L.A. County and in the Central District of California, Rossi– who identifies as a black Latina–has served as counsel to the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee and criminal justice counsel to U.S. Senator Richard Durbin, D-Illinois.

“Usually a prosecutor only sees one part of our criminal justice system,” Rossi has said. “They see a courtroom, a conviction, a file. As a public defender, I saw the other side of the criminal justice system. I’ve seen the impact of a broken criminal justice system on our communities, on families, on people.”

Lacey has on her side the support of such political heavyweights as Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Burbank), Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, four members of the county Board of

Supervisors and the powerful Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs.

With Los Angeles still leading the nation in law enforcement shootings with blacks disproportionately among the victims, Lacey’s biggest opposition has not come from her opponents but from community activists. In 2018, Black Lives Matter and other groups who had organized regular protests admonishing her to prosecute killer cops, began instead a #JackieLaceyMustGo campaign.

Her handling of the case against Ed Buck drew this observation from activists Jasmyne Cannick and Nana Gyamfi in a July 2019 op-ed.

“Los Angeles District Attorney Jackie Lacey’s failure to charge Ed Buck for the deaths of Gemmel Moore and Timothy Dean was not because of a lack of evidence or probable cause. Her failure was a direct result of a lack of interest and political will. All of which was the reason that the sheriff’s department sought outside help from their federal counterparts to finally bring Buck to justice.”

The Ed Buck case was for Lacey, problematic.

“I’ve said a lot on the record about Ed Buck and I don’t want to damage what the Federal government is going to do,” Lacey contends. “The witnesses in those cases would say one thing to the media but then we actually got them in the station, they would say different things and we couldn’t corroborate what was going on.”

Lacey, however, is unwavering in the defense of her record as it relates to the prosecution of police officers.

“I’m like everyone else. I look at the news and see the number of people who are killed by police and I say to myself why is this happening, but as the top prosecutor, when I actually get the cases, there’s so much more to the story,” the 62-year old mother of two maintains. “The other part of the story is that the law is skewed heavily in favor of allowing officers to use deadly force if they feel their lives were in danger or if they feel someone else’s life is in danger and in the cases I have reviewed, it is difficult to overcome the presumption that the force was reasonable.”

Activists are quick to point out that in the 2015 case of Brendon Glenn, an unarmed homeless man who was fatally shot in Venice, then Police Chief Charlie Beck–in what was a first–hand-delivered a letter to Lacey urging her to prosecute the officer involved.

Lacey interpreted the action as a knee jerk response to the heat the community had put on the LAPD about the case which was front page news. But Beck was hardly alone in his assessment. Matt Johnson, then vice president of the Police Commission, which oversees the LAPD., agreed that Proctor’s actions were not consistent with LAPD training or values and that he should have been charged with manslaughter.

Nearly three years after the shooting, Lacey–a USC Law School graduate who has worked for the D.A.'s Office since 1986– announced that no charges would be brought against Proctor.

“As a prosecutor, when you’ve got someone’s life in your hands, you cannot react to who’s screaming and yelling at you,” Lacey states.

“You’ve got to look at the evidence. We did and we discovered a couple of things.

One is t h a t Officer Clifford Proctor was actua l l y

injured in that incident. That’s because as he and his partner officer were trying to take Brendon Glenn down, he was fighting back. We’ve got the video on our website.

“On the flip side of it, when you talk about excessive force and officers who commit crimes, our office has filed on more than 109 officers since I’ve been in office. For instance, look up Mary O’Callaghan,” adds Lacey of the LAPD officer who was sentenced to 36 months in jail for assaulting 35-year old Alesia Thomas, a mother of two who fell unconscious and died after being placed in the back of a squad car in 2012.

“I was called out by LAPD on it, but we prosecuted, and it got so little publicity that we were stunned. There was another case, Deputy Luke Liu, so we do take hard cases, but it is very difficult to convict a peace officer of these crimes. We have prosecuted LAPD officers along with a bunch of other officers–probation officers, sheriff’s deputies (you name it) and it’s everything from murder committed off duty to rapes of prostitutes committed on duty. They just don’t get that widespread attention.”

Lacey, who was sworn in on December 2, 2012 as the hand-picked successor of Steve Cooley for whom she served as second-in-command, was all too aware of the challenges she was to face coming into office particularly with regards to racial disparities.

“There are a couple of things that I have done,” Lacey states. “One is that I have selected diverse managers who come from different segments of this community. I openly discuss racism and bias and I’ve mandated that they all be trained on what that looks like. I’m the first department head to mandate that training in the county of L.A. and I’ve advocated for bail reform, which is on the ballot for November.

“In the meantime,” she continues, “L.A. County has just decided to go ahead and do it. The judges are taking the lead. They got a grant from the state and come March they’re going to implement their form of bail reform, which means that more people who are lower risk will be released.

“So, it’s diversion [programs]; it’s being aware of racism; it’s not prosecuting lower level drug crimes; and it’s erasing records, such as we’re getting ready to dismiss more than 50,000 old marijuana convictions.”

The latter comes after claims from activists that Lacey had stood in the way of efforts to expunge marijuana convictions.

For as tough as the criticism is, L.A.’s first African American and female D.A. understands all too well that she signed up for it.

“I accept the criticism and I accept the responsibility of the job because I believe in the mission. You can talk about the controversial cases,” she says, “but there are so many cases where women, children, seniors and working people who were doing nothing were murdered, raped, robbed, tortured and no one really –except for the prosecutor–can get justice. I remember growing up in the Crenshaw district when my dad was mowing his lawn in the front yard and having my mother call and say somebody shot your father in the front yard. Now, he lived, but it changed us forever.

“The people who live in our community–especially poor people who can’t afford guards or gates–deserve to live in a safe community and that’s why I’ve stayed with this profession for 30 years because we help so many people who at the end can’t give us anything but thank you.”

In a job she says is 24-7 with close of 200,000 cases to process a year, Lacey–though not one to tout her own horn–contends that her legacy will be all she has been able to accomplish in the face of challenges that come with criminal justice reform without seeing crime rates go up.

Among those accomplishments she cites are a blueprint for change in addressing the mental health crisis pertinent to criminal justice; a push for bail reform; Fraud Friday alerts warning seniors to scams; a complex child abuse unit; a crackdown on cyber-crime that prompts banks to notify consumers to let them know when their personal information is out there and headway in their prosecution of hackers; and a conviction review unit that allows those who have been wrongly incarcerated and have exhausted all of their appeals to have their cases reviewed. Thus far, three people have been exonerated and released.

As to her chances at re-election? Lacey–who handily won her first two elections and views the job as a calling– thinks they are good.

“I do understand the frustration of the community but like I said I signed up for the job and I just hope that people take a real hard look–especially during this election period–at the facts.”

Community activists at a rally calling for D.A. Jackie Lacey to prosecute Ed Buck.

When you talk about excessive force and officers who commit crimes, our office has filed on more than 109 officers since I’ve been in office. For instance, look up Mary O’Callaghan. I was called out

by LAPD on it, but we prosecuted, and it got so little publicity that we were stunned.

There was another case, Deputy Luke Liu, so we do take hard cases, but it is very difficult to convict a peace officer of these crimes. We have prosecuted LAPD officers along with a bunch of other officers—probation officers, sheriff’s deputies (you name it) and it’s everything from murder committed off duty to rapes of prostitutes committed on duty. They just don’t get widespread attention.

Game Changers Bryan Stevenson

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ryan Stevenson is changing the conversation in America once again with the release of the film “Just Mercy” that tells the true story of his efforts to free Walter McMillian, a poor black man who was wrongly convicted of murdering an 18year-old white woman in 1989 and spent six years on death row.

"It was a pretty clear situation where everyone just wanted to forget about this man, let him get executed so everybody could move on. [There was] a lot of passion, a lot of anger in the community about [Morrison's] death, and I think there was great resistance to someone coming in and fighting for the condemned person who had been accused and convicted,” he said of his decision to defend McMillian who was successfully exonerated in 1993.

Stevenson credits his career of pushing for the transformation of an unjust justice system to a moment in his 20s while he still lived in Atlanta and worked for the Southern Prisoners Defense Committee.

Like many other black men in the United States, Stevenson lived through a neardeadly encounter with police after facing a police SWAT unit that approached his car, shined a light inside and pulled a gun while he sat outside his apartment listening to the radio.

“Move and I’ll blow your head off,” Stevenson recalled the police yelling. His crime was being black, he claimed. “[It] just reinforced what I had known all along, which is that we have a criminal justice system that treats you better if you’re rich and guilty than if you’re poor and

We can change things.

We can expect more. We can do more. I hope together we can actually create a more just world. innocent,” Stevenson told NPR in an interview. “The other thing that that incident did for me was just remind me that we have this attitude about people that is sometimes racially shaped — and you can’t escape that simply because you go to college and get good grades, or even go to law school and get a law degree.”

Stevenson would go on to found the Equal Justice Initiative the same year he took on McMillian’s case. The non-profit directly helps Stevenson fight for justice by providing legal representation to people who have been illegally convicted or unfairly sentenced.

“It took the rule of law and the ability to go into a courtroom and make things change,” Stevenson told Essence when speaking about why he became a lawyer.

“And that’s what motivated me. I always want to use that power to help people who are disfavored and disadvantaged, to help people like the people I grew up with.” The African American community knows the criminal justice system is “a threat,” but we must keep fighting reform it”, he said.

According to the EJI’s website, Stevenson and the staff of over 150 people have won major legal reforms, secured relief, release or reduced sentences for over 140 condemned people on death row.

Outside of EJI, Stevenson has grown his resume extensively and impressively.

While fighting for the legal representation of often ignored individuals he also juggles working as a Professor of Law at the New York School of Law and in 2018 he spearheaded the creation of the Legacy Museum and the National Memorial that explores the history of lynching, slavery and racial discrimination. The memorial is one of peace and justice.

Additionally, his TED Talk on mass incarceration was a viral hit and he is the proud receiver of a MacArthur “genius” grant.

It is little surprise that Stevenson is now the subject of a Hollywood autobiographical film featuring McMillian played by Jamie Foxx and TSevenson portrayed by Michael B. Jordan.

The film, based on the memoir of the same name, is being hailed by critics thanks largely to the man the film is celebrating.

Stevenson himself has made it clear that the film is an extension of his dedication to bringing attention to the lives of the people who he seeks to help.

“We can change things,” he said at the premiere of the film. “We can expect more. We can do more. …

I hope together we can actually create a more just world.”

The film, he hopes, can work as a new call to arms.

Stevenson hopes audience members will be inspired to take action.

“Look at the canon of amazing films that have been made about the Holocaust,” he says. “That means that nobody on the planet is totally unaware of what happened during that time period. I think we all have a knowledge of that. That’s not true for lynching. That’s not true for slavery. That’s not true for segregation. And it’s certainly not true for mass incarceration.”

He is also prepared for a major uptick in requests for aid.

Normally, he revealed, the EJI gets 100 emails a week looking for legal help from the organization and after the publishing of his book and the success of his TED Talk that number jumped to 500 a week. He expects requests to double after the film debuts.

“What I have to figure out is how we’re going to meet the need,” he told Variety. “There are so many mothers and siblings and spouses whose loved ones didn’t get the help they needed.”

Stevenson is excited to finally see a film he worked hard to get right hit the big screen.

“For me, this [movie] was about getting the world and the country to understand and see continued to page 24

Calendar of events

Ongoing Holiday Ice Rink Open daily (Times Vary) $9 Admission; $5 Skate Rental Pershing Square 532 South Olive Street www.holidayicerinkdowntownla.com Exhibit: L.A Blacksmith (Thru February 16, 2020) Beginning with Beulah Woodard’s homages to African mask making, this exhibit examines how the Watts Rebellion and other political/aesthetic ideas shaped metalwork.

Tue-Sat: 10:00a — 5:00pm; Sun: 11:00am — 5:00pm Free/Parking $12) California African Ameri-can Museum (CAAM) 600 State Drive Info: (310) 676-7300 caamuseum.org BFit Yoga Class On the Macy’s Bridge 10:00 — 11:00am • Free Saturdays Baldwin Hills Crenshaw

Plaza 3650 West King Blvd Info: (323) 290-6636 Baldwinhillscrenshawplaz a.com

Thursday, January 9 In Conversation: Artist Melvin Edwards and curator jill moniz 7:00 — 9:00pm • Free (Parking $12) California African American Museum 600 State Drive www.caamuseum.org Workshop: Marketing– Market Like It’s 2020 6:30—8:30pm • Free Vermont Slauson Economic Development Corp 1130 W. Slauson Avenue Info: (323) 753-2335 www.vsedc.org

Friday, January 10 In Concert: The Temptations 8:00pm • $70-$90 Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts 18000 Park Plaza Drive Cerritos Contact: (800) 300-4345

Blvd Contact: (213) 268-3082 king2020breakfastsclcsc.ev entbrite.com

www.cerritoscenter.com Christ Tucker Live 8:00pm • Prices Vary Long Beach Performing Arts Center 300 E Ocean Blvd Long Beach www.longbeachcc.com

Friday, January 17

Tuesday, January 14 Free Help with Clearing Criminal Records Legal assistance to eligible low-income individuals seeking to clean up their criminal records. Cannot be on probation or owe fees, fines or restitution.

5:30 – 8:00 pm • Free LA Law Library 301 West First Street Contact: (800) 399-4529 to be pre-screened www.lalawlibrary.org

Class: Dealing with Debt: Where You Begin Class covering best practices for getting out of debt, repairing credit and more 12:00 — 1:30pm • Free (Register online) LA Law Library — Main Downtown Library 301 W. First S Contact: (213) 785-2529 www.lalawlibrary.org

In Concert: Kool & The Gang 8:00pm • $80-$110 Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts 18000 Park Plaza Drive Cerritos Contact: (800) 300-4345 www.cerritoscenter.com www.koolgang.com “Learning The Value of Black Americana Collectibles” 1:00 — 2:00pm • Free (Parking $12) California African American Museum 600 State Drive Info: (310) 676-7300 www.caamuseum.org In Concert: Tower of Power

Thursday, January 16 SCLC’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Annual Interfaith Prayer Breakfast 8:00—10:00am • $25 Holman United Methodist Church 3320 West Adams

EVENT SPOTLIGHT Tuesday, January 28 Back to God and Back to Church Revival (Through January 30) Feautiring Pastor Marcus Cosby, Pastor John Adolph, Pastor H.B Charles and Guest Psalmist Chrystal Rucker 7:00pm nightly • Free Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church 1300 E. 50th St.

L.A. Focus/January 2020

Alicia Keys at the 2019 Billboard Women In Music award ceremony in Los Angeles last month

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all nson is ck” Joh remiere. o R e h “T p Dwayne umanji sequel tJ smiles a

appearance at the pre Kevin Hart made an e Th : nji ma Ju : sequel miere of the Jumanji Next Chapter

Spike Lee and John Angeles p Boyega en rem jo Skywalker iere of the “Star W ying the Los ars: The ,” the last Ris film in th e famed tr e of ilogy.

Billy Dee Williams celebrated the return of his famous character Lando Clrissian at the Star Wars premiere.

(L-R) Rob Morgan, Tim Blake Nelson, Jamie Foxx, Karan Kendrick, Michael B. Jordan, Bryan Stevenson and Brie Larson attend a celebration of their new film “Just Mercy” in New York City last month.

9:00pm • $49 - $99 The Rose 245 E. Green Street Pasadena Information: (888) 6455006 www.sabantheatre.com

Saturday, January 18 City of Inglewood King Fest 2020 37th Annual Celebration with commemorative service, parade and family festival Service: 9:00am Faithful Central Bible Church 321 N. Eucalyptus Ave 11:00am — 5:00pm Rest of celebration from Florence Ave. to Hillcrest Blvd Info: (310) 412-8750 www.cityofinglewood.org 28th Annual Empowerment Congress Summi Theme: Communities in Peril, A Call to Action for 2020 and Beyond 9:00am—2:00pm • Free (Registration required) Charles R. Drew

University of Medicine and Science 1731 E. 120th St Info: (213) 346-3247 www.empowermentcongress.org Martin Luther King Jr. Day Celebration Concert Featuring InterCity Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles 7:00pm • Free Skirball Cultural Center 2701 N Sepulveda Blvd www.skirball.org

Sunday, January 19 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Legacy Awards and Benefit Gala 5:00pm • $250+ Loews Hollywood Hotel 1755 N. Highland Ave. Contact: (213) 268-4820 www.sclc-sc.org R& B Rewind with Keith Sweat, TLC, Next, 112, Silk, Donnell Jones & More 6:30pm • $49-$275 Microsoft Theater 777 Chick Hearn Court www.microsofttheater.com

Los Angeles Celebrates Israel Featuring Dr.Hillel Newman, Bishop Robert Stearns, Dr. Michael J. Fisher and Rabbi Pini Dunner 5:00pm • Free Greater Zion Church Family 2408 N. Wilmington Ave Compton Contact: (800) 519-4647 www.eagleswings.org

Monday, January 20 35th Annual Kingdom Day Parade 9:00am—1:00pm Martin Luther King Blvd./Western Ave. to Crenshaw Blvd./Vernon Ave. Info: (844) 454-6432 or (323) 934-3683 www.kingdomdayparade.o rg MLK Day Concert: Inner City Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles (ICYOLA) 3:00—5:00pm • Free/Parking $12 California African American Museum

600 State Drive Info: (213) 744-7432 caamuseum.org CAAM’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day Celebration Featuring Marathon reading of King’s lesser known speeches and sermons, food truck fare, a march and art-making activities for kids 10:00am • Free Admission (Parking = $12) California African American Museum 600 State Drive Contact: (213) 744-7432 http://caamuseum.org

Tuesday, January 21 Fuller Theological Seminary 2019 MLK Celebration (Through Friday, January 25) Featuring Bishop Kenneth Ulmer, Erica and Warryn Campbell and Dr. Dwight Hopkins Theme: “The Black Church & the Urban Poor in America” Free • Check for schedule Fuller Seminary — Travis

Auditorium 180 N. Oakland Avenue Pasadena, 91101 https://www.fuller.edu/pan nell-center

Saturday, January 25 MJ Live 8:00pm • $40-$65 Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts 18000 Park Plaza Drive Cerritos Contact: (800) 300-4345 www.cerritoscenter.com www.mjliveshow.com In Concert: The Village People 9:00pm • $49 - $99 The Saban 8440 Wilshire Blvd Information: (888) 6455006 www.sabantheatre.com Atherton Baptist Church 2020 Women’s Prayer Breakfast 8:00am • $5 2627 W. 116th Street Hawthorne Info: (323) 757-3113 www.athertonbc.org

around los angeles Alfre Woodard and her daughte r Mavis Spencer at a special screening of Woodard’s latest film, “Clemency.” i Ackie on the blue Breakout star Naom last month. carpet for Star Wars

Sunday, January 26 62nd Annual Grammy Awards 5:00pm Staples Center 111 S Figueroa St www.grammy.com In Concert: Jacquees — King of R&B Tour 7:00pm • $34 - $150 The Wiltern Theater 3790 Wilshire Blvd Contact: (213) 388-1400 www.wiltern.com

Saturday, February 1 Black College Expo-Los Angeles 9:00am — 5:00pm • $8 Los Angeles Convention Center 1201 S. Figueroa Street Info: (877) 427-4100 thecollegeexpo.org In Concert: DJ Quik & Tha Dogg Pound 8:00pm • $29.50 - $39.50 The Novo 800 W Olympic Blvd Contact: (213) 765-7015 www.thenovodtla.com

Los Angeles Jason Derulo attended the ember.

Dec in ts” premier of “Ca

Idris Elba and Jennif er Hudson smile on the black carpet for the world premiere in Los Angeles of their new film “Cats” last month.

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Eye On Gospel Isaac Carree Preps First Album in Six Years “There’s no one like me because God only made one me and I’m comfortable doing me,” says award-winning singer, songwriter and producer Isaac Carree. “So I embrace whatever comes with that!” Carree has been converting listeners to believers ever since he launched his career over 25 years ago with his earnest and unique artistry that has landed him at #1 on Gospel Billboard Charts and Gospel radio multiple times. After taking a six-year pause from his solo recording career, Carree is back with his highly anticipated recording, No Risk No Reward, set for release February 14, 2020 on Shanachie Entertainment.

Taking risks is something the Atlanta based Renaissance man is well acquainted with. His motto is “Why not?!”

“I’m intentional about everything I do,” Carree explains. “Sometimes I do things even if I am afraid, but I do it! WHY NOT?!” It is this spirit that led the singer to step away from the recording scene to allow himself the opportunity to explore various creative avenues. Allowing myself this time afforded me the opportunity to shift the trajectory of my mind and to reset to prepare for this moment now.

“I had the life changing experience of touring with Diddy and the Bad Boy Reunion Tour. I also toured with Tim McGraw and Faith Hill on the Soul II Soul World Tour and had the time of my life. After being away from the industry and not having new music out for six years, it feels really good to be back and to partner with Shanachie who believes in my vision.”

Carree also penned his first book Service: My Words.

My Life. My Truth and launched his own music conference, The Plug, in Atlanta.

No Risk No Reward features the album’s first single “HER,” a powerful ballad from men to their woman. It is Carree’s tribute to his wife Dietra.

“I love my wife,” says Carree. “She deserves nothing but the best! We’ve grown together, we’ve had our ups and our downs but she stuck with me by my side. She’s

loyal, she’s a prayer warrior, she’s the mother of our child, so this song embodies how grateful to God I am for HER!” No Risk No Reward is Isaac Carree’s third solo recording and is produced by Dove Award-winner and two-time Grammy Award-winning producer Blac Elvis, who has produced hits for everyone from Beyoncé and Usher Smokie Norful. Special guests on the project include Kirk Franklin, Lisa Knowles & the Brown Singers, Zacardi Cortez, Jason Nelson, Da’ T.R.U.T.H. and Gene Moore.

Gospel TV Series In The Works Author/producer DeVon Franklin is teaming with Kirk Franklin (no relation) in the development of a TV series for NBC based on the gospel industry. The drama, dubbed “Kingdom Business”, is being billed as a behind-the-scenes look into the world of the gospel music industry and all of the conflict and secrets that come with money, fame and success.

With the news, the gospel singer posted just one word on social media: “grateful”.

The project marks the second teaming for the Grammy winning artist and the producer of such movies as “Miracles From Heaven” and “Breakthrough”.

Earlier this year, it was announced that Franklin was working on a biographical movie based on the life of the multi-platinum gospel singer.

L.A. Focus/January 2020

RedCarpet Style

16

ASHANTI Shows off a high slit skirt and sequined bodysuit.

BRE’LY EVANS Strikes a pose in a lovely pink velvet dress.

Koryn Hawthorne Sets New Record GRAMMY® nominee, Billboard Music Award and NAACP Image Award winning artist, Koryn Hawthorne, was presented with a gold plaque commemorating her #1 smash hit “Won’t He Do It” being RIAA-Certified Gold® by her record label. The chart-dominating single placed #2 on Billboard’s Decade-End Hot Gospel Songs chart, #1 on Billboard’s Hot Gospel Songs chart for 41 weeks, the Gospel Airplay chart for 19 weeks, and the Gospel Digital Songs Sales chart for 22 weeks. Additionally, Hawthorne set a new record with “Won’t He Do It” earlier in 2019 becoming the female Gospel artist with the longest rein at #1 on Billboard’s Hot Gospel Songs chart upon the song’s 26th week in the top spot.

Hawthorne burst onto the world stage as a top-four finalist on NBC’s The Voice. She released her debut album, Unstoppable in 2018 which debuted at #1 on Billboard’s Gospel Albums chart and garnered over 1.2 million streams in its first week of release. In addition to winning the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Gospel Album and a Billboard Music Award for Top Gospel Song in 2019, Hawthorne garnered Dove and Stellar Awards. Also “Speak The Name,” another single from Unstoppable featuring Natalie Grant, is nominated for a Best Gospel Performance / Song for the 62nd Annual GRAMMY® Awards.

“It is motivating to see all the hard work pay off and it makes me excited to see what more is to come, especially since this was my first single,” said Hawthorne. “I’ve always dreamed of this, and now it’s finally happening!”

Briefly, Bishop Marvin Sapp has been officially installed as the senior pastor of The Chosen Vessel Church in Fort Worth, Texas. The service was facilitated by Bishop Neil Ellis, with Dr. Jamal Bryant (of New Birth Baptist Church in Atlanta) preaching and Grammynominated singer and pastor, Bishop William Murphy from The dReam Center Church in Atlanta, Georgia providing the sermonic solo.

Celebrities gathered at the Dolbu Theater in Los Angeles to celebrate African-American achievements and excellence at the 28th Annual Bounce Trumpet Awards hosted by Emmy Award-winning comedian, actress and writer Wanda Sykes. Here are some of the red carpet looks.

LIL MAMA Is giving us attitude in this pink strapless gown.

WENDY RAQUEL ROBINSON Is fabulous in a white mini

INDIA ARIE Stands out in a full head to toe camo dress

INSIDE HO L LY W OOD with Neily Dickerson Just Mercy Is A Must See I am always excited about good movies and a good cast, and Just Mercy is a great movie with a great cast.

Michael B. Jordan (“Black Panther” & “Creed”) plays Attorney Bryan Stevenson, a renowned civil rights defense attorney who works to free a wrongly condemned death row prisoner.

The Harvard graduate, who moves to Alabama to begin his practice and discovers he’s not only starting a practice, but has moved into a community entrenched in the type of historically Southern behavior that’s not easily broken.

As Stevenson begins to research cases, he comes across Walter McMillan’s (Jamie Foxx), a black pulpwood worker wrongly sentenced to

death for the 1986 fatal shooting of an 18-year-old white woman and sets out to get the charges overturned.

McMillian, played with passion by Jamie Foxx, doubts Stevenson will be able to do anything to make a difference and is reluctant to move forward.

But, encouraged by a fellow inmate,

Anthony Hinton, (Oshea Jackson aka Ice Cube’s Baby Boy), Walter decides to move forward in the fight for his freedom.

Needless to say, the team is faced with seemingly insurmountable hurdles, but continue forward and encounter a prisoner, Ralph Myers, played by Tim Blake Nelson, who helps turn their case upside down.

Jordan is surrounded by cast members who deliver standout performances – O’Shea, Jackson Jr.,Brie Larson, Tim Blake Nelson (who says the movie changed his life) and of course, Jamie Foxx, whose performance is already earning him Oscar buzz.

“Just Mercy” is an outstanding legal Hometown: Landover, Maryland thriller, do yourself a favor... JUST Big Break: Do the Right Thing SEE IT! Current Projects: Bad Boys for Life

Q&A

Martin Lawrence

DUE IN THEATERS THIS MONTH

HOLLYWOOD BUZZ

Like a Boss January 10

The Informer January 10

First Official Teaser Trailer for Aretha Franklin Biopic Released

MGM has released its first trailer for “Respect”, the upcoming Aretha Franklin biopic featuring Jennifer Hudson and her powerful vocals.

The film, directed by Liesl Tommy will follow the life and legacy of the late Queen of Soul who died in August 2018 at the age of 76.

It will more specifically follow Franklin’s rise to superstardom, from her childhood singing gospel in her father’s Baptist church to her career as the influential artist she is known as today.

“Respect is the remarkable true story of the music icon’s journey to find her voice,” a description of the film said.

Hudson has previously revealed that she was handpicked for the role by the late Franklin.

“She’s an iconic figure that we all love and respect and admire,” she shared. “She called me and she was like, ‘I made my decision and it is you I want to play me.

But don’t you tell anyone.”

The cast also includes Academy Award winner Forest Whitaker, Tony Award winner Audra McDonald and nine-time Grammy Award winner and

The Last Full Measure January 17

Oscar nominee Mary J. Blige.

Additionally, Tony and Grammy Award winner Heather Headley, Marlon Wayans, Marc Maron, Tituss Burgess, Saycon Sengbloh, Hailey Kilgore and Tate Donovan.

The film is expected to hit theaters in October.

Hasbro Toy Company Officially Closes Deal to Own Death Row Records A deal announced last summer has officially been closed and now Hasbro toy company owns Death Row Records after an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $3.8 billion to acquire Entertainment One, which owns Death Row Records.

“We are excited about what we can do together and see tremendous opportunity for shareholder value creation through this acquisition,” said Goldner via a press release.

“Our businesses are highly complementary with substantial synergies and a great cultural fit. The addition of eOne accelerates our blueprint strategy by expanding our brand portfolio with eOne’s beloved global preschool brands, adding proven TV and film expertise, and creating additional opportunities for long-term profitable growth.

We are pleased to welcome the incredibly talented eOne team to our Company.”

Entertainment One purchased the catalog of Death Row Records in 2013.

Universal Studios Braces for $70 Million Loss After “Cats” Flop “Cats” will be one of the biggest box-office flops of 2019 as Universal Studios faces a $70 million loss. The film featured a blockuster cast including Jason

Bad Boys for Life January 17

Derulo, Idris Elba, Jennifer HudsonTaylor Swift and James Corden and cost nearly $100 million to make.

It surprisingly has gone nowhere at the box office drawing only $38 million globally and $17 million in the United States and Canada since its December 20 holiday release.

While executives expect to reach at least $30 million in the domestic boxoffice it is unlikely to reach close to its development costs and definitely will not cover the $100 million the studio spent to market the film.

The film was largely ridiculed by critics and Universal Studios quietly abandoned its Oscars campaign for the film.

Judge Reopens Case Between Kanye West and EMI Publishing EMI Publishing has made a lastminute move in its ongoing dispute with rapper Kanye West. While the suits between West and EMI seemed to have been settled in Septemeber, a federal judge had ruled that either party could re-open the case before December 27 of 2019, EMI has elected to do so right before the deadline.

EMI’s lawyers wrote “unfortunately the parties have been unable to finalize the terms of the settlement agreement,” according to TMZ. West sued the publishing company in 2019 after claiming that the company was trying to lock him into lifetime servitude and control his music. EMI then filed a federal countersuit in March claiming that West had signed multiple extensions for the company to control his publishing and thus ineligible to break his contract. The company also claimed that California’s “servitude” law did not apply to West as New York laws govern the deal.

Martin Lawrence was born in Frankfurt, West Germany thanks to a father who was serving in the U.S military at the time. His start in comedy was definied by shows in Washington, D.C while supporting himself through odd jobs until fellow comedian suggested Lawrence expand to make connections in New York after seeing his set. He was successful in proving himself and caught the attention of executives at Columbia Pictures Television where he was offered his first acting job as Maurice Warfield in “What’s Happening Now!” His hit series would come later on Fox which ran for five years and solidified his reputation as a successful and talented comedian.

You do stand up. Which is always different no matter how successful you get. What is that like?

It's a different audience every night and you've got to convince them that what you think is funny is funny.

And so it's a challenge every night. I love getting up for it. Because there's nothing like the reward. When they love it and they love you there's nothing like the reward.

Are any of your characters based off of people you know?

Well yes, Sha-Nay-Nay is based off of my nieces and my sisters. And Mama Payne is based off of a little bit of my Mother and my Grandmother.

What gems did you learn from working with the great legend Garrett Morris?

Garret was a joy to work with. A lot of fun, very professional, and always showed up ready to work. So I had a lot of fun with him.

Who influenced your characters on your show 'Martin'?

What made me do a lot of the characters on the show was I kinda wanted to guarantee that we would be on TV. So I felt that if I did all these characters that would help enhance the show and make it better. You know we would have a stronger chance of having a longer chance on TV. And that's what happened. So I wanted to help incorporate all those characters into the Martin show.

Which experience is your favorite on-screen experience?

I would have to say 'Life' with Eddie. Cause I looked up to Eddie, he was like my idol coming up, him and Richie Pryor. So having the opportunity to work with him and be alongside him and watch him work up close was like, you know you'd be in awe sometimes cause you're working with the best so to see him do what he does as quick as he does I was just like in awe at times.

With everything that you've done and the history that you've made, what is there left that you still want to do?

I just think keep doing it. I just think keep doing what I'm doing, continue to provide for my family, and just have fun doing what I'm doing until I decide I don't want to do it anymore.

What does it take for you to say yes to a script?

A good script. But I rarely get a good script. Usually, the scripts that I get you got to make them into something and punch them up. So if I feel like I can wrap my Martin Lawrence continued to page 24

ChurchNews Greater Zion Hosts Celebration of Israel t a time when support for Israel has become controversial and anti-semitism is on rise, Greater Zion Church Family in Compton–pastored by Dr. Michael Fisher– is set to host a tribute to the nation of Israel and Jewish people around the world on Sunday, January 19.

The event is in partnership with the New York-based Eagles’ Wings organization, a global network of groups stressing peace in the Middle East, authentic spiritual community and bridges of friendships across cultural divides.

“We started five years ago by partnering with Rabbi Stewart Vogul of Temple Aliyah in Calabasas and from there I was introduced to Bishop Robert Stearns, who is the head of Eagles’ Wings, said Pastor Fisher.

“Given our relationship with the Jewish community in L.A., they thought we were the perfect fit to expand their mission of their creating cross cultural bridges of friendship to encourage authentic spiritual community, to better understand their culture and to gain a greater understanding of what it means to stand with Israel during these tumultuous times.”

A

Lois Evans Mourned Lois Evans, wife of one of the nation’s most influential black pastors, Oak Cliff Fellowship Church’s Tony Evans and mother to actress/evangelist Priscilla Shirer and gospel singer Anthony Evans, has died.

Tony Evans, the senior pastor and founder of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship, confirmed the news about his wife–who had battled gallbladder cancer– on Facebook on December 30, writing: "Just before the sun came up this morning, the love of my life, Lois Irene Evans, transitioned from earth and watched her first sunrise from heaven," posted Evans who shared that the couple’s four children were present. " I had the privilege of holding her hand as she was lulled into eternity. As she slipped away, we told her how much we love her, how proud we are of her, and how thankful we are for the life she has lived."

It was Evans’ second bout with gallbladder cancer.

Kirk Franklin, who attends Evans' church, shared a photo of Lois on Instagram along with the caption, “Well Done.

Still hurts...Mamma Lo.” Lois Evans was co-founder and senior vice president of The Urban Alternative, a Christian broadcast and teaching ministry reaching two million listeners on more than 1,200 radio stations in over 130 different countries and was renowned for having founded a Pastors’ Wives Ministry.

Rev. Dr. Clyde Oden Ties The Knot With Congresswoman Barbara Lee On New Year’s Eve. Rev. Dr. Clyde W. Oden, Jr., former pastor of Bryant Temple AME –most recently retired as pastor of Bethel Oxnard AME– tied the knot with Congresswoman Barbara Lee (13th District).

“My heart has never been more full,” Lee posted to social media on the day of her nuptials to her followers and constituents. “Today, I tie the knot with the most wonderful man I’ve ever met, Rev. Dr. Clyde W. Oden Jr. I look forward to welcoming Clyde as my newest constituent and introducing him to you as my kind and loving husband.”

L.A. Focus/January 2020

In other local church news Bishop Oliver Clyde Allen, III, Senior Pastor, Vision Cathedral of Atlanta and Presiding Prelate of the United Progressive Pentecostal Church Fellowship recently announced the expansion of the Vision brand in three new markets: Nashville, Raleigh, North Carolina and Los Angeles. Pastor Sammie Haynes founder/CEO of Love Freedom Movement has been named the lead servant for the Los Angeles campus.

“It is my desire simply to create a bold space for

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continued to page 24

Agape Church of Los Angeles Worship Center Consolidated Plaza: 3725 Don Felipe Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90008

God’s Faithful Disciple of Jesus Christ / Prayer Clinic & Deliverance Ministry P.O. Box 561368, Los Angeles,CA 90056 (323)293-7566 • www.gfdjc.org• gfdjc@att.net Corprate Office: 4602 Crenshaw Blvd, Suite 2A, Ruby Cottle, Ph.D., Pastor & Teacher Los Angeles, CA 90043 Service Time (323) 295-5571 www.agapela.org Every Friday: 7:00pm -9:30pm We meet at this location: Bishop Craig A. Worsham, St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church Founder & Senior Pastor

Sunday School: 10:00am Morning Worship: 11:00am Loving, Lifting & Liberating Humanity Through The Word Bethel Missionary Baptist Church of South L.A. 10905 S. Compton Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90059 (323) 566.5286 Pastor Reginald A. Pope Sunday School: 9:30am Morning Worship: 8am • 11am Children’s Church: 11am (2nd/4th Sundays) Evangelism Training/Bible Study/Independent Prayer: (Mon): 7:29pm Mobile Prayer/Bible Study: (Wed) 11am Book by Book Bible Study (Wed.): 6:30pm Bryant Temple AME Church 2525 W. Vernon Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90008 (323) 293-6201 • F: (323) 293-0082 Pastor Dwaine Jackson Sunday School: 8:15am Morning Worship: 9:15 am Bible Study (Tues): Noon Pastor’s Bible Study( Tues): 6:00pm

3901 West Adams Blvd, LA, CA 90018 Watch Dr. Cottle on HBN TV on Wed’s at 7:30am Channel 20 Dish & Direct TV,Channel 3 U-Verse Prophetess June Morgan / Assistant Pastor

Grant AME Church 10435 S. Central Avenue • Los Angeles, CA 90002 (323) 564-1151 • F: (323) 564-5027 Rev. Dr. J. Arthur Rumph, Senior Pastor Reappointed to Grant AME Church Los Angeles Rev. Dr. James A. Rumph

Sunday School: 8am Worship: 9:30am Wed. Bible Study: 11:30am •6pm

Grace Temple Baptist Church 7017 South Gramercy Place, Los Angeles, CA 90047 (323) 971-8192 Rev. Rodney Howard Sunday L.I.F.E Group: 8:30am Sunday Worship Service: 9:30am Wednesday Intercessory Prayer: 6:30pm Wednesday Night Bible Study: 7:00pm E-Mail: gtbcla@gmail.com

Calvary Baptist Church 4911 W. 59th Street,Los Angeles, CA,90056 (323)298-1605•F: (310) 568-8430 • calvarybaptistla.org Rev. Dr. Virgil V. Jones Sunday Prayer: 8:30am Sunday School: 9:30am Sunday Worship: 11:00am Wednesday Bible Study: 12:00pm & 7:00pm We are the Church on the Hill where the Light Shines Bright!

Grace United Methodist Church 4112 West Slauson Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90043 (323) 294-6653 • F: (323) 294-8753 • graceumc1@earthlink.net Rev. Dr. Cedrick Bridgeforth, Pastor • www.graceumcla.com Early Morning Worship: 7:45am Sunday School (all ages) : 9:45am Morning Worship: 10:45am Tues. Mobile Prayer: 6:15am Wed. Bible Study: Noon Follow us on Facebook

Christ The Good Shepherd Episcopal Church 3303 W. Vernon Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90008 (323) 295-4139 • F: (323) 295-4681 Rev. Edith Oloimooja Sunday School: 10:00am Early Worship: 8:00am Morning Worship: 10:00am Mon. Centering Prayer/Meditation: 6:30pm Mon. Overeaters Anonymous: 7:00pm Wed. Bible Study & Eucharist: 7:00pm Wed. Alcoholic Anonymous: 7:00pm E: cgshepherd4041@sbcglobal.net

Greater Ebenezer Baptist Church 5300 S. Denker Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90062 (323) 759-4996 Rev. DeNon Porter

Congregational Church of Christian Fellowship 2085 S. Hobart Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90018 Phone: (323) 731-8869 • F: (323) 731-0851 www.christianfellowshipla.org Pastor James K. McKnight Sun. Early Worship: 8:00am Prayer Meeting: 10:30am Morning Worship: 11:00am Wed. Afternoon Bible Study: 1:00pm Wed. Prayer Meeting: 6:00pm Wed. Evening Bible Study: 7:00pm View Pastor McKnight’s Sermons on YouTube

Holman United Methodist Church 3320 W. Adams Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90018 (323) 703-5868 • www.holmanumc.com Email: holman@holmanumc.com Rev. Paul A. Hill, Interim Senior Pastor Sunday Morning Worship: 8:00am & 11:00am Sunday Radio: KJLH 102.3FM at 11:00am Sunday School: 9:30am (Children/Youth) & 9:45am (Adult) Bible Study: Every Thursday 12:00pm

Crenshaw Christian Center 7901 South Vermont, Los Angeles, CA 90044 (323) 758-3777 • F: (323)565-4231 • www.faithdome.org Pastor Frederick K. Price, Jr.

Israel Missionary Baptist Church - A Holy Spirit Filled Church 4501 South Compton Ave, Los Angeles,CA 90011 Church/Fax: (323) 233-3295 or 3296 Website: www.Israelmbc.com • Email: israelmbc@yahoo.com

Sunday Service: 9:45am Bible Study (Tue): 11:00am & 7:30pm Tue. Night Children’s Ministry: 7:30pm Tue. Night Bible Study (Teens): 7:30pm Alcohol & Drug Abuse Program (Wed): 7:30pm

First AME Church (FAME) 2270 South Harvard Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90018 (323) 735-1251 • F: (323) 735-3353 • www.famechurch.org Pastor J. Edgar Boyd, Senior Pastor/CEO

Early Worship: 8am Sunday School: 9:30am Mid-Morning Worship: 11am Radio-KALI 900AM: Sun. 11-Noon, 7-8pm KTYM 1460AM Sundays: 5:30pm Bible Study (Tues, Wed & Thurs): 7pm

Rev. Rodney J. Howard, Sr. Sunday School: 10:00am Morning Worship: 11:30am Sunset Service: 5:00pm Communion Every First Sunday First Sunday Men In Prayer: 8:30 am Pastor’s Bible Study Tuesdays: 7:30pm Mount Moriah Baptist Church of Los Angeles, Inc. 4269 South Figueroa St. Los Angeles, CA 90037 (323) 846-1950 •Fax: (323) 846-1964 Reverend Johnteris Tate-Pastor

Sunday School: 10:00am Worship: 8:00am, 10:00am, Noon Teen Church (2nd Sundays):Noon,Allen House Wed. Prayer Service: Noon Wed. Bible Study: 7:00pm Radio: 10:30am on KJLH-102.3FM First AME is the oldest Black Church in the City

Sunday Church School: 8:00am Worship Service: 9:15am Baptist Training Union: 7:00am Tues. Bible Study/Prayer:Noon & 7:00pm

Mt. Sinai Church 3669 W. 54th St. Los Angeles, CA 90043 • (323) 291-1121 F: (323) 291-1133 • office@sinai.church • www.sinai.church George E. Hurtt, Pastor-Teacher Sunday Worship: 8:00am, 10:00am Noonday Prayer (Mon): 12:00pm Tuesday Night in the Truth: 7:15pm Noonday Bible Study(Wed): 12:00pm Radio: KKLA 99.5 FM (Sat): 9:00pm Please call for our Sunday School & Discipleship Schedule

Park Windsor Baptist Church 1842 W. 108th St. Los Angeles, CA 90047 (323) 756-3966 • RevTerrellTaylor@sbcglobal.net Rev. Terrell Taylor Morning Worship: 8:00am & 11:00am Bible Study Wednesday: Noon & 7:00pm Communion: 1st Sunday at 8:00am & 11:00am

Price Chapel AME Church 4000 W. Slauson Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90043 (323) 296-2406 • pricechapel@sbcglobal.net Rev. Benjamin Hollins Sunday Worship Service: 10:00am Sunday School: 8:30am Power Lunch Bible Study (Wed): 11:00am Praise & Worship Bible Study (Wed): 6:30pm

Our Goal: To glorify God by winning more Christians and developing better Christians (Matt. 28:18-20) Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church 1300 E. 50th Street Los Angeles, CA 90011 (323) 235-2103 • F: (323) 235-3177 • www.mtzionla.org Dr. Edward V. Hill, II, Pastor Sunday Intercessory Prayer: 9:15am Morning Worship: 9:30am Children’s Church: 9:30am Sunday School: 11:30am Baptism: 2nd Sun. & Lord’s Supper: 1st. Sun. Tues. Pastor’s Bible Study: 6:30pm Wed. Noon-day Prayer: Noon

People’s Independent Church of Christ 5856 West Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90043 • (323) 296-5776

New Antioch Church of God in Christ 7826 So. Vermont Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90044 (323) 778-7965 Elder Jeffrey M. Lewis

Pleasant Hill Baptist Church 2009 W. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90062 (323) 293-6448 • F: (323) 293-6605 • email:phbcoffice@yahoo.com www.pleasanthillbconline.com

Sunday Early Morning Worship: 8:00am Sunday School: 9:30 am Morning Worship: 11:00am Tuesday Prayer and Bible Band: 11:00am Wednesday Bible Study: 7:30pm Wednesday in the Word: 7:30pm Paradise Baptist Church 5100 S. Broadway, Los Angeles, CA 90037 (323) 231-4366 Pastor Darryl Barnes Adult Life Sunday School Study: 8am Sunday Worship Servie: 9:30am P3 - Pray, Praise & Partake (Fri before 1st Sunday) Mission Bible Study(Wed): 12:00pm Women’s Bible Study(Thurs.): 7:00pm New Life Bible Study(Sat.): 9:00am

Sundays: Morning Worship: 8:00am & 11:00am Wednesday Bible Study & Mid Week Worship: Noon & 7:00pm Prayer Meeting: 6:30pm

Bishop Sylvester Washington Sunday School: 8:30am - 9:30am Sunday Morning Worship: 10:00am Tuesday Night Evangelism Classes:6:30pm Corporate Prayer 3rd Wed. monthly:7:00pm 1st Sun. Holy Communion 10:00am Worship Praises of Zion Baptist Church (“Praise City”) 8222 So. San Pedro Street, Los Angeles, CA 90003 (323) 750-1033 • F: (323) 750-6458 Dr. J. Benjamin Hardwick, Sr. Pastor Early Morning Worship: 6:45am Educational Hour: 9:15am Mid-Morning Worship: 10:45am Wed. Bible Study: Noon & 7:00pm Sunday Morning Broadcast: 5:30am Live Streaming Sundays: 12:00pm http://www.pozlive.com

Southern Saint Paul Church 4678 West Adams Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90016 (323) 731-2703 • smbc@smbcla.org Rev. Xavier L. Thompson, Senior Pastor/Teacher Corporate Prayer: 8:30am L.I.F.E. Groups: 9:45am Morning Worship Service: 11:15am Baptism & Communion (First Sunday): 4:00pm Pastoral Bible Study (PBS)Wednesdays:7:00pm North Campus: Worship Service: 8:00am 11137 Herrick Av • Pacoima 91331 (818) 899-8031 st.paul@smbcla.org •“Loving People Making Disciples”

St. Mark Missionary Baptist Church 5017 S. Compton Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90011 (323) 231-1040 • stmarkmbcofla.org Reverend Dr. Lovely Haynes, Pastor Sunday Morning Worship: 8:00am & 11:00am Sunday School: 9:30am Mon-Wed Corporate Prayer: 6:00 - 6:55 pm Monday Night Bible Study: 7:00pm Wednesday Noon Prayer: 12 Noon Wed. Exposition of Sunday School Lesson: 7:00pm

St. Matthew Tabernacle of Praise “The S.T.O.P.” 1740 West 59th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90047 Mailing Address: P.O. Box 56608, Los Angeles, CA 90056 (323) 291-1115 • F: (323) 293-0471 Rev. C.Barry Greene, Pastor Sunday Worship Service: 8:00am PrayerLine: (Tuesday & Wednesday): 6:00am WordLine (Tuesday): 7:00pm ( (712) 775-7031 Access Code: 814352108) E: thechurchstop@yahoo.com pastorcbgreene@aol.com

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The Potter’s House at One LA 614 N. La Brea Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90036 (818) 763-4521 • www.tphla.org Sr. Pastor Toure’ Roberts Sunday Worship: 9:00am, 11:15am & 1:00pm Thursday Midweek Service: 8pm

Weller Street Baptist Church 129 S. Gless St, Los Angeles, CA 90033 (323) 261-0949 • F: (323)264-6601 • www.wellerstreetlive.com Pastor K.W. Tulloss Sunday School: 8:00am Sunday Morning Worship: 9:00am Tues. Bible Study: 6:45pm www.wellerstreetlive.com

Watch Live: http://ttphla.org/watch-live/ “We have not walked this way before” Joshua 3:1-6

Trinity Baptist Church 2040 West Jefferson Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90018 (323) 735-0044 • F: (323) 735-0219 Rev. Alvin Tunstill, Jr Sunday Worship: 7:30 & 10:30am Sunday Church School: 9:00am Radio Broadcast KJLH FM: 9:00am Wed. Prayer & Bible Study: Noon-7:00pm www.trinitybaptistchurchofla.org

Victory Baptist Church 4802 South McKinley Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90056 (323) 231-2424• Pastor Dr. W. Edward Jenkins Sunday School: 10:45 am Morning Worship: 9:00am Bible Study Wednesday:Noon Radio Sundays: KPRO 1570AM: 9:00pm

Peace Apostolic Church 21224 Figueroa Street, Carson, CA 90745 (310) 212-5673 Suff. Bishop Howard A. Swancy

In Carson

Sunday School: 10:00am Morning Worship: 11:45am Evening Worship: 6:30pm Wed. Noon Day Bible Class: 12:30pm Wed. Bible Class: 7:30pm

West Angeles Church of God In Christ 3045 Crenshaw Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90016 (323) 733-8300 Bishop Charles E. Blake Sunday School: 8:00am & 10:30am Early Worship: 8:00am Morning Worship: 11:00am Evening Worship (North Campus): 7:00pm Wed. Mid-Week Worship: 7:00pm Sun. Radio Broadcast KJLH 102.3FM: 10am www.westa.tv

Citizens of Zion Missionary Baptist Church In Compton 12930 No. Lime Ave., Compton, CA 90221 (310) 638-0536 • F: (323) 636-2080 • www.citizensofzion.org Rev. Bobby Newman, Jr., Senior Pastor; Rev. B.T. Newman, Pastor (Pastor Emeritus)

Lifeline Fellowship Christian Center In Altadena 2556 N. Lake Ave., Altadena, CA 91001 (626) 797-3585 • F: (626) 797-3233 • www.lifelinefcc.org Bishop Charles D. Dorsey

Unity Christian Fellowship 16133 Atlantic Ave., Compton, CA 90221 (562) 980-0280 • www.unitycf.org Bishop Johnny Withers, Senior Pastor

Sunday School: 9:00am Early Worship (Glory Prayer): 8:00am Morning Worship: 10:30am Evening Worship (1st & 2nd Sun.): 5:00pm Wed. Bible Study: 7:00pm

Sunday School: 9:00am Morning Service: 10:45am Wed. Mid-Week Bible Study: 7:00pm

Sunday Worship: 8:00am • 10:30am Tuesday: 7:15pm Inland Empire Services on Thursday: 7:15pm 2920 E. Inland Empire Blvd, Suite 100 Ontario, CA 91764

Pastor Profile: Ralph Williamson Church: Christ our Redeemer AME Church How Long at Church: Since October 2019 Hometown: New Haven, Conneticut

Tell me where you were born and raised?

I was born in Derby, Connecticut. I was raised in Connecticut, mostly in New Haven and Hamden. I'm a graduate of Hamden High School in Hamden, Connecticut. I received my Doctorate of Ministry Degree from United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio and my Bachelors from Colorado Christian University in Denver, Colorado.

So how did you find yourself in California?

Actually, it's a long story, but I'm an AME minister, of course, and I had served in the Southern California Conference of the African Methodist Episcopal Church particularly the Los Angeles, San Diego, and Las Vegas district.

After serving for 15...actually for 16 years in Las Vegas, the opportunity became available following Mark Whitlock, the prior pastor of AME church. The Bishop and presiding elder, I guess, began to look and decided that I was a good candidate for Christ Our Redeemer. So the Bishop appointed me to be the pastor.

L.A. Focus/January 2020

And how has that transition been for you after 16 years in one place and now here?

Well, the transition has been awesome. It's been a really great transition. And I say the congregation here at Christ Our Redeemer AME Church has received me well.

I believe that they were anticipating and hoping that the relationship would be one that they felt comfortable with.

And that's the kind of vibes that I'm feeling and from the demonstration of their love and support that's what it feels like.

Any unexpected challenges or kind of smooth sailing?

Smooth sailing Yeah?

Right now it feels as if, you know, when you get into a new marriage and you're on a honeymoon, I feel as if I'm on a honeymoon.

20

Did you always know that you were going to be in ministry or was that unexpected for you?

No. I've always had...I've always believed that I was called, but that's a long story.

I really do believe that God laid his hands on me very early in my life. It was just a matter of me recognizing or really wanting to come to that kind of understanding and accept that calling but that took time. But eventually, it came about. I had a feeling that I was going to be called.

I didn't know what kind of ministry that was going to be.

I didn't realize that that was going to be a pastor.

But in the process of God preparing me for many different ministry gifts during my season, it all came to play out, you know, for me to be one of the servants of the Lord called to preach the gospel and pass it to the congregation of people that he has allowed me that opportunity to be with.

Was there a specific moment or anything you recall?

Well, I say to people, my calling... have you ever had a toothache? That's what I always ask. If you've ever had a toothache, there is no doubt in your mind, no one needs to tell you that you have a toothache. My calling was exactly that kind of moment where God and I, literally, met. It was on December 31st in 1979.

I was living in Colorado Springs, Colorado at that particular time. And one of the things that I did on a regular basis was stop by the church and pray on my way to work. And one morning while praying and then getting in the church sanctuary, the spirit of the Lord moved on me to the point where I found myself on the floor and unable to move, crying, and, literally, bawling my heart out when the Lord was speaking to me in spirit.

And that particular time I was able to release, let go and tell the Lord that I was ready to serve.

When I was able to make that kind of open confession with just me and the Lord in the presence of that...at that moment in His sanctuary is when He released His hand and allowed me to rise up from that floor. And every since then I have been telling my story in preaching the gospel in various aspects of my life.

How would you describe your motto or yourself now?

Well, my motto is to preach the gospel and trying to be faithful unto God. That is my motto, to be faithful. If you're faithful unto God, God will be faithful unto you.

That's pretty much my model.

What are the current goals for you and for your church?

What are you looking forward to?

Our current goal is to build a community working on spiritual growth, church growth, a good, solid church administration, and financial accountability as it pertains to stewardship.

What does that look like right now? Any projects right now or recently that you've been excited about?

Well if you know anything about Christ Our Redeemer, this church is a very active church, very much engaged in so many different aspects of the community with our community development cooperation.

There are so many social ministries that meet the needs of individuals from all walks of life, dealing with our young people, dealing with individuals that have vision and aspiration for business, helping individuals to achieve the best that they can in their academics through mentoring and through youth programs working in a number of different areas where people are being given social skills that will improve their spiritual outlook as well as their physical, social, and economic conditions.

Anything else you think people should know about yourself or about Christ Our Redeemer?

We are a church on the move and we are looking at trying to make Christ Our Redeemer one of those churches in the community that we serve known at an even greater scale than what people know of us right now.

We are looking forward to expanding the vision of winning souls for the Kingdom.

Does achieving that look like what you were just talking about? By working with the community in all those projects?

Yes. Working with the community and ministering to the needs of God's people.

Greater Zion Church Family 2408 North Wilmington Avenue, Compton, CA 90222 (310) 639-5535 • (Tues - Thurs 10am -4pm) Dr. Michael J. Fisher, Senior Pastor Sunday Worship: 8:00am|10:45am| 5:00pm Wednesday Bible Study: 12pm|7:00pm FB: GreaterZion IG: GZCFamily www.gzcf.us

Love and Unity Christian Fellowship 1840 S. Wilmington Ave, (P.O. Box 5449), Compton 90224 (310) 604-5900, www.loveandunity.org Apostle Ronald C. Hill, Sr. Founder and Pastor Sunday Worship: 8:00am & 11:30am Sunday Evening Worship: 6:30pm Bible Studies: Wed. 7:30pm & Sat. 9am Prayer w/Apostle: Tue - Fri: 9am Food for Your Soul TV MinistryImpact Network Television: Mon-Fri 6:30am

The City of Refuge 14527 S. San Pedro Street, Gardena, CA 90248 (310) 516-1433 Bishop Noel Jones

In Gardena

Morning Worship: 8:00am & 11:00am Evening Worship: 6:00pm Bible Study (Wed): Noon & 7:00pm BET/Fresh Oil (Wed): 7:00am

McCarty Memorial Christian Church 4103 W. Adams Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90018 (323) 731-4131 • www.mccartychurch.org Senior Pastor Edward Anderson Sunday Worship: 10:45am Sunday School: 9:30am Bible Study: Tues Noon

Atherton Baptist Church 2627 W. 116th Street Hawthorne,CA 90250 (323) 757-3113 • www.athertonbc.org F: 323-757-8772 • athertonbaptist@sbcglobal.net Pastor Larry Weaver

In Hawthorne

Sunday Morning Worship: 8:00am & 11:00 am Sunday Bible Enrichment Class: 9:45am Mon.-Thurs. Bible Study: 7:00pm Wednesday Bible Study: 12:30pm & 7:00pm Victory Institutional Baptist Church 4712 West El Segundo Blvd., Hawthorne, CA 90250 (310) 263-7073 • www.vibconline.com Pastor Richard Williams, III Sunday Morning Worship: 9:00am Sunday Evening Worship: 6:00pm Wed. Mid-Week Worship: 7:00pm Bible Study Tuesday: Noon & 7:00pm

Bible Enrichment Fellowship International In Inglewood 400 E. Kelso, Inglewood, CA 90301 (310) 330-4700 • www.bamcm.org Dr. Beverly “BAM” Crawford Morning Worship: 9:30am Tues. Bible Study: 7:30pm Wed. Mid-Week Prayer: 5am, Noon & 7:00pm Wednesday Pathway: 7:00pm Thurs Bible Study: 10:00am Sat Marriage & Family Prayer: 7:30am

Blessed Family Covenant Church 325 North Hillcrest Blvd, Inglewood, CA, 90301 (310)-674-0303 • F: (310)-674-0303 • blessedfamilycovenant.org Rev. Wendy Howlett Sunday School: 8:30am Morning Worship: 9:30am Wed. Prayer & Bible Study: 7:00pm

First Lady Files Heather Bourne

Crusade Christian Faith Center 801 S. La Brea Avenue, Inglewood, CA 90301 (310) 330-8535 Bishop Virgil D. Patterson Sr.

Second Baptist Church Monrovia

After 14 years as First Lady of Bethlehem Church of Pasadena Wed. Mid-Week Service: 7:00pm Heather Bourne is ready to encourSunday School: 9:00am age and inspire new people at Second Sunday Worship: 10:30am Baptist Church.

As wife of Pastor Christopher A. Bourne for 15 years she’s learned a lot about preaching and teaching alongside her husband.

Church of God Center of Hope Early in her career she appeared in commercials and 9550 Crenshaw Blvd., Inglewood, CA 90305 early 90’s TV shows which prepared her for being inn front (323) 757-1804 www.go2Hope.com of people in the ministry.

Pastor Geremy L. Dixon “God was preparing me with all of that experience in Morning Worship: 8:00am & 11:00am front of the camera to be where I am now ministering to our Wed. Mid-Week Service: Noon youth.”

Wed. Teaching Ministry: 7:00pm She is a succesful public speaker and writer in addition 1st Sunday Communion to a business savvy mom of two, Savannah and Chris Jr. 5th Sunday Baptism With her children, she dedicates herself to the role of momager, overseeing small businessess they create.

“My daughter and I started a company called College Bound Cutie. She sells bracelets and makes baked goods Faithful Central Bible Church and everything she sells, we first give to our church and 321 N. Eucalyptus Ave. Inglewood, CA 90301 put half away for college. The other half is for her to (310) 330-8000 • F: (310) 330-8035 spend,” she shared.

Bishop Kenneth C. Ulmer, Ph.D. They also began a cotton candy business.

Senior Pastor/Teacher The businesses are an easy way to start a dialogue Services at The Tabernacle: Sunday Services: 7:00am, 9:30am & 11:45am about how investing into their education is vital and imporWed. Mid-Week Service: 7:00pm tant in their life.

The Tabernacle is located at 321 N. Those lessons can also be seen through her work serving Eucalyptus Ave., Inglewood Children’s Church Ministry and as an active member in the www.faithfulcentral.com Women’s Ministry where she works with Christian Women Willing Workers, Hands of Hope Prison Ministry and the Drama and Arts Ministry.

Jacob’s Ladder Community Fellowship, inc.

1152 E. Hyde Park Blvd., Inglewood, CA 90302 (866) 330-1702 • F: (310) 674-0760 Watchman/Shepherd Dr. Robert T. Douglas Sr. Sunday Fresh Start & Prayer 9:00am Sunday School: 10:00am Morning Services: 11:45am Evening Service: 7:00pm Wed. Lock & Load Prayer: 7:00pm Wed. Bible Study: 7:30pm 3rd Friday Youth Night: 7:30pm www.jacobladderschurch.com

Christ Second Baptist Church 1471 Martin Luther King, Jr., Ave. Long Beach, CA 90813 (562) 599-3421 • Fax: (562) 599-6175 • www.csbclb.org Rev. Welton Pleasant II, Senior Pastor

New Mount Pleasant Missionary Baptist Church 434 S. Grevillea, Inglewood CA 90301 (310) 673-6250 Office • (310) 673-2153 Rev. Dr. Phillip A. Lewis, D. D., D. Th., Senior Pastor

Christian’s Community Center of Los Angeles 3960 E. Gilman Street,Long Beach, CA 90815 (562) 597-3252 Senior Pastor Thom Washington Sunday Morning Prayer 8:00am New Member’s Class 9:00am Sunday Bible Class 9:30am Sunday Morning Worship 11:00am Sunday Afternoon Services 4:00pm (2nd & 4th Sunday) WednesdayPrayer 6:00pm Bible Study Wednesday 7:00pm

Early Worship: 8:00am Sunday School: 9:30am Morning Worship: 11:00am Mid-Week Bible Study (Wednesday): 7:00pm Afternoon Bible Study (Thursday): 1:00pm

Family of Faith Christian Center 345 E. Carson Street, Long Beach, CA 90807 (562) 595-1222 • F: (562) 595-1444 Bishop Sherman A. Gordon, E.D. Min

True Friendship Missionary Baptist Church 7901 South Van Ness Ave. Inglewood, CA 90305 (323) 750-7304 Rev. James A. Perkins Sunday School: 9:30am Early Worship: 8am Morning Worship: 10:45am Bible Adventure Hour (Tues): 6pm Bible Study (Tues): 7pm Bible Study (Thurs): Noon

In St. Stephen Missionary Baptist Church 1720 N. Walnut Avenue, La Puente, CA 91744 (626) 918-3225 • F: (626) 918-3265 Pastor Tony Dockery

La Puente

Sunday School: 9:30 AM Early Worship: 8:00 AM Morning Worship: 11:00 AM Spanish Service: 9:30AM Bible Study: Every Wednesday 7:00 PM www.stsbc.org Antioch Church of Long Beach Mailing address P.O. Box 2291, Long Beach, CA 90801 website:www.antiochlb.com

Sunday School: 8:30am Sunday Worship Service: 9:40am Wed. Bible Study: 7:00pm Wed Youth & Young Adult Ministry: 7:00pm

In Long Beach

Pastor Wayne Chaney Jr. Sunday Worship Services: 10:00am Long Beach Poly High School 1600 Atlantic Avenue Long Beach, Ca 90813

Sunday School: 8:00 am Morning Worship: 9:00 am

Gospel Memorial Church of God In Christ 1480 Atlantic Ave. Long Beach, CA 90813 (562) 599-7389 • F: 562-599-5779 • gospelmemorial@aol.com Bishop Joe L. Ealy Sunday School: 9:30am Sunday Worship: 11:00am Evening Worship: 6:30pm Wed. Intercessory Prayer: 7:00pm Wed. Pastoral teaching adults: 7:30pm Wed. Youth Ministry Boot-Camp; Youth Bible Study: 7:00pm & Choir Rehearsal: 7:30pm Grant AME Church of Long Beach 1129 Alamitos Ave. Long Beach, CA 90813 • (562) 437-1567 grantamelb@aol.com • www.grantamelb.org Rev. Michael W. Eagle, Sr. Sun. Worship Experience: 10:45am 3rd Sun. Healing & Annointing: 10:45am Wed. Bible Study: Noon & 6pm Mothers of Murdered Youth & Children Were all receive a little attention, affection and love.

From the Pulpit of: Full Harvest International Church “Strength To Deliver” You have shifted to bring forth! Not just to move positions but to bring forth. There are things that are right now being birthed in the spirit. There is a birthing that is happening.

And in times of birthing we must understand that our God is a God who brings forth and births, He is not a God who brings us to the point of birth and doesn't deliver. He is not a God who brings us to the point or the precipice of manifesting, then aborts the process. He is a God who not only impregnates and inseminates, but who also brings forth that which He has purposed.

In Isaiah 66:9, the Scripture reads, "Shall I bring to the time of birth and not cause delivery?” Remember, there are no rhetorical questions in the Word of God. Every question has an answer from the Word.

Therefore, anything that is impeding or trying to obstruct the bringing forth of that which you've been carrying, I have come to you as a prophet of God to tell you that devil; that obstacle; that impediment; that circumstantial situation; is lying to you. God is surely going to manifest what He has inseminated. He is certainly going to bring to pass what He’s purposed.

In this passage, beginning in Isaiah 36, Hezekiah, the King, is surrounded by an enemy led by a man (Rabshakeh) who has come to challenge the children of Israel. Hezekiah has sent word to the prophet Isaiah.

Do you see? The King is sending word to the prophet saying, "I am facing a situation for which I need a word from a man of God in order to overcome and deal with this.” Sometimes, you've got to get a word. Going further, they said to him, thus says Hezekiah, "This day is a day of trouble and rebuke and blasphemy for the children have come to birth, but there is no strength to bring them forth."

In other words, they are saying that this is out of order. That this is not the will of God. That this is not the plan of God. Why are they saying this? Because what they were seeing is that the children have come to a time of birth but there was no strength to deliver. However, God just said, “Would I do that?” So the answer is no. If you and I come to a time of birthing and are lacking strength to deliver, then it's not God who’s obstructing the manifestation. It’s something else.

Here is the error of religious preaching and teaching.

Religious preaching and teaching has taught that we need to go to God and GET strength, but the Bible teaches that God has already put His strength IN you.

(Nehemiah 8:10 | 1 John 15:11) I came to announce to you that you don't need 20 days of fasting or prayer or three days of undisturbed rest to be strengthened. You need to learn where your strength is and how to draw it out.

Nehemiah 8:10 gives us some insight. "Then he said to them, go your way. Eat the fat, drink the sweet and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared for this day is Holy separate, sanctified, separate to the Lord your God. Do not sorrow."

Now, that's a command just like when God says, “Do not fear.” See, God will never tell you to do something you cannot do. When God says, "Do not fear," it's because He has given you the spiritual technology to stop fear. This is one of the things people don't understand. They think Christianity is magic.

Christianity is not magic. There is a spiritual technology to overcomi n g adversity.

N o w watch this, continuing in verse 10, God says, “do not sorrow for the joy of the Lord is Bishop Clarence E. McClendon

New Philadelphia A.M.E. Church 6380 S. Orange Avenue, Long Beach, Ca 90805 (562)422-9300•F: (562) 422-9400 Pastor Darryl E. Walker, Senior Pastor Worship: 9:00am —1st & 5th Sunday Sunday School/New Member Classes: 8:00am 2nd thru 4th Sunday Worship:7:30 am &10:00am•Sunday School New Member Classes: 9:00am Sunday worship services streamed live on the web Pastor’s Bible Study: Wednesday Eve 7:00pm Mid-Week Bible Study: Thursday 12:00 noon www.nuphilly.org

Greater Emmanuel Temple 3740 E. Imperial Highway, Lynwood, CA 90262 (424) 296-0400 •www.greateremmanuel.org

In Lynwood

Pastor Nissan Stewart Sunday Morning Worship: 11:00am Wednesday Prayer: 6:30pm Mid-Week Refuel/Bible Study: 7:00pm (Wednesday) Follow us: @GETFamilyNow The Greater Emmanuel Temple App Available in App Store Second Baptist Church In Monrovia 925 S. Shamrock Ave., P.O. Box 478, Monrovia,Ca 91017•(626)358-2136•(626) 303-2477 Fax Church Office: Tue-Thur 9am -5pm e-mail:sbcmon925@gmail.com • www.sbcmonrovia.org Pastor Christopher A. Bourne, Sr. Sunday School: 9:45am-10:30am Sunday Worship Service:10:45am Prayer/Bible Study Wed.:10:45am & 6:45

Walking In The Spirit Ministries Double Tree (Sonoma Grill) 13111 Sycamore Drive, Norwalk CA 90650 (213) 248-6343 P.O Box 1597 Norwalk CA,90651 Tim & Leshia Brooks

In Norwalk

Morning Worship: 11:00am Services Held Every 2nd & 4th Sunday and Free Breakfast Is Served Bible Study: 8:30am (Every 5th Friday)

Morning Star Chrisian Church In Pasadena 980 Rio Grande Street, Pasadena, CA 91104 *Mailing Address: 1416 N. Mentor Ave. Pasadena, 91104 (626) 794-4875 • F: (626) 794-7815 Pastor W. Harrison Trotter and First Lady Ranza Trotter Sunday School: 8:30am Sunday Worship: 10:00am Bible Study Wednesday: 7:00pm Intercessory Prayer (Fourth Wed.): 7:00pm Christians Uniting To Make A Difference -Eph. :13

your strength!”

There it is. This is where our strength is located. It is located in the Lord's joy. So if the enemy can steal your joy, then the enemy has got your strength. You've got to understand in this matter Satan is a covert operator. He doesn't come after your strength, he comes after your joy. If he can steal your joy, you can come to church all you want but he’s got you.

Joy is not happiness. Happiness is a product of environmental circumstance. Joy is a product of the Spirit of God on the INSIDE of you. In John 15:11, Jesus says, "These things I have spoken to you that My joy may remain IN you and that your joy might be full.”

This is spiritual technology. This is a technique in the spirit of getting strong again. This is what the Bible meant when it said, "David encouraged himself in the Lord." There was nobody around to encourage David.

There was nobody telling him he was going to make it.

Everybody was trying to kill him. The Bible says, "He went and encouraged himself." (1 Samuel 30:6) As a believer, how do we encourage ourselves? How do we release the Lord’s joy in us so that we gain the strength to deliver what God has purposed us to birth?

We begin to lift our hands and our voice and say, "The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for His name's sake. Even though I walk through the Valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. God, You are with me. Your rod and staff, they comfort me. Even in the presence of all my adversaries, you are anointing my head with oil, and I declare in the greatest challenge of my life, I receive the greatest anointing on my life!” (Psalm 23)

First African Methodist Episcopal Church, Pasadena 1700 N. Raymond Ave, Pas, CA 91103•(626) 798-0503 admin@famepasadena.org•www.famepasadena.org Rev. Dr. Larry E. Campbell Sunday Worship Service: 8:00 am - 11:00am Church School: 10:00am Wed’s: • Sunrise Prayer Service: 5:30am • Hour of Power Bible Study: 10:30am • Sunset Prayer Service: 6:00pm •Evening Bible Study: 7:00pm Third Saturday Bible Study: 10:00am Children Ch 1st, 2nd, 4th Sun: 8 & 11:00am First AME Church Santa Monica In Santa Monica 1823 Michigan Ave, Santa Monica, CA 90404 (310) 450-0331•Email: choffice19@aol.com Rev. Carolyn Baskin-Bell, Pastor Sunday School: 9:30am Worship Service: 11:00am Wednesday Bible Study & Prayer: 12 noon Thursday Bible Study & Prayer: 6 pm

“The Church In The Heart Of The Community with The Community at Heart” Greater Morning Star Missionary Baptist 1973 Seventeenth St., Santa Monica, CA 90404 (310) 450-1168 • Pastor Study:(310) 450-4880 (City by the Sea) Pastor Michael Larry, Jr. Senior Pastor Sunday School: 9:00am New Member Class: 9:45 - 10:15am Children Church.: 11:15am Wed: Mid-week Bible Worship: 7:00pm 1st Sunday Communion Trusting God to Transform the Creature, the Church and the Community, Romans 12:2 Arise Christian Center In Westchester 6949 La Tijera Blvd. Suite C,Westchester, CA,90045 (310)568-8445•F: (310) 568-8430 • Arisechristiancenter.com Pastor Ron Taylor Morning Worship: 9:00am & 11:15am Bible Study Wednesday: 7:00pm Intercessory Prayer Tuesday : 7:00pm Intercessory Prayer Sunday: 8am - 8:45am Thursday:11:30am-12:30pm

New Laws continued from page 6 ball safer for kids, AB 1 mandates that youth football programs be limited to two “full-contact practices” per week.

SB 439 changes the age minors can be to 12 in order for them to be sent to juvenile hall. A child under 12 would be released to their parent or legal guardian except in cases of murder and rape.

In fact, the reporting of childhood sexual abuse is likely to increase as AB 218 gives victims up until the age of 40 or five years from discovery of the abuse, to file civil lawsuits.

It also suspends the statute of limitations for three years, giving survivors of all ages time to bring a civil lawsuit.

Finally, if you’re a circus lover, don’t expect to see any elephants or exotic animals under the big tent. Under SB 313, just dogs, cats and domesticated horses will be allowed to be part of circus performances. Speaking of dogs, AB 588 requires animal shelters to disclose a dog’s biting history to a potential owner if a dog has broken a human’s skin at age 4 months or older.

Dennis Prager continued from page 7 budget – after the severe cuts of the previous eight years – is a moral issue. As conservatives see it, the American military is the world's greatest guarantor of world peace.

Yet, none of these things matter to Galli and other misguided Christians and conservatives. What matters more to them is Trump's occasional crude language and intemperate tweets, what he said about women in a private conversation and his having committed adultery.

Regarding adultery, that sin is for spouses and God to judge. There is no connection between marital sexual fidelity and moral leadership. I wish there were. And as regards the "Access Hollywood" tape, every religious person, indeed every thinking person, should understand that there is no connection between what people say privately and their ability to be a moral leader. That's why I wrote a column for the Wall Street Journal 20 years ago defending Hillary Clinton when she was charged with having privately expressed anti-Semitic sentiments.

That the editor of Christianity Today thinks the president's personal flaws, whatever they might be, are more important than all the good he has done for conservatives, for Christians, for Jews, for blacks and for America tells us a lot ... about Galli and the decline of Christian moral thought.

Dennis Prager is a nationally syndicated radio talk-show host and columnist. Prager University. He can be contacted at dennisprager.com.

Through the Storm

H

“

Little by little, the depression started coming back. It was so gradual I didn’t notice at first.

Then I started not going out of the house, not answering the phone and I got fascinated with watching videos of suicide.

”

ication, thinking he didn’t need it anymore. He hadn’t consulted his doctors and now reasons that at least for a time, his body was still running off the residuals of medication. Then came the all too familiar triggers– from supposed big breaks that petered out into equally big disappointments to the loss of beloved family and cherished mentors like Walter Hawkins and Aundrae Crouch.

“Little by little, the depression started coming back,” Smallwood recalls. “It was so gradual I didn’t notice at first. Then I started not going out of the house, not answering the phone and I got fascinated with watching videos of suicide.

“People who’d shot themselves, jumped off bridges, out of windows–people who would harm themselves. That’s all I would watch. I just wanted to end it all and wondered how it could be done without out messing up and getting maimed, but not dying. On this one particular day, it was really bad, and I’d googled ‘how can I commit suicide painlessly’ when this big message came up on my computer screen. It read ‘call the suicide hotline immediately’. That kind of jolted me out of it. If that notice had not come up on the screen, I really don’t know that I would be here today”.

Like many, Smallwood didn’t talk about his depression or seek help out of shame.

“I was diagnosed with clinical depression in 2000 and as I looked around me, I saw how pervasive it was all over but I was focusing on the black community, black males and the Christian community as well and how so many people were suffering and there was a stigma on it.

Nobody wanted to talk about it. I felt that I was judged.

“At first, I was going to write a book about the industry, the songs but my manager suggested that I write about it and the more I prayed about it, he was right. God had given me this platform to speak to people at churches, concerts, conferences… I could speak to it from the things I’d gone through that helped me to be stronger.

For Smallwood, a lot of answers came with therapy.

“When I was two, I climbed up on my stepfathers lap and he pushed me off of his lap and said ‘get away from me, you’re not my child’,” said Smallwood.

“What that does is to set up all kinds of insecurities that I wasn’t good enough. It didn’t matter how many other people say you’re talented…”

“That was what kept me sane. When I was five, I asked my mother to make me a robe because I wanted to be a gospel singer. I wrote my first song when I was about five. It made absolutely no sense. It was called “Shout for The Weary Alone”. My mother sat me down and said, okay baby, I know you want to write but you have to write lyrics and words that mean something and make sense.

Success came early for the Atlanta native who formed his first gospel group when he was 11 made up of kids from the Washington D.C. neighborhood he was reared in. He wrote one of his biggest hits, “I Love The Lord”, while studying at Howard University and his first album, The Richard Smallwood Singers spent more than 80 weeks on Billboard’s gospel charts upon its release in 1982.

In the more than three decades since, Smallwood has recorded more than a dozen albums, earning eight Grammy nominations, four Dove Awards and six Stellar awards. His songs have been translated into Korean, German, and Hebrew and he has performed for three presidents.

Music was not only an outlet, but a calming factor.

With therapy, Smallwood–who was inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 2006– was able to address the foundation of his fears.

“Medication and therapy are really what helped me to understand how to get through life and gave me a platform to speak to mental illness as well as to talk to others who are going through the same thing. And I have done so many conferences dealing with mental health.”

Today, he is grateful for the platform he has to talk to people dealing with the same thing he’s gone through.

“To let them know that there is hope,” says Smallwood. “That you don’t have to stay that way for the rest of your life. So many people have come to me with their stories. It hasn’t been an easy experience for me, but it has been a teaching experience. I always say that we go through difficult things not only so that we can grow, but we go through difficult things for others because that’s the bottom line…helping others.”

“Look around at what we’re dealing with now in this country…it’s crazy. So, to write songs people can hold onto when they’re going through challenges, to create something that has that kind of power, that’s the blessing of being a writer and doing what I do. Even long after I’m gone that the music would continue to bring joy, peace and encouragement to people, that– to me– means more than any award I have ever received.”

L.A. Focus/January 2020

e’s written such classic hymns as “Total Praise”, “Center of My Joy”, “Healing” and “I Love the Lord”. Songs that have long become standards in churches, encouraging, uplifting and inspiring thousands of Christians the world over. Music that has been recorded by artists such as Destiny's Child, Yolanda Adams, Whitney Houston and Aretha Franklin.

Just knowing the impact he’s had is what makes it all worthwhile for gospel legend Richard Smallwood who remains thrilled when people approach him with stories of how his music has changed their lives.

“I’m most proud when people tell me that my music kept them through their divorce, through the death of their spouse or parent, or it kept me when I was homeless” the Grammy award winning composer/performer observes. “That kind of thing you cannot put a price tag on.

“Or,” he adds bittersweetly, “when they come to me and say the music kept me from killing myself. Now, how ironic is that?”

The irony–recounted in his recently released autobiography, Total Praise– is that Smallwood has been battling clinical depression and suicidal thoughts from as far back as he can remember.

“I started noticing things, though I didn’t know what it all meant as a kid,” Smallwood recounts. “I would get so sick when it was time to go to school that my mother would keep me home though nothing physically was wrong. I came from a physically abusive kind of relationship with my stepfather. He would beat me for no reason whatever and I think it started there.

“Some of it was DNA because I had some other members of my family who suffered with depression and anxiety as well,” Smallwood continues. “My grandfather–my mother’s father committed suicide before I was born, so I think it was a combination of things. But as I got older what I came to understand about depression is that if you don’t get help, it doesn’t get any better.”

At the height of Smallwood’s depression, he wouldn’t get out of bed or leave his Washington D.C. home.

“It was hard for me to do my daily tasks whatever it was that I was supposed to do,” Smallwood reveals.

“Performing was never a problem. It’s always been as natural to me as breathing but coming off the stage it was just anxiety of life. Fear of crowds, fear of answering the phone.”

Surprisingly, it was those dark times that have fueled some of his biggest hits, including his favorite song, Total Praise.

“People think a praise song like that would come out of a happy, rejoicing kind of place, but when I wrote Total Praise, my mother was ill and one of my foster brothers had a complete mental breakdown. was going from the hospital where he was staying trying to find a caregiver and I sat down at the piano and started feeling hopeless as to what I could do to help my loved ones. I was trying to write a pity party song and God just kept leading it into a song of praise and the power of praise,” the 71-year old artist states.

“I remember when I wrote it how it ministered to me and I’ve written songs where at the time I wrote it, I was writing it for other people, but the lyrics were what I was going through.”

Smallwood’s worst bout with depression came just four years ago. Feeling fine, he stopped taking his med-

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Bryan Stevenson continued from page 12 things that I don’t think they’ve seen. The United States has the highest rate of incarceration in the world,” he told Academy and guild voters at a panel with the film’s costars. “And it’s almost like we don’t care. I was nervous because if you do [the movie] wrong you don’t actually achieve the kind of education you’re trying to do. But through the extraordinary performances of people like Rob Morgan and Tim Blake Nelson and Jamie and Michael, it’s been an incredible process for me. And now that millions of people will get to learn some things that they don’t know, and hopefully act on those things—it’s very exciting.

Martin Lawrence continued from page 17 hands around it and get into it that's when I get involved.

Is there a role you've always wanted to play?

Military. I've always wanted to play a military captain. I used to like 'An Officer and a Gentleman' back in the day. world do you want comedy to go to? Because ultimately, if we keep pushing in this direction, you're gonna have comics that don't know what's safe to talk about, and now the conversation has changed to people aren't funny

anymore because everybody's afraid to be funny. So what level can they be funny? ...

We're taking away the ability for people to be comfortable. Everybody. Workplace, work environments, from professional to any aspect of life, now. Everybody's walking on their toes. Everybody's walking on glass.

Everybody is!

What's the most important thing you've learned about being a stand-up comedian?

I've learned that you've got to have utmost confidence. The utmost confidence. You have to believe in yourself. When you go out there, if you believe in yourself, then you can get the fans to believe in you. You can get the audience to believe in you so confidence is first and foremost. That's what I've learned.

What do you think is the most fulfilling thing you've done as a comedian in your career?

Wow. Most fulfilling thing? I would just say all the laughs I've given over the years in everything I've done, from TV to movies to stand-up. All the laughs I've delivered to the people–that's been the most fulfilling to me.

Church news continued from page 18 all people to know at Vision LA you have a seat at the table,” Haynes said.

“The mission for Vision LA is to be a multi-cultural revolutionary platform distinctively crafted to be a bold space for all people to unite in an expression of freedom and love to achieve their personal and corporate destiny. We do this by empowering people spiritually, emotionally, educationally, socially, economically, and politically. As a Christ-centered ministry, we are inclusive of all people, fully embracing in our lives and ministry people of every race, gender, culture, affectional orientation, family configuration, physical or mental condition, and all other distinctions which are the rich tapestry of God’s creation.

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SavingGrace Vanessa Williams anessa Williams is a creature unlike any other. It's as though she came here to impart the ins and outs of living life on one's own terms. From unwitting societal lightning rod during the 1980s to multiplatinum selling recording artist; and Broadway, film and television star, Vanessa Williams slayed the male-dominated Hollywood dragon long before the #MeToo movement happened. You can tell from talking to her that, both, the scars of past judgment she endured, and the fruits of her sweet success have made their impact. Both created indelible imprints.

In more recent years, Williams stunned audiences with sultry scene-stealing characters on hit series like Desperate Housewives and Ugly Betty. Her recent film starring Orange is the New Black's Uzo Aduba, Miss Virginia, tackles the socio-economic and educational inequities that urban students of color endure, showcasing a more socially conscious film portrayal.

Her exotic beauty strikes you dead on arrival, but Williams does not lead with her looks. She prefers to enter a conversation with intellect, boldness and strength.

Williams is now preparing to take her Broadwayhoned stage skills across the pond to London's West End, where she will be starring in a production of City of Angels, opening at the Garrick Theatre in 2020. She's also added fashion designer to her packed resume, launching the sexy and sophisticated Vanessa Williams collection for HSN, and fresh on the heels of a multialbum deal with BMG, Williams is working on new music to reflect a collection of musical genres she is currently passionate about.

“It’s another opportunity to be creative and I’ve got a great manufacturer, so the quality is fantastic,” she said of her versatile new clothing line.

“It’s an extension of what I love, which is putting my stamp on things. I love fashion, and I’ve been fortunate to

L.A. Focus/January 2020

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I think I’m here to learn to keep moving ahead. On this earth we have setbacks, struggles and obstacles. You have to be able to say, ‘What is this teaching me?’ so you can move through it and move ahead in your life.

Avoiding something or trying to deny it won’t get you anywhere. work on amazing shows, both on television and on Broadway, where I’ve worked with incredible costume designers and been exposed to fantastic fashion through stylists.”

She shared that when designing, she keeps her eighty-year-old mother in mind along with her daughters whose ages range from 19 to 32. Because of that, she knows that everyone’s own style and preferences will be reflected in her collection.

“There’s one piece for everyone to enjoy,” she said.

Her 2012 memoir You Have No Idea, penned with her mother, where Williams spoke about her life candidly, reflected on her darker moments in childhood while also explored her journey through life as a natural born rebel.

It’s a quality that has not disappeared in adulthood but has instead morphed, she said.

“It’s now about being unafraid to take chances. In terms of my career, I just signed on to do ‘City of Angels’ on the West End [of London]. It’s not a lot of money, but it is an opportunity to work on the West End,” she explained. “It’s always been a dream of mine to live overseas, and to study in London…There are no guarantees, in terms of leaving my life in the states behind, but it’s something that excites me. At this stage of my life it’s all about asking myself what I want to do that I’ve never done. The challenge of it excites me, and doing the same thing bores me.”

It’s no surprise then, that Williams has kept herself busy throughout her career from Broadway to films, television, platinum-selling recording artists and so on, it seems she values adventure over routine. And despite the scandal and scrutiny in 1984 that came with the release of nude photos she had taken that led to the removal of her title as Miss America, her success has not been motivated by some sort of mission for vindication.

“There’s always that next goal,” she said. “ A Broadway veteran, “City of Angels” will be her West End debut and a moment to show off her stage talent on a new and different stage. It will also be an opportunity to circle back to something she missed out on when she was younger.

“This will be my ‘junior year abroad’ that I never got the chance to do!” she jokes. “In college, I was supposed to go to London and then I became famous that September. So, it’s my delayed junior year abroad, thirty-six years later.”

Williams also shared the sense of connection she shared with President Obama after his election in 2008. In her twenties, her crowning as the first African-American Miss America made her a societal lightning rod at the time as she successfully

shattered that particular glass ceiling. It was easy to feel a sort of kinship with the first African-American President.

His presence was worldwide,” she recalls. “But there is an expectation that comes with that honor of breaking barriers. It’s also a tremendous fear, not for yourself, but for family members; because there is such division, which doesn’t seem to leave us. I thought it was over in the 1980s and it wasn’t; I thought it was over in the 2000s and it wasn’t; and, obviously it’s still apparent now. So there is a specific fear and uncertainty that you have, but you have to be brave and you have to continue to do what you were chosen to do, and the job that is before you.”

After all, Williams herself was unfortunately the target of threats after her crowning in 1984. In her memoir she discussed facing persistent racist hate mail and death threats in addition to consistent opinions that she was not fit to be representative of the crown.

Nevertheless, Williams rebounded and has since risen as an inspirational figure for many other women. A fact she recognizes even if she never expected it.

“I think my history has made me a trailblazer, unknowingly. I’ve always just been myself and that’s how it played itself out,” she said.

She discussed her life as a practicing Catholic who attends Church regularly. In those most quiet and intimate moments, she said, whom and what she prays to and for changes.

“I pray to God and my ancestors and my guides, and everyone who has been with me along my journey,” she said. “As far as what I pray for, it depends on what I want or need at that particular moment; whether it’s guidance, whether it’s ‘show me the way,’ or whether it’s protection for one of my children. It depends on what my need is at that moment.”

In addition to her upcoming work in London, she looks forward to continuing her life as a teacher. She loves to teach, she shared, teaching for three years in a row at New York University. Williams has also taught Master Classes at Syracuse University, her alma matter and she’s taught women’s groups.

“It's teaching strength and to be aware, because you never know when and where something is going to happen for you,” Williams explained. “Whether that's your talent, whether it's an opportunity… just be open to who comes into your life and what they can bring.”

Her lesson reflects what she continues to learn herself. That women should ask for help and strive to be a community.

“Don’t be afraid to ask for help,” she said. “I’ve learned that there are many people that are willing to be teachers and to help you along in your life, so don’t be afraid to ask because there will always be somebody there to offer help. I think I’m here to learn to keep moving ahead. On this earth we have setbacks struggles and obstacles. You have to be able to say, ‘What is this teaching me?’ so you can move through it and move ahead in your life. Avoiding something or trying to deny it won’t get you anywhere.”

Original interview and contribution from Allison Kugel.

Allison Kugel is a syndicated entertainment columnist, author of the memoir, Journaling Fame: A memoir of a life unhinged and on the record, and owner of communications firm, Full Scale Media. Follow her on Instagram @theallisonkugel and at AllisonKugel.com.