L.A. Focus Newspaper July 2019

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L.A. FOCUS

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Church News: L.A.’s Baptist Community Buries Two Trailblazing Pastors PAGE

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One On One: Robin Givens PAGE

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SEE PAGE

UPFRONT

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First Debate Shakes Up Democratic Race—So Who Are The Winners & Losers? >> SEE PAGE 6

SAVING GRACE KJLH’s Tammi Mac

@LAFOCUSNEWS

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contents

L.A. Focus Publications

JULY 2019

Left: Presidential Candidate Sen. Cory Booker was hosted by Lena L. Kennedy (center) and Women in Leadership Vital Voices at an event in Pasadena ; Middle: Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas presents Sportscaster Jim Hill with a County of Los Angeles Commendation Award at the LA Press Club. Right: Honoree Denzel Washington (R) walked the 47th AFI Life Achievement Award red carpet with, from left to right, his son Malcolm Washington, daughter Katia Washington, and wife Pauletta Washington.

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From The Editor “Let’s Not Eat Our Own”

Commentary Health Benefits of California’s Paid Leave Policy out of Reach for Black Women

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UpFront “We Have a Crisis,”Says Gov. Newsom As State Pumps 1.7B in Homelessness Fght; First Debate Shakes Up Democratic Race

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Head to Head Making the Case For and Against Slavery Reparations

Headlines From Africa

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Money Matters The State of Blacks In California

Biz News Briefs

Byron Allen’s Empire Expands Into Sports

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Feature Story More Than Basketball: Residents of Inglewood & South L.A. Stand to Score with Clipper Chair Steve Ballmer as their neighbor.

13 Game Changers David Ford

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

Lisa Collins Gerald Bell, Keith DeLawder Kisha Smith, Dianne Lugo Ian Foxx, Rickey Brown Leatha Davis Antoinette Banks

L.A. Focus–On the Word, is published monthly.

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Calendar/ Around LA Eye On Gospel BeBe Winans Wins Five Theater Awards

Red Carpet Style 2019 BET Awards

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Hollywood Buzz

23 Through the Storm 25 In Good Taste 26 Saving Grace Pastor’s Faith is Tested When Her Son is Murdered

Star Washington

Tammi Mac

Alfre Woodard Joins Kevin Hart’s “Fatherhood”; Pharrell Williams Promises Internships for Graduating High Schoolers...

One On One Robin Givens

18 Church News 20 Pastor Profile 21 First Lady Files 22 From The Pulpit

L.A. Baptist Community Loses Two Trailblazing Pastors

Pastor Kerwin Manning–Pasadena Church

Andrea Humphrey- H.O.P.E.’s House Christian Ministries

94 never looked so good as Cicely Tyson walked the red carpet at the American Film Institute’s Lifetime Achievement Award ceremonies for Denzel Washington.

Southside Church of Christ

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 Mt. Zion MBC Jacob’s Ladder

Bishop Charles Blake Bishop Noel Jones Pastor Michael Fisher Rev. Xavier L. Thompson Bishop Kenneth C. Ulmer Pastor Emeritus Melvin Wade Rev. Edward V. Hill II Bishop Robert T. Douglas, Sr

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

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Commentary

TINA MCKINNOR AND ASHLEY SMITH Guest Columnists

Health Benefits of California's Paid Leave Policy Out of Reach for Black Women

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hen you type “maternity leave” into Google images, white women dominate the search results. That is not a mistake. The algorithm is a reflection of who has been centered in policy conversations and benefited from paid family leave policies. We know personally: Black women in California are most in need of an inclusive paid family leave program, but least likely to have it.

We come from different backgrounds. Tina worked for the Department of Social Services as a data entry operator when she got pregnant. They pinched pennies to get by like many young Black couples. Ashley earned a comfortable wage as a Behavior Analyst while she and her husband tried for a baby. Tina had her son before the state passed the nation’s first paid family leave policy. Ashley had her daughter just recently.

Yet both of our birthing experiences, 30 years apart, and recent research by Paid Leave for the U.S. (PL+US) highlight that not enough has changed for Black women in California, despite the introduction of policies like paid family leave.

For Tina, she was only seven months pregnant when she started having labor pains. Her doctor put her on mandatory bed rest, forcing her to use her 30 days of paid sick days after which she was fired. Then when Tina dilated and started to push, her doctor told her she needed to be rushed to an emergency C-section - he said her son’s umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck from the stress of the pregnancy. After a scary 18 hours, Tina’s son was born alive and miraculously healthy.

Ashley’s pregnancy was also difficult from the start. She experienced daily migraines and achy joints but had to push through grueling commutes to work each day in order to be eligible for state disability and maternity leave through her job.

Starting at 31 weeks she went into preterm labor with strong contractions for which she was placed on bedrest. At 34.5 weeks, Ashley was rushed to the hospital for an emergency c-section - she was in labor again and her daughter was in breach. Ashley was able to take three months off work using a combination of partially paid maternity

From the Editor

leave and state disability. But it was not nearly enough time for herself or her premie baby. With great hesitation, Ashley returned to work when her daughter was just 14 weeks old and still so tiny.

Both our experiences are far too common among Black mothers. As a community, we have higher rates of morbidity such as preeclampsia, fibroids, and chronic toxic stress which can put us and our infants in danger. While both our babies survived, Black women and their infants in California - not to mention nationwide - are more than three to four times as likely to die from pregnancy-related complication than our white counterparts, as a new report from Paid Leave for the U.S. highlights.

Our community’s health inequities are a direct result of racism, which has no silver bullet. However, when policies specifically address Black women’s inequities it can contribute to closing these gaps. Just take expanding California’s paid family leave policy: because Black women have a higher rate of dangerous pregnancy complications, we need more time to heal and recover. An expansion of the state’s policy to what doctors overwhelmingly recommend - six months - for both infant and parent would be life-changing for us, our families, and our community. As Governor Newsom convenes his Paid Family Leave Task Force, we have a unique opportunity. Now is the time to include our experiences and our voices to improve upon the state’s policy. Together, we can shape what the next 30 years look like in California for Black families and beyond.

Tina McKinnor is the California Campaign Strategist at Paid Leave for the U.S. She previously worked at the California Democratic Party as the Operations Director and served as Chief of Staff to Assemblymember Autumn Burke.

Ashley Smith is a Behavior Analyst who lives and works in the Bay Area, supporting children and their families who present with autism and other disabilities as well as those who have experienced trauma and require additional behavioral support as a result.

LISA COLLINS Publisher

“Let’s Not Eat Our Own”

L.A. Focus/July 2019

he dust is still settling from the first Democratic debate with folks still deciding what it all means and how the candidates are shaping up. (See our story on page 6). Whether or not any of them can beat a historically unpopular president will be decided by you voters, as was so poignantly pointed out by political commentator Charles Sykes in his recent op-ed in Politico Magazine, “Dear Democrats, Here’s How to Guarantee Trump’s Reelection”.

In it, Sykes writes this: “With 20 of you clamoring for attention over two nights, the opportunities are abundant for you to kick off the primary season with an easy win for the president.

“This might seem impossible,” he continues. “Donald Trump remains historically unpopular because the past three years have cemented the public’s image of the president as a deeply dishonest, erratic, narcissistic, Twitter-addicted bully. As a result, a stunning 57 percent of voters say they will definitely not vote to reelect him next year and he trails Democratic challengers in key states. Trump himself seems to have given up on swing voters, instead focusing on ginning up turnout among his hard-core base.

But, as columnist Henry Olsen points out, this is unlikely to be successful because millions of “reluctant Trump voters” from 2016 have already shown a willingness to bail on him by voting for Democrats in last November’s midterms.

“Even so, Trump could still win reelection, because he has one essential dynamic working in his favor: You. “Trump’s numbers are unmovable, but yours are not. He doesn’t need to win this thing; he needs for you to lose it. There are millions of swing voters who regard Trump as an abomination but might vote for him again if they think you are scarier, more extreme, dangerous, or just annoyingly out of touch.

“Despite the favorable poll numbers and the triumphalism in your blue bubble, you’ve already made a solid start at guaranteeing another four years of Trumpism. Last week’s pile-on of Joe Biden was a good example of how you might eat your own over the next 16 months.”

Sykes pointed out that while Trump was refusing to apologize for demanding the death penalty for the Central Park 5, Democrats were hammering Biden for saying that civility once required him working with segregationist senators.

I, too, was at a loss for why Biden should have apologized the statement, particularly with all the more pressing issues we have going on today. Nor could I understand all the attention given to several women back in April who said Biden violated their personal space. (How ironic that Biden can create headline news by putting his hand on someone’s shoulder or kissing a forehead, but Trump can grab ‘em by the *****).

And while Senator Kamala Harris’ performance was smooth and impressive, picking at Biden surely can’t be her best strategy for winning. Harris is a shining star and Cory Booker is just as dynamic, but they need to make their cases independent

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of Joe Biden, who might have had a bad night, but can hardly be counted out.

I’m appreciative of Biden’s service and believe his decades of experience make up for a few hiccups. And for all the concerns about his age, I’m not looking for a candidate who can run a 24k, but one who can beat Trump with the kind of policies that appeal to those who voted “45” in.

Fact is, all this talk about the length of Joe Biden’s record as it relates to a changing Democratic party makes me tired. While the party may have changed–leaning more and more to the left, people haven’t. They’re still trying to pay their rent, buy a house, raise their children and get ahead with wages that haven’t increased with the cost of living, housing markets that have outpriced them, gentrification forcing many of them out of their homes and schools that are failing their kids.

Appears to me, it’s not Joe Biden whose out of touch, but the Democratic Party who should be concerned by its declining numbers, even among black women as reported in a 2017 Essence poll.

In his commentary, Sykes cited issues like free college, free health care, reparations–all of which most know will come out of the pockets of taxpayers–as sure things to turn off voters to the Democratic platform. He also pointed to socialism, open borders and sanctuary cities as things people found “scary”.

Sykes ends the commentary by saying, “Given Trump’s deep unpopularity, losing to him won’t be easy. But don’t despair; remember, you managed to pull it off in 2016.”

On a lighter note, I was totally moved by the words of Tyler Perry in his acceptance of the BET Icon award last month in Los Angeles and his words bear repeating. Most impressive was the entertainment mogul’s reflection on the studio he built in Atlanta that in and of itself is an inspiration.

“The studio was once a Confederate Army base,” Perry said, “which meant that there was Confederate soldiers on that base, plotting and planning on how to keep 3.9 million negroes enslaved. Now that land is owned by one negro.”

To which Perry added, “While everybody was fighting for a seat at the table talking about #OscarsSoWhite, #OscarsSoWhite, I said, ‘Y’all go ahead and do that. But while you’re fighting for a seat at the table, I’ll be down in Atlanta building my own. Because what I know for sure is that if I could just build this table, God will prepare it for me in the presence of my enemies.

“Every dreamer in this room,” he continued, “there are people whose lives are tied into your dream. Own your stuff, own your business, own your way.”

Couldn’t have said it any better myself.

Keep the faith.

UpFront

News Briefs

“We Have a Crisis,” Says Gov. Newsom As State Pumps 1.7B in Homelessness Fight Hitting Blacks The Hardest

MANNY OTIKO & TANU HENRY

California Black Media

ast week, Gov. Gavin Newsom homeless. signed a $214.8 billion state In San Francisco, where spending plan he and legislaBlacks only make up about tive leaders are calling “the 7 percent of the population, Affordability Budget” for the 2019they account for about 36 20 fiscal year. percent of the city’s homeIt took effect July 1 after the less. governor hashed out differences A number of factors with the Assembly and Senate. contribute to the high numThe budget includes $1.7 billion bers of homeless blacks in to fight homelessness, a problem California. According to the affecting more African Americans Los Angeles Housing per capita than any other group in Services Authority the state. Of that money, $650 mil(LAHSA), they include faillion will go to support county and ing schools, a broken foster city governments as well as regioncare system, high rents, the al homeless prevention agencies in scarcity of available rental Last month, Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas (center) was appointed by Governor Newsom to co-chair California’s Homelessness Task Force their local efforts to decrease homeproperties, criminal records, lessness and increase their stock of racial discrimination and Product of $2.7 trillion– boasts the affordable housing. more. largest economy in the United States.

“Homelessness. What the hell is going Personal setbacks like divorce, illness, But the state’s 130,000 homeless populaon in our state?” Asked Gov Newsom at or a job loss may drive families or individtion is the largest in the country, too, an event at the Capitol organized to mark uals into homelessness. In fact, less than accounting for nearly 25 percent of all the beginning of the new fiscal year. “We 50 percent of California’s homeless popupeople without a permanent residence in have a crisis.” lation are mentally ill or substance the U.S.. The state also has the highest The new funding represents the larabusers. The majority, dubbed the “ecorate of unsheltered homeless people (75 gest budget investment in affordable nomically homeless,” fell upon hard percent) and it has seen the sharpest housing, homeless shelters and support times, missed a series of rent or mortgage increase in homelessness in the country services in the history of the state. payments and lost their homes. over the last 4 years.

Large cities will receive a total of $275 Also, more than half of California’s In the Los Angeles area, the homemillion in grants, $190 million will go to renters are considered “rent burdened,” lessness problem is dire. At last count, counties and an additional $90 million is meaning they spend more than 30 per59,000 homeless live in Los Angeles allocated to fund support and prevention cent of their income to keep a roof over County, representing a spike of 16 perprograms. The budget also provides $167 their heads, according to a UC Berkeley cent over last year’s total. million in supportive housing for the report.

Although the total Black population is mentally ill and substance abusers.

“We have millions of Californians that about 9 percent, African Americans make Another $52 million is earmarked for are one rent increase away from being up about 36 percent of L.A.’s homeless. fighting homelessness among college stuforced out of their homes,” said In other Census tracts of the state dents. 19 percent of Community College Assemblymember David Chiu (D-San where there are clusters of Africanstudents in the state are homeless, Francisco).

American residents — Alameda County according to a Temple University study.

Chiu recently sponsored a bill, AB and San Bernardino County, for example With fines that could run as high as 1482, to limit rent increases to 7 percent.

— the rates of homelessness for Blacks is $600,000, the governor also plans to Lawmakers are expected to vote on it by also disproportionate. Take Alameda begin stronger enforcement of state laws the middle of September.

County, where Oakland is the largest that require county and city governments In 2018, Assemblymember Mike city, African Americans make up about to plan for new growth.

Gipson (D-Los Angeles), a member of the 28 percent of the population, but account California–with its Gross Domestic Homeless continued to page 25 for nearly 70 percent of the county’s

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First Debate Shakes Up Democratic Race—So Who Are The Winners & The Losers?

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L.A. FocusJuly 2019

amala Harris surged forward after clashing with Biden in last month’s Democratic debate, upping not only her national profile but raising $2 million in 24 hours following the debate.

While both candidates dominated conversation following the debate, it was Harris who received the biggest bump of the 20 candidates who participated in the twopart event, landing in a near virtual tie with frontrunner Joe Biden in national post-debate polls.

In one notable moment, Harris cut through the other shouting candidates and insisted that the American public wanted to hear how the candidates were going to put food on their table, not witness a food fight.

Following the debate, Harris made it clear that she was aware that she had soared past all expectations.

“This first debate was just the beginning. Help us build momentum and show the pundits just how strong our movement is,” she posted. Her call to action was quickly met with a surge of donations.

Her clear victory aside, Harris wasn’t the only candidate to score points

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with potential voters. Elizabeth Warren and Julián Castro also earned high scores for their debate performances relative to their favorability rating before they took the stage. Bernie Sanders and Cory Booker also rated well, although their scores did not differ significantly from their pre-debate standings.

Sanders fell to fourth place–behind Elizabeth Warren–with his lackluster showing. It also wasn’t a great night for Beto O’Rourke (described as deer in headlights by some) or Mayor Pete Buttigieg, who was shown to have virtually no support among African Americans in a recent CNN poll.

But it was Biden’s less than impressive performance that not only cost him a double-digit lead over Harris going in to the debate, but also saw him torpedoed in the press. A New York Times headline read: “Is Joe Biden the Jeb Bush of 2020”.

“It’s Harris and Warren up, Biden and the men down in first post-debate 2020 Democratic poll” was the Washington Post take on the debate.

Any way you cut it, not a good night for Biden. Here are the official standings following the debate.

DIANNE LUGO Staff

POST DEBATE RESULTS Former VP Joe Biden

22%

-10 pts

Senator Kamala Harris

20%

+13 pts

Senator Elizabeth Warren

14%

+1 pts

Senator Bernie Sanders

13%

-6 pts

Mayor Pete Buttigieg

4%

-4 pts

Senator Cory Booker

3%

+1 pts

Beto O’Rourle

1%

-2 pts

New Bill Hopes to Stop Prison-Phone Companies from Charging Predatory Rates Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D—Illinois) recently introduced the Martha Wright-Reed Just and Reasonable Communications Act of 2019 (S.1764), which would restore the FCC’s authority to stop prison-phone companies from charging incarcerated people and their families, predatory rates.

The name honors Martha Wright-Reed, who fought for affordable prison-phone rates for more than 20 years.

In some states, a 15-minute phone call can cost up to $25. Additionally, in the United States 2.7 million children have a parent who is incarcerated, and supporters of the bill note that predatory rates can mean families forgoing phone calls that could help maintain healthy relationships.

“This kind of exploitation is part of this country’s long history of systemic racism, which has allowed both for-profit prisons and prison-phone companies to benefit from mass incarceration, which predominantly targets people of color,” said Free Press Action Digital Campaign Manager Lucia Martínez.

Herb Wesson Moves to Outlaw Private Detention Centers in Los Angeles Los Angeles City Council Preisdent Herb Wesson has introduced amotion to outlaw the construction and continued operation of private detention centers in Los Angeles.

“Profiting off of locking people up will not fly in Los Angeles,” said Wesson. “This industry is an equal partner in the Trump administration’s cruel treatment of immigrant children and families, and the mass incarceration of communities of color.

We call on every city and county to join us in preventing this kind of activity from operating within its borders.”

Wesson’s motion was seconded by Councilmembers Marqueece Harris-Dawson, Nury Martinez, and Gil Cedillo.

The proposal comes in the wake of several reports of overcrowded detention centers without real beds or basic hygienic products like soap and toothpaste.

Additionally, in 2016, a study by the Obama administration found that federally-contracted private prisons had a significantly higher number of violations per inmate than public prisons.

Supreme Court Allows Partisan Gerrymandering to Continue In a 5-4 ruling, the Supreme Court declared that partisan gerrymandering of congressional districts cannot be limited by federal courts.

Partisan gerrymandering refers to when a legislature draws districts that disproportionately favor one party and now, those who oppose the act must fight it in the states.

The majority opinion was written by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. Judges, he said, are not entitled to second-guess lawmaker’s judgements.

“We conclude that partisan gerrymandering claims present political questions beyond the reach of the federal courts,” the chief justice wrote.

Reverand Al Sharpton and the National Action Network releases a statement regarding the decision.

“It is a sad day for democracy in the United States,” the statement said. “The highest court in the land, in fact, chose to condone partisan gerrymandering, a political tactic that has long been used to suppress political representation for black and brown voters and ultimately helped to elect Trump.”

HeadToHead Making the Case For and Against Slavery Reparations bout reparations, a skepsided with the Confederacy when Reparations: tical President Barack the Civil War erupted."

How Not to Obama in 2016 told repaThe government did not own Foster Racial rations proponent Ta-Nehisi slaves; people did. Conservative Harmony Coates that it would divide the Dinesh D'Souza estimates that no country. Obama said: "It is hard to think of more than 10 Republicans, out of tens of any society in human history in which a thousands of slave owners, owned slaves. majority population has said that as a conse- The Ku Klux Klan was founded by quence of historic wrongs, we are now going Democrats. Congressional Democrats were to take a big chunk of the nation's resources overwhelmingly opposed to the 13th, 14th over a long period of time to make that right. and 15th amendments. ... So the bottom line is that it's hard to find As a percentage of a model in which you can practically admin- their party, more ister and sustain political support for those Republicans voted for kinds of efforts." the Civil Rights Act of The polls bear Obama out.

1964 than did Just 26% of Americans support repara- Democrats. Maybe the tions. In fact, according to conservative Democrats should sue Michael Medved, since so many of today's themselves to pay for non-black Americans are descendants of reparations. post-Civil War immigrants, as few as 5% of Reparation proponents Larry Elder today's whites have a "generational" connec- often say things like "slavery built America" tion to slavery. University of North Carolina or "America was built on the backs of historian Joseph T. Glatthaar, author of slaves." Ta-Nehisi Coates, testifying at a "Soldiering in the Army of Northern recent congressional hearing on reparations, Virginia: A Statistical Portrait of the Troops made the following claim about slave-proWho Served under Robert E. Lee," estimates duced products: "As historian Ed Baptist that 4.9% of the population, or 24.9% of has written, enslavement -- quote -- 'shaped households in slave states, owned slaves. Of every crucial aspect of the economy and polthe free blacks living in the South, some itics of America, so that, by 1836, more than were slave owners. Famed historian Carter $600 million, almost half of the economic G. Woodson found that in 1830, 3,776 free activity in the United States, derived directNegroes owned 12,907 slaves. Historian ly or indirectly from the cotton produced by Roger McGrath notes: "Every one of the 13 the million-odd slaves.'" states and most of the major cities that Half of the economic activity? would become part of the Confederacy had Coates credits the number to Cornell hissubstantial numbers of black slaveowners. torian Ed Baptist. But economics historian New Orleans by both numbers and by pro- Paul Magness says Baptist is wildly off. The portion had the most. A staggering 28 per- correct number of the slave-based economic cent of free blacks in the Crescent! activity was "the mid to high single digits, City owned slaves." not the 50 percent claim that Coates repeatThose we call "Native Americans" also ed." owned black slaves. McGrath writes: How did Baptist get it wrong? Magness "Accompanying the Cherokee on their 'Trail wrote: "Baptist purports to add up the total of Tears' were some 2,000 black slaves. They value of economic activity that derived from were put to work on Cherokee farms in the cotton production, which at $77 million new tribal home, raising cotton, corn, and made up about 5 percent of the estimated garden crops, and tending hogs and cattle. ... gross domestic product (GDP) of the United During the antebellum decade, slavery States in 1836. Baptist then committed a reached its peak among the Five Civilized fundamental accounting error. He proceedTribes. The Cherokee, numbering only ed to double and even triple count intermeabout 20,000 themselves, owned nearly diate transactions involved in cotton produc5,000 black slaves; the Choctaw 2,500; the tion -- things like land purchases for plantaCreeks 2,000; and the Chickasaw and tions, tools used for cotton production, transSeminole about a thousand each. To protect portation, insurance, and credit instruments their slave property, the Five Civilized used in each. Eventually that $77 million Tribes, except for a few dissident factions, Elder continued to page 25

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Headlines From Africa Botswana: Botswana's High Court overturned a law criminalizing consensual same-sex relations. Same sex relations had been an offense that carried a maximum sentence of seven years' imprisonment.

Burundi: Following a referendum on term limits, Burundi’s long-serving President Pierre Nkurunziza announced he would not seek another term after his term expires in 2020. The referendum extended the length of the president’s term from five years to seven which would have allowed Nkurunziza to stay in power another 14 years.

Cameroon: The leader of one of the country’s leading opposition parties, John Fru Ndi, was kidnapped by unidentified gunmen for the second time in two months. Ndi, who finished runner up to President Paul Biya in 2011, was seized from his home, his current whereabouts are unknown.

DR Congo: The U.N. refugee agency reported that an upsurge of inter-communal violence in the Ituri province has forced more than 300,000 people to flee for their lives. Inter-ethnic fighting between the Hema and Lendu communities over land use dating back to 1999, has been marked by widespread displacement and abuse over the last two years.

Ethiopia: A state militia attacked government buildings in Bahir Dar, the capital of Ethiopia’s Amhara region in a failed coup attempt, killing the region’s president and four other senior officials. Nearly 250 people were arrested.

Ghana: Advocates believe that Ghana’s move to set a minimum price for cocoa beans last month could help reduce child labor. Presently, about 1.6 million children are estimated to work in cocoa production in Ivory Coast and Ghana, some for their parents and some trafficked from other countries.

Liberia: Last month ahead of a protest that saw thousands of Liberians converge on their capital, Liberians woke up to find that their social media had been blocked. The move by the Weah Administration—now reeling from rising public discontent— became the first in the history of Liberia by a sitting government. The move cost the government over $100 million. Protesters gave the government one month to respond to their demands.

Mauritania: A Mauritanian court on Monday confirmed Mohamed Ould Ghazouani as the country’s next president, dismissing

itch McConnell, the United States and were conReparations: Kentucky’s senior United sidered, by the United States Racism vs Reality States Senator and Senate constitution, three-fifths of a Majority Leader, said he does not support human being. reparations for descendants of slaves, con- As Americans, we have entrusted leaders cluding “none of us currently living are like McConnell and Scott with the authorresponsible” for slavery. ity to thoughtfully, delicately and honestly Senator Tim Scott, who is Black, quick- answer the hard questions they are rightly co-signed McConnell’s casual dismissal fully raising in their reactions to the case of nearly 250 brutal years of bondage, vio- for reparations. But finding solutions to lence, legalized free divisive and difficult questions shouldn’t labor and the economic begin with cynicism and defeat. It should boom it generated for be approached with an optimistic way of the United States and thinking that focuses on what best to do the colonies that pre- with the “scrambled egg” rather than ceded it. Scott is the reaching immediately for the most unreaU.S. Senator from sonable and far-fetched solution: unscramSouth Carolina, the bling the egg. only Black Republican By their refusal to act, or even legislator in the approach the subject of reparations Jerome Horton United States Congress thoughtfully, McConnell and Scott must and one of only three African Americans assume responsibility for the social, politiserving in the Senate. cal and economic legacies stemming from "There is no question that slavery is a slavery and the ongoing emotional, ecoscourge on the history of America," said nomic, and psychological burdens African Scott. "The question is, are reparations a Americans carry till this day. realistic path forward? The answer is no.

In their responses Scott calls slavery a The fact is if you just try to unscramble “scourge” on American history and that egg to figure out who are we compen- McConnell said it was America’s “original sating, who's actually paying for it and sin.” Those characterizations on the surwho was here in 1865?" face may sound like empathetic acknowlIn one sense, Senators McConnell and edgments, but when you look beyond them Scott are right.Paying reparations is not to the full weight of the institution of slavthe responsibility of White Americans or ery itself, they can be seen as disparaging, any individual living today. It is the re- callous and politically convenient glossingsponsibility of the government. It was the over a long, complicated and painful age of government, which enacted and condoned American history that defined much of the human chattel enslavement, primarily of culture, economics and politics of its time. people of African descent in the 18th and The basic truth is: if you are unable to 19th centuries. understand the roots of slavery - greed, It was also the U.S.Government at the hate, and ignorance - then you are more federal, state and local levels — as likely to abdicate your responsibility, enshrined in the 10th ammendment of the allowing the branches of slavery to continConstitution — that inherited, enforced and ue growing. supported slavery — as well as benefitted Fortunately, through the efforts of from the rewards of it.

Americans of all races, religions, and genAs reps of the U.S. government, the ders, there has been slow and painful senators have chosen to deny, ignore and progress for women, the disabled, people of maintain the legislative, systemic and color, and the poor who come in all sizes, institutional inequities that were forged sexes, and colors. under and resulted from slavery.

Sadly, we have learned from our histoThough harmless taken on face value, ry, that passing a law and enforcing it the senators’ comments, by default, also often proved to be two very different reduce the humanity and memory of the things. Despite the 15th Amendment, nearly 4 million people — and their descen- many states in the South subsequently dants - who were enslaved, tortured, enacted Jim Crow laws that effectively Horton continued to page 25 raped, beaten and sold as commodities in

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A look at current news from the continent of Africa an appeal by opposition candidates over alleged voting irregularities in the election.

Malawi: Conflict continues as police were deployed around the headquarters of Malawi’s Constitutio-nal Court as the court examined requests for the annulment of the presidential election. Police were deployed to avoid any incident following a tense political environment since the electoral commission proclaimed President Peter Mutharika winner of the elections in May despite reports of fraud.

Mali: 23 people died and 300 others are missing after an attack on a village of Fulani herders in central Mali. Two other communities were targeted in a string of deadly assaults between herders and Dogon farmers. Over 500 people have died in the past six months in the conflict.

Rwanda: Both Rwanda and Uganda have been sued by civil society organizations in Uganda over border restrictions between the two countries. The case argues that the border closure goes against the East African Treaty, Free trade and Common Market Protocol.

Sierre Leone: Sierra Leone's First Lady, Fatima Jabba Bio has called on Liberian women to stand up and support each other in a drive to end rape including all forms of violence against them across Liberia.

Senegal: The first ever African continental summit which aims to end Female Genital Mutilation and Child Marriage, has started in the Senegalese Capital Dakar.

Sudan: One of Africa’s largest nations has once again been thrown into chaos and bloodshed after over 100 people in a pro-democracy sit-in were killed. Soldiers and paramilitary groups opened fire on the protesters who now continue to demand that the transitional military council that took power after the arrest and ousting of President Omar al-Bashier make way for democracy and a civilian led interim body and elections.

Zimbabwe: Barring threats of social upheaval, President Emmerson Mnangagwa has declared he is ready to stick it out and push with his reform agenda, among them the move to designate the Zimbabwean dollar as sole legal tender for domestic transactions which have sparked threats of mass action from opposition parties and trade groups.

MoneyMatters A

The State of Blacks in California

little over 2.2 million African Americans call California home.

Of that number, 72 percent lives in southern California with the greatest concentration (about 36 percent) in Los Angeles County, followed by the Inland Empire, and then, the San Diego area.

The other 28 percent lives in the northern part of the state with the densest clusters of African Americans in and around the Bay Area, and a little bit east, centered around Sacramento and Central Valley.

California also has the fifth highest number of Blacks in the United States.

But when you look at percentages, California’s Black population compared to the total state population, makes up a little over 6.6 percent of the almost 40 million people living in the Golden State — ranking it 31st in the nation.

Two new reports, “Counting Black California” and “The State of Blacks In California” provided most of those numbers above and they dissect them in interesting ways, too. Created to instruct and support the work media publications, public affairs firms, community groups and others will do to educate Californians about participating in the 2020 Census, the surveys provide hyper-localized data on where Blacks live, who they are and a gives a scale of the areas of the state that census workers have had the hardest time counting with accuracy in the past.

“We approached this project thinking, ‘which data will be most useful to our network and partners when they are creating content to get the word out about the 2020 Census?,’” said Regina Wilson, Executive Director of California Black Media which commissioned the “Counting Black California” report.

“We’re equipping our network. We have a combined reach of more than 1 million people in the state — through print, digital and broadcast media,” Wilson said. “Now, they have the info they will need to develop super-targeted content for every segment of Black Californians living in every corner of the state.”

The “Counting Black California” report offers a county-by-county breakdown of demographic details and other data, including inflows of federal dollars into California and how many Blacks in the state are foreign born. It also identifies 8,057 census tracts in the state and ranks them on a scale from 1 to 9 - from the least to the most likely to respond to next year’s census survey.

A number of social and economic factors are used to determine that rating.

“Now editors and journalists can look at a specific neighborhood or even a region, maybe, and find out who lives there, and where, and how difficult that place would be for census workers to count. Then, build a relevant informational campaign based on that knowl-

On the Money

TANU HENRY

Cashing In On the NBA Draft

California Black Media

edge,” said Walter Hawkins, a senior research associate at NewHawk, a southern California-based data collection firm. He conducted the research for the “Counting Black California” report.

“The State of Blacks in California” report provides “quality of life” data like income, marital status, poverty rates, levels of education, etc., that can be layered on top of the information in “Counting Black California” to gain a sense of the psychographics of Black California.

“Our report provides a deeper snapshot of the communities that have the largest Black populations in the state as well as the factors that need to be considered when engaging Black Californians,” said Kellie Todd, who authored the report. She is the founder of Sistallect, Inc., a statewide organization created to empower women of color.

“Although the Black community in California is concentrated in 10 counties, connecting with residents can be difficult without understanding that there are geographical and cultural differences from region to region, city to city, and even from neighborhood to neighborhood,” said Todd. “Using a coalition approach has proven to be the most effective way, as well as partnering with local Black media outlets, to have maximum impact.”

“The State of Blacks in California” report is packed with stats that reveal pertinent tidbits about different communities. For example, African Americans in Contra Costa, Orange and Solano counties have the highest average income in the state — all three at $53k - but Orange County has the lowest Black poverty rate at 15 percent. Orange County also has the most African Americans with college degrees (37 percent) followed by Contra Costa County (25 percent).

“There are so many exciting ways the end user can slice and dice the information in both reports,” said Wilson. “It arms us with everything we need to know to run a strong Census 2020 education campaign. It gives us really actionable data that allows us to effectively follow-through, check how well we’re doing and change course if we need to.”

Graphic from “The State of Blacks in California” report that highlights Black population in LA County.

The top 30 picks selected in the first round of the NBA draft are projected to make more than $1 million each in their rookie season, while the players in the second round won’t make any less than $560K. Of course, the first pick gets the biggest salary and that would be Zion Williamson, the 18-year old Duke University star who was selected by the New Orleans Pelicans. He will start this fall as the season’s highest profiled rookie with a guaranteed two-year contract worth an estimated $19.98 million and two team options for a third and fourth season, which would bring Williamson’s earnings to nearly $45 million through 2022-23.

But it will be off the court where the 6’7” Salisbury, North Carolina native where make the most money with lucrative endorsement deals, including Nike, who promised a $80 million endorsement deal upon Williamson’s turning pro after a Nike shoe he was wearing fell apart during a game.

Former NBA all star Shaquille O’Neal–who blew through $1 million in an hour after signing his first contract–advised them to take one half of their money and save it.

“Don’t ever touch it. Put it away. Don’t even look at it,” he said while speaking to a CNBC reporter, adding that the smart people would throw even another quarter into the “save pile”. The remaining quarter of the money he classified as “fun money”, reserved for cars, planes and homes.

Here’s what the rest of the top ten NBA draft picks stand to make in their first two years: #2: Ja Morant (Memphis–$17.9 mil:lion); #3: RJ Barrett (New York–$16.1 million); #4: De’Andre Hunter (Atlanta– $14.5 million);#5: Darius Garland (Cleveland– $13.1 million); #6:Jarrett Culver (Minnesota– $11.9 million); #7: Coby White (Chicago–$19,9 million); #8: Jaxson Hayes (New Orleans– $10 million); #9 Rui Hachimura (Washington– $9.2 million and #10 Cam Reddish (Atlanta–$8.7 million).

Biz News Briefs Starting November, fans of network news will have a new 24-hour channel available to watch. A decade in the making, the Black News Channel (BNC) will be a multi-platform news and information channel featuring programming by African Americans for African Americans.

“Despite the proliferation of basic and premium cable television channels during the past two decades, the number of cable news networks dedicated to serving the nation’s African American communities remains at ZERO! Black News Channel will be the nation’s first channel to fill this significant void and provide African America viewers news, information, and educational content focused on their interests and needs while tapping into subscription television’s most profitable market,” boasts the website.

The chairman and co-founder of the network is J.C

L.A. Focus/July 2019

New 24-Hour Black News Channel to Launch This Fall

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Watts Jr, the former GOP congressman and athlete.

The operation will be headquartered in Tallahassee, with bureaus in several key cities, including New York and Los Angeles, and will feature such well-known talent as conservative author and personality Larry Elder and ABC News Chief National Correspondent Byron Pitts.

BET and Tyler Perry Team Up for New Streaming Service It’s official, a new streaming service from BET and Tyler Perry named BET+ is coming this fall.

The new platform already has its first original series planned: “First Wives Club”, a 10-episode drama from Tracy Oliver, the screenwriter for “Girls Trip.” The platform will also offer a mix of African-American focused dramas, sitcoms, films, and specials. It will also be where Perry’s collected works across, film, television and stage will be hosted.

“In our industry, the way people consume content is constantly evolving. I’ve paid attention to my audience and what works for them and, for that reason, I’m very excited not only about the idea of partnering with BET to create new and exciting content but also about the idea of giving people a personalized experience through the ability to curate the content they love to consume,” said Perry.

Supreme Court Agrees To Hear Byron Allen’s

Discrimination Lawsuit Against Comcast The lawsuit filed by Byron Allen against Comcast, the largest cable provider in the country, is heading to the highest court in the nation.

Allen, the founder/CEO of Entertainment Studios, filed the multibillion-dollar civil rights case in 2015 alleging that Comcast’s decision to deny licensing to Entertainment Studios was racial discrimination.

The suit was originally dismissed three times, but it was revived after the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the dismissal, arguing that Allen’s accusations were plausible and merited a hearing.

Comcast filed an appeal arguing that plaintiffs must show that race was the sole and deciding factor in their refusal to do business, not just a contributing factor, as the Ninth Circuit ruled. Now, it’s up to the Supreme Court to decide the matter.

“We believe the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision was incorrectly decided,” said Comcast in a statement following the decision. “We hope the Supreme Court will reverse the Ninth Circuit’s unusual interpretation of the law and bring this case to an end.”

“We have already prevailed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and we are highly confident we will also prevail in the U.S. Supreme Court,” said Allen.

www.lafocusnewspaper.com

L.A. Focus/July 2019

W

hen Steve and Connie Ballmer plunked down $2 billion to buy the Los Angeles Clippers, they were doing more than rescuing an underperforming NBA franchise from controversy and disarray.

The Ballmers were embracing Los Angeles as a community. And now, as they seek to relocate one of the league’s top teams to a new 18,500seat arena in Inglewood, it’s becoming clear just who has benefitted the most from that embrace — children and communities of color, especially African Americans.

Since purchasing the team in 2014, the Ballmers have brought their own brand of generosity to town, investing heavily in an array of nonprofits and programs to ensure the next generation of low-income residents have a better shot at the American Dream.

The results have been as transformative as a six-player trade.

Thanks to the Ballmers’ giving, Los Angeles police are now walking beats and coaching youth sports in several inner-city neighborhoods; crime at a South Los Angeles park has disappeared; and the Los Angeles Unified School District is remaking its behemoth bureaucracy.

Juvenile offenders are now given a second chance to avoid jail through social programs; tens of thousands of school kids can see the classroom board for the first time; and kids can play pick-up games on hundreds of public basketball courts with pro-caliber backboards and gleaming new surfaces.

These outcomes and other high-impact funding have turned heads in the nonprofit world and earned the Ballmers praise from Inside Philanthropy as the “one of the largest funders of anti-poverty work in the country.”

Angelenos are just now starting to take notice. That’s because, unlike Steve’s YouTube-worthy courtside theatrics, the former Microsoft CEO and his civic-spirited wife have approached their philanthropic endeavors with a strategic humility.

In neighborly terms, they’re not the kind of folks that show up with a casserole for the pot luck and then take the leftovers home. Rather, they’re the type that arranges for the delivery of a five-star buffet and then slips out the back, happy to let everyone else

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Dianne Lugo Staff Writer enjoy the feast.

Now with plans to move their team a short walk from L.A.’s new NFL Stadium, the Ballmers are poised to become a bit more public as they do the same for Inglewood.

As part of the proposed arena development, the Clippers will negotiate a Community Benefits Agreement that will outline additional civic contributions and support for residents beyond the economic boom of construction and service jobs that come with a new sports arena.

Whatever those contributions wind up being, Inglewood residents will learn what communities in South, Central and East Los Angeles already know: In philanthropy, as in basketball, the Ballmers are all-in.

If there was any doubt, it was swept away as soon as the Ballmers took over the team in 2014. They inherited an understaffed front office, a perennial underachiever on the court and a foundation that shared office space but otherwise was starved for cash.

All that changed — dramatically — when the Ballmers arrived. They beefed up the front office into the one of the biggest and most astute in the league, brought new excitement to the court and, with Connie serving on the revamped L.A. Clippers Foundation board, elevated the nonprofit’s game.

Steve increased the team’s cash contribution to the Foundation from zilch to $3 million a year. Now, five years later, the franchise’s nonprofit arm donates much more than that of any other Southern California sports team — and more than three times than its Staples Center rivals, the Los Angeles Lakers.

According to the most recent disclosure forms, the Clippers spent $3.5 million on local programs and grants in 2017, compared with $1.9 million by the Los Angeles Kings Care Foundation, $1.7 million by the Dodgers and $964,175 by the Angels of Anaheim.

The Lakers, who left Inglewood for Staples Center in 2000, spent $695,458 — in sixth place behind the LA Galaxy ($735,314) but ahead of the Anaheim Ducks ($543,014).

The L.A. Clippers Foundation’s new financial firepower has translated into bigger impact and better programming throughout targeted communities, said Denise Booth, the team’s Vice President of Community Relations & Player Programs.

“It’s a new level of resources and support that allows us to fund much larger commitments to other organizations,” said Booth.

The results have been impressive.

It is safe to say we are actively exploring opportunities for meaningful contributions in the Inglewood community related to children and youth, education and educational supports...

Steve and Connie believe that the kid who grows up in Watts and Westmont should have just as much opportunity as a kid that grows up in Beverly Hills.

Besides its trademark Jr. Clippers program — which provides uniforms and other assistance to city rec center and youth basketball leagues — the Foundation co-sponsored its first “Scifest SoCal,” a two-day event where at least 15,000 local students learned about science, math and technology from leading professionals in the field.

But the Foundation’s most impressive inroads of late have been into local classrooms and the public basketball courts that are the hub of activity for African American youth.

Double-teaming with the nonprofit Vision to Learn, the L.A. Clippers Foundation has committed $3 million to screen and provide free glasses to public school students whose families can’t afford eye care.

So far, the program has served 12,000 students in the Inglewood Unified School District, 80,000 students in Long Beach and is now working its way through 600,000 pupils in Los Angeles Unified, the nation’s second-largest school district.

Halfway through that task, the Foundation already has provided 26,230 pairs of glasses to LAUSD students, mostly Hispanics, who otherwise might have fallen behind or risked misdiagnosis as learning disabled because of their poor eyesight. They also are promised new prescriptions as needed through the 12th grade.

The reenergized L.A. Clippers Foundation also is scoring big with its ambitious $10 million program to resurface all of the Los Angeles Dept. of Recreation and Parks public basketball courts.

The project sprang from a plea by Mayor Eric Garcetti for the Clippers to consider fixing some of the most neglected rec courts — those with broken backboards, missing nets or warped floors — before the 2028 Summer Olympics.

Some? We’ll do them all, Ballmer said.

The result: The Clippers Community Courts program, which in just a year has resurfaced 189 out of 346 L.A. public courts. Those located indoors now bear customized center logos featuring a Clippers emblem and the name of the park.

In addition to the $10 million city parks effort, the Clippers Community Courts program also extends the same treatment to selected school playgrounds, such as the one unveiled in January at Inglewood’s Crozier Middle School.

Gillian Zucker, the team’s President of Business Operations, made it clear there’s more in store while speaking at the unveiling of the court, located a short distance from the proposed Clippers Arena site.

“I think you know we feel pretty strongly about your city and it’s because we intend, just a few short years from now, that this will be our home too,” Zucker said to an assemblage that included Clippers players, students, community members and Inglewood Mayor James T. Butts.

“So we’re very proud that this is the very first of what we hope will be many Clippers Community Courts here in Inglewood,” said Zucker.

Although better known, the L.A. Clippers Foundation is only one of the vehicles the Ballmers are using to give back to minority communities.

Their more powerful and far-reaching one is the recently formed Ballmer Group, a private entity that pursues funding opportunities nationwide, as well as in the three urban areas where the Ballmers have personal ties — Detroit, where Steve grew up; Seattle, where the couple lives; and Los Angeles.

The fund’s activity represents the fullest expression of the couple’s philanthropic strategy and approach.

Guided by analytics and loads of data, the fund seeks to create large-scale impact by working with governments and systems, as well as individual programs or organizations.

In other words, the Ballmers are placing big-stake bets that either significantly scale-up worthwhile efforts or create more extensive networks aimed at breaking the structural barriers that keep many people of color, including African Americans, trapped in poverty and despair.

A look at the Ballmer Group’s local program shows how it works on the ground.

In a little more than two years, the fund has donated over $100 million to 60 Los Angeles-area organizations that are working for change in the areas of education, youth development programs, criminal justice reform, job training, violence prevention and trauma intervention.

Nina Revoyr, Executive Director of the fund’s L.A. office, said that as in all of their philanthropic ventures, the Ballmers make their donations based on hard data.

“We’ve looked at third-grade reading scores, percentage of families below the federal poverty level, unemployment rates, graduation rates, single parent household rates, uninsured child rates, unemployment rates, incarceration rates, unintended pregnancies, access to healthy foods,” she said.

Once the Ballmers identified the issues and communities of most concern, they partnered with well-known nonprofits or directly with government units to push macro change.

Hence, the Ballmer Group joined the Weingart

Foundation in paying $15 million for the recruitment and hiring of doctors at the new Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center so that South Los Angeles residents receive top-quality health care.

The Ballmer Group also kicked in $16.5 million to support the Partnership for Los Angeles Schools, a collaborative effort that operates LAUSD campuses in high-need areas, including South L.A. and Watts.

And it gave a combined $2 million to the Los Angeles Police Department — $1.5 million to augment community policing efforts in South Los Angeles and $500,000 to help the department recruit more black, Asian-Pacific Islander and female officers.

The community policing money, which the Ballmers contributed at the request of Los Angeles City Councilmembers Marqueece Harris-Dawson and Curren D. Price, Jr., has helped build bridges between the LAPD and residents living around crime-plagued Harvard and South parks.

“Because it allows police to engage the community in a partnership, and not in a punitive way, it shifts the dynamic,” said Revoyr. “People trust police more and there’s a reduction in crime. At Harvard Park, we went from several murders in and around the park to none in the first year of the program and the community has been able to reclaim the park.”

The Ballmers are also supporting more complex and innovative approaches to long-term problems.

They contributed $3 million towards SLATE-Z, an initiative that pulls together 50 public and private organizations to train and employ 10,000 South Los Angeles residents in living-wage jobs.

The effort, which is being coordinated through L.A. Trade Tech, targets community members living in a federally designated “promise zone” that is roughly five miles wide, between Central Avenue and Crenshaw Boulevard.

In step with Los Angeles County’s efforts at criminal justice reform, the Ballmers also have given a total of $2.25 million to local and state nonprofits that address the over-incarceration of predominantly black youth and men.

These efforts, coordinated through organizations such as the Liberty Hill Foundation and the Anti-Recidivism Coalition, power programs to divert juvenile offenders into social-service programs instead of jail, as well as programs that connect those being released from prison to housing, jobs and even college classes.

Revoyr says Inglewood has always been on the Ballmers’ radar, even before they thought about relocating the team.

“It is safe to say we are actively exploring opportunities for meaningful contributions in the Inglewood community related to children and youth, education and educational supports,” she said.

The fund also is looking at ways to make a difference in the San Gabriel Valley, Long Beach and the Antelope Valley, where there have been highly publicized deaths of foster children.

The aim is always the same: Change the world so that even the poorest kid has the chance to become the next Steve Ballmer.

“Steve and Connie believe that the kid who grows up in Watts and Westmont should have just as much opportunity as a kid that grows up in Beverly Hills,” said Revoyr.

“Now people assume that children, just by virtue of their zip code, are not going to succeed. Steve and Connie are working hard to make sure those kids have a chance to succeed as much as anyone else.”

Left: Steve and Connie Ballmer at community event; Right: Steve Ballmer high-fiving kids at a community program supported by The Ballmer Group.

Game Changers: David Ford s the major economic hub for the world's fifth largest economy and home to over 10 million busy people, Los Angeles County requires billions of kilowatts of energy each year to maintain the lifestyle we enjoy. Thankfully for Angelinos, there are local leaders dedicated to providing safe, reliable power to the region while driving the vision of a clean energy future. Meet one of those leaders, David Ford, Senior Government Affairs Manager for Southern California Edison (SCE).

Ford is the top liaison between SCE and Los Angeles County, The City of Los Angeles, and Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro), who is responsible for maintaining relationships between government agencies such as the L.A County Board of Supervisors which allows SCE to provide the region with energy.

As a proven public affairs professional with over 20 years’ experience, Ford has built a reputation for resolving and managing high profile public affairs issues for federal, state and county governments-which is why he is the energy giant’s main man in L.A. when it comes to two of their most ambitious and critical issues: wildfire mitigation and the electrification of our transportation industry.

Considering that about 35 percent of SCE’s total service area is located in high risk areas, mitigating the deadly wildfires that have ravaged California's dry landscapes in recent years is a major initiative Ford is involved in.

“Climate change has affected California in so many ways, with drought and dryness creating high risk fire in both urban as well as rural environments,” says Ford.

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“What we’re doing now is taking substantial steps to reduce the risk of wildfires through our three-pronged approach of: hardening the physical infrastructure on the grid to reduce the risk of ignitions during a short-circuit event, increasing situational awareness by using technology to increase our ability to monitor weather and micro-climates, and enhancing our overall operational practices.”

Along with wildfire mitigation, Ford is also tasked with preparing Los Angeles for a clean energy future by assisting the process of electrifying of the transportation sector. His efforts arise from California’s 2030 Greenhouse Gas Reduction Goals set out by former Governor Jerry Brown which call for reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent-- or below 1990 levels by 2030.

“The transportation sector is the largest source of carbon emissions and air pollution in California, contributing to about 45 percent of our greenhouse gas emissions-and that creates a real challenge for us in air pollution,” says Ford. “The safe target for zero emissions vehicles is seven million electric vehicles on the road by 2030. What we’re doing it is advancing the technology of charge-ready infrastructure proposals and requesting to install and provide rebates to support 48,000 new electric vehicle charging ports across our service area as part of a four-year program.”

While these ambitious goals may seem lofty, Ford understands the urgency of the climate change crisis and works everyday so that we can make a cleaner environment for our home.

“I think we’re on pace and moving in the right direction pretty aggressively,” says Ford on his greenhouse gas reducing initia-

tives. “I think that we have to deal with climate change which will be the main challenge for all of us-- to have a cleaner environment in which we can provide for the future. We are on the side of creating that future, absolutely.”

Ford, who is a Ohio native originally, started his career with SCE in 1997 as a account executive in charge small business outreach to help them reduce energy costs through programs and rebates. Over the last 22 years Ford’s relationship with the community has grown as his responsibilities have. Outside of his business agenda, Ford says his main professional priority is creating more open doors for people of color and inspiring the young generation to one day sit in his position.

“What I would like to do towards the end of my career, and what I’ve always tried to do, is invest back into our community by being a mentor and championing opportunities for other African Americans and people of color so they can be part of this evolution of change and innovation,” says Ford. “What I hope to is empower young men and women so that they have a role model that can exhibit strength, character and courage. Outside of the business of energy, that’s the real core of why I work as hard as I do and is the focus of my dayto-day attitude and prayers.”

Through education and strong leadership Ford wants to see more successful black professionals rise to positions of power.

“I think there’s much more work that we need to do so we can get more African Americans to the level of position I am at,” Ford says. “We need to plant seeds in the minds of young people and provide vehicles of opportunity so that doors will

KEITH DELAWDER Staff Writer

continue to stay open for young men and women of color.”

Part of Ford’s humbling outlook on life and his profession comes from his recent battles with cancer-- which he defeated, not once, but twice!

“In 2015 I had an encounter with colon cancer,” recalls Ford. “I was able to respond to that and was blessed to move out of that challenge. In 2018 I had prostate cancer and it was God's grace that moved me out of that as well. Today I can say I’m cancer free, twice. Faith played a large part in that-- faith in God, and so many of family and loved ones praying.”

Now Ford has his sights set on the future and is optimistic for the opportunities the next generation has in providing the energy of the future.

“We’re at the cutting edge of innovation,” says Ford. “I feel that these are unique times and opportunities for people who want to get into the energy industry.

There’s a world of opportunity before them, from engineering, to accounting, to project management, to the construction of our infrastructure in building the grid of the future.”

Calendar of events

Ongoing Art exhibit: The Liberator: Chronicling Black Los Angeles, 1900-1914 (Thru September 8) Tues-Sat: 10am — 6pm; Sun: 11am — 6pm Free/Parking $12) California African American Museum (CAAM) 600 State Drive Info: (310) 676-7300 caamuseum.org Soul of A Nation: Art in The Age of Black Power (Thru September 1) Free/Advance Reservation: $12-18 • Open Tues - Sunday 221 S. Grand Avenue Info: (213) 232-6200 www.thebroad.org

Thursday, July 4 93rd Annual AmericaFest at the Rose Bowl World renown fireworks show and entertainment 2 — 9:30pm • $15-$125 The Rose Bowl Stadium 1001 Rose Bowl Drive Pasadena, 91103 rosebowlstadium.com The Queen Mary’s All American 4th of July 3 — 10pm • $49 for adults, $29 for children The Queen Mary

1126 Queens Highway Long Beach 90802 Contact: (323) 846-2651 www.queenmary.com Councilman Curren Price’s 4th of July Community Festival & Fireworks Show 11am-10pm • Free Exposition Park 700 Exposition Park Dr. Contact (323) 846-2651

Friday, July 5 Leon Bridges Rhye 8pm • Prices Vary Hollywood Bowl 2301 North Highland Av. www.hollywoodbowl.com

Saturday, July 6 Michael Henderson Birthday Celebration Weekend Concert (Thru July 7) 8:30pm • $35-$50 Catalina Jazz Club 6725 Sunset Boulevard Contact: (323) 466-2210 www.catalinajazzclub.com

Sunday, July 7 Inner City Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles’ Special Tribute to the Queen of Soul Walt Disney Concert Hall 111 So. Grand Avenue 3PM • Call for Pricing

Info: (213) 788-4260 icyola.org In Concert: Philura Williams 3:30am • Free Westminster Presbyterian Church 2230 W. Jefferson Blvd Info: (323) 734-1566 wpcofla.org

Tuesday, July 9 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

Microsoft Theater 777 Chick Hearn Court microsofttheater.com Creating Community in Black Los Angeles During the Great Migration: Alison Rose Jefferson Conversation examining how black LA has changed over the last century.

2 — 4pm • Free CAAM • 600 State Drive www.caamuseum.org

lawsuits.

12— 1:30pm Free LA Law Library — Main 301 West First Street Contact: (213) 785 - 2529 www.lalawlibrary.org In Concert: Sinbad 9pm • $38 -68 The Rose 245 E. Green Street Pasadena 91101 www.wheremusicmeetsthesoul.comi

Friday, July 12

Saturday, July 13

Workshop: Dealing w. Debt Learn the best practices for getting out of debt, handling different types of debt, and your right when facing reposessions, foreclosures and

IGNITE @ the FORD! Meshell Ndegeocello Vocalist and bassist Meshell Ndegeocello in performance 8pm • $30-55 Ford Theatre 2580 Cahuenga Blvd. East

Wednesday, July 10 The ESPYS hosted

by Tracy Morgan Award show with top celebrities from sports and entertainment to celebrate major achievements and unforgettable moments 5pm• $125-700

EVENT SPOTLIGHT Saturday, July 27 24th Annual Central Avenue Jazz Festival (Through Sunday, July 28) 11am — 7pm • Free Central Avenue (Vernon Ave. and King Blvd.)

4301 S. Central Avenue centralavejazzfest.com

L.A. Focus/July 2019

Issa Rae looks pretty in pink at the red carpet for last month’s 47th AFI Life Achievement Award ceremony.

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Shareef and Shq ir O’Nea their Ba l sh lenciaga sweaters owed off dad Sha with thei q at the r 2019 NB A Award s

Storm Reid went for unique and bold in this Victorian inspired jacket by Etro at the 2019 MTV Movie & TV Awards

Members of the cast from the musical “Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of the Temptations attend the red carpet of the 2019 Tony Awards in New York.

From L-R: Derrick Baskin, Ephraim Sykes, Jawan M. Jackson, James Harkness and Jeremy Pope

Three generations of Shaft—(L-R) Jessie T. Usher, Samuel L. Jackson, and Richard Roundtree—hit the red carpet for the New York premiere of the latest film.

Hollywood 90068 www.fordtheatres.org In Concert: Bone Thugs-NHarmony 8pm • $24.50 - $45 The Novo 800 West Olympic Blvd Contact: (888) 929-7849 www.thenovodtla.com On Stage: Pass Over (Thru August 19) Politically charged play follows two young black men to explore manhood, race and the cycle of violence.

8pm • Prices Vary Atwater Village Theatre 3269 Casitas Ave Contact: (310) 307-3753 EchoTheaterCompany.com

9:30am — 7pm • $60 San Diego Convention Center 111 W. Harbor Drive www.comic-con.org

Friday, July 19 Femme It Forward Concert Featuring Monica, Brandy, Ashanti, Keri Hilson, Amerie and Lil Mo 7pm • $40 - $125 Microsoft Theater 777 Chick Hearn Court www.microsofttheater.com

Saturday, July 20

Thursday, July 18

California Love: A HipHop History Conversation with Greg Mack from 94.7 The Wave, the “Godfather of West Coast Hip-Hop” Alonzo “Lonzo” Williams and XXL Sheena Lester, and author Jeff Chang discuss Southern California’s place in hip-hop history.

7-9pm • $12 Annenberg Space for Photography 2000 Avenue of the Stars Contact: (213) 403-3000 annenbergphotospace.org/

Comic Con Internat’l 2019 (Thru July 21)

70s Soul Jam featuring

Grief & Loss Workshop Presented by Faithful Central Bible Church (Also July 20) 9am - 1pm • Free The Trinity Building 333 W. Florence•Inglewood Info: (310) 846-3253 www.faithfulcentral.com

Stylistics, The Chi-Lites, Heatwave, Harold Melvin’s Blue Notes, Delfonics 7:30pm • $35-$175 The Greek Theatre 2700 No. Vermont Avenue Contact: (844) 524-7335 www.lagreektheatre.com Bill Pickett Rodeo (Through Sunday, July 21) Sat: 6:30pm/Sun: 3:30pm $22 - $50 Industry Hills Expo Center 16200 Temple Avenue City of Industry 91744 Info: (303) 373-1246 billpickettrodeo.com Summer Jam Fest 2019 6pm • $25-30 Shield of Faith Christian Center 1750 W. Holt St. Pomona Info: www.eventbrite.com

Sunday, July 21 Regalettes Hats, Heels and Bow Ties Fundraiser Fundraiser for the 2019 Teen Leadership Conference, STEM and scholarship programs 12 — 3pm • $125

Ritz-Carlton 4375 Admiralty Way Marina Del Rey 90292 www.regalettes.org Celebrating Artist Ernie Barnes 2pm • Free/Parking $12 CAAM • Exposition Park 600 State Drive • Info: (310) 676-7300 www.caamuseum.org

Friday, July 26 Long Beach Crawfish Fest (Thru July 28) Fri: 5pm — 10pm; Sat/Sun: 12pm — 10pm • $5-$40 Rainbow Lagoon Park 400 E. Shoreline Drive Long Beach longbeachcrawfishfestival.com 5th Annual ABJ Scholarship Award Fundraiser Gala Hosted by Mt. Sinai Church 6:30pm • $60-$100 Marina del Ray Marriott 4100 Admiralty Way Marina del Rey, CA 90292 Contact: (323) 291-1121

Charitable event that includes dinner, live music and a fashion show that supports mentoring programs and scholarships 6 — 10pm • $100-$150 California African American Museum 600 State Drive Contact: (323) 687-3358 www.flairinc.org/ Wellness Group 18th Annual Breast Health Awareness Forum 8:30 AM — 12:30 PM • Free (Register Online) West Angeles Church, Crystal Room 3045 Crenshaw Boulevard Contact: (213) 407 — 0271 www.westa.org

Sunday, July 28 Workshop: Applique´Bouquet Needle arts technique of applique´on cloth Free/Parking=$12 Register online CAAM• Exposition Park 600 State Drive https://caamuseum.org

around los angeles Saturday, July 27

FLAIR: The Jazz Age of Fashion

the 2019 NBA Neicy Nash attends nica Awards in Santa Mo

Los Angeles Career Fair Meet, sit down and interview with employers 11:30 AM — 1:30 PM • Free Hilton Hotel LAX 5711 W Century Blvd https://www.diversitycareergroup.com/

Friday, August 2 In Concert: George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic 8PM • $39.50 - $150 The Greek Theatre 2700 N. Vermont Avenue Info: 844-LAGREEK lagreektheatre.com

Wednesday, July 31

Zoe International Presents

Raven Symone makes an appearance at the 28th Annual NA ACP Theatre Awards

Roberta Moradfar and Martin Lawrence joined the AFI Life Ach ievement celebration that honored Denzel Wa shingotn last month

L.A. Focus/July 2019

Vanessa Williams threw a 30th birthday party for daughter Jillian ( lead singer of the band, Lion Babe) at the L.A. Zoo. L-R: Helen Williams (Vanessa’s Mom; Kathy Ireland; daughters Jillian Hervey and Sasha Fox (Photo credit: Michael Arden)

the 2019 Purpose Conference (Thru August 3) Guest speakers include Dr. Bill Winston, Pastors Toure’ & Sarah Jakes Roberts, Bishop Frank Stewart, Pastor Tony Dunn and Host Pastor, Bishop Ed Smith $50 Registration for both day sessions Day: 9:30am/Nightly: 7PM 10252 Mills Avenue Whittier 90604 Contact: (562) 758-9855 www.zoeassociation.org

15

Eye On Gospel BeBe Winans Wins Five NAACP Image Awards Six-time Grammy Award winner BeBe Winans’ netted five NAACP Theatre Awards in the “larger theater category–including “Best Playwright”, “Best Musical Director”, “Best Lead Male”, “Best Supporting Female” and “Best Music Director” for his musical, “Born For This”.

“This journey has taken us from Atlanta to Washington, D.C. to Los Angeles and then to Boston,” stated Winans. “I am honored and want to thank the cast and crew, and my writing partner, Charles RandolphWright, and the show’s producer Ron Gillyard, for sharing their talent which allowed us to win five NAACP Theatre Awards. The extra blessing was having my nephew, Juan Winans, receive the Best Lead Male Award, after all he played me,” chuckled Winans.

The Broadway bound “Born For This” follows BeBe, a talented young man from a tight-knit musical family as he grapples with the struggle between his faith and his desire for fame. As teenagers, BeBe, and his sister CeCe, experience genuine culture shock when they leave the comfort of their home and family in Detroit to join Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker’s “Praise the Lord” network in North Carolina. When the duo rocked to fame, the seductive lure of celebrity comes knocking.

Ultimately, BeBe must reconcile the temptations of stardom and fortune with the things he values most in life.

Winans.

Starring in the play are

neice Deborah Joy Winans and nephew Juan Winans.

Tasha Cobbs Leonard Launches Line of Athletic Apparel Following the successful launch of her Fritz Eyewear last summer, Cobbs Leonard has broadened her retail brand with CURVE Athletics. Billed as an “Athleisure” apparel line for women with CURVES, the line promises to offer stylish, comfortable and fun pieces that can are worn for workouts, a busy day running through airports, or on a hot date designed with the plus-sized woman in mind.

Key design elements for the line– that is available in a range of sizes starting from Large (12/14) to 3XL (24/26)–include a waistband that never rolls down, targeted compression that offers a flattering fit, and easy movement.

Marvin Sapp Retires from Grand Rapids Church; Accepts New Pastorate in Fort Worth Bishop Marvin L. Sapp announced that he is retiring as Senior Pastor of Lighthouse Full Life Center and will assume the role of Senior Pastor of Chosen Vessel Cathedral in Fort Worth, Texas following the retirement of its pastor, Bishop Richard E. Young.

Young who has been the pastor of Chosen Vessel since 1985 is set to retire September 14th.

“This ministry is one that I have spent the majority of my life building, and I want it to go to the next level,” said Young. “I know that Bishop Marvin Sapp will be committed and will lead Chosen Vessel to new levels, and that is why I asked him to be my successor.”

“Bishop Young was like a brother to my spiritual father, the late Bishop William C. Abney,” said Sapp, who will remain as Chairman of the Board of Directors at Lighthouse Full Life Center and will continue to provide spiritual oversight.

“In fact,” Sapp adds, “Bethel Pentecostal Church, which Bishop Abney led for more than 50 years, was founded by Bishop Young’s father. This is why I cherish

RedCarpet Style

CIARA looks red hot in a 80s inspired Paul Gaultier dress.

MARY J. BLIGE looks elegant in this Alberta Ferreti halter dress

the opportunity to continue the legacy of the great men of God who have impacted my life. It is something that I know in my heart is meant for me to do.

“The beauty of God’s timing with this transition is that Lighthouse is not going to miss a beat. The ministry birthed by MaLinda and I is firmly established, the pastoral team is comprised of gifted spiritual leaders who will function with continued excellence and care, and the church itself is unburdened by debt. I am confident Lighthouse Full Life Center will flourish and its legacy will continue, as I move to Fort Worth, Texas to continue the legacy that is left for me.

Publisher Lisa Collins and Gospel Trailblazer Vicki Mack Lataillade Honored by BBA Earl “Skip” Cooper II, President and CEO of The Black Business Association made history again at the annual “Salute to Black Music Awards Dinner” in Los Angeles.

This year honorees were Vicki Mack Lataillade, cofounder of GospoCentric Records received the Lifetime Achievement Award, Lisa Collins, Publisher of L.A. Focus received the Outstanding Gospel Publication Award and Byron J. Smith, President of National Association Negro Musicians received the Outstanding Artistic Vision Award. In other gospel news, Snoop Dogg took home the Dr. Bobby Jones Best Gospel / Inspirational Award at the 19th Annual BET Awards for his hit, “Blessing Me Again” (feat. Rance Allen). The track was featured on the first Gospel release from the hip-hop icon, the chart-topping collection Snoop Dogg Presents Bible of Love…

Congrats to former Sunday Best winner Tasha PageLockhart, who wed Vernon House last month in Detroit.

Among those performing at the festivities were godmother Yolanda Adams and Travis Malloy…Finally, with the debut of his new CD, “Long Live Love”, Kirk Franklin broke another record, becoming the first artist to simultaneously top all five Billboardgospel charts: Top Gospel Albums, Hot Gospel Songs, Gospel Airplay, Gospel Streaming Songs and Gospel Digital Song Sales.

The 2019 BET Awards featured a blue carpet to honor the late Nipsey Hussle and celebrities made sure to walk the blue carpet in style. See some of the glam looks below.

MARSAI MARTIN the young “Black-ish” star dons a cheerful yellow gown

FANTASIA BARRINO makes a statement with her white strapless minidress

EVA MARCILLE shows off her baby bump in this Michael Costello gown

INSIDE HO L LY W OOD with Neily Dickerson the throne, has other plans and the battle for who will be the rightful king of Pride Rock is rife with betrayal, tragedy and drama, resulting in Simba’s exile. With time to think and help from newfound friends, Simba has to grow up and figure out how to take back what is rightfully his.

If you loved the original, you won’t be disap-

Get Your Roar Ready For “The Lion King” Disney’s much anticipated film remake of “The Lion King”–featuring Beyonce as Nala, Donald Glover as Simba, Chiwetel Ejiofor as Scar, James Earl Jones as Mufasa, Alfre Woodard as Sarabi and Billy Eichner and Seth Rogen as Timon and Pumbaa–will no doubt be one of the summer’s biggest blockbusters.

Early tracking puts it on par to pull in $150 million as it hits theaters on July 19 and that number is expected to rise as the studio goes full throttle with their marketing campaign.

With the live adaptation of the 1994 classic film, we journey to the African

savanna where a future king –named Simba–is born. Simba idolizes his father, King Mufasa and takes to heart his own royal destiny. But not everyone in the kingdom is happy about the arrival of the cub who would be king.

Scar, his brother and onetime heir to

DUE IN THEATERS THIS MONTH

HOLLYWOOD BUZZ

Spider-Man: Far From Home –– July 2 Alfre Woodard and Others Join Kevin Hart’s “Fatherhood”

Alfre Woodard has signed on to play Kevin Hart’s motherin-law in “Fatherhood”, the Sony Pictures film adaptation based on the memoir “Two Kisses for Maddy: A Memoir of Loss & Love” by Matt Logelin.

Directed by Dana Stevens and produced by Hart, the motion picture will detail Logelin’s life after his high school sweetheart, Liz, passed away after giving birth to their daughter Madeline.

Woodard, an Oscar nominee and four-time Emmy winner will also be joined by Lil Rel Howery, “Mad About You” alum Paul Reiser, and NigerianBritish actress Deborah Ayorinde.

DaWanda Wise, the star of Netflix’s “She’s Gotta Have It” has also been added to the cast of the comedy-drama.

Pharrell Williams Promises Internships for Graduating High Schoolers Pharrell Williams, the famed producer and singer, surprised 114 graduates from Harlem’s Children’s Zone Promise Academy by promising

Point Blank July 12

pointed.

Get ready to get your roar on as the circle of life comes full circle to a theHometown: New York City ater near you.

Be sure and take some tissue to the Big Break: “Head of the Class” (1986) theater with you. It’s a tearjerker!

Current Projects: “Ambitions” “Riverdale” Robin Givens burst onto the scene as the beautiful and brainy Darlene on Head of the Class followed by roles in “Boomerang” opposite Eddie Murphy and “A Rage In Harlem” opposite Forest Whitaker. Those same years brought a media explosion as Givens fell in love with, married and then divorced, boxing's former world heavyweight champion, Mike Tyson after accusations of abuse. Her 2007 memoir marked the birth of Robin Givens, women's advocate and outspoken crusader against domestic violence.

Robin Givens

The Lion King July 19

every student a guaranteed internship.

“Let me be clear...every member of the 2019 graduating class is guaranteed an internship waiting for them — you — next summer,” he announced to the class and while he didn’t specify where the students would be interning but a few are likely to be mentored by the artist himself.

“The world is watching Harlem, but this renaissance will be different,” added Williams during his speech.

“Believe it or not, with respect, it’s going to actually be better and the reason why is because the new Harlem Renaissance has education at its core.”

William’s generosity is not too surprising when you look back at some of his other philanthropic endeavors. In April, he partnered with Verizon to introduce a tech-based music curriculum to schools throughout the U.S. In 2018, he hosted the Yellow Ball gala to benefit the Young Audiences Arts for Learning, an organization that implements arts education curriculums in different community centers and schools nationwide.

“Aladdin” Becomes Will Smith’s Biggest Film Worldwide Will Smith posted a thank you video to Instagram after announcing that Aladdin has officially become the highestgrossing film of his career.

The movie passed the worldwide haul of “Suicide Squad” and “Independence Day.” “This is a post that

Q&A

ALLISON KUGEL Contributor

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood –– July 26

I’m just humbled and honored to make right now ...To be in this game as long as I’ve been in this game and to have my biggest movie at this point of my career, I just want to say thank you,” he said. “Just thank you, everybody, around the world, thank you, thank you.”

The live-action remake of the 1992 animated classic has grossed $568.3M at the international box office and a whopping $874.2M worldwide.

“Independence Day” grossed $511.2M overseas and $871.4M globally.

Mary J. Blige Signs First Look Deal With Lionsgate Fresh off of her BET Icon Award, R&B/hip hop queen Mary J. Blige has signed a first-look TV deal with Lionsgate with her recently-launched Blue Butterfly production company.

The 2018 Oscar nominee–and nine time Grammy winner–will develop and produce series under the new deal.

Blige, who currently stars in Netflix’s The Umbrella Academy, also has three film projects in the works, two of which (The Body Cam and The Violent Heart) are in post production.

In the meantime, Blige is scheduled to headline the Essence Festival...In other entertainment news, filming is set to begin on the Netflix adaptation of Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, August Wilson’s 1982 play that is being produced by Denzel Washington. The cast features Viola Davis, Chadwick Boseman, Glynn Turman, Colman Domingo, and Michael Potts. Ruben Santiago-Hudson adapted the screenplay which follows Ma Rainey, the “Mother of the Blues,” and the tensions that boil over between her white agent, her producer, and her bandmates while making a record in a studio in Chicago, 1927.

You took years away from the spotlight to focus on being a mom to your two sons. Now you're back with two TV shows...How did you come back with the thunder?

It wasn't only taking a break to raise my kids. It was also a break for myself. It's true that you feel like you are going to maintain your place in line; like everything is going to stop and wait for you. I had to realize that it's a process again...to enjoy the process and begin again, and I really fell in love with acting again. Water seeks its own level. If you're good, you're good, and it all kind of begins again.

Do these vixen roles find you, or do you seek them out?

There was a time when I was having these roles come to me and I remember saying to my agent, "I don't want to do that women." I ended up turning something down because of it. I'm nothing like these women that I play, which is unusual and interesting for me. I always jokingly say, "I want to grow up and be them."

Where I am now in my life, emotionally, it's like, "Okay, you want me to do that? Then I'm going to do it to death," and then wait for the opportunity where I can do something completely different.

A lot of men out there think you are that woman. Do you know that?

I think women think that too. Whenever I'm in hair and makeup, they're always like, "My God, you are nothing like that person!" Me, Robin, I have a whole different rhythm.

You began speaking up about violence against women years before #MeToo and #TimesUp took root.

I didn't plan on speaking on behalf of women, but it really did become a part of my healing. My ex-husband had been on Oprah and talked about hitting me in a cavalier way, like, "Oh, yeah I hit her," and everybody laughed. I was somewhere doing a speaking engagement, and someone said to me, "Robin, you can't take this!" I realized it was far bigger than me and I was told I had to do something, if not for me, then for all other women. One of the things I always say is, "My story is your story, and your story is my story."

Do you pray? If so, who or what do you pray to?

I have a great relationship with God. He's the only father I've ever known. I would often sit down with God and say, "I don't want to have to go through this." But it's all gotten me to where I am, both as a person and as a mom. I grew up Catholic with a sense of the ritual of Catholicism. Certainly, I have some questions about all of that now, and some misgivings. But it is something I still do [observe]. And I always say that my exhusband [Mike Tyson] taught me, and gave me, a true One On One continued to page 22

ChurchNews L.A Baptist Community Loses Two Trailblazing Pastors he Los Angeles Baptist community is mourning after the recent loss of two iconic pastors, Pastor Emeritus W. Jerome Fisher of Greater Zion Church Family (formerly known as Little Zion) and Pastor Earl Alfred Pleasant of Greater New Bethel Baptist Church.

“There are no words. My superman is gone”, said Pastor Michael J.T. Fisher of his dad, who was the first Rev. Earl A. Pleasant African American to build a major church in Compton.

“All I can do is to pray that I will be the man he wanted me to be.”

It was in 1958 that the senior Fisher established Little Zion Baptist Church, after arriving in Compton following an exodus of white from the community.

"I didn't build a magnificent structure because I always felt buildings were insignificant to the building of the human," he noted in an interview with L.A Focus in the 2000s. "The church should be a beacon and a force to give spiritual direction and guidance. I think there's a lot of restlessness and dissatisfaction in the hearts of today's children. I want God to help me more to reach these children and we have thousands of young black men who are incarcerated. I won't give up because I know the preaching of the gospel is the way, but we need to discover avenues to deliver this life-giving message to the captives who are dying."

Activism shadowed his six decades in the ministry from the civil rights movement to his appointment by former governor Jerry Brown to serve the Affirmative Action Board for the 105 freeway.

Fisher served as the pastor for nearly 50 years growing it into one of the largest churches in the city of Compton. During his tenure, he established several community outreach programs, expanded the campus, and became an advocate for social and racial justice.

After retiring in 2005, his son, Pastor Michael J. Fisher took over responsibilities of the church with the guidance of Pastor Fisher. His son followed his father’s footsteps and today, Greater Zion remains a powerful multigenerational congregation and a key voice in the city of Compton.

Pastor Earl Alfred Pleasant served for 40 years. He was the founding pastor of Greater New Bethel Baptist Church after leaving Mount Moriah Missionary Baptist Church following the death of his father, Rev. Earl Alfred Pleasant, in 1974. Well respected among ministers in the nation, he was known as an exceptional man of God who dedicated his life to teaching others. He established a deep community and displayed an unflinching commitment to his work.

Pastor K.W Tulloss, the President of the Baptist Ministers Conference gave a statement following their deaths.

“As President of the Baptist Ministers Conference, we send our condolences to the families of Pastor Fisher and Pastor Pleasant. Both are icons of our faith. Both are trailblazers to our denomination...They are two legends and they both left a great legacy. They made the foundations of how pastors and ministers should carry out the gospel and our faith and both will be missed,” he said.

T

Agape Church of Los Angeles Worship Center Consolidated Plaza: 3725 Don Felipe Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90008 Corprate Office: 4602 Crenshaw Blvd, Suite 2A, Los Angeles, CA 90043 (323) 295-5571 www.agapela.org Bishop Craig A. Worsham, 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

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 Dr. Ruby Cottle, Pastor & Teacher G.F.D.J.C Every Friday: 7:00pm -9:30pm Location: St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church 3901 West Adams Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90018

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 Bishop Warner H. Brown, Jr., Senior Pastor

Crenshaw Christian Center 7901 South Vermont, Los Angeles, CA 90044 (323) 758-3777 • F: (323)565-4231 • www.faithdome.org Apostle Price, Founder Sunday Service: 9:45am Bible Study (Tue): 11:00am & 7:00pm Tue. Night Children’s Ministry: 7:00pm Tue. Night Bible Study (Teens): 7:00pm Alcohol & Drug Abuse Program (Wed): 7:00pm

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

Sunday School: 9:30am(Youth) & 9:45(Adult) Sunday Worship: 8am and 11am Morning Worship: 11:00am Bible Study (Thurs.): Noon Sun. Radio: KJLH 102.3FM: 11:00am

Gather, Grow,Go and Live The Gospel of Jesus Christ!

Living By Faith Fellowship Ministries Church Address: 8946 Sepulveda Eastway, L.A., CA 90045 Executive Office: 10925 Crenshaw Blvd,#107, Ing.CA 90303 (424) 313-7520 Bishop Horace A. Allen Sunday Worship(East): 8:00am Sunday School(West): 9:30am Worship Service(West): 11:00am Word Explosion(Wed/West): 7:00pm Prayer every Monday(West): 7:00am Service Locations

L.A. Focus\July 2019

(East: 7510 S. Vermont Ave,•Los Angeles,CA 9004 (West: 8946 Sepulveda Eastway•Inglewood, CA 90303)

18 Pastor Michael Fisher preaching at his fathers funeral

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 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

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 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

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

Please call for our Sunday School & Discipleship Schedule

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

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

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

CHURCHES CELEBRATING ANNIVERSARIES AND REVIVALS OR OPPORTUNITIES Second African Methodist Episcopal Church 5500 So. Hoover St • Los Angeles, CA. 90037 • (323) 753-2451 JOIN US FOR A “PENTECOST REVIVAL” “Revive Us Again” ~ Isaiah 59:1-2 Wednesday, July 17th ~ Friday, July 19th, 2019, Dinner Served - 5:30 pm REAWAKEN, REVIVE AND RECOMMIT 7:00 PM NIGHTLY ~ FRIDAY NIGHT YOUTH EXPLOSION ~ GUEST REVIVALISTS Reverend Dr. Sonya R. Dawson, Senior Pastor Mt. Calvary Baptist Church, Los Angeles, California Reverend Dr. Kelvin T. Calloway, Senior Pastor Bethel A.M.E. Church, Los Angeles Brother David Price, Youth Minister First African Methodist Episcopal Church Los Angeles, California

New Antioch Church of God in Christ 7826 So. Vermont Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90044 (323) 778-7965 Elder Jeffrey M. Lewis 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 One Church Potter House 614 N. La Brea Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90036 (818) 763-4521 • www.onechurchla.org Sr. Pastor Toure’ Roberts Sunday Worship: 9:00am, 11:00am & 1:00pm Wednesday Midweek Service: 8pm www.Channel1Live.tv–View live streaming

City of Refuge Ministries, Inc. 14527 S. San Pedro Street Gardena, CA 90248 (Beginning 6/10/2019 to 8/20/2019 meal service for Breakfast and Lunch will be served between the hours of 9:00a.m. to 11:0 a.m. and 12:00p.m. to 2:00p.m.)

“In accordance with Federal civil rights law and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies,the USDA,its Agencies, offices, and employees, and institution is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age or disability. To file a program complaint of discrimination, complete the USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form, (AD-3027) found online at: http://www.ascr.usda.gov/complaint_filing_cust.html, and at any USDA office, or write a letter addressed to USDA and provide in the letter all of the information requested in the form. To request a copy of the complaint form, call (866) 632-9992. Submit your completed form or letter to: US Department of Agriculture Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, D.C. 20250-9410 Fax:(202) 690-7442; or E-mail: program.intake@usda.gov

Pleasant Hill Baptist Church 2009 W. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90062 (323) 293-6448 • F: (323) 293-6605 Dr. Sylvester Washington Sunday School: 8:00am Morning Worship: 10:00am Tues. Bible Study: 11:00am Wed. Evangelism Class: 6:30pm First Sun. Holy Communion Service: 4:00pm www.pleasanthillbaptistchurch.org

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

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

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 St. Rest Friendship Baptist Church 709 W. Manchester Ave., Los Angeles, CA,90044 (323)752-6179•strestfriendshipglobal.net Rev. Torrey Collins, Pastor Sunday School: 9:00am Morning Worship:10:45am Bible Study(Tues):7pm Choir Rehearsals(1st & 3rd Wed.): 7pm

The Sanctuary Church of Refuge 888 S. Western Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90037 (323)519-2341 • Sanctuarycor@gmail.com Pastor Markees Williams Sunday School: 9:30am(Youth) & 9:45(Adult) Sunday Worship: 8am and 11am Morning Worship: 11:00am Bible Study (Thurs.): Noon Sun. Radio: KJLH 102.3FM: 11:00am

Gather, Grow,Go and Live The Gospel of Jesus Christ!

L.A. Focus/July 2019

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

SUMMER FOOD SERVICE PROGRAM

The City of Refuge Ministries, Inc. announces sponsorship of the Summer Food Service Program. Free meals wil be provided to ALL children, without eligibilty documentation, who are 18 years of age and younger at the following site:

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Resurrection Church L.A. 1135 East Janis St., Carson, CA 90746 Office Address: 1143 East Janis St., Carson, CA 90746 (310) 626-4864 •www.resurrectionchurchla.org

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

Victory Baptist Church 4802 South McKinley Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90056 (323) 231-2424• Pastor Dr. W. Edward Jenkins

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

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

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

Sunday School: 10:45 am Morning Worship: 9:00am Bible Study Wednesday:Noon Radio Sundays: KPRO 1570AM: 9:00pm

Sunday School: 8:00am Sunday Morning Worship: 9:00am Tues. Bible Study: 6:45pm www.wellerstreetlive.com

Pastor Joseph Carlos Robinson Worship Services: 8:00am & 10:00am Bible Study Tuesdays: 7:30pm

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

“We have not walked this way before” Joshua 3:1-6 Peace Apostolic Church 21224 Figueroa Street, Carson, CA 90745 (310) 212-5673 Suff. Bishop Howard A. Swancy

In Carson

First United Methodist Church Compton 1025 S. Long Beach Blvd • Compton, CA 90221 (310) 639-0775 • Fax: (310) 639-1161

Dr. Arnetha E. Inge, Pastor Sunday School: 10:00am Morning Worship: 11:45am Evening Worship: 6:30pm Wed. Noon Day Bible Class: 12:30pm Wed. Bible Class: 7:30pm

Sunday School: 8:30am - 9:30am Sunday Morning Worship: 10:00 - 11:45am TONGAN Worship: 1:00 pm (2nd & 3rd Sundays) Wed. Prayer & Bible Study: 7:30 am & 6:30pm

Pastor Profile: Kerwin Manning Church: Pasadena Church How Long at Church: 18 years Hometown: Toledo, Ohio Family: Wife Madelyn and daughter, Madison.

(A daughter, Morgan, 14, passed away in 2017) You actually co-pastor the church with your wife, Medelyn. Where did the two of you meet?

We met in college– at Anderson University in Indiana while in a singing group called Fruit of the Spirit where we went around recruiting for the university and doing gospel musical concerts. BeBe and Cece Winans were the hot item back then and we would sing all their duets together, she and I. Were you interested in ministry then?

I was just kind of accepting the call to ministry. I’d been planning on going to Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio for a pre-med program. But that summer before college, I accepted Christ and ended up on a path for ministry I will never regret.

What was your perception of ministry and pastoring?

I was reluctant because of the climate and the imagery of ministry on TV at the time. You had the Jimmy Swaggart and Jim Baker scandals, and in Ohio, with some of the local examples of ministry I’d seen, I was like, "Thanks, but no thanks." But in my heart, I knew God was calling me and that He was calling me to be different from those examples being broadcast and leaving people with a bad taste for the church and pastors.

L.A. Focus/ July 2019

What brought you to Pasadena?

I knew the pastor before me who was resigning the church in order to take a position nationally in the Church of God. I was serving as the national youth president at the time. I didn’t know a lot about Pasadena, but I found that there were a lot of great ministries in the region, and several major ministries that started here but fizzled out. A pastor that I respected and who knew the area, had said to me, ‘Man, if you just gather all of the black people in Pasadena who aren’t going to church anymore, you could grow this church really fast.’ That didn't resonate with my heart because I was really feeling a call to pursue a multi-ethnic, multicultural plan with Pasadena Church.

Have you accomplished that?

We are on the path. When we came, the church was 99.9% black, but we began to teach and preach and model that if we want to be a church of many colors, we have to be intentional and we have done

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that. But there are no sacred cows…you’ve got to be willing to change.

One of the things we changed was our service times.

They used to be two to three hours. Nobody was in a hurry to go anywhere. But one of the early members of the church – who happened to be white–said, "Pastor, the church I went to church was 55 minutes." And I said, "That was worship, right?" "No,” he said, “that was the whole service. We'll never get other people in here if we're doing two and a half to three hours."

So we begin to, intentionally, tweak our services to take out as much fluff as we could without compromising the Word and the moving of the Holy Spirit. We settled around the hour and a half mark, which has been more inviting for not only other cultures and ethnicities but for the un-churched and unsaved.

Your family initiative has gotten some press–what brought that about?

We call it the Families Restored Initiative. We have for many years felt that the various breakdowns in our society, be it fatherlessness, homelessness, mental illness, divorce and then all of the after effects and more can be attributed to the dysfunction and breakdown of the nuclear family.

I know all of my issues come from the way I was raised.

So, we felt a mandate to really go after healing broken lives and relationships, and creating opportunities and spaces for people to talk about the things that have hurt them–which impacts not only them, but everyone around them–engaging our community with support and education so that we can all be better.

One that we have personally found as a family (my wife and I, and our daughter, Madison) is the importance of grieving and not being stuck in your grief.

Two years ago, our 14-year-old daughter Morgan, passed away from a rare heart condition called CPVT. It was devastating. Our church surrounded us. Our community surrounded us, and we've been on this pathway of healing. We started a foundation in our daughter's honor, so that other families wouldn't have to experience what we did. We're going to commit the rest of our lives to educating and empowering, and with [monies raised from] our second annual gala we want to complete an order we've already started to supply AEDs (automated external defibrillators) to all of the middle schools in the Pasadena Unified School district. That's how we're paying it forward and moving forward.

I said that to say that as people were comforting and consoling us, and walking with us through our season of grief, we realized that a lot of them would tell us stories about their own lives that it became obvious they’d never really processed.

In fact, a lot of people come to us bruised, broken and hurt by the church, so church abuse was also something we wanted to address.

How have you measured the growth based on the changes you’ve made?

We're actually in the process of grading ourselves.

We're determined not to just ride into the sunset, but to change. There's a pastor down in Texas who something that was dis-settling, but powerful. He said the motto of their church is, if it's not broke, break it.

Another pastor said, "The greatest challenge to our future is the success in the past." So many churches have gotten stuck in their heyday.

Ultimately, when you consider yourselves most successful, what will you have made that consideration for?

For me personally, when I think about legacy, my first prayer has always been that it's not personality driven.

But unfortunately, much of it is.

Yeah, but the church has to transcend personality. I believe the church rises to another level when the leadership is able to change and transition and the work of the church continues unhindered.

What are your thoughts on churches uniting to leverage their clout for change?

One of our Pasadena churches owns the largest amount of real estate in this city, because they own two housing developments, and other churches–ours included–have always purchased property around our buildings for one reason or another.

We’re utilizing that to say to our city, "Look, w e ' r e stakeholde r s

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Greater Zion Church Family 2408 North Wilmington Avenue, Compton, CA 90222 (310) 639-5535 • (Tues - Thurs 10am -4pm)

First Lady Files

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

Andrea Humphrey H.O.P.E.’s House Christian Min.

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 90220 (310) 604-5900 Fax: (310) 604-5915 Dr. Ron C Hill Sunday Morning Worship: 8:00am & 11:30am Sunday Evening Worship: 6:30pm Bible Studies: Wed. 7:30pm & Sat. 9am Food for Your Soul Radio & Television Ministry: beblessedwebradio: Mon - Fri. 6:30am Church Channel: Tues. 5:30pm & Fri. 2:30pm

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

The Liberty Church 14725 S. Gramercy Place, Gardena, CA 90249 (310) 715-8400 Pastor David W. Cross Early Worship: 8:30am Morning Worship: 9am & 11am Children’s Church: Both Services Word Power Wed.: 7-8pm www.thelibertychurch.com

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 400 E. Kelso, Inglewood, CA 90301 In Inglewood (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

Wed. Mid-Week Service: 7:00pm Sunday School: 9:00am Sunday Worship: 10:30am

Church of God Center of Hope 9550 Crenshaw Blvd., Inglewood, CA 90305 (323) 757-1804 www.go2Hope.com Pastor Geremy L. Dixon Morning Worship: 8:00am & 11:00am Wed. Mid-Week Service: Noon Wed. Teaching Ministry: 7:00pm 1st Sunday Communion 5th Sunday Baptism

Faithful Central Bible Church 321 N. Eucalyptus Ave. Inglewood, CA 90301 (310) 330-8000 • F: (310) 330-8035 Bishop Kenneth C. Ulmer, Ph.D. Senior Pastor/Teacher Services at The Tabernacle: Sunday Services: 7:00am, 9:30am & 11:45am Wed. Mid-Week Service: 7:00pm The Tabernacle is located at 321 N. Eucalyptus Ave., Inglewood www.faithfulcentral.com

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 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 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

True Friendship Missionary Baptist Church 7901 South Van Ness Ave. Inglewood, CA 90305 (323) 750-7304 Rev. James A. Perkins

Antioch Church of Long Beach Mailing address P.O. Box 2291, Long Beach, CA 90801 website:www.antiochlb.com

In Long Beach

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

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

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

Sunday School: 9:30am Early Worship: 8am Morning Worship: 10:45am Bible Adventure Hour (Tues): 6pm Bible Study (Tues): 7pm Bible Study (Thurs): Noon

Christ Our Redeemer AME Church In Irvine 45 Tesla, Irvine, CA 92618 (949) 955-0014 • F:(949) 955-0021 • www.corchurch.org Pastor Mark E. Whitlock, II Sunday Worship: 8:00am, 10:30am New Generation Praise Service: 10:30am Sun. Bible Univ.: 9:30am Tues. Interactive Bible Study: 7:00pm Wed. Pastor's Bible Study: Noon, 7:00pm Thurs. Bible Study: 7:00pm Fri. Singles Bible Study (1st Fri): 7:00pm St. Stephen Missionary Baptist Church 1720 N. Walnut Avenue, La Puente, CA 91744 (626) 918-3225 • F: (626) 918-3265 Pastor Tony Dockery

“As a first lady I’m always challenged by men who want me to behave a certain way that my husband is not co-signing to,” says Andrea Humphrey of H.O.P.E.'s House Christian Ministries. “Because if you don't do what the historical patriarchal model says, then in some kind of way you're rebellious.”

The mother of two, who co-pastors with her husband Charles Humphrey at the church they founded together in is fluent in American Sign Language and a executive development coach for Disney. She is also president/CEO of HOPE Community Development Center that hosts programs and ministries that span feeding the homeless and convalescent care to dance classes and drama.

And it all started with a bible study at a college campus that grew by leaps and bounds. “Pretty soon the Bible Study had like 150 students coming and they encouraged us to have church at our home one Sunday. At first I said no way. But we prayed and we did it.”

“It went from once a month to twice a month to every Sunday to, ‘Hey I think we’re a church.’ We found a building and 250 people came to the first service.”

Humphrey is also the author of “More Than Just His Wife,” a book for women married to pastors and other prominent men.

“The message is so powerful in dealing with women who stand in the shadows of these men–and in those shadows it’s dark and depressing. So invitations are coming in for me to encourage women to step into the light and become better wives and better mothers.”

In 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

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: Southside Church Christ While we’re busy working out our individual salvation, it is our charge to have good relationships with our fellow laborers. We must answer to God for our attitudes and conduct both inside the church and outside (Romans 14:12-13). Too often we hear of the Lord’s church in trouble because of fighting with one another, the work of the church suffers and we can lose our souls over trivial matters. Sisters and brothers we are going to have to give an account of our behavior.

No one who professes to be a Christian should be caught up in Satan’s web of confusion and forget about the work of the church. How can we strengthen our relationships with one another in the church?

We have a responsibility toward one another. The early Christians met daily, having things in common.

They met and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising Gods (Acts 2:42-47).

If we’re fighting, where is the praise?

Christians must be one in spirit and purpose.

(Philippians 2:2) We all have the same Lord and Master and it’s everyone’s aim to get to heaven.

Paul told the Philippians (Chapter 2:3)not to do things for selfish reasons, or conceit, but in humility considering one another. Helping others has its own rewards. Selfishness is inconsistent with Christian love.

The 15th chapter of Romans starts out telling the strong that they should bear with the failings of the weak and that each of us looks to the well-being of our neighbors even as Christ did not look to please himself.

Serve one another in love (Galatians 5:13). Jesus showed this nature by washing his disciples feet.

To wash a traveler’s feet was a sign of respect and concern for another. Serving is a sign of greatness.

When James and John selfishly wanted to hold position of greatness at the side of Jesus, he told his disciples that whoever wanted to become great among them must be a servant and whoever wants to be first, must serve all. Jesus came to serve, not to be served and gave his life as a ransom for man (Mark 10:43-44) Practice the “golden rule” in your relationships with others. In all that you do, do to others what you would have them do to you. Philippians 2:4 says, “Let each of you look out for your own interest, but also for the interest of others.”

Worship together and help build the church. We should encourage one another and support the work of the church. Some members boycott church activities, and kick up dust in their protests. “I’m not supporting that youth program! Those young folks are noting but trouble anyway.”

[But] if we don’t worship together and support the activities of the church–who will? This is another way that Satan attacks the body and division gets started.

Before you know it, the church is destroyed and the members scattered.

We are fellow laborers, working together, Contribute to the wellness of the church and make it easier for others to go to heaven. Folks who love to stir up a lot of trouble sometimes trap others in their webs.

Paul was one of the greatest motivational speakers.

Throughout his writings, he inspired the early churches and entreated them to encourage one another.

Comfort and console one another when trouble comes. Paul a n d

Pastor Dr. Carl C. Baccus

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

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 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

Timothy took comfort in the presence of Titus during their hardships in Macedonia when they were being harassed everywhere they went and they were afraid. Titus brought word of the church’s concern for Paul and Timothy. This was a comfort for them knowing how much the church cared. (2 Corinthians 7:5-7) Edify and strengthen others. Again in Ephesians 4, Paul encourages the Christians to build each other up and to make every effort to keep the unity of the faith for there is but one Lord, one faith and one baptism. It is only through unity that we become mature and attain the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. We need each other and can gain strength by bonding together. No part is as strong as the whole.

Love and appreciate others. The Corinthians loved and appreciated Paul even though he was tough on them. If we don’t have love for one another, we are nothing according to 1 Corinthians 13:1-7. Even though we might have a lot of things going for us, if we don’t have love, nothing else matters.

Be a good example. Paul said that the Corinthian Christians were his letters of recommendation. They, themselves, were testimony to the work of Paul. Their lives were letters, written not with ink but with the Spirit of God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of the human heart. The way they lived would be more convincing than mere words could ever be. Christians have the responsibility of being good examples for living.

Be merciful toward the imperfections of others. We have all sinned and come short!

Many of our sisters and brothers are experts at finding and pointing out the faults of everyone else but consider themselves examples of perfection. If you are a strong Christian, be tolerant of the weaknesses of your fellow laborers. Through your strength they are made strong. If someone makes a mistake, we should encourage and not tear down. If you are weak, work on becoming stronger and once you have overcome, help someone else.

Be anxious to forgive. If we cannot forgive others, then our heavenly father will not forgive us. Yes, sometimes it is hard to forget something that has hurt us deeply, but we cannot bury the hatchet and leave the handle sticking up to pull out the next time.

Pray for others and desire the best for them. Be unselfish in your petitions to God. So often members ask for prayer and then go on our merry way never remembering their petition. Prayers of the righteous availeth much, James tells us to pray for each other because the prayers of the righteous are powerful and effective.

Teach Others. As we mature in the faith, we should pass on what we have learned to others and become teachers.

(Hebrews 5:12) The old should teach the young. You don’t have to have the gift of gab to teach or stand before a classroom. You can teach by example and sharing the life lessons you’ve learned. Christian’s should be able to share the good news of the savior with everyone they meet.

Give of your means to others. The early Christians sold what they had individually so that they could share with

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 F: (310) 450-4680 Rev. Reuben W. Ford, Pastor Sunday School: 9:30am Sunday Worship: 11:00am Bible Study/Prayer Meditation: Thursday 6pm “The Church In The Heart Of The Community with The Community at Heart” Email:famecsm@verizon.net Facebook: First AME Church Santa Monica 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

their fellow Christians. There are many examples of churches helping other churches in need. Often they would send their gifts with the apostles. As Paul would come to a congregation, the members would give them money to take on to another congregation in need. That’s how we should be, always ready and willing to help those in need. We never know when the tables will be turned.

If you are able and see your brother or sister in need and show no pity, how can you say you have the love of God? Do your part to make the church and place of peace and harmony. There should be no division among the saints. Paul exhorted (the Ephesians elders to keep watch over themselves and over look the flock. He told them to be shepherds.

He knew that there were going to be those among them who would distort the truth and create dissension. Unfortunately, this happens in the Lord’s church today. Members, however, must be vigilant and strive to keep peace and harmony in the fold. We can do this by strengthening our relationships with one another. We should work to build up, not tear down: increase, not decrease, spread the good news, not gossip; stand up for what is right and don’t fall for anything.

Stand fast!

Pastor Profile continued from page 20

here. We're not just the spiritual community."

When we first came to Pasadena, we believe the Lord said to us, "I'm giving you this city." So, we jumped in with our local church focusing on our people and thought we're going to take this city for Christ, but we weren't very successful until I had a revelation. I went to a meeting with some other pastors and found that the Lord had said the same thing to them. I didn't realize that the way He wants to do this for us, is that there's only really one church. So, we all started having these conversations and the Clergy Community Coalition was formed around the affordable housing issue happening in our city. We soon learned that there were more issues the churches of Pasadena needed to come together to address and to have our presence known in the city.

Since, we've impacted a lot of different areas from housing to gang violence intervention to the police brutality issues by coming together as one church. So, we say around here, "There's only one church in Pasadena with many congregations.”

One On One continued from page 17 relationship with God. What are you here to teach?

Life is short and time truly is our greatest commodity. It's the one thing you never get back. I lost a sister, unexpectedly, almost five years ago and I would do anything to have more of those moments. I try to tell my children that there is not that much to get here [on earth]. You want to have enough to spend time with the people you love. It's all about the moments, and not the car you drive. Happiness and joy lie in simplicity, so try to keep it simple.

Allison Kugel is a syndicated entertainment columnist.

Follow her on Instagram @theallisonkugel or visit AllisonKugel.com.

Through the Storm or years, Rev. Dr. D. Najuma SmithPollard had worked as a community activist, speaking out against various forms of violence. She never expected to personally face the same kind of pain those she’d advocated for, experience.

“This was the one thing I told God [not to] let come my way,” she said.

In October 2018, Dr. Smith-Pollard’s son, Daniel Brown, 24, was shot and killed in Las Vegas by Noel Shakespeare, 27, after he attempted to help a friend retrieve a phone that had been taken the night before.

Smith-Pollard first knew something was wrong when she glanced at her phone and saw dozens of missed calls.

She’d left her phone in her car as she finished an event at her church.

No one could tell her much over the phone. The friend who had been with Daniel was so distraught and emotional that all Smith-Pollard was able to learn was that Daniel was at the Las Vegas Trauma Center. The nurses she spoke with over the phone could not give her any additional details either, because of HIPPA laws. Instead, they only urged her to get to the hospital right away.

On the plane to Vegas, she had no idea what to expect but she remained optimistic that Daniel would be okay.

After all, she trusted God and additionally, she’d met several people before who had survived gunshot wounds.

“I know a lot of people that have been shot multiple times and are living very thriving lives and I just knew it was one shot so why wouldn't he live, right?”

Smith-Pollard realized, however, that the situation was much more serious than she had thought when she first stepped into the hospital room.

Daniel had been shot in the face and even if doctors were able to perform a miraculous surgery the doctors informed Smith-Pollard that her son would likely remain in a vegetative state for the rest of his life. Or at best, he would be blind and paralyzed from the neck down. It was a difficult and stark reality to face but Smith-Pollard remembers a key thing that helped her get through those terrible moments in the hospital.

“In those first few hours there was a nurse who quoted a scripture to me,” she recalled.

“Proverbs 3:5-6 and it says: Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding, but in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your path.

“I knew in that moment that was God telling me to trust Him, no matter what.”

She would lean on that trust when they made the decision to remove Daniel from life support. It was a procedure that she recounts vividly–a terrible 15 minutes where doctors, nurses, and family members stood in complete silence as they perform a final test to check for signs of life.

“I told God, okay this is it. If you’re gonna show up you’ve got 15 minutes... If you’re gonna give us this mira-

F

cle we have come to the final straw. When it got to that 14th minute I said okay God,” Smith-Pollard recalled.

Daniel was pronounced dead, but before they removed him from life support, the family had agreed to donate Daniel’s organs. Though still somewhat taboo in the African-American faith community, Smith-Pollard hopes that Daniel’s story will convince others in the community to become organ donors.

“My son’s one life saved three lives… He donated his kidneys, liver, lungs, and heart… and they sent me a letter telling me who those lives belonged to. The beauty of that is your loved one’s one life gets to save other lives.”

Another source of comfort was knowing exactly what had happened to Daniel.

“By Sunday morning I knew who, what, when, where, why… I had to tell God, ‘thank you’. Because in these times to have information doesn't make it go away, but it does help.

“Part of the reason so many people are in pain is because they have zero answers,” she explained. “We do these funerals in L.A. all the time where they don’t know anything. All they know is their kid died in the streets somewhere and they have to live with that unknowing. I felt very grateful to God that we knew.”

Additionally, Smith-Pollard recognizes that it helped her place the blame where it needed to be placed.

“I know who shot my son. I know what he looks like, I know where he lives and I’m not saying that in a spiteful way but I don’t have to say ‘God why did you take my son’.

He didn’t. Noel Shakespeare shot my son. I know who shot my son and I know why he shot him,” she said.

Smith-Pollard, however, still doesn’t have an answer as to why she had to lose her son this way. It’s a conversation with God that she has every day and a question she recognizes, will likely never have a legitimate or satisfying response. But, the entire experience has left her able to more closely sympathize with people she has been advocating for, for years.

In 2015, she was part of the Push 100 campaign. Organized by Pastor Michael Fisher of Greater Zion Church Family, over 40 pastors and church leaders from around Los Angeles worked with the L.A County Sheriff's Department to temporarily shut down various major intersections. There, they prayed and provided resources for the community—such as food, water, and clothes to overshadow gang activity that had been grabbing

I know a lot of people that have shot been multiple times and are living very thriving lives and I just knew it was one shot so why wouldn't he live, right?” headlines at the time and spread service and love instead of negative imagery and stereotypes.

Smith-Pollard is also the program manager for the USC Cecil Murray Center for Community Engagement where she runs programs that train pastors on taking on civic engagement work. She also founded a sexual violence awareness and training campaign called “It’s Not Okay.” The campaign spreads sexual violence awareness and challenges the faith community to do more to stand up to sexual violence. “[My mission] hasn’t changed. It might be evolving or expanding but I’ve always been engaged with conversations and actions as it relates to violence.”

Instead, the experience of losing her own son to violence has shown her why people need to be on the “battlefield.”

“I’m not more adamant because it happened to me. I’m adamant because it happens period. And here’s the thing: It’s not just a loss in the family, it’s a loss in the community, because now two black men are gone. It’s not just my son, but the one that shot him too. This boy is going to go to prison for however long they can send him. So the community becomes totally affected by this kind of thing,” she noted. “It’s bigger than just my pain and that was why I had always been an advocate to do what we can as black folks to bring down street violence because while it hurts families , it also kills communities.”

Smith-Pollard now hopes to be able to help others with their own healing.

“I’ve talked to other parents and other brothers and sisters—there’s a lot of people in pain who are pained because a loved one was killed violently. So what I want to do in 2020 is open up a wellness center and really focus on families having a space for healing through meditation, through therapy and different things because there’s a lot of people still in pain and a lot of people don’t have the benefit that I had, which is a deep walk with the Lord.”

People Files On Saturday, July 6 from 1 pm to 4 pm at Zoe C h r i s t i a n Fellowship, Bishop Frank Stewart will be officially releasing his book, Together We Stand Stronger, which introduces concepts that will permanently reverse the effects of distrust which has plagued the Black community for too long.

There will be intense dialog with Bishop Stewart as he lays out his plan to get the dialog started to reverse the Willie Lynch Syndrome in Black America. Community engagement through a Roundtable discussion will follow, along with a musical celebration and refreshments.

Stewart is characterizing the event–being held at 2521 South West View Street– as the most important conversation Black America will ever have.

Stewart is the founder and president of the Zoe Homeless continued from page 6

Legislative Black Caucus, successfully sponsored a set of three bills called the “Vulnerable Youth Empowerment Package.”

Together, the provisions in them are intended to prevent homelessness among foster youth who make up a little over 10 percent of the state’s unhoused population.

California’s large homeless population puts the state at risk of being undercounted in the 2020 Census. That could lead to the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding for programs like Head Start, Title 1, SNAP, Medicaid and more. A majority of the Golden state’s homeless people live in tracts of the state where those programs are needed the most.

Elder continued from page 7

became $600 million in Baptist's accounting, or almost half of the entire antebellum economy of the United States.

"There's a crucial problem with Baptist's approach. The calculation of GDP, the main formulation of national accounts and a representation of the dollar amount of economic activity in a country in a given year, only incorporates the value of final goods and services produced. The rationale for doing so comes from accounting, as the price of the final good already incorporates intermediate transactions that go into its production and distribution. Baptist's numbers are not only wrong -- they reflect a basic unfamiliarity with the meaning and definition of GDP." If American taxpayers pay reparations, can they also sue Africa for its role in selling captured and enslaved Africans to Arab and European slavers? What about Native Americans? Have they received sufficient reparations?

Finally, more than 350,000 Union soldiers died, and another 250,000 suffered injuries in the Civil War. Should their descendants pay reparations to the descendants of the slaves their ancestors died to free?

To find out more about Larry Elder visit www.LarryElder.com.

Horton continued from page 7

prevented Blacks from voting and exercising other rights of citizenship. We experience the legacies of some of those laws even today as if there is a hidden desire to prove Edmund Burke got it right when he said, “Those who don’t know history are destined to repeat it” Pontificating politicians cite the Voting

Christian Fellowship.

Rev. Edward Anderson Gets Engaged Reverend Edward “Eddie” Anderson of McCarty Memorial Christian Church has announced his engagement to Clare Fox. The Morehouse College graduate –a third-generation pastor from Atlanta–is a regional organizer who is active in social justice movements, including the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival.

His fiancé is a third generation Angeleno, who serves as Executive Director of the Los Angeles Food Policy Council. In this role, she has led policy reforms and launched programs to invest in local small businesses across the city, supporting street vendors, expanding urban gardening and improving school meals.

The two met at a leadership training, and first became friends when they cofacilitated a climate justice summit in late 2017.

Rights Act of 1965 as the finish line of racial progress and crossing it gave us reason to abandon the fight. In reality, this act did not guarantee Blacks the right to vote; it simply provided for enforcement of that right. Don’t get it twisted, the Voting Rights Act is not a permanent right. It is more like a reservation that can be canceled. The act has been amended as recently a 2006 to protect the rights of women and others. Indicative of the governmental challenges of slavery, the Voting Rights Act is not part of the constitution. It is temporary and can be taken away by the federal legislature subsequent to the recent 25year extension.

It should be equally concerning that slavery is still legal in the United States.

The Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution proclaims that people who are incarcerated are and can be treated as slaves. Then, there are the unjust laws that allow for wealth inequities such as disproportionate regressive taxation.

Also, as we challenge the inheritances of slavery, we find ourselves supporting legislation that seeks equity in education. By now, there should be over-compensation for the years of sub-standard and underresourced instruction of our children and adult scholars.

In California, the nation’s most liberal state, we are living with the after-effects of the passage of a proposition that eliminated affirmative action set up to address employment and economic disparities for women, people of color and the disabled.

Make no mistake about it, the political will of the majority shapes the law which shapes perception, reality, and the public policies that allow mental illness, drug addition and health inequities to survive and grow in our communities like cancer.

Over time, they kill hope and contribute to the despair that sidelines and feeds the growing homelessness crisis and suicide epidemic in our economically unstable and medically underserved communities.

In some way we are all victims of slavery entitled to reparations in the form of public policy, funding, and laws that prevent the perpetuation of societal ills and injustice — and not just well-spoken but donothing “I-get-it” political rhetoric that is, at once, cordial and cruel.

Jerome E. Horton is a Governmental Consultant, former Legislator and Board of Equalization Member

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SavingGrace Tammi Mac ou probably know Tammi Mac from her drive-time radio program “The Tammi Mac Show” on Stevie Wonder’s “Radio Free” 102.3 KJLH, where five days a week she makes it her mission to, “keep all y’all out there informed, entertained and filled up with the black girl magic!”. But Mac is also multihyphenate actress-writer-producer with a steadily growing list of on-screen and on-stage appearances-- and recently her career has been heating up!

Mac was recently cast for a recurring role in the final season of the music themed drama, “Star” opposite Keke Palmer as her character’s overbearing Aunt Ginny, who acts as her manager and head of her “famtourage” (family/entourage). Mac’s seemingly effortless portrayal of the tough and outspoken Aunt Ginny may feel relatable to viewers-- as it was intended by show co-creator Lee Daniels.

“Everyone knows one of those aunties,” Mac tells L.A. Focus. “I think because Lee Daniels likes things that are close and connected to the relationships of black people, that’s why you’re drawn to the character he has. I loved playing Aunt Ginny because she was always there for her niece, which every aunt is. She’s one in the family who will go there when everyone thinks they can’t go there-auntie is like, ‘oh you don’t want me to go there!’ So it was fun playing Aunt Ginny-- it takes a whole lot, but it was relatively in my wheelhouse to play.”

Mac has also balanced out the over-the-top salacious drama of “Star”, with a role in the more serious BET original movie “Her Only Choice”, now streaming on Netflix.

“Her Only Choice” tells the story of a woman who becomes pregnant after years of infertility only to get diagnosed with cancer and is forced to decide between the life of her child and her own. For the role, Mac related to the experience of a close family friend battling cancer for her life to help prepare her for the intense emotional situations involved in the film.

“That was a hard one for me to play. I was very honored to play that role because when you think of people who have cancer and want to live and have everything to live for, you want to represent them in a way that other people see their struggle honestly,” says Mac. “I thought of my best friend’s aunt who died of cancer. Before she passed away you could see it in her face how she was fighting and wanted to live and didn’t want it to take her.

It was like something that came over her and she said, ‘This is not taking me out.’

“So what I hope people got out of this film is empathy for the struggle of others. That’s what the world needs right now, empathy for people to understand that someone's struggle is their own and it includes their own personal journey-- and it’s no one’s job to intervene in that.”

While Mac-- who holds a Master of Fine Arts degree in theater-- is passionate about her craft of acting, she is always balancing time with her first love: raido.

“I always say that radio is my husband and acting is like my side chick,” jokes Mac. “The acting gigs are fun and energetic and you love it and want to be around it all the time, but there’s just some days when it’s not there because it’s doing something else. Those days you just

L.A. Focus/July 2019

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Faith inspires my life because it always tells you that it’s never too late. No matter your circumstances, age, financial abilities, networking or connections, no matter what-- faith tells that it’s always possible, always.” wait by the phone like, ‘are they going to call?’, and you’re wondering when your next gig is going to come. Acting hasn’t provided me in the way that radio has and hasn’t been my rock like radio has. It’s just been my side piece that I have fun with every now and again-- but I would love to marry them both! Hopefully that is where my career is going because my goal when I first moved to Los Angeles was to become a working actress.”

For Mac, who first got involved in radio when she was just a teenager in her hometown of Houston, Texas, radio is more than just a steady job but a platform which allows her to interact with the community and learn about the world through other people’s stories.

“I breathe, eat, and sleep radio-- it’s what I know best,” says Mac. “There’s no way I can go to work and not have a good day because my show allows other people the opportunity to express themselves. I love it when people who call in tell me, ‘thank you for allowing me to share what I was feeling.’ because a lot of people don’t have anybody to talk to.”

It’s the relationship Mac has built with her listeners that she says makes her job truly rewarding.

“We have friends, not fans,” says Mac. “You can always call me, just like a friend, and that’s what’s so special about the connection between listeners and the radio personality. You can tell me directly, ‘I don’t like what you said’, or ‘ I love that’ or anything in between.

You can’t have that back-and-forth conversation with television personalities or movie stars, so that’s why the radio personality is so important to the community.”

Mac has been hosting radio programs since the age of 16 when she got involved in a program at Texas Southern University’s campus station which gave local youth the chance to host a one-hour show on Saturdays. According to Mac, once she got a taste of being on the radio, there was no looking back.

“I realized as soon as I started doing it that I wanted a career in radio,” says Mac who is forever grateful for that first opportunity to get on-air. “What I think people don’t understand is the power of programs in the black community. You give kids opportunities to see themselves in a successful light and have a place of purpose as opposed to hanging out and doing things that lead them in the wrong direction. So I believe that program saved my life by giving me purpose and helping me develop a skill very early age.”

With this in mind Mac pays-it-forward through her show’s intern program which gives recent college graduates a chance to gain some experience which they can use to build a career of their own.

And while Mac has made herself a role model for young people industry, it may come as no surprise that she has a role model herself in her boss, who just so happens to be one of the greatest musicians of all time-Stevie Wonder.

“Without Stevie Wonder I wouldn’t be on the radio,” says Mac. “He’s been an incredible mentor and supporter and has encouraged my creativity. I think Stevie Wonder is responsible for me being able to grow creatively and I’ll always appreciate him for that.”

In going from a young girl given the opportunity to be on the radio for an hour a week to hosting her own drivetime radio show working for a music icon in one of the biggest media markets on the planet-- while also being able to pursue her love of acting as well-- Mac has a lot to be thankful for. She says she owes her success to her faith for giving her to the power to believe in herself.

“Faith inspires my life because it always tells you that it’s never too late,” says Mac. “No matter your circumstances, age, financial abilities, networking or connections, no matter what-- faith tells that it’s always possible, always.

“My saving grace is neglecting fear. In everything I’ve done I admit I’ve been fearful at some point in doing it because you don’t know how people are going to respond, and we’re always looking for other people’s validation.

But when you neglect that fear it gives you a power that surpasses anything else that may stop you from your destiny.”

Looking to the future, Mac continues to neglect fear and rely on her faith as she pursues her goals as an actress and personality which include having her own television show in the form of a sitcom or variety talk-show.

She will also be performing in the stage production, “Under The Freeway” which deals with the crisis of homelessness, opening this September at the Wilshire Ebell Theater.

But no matter what role she is in, Tammi M a c ’ s mission on a d a i l y basis is simple a n d clear: “ I can only h o p e that I’m being impactful in a positive way.

That is my prayer everyday.”