L.A. Focus Newspaper July 2020

VOLUME XXV • ISSUE 6 • July 2020 >>

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CHURCH NEWS Inglewood Pastor Hosts Protest March and Rally PAGE

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HOLLYWOOD BUZZ Beyonce Preps “Black Is King” for July 31 Debut PAGE

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COVID-19 Update

Nineteen California Counties Now On Watchlist for More Covid-19 Restrictions Four new counties — Solano, Merced, Glenn and Orange — were added Monday to the list of hard-hit locales where state health officials are monitoring infection data, providing technical assistance and weighing new measures to slow the spread of the virus...

GAME CHANGER He Took A Knee So Black American Could Stand Up

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contents

July2020

L.A. Focus Publications

L_R: In the tradition of his grandfather, Dr. E.V. Hill Sr, Edward V. Hill III took to the streets in protest last month • Assemblymember Shirley Weber stands in front of the State Capitol lit up in red, black and green in recognition of Juneteenth • Governor Gavin Newsom helps prepare meals at Sacramento restaurant as part of Great Plates Program • Congresswoman Maxine Waters and the Housing Authority of Los Angeles distributed non-surgical, washable masks and the location of local COVID-19 testing sites to residents of Avalon Gardens Public Housing Development.

From The Editor

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The Black Tax

Commentary Donald Trump is More Focused on Saving Statues of Slaveholders...

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UpFront

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Head to Head

Fight Against Voter Suppression Gets $30 Million Injection; Activists Celebrate David & GoliathVictory; Trump’s White Power Retweet

The Dilemna of Systemic Racism in Nation’s Police Forces

Headlines From Africa

9 Money Matters 10 Biz News Briefs Game Changer Colin Kaepernick

Protests Spark Billions in Corporate Giving

Beyonce Launches Initiative in Support of Black Businesses; Morgan Stanley Donates $10 Million to Black Banks

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Feature Story And the Blue Walls (& Laws) Come Tumbling Down: How the Killing of George Floyd is Changing Policing Across the Nation

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

Lisa Collins Gerald Bell, Christal Mims Ian Foxx Kisha Smith

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26 15 From The Pulpit of Through The Storm 27 19 In Good Taste Hollywood Buzz 29 20 Saving Grace One On One 30 Red Carpet Style 21 Eye On Gospel 23 COVID-19 Updates

Pastor Profile

The Fight to Bring Two Innocent Black Men Home Ends in Victory

Faithful Central Bible Church Bishop Kenneth Ulmer

Beyonce Partners With Disney+ for Black Is King; Upcoming Will Smith Film Sparks Bidding War

Tisa Hill

K.W. Tulloss

Lynn Whitfield

Ice Cube

Meet Chez’Ney Hadley and Stephen Oduntan. They’re the hosts of L.A. Focus’ online vidcast. Check them out at www.lafocusnewspaper.com

Marsai Martin

Open Door Season for Pastor/Gospel Artist Deitrick Haddon; Kiki Sheard Gets Engaged; New Single for Marvin Sapp

24 First Lady Files 25 Church News

L.A. Churches Get Green Light to Open, Most Move Cautiously

Kimberley Johnson

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

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

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

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advisory board Napoleon Brandford Pastor Beverly Crawford Lem Daniels Bob Blake

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Commentary

CONGRESSWOMAN MAXINE WATERS Guest Columnist

“Donald Trump is More Focused on Saving Statues of Slaveholders & Confederate Generals than Protecting Americans from the Coronavirus” ne would hope that the president of the United States would rise to the level of leadership that our country needs in confronting the deadly uptick in coronavirus cases in America. Instead, we are left with Donald Trump, an incompetent and heartless man who is more focused on saving statues of slaveholders, Confederate generals, and racists, than protecting the health of living and breathing Americans.

“The United States remains the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic, with more than 2.4 million cases and more than 124,000 deaths. My home state of California, Arizona, Texas, and Florida have seen their coronavirus cases skyrocket in the past two weeks.

“Texas and California set records for having more than 5,000 coronavirus cases in a 24-hour period, and 33 states have reported a spike in their weekly average of coronavirus cases. Instead of using the full power of his office to fight this deadly pandemic, Donald Trump would rather ignore the coronavirus and call in U.S. marshals to confront protestors who are taking down memorials to racist Confederate generals and slaveholders.

“For months, my colleagues and I have rung the alarm and done everything in our power to pass legislation that addresses the need for life-saving personal protective equipment (PPE), increases testing capacity, provides ventilators, and supports hospitals, community health centers, and frontline workers.

“Instead of bipartisan action, we have been faced with opposition from a president and a Republican party that are hiding their heads in the sand as thousands of

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Instead of bipartisan action, we have been faced with opposition from a president and a Republican party that are hiding their heads in the sand as thousands of Americans die. In the past week, Donald Trump has defied the guidance of public health experts...

From the Editor

Americans die. In the past week, Donald Trump has defied the guidance of public health experts and held two large public events that placed the lives of his supporters at risk.

“Instead of enforcing mask wearing and social distancing in his events, he required attendees to sign waivers to protect his campaign from being sued if attendees contracted the virus. Donald Trump has decried efforts to increase coronavirus testing, and his administration has stripped federal funding for community testing sites in at least 13 states, including Texas, which is enduring a sharp increase in coronavirus cases.

“Donald Trump’s negligence and lack of care for the American people is contemptible.

“We have a real, deadly public health crisis on our hands, and Donald Trump is more concerned about statues and relics of the Confederacy and slavery than he is the survival of the American people.

“He’s already had protestors in front of the White House forcibly removed and tear-gassed for a photo-op, now he is poised to do it again with protestors who are calling for the removal of statues and monuments to slaveholders and Confederate generals who withdrew from the United States and fought against the Union in the Civil War. All patriots who love this country and care about the well-being of its citizens must unite and hold Donald Trump accountable.”

Congresswoman Maxine Waters was first elected as the U.S. Representative for California’s congressional district in 1991. She also currently serves as the chairwoman of the House Financial Services Committee.

LISA COLLINS Publisher

“The Black Tax” ast month, as I sat in a restaurant awaiting a takeout order, a middle-aged white woman struck up a conversation. After a bit, she leaned in and said, ‘I just have to say, I’ve been watching the protests and my husband and I donated money, but enough already. It took me an hour and a half to get around the traffic being held up by a rally in Santa Monica yesterday and today, they’re in Venice Beach. I’m tired of being inconvenienced”.

I looked at her for a moment before responding, but before I could stop myself, I said incredulously, “A whole hour and a half.”

Black men live in fear of police all their lives, not to mention the four hundred years they’ve had to endure second rate treatment and you’ve been inconvenienced for a whole hour and a half. These kids are out there putting their hearts and health on the line to create positive change and you’re inconvenienced…’

Sensing the error in her judgement, she quickly stopped me. ‘Oh no, I’m Jewish, so I understand…” she said, muttering something about the Holocaust.

“Well,” I said, “think of slavery as over two centuries of Holocaust for black people” as my name was called and I left.

Ironically enough, in the last couple of years, there have been many parallels drawn between slavery and the holocaust leading up to this moment. Susan Neiman’s book “Learning From the Germans,” contrasts Germany’s response to the Holocaust with America’s response to slavery and centuries of racial discrimination. Her focus– as pointed out in a 2019 New York Times book review– was not “comparative evil” – which event is worse – but “comparative redemption,” how each community has responded to and reframed the memory of its unsavory past.

It is my contention that in this moment America might be looking to reframe an unsavory past.

In the spirit of the civil rights movement, the Vietnam protests and the women’s protests of 2017, America has found its soul in the millions of voices that have risen up around the nation to protest the tragic death of George Floyd and all those lost at the hands of the systematic racism that has long plagued our justice system.

We’ve seen protests before and yet everyone agrees that this movement is different – as reflected not only in its numbers, its global embrace and its multi-culturalism, but in the fire it seems to have sparked for change.

Never before have systems in cities across the nation had to reassess, and in some cases reallocate funds and introduce legislation to change laws, even in the midst of a president who retweets “White Power” and doctored racist baby videos.

With the death of George Floyd, the Minneapolis City Council voted unanimously to disband its police force and as reported in our cover story (“And The Blue Walls &

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Laws Come Tumbling Down” on page 12) police forces across the nation are reassessing and changing their policies.

Never before have we seen the billions of dollars committed by major American corporations–like Apple, Proctor & Gamble, Google, PayPal Bank of America– to reflect that change in their commitment to programs that in the words of Apple CEO Tim Cook, “challenge the systemic barriers to opportunity and dignity that exists for communities of color and particular for the black community.” (See our story on page 10).

Never before have we seen the sensitivity to imaging that might be perceived as offensive as well as the removestatues of confederate leaders.

Never before could we have expected to see people brave their way through a COVID-19 pandemic to march for change.

And yes, many of us have been fortunate, but none of us have escaped what former “Today” Anchor/sportscaster Bryant Gumbel has dubbed as “the Black tax”. Here is how he explains it.

“It's not an IRS thing. It's the added burden that comes with being Black in America, and it's routinely paid, no matter how much education you have, how much money you make or how much success you've earned “The Black Tax is about more than just the added stares, whispers and suspicions when you're out and about. It's about the many instances of disrespect and incivility your color seems to engender, and being expected to somehow always restrain yourself, lest you not be what white Americans are never asked to be: a credit to your race…

“It's about your son getting arrested for doing nothing more than walking while Black…

“It's about being asked to overlook blue failings and white failings so they can be conveniently viewed as Black issues…

“It's the Black Tax. It's paid daily by me and every person of color in this country and, frankly, it is exhausting. I've been paying the Black Tax in America for almost 72 years now, long enough that I shouldn't have to ask others to simply accept one very basic reality: that our Black lives matter.”

That powerful statement by Bryant Gumbel illustrates just how different this moment might be. Only time will tell. Keep the faith!

L.A. Focus/July 2020

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UpFront

News Briefs

Fight Against Voter Suppression Gets $30 Million Injection

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ith its announcement of its $30 million investment, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is just the latest group to seeking to increase voter registration and participation among people of color with a lower propensity to vote. voter registration and participation among people of color with a lower propensity to vote.

The initiative, called Vote Your Voice, is focused on increasing voter participation specifically in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi, beginning in 2020 and running through 2022.

“This initiative is especially important right now, as millions of people across the country feel the urgency to make our voices heard this fall after the continued silence from our leaders on the many Black people being killed by police,” SPLC President and Chief Executive Officer Margaret Huang, said in a news release.

“Voting won’t solve this problem the day after the election but in order to begin dismantling white supremacy, we need to ensure that every voter of color is able to cast their ballot without interference or hardship.”

Almost 92 million eligible Americans did not vote in the 2016 presidential elections. An estimated 143 million eligible Americans failed to vote in the 2014 midterms marking the lowest voter participation in 72 years. According to the Center for American Progress, roughly 6 million American citizens are barred from having their voices heard because of antiquated and discriminatory ex-offender disenfranchisement laws. Voter suppression tools, including improper voter purges such as those recently upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court, keep countless eligible Americans from voting each elec-

tion cycle nationwide.

The good news is that Implementing automatic voter registration in all 50 states and the District of Columbia could result in more than 22 million newly registered voters in just one year of implementation.

Eliminating exoffender disenfranchisement laws would bring upwards of 6 million new voters into the electorate.

With the stakes in November are as high as they’ve ever been, groups like the SPLC are making voting registration a priority.

Stacy Abrams Fair Fight Campaign against voter suppression is another.

Abrams, who some believe would be governor of Georgia right now had it not been for voter suppression, believes voting rights to the be “the pinnacle of power in our country.”

"Most of us understand voter suppression as the 1960s images of billy clubs and hoses and dogs barking – aggressive interference," Abrams has said. "But in the 21st century, voter suppression looks like administrative errors. It looks like user error. It looks like mistakes. But it is just as intentional and just as insidious."

Earlier this month announced the formation of “More Than a Vote”, teaming up with the popular brand Coach to focus in on galvanizing the vote–and voter registration– for the November election and to combat the misinformation that can all too often disenfranchise communities of color.

“Coach is setting the pace by stepping up to the plate as a founding partner with More Than A Vote in the fight against voter suppression,” said Addisu

President Trump’s “White Power” Retweet Prompts Strong Rebukes

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L.A. Focus/July 2020

n what was his latest divisive tactic invoking racism in American, President Donald Trump retweeted a video of a supporter who among other offensive language, shouted, “White Power” to detractors while participating in a golf cart parade in a retirement community in Florida called “The Villages.”.

Trump’s response: “Thank you to the great people of The Villages,” Trump tweeted, referring to the retirement community where the events happened. “The Radical Left Do Nothing Democrats will Fall in the Fall. Corrupt Joe is shot. See you soon!!!“ “Just when you think Trump cannot be more vile or racist, he outdoes himself,” Bernie Sanders posted. This morning he shared a video in which a supporter of his yells, "white power." Let us stand together and make certain that this "stable genius" is defeated, and defeated badly, in November.”

Senator Tom Scott, the only Black Republican in the upper chamber, called the tweet “indefensible”.

“It was so profanity-laced, the entire thing was offensive. Certainly, the comment about the white power was offensive."

Though, later deleted the tweet is just the latest in a series of racially divisive messaging and

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inflammatory rhetoric that has become characteristic of the Trump presidency.

Trump has long been under fire for sharing videos, highlighting clashes and or perceived clashes between whites and minorities, even as the nation has sought to address systemic racism and injustice following the killing of George Floyd at the knee of a Minneapolis police officer.

In one case, he highlighted a doctored video–flagged by Twitter as manipulated media–featuring a black child and a white child, reading, “Terrified todler runs from racist baby” when in the actual picture both toddlers are running towards each other in a touching embrace.

In response to the “white power” post, the Democratic party tweeted, “As we seek ways to address systemic racism and injustice, the president is tweeting out a video promoting 'white power'. Trump's consistent and hateful actions let us know exactly what his priorities are.”

Democratic rival, Joe Biden tweeted, “Today the President shared a video of people shouting, “white power” and said they were “great.” Just like he did after Charlottesville. We’re in a battle for the soul of the nation – and the President has picked a side. But make no mistake: it’s a battle we will win.”

Demissie, the executive director of More Than A Vote. “Our power lies in the strength of our collective voices. We’re incredibly grateful to have Coach’s voice from day one. Their generosity will pay dividends in our efforts to combat systematic attempts to limit access to the ballot box and strip Black citizens and other people of color of their constitutionally guaranteed right to vote.”

In the last few weeks, the Black Voters Matter Fund has conducted virtual town hall meetings to discuss voting information and the work being done by organizers in the community, from Michigan to Louisiana.

Celebrities like Beyonce and Janelle Monae are also stepping up to the plate in the pitch for black voters.

“We have one more thing to do to walk in our true power and that is to vote,” Beyonce said as she accepted the BET Humanitarian Awards last month. “I’m encouraging you to continue to take action. Continue to change and dismantle a racist and unequal system…because there are people banking on us staying at home during local elections and primaries happening in states across the country. We have to vote like our life depends on it because it does.”

Activists Celebrate David & Goliath Victory in Saving the Crenshaw Mall When news broke in late April that CIM Group had agreed to acquire Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza for more than $100 million it triggered negative reactions from faith and community leaders in the Crenshaw area.

But last month marked a massive victory for the faith-led coalition and African-American community leaders who were determined to stop the sale of the historic Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Mall to the CIM Group.

Some called it an epic David and Goliath battle. Here is how it played out.

• Rev. K.W. Tulloss (Baptist Ministers Conference of L.A.) and Rev. William D. Smart, Jr. (SCLC LA), local community activists, began the grassroots campaign, as a result of the L.A. Times article indicating that the mall had been sold.

• Upon further research at the CIM Group and the sale, Tulloss and Smart discovered that the sale was pending.

• The activists first step was to determine a coalition name (The Coalition to Save the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza) and set up an online petition via change.org: https://www.change.org/p/shaul-kuba-cofounder-and-principal-of-cim-group-save-thebaldwin-hills-crenshaw-plaza.

Crenshaw Mall continued to page 20

California Moves Closer to Granting Parolees Right to Vote Assemblymember Kevin McCarty’s (DSacramento) Assembly Constitutional Amendment 6 (ACA 6) passed out of the California State Senate last week.

The bill, known as the Free the Vote Act, will seek voters' approval in the 2020 November election to restore voting rights to former inmates who are free from incarceration but still on parole.

Currently, in California, a person’s right to vote is suspended when they are imprisoned or on parole for a felony conviction, although they can vote while on probation, county postrelease community supervision and federal supervised release.

Only two states, Maine and Vermont, allow people to vote while still incarcerated.

ACA 6 passed out the Senate with a 28-9 vote.

It’s been a long road for ACA 6 since it first passed out of the California Assembly with bipartisan support back in August 2019. About 48,000 people on parole would become eligible to vote should Californians approve the amendment.

“ACA 6 passed on the Senate Floor. To get to this day was not easy, and there’s still work to be done,” McCarty said in a Twitter post following the Senate vote. “But I am thrilled that Californians will have an opportunity to weigh in this November, and use their voice to give voice to others.”

Uber, Lyft Charging More for Drop-Offs in Minority Communities

A recent study suggests the algorithm used by companies like Lyft and Uber could be discriminating against passengers that request transportation to predominantly non-white communities by charging them more per trip.

Conducted by Aylin Caliskan and Akshat Pandey at George Washington University in Washington DC, the study analyzed transportation and census data in Chicago in an attempt to discover whether or not there was a racial disparity in how much customers were charged based on location.

The study revealed that Uber and Lyft charged a higher rate per mile for trips where the destination or pick-up point was in a neighborhood with a higher percentage of non-white residents, low-income residents, or high education residents.

The two researchers came to this conclusion after analyzing more than 100 million rides between November 2018 and December 2019.

“The lack of extensive algorithmic regulation and the black-box nature of ridehailing fare pricing algorithms leads to the concern of whether they may be exhibiting bias towards riders based on their demographics,” the authors wrote in the study.

This would not be the first time Uber and Lyft found themselves in trouble over racial discrimination. A 2016 study revealed that riders with African American “sounding” names were more likely to have their trips cancelled by drivers; black men had it occur two times more than white men (11.2 percent to 4.5 percent) and black women also had it happen more often (8.4 percent to 5.4 percent). In Seattle, African American passengers waited 8 percent longer than white passengers.

HeadToHead The Dilemna of Systemic Racism in the Nation’s Police Forces emocratic mayors, with a few George Floyd during the Simpson trial, Williams exceptions, run America's did a departmentwide review to Protesters biggest cities. These mayors determine the validity of the allegaSeek a have long promised to deliver police 'Diverse' PD -- tions. His report found no evidence forces that look like the community But Will That whatsoever of police misconduct. they police. Some have succeeded.

But for those who insisted that Matter But in the wake of widespread Simpson was an innocent man protests over the death of George Floyd framed by the racist LAPD, neither while in police custody, one must ask Williams nor his report made any difference. whether officers' racial and ethnic "diversi- In New York City, riotty" truly makes a difference in public percep- ers looted stores in tion of the police.

Manhattan and other Diversity didn't make much difference in boroughs. How diverse Baltimore in 2015 when it saw protests and and representative is riots after the death of black suspect Freddie the about 36,000-memGray. At the time of Gray's death, the mayor ber New York City was black, as were the top two officials run- Police Department ning the police department. The Maryland compared with the city state attorney, who filed charges against the demographics?

Larry Elder six officer defendants, was black. Of the six New York City 2019 officers charged, three were black, as was Census Bureau estimates: 29.1% Hispanic the judge before whom two of the officers 32.1% white tried their cases. The majority in 24.3% black Baltimore's City Council was black, as was 13.9% Asian the United States attorney general and, of 0.1% Pacific Islander course, the president of the United States.

0.4% Native American This didn't stop accusations of police misconNYPD: 29% or 10,526 Hispanic duct. It didn't stop rioting.

47% or 17,192 white Or take Los Angeles, where some protest15% or 5,515 black ers, allegedly angry over the death of George 9% or 3,120 Asian Floyd, looted stores and torched police cars.

0.08% or 27 Native American The city of Los Angeles has almost 4 million As to the narrative that blacks hate and residents. The racial demographics, accord- fear the police, polls say otherwise. As to ing to 2019 Census Bureau estimates, are as whether they are "very satisfied" or "somefollows: 48.6% Hispanic what satisfied" with local police, a 28.5% white Monmouth University poll found that both 8.9% black blacks (21% very; 51% somewhat) and 11.6% Asian whites (45% very; 27% somewhat) gave 0.2% Pacific Islander responses that totaled 72%. This does not 0.7% Native American exactly add to a plea to "defund the police."

As of April, the LAPD had 10,013 sworn As rapper Tupac Shakur said in a 1994 officers, with a racial and ethnic breakdown interview, blacks living in the ghetto fear as follows: 49.3% or 4,941 Hispanic and oppose the same criminal "villain" ele30.1% or 3,012 white ment that police fear and oppose.

9.6% or 962 black The racial "diversity" achieved by city 7.8% or 783 Asian police departments, as in New York City and 2.5% or 247 Filipino American Los Angeles, has not and will not stop 0.3% or 33 Native American charges of "institutional racism" as long as 0.3% or 35 other many of the "reformers'" true intent is for From 1992 to 2002, the Los Angeles black criminals to go unpunished.

Police Department had back-to-back black Larry Elder is a bestselling author and police chiefs, the first one appointed by the nationally syndicated radio talk show host. city's first black mayor. That's right, during His latest book, "The New Trump Standard," the O.J. Simpson case, the LAPD was led by is now available. To find out more about Willie Williams, its first black chief. Because Larry Elder, or become an "Elderado," visit of the allegations of police misconduct made www.LarryElder.com.

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he choking death of George Too Little Has sive plan to transform law enforceFloyd by Minneapolis police ment and its stated purpose. For Changed officer Derek Chauvin–and that transformation to happen, law About the subsequent protests and unrest enforcement officials must realize American across America amid a pandemic that police violence is systemic, not Policing... and economic turmoil–have the handiwork of a few bad apples. shocked the conscience of the nation.

Police have assumed the role of an occuWhile I, too, watch the events in pying force for years in Black and Latinx America unfold with rage and disbelief, I communities, operating in these neighboram not shocked. In hoods not to serve and protect, but rather 1997, I was a New to contain and control. The “us vs. them” York human rights mentality with which police regard proactivist who organized testers and citizens has only worsened the first national con- with the increased militarization of police ference on police bru- forces across the nation. tality and misconduct, There are several reasons policing has and hearings held by been slow to change. Police unions and the the Congressional terms of their contracts shield them from accountability, and qualified immunity David A. Love Black Caucus.

It was the protects them from lawsuits. A lack of height of the era of former New York City strong national guidelines for law enforceMayor Rudy Giuliani, whose tenure was a ment or meaningful community control in nightmare for Black and Latinx New most jurisdictions also leaves them Yorkers with his reign of police violence, unchecked. racial profiling, and stop-and-frisk tactics.

In its policy platform, the Movement for I co-produced a documentary on NYPD Black Lives has proposed democratic combrutality and worked with the victims of munity control of local, state, and federal police abuse and their families, who were law enforcement, giving the communities beaten, choked, shot, harassed, and humil- victimized by policing the authority to coniated by police officers, and, in the rarest trol budgets and policies; hire, fire, and cases, were brought to justice. In addition, discipline officers; and issue subpoenas.

I worked with human rights groups, legal Campaign Zero, an anti-police violence defense funds, civil rights and liberties organization, has called for constructive organizations, and judges and progressive policies, such as an end to policing of minor law enforcement organizations to find offenses as well as “stop and frisk” and solutions to an epidemic of abuse. racial profiling, and an implementation of Little has changed since that time–or uniform standards limiting the use of since the urban rebellions of the 1960s, deadly force. It also calls for independent which “increased tensions and ultimately investigations and special prosecutors that led to violence,” according to the 1968 remove inherently conflicted local prosecuKerner Commission report. tors from police violence cases and That is not to say that police depart- reformed federal law to allow more federal ments haven’t enacted reforms. Some law prosecutions of police killings. Widespread enforcement agencies have instituted body use of body cameras, a stronger public cameras, although some officers conve- right to record police, and racial bias trainniently do not activate them when some- ing of police officers would bring accountaone dies, as was the case in the recent bility, as would ending the profit motive in police killing of David McAtee, a Black law enforcement practices–including man in Louisville. And some departments, eliminating fines and fees, ticket and including in Minneapolis, have introduced arrest quotas, and property confiscation– implicit bias training, de-escalation train- and requiring that department budgets ing, and other measures. pay for misconduct settlements.

And yet, the killing of George Floyd Campaign Zero also advocates ending demonstrates that these more incremental the federal government’s 1033 program– reforms are insufficient, at least by them- which allows local police departments to selves, and in the absence of a comprehen- procure military equipment–and enacting David A. Love continued to page 20

Headlines From Africa Botswana: Wildlife officials are investigating the mysterious recent deaths of 154 elephants raising alarm, considering that elephants all over Africa have been under threat from poaching and poisoning, neither of which appear to be the causes of the deaths. Botswana is home to almost one-third of elephants on the continent.

Cameroon: African entrepreneur Tabi Joda established an agroforestry business called One Billion Trees for Africa and has begun to plant tens of thousands of trees, enlisting youth to support an endeavour he said can demonstrate how to turn rural areas into profit centers beneficial to the ecosystem.

Gambia: A new draft law seeks the shortest term for any leader since independence in 1965. Section 5 of the draft constitution states no person will serve as president more than 10 years.

Kenya: Sports Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed is working with the Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya to present to parliament a bill that will see offenders serve jail terms as the country intensifies its fight against vice.

Mohamed said Kenya must continue dominating sports, but warned it must be done winning clean and working hard.

Lesotho: According to recently released court documents, Lesotho's ex-prime minister Thomas Thabane and his wife paid a local criminal gang to kill his estranged wife three years ago, ordering the hit on Lipolelo Thabane to allow his current wife Maesaiah to become the first lady.

Mali: Thousands of protesters are calling for the resignation of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita amid grinding poverty, escalating jihadist and inter-communal violence, insecurity and street protests.

Malawi: Dr. Lazarus Chakwera was sworn in as Malawi’s sixth President. Chakwera beat the incumbent president Arthur Peter Mutharika by over 800,000 votes (58.75%). Chakwera said it was a great honor to carry the nation’s hopes and aspirations Nigeria: Violence against Christians in Nigeria “can pave the way for genocide,” a group of U.K. parliamentarians warned in a new report. According to the report, a disproportionate number of killings are being carried out by militant Fulani herdsmen against predominantly Christian farming communities in the country's fertile Middle Belt region.

Sierra Leone: Hundreds took to the streets after a five-year-old girl was raped and murdered.

Protesters demand those responsible be brought to justice and a clear message be sent that genderbased violence and the sexual abuse of children will not be tolerated. Protesters also asked for deeper reform of the justice system, sustainable funding for children and women’s rights organizations, and addressing harmful gender stereotypes and myths around sexual violence.

South Africa: South Africa eased lockdown restrictions to restart businesses and revive its economy as the tourism sector is among the worst affected. While the tourist season kicks off only in September, few travelers are expected as the country grapples with the highest number of coronavirus cases in Africa.

Zimbabwe: The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe suspended all mobile money transfer platforms in respect of transactions above $5 000. Ecocash—a subsidiary of privately owned Econet Zimbabwe, responsible for 94% of all mobile money transactions in the country—was singled out as the main driver of the current economic turbulence fueled by high volume mobile money transactions.

L.A. Focus/July 2020

Ghana: In the wake of George Floyd’s death, Ghana has repeated its message for African Americans since launching their “Year of Return” in 2019. The appeal is simply this: Floyd's death: "Africa is your home" as officials in Ghana's capital Accra are inviting Americans to live and invest in the West African nation. Their "Beyond the Return" campaign is not only aimed at promoting tourism but also fostering economic relations, trade and investments from the diaspora in Africa and the world at large.

A look at current news from the continent of Africa

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UpFront Scrubbing California Landmarks of Racist Symbols - and the Word “Negro”

he Mississippi Legislature recently approved the removal of the Confederate battle emblem from the state flag. It’s a sign of the times, historians say, that speaks to the turning spirit of the nation — even happening in a state that has remained a proud stronghold, clinging to enduring customs that nod to a romanticized version of the “Old South.”

Gov. Tate Reeves said he will sign the bill into law.

The deep south state was the lone holdout flying a flag that flaunts the Confederate “Stars and Bars,” which has long stood as a symbol of White supremacy, racism, and slavery. Now, Magnolia State lawmakers say they will create a commission that will design a new flag.

Worldwide protests against injustice and racism have led to a revolt in the United States against monuments that honor public institutions or figures who stood for – or upheld – racism. The death of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man police officers killed in Minneapolis has brought police brutality, racism, and economic inequality in America into sharp focus. That has prompted the nation to look inward and soul search, which has now expanded to questioning the country’s tradition of celebrating controversial figures that honor its racist past.

Across the United States, protesters have defaced, torn down or petitioned the removal of enshrinements honoring confederate soldiers, segregationists, slave traders, white supremacists and others identified as racist.

“There is no room in the hallowed halls of Congress or in any place of honor for memorializing men who embody the violent bigotry and grotesque racism of the Confederacy,” said Nancy Pelosi (D-CA12), Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. On June 18, Pelosi ordered the removal of four portraits depicting confederate leaders from the nation’s Capitol.

In California, after 137 years, legislators announced the removal of statues depicting Christopher Columbus and Queen Isabella of Spain from the Capitol Rotunda. They had been on display under the building’s dome since 1883.

“As the first California Native American elected to the Legislature, I welcome removal of the statue. It is a symbol of genocide and atrocities toward Indigenous people throughout the world, including the United States,” said Assemblymember James C. Ramos (D-Highland), reflecting on the removal of the Columbus monument. “We need to harness this opportunity to portray factual history from the view of those who suffered. Yet, we must also focus on the present in order to change the L.A. Focus/July 2020

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future.”

These acts around the country have sparked a debate about whether or not history – and public memorialization of our past – should be sanitized.

Dr. Daniel Walker, an African American historian and professor, says not creating, funding or publicly displaying these symbols do not equate to “sanitizing” history.

“It is removing what are, in many cases, false history. It is correcting what are misinterpreted histories, and, at some times, removing what is fully oppressive history,” Walker told California Black Media.

Renaming CA State Park Negro Bar, Formerly “Ni**er Bar” In northern California, a movement to study and correct local symbols deemed racist is brewing around one of the state’s African American-themed landmarks.

Negro Bar is an area located within the Folsom Lake State Recreation Area near Sacramento.

Located in the city of Folsom, Negro Bar sits on the west bank of the American River, which flows south into the adjoining Sacramento River.

The park was named after an area where Black miners once worked during the Gold Rush of the mid-1800s. The miners were isolated because of their color.

At Negro Bar, the Black miners struck gold in 1850, one to two ounces for each man on the average per day, according to an article published in the now-defunct Sacramento Placer Times.

Clarence Caesar, a Black historian at California State Library’s California Historical and Cultural Endowment said Negro Bar is the state’s “first Black gold mining site.”

The park’s name has gone through several changes. It was initially identified as the racial epithet, “(N-word) Bar,” as described in the book “Riches for All: The California Gold Rush and the World.”

Before recent anti-racism protests, local Black community leaders and historians had agreed to continue using the current name, which doesn’t seem to bother the many kayakers, fishers, and hikers of all races that flock to that park during the hottest days.

The Sacramento Chapter of Buffalo Soldiers, a history group that pays homage to the U.S. Army’s Black 10th Cavalry of Company G, staged events at Negro Bar for many years, beginning in the 1990s up until the mid-2000s.

The California Department of Parks and Recreation (CDPR) has stated that it recognizes the seriousness of offensive public symbols and that their interpretations can change over time. The department welcomes feedback from the public.

“In response to comments received in 2018, the department has undertaken a review to better understand the public’s perspective about the name and its continued use,” CDPR stated on its website.

People who are not happy with the current name say Negro is an archaic term for Black people. A petition to rename Negro Bar currently has more than 60,000 signatures.

But some Black people are in favor of staying with the current name. One of them is Jonathan Burgess, a native of Sacramento. His great-grandfather was an

It is removing what are, in many cases, false history. It is correcting what are misinterpreted histories, and, at some times, removing what is fully oppressive history,

enslaved Black man whose owner brought him to California during the Gold Rush.

He says the current name is “part of history.”

He said changing the name would be a “miscarriage of justice” and he doesn’t consider Negro Bar offensive.

He added that some activists don’t have a great understanding of history, and that’s why they want to tear down all monuments.

However, Burgess is firmly against statues that honor Confederate officers.

He said those statues lionize people who fought against their own country to maintain slavery.

“These were people who fought against our government,” he said. “Pull them don.”

The city of Folsom and the California State Parks’ Office of Historic Preservation have procured another African American landmark called Negro Hill.

Negro Hill, listed No. 570 in California Historical Landmarks Program, was an established community for African American, White, Asian, Spanish, and Portuguese miners founded by a Black man named “Kelsey.”

Negro Hill, comprising of “Little Negro Hill” and “Big Negro Hill” camps, was located across the South Fork of the American River from Mormon Island, according to Sierra Nevada Geotourism. It was first mined in 1848, four miles from Negro Bar. Negro Hill had a population of 1,200 by 1853. When laws were enacted to limit the rights of Black people in the 1850s, disenfranchisement forced the African Americans to leave Negro Hill.

What’s left of Negro Hill is now at the bottom of Folsom Lake, swallowed by an expanding lake basin. But the departed buried at the landmark town have been reinterred at the nearby Mormon Island Memorial Cemetery.

Michael Harris, a Sacramento activist who studies both Negro Bar and Negro Hill, ensured that the 36 gravesites received new headstones to keep the Gold Rush era community’s legacy alive.

More Monument Removals Around California The Statewide Coalition Against Racist Statues (SCARS) and numerous social justice partners celebrated the removal of the Capt. John Sutter statue from Sutter Park in Sacramento.

Sutter, an early settler of California’s capital city, is memorialized as a Gold Rush icon and Sacramento founding father, but, SCARS has stated that he “was actually a cruel and depraved slavemaster.” The removal of the statue, which was issued by the administration of Sutter Hospital, ends “the glorification of Indigenous genocides and ‘De-Sutters’ Sacramento,” SCARS said in a written statement.

“Being a Native American in Sacramento and seeing the idealization of

ANTONIO RAY HARVEY & MANNY OTIKO California Black Media

a person who brought a reign of terror to our local Native tribes – and beyond – is triggering. I grew up here, learned about Sutter in my primary school education, participated in the field trips to the fort that left me shocked,” wrote Vanessa Esquivido (Nor Rel Muk Wintu, Hupa, Xicana), an expert on Native American Studies, in a letter to CBM. In Antelope Valley, an inland area north of Los Angeles, Quartz Valley High School has ditched its Rebel mascot. And Fort Bragg, a small North Coast town with less than 8,000 residents, is considering changing its name. The Confederate general Braxton Bragg, for whom the scenic seaside town is named, enslaved over 100 Black people.

On June 26, President Donald Trump signed an Executive Order to protect monuments, memorials, and statues.

Walker says the solution to preserving history without lifting up racist historical symbols is simple.

“Take all the monuments that have been removed and confiscated, put them in one place,” he said. “Put them in a museum, and say, ‘this is the Confederacy.’ This is how bad we’ve been in America. This is the real story.”

Covered California Extends Sign Ups For Coverage During COVID-19 Pandemic Covered California is giving consumers more time to sign up for health care coverage during the COVID-19 pandemic by extending the current special-enrollment deadline through the end of July.

“Covered California is committed to helping people get access to the health care they need, and while California is reopening parts of the state, there is still a lot of uncertainty out there due to the pandemic,” said Peter Lee, Executive Director. “We want to make sure people have a path to coverage, whether through Covered California or Medi-Cal, and giving people more time to sign up is the right thing to do.”

The new deadline means that anyone who meets Covered California’s eligibility requirements, which are similar to those in place during the annual enrollment period, can apply for coverage through July 31.

175,030 people have signed up for coverage between March 20 and June 20, which is more than twice the number who signed up during the same time last year.

Covered California provides eligible consumers the opportunity to sign up for health care coverage outside of the traditional open-enrollment period if they experience a qualifying life event, i.e. losing your health insurance, moving, getting married or having a baby.

People who sign up will have access to private health insurance plans with monthly premiums that may be lowered due to federal and new state financial help that became effective in 2020. Coverage would begin on the first day of the following month – so those losing job-based coverage would not face a gap in coverage.

6.3 million unemployment claims have been processed in the state since the pandemic started.

“We know that when people lose their jobs, they often lose the health care coverage that was protecting them and their families,” Lee said. “We want to make sure those who have lost work and did not have insurance have access to the health care in the middle of a pandemic.”

Game Changer: Colin Kaepernick “He Took A Knee So Black America Could Stand Up” fter nearly four years of being banished from the NFL, Colin Kaepernick might possibly find a team home with the sanction of Commissioner Bob Goodell.

Ironically enough, many of the teams that blackballed him in 2017 –including the San Francisco 49ers, with whom he scored an NFL championship–are standing to embrace the cause he took a knee for–racial inequality and police brutality.

In the three years since he last took a knee during the national anthem, Kaepernick has become a cause celebre, signing a lucrative endorsement deal with Nike; filing a grievance against –and subsequently settling with–the NFL; establishing a publishing house through which he will release his highly anticipated memoir; and founding the Know Your Rights Camp, whose stated mission is to advance the liberation and well-being of Black and Brown communities through education, self-empowerment, mass-mobilization and the creation of new systems that elevate the next generation of change leaders.

"I learned early on that in fighting against systematic oppression, dehumanization and colonization, who controls the narrative shapes the reality of how the world views society,” Kaepernick told USA Today Sports earlier this year. “It controls who’s loved, who’s hated, who’s degraded and who’s celebrated.”

For now at least, it seems the 32-year old former NFL quarterback–who became one of the most polarizing figures in American sports, has made more of an impact off the field than on, as the tragic killing of George Floyd brought the cause that Kaepernick sacrificed his NFL career for front and center.

Athletes like LeBron James and superstars like Jamie Foxx made the parallel clear with their viral social media postings of a picture of a Minnesota police officer Derek Chauvin with his knee on the neck of George Floyd juxtapose to a picture of Colin Kaepernick kneeling during the national anthem, captioned “this is why”. All while Colin Kapernick’s “I’m With Kap” jerseys sold like hotcakes.

Fact is, for the last few years, discussions of race in the NFL have revolved around the kneeling campaign Kaepernick waged to raise awareness to racial injustices and police brutality. It was a campaign that split many in the NFL along racial lines with an assist from President Trump, who had choice words for the players who kneeled and the owners that allowed it.

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But the death of Floyd and the global protests it sparked have changed all that. Players–both black and white–speaking out but openly joining in the protests.

Even Tom Brady–who has acknowledged Trump as a friend–joined a group of players calling for an investigation into the death of Ahmaud Arbery.

A statement by Goodell–that stopped just short of an apology to Kaepernick– read in part, “the protesters’ reactions to these incidents reflect the pain, anger and frustration that so many of us feel… There remains an urgent need for action.”

The questions surrounding what brought Kapernick to the point of protesting back in 2016, will be answered more fully in his upcoming book, but some have linked it to a number of black men killed by police in back-to-back incidents.

“This is what lynchings look like in 2016!” Kaepernick posted on social media when the video of Alton Sterling’s death surfaced. “Another murder in the streets because the color of a man’s skin, at the hands of the people who they say will protect us. When will they be held accountable? Or did he fear for his life as he executed this man?”

A day later came the death of Philando Castile, prompting Kapernick to tweet, “We are under attack…less than 24 hrs later another body in the street!”

Born in Milwaukee to a single white mother and black father, Colin Kaepernick was adopted as an infant by Rick and Teresa Kaepernick.

The family moved to California when he was four where he developed an early interest in African American history and sports. Excelling in football, he would go on to become the first NCAA player to throw for more than 10,000 yards and rush for more than 4,000 yards.

But for the 6’4” free agent, life has always been about more than football.

“I want to have a positive influence as much as I can,” Kaepernick told S p o r t s Illustrated

writer Peter King in 2013. “I’ve had people write me because of adoption. I’ve had people write me because they’re biracial. I’ve had people write me because their kids have heart defects – my mom had two boys who died of heart defects, which ultimately brought about my adoption. So, to me, the more people you can touch, the more people you can influence in a positive way or inspire, the better.”

And that is just what he is doing with his publishing company which he says was established to create opportunities for Black and Brown writers and creators to control their narratives. Then there is the Know Your Rights Camp.

Launched in 2016 with his girlfriend, Nessa Diab, the camp has expanded its mission beyond teaching young people their lawful rights and strategies for successfully navigating encounters with law enforcement.

In March, Kaepernick established the Know Your Rights Camp COVID-19 Relief Fund.

“We need each other now more than ever,” Kapernick posted. “This Fund was created to raise money and awareness to the disproportionate impact this pandemic is having on Black and Brown communities.

In June, Kaepernick announced the Colin Kaepernick Know Your Right Legal Defense Initiative teaming up with top defense and civil rights lawyers nationwide to assist those arrested or victims of police brutality while fighting injustice and protesting across the nation.

Kaepernick’s work with the camp has hardly gone unnoticed, raking in millions following the protests with donations coming from the likes of Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian (whose wife is tennis star Serena Williams), The Weekend and Michael Jordan.

“When there is an injustice within our community,” the former quarterback wrote, “it is our legal right to address it, by any means necessary.”

MoneyMatters

On the Money

George Floyd Death and Protests Spark Billions In Corporate Giving In the wake of the killing of George Floyd and the swelling protests against the police and systematic racism that followed, a growing number of corporations around the country–including major tech firms like Google, Apple and Facebook– have donated billions and launched national initiatives to fight racial injustices. Donations for bail funds alone have reportedly topped $90 million.

Apple CEO Tim Cook announced a $100 million Racial Equity and Justice Initiative to “challenge the systemic barriers to opportunity and dignity that exists for communities of color and particular for the black community.”

In addition to the $40 million Facebook invests annual to organizations fighting racial injustice, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg committed $10 million to groups working on racial justice.

Kaiser-Permanente's plan plans to direct $60 million in joint investments and $40 million in grant funding. More than 2,000 businesses owned by Black and other underrepresented people across the country will receive support.

YouTube will launch a $100 million fund “dedicated to amplifying and developing the voices of Black creators and artists and their stories,” and Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian (whose wife is tennis star Serena Williams) pledged $1 million to Kaepernick’s camp and stepped down from his position on the board suggesting the company fill his spot with a black candidate.

Amazon has committed to donating $10 million. Google said it would be giving $12 million and the list goes on…

Microsoft. Twitter. Nike. Comcast. Target. Verizon. Proctor & Gamble. Netflix.

Walmart announced a $100 million donation over five years through a new center on racial equity. Sony Music Group announced the launch of a $100 million fund to support social justice and anti-racist initiatives around the world and Michael Jordan donated $100 million which will be distributed among organizations over the span of 10 years–will support initiatives surrounding policy reform and leveling the playing field when it comes to educational opportunities for youth in underserved communities throughout the country.

“Until the ingrained racism that allows our country’s institutions to fail is completely eradicated, we will remain committed to protecting and improving the lives of Black people,” Jordan said in a statement.

Bank of America pledged $1 billion over four years to help address economic and racial inequality and said the commitment will include programs such as virus testing and other health services, support to minority-owned small businesses,

and partnerships with historically black and Hispanic educational institutions.

“This is a watershed moment for all black-led organizing groups,” Kailee Scales, managing director of the Black Lives Matter Global Network, told the New York Times.

Yet, while most of the funds are being directed to groups like Black Lives Matter, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, the Urban League, Color of Change and Colin Kaepernick’s Know Your Rights Camp, there are concerns about how the monies will be spent.

“We don’t want it to be a situation where they (companies) are just throwing money at us. They throw money at a problem and then think it changes the situation. It’s just a band-aid,” said Salena Pryor, founder of the Black Small Business Association of California (BSBAC). “So the question is how are they going to actually make sure the money gets to the Black communities.

That would be our concern.”

BSBAC helps advocate for minority-owned businesses that struggle finding resources. In just over a few months, Pryor, a former legislative consultant, grew to represent 1,153 business clients and self-employed individuals across the state. She says her organization is still growing.

Pryor explains that her concern about how the money will reach its target is warranted. Because on the back end, she said, the money will not only support Black businesses but show companies that they made the right investments.

On June 17, PayPal joined corporations and public institutions supporting the Black community. It will kick out $530 million to Black-owned businesses and newly established proprietors through its “PayPal Equity Investment for Underrepresented Minority-led Startups and Investment Funds” program.

In an effort to help address economic inequality Paypal is requesting applications for submission. The PayPal team will review each response and evaluate each proposal before making an investment decision.

Several applicants, such as the Los Angeles-based Kiva and Opportunity Fund, both not-for-profit financial institutions, and other groups, have received funding.

In a written statement, PayPal said that it is “uniquely positioned to help in this area” and have committed to doing its part to “address the unacceptable racial divide by advancing a more just economy and society.”

“Things must change,” Apple CEO Tim Cook tweeted.

“The unfinished work of racial justice and equality call us all to account.”

Black Lives Matter Launches $12 Million Fund For the last seven years since its founding, Black Lives Matter Los Angeles–the first group’s first official chapter–has struggled with limited resources and an underpaid staff. But with the windfall of contributions that has come since the nationwide protests following the death of George Floyd, those days are over.

Black Lives Matters has reported receiving over 1.1 million individual donations averaging $33 each. If correct, that math would total upwards of $36 million. What isn’t so clear is whether or not that figure the huge donations the foundation was gifted from corporations like Bad Robot Productions who’ve pledged $10 million over five years to Black Lives Matter and others.

Part of that money is being designated to a $12 million-plus fund to aid organizations fighting systemic racism. $6 million will be set aside to grassroots groups and the other $6 million will go to fund the efforts of the affiliate chapters of the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation in more than a dozen cities in the U.S., including Chicago, Washington D.C. and Detroit.

Aside from growing its infrastructure, the funds will enable the group to fulfill its core mission of supporting families in need of legal aid and advocating for non-violent civil disobedience in protest against alleged incidents of police brutality.

Black Lives Matter was formed in 2014 a national mobilization in response to the police shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.

Biz News Briefs Beyonce Launches Single and Initiative in Support of Black Businesses

Beyonce is dropping more than a new single with her latest release, ”Black Parade”. Inspired

by Juneteenth, the tragic murder of George Floyd and the nationwide protest over racial inequities in the justice system, the singer’s new song in an anthem to support black-owned businesses.

Proceeds will benefit BeyGOOD's Black Business Impact Fund, administered by the National Urban League, to support Black-owned small

L.A. Focus/July 2020

businesses in need.

Launched in tandem with the song and her support of black enterprise is a directory of businesses. Listed are companies in the following industries: arts & design, beauty, fashion, home and living, lifestyle, restaurants & bars, services, and health and wellness. The site– created and curated by Zerina Akers– includes several local black businesses including Leimert Park Threads, Eso Won Bookstore, Vurgar Guyz, Hilltop Coffee Kitchen and Simply Wholesome.

"Happy Juneteenth Weekend! I hope we continue to share joy and celebrate each other, even in the

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midst of struggle. Please continue to remember our beauty, strentgh and power," adding, "Black Parade celebrates you, your voice and your joy and will benefit Black-owned small businesses."

Morgan Stanley Donates $10 Million to Black Banks Morgan Stanley has announced that it is giving $10 million in grants to Minority Depository Institutions (MDIs) including Industrial Bank of Washington, D.C., and Citizens Trust Bank of Atlanta. The grants of $5 million each will allow the banks to bolster loan loss reserves to help weather the economic impact of COVID-19 in the wake of the pandemic. In addition, the grants will help the banks assist small businesses affected by COVID-19, particularly those that did not receive federal relief loans, and will support additional investments into technology systems to improve delivery of customer, mortgage and business lending services.

“Morgan Stanley is committed to supporting communities in need during this tragic health crisis, and particularly to supporting minority communities that have been impacted more substantially by COVID-19,” said Morgan Stanley Chairman and CEO, Shelley O’Connor.

“Industrial Bank and Citizens Trust each have a longstanding mission to serve minority communities, and they play a critical role in the economic recovery of neighborhoods and cities.”

Cynthia Day, President and CEO of Citizens Trust Bank said the grant will assist them in continuing to support the community.

“In 1921, almost 100 years ago, Citizens Trust Bank was founded on bridging the gap created by the lack of access to financial resources to minority communities and the inequalities this represented,” said Day. “During this pandemic, when our communities are more severely impacted, our commitment to this mission carries an even greater significance”.

Nearly Half A Million Black Businesses Go Under During Pandemic Despite the surge of support for black businesses as nationwide protests continue to shed the light on racial inequities, Black businesses continue to suffer disproportionately.

Research from the University of California at Santa Cruz has revealed a 41% drop in black business ownership since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The report states that of the more than 1 million black-owned businesses in the U.S. at the beginning of February, 440,000 black business owners have closed for good. By comparison, just 17% of white-owned businesses closed during the same period, the UC Santa Cruz research shows.

Among the contributing factors were the fact that the majority of black business owners who applied for relief via the Paycheck Protection Program were denied.For black-owned small businesses deprived of income, starved for federal assistance and with few savings to draw on, it has been a calamity.

GERALD BELL Contributor he May 25 death of George Floyd by the knee of Minneapolis officer, Derek Chauvin–which ignited protests across the country and around the globe– have given rise to a growing national movement to re-examine policing policies due and reassess funding.

Millions took park in the protests over the systemic racial injustices that led to wrongful deaths Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery. Decades of over-policing in black and brown communities resulting in them becoming disproportionate victims of police abuse and have sparked growing calls for cities to “defund the police” and re-allocate the funds to programs targeting marginalized communities where the most policing occurs to reduce the likelihood of deadly interactions.

In their reckoning with racial injustices, elected officials have taken notice and in more than two dozen U.S. cities are divesting resources from the police. The Minneapolis city council voted 12-0 to abolish its police department altogether with plans to replace it with a “Department of Community Safety and Violence Prevention ”, which would consist of peace officers and ensure public safety through “a holistic, public healthoriented approach.”

In Los Angeles, Mayor Eric Garcetti has vowed to pull $150 million from the LAPD to boost funding for health care, jobs and “peace centers.” San Francisco’s Supervisor Shamann Walton has announced plans to redirect funding from the police to African American communities. On July 1, New York’s city council approved a $88.1 billion budget that includes shifting approximately $1 billion away from the New York Police Department.

"We are reducing the size of our police force by not having the next recruit class. We are reducing our overtime levels. We're shifting functions away from police to civilian agencies," Mayor Bill de Blasio said. "We think it's the right thing to do.”

Even in places like Austin, Texas, the city council

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voted to eliminate sworn positions the Austin police department cannot fill in 2021 and shift the funding for some weapons used for crowd control—tear gas, rubber bullets, and beanbag rounds—into alternative public safety strategies.

Newark, New Jersey is slated to divert $11.4 million from the city’s $228 million public safety budget toward violence prevention programs. The mayor of Newark said he will create a new office of Violence Prevention and will provide social services from the city’s first precinct.

Lawmakers in more than 25 cities have also prioritized introducing reforms in how law enforcement officers conduct themselves in their attempt to uphold the laws in their communities.

Increasingly, cities are implementing measures intended to create more transparency for fatal incidents, such as requiring comprehensive reporting, and the release of footage from body cams. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a series of police reforms into law, including repealing an obscure law that shielded police disciplinary records from public scrutiny. In Washington, D.C. legislation was adopted mandating that body cam footage to be released within 72 hours after an officerinvolved fatality and prohibiting the officer from watching the footage before writing the report on the incident.

“We must change laws and systems of accountability,” said New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker. “We must pass legislation that makes our common values and our common ideals real in the law of our land. Empathy and sympathy and words of caring for those who have died and suffered are necessary. But it is not enough.”

From California to Washington, DC, legislatures have proposed, adjusted or passed up to 160 bills and resolutions related to policing—as reported by the National Conference of State Legislatures—an association of state lawmakers. Nine of the bills have already become law, and seven more are waiting for governors to sign off on them.

At the top of the list of changes in many states is the complete or partial banning of the use of chokeholds, carotid restraints, or both by police officers. Chokeholds restrict breathing as pressure is applied to the windpipe. Carotid restraints (known as strangleholds) tem-

We must change laws and systems of accountability. We must pass legislation that makes our common values and our common ideals real in the law of our land.

Empathy and sympathy and words of caring for those who have died and suffered are necessary. But it is not enough.”

L.A. Takes First Steps to Defund Police As calls to defund the police continue following the death of George Floyd, Los Angeles is taking the first steps to remove funding from its police department.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti announced that he would redirect $250 million from the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) to other city programs and services that support black and brown communities. Details have yet to be provided, but City Council President Nury Martinez also proposed reducing the LAPD budget by as much as $150 million in the upcoming fiscal year.

LAPD was on track to receive an increase of about $122 million over last year’s amount in its budget, bringing it to about $1.86 billion for the 2020-2021 fiscal year. This plan allocated a 7 percent spending increase for the department and almost $41 million in bonuses.

An answer to the mayor’s proposed budget has come in the form of People’s Budget LA. Led by Black Lives Matter LA, People’s Budget LA calls for the police department to be defunded and “more lowincome housing and more services for unhoused Angelenos; more mental health services; rent suspension and cancellation during this pandemic; more funding for public schools and resources to ensure all students can continue learning during these uncertain times; and investments directly benefiting Black communities.”

Because of the potentially deadly consequences of no-knock warrants, some law enforcement agencies have enacted stricter rules for officers to obtain them and others have banned them altogether. In states like Oregon and Florida no-knock warrants have already been outlawed, the Associated Press reports.

Republican Sen. Rand Paul also announced that he is drafting a proposal called the "Justice for Breonna Taylor Act" that would prohibit no-knock warrants nationwide. “After talking with Breonna Taylor’s family, I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s long past time to get rid of no-knock warrants,” Sen. Paul said in a statement. “This bill will effectively end no-knock raids in the United States.”

The Houston Police Department ended no-knock warrants last year following a drug raid at a home that left two suspects dead and five officers injured. Little Rock, Arkansas is considering the ban on no-knock provisions as well. “It's not only good for the Little Rock Police Department police officers, but also for the community to truly know what's going on and what's happening as it relates to police encounters,” said Frank

L.A. Focus/July 2020

porarily cut off blood flow to the brain and are intended to render a person unconscious.

Gov. Gavin Newsom called for California to prohibit a carotid restraint and to regulate how law enforcement agencies across the state manage protests. New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal announced that his state will ban police departments from using chokeholds, carotid artery neck restraints, and similar tactics except when deadly force is necessary. In addition, the governor of Connecticut issued an executive order banning the use of chokeholds, strangleholds, armbar control holds, lateral vascular neck restraints, carotid restraints, and chest compressions by state police. Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds also jumped on the bandwagon and signed a new bill restricting police chokeholds as well.

In cities such as Chicago, New York, and San Jose, the banning of chokeholds and use of neck restraints is nothing new. Since 2016, the San Jose Police Department officially banned chokeholds. But now they are reporting that clarification will be added to explicitly prohibit officers from using their knee, or any other body part, to perform a chokehold. The New York Police Department patrol guidelines has since 1993 banned any move by police that restricts a person's breathing.

For nearly a decade, Chicago officers have been directed to avoid reducing the ability to breathe by sitting, kneeling, standing on a subject's chest. Under pressure from protesters, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced last month that she is forming a task force to review the Chicago Police Department’s use of force policies. “Being black in America should not be a death sentence," said Mayor Lightfoot. "Watching that poor man (Floyd) beg for his life and for the ability to breathe and then watching the life leave him there in the streets I felt angry, I feel sickened, and a range of other emotions all at once.”

Many law enforcement agencies, especially in smaller cities, are requiring officers to intervene when seeing other authorities using excessive force. As expected, this is now the case in Minneapolis where it was clear that the additional officers at the scene where Floyd was killed didn’t apprehend officer Chauvin. The other three police — Tou Thao, Thomas Lane and J. Alexander Kueng — were later charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and aiding and abetting seconddegree manslaughter.

In Chattanooga, Tennessee failure to intervene will now result in immediate disciplinary action. An officer in Cambridge, Massachusetts could face a criminal prosecution for failure to intervene in cases of excessive force.

Other measures being proposed would be to provide state troopers with body cameras and ensure that police officers provide medical and mental health attention to people in custody.

In the US, there is a reported 10 million arrests each year, with black people far more likely to face violent arrests—including shootings–than white people. A small number of these arrests are for violent offenses, yet the majority are for relatively minor infractions such as the use of forged money, which led to police confronting and ultimately killing Floyd.

“No one is above the law–especially our law enforcement officers–who take an oath of duty and should be held to the highest moral standards,” laments Los

Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas. “The video that we saw out of Minneapolis makes clear that all four officers, not just one, should, at the very least, be arrested and tried in a court of law. That won’t bring back George Floyd, but for all of us who value life and who stand for justice, we must also stand for truth and peace.”

Last month, the Louisville Metro Council voted to pass a ban on no-knock warrants and requires the use of officer body cameras whenever a warrant is served.

The measure known as “Breonna’s Law,” was appropriately named after the late EMT who died in a police raid at her apartment. The officer involved in Taylor’s shooting death, Det. Brett Hankison, was fired three months after her death.

Scott Mayor of Little Rock.

Many justice reformers are calling for the demilitarization of local police departments. This would mean the absence of armored vehicles, high-powered weapons and teargas at protest such as what was used during the national gatherings and outcries over Floyd’s death. Further, demilitarizing law enforcement would require officers to receive better training on how to deescalate situations without the use of such violence as chokeholds and other aggressive methods during arrests.

According to Campaign Zero, a nonprofit organization that supports the analysis of policing practices across the country and advocates to end police violence, over 1,000 people are killed by police every year in America. The killings of Floyd, Taylor and many others introduced the nation to the ways that local police departments can misuse military weaponry to intimidate and repress communities. It’s been reported that in 2014, militarized SWAT teams killed at least 38 people and studies show that more militarized police departments are significantly more likely to kill civilians.

Amid all the scrutiny of bias in policing taking place in the US, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra has announced policing reform proposals aimed at "improving use of force procedures and is calling on police departments around the state to decertify police officers for serious misconduct. "We are all entitled to public safety in our neighborhoods and we need someone who will do that," Becerra said. He went on to add that if tactics such as defunding the police means "reform the way we police in California, I am all for that."

Mirroring several other US states, California’s recommended rules for police reform also include: Setting forth a “use of force continuum” that defines limits in response to the different situations cops may be found in; officers to use a verbal warning before using deadly force; banning officers from shooting at people in moving vehicles unless they pose a deadly threat; officers to use all alternative means before using deadly force and officers to report all use of or threats of force.

"These are serious, real proposals that will make a difference," Becerra said at a press conference. "The expectations are high, and we will fight vigorously to meet them. That's why we are urging local authorities across California and our state legislature to work with us in actively engaging in police reform."

“The epidemic of police shootings of unarmed African Americans is an unrelenting outrage, and people of every hue have every right to the anger and pain felt so deeply right now,” said Ridley-Thomas. “Such lawless acts of state violence should never be normalized. We cannot and will not accept this injustice.”

“Never again should the world be subjected to witnessing what we saw on the streets in Minneapolis,” said Congressional Black Caucus Chairwoman Karen Bass (D-Los Angeles) regarding Floyd’s death in police custody. "What we are witnessing is the birth of a new movement in our country with thousands coming together in every state marching to demand a change that ends police brutality, holds police officers accountable, and calls for transparency.” Bass along with Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) recently unveiled a legislative blueprint for reforming policing policies dubbed the George Floyd Policing Act of 2020.

As of this writing, the House of Representatives had passed the bill which offered sweeping progress in the area of police reform–including banning chokeholds. eliminating no-knock warrants, creating a national registry to track police misconduct and amending the federal criminal code to make it easier to prosecute police officers for misconduct.

Political insiders fear that the bill will be dead upon its arrival in the Senate, which–spearheaded by Senator Tim Scott, has its own bill. A bill that was blocked by Senate democrats.

Said Senator Kamala Harris, “This movement will not accept anything less than real, real substantial, substantive solutions, which are the solutions we have offered”.

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COVID-19 Special Monthly Insert

Sponsored in part by

19 Counties Now on Watch List for More COVID-19 Restrictions LAUREN HELPER CalMatters

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order. As of late last week, the county had the state’s highest COVID-19 hospitalization rate.

“The state of California will assert itself and make sure that happens,” Newsom said. “We believe they need to move back into that stay-at-home posture.”

The growing watch list and the governor’s repeated emphasis on the importance of a “dimmer switch” to scale back reopening plans if necessary highlights ongoing tension over state and local control that has already boiled over in some parts of the state. In Orange County, health officer Nichole Quick was one of at least five such officials in California to retire or resign this spring, in her case amid threats and personal information leaks.

Besides Los Angeles, the other counties already ordered to shut down bars were Fresno, Imperial, Kern, Kings, San Joaquin and Tulare. Those on the watch list that have not yet been ordered to take additional precautions are Contra Costa, Riverside, Sacramento, San Bernardino, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Stanislaus and Ventura.

Newsom and California Health & Human Services Secretary Mark Ghaly stressed that the state is basing decisions about where to intervene on specific health data.

Of particular concern are local “positivity rates,” or the percentage of COVID tests coming back positive. That number climbed to 5.9% statewide in the last week, Newsom said, compared to 4.4% in early June when the state began gradual reopenings.

Statewide testing capacity has increased in the meantime, he said, to a record of nearly 106,000 tests on Sunday. But in areas like Imperial County, where the positivity rate hit 23%, the increased caseload can lead to frantic conditions on the ground.

“We had to move 500 patients out of their hospital system into surrounding county systems,” Newsom said of “extraordinary rates” in the 190,000-person county along the U.S.-Mexico border.

The scramble in Imperial County highlights the uneven fallout from the virus. Hospitalization rates are climbing fastest in rural Imperial, Kings and Stanislaus counties. Some more affluent and urbanized regions, including San Francisco and Marin counties where infection and hospitalization rates have so far remained lower, have delayed components of reopening plans.

When it comes to the economic toll of the virus, California has already shed twice as many jobs during the first two months of the

COVID-19 crisis — about 2.6 million — as it did during 31 months of the Great Recession a decade ago, according to an analysis released last week by the California Budget & Policy Center. Job losses are most concentrated in low-paying service fields, and Black women, Latina women and Asian men saw the sharpest employment declines from February to May this year, by 23%, 22% and 18%, respectively, the report found.

Recent bar closures are likely to add pressure to existing questions about whether state or federal lawmakers will extend enhanced unemployment benefits, small business loans or other safety-net programs strained by the pandemic. It’s a dynamic that has already upended the state’s annual budget cycle, with legislators so far favoring cuts likely to most impact a dwindling number of middle-class families to address a sudden $54 billion deficit.

“The question for state policymakers as the COVID-19 recession drags on is, how will they find the money needed to avoid cuts to programs and services that Californians will continue to need in the months and years to come?”Alissa Anderson, senior policy analyst with the California Budget & Policy Center, wrote in the recent report.

L.A. Focus/July 2020

our new counties — S o l a n o , M e r c e d , Glenn and Orange — were added Monday to the list of h a r d - h i t locales where state health officials are monitoring infection data, providing technical assistance and weighing new measures to slow the spread of the virus.

Bars were already ordered to shut down in Los Angeles and six other counties on Sunday as businesses hit hard by the virus looked to the busy summer holiday to recoup some losses.

The question now is if and when the governor may ask other counties on the list to “toggle back” reopening plans, though exactly what that might entail remains unclear.

“We are considering a number of other things to advance,” Newsom said, “and we will be making those public as conditions change.”

In the most severe case in Imperial County, Newsom said the state is prepared to intervene should county supervisors refuse to revert to a strict stay-at-home

15

Home Isolation Tips for Those With COVID-19 Infection There is no specific treatment for the virus that causes COVID-19. You must stay home and separate yourself from others until your home isolation ends. Here are steps that you can take to help you get better: • Rest • Drink plenty of fluids • Take acetaminophen (Tylenol®) to reduce fever and pain.

Note: Children younger than age 2 should not be given any over-the-counter cold medications without first speaking with a doctor.

Remember these medicines do not “cure” the illness and do not stop you from spreading germs.

If you had symptoms, you must stay home until: • You have had no fever for at least 72 hours (without the use of medicine that reduces fevers) and • Your respiratory symptoms have improved (for example, cough or shortness of breath) and • At least 10 days have passed since your symptoms first appeared If you tested positive for COVID-19 but never had any symptoms: • You must stay home for 10 days after the test was taken.

• If you do not have someone to help you, if possible, arrange for food and other necessities to be left at your door. If you need help finding free delivery services, social services, essential items like food and medicines call 2-1-1 or visit covid19.lacounty.gov.

• Separate yourself from other people in your home: Stay in a specific room and away from other people in your home as much as possible. It is particularly important to stay away from people who are at higher risk of serious illness.

• Use a separate bathroom. If this is not possible, clean the bathroom after use.

• Stay at least 6 feet from others.

• Open windows or use a fan or an air conditioner in shared spaces in the home, if possible, to ensure good airflow.

• Do not allow visitors and limit the number of people in your home.

• Do not handle pets or other animals.

• Do not prepare or serve food to others.

• Avoid sharing personal household items: Do not share dishes, drinking glasses, cups,

eating utensils, towels, or bedding with other people or pets in your home. Wash them thoroughly Definition of with soap and water after “A Close Contact” use.

A “close contact” is any of the following • Clean and disinfect all “high-touch” surfaces people who were exposed to an “infected every day person*” while they were infectious: High touch surfaces a. An individual who was within 6 feet of the infected include counters, person for more than 15 minutes tabletops, doorknobs, b. An individual who had unprotected contact with the bathroom fixtures, toiinfected person’s body fluids and/or secretions, for lets, phones, keyexample, being coughed or sneezed on, sharing boards, tablets, and utensils or saliva, or providing care without bedside tables. Also, wearing appropriate protective clean and disinfect any surequipment. faces that may have body fluids on them. Use household cleaning and disinfectant sprays or wipes.

Your caregivers and household contacts should wear a disposable facemask and gloves if they clean your room or bathroom or come into contact with your body fluids or secretions (such as sweat, saliva, sputum, nasal mucus, vomit, urine, or diarrhea). They should remove and dispose of their gloves first, clean their hands, then remove and dispose of their facemask, and clean their hands again.

You must tell all of your close contacts that they need to be in quarantine for 14 days after their last contact with you.

If you need to speak with someone about your mental health, contact your doctor or the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health Access Center 24/7 Helpline at (800) 854-7771.

If you need help finding healthcare, call the Los Angeles County Information line 2-1-1, which is also available 24/7.

Call 9-1-1 if you experience the following emergency warning signs:

Difficulty breathing

Pressure or Pain in chest

Bluish lips or face

Confused or hard to wake

Covered California to Extend Sign Ups for Health Coverage During COVID-19 Pandemic Covered California announced on Tuesday that it would be giving consumers more time to sign up for health care coverage during the COVID-19 pandemic by extending the current specialenrollment deadline through the end of July.

“Covered California is committed to helping people get access to the health care they need, and while California is reopening parts of the state, there is still a lot of uncertainty out there due to the pandemic,” said Peter V. Lee, executive director of Covered California. “We want to make sure that people have a path to coverage, whether it is through Covered California or Medi-Cal, and giving people more time to sign up is the right thing to do.”

Covered California initially opened the health insurance exchange to any eligible uninsured individuals, who needed health care coverage amid the COVID-19 nation emergency, from March 20 to June 30. The new deadline means that anyone

who meets Covered California’s eligibility requirements, which are similar to those in place during the annual open-enrollment period, can apply for coverage through July 31.

The most recent data shows that 175,030 people have signed up for health care coverage between March 20 and June 20, which is more than twice the number who signed up during the same time last year.

Every year, Covered California provides eligible consumers the opportunity to sign up for health care coverage outside of the traditional open-enrollment period if they experience a qualifying life event.

These can include events like losing your health insurance, moving, getting married or having a baby.

Overall, 242,600 people have signed up for coverage since Jan. 31, when Covered California ended its open-enrollment period, through June 20, which is nearly twice as many as seen during the same time period last year.

People who sign up through Covered California will have access to private health insurance plans with monthly premiums that may be lowered due to federal and new state financial help that became effective in 2020. After selecting a plan, their coverage would begin on the first day of the following month – meaning individuals losing job-based coverage would not face a gap in coverage.

The latest data from California’s Employment Development Department shows that 6.3 million unemployment claims have been processed in the state since the pandemic started.

“We know that when people lose their jobs, they often lose the health care coverage that was protecting them and their families,” Lee said. “While Californians who lose coverage can always sign up outside of open enrollment, we want to make sure even those who have lost work and did not have insurance have access to the health care in the middle of a pandemic.”

Other serious symptoms

PPP Program Extended Congress reached a deal that would extend the Paycheck Protection Program through August 8. The small business lending program–that was set to expire on June 30–had more than $130 billion that had not been dispersed.

Once overwhelmed by demand, applications had slowed and discussions about how to repurpose the funds had been underway. One plan is to set aside $25 billion for small businesses and the remainder of the funds would go to chambers of commerce to direct to small businesses that prove they were affected by the pandemic or to target businesses in the hospitality sector (like restaurants) that could use it to reconfigure their businesses for social distancing.

The program provided nearly five million small businesses with forgiveable loans to keep their work forces intact.

For more information about the Paycheck Protection Program, visit www.sba.gov.

American Mental Health in Danger as COVID-19 Pandemic Persists The global pandemic is proving a detrimental impact on the have to of people around the health mental study reveals that new A country. are struggling Americans of 18.6% study also The health. mental with with issues report 7.7% that shows are 4.2% and abuse substance thoughts. suicidal having The search for “online therapy” on Google has doubled, and reports of anxiety have risen by more than 34%. A federal disaster distress hotline also reported an 891% increase in call volume and the non-profit association Mental Health America has reported a rise in severe anxiety on its online screening tool over the course of sheltering-in-place orders.

In May, the United Nations warned a mental health crisis was approaching due to the stress faced by people in isolation. Even before the coronavirus pandemic has started, depression has affected about 264 million people worldwide, and suicide is the second leading cause of death among people aged 15 to 29.

A Kaiser Family Foundation poll found that nearly half of Americans said that the coronavirus was harming their mental health.

“People are really afraid,” Oren Frank, CEO of the online therapy company, Talkspace told the Washington Post. “What’s shocking to me is how little leaders are talking about this. There is no plan.”

A Texas nonprofit created models projecting that if unemployment amid the pandemic rose

California’s Reopening Stages

five percentage points to a level similar to the Great Recession, an additional 4,000 people could die of suicide and 4,800 from drug overdoses.

It is being called “the epidemic within the pandemic” as social distancing and isolation have put individuals struggling with addiction and sobriety, in particular, at risk for relapse in a number of ways including, but not limited to, inability to access in-person recovery group settings and idle time given job losses. Traditional support systems such as 12-step programs and faith-based meetings have been physically inaccessible as “shelter-in-place” orders only served to exacerbate the anxiety people cope with daily. Not to mention the relentless news alerts can trigger frantic thinking.

The L.A. County Department of Mental Health has partnered with Headspace to offer a collection of mindfulness and meditation resources–for free. They include science-backed guided meditations as well as movement and sleep exercises to manage stress, fear and anxiety related to COVID-19.

LACDMH is also a part of PsychHub’s COVID-19 Mental Health Resource Hub, which is providing free resources to help people address their mental health needs during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Those feeling emotionally distressed or overwhelmed can call their 24/7 Help Line at (800) 8547771 or National Suicide Prevention at (800) 273-8255.

Governor Gavin Newsom is warning that additional restrictions may be warranted if COVID cases continue to spike. The announcements could include possible enforcement and or rollbacks of recent reopenings depending on the numbers.

Many of the state’s counties where in stage 3 of the reopenings.

As Numbers Spike, California To Begin “Smart Testing” for COVID-19 Younger people, between 18 and 49, account for about 118,900 cases, the majority of infections in the state.

“From my standpoint, the testing has gotten a lot better,” said Dr. Rodney Hood, a medical doctor in the San Diego area and former President of the Golden State Medical Association and National Medical Association, respectively.

Hood said, at the onset of the crisis, he struggled to bring tests to low-income Black and Hispanic neighborhoods in Southeast San Diego near where his practice is located.

“We have been fortunate in California.

I was concerned about the testing at the beginning but the state and most counties have responded in positive ways, and now we are able to get more people tested,” he said. “But we need to do more.”

There have been more than 3.5 million tests administered in the state so far, according to the California Department of Public Health (DPH). Last week, Gov.

Newsom said, in one week alone, more than 88,000 people took coronavirus tests across the sate Hood, who has run his own practice for 40 years, says he recently joined a network of federally qualified clinics called the San Ysidro Health Center. Since he and other doctors stood up the two testing centers in his area – one drive-in and the other walk-up – they have tested about 3,000 people in two zip codes in San Diego county, “We’ve found that once you remove barriers to testing, like demanding appointments people can’t keep because they couldn’t get a day off from work or another reason like that, they will show up. They will come to get tested,” he says.

Hood says the state should focus on zip codes with the highest percentages of infections, most of them are places in the state where there are concentrations of African Americans and Hispanics.

As of June 28, 6,445 Black

Californians tested positive and a total of 544 African Americans have died from COVID-19 related complications, according to the DPH. Those numbers account for 4.4% of all cases and 6% of all deaths.

Both percentages represent decreases since the state first started collecting racial data when the Black infection rate hovered around over 10% and the death rate at about 6 %. Latinos account for the majority of cases in the state (55.3%) and 36.3% of all deaths.

In his message, Gov. Newsom warned Californians that the crisis is getting worse in the state.

“This disease does not take a summer vacation,” he said. “Let us disabuse ourselves of the notion that somehow this is a seasonal disease. I cannot impress on people more as you move, understandably, into more of a festive mode celebrating democracy and freedom, and our independence as a nation, to do so more responsibly.”

L.A. Focus/July 2020

Gavin Gov. during Recently, Newsom’s daily COVID-19 update, he announced that the state will begin “smart,” or “targeted” testingafter health officials released data showing a sharp upturn in the numbers of infected people.

“The next iteration of our testing, we want to see the volume, but it’s not just the volume. We want to see the specificity of testing and the sophistication of the type and target of the testing,” he said.

The governor said the new testing strategy will focus on communities that have “been underserved, under-tested and under-resourced.” But he did not give details about the places the state plans to prioritize.

As of June 27, more than 211,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases have been reported in California. So far, there have been close to 6,000 deaths in the state.

L.A. county accounts for close to half of the state’s infections with roughly 90,000 infections and more than 3,200 deaths.

Tanu Henry | California Black Media

17

Free Testing The City of Los Angeles, in partnership with the County of Los Angeles and CORE (Community Organized Relief Effort), is providing COVID-19 testing to all L.A. county residents, whether or not you are experiencing symptoms. The test is free, whether or not you have insurance. If you have insurance, the provider may bill your insurance carrier for the cost of the test. By law, the insurance company may not charge you any co-pay, deductible, or outof-pocket expense for the test. Priority for same or next day testing is given to people experiencing symptoms and certain critical front-line workers.

Testing is by appointment only. Over 105 locations now offer free COVID-19 testing. Note that the test type and criteria vary by location.

CENTRAL LOS ANGELES Carbon Health - Echo Park (2110 Sunset Blvd., Suite M, Los Angeles, CA 90026) Dodger Stadium (1101 Scott Ave., Los Angeles 90012) Lincoln Park (3501 Valley Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90095) Exposition Park (3986 South Hoover Street, Los Angeles, CA 90037) St. John’s Well Child and Family Center – Magnolia Pl. (1910 Magnolia Ave. Los Angeles 90007) (323) 541-1411 St. John’s Well Child and Family Center – Warner Traynham Clinic (326 W. 23rd St. Los Angeles, CA 90007) (323) 541-1411 MacArthur Park - Total Testing Solution (2130 James M Wood Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90006) (323) 792-7652 Cedars-Sinai Medical Center (8730 Alden Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90059) Center for Community Health (522 South San Pedro St., Los Angeles, CA 90013) (562) 867-7999 Wesley Health Centers - East Hollywood (954 Vermont Ave., Los Angeles 90029) (562) 867-7999 EAST LOS ANGELES California State University, Los Angeles (5151 State University Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90032) East LA College (1301 Avenida Cesar Chavez, Monterey Park, CA 91754 - Stadium Parking Lot on the corner of Floral Drive and Bleakwood Avenue - MAP) CVS - (5176 East Whittier Blvd,Los Angeles 90022) Alta Med - East Los Angeles (2219 E 1st Street, Los

Angeles, CA 90033) Alta Med - Boyle Heights (3945 Whittier Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90033) SOUTH LOS ANGELES Crenshaw Christian Center (7901 S. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90044) Kedren Community Health Center (4211 Avalon, Los Angeles, CA 90011) Los Angeles County - Crenshaw Area Office (3606 West Exposition Blvd. Los Angeles 90016 St. John’s Well Child and Family Center – (1060 Exposition Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90007) (323) 541-1411 St. John’s Well Child and Family Center – Washington Prep (1555 W. 110th St. L.A. 90047) (323) 541-1411 St. John’s Well Child and Family Center – Mark RidleyThomas Wellness Center Manual Arts (4085 S. Vermont Ave. L.A., CA 90037) (323) 541-1411 St. John’s Well Child and Family Center – Crenshaw Adult & Pediatric Clinic (4251 Crenshaw Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90008) (323) 541-1411 St. John’s Well Child &Family Center/Louis Frayser Health Center (5701 S. Hoover St., Los Angeles 90037) (323) 541-1411 St. John’s Well Child and Family Center – Hyde Park Elementary School (6505 8th Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90043) (323) 541-1411 St. John’s Well Child and Family Center – S. Mark Taper Foundation (808 W. 58th St. Los Angeles 90037)

(323) 541-1411 Watts Healthcare Corporation (10300 Compton Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90002) (323) 564-4331 Central Neighborhood Health Foundation - (2707 S. Central Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90011) (844) 660-9086 Charles R. Drew University Campus (1731 E 120th St. Los Angeles, CA 9005 SAN FERNANDO VALLEY Hansen Dam Recreational Center (11798 Foothill Blvd., Lake View Terrace, CA 91342) West Valley/Warner Center (6097 Canoga Ave., Woodland Hills, CA 91367) Northridge Hospital Medical Center (18460 Roscoe Blvd., Northridge, CA 91325) CVS - Winnetka (19701 Vanowen Street, CA 91306) CVS - Reseda (7400 Reseda Boulevard, CA 91335) CVS - North Hollywood (10945 Victory Boulevard, CA 91606) CVS - San Fernando (1204 San Fernando Road, CA 91340) St. John’s Well Child and Family Center – Lincoln High School (2512 Alta St. Los Angeles, CA 90031) (323) 5411411 Mid Valley Comprehensive Health Center (7555 Van Nuys Blvd., Van Nuys, CA 91405) (818) 627-3000 Balboa Park (6300 Balboa Blvd., Van Nuys, CA 91406) (parking lot next to soccer field)

Through the Storm Black teens from Lancaster, California charged with 11 counts of attempted murder in crime where no one was hurt.

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college and eventually the NFL before all of his aspirations were snatched away by accusations and a cruel life sentence.

Rayford Jr. and Glass’ sentencing also appears to be in violation of the eighth amendment, which prohibits the federal government from imposing harsh penalties or extreme sentences on criminal defendants that are grossly disproportionate to the crime.

“My son’s sentence is manifestly excessive, which constitutes, in effect, cruel and unusual punishment,” Rayford Sr. said.

Though divorced, Rayford Jr.’s parents did all that they could to ensure his success. His mother moved him to Lancaster in an attempt to avoid the gang violence and life that could befall him elsewhere. But unfortunately, Rayford Jr. still fell victim to a justice system that categorizes black men as criminals by default.

A 2012 report by Human Rights Watch stated that the United States is the only country in the world that imposes life sentences on youth for crimes committed while they were under the age of 18, and 85 percent of those sentenced to life terms are individuals of color.

These numbers also continue to rise.

California specifically has some of the harshest sentence enhancements in the country, with more than 100 separate code sections that add years to a person’s prison or jail sentence, according to the Public Policy Institute of California.

In 2017, then-Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill that would allow judges to decide against imposing prison-sentence enhancements of 10 or more years in cases where firearms are used to commit a felony. A bill like this would have been very helpful at the time of Rayford Jr. and Glass’ sentencing and many government officials praised the decision, hoping it would lessen the degree in which people are punished in certain situations.

“I hope this bill will lead to more fair and equitable sentencing in cases involving guns where no one is hurt,” said Senator Steven Bradford. “Longer sentences do not deter crime, but instead disproportionately increase racial disparities in prison populations and they greatly increase the population of incarcerated persons.”

As pushes for change continued, Innocence Rights of Orange County remained hopeful in the case of Glass and Rayford Jr. believing that one day justice would truly be served.

“No one was injured, and Juan has maintained his innocence since day one,” the group stated.

The non-profit social welfare organization Equal Justice Now also expressed their discontent with the blatant systemic racism faced by two young men who had their whole lives ahead of them.

"From the police officers ignoring over 15 witnesses who said, neither Rayford Jr. nor Glass were involved in the crime. Bail excessively set at 11 million dollars, and despite being coerced into taking a plea deal that they were assured would help them see a much earlier release, Rayford Jr. and Glass - as juveniles -were still sentenced to 220 years, 11 life sentences, in prison. These two young men who have spent the majority of their lives in jail have, in essence, been buried alive. It is a slow lynching. There must be equal justice now,” said co-founder Tony Smith.

Annee Della Donna, the group’s head liti

“

He was prosecuted under the Kill Zone Theory which eliminates the need for the prosecutor to prove the element of specific intent when charging attempted murder as long as the individuals are standing within a ‘kill zone...

”

gator, made it a priority to advocate for the release of Glass and Rayford Jr. and in March 2017, the organization filed a writ of habeas corpus, which allows a prisoner to indicate that his or her rights to a constitutionally fair trial had been infringed upon, on behalf of the two men.

Donna spoke on the laws and conditions often put into place that specifically harm black people.

“This kill zone law has been used to prosecute black people and other minorities to imprison them for excessive sentences. It is used by prosecutors to charge attempted murder without ever proving specific intent to kill.”

She also wrote about the conditions in which the trial was held to paint a better picture of how easily the justice system can criminalize black people.

“After a two-day jury trial before a white judge and an all-white jury, Juan and Dupree were sentenced to 11 consecutive life sentences plus 220 years,” she wrote.

“The Los Angeles district attorney lied to the court and misrepresented the law in closing argument, sealing the fate of these two young men.”

Innocence Rights of Orange County partners with students at the University of California, Irvine School of Law to advocate for the release of innocent prisoners.

Their work is done pro bono and the group’s main focus lies in supporting victims who have been impacted by the kill zone theory.

“Our goal is to represent petitioners who have been wrongfully prosecuted under the kill zone theory and are serving excessive sentences,” their website reads.

On June 16, 2020, Donna finally had good news.

“Today, June 16th 2020, the Appellate Court granted our Writ of Habeas Corpus reversing all charges and vacating their sentence. They are coming home,” she announced on her Instagram page.

Donna also shared the link to a GoFundMe that was set up to acquire donations to help Rayford Jr. and Glass get back on their feet when they are officially released.

“Nobody can give these men the years that were wrongfully taken from them, but we all need to step up and do what we can to make sure that this does not keep happening to other innocent black people,” she wrote.

L.A. Focus/July 2020

he criminal justice system has never done a thorough job of protecting individuals within the black community.

All too often, black people are subject to unfair treatment and sentencing under the law.

Unfortunately, this was the case with Juan Rayford Jr. and Dupree Glass.

Only 17 and 18 years old at the time, both were sentenced to 220 years, in addition to 11 life terms, in a San Diego-area prison for a crime that they didn’t commit.

In 2004, Glass and Rayford Jr. were attending a house party in Lancaster with a few friends. While Rayford Jr. was in the back of the house playing video games, a fight broke out between his friend and another person at the party.

“The friend and the other guy had a long-standing beef and it spilled over to a fight and Juan and everybody came running,” said Rayford’s father, Juan Rayford Sr. The altercation led to gun fire and soon after, the police were called to investigate the scene. No one was killed or injured, and Rayford Jr. allegedly had no weapon. Witnesses at the party even vouched for him, saying that he wasn’t involved. However, this didn’t stop the court from criminalizing him, along with Glass.

Strangely enough, the witnesses also changed their statements once the trial began, and both Rayford Jr. and Glass were offered 15-year plea deals before the excessive sentencing that they received when all was said and done.

Rayford Jr.’s father immediately began advocating for his son’s freedom. In December 2016, the California Supreme Court granted a petition by the nonprofit legal group Innocence Rights of Orange County to schedule a court hearing regarding his case.

In a statement on their website, Innocence Rights of Orange County stated that Rayford Jr. and Glass were sentenced to eleven consecutive life sentences for “allegedly shooting at a house where eleven people lived.” The excessive sentencing also came as a result of the “kill zone theory.” The kill zone is defined by the prosecutor and is often ambiguous and can threaten the clarity or truthfulness of a situation.

“He was prosecuted under the Kill Zone Theory which eliminates the need for the prosecutor to prove the element of specific intent when charging attempted murder as long as the individuals are standing within a ‘kill zone,” read the statement.

“Juan isn’t bitter, he isn’t angry,” Rayford Sr. stated to Charleston Chronicles in 2019. “He prays every day and does what he’s supposed to do, and we are hopeful that the Court will soon hear the case and grant his freedom.”

Rayford Jr. had dreams of playing football i n

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INSIDE HO L LY W OOD

by Neily Dickerson with guest reviewer Dwight Brown, Black Press USA “John Lewis: Good Trouble” “I feel lucky and blessed I’m serving in the Congress… But there is a force that is trying to take us back to another time and another dark period,” warns John Lewis. And he’d know.

Since age 17, this brave crusader has been at the forefront of the civil rights movement. Now at age 80, he’s an elder statesmen. Following his path lets audiences retrace the steps of an activism that has led to social change, even in the midst of oppression. For that alone, former trial lawyer turned documentarian Dawn Porter’s homage to one of our greatest heroes is an inspiring lesson in American history.

Lewis is interviewed and his recollections are as evocative as they are noble. Recalling his 1964 march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma,

when he was beaten by police, will send shivers down viewers’ backs and leave them in awe over his bravery: “I thought I was going to die.”

Lewis’ thoughts on racism today, through the prism of his experiences, are completely illuminating and poignant. He points out the dangers of voter suppression and expresses his concerns: “My greatest fear is that one day we wake up and Democracy is gone.” This from a man whose deep

convictions got him arrested 40 times.

Porter peppers the footage with politicians and civic leaders who eagerly attest to Lewis’s accomplishments.

In this more honest doc, the audience learns how Lewis beat Julian Bond out of his Congressional seat by bringing up his rival’s personal foibles. That shows that behind the affable smile and nurturing qualities, Lewis can play hardball during a campaign.

Lewis is as much a hero as he is a shaman. If activists and concerned citizens listen to his life story and sage advice they may find new ways to navigate through these turbulent times when hope and strategy is more vital than ever before.

John Lewis: Good Trouble–as instructive as it is inspiring–opens July 3rd in theaters and on demand.

STREAMING & IN THEATRES THIS MONTH

HOLLYWOOD BUZZ

The Old Guard July 10 (Netflix)

Fatal Affair July 16 (Netflix)

With Partners Beyonce Disney+ for “Black is King”

L.A. Focus/July 2020

Parkwood Beyonce’s Entertainment, in association with Disney+, is prepping for the release of the visual album “Black Is King”.

Written, directed and executive produced by Beyoncé, “Black is King” will premiere globally on Disney+ on July 31, 2020 and will arrive on the heels of the one-year anniversary of the release of Disney’s “The Lion King.”

This visual album from the 24-time Grammy® Awardwinner reimagines the lessons of "The Lion King" for today’s young kings and queens in search of their own crowns. The film was in production for one year with a cast and crew that represent diversity and connectivity.

The voyages of Black families, throughout time, are honored in a tale about a young king’s transcendent journey through betrayal, love and self-identity. His ancestors help guide him toward his destiny, and with his father’s teachings guidance and from his childhood love, he the earns virtues needed to reclaim his home a n d

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throne.

These timeless lessons are revealed and reflected through Black voices of today, now sitting in their own power.

“Black Is King” is an affirmation of a grand purpose, with lush visuals that celebrate Black resilience and culture.

The film highlights the beauty of tradition and Black excellence.

Upcoming Will Smith Film Sparks Bidding War The bidding between Apple and Warner Bros is said to be in the neighborhood of $130 million for the rights titled thriller action an to “Emancipation” about the harrowing escape of a runaway slave forced to outwit cold-blooded hunters and the unforgiving swamps of Louisiana on a tortuous journey North where he joined the Union Army. Will Smith is set to star in the title role of Peter with Antoine Fuqua directing.

“It hit my heart and my soul in so many ways that are impossible to convey but I think you understand,” Fuqua told Deadline. “We’re watching some of the feeling that I had, in the streets right now. There’s sadness, there’s anger, there’s love, faith and hope as well because of what I see young people doing today. They’re standing up for their future… It hit home, because this is at heart a film about family, about love. Faith, the idea that Peter never gave up and he fought tooth and nail to get back to his family.

Production is set to begin in 2021.

In other Hollywood business news, ‘Hair Love’ creator Matthew Cherry has signed a first look development deal with Warner Bros. The academy award winning documentary producer will develop new TV programming for all platforms, including cable and streaming. Cherry is also reportedly

Tenet July 31 set to direct a heist comedy dubbed “The Come Up” starring Jermain Fowler and Lil Rel Howery....And LeBron James’ Springhill Entertainment has signed a two-year overall deal for scripted television with ABC Studios.

Regina King to Make Directorial Debut Regina King is set to make her directorial debut with the feature, One Night in Miami. The film takes place on the eve of Feb. 25, 1964, after Cassius Clay defeated heavyweight boxing champion Sonny Liston. Clay (Muhammad Ali) is not allowed to stay on the island because of segregation laws, so he heads to the Hampton House Motel in one of Miami's historically Black neighborhoods to celebrate with Jim Brown, Sam Cooke, and Malcolm X. By the next morning, the group of men who would all go on to become civil rights icons develop renewed ideas of what their responsibilities to the world are. The film– which stars Kingsley Ben-Adir as Malcolm X, Aldis Hodge as NFL great Jim Brown, Leslie Odom as Sam Cooke and Eli Goree as Cassius Clay was shot in New Orleans and is now in post-production…Briefly, “Blackish creator Kenya Barris and Pharrell Williams are teaming up to bring a Juneteenth musical to Netflix.

On The Homefront, Real Housewives of Atlanta star Nene Leakes is reportedly in talks with the E! Network for her own spinoff and has not yet signed on for another season with the Housewives. Eva Marcille has announced that shewill not be returning after three seasons on the show, stating that she believes “what I hope to accomplish for the culture and community will be better served by focusing on other opportunities."

Q&A Ice Cube Hometown: Los Angeles Big Break: N.W.A. • Boyz N The Hood From rapping in N.W.A., one of the most successful rap groups of all time, to acting in major motion pictures like “Boyz n the Hood” and “Friday”, to producing films like “Ride Along” and “Straight Outta Compton”, TV series like “Are We There Yet”; launching a clothing line and in 2017, founding the Big3 basketball league, it seems Ice Cube can do it all. The 51-year-old has maintained his position in the spotlight for several years and shows no sign of slowing down. His latest movie, “The High Note,” premiered on May 29 via various streaming services.

It must take a lot of hard work to sustain such a successful career. How do you stay motivated and why do you continue to provide content?

I’m just really taking advantage of the opportunities that the Lord has blessed me with so I don’t want to take nothing for granted. I’m not going to take a day off.

It’s good that people enjoy the work that I do, and I’m going to keep it coming.

You have a movie out, The High Note,” alongside Tracee Ellis Ross and Dakota Johnson. Tell us about it?

It’s a great movie about the music industry. I play the manager of a superstar by the name of Grace Davis.

She’s played by Tracee Ellis Ross. The story is of the assistant of this superstar and her journey. Tracee Ellis Ross had a front-row seat to one of the biggest superstars in the world (her mother, Diana Ross) so I knew she knew how to play this role. (The assistant) really wants to be a producer so it’s her journey and the story of what she has to go through.

What advice do you have for young people attempting to break into the entertainment world?

Don’t wait for anybody. Stay determined. Stay creative.

The technology is perfect now for artists to be themselves and do what they feel and not have to conform to anybody. When we (N.W.A.) were coming out, we had to basically be discovered. There’s nothing to hold you back nowadays. You just have to fall in love with the act of creating something new and fresh, and not fall in love with what it can get you.

How do youstay humble in an industry of glamour?

I’ve always been a person that lets their work speak for itself. I don’t need too many pats on the back. God has blessed me with this opportunity to be as creative as I want to be. I just keep my head down and keep doing what I’m doing. Hopefully I create something people like and appreciate. It’s not really about what I’ve done, but about what I’m about to do. That’s history.

There’s so much going on right now, from a global pandemic to the protests. What advice do you have?

It’s time for us to really put our arms around each other. Everyone has been on their own page for so long, with these phones and these computers. We forgot to look at the importance of family and supporting each other. We’ve been through tougher times than this as a people. I have no doubt that we’re going to come out on the other side stronger and smarter. But we can’t rely on other forces, the government, to be the ones to tell us everything we need to get out of this situation. We’re going to have to rely on each other.

RedCarpet Style

AMERICAN MUSIC AWARDS 2018

KID’S CHOICE AWARDS 2018

Dare U To Care Outreach Summer Meals Feeds Good Nutrition to Our Kids for Free!

South Central Los Angeles – With summer right around the corner, it’s time to think about keeping children healthy while school is out.

Dare U To Care Outreach Ministries Provides free meals to children during the summer Meals will be served at the locations below No income requirements or registration.

Anyone age 18 or younger may come to eat.

For more information, contact Claudia Quan, Food Assistant Director 310.386.7918 or email claudiaquan@sbcglobal.net.

Sponsored by DUTC Funded by SFSP Start Date Grab & Go End Date 7/1/2020 FREE MEALS 8/14/2020 Monday-Wednesday-Friday 11:00AM- 12:00PM ATHENS PLACE 1014 W. 120TH STREET, LA, CA 90044 AVALON GARDENS 701 E. 88TH PLACE LA, CA 90002 FULL GOSPEL BAP CH 6900 COMPTON AVE. LA, CA 90001 GONZAQUE VILLAGE 10441 ANTWERP ST. LA, CA 90002 PUEBLO DEL RIO 1801 E. 53RD ST., LA, CA 90058 WILMINGTON ARMS 700 W. LAURALE, COMPTON, CA 90220 In accordance with Federal law and U.S. Department of Agriculture policy,this institution is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race,color, national orgin,sex,age or disability.”To file a complaint of discrimination , write USDA, Director, Office of Adjudication and Compliance, 1400 Independance Avenue S.W. Washington, D.C 20250-9410, or call (202) 260-1026, toll-free (866) 632-9992 or (202) 401-0216(TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

As the co-star of ABC-TV’s “Black-Ish”, Marsai Martin has grown up on red carpets over the last decade and boy, how she has blossomed.

Next month, she turns sweet 16, and this rising star has red carpet style down to a tee.

HOLLYWOOD REPORTER EMPOWERMENT IN ENTERTAINMENT 2019

NAACP IMAGE AWARDS 2020

Eye On Gospel It’s Open Door Season for Pastor/Gospel Artist Detrick Haddon Congratulations to Detrick Haddon, whose latest single, “I Can’t Breathe”, caught the attention of Whoopi Goldberg, who shared the song on “The View”.

“A powerful message, a beautiful song by @dhaddy that should be heard around the world by all,” Goldberg posted to her social media.

Haddon premiered the song last month on BET Gospel. “We are all in this fight together!” said the L.A.based artist.

Haddon’s latest album, T.I.M.E (Truth Is My Energy) , is hailed as his “best work yet,” and boasts a new verse on the worshippers’ favorite track “He’s Able,” the viral, Zaytoven produced “Gorilla Faith,” and “Come Through,” which was lifted from TV One’s original film, Sins of the Father — which Haddon starred in.

The album boasts two #1 singles, including the track, “Open Door Season.”

Said Haddon, “I am very excited about Open Door Season being #1. People need to know that “doors are still open for them”, even though we have been sheltering inside. It’s not over and God is still working! It’s been 20 + years and this is my 2nd #1! If I never get another one, I’m just grateful that God is still using me. All over the world, people tell me how much my songs have helped them. That’s all that I can ask for. I Detrick Haddon

thank all of them, everywhere for the support and love, as well as my label...for theirs too!”

The Detroit native is known for his progressive, urban style of gospel music, but he is also the founding pastor of Hill City Church in California. Haddon is also a former cast member on Oxygen's reality television show “Preachers of L.A.” During Christmas 2018, Haddon teamed up with super-producer Zaytoven to create what they consider to be their best body of work to date, on the holiday EP “Greatest Gift.” Additionally, Haddon penned three songs on Usher’s most recent album, A. “His latest album T.I.M.E. (Truth Is My Energy) speaks amazingly to right now and will no doubt transcend this time, stated Gina Miller, SVP and General Manager, eOne Music.

Haddon lost an aunt to COVID-19 and both his Mom and Dad fought the disease.

“This thing is no joke,” Haddon emphasized.

Marvin Sapp Releases New Single Multiple award-winning Gospel superstar Marvin Sapp releases an impassioned new song and video with “Thank You for It All.” Available now at digital music providers and launched to Gospel radio, Sapp’s soaring voice is a reassuring balm on the track, thanking God for His ever-present guidance and providing strength to survive through difficulties and pain. The 11-time Grammy® Award nominated, 24-time Stellar Award-winning vocalist, songwriter, and producer, recorded “Thank You For It All” live earlier this year at his sold-out album recording at his new church, The Chosen Vessel Cathedral in Fort Worth, TX. Marking his first new single since releasing his chart-topping Grammy ® nominated album Close in 2017, “Thank You For It All” will be featured on his upcoming new album Chosen Vessel. The song was composed by Sapp, Jarmone Davis, Christopher Thomas Leach and frequent collaborator, Grammy ® Award winner Aaron Lindsey.

“This song epitomizes the season we are in,” Sapp

said. “Through the good and the bad, the ups and the downs, the pandemic and the protests, being people of God means we are rooted in thankfulness to our merciful Father, regardless of our circumstances.”

Tramaine Hawkins Classic Tapped for Greenleaf’s Season Five Soundtrack Legendary Gospel singer Lady Tramaine Hawkins has re-recorded her classic hit "Goin' Up Yonder" for Greenleaf’s season five soundtrack. The song– written by Gospel icon Walter Hawkins– was first released in 1975 on the LOVE ALIVE album, 45 years ago. The Gospel Music Hall of Fame and Stellar Honors Hall of Fame inductee continues to uphold her iconic status and is set to receive the 35th Annual Stellar Awards "Aretha Franklin Icon Award" this year.

"It’s been very exciting participating in the new arrangement of the Gospel classic Goin’ Up Yonder for the last season of the hit series Greenleaf," Lady Tramaine states. "More essentially - having the opportunity, through song, to comfort and lift up all those who have been so devastated by COVID-19 and police violence.

Kiki Sheard Gets Engaged In the midst of celebrating her 33rd birthday, Kiki Sheard got engaged to boyfriend, Jordan Kelly. Said Sheard, “The man in my dream is now my reality. God has His way of doing things. He’s shown me that if I trust Him, all will be well; and Oh my God– All is well! Dr. Seuss once said, ‘You know you’re in love when you can’t fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams’…I get it now.”…Finally, congrats to Kirk Franklin on his second consecutive BET award nomination for another #1 hit.

Franklin is nominated for “Just For Me.” Penned by Franklin, the song is the second nomination from the chart-topping album Long Live Love, following his 2019 nomination for the hit song “Love Theory.” Franklin will go head to head in the category with Fred Hammond, John P. Kee featuring Zacardi Cortez, Kanye West, PJ Morton featuring Le'Andria Johnson & MaryMary and The Clark Sisters.

ChurchNews

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

“L.A. Churches Get Green Light to Re-Open, Most Move Cautiously“

Bishop Craig A. Worsham, Founder & Senior Pastor

L

L.A. Focus/July 2020

A. churches have gotten the green light to reopen, but with the number of COVID-19 cases spiking to an all-time high and a weighty list of state mandated modifications to adhere to, most churches have put off openings. While some may find the state mandated modifications to be costly and challenging, the biggest concern is for the health of parishioners.

Some churches have already opened, most are looking at August and September for potential target dates. Several churches have postponed until January after a potential second wave.

Rev. K.W. Tulloss, senior pastor of the Weller Street Baptist Church and president of the Baptist Minister’s Conference does not plan on opening his church until September at the earliest.

“I want to make sure that my members are safe and have no concerns when they come into the church and can socially distance as well as to make sure that the sanctuary is in compliance with the governor’s mandate.”

As to the members of the 100-plus member strong fellowship of pastors he presides over each week, Tulloss reports, “Some are open. Most are moving cautiously. With the numbers spiking, there is certainly a reason for pause.”

Pastor Michael Fisher of Greater Zion had intended to open in July, but is pushing back those plans.

“We had planned July 12, but because of the spike in cases, out of concern, we’re pushing it back until mid-August,” Pastor Michael Fisher of Greater Zion Church Family reports.

“We were having our members pre-register and more than 175 people had pre-registered for the morning service up until the news of a spike in cases. After that, the numbers flattened, causing us to consider our initial relaunch date. Everyone is re-assessing because of the spike—which is really a significant jump—and then of course, a second wave.”

Faithful Central Bible Church pastor, Bishop Kenneth Ulmer, says his church will not be going back into the sanctuary until the public schools are open.

“We have surveyed many in our congregation and it appears if parents can't send their kids to school, they won't bring them to church. Additionally, our church includes "children's church." Kids don't "social distance.". Finally, we are concerned about the "quality of the worship experience." We are discussing the limitation of no more than 100 people social distancing.

We are not with "first come first serve." We are not ready to turn away the one hundred first person. And God help you if you turn away one of the Mothers of your church - because she didn't get there in time to get in line !!!”.

Outdoor gatherings and drive through events are being seen as a way for churches to get together until such time as they can worship in the sanctuary.

For now, Pastor Philip Lewis of the New Mt. Pleasant Church in Inglewood is even hosting choir rehearsals on the church parking lot with social distancing and says he has no idea of when they are coming back.

“We have a lot of elderly,” said Lewis, “so keeping our members safe is critical. We’re going to have to change the way we do church.”

First Church of God to Host Protest March and Rally On July 4th, 2020 from 9am-noon, Center of 24 Hope LA will be holding a Protest March and

Corprate Office: 4602 Crenshaw Blvd, Suite 2A, Los Angeles, CA 90043 (323) 295-5571 www.agapela.org

Sunday School: 10:00am Morning Worship: 11:00am Loving, Lifting & Liberating Humanity Through The Word

Geremy Dixon

Rally to stand against systematic oppression, to celebrate black excellence, and to mobilize for strategic impact.

“As we have witnessed the justified uprisings across the country in response to the latest atrocities against black men and women, a question that continues to linger is how do we fight back, after the protests have subsided?” said Pastor Geremy Dixon. “How do we educate ourselves around next steps to stay actively engaged in the processes that will change the narrative surrounding black people and bring about lasting impact?

“We realize this is a critical time to, not only raise our voices against the call of injustice, but to be actively engaged to make sure we are a part of the solution.”

Those attending the event—which hopes to create and build coalition around existing organizations and businesses presently serving the Black community— will be able to register to vote on the spot as well as participate in the Census.

Adds Dixon, “We are hopeful that this day will provide a platform that brings continued awareness to the urgent cry that Black Lives Do Indeed Matter, but also results in sustained momentum in being individual stewards of change. It is our belief that through education and active engagement we will each remain “All In” for the fight towards equality.

ECM Ministries Hosts Open Dialogue With LAPD 25 uniformed LAPD officers participated in candid one-on-one conversations with black youth earlier this month. The initiative titled “Perceptions, Empathy & Unification” (PEU) was hosted by Pastor Shep Crawford of the Experience Christian Ministries located at 326 E. 47th Place in South Los Angeles. In the candid one-hour conversations participants shared perceptions on both sides for an open dialogue.

The event opened up with prayer by youth minister Terry Berry, followed by an explanation of the event

by Pastor Shep Crawford after which, Sergeant Ronald Kinji, who grew up in the South Los Angeles neighborhood took the stage to express the importance of this meeting being an effort to better understand one another and to gain the trust of local law enforcement as an allied and not an enemy.

"I knew that the decision we made to hold this event wouldn't be too popular amongst many in our current climate, but it was necessary to help birth the next step in a much-needed progression of change” says Pastor Shep, who gained national recognition as the pastor that eulogized the late rapper Nipsey Hussle.

“Pastor Shep and I really wanted to bring everyone together to do one-on-one’s because you are really going to be authentic and you’re gonna say what you want to say”, says Sergeant Kinji.

Speakers for the event included Councilman Curren Price Jr. and Minister LA-Zay.

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

Bethesda Temple Apostolic Faith 4909 Crenshaw Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90043 (323) 299-2591 • thevoice4904@att.net Pastor Kyron S. Shorter Sunday Morning Prayer: 9:00am Sunday School: 9:30am Morning Worship: 11:00am Children’s Church: 11:00am Sunday Evening Service: 6:00pm

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

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!

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 Crenshaw Christian Center 7901 South Vermont, Los Angeles, CA 90044 (323) 758-3777 • F: (323)565-4231 • www.faithdome.org Pastor Frederick K. Price, Jr. Sunday Service: 9:45am Bible Study (Tue): 11:00am & 7:30pm Tue. Night Children’s Ministry: 7:30pm Tue. Night Bible Study (Teens): 7:30pm Alcohol & Drug Abuse Program (Wed): 7:30pm

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 Ruby Cottle, Ph.D., Pastor & Teacher Prophetess June Morgan / Assistant Pastor

Services Every Friday: 7:00pm -9:30pm We meet at: St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church 3901 West Adams Blvd, LA, CA 90018 Watch Dr. Cottle on HBN TV on Wed’s 7:30am Channel 20 Dish & DirectTV,Channel 3 U-Verse

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

Grant AME Church 10435 S. Central Avenue • Los Angeles, CA 90002 (323) 564-1151 • F: (323) 564-5027

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 Sunday Tues. Pastor’s Bible Study: 6:30pm Wed. Noon-day Prayer: Noon

FIRST LADY FILES

Kimberley Jenkins

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

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

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

Israel Missionary Baptist Church - A Holy Spirit Filled Church 4501 South Compton Ave, Los Angeles,CA 90011 Church/Fax: (323) 233-3295 or 3296 Website: www.Israelmbc.com • Email: israelmbc@yahoo.com Rev. Rodney J. Howard, Sr. Sunday School: 10:00am Morning Worship: 11:30am Sunset Service: 5:00pm Communion Every First Sunday First Sunday Men In Prayer: 8:30 am Pastor’s Bible Study Tuesdays: 7:30pm McCarty Memorial Christian Church 4103 W. Adams Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90018 (323) 731-4131 • www.mccartychurch.org Senior Pastor Edward Anderson Sunday Worship: 10:45am Sunday School: 9:30am Bible Study: Tues Noon

Mount Moriah Baptist Church of Los Angeles, Inc. 4269 South Figueroa St. Los Angeles, CA 90037 (323) 846-1950 •Fax: (323) 846-1964

Victory Baptist Church or First Lady Kimberley Jenkins, the mission is clear: to spearhead the storied legacy of Victory Baptist Church alongside her husband, Pastor Edward Jenkins, and to provide a safe space for anyone seeking to enrich their spiritual life and become part of a loving community.

Jenkins– who has been a first lady for 25 years –is passionate about children’s ministry.

“I’m an elementary school teacher so it was a natural fit to support the children’s ministry and now we have an online curriculum for children bible study each week. We also have a summer STEM program and I work as a consultant,” she explained. “The most important thing is getting–and keeping– the children in church. They’re our future.”

She is just as passionate about her role as the wife of a pastor.

“I assist with things like the church anniversary and any miscellaneous things the pastor may need,” Jenkins said. “I think it’s important to be a support system to my husband. A pastor is a pastor 24 hours a day. Even on vacation he’s getting phone calls and making decisions.

It’s just important to show that support.”

She is thankful that stereotypical first lady expectations like upscale fashion attire don’t impact the way that the congregation views her.

“When I first got there, it was a lot of bling, rhinestones, hats, feathers,” Jenkins said. “Now people will usually just wear a nice dress or pants suit. Our church takes pride in their appearance, but it’s never too much.

Our doors are open to everyone. I would say I’m very lucky. I have the world’s best congregation.”

As the COVID-19 pandemic is redefining how people do church, Jenkins is adapting and remaining hopeful.

“We’re now utilizing tech in a way we’ve never used it before so now when we do go back people with health issues or others who can’t come in can still be involved,” she explained. “ A lot of congregations are seeing a decline in members, but the church is a vital social center not just spiritual. I just want to see more people get together and worship the lord.”

F

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

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

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

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

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 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

The Potter’s House at One LA 614 N. La Brea Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90036 (818) 763-4521 • www.tphla.org Sr. Pastor Toure’ Roberts Sunday Worship:, 7:00am, 9:00am, 11:00am, 1:00pm & 6:00pm Thursday Midweek Service: 5:00pm & 8:00pm Watch Live: http://tphla.org/watch-live/

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 Weller Street Baptist Church 129 S. Gless St, Los Angeles, CA 90033 (323) 261-0949 • F: (323)264-6601 • www.wellerstreetlive.com Pastor K.W. Tulloss Sunday School: 8:00am Sunday Morning Worship: 9:00am Tues. Bible Study: 6:45pm www.wellerstreetlive.com “We have not walked this way before” Joshua 3:1-6 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

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

L.A. Focus/July 2020

Mt. Sinai Missionary Baptist 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, 11:30am Discipleship Groups (Sun): 9:45am Noonday Bible Study(Tue): 12:00pm Tuesday Night in the Truth: 7:15pm Radio: KKLA 99.5 FM (Sat): 9:00pm Our Goal: To glorify God by winning more Christians and developing better Christians (Matt. 28:18-20)

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

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

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

In Carson

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

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

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

Holy Chapel Missionary Baptist Church In Compton 1016 E. Rosecrans Avenue, Compton, CA 90220 (310) 537-3149 • F: (310) 537-3149 Rev. Dr. George L. Thomas Sunday School: 9:45am & 10:15am Early Morning Worship: 7:30am Mid-Morning Worship: 11:15am New Members’ Class: 9:45am Holy-Communion (1st Sunday): 7:30 & 11:15am Mid-Week Prayer & Bible Study (Wed)- 7:00pm Broadcast (KALI 900AM - Sunday): 2:00pm3:00pm Love and Unity Christian Fellowship 1840 S. Wilmington Ave, (P.O. Box 5449), Compton 90224 (310) 604-5900, www.loveandunity.org Apostle Ronald C. Hill, Sr. Founder and Pastor Sunday Worship: 8:00am & 11:30am Sunday Evening Worship: 6:30pm Bible Studies: Wed. 7:30pm & Sat. 9am Prayer w/Apostle: Tue - Fri: 9am Food for Your Soul TV Ministry- 6:30am Impact Network Television: Mon-Fri 6:30am KJLH 102.3 Sundays: 9pm The City of Refuge 14527 S. San Pedro Street, Gardena, CA 90248 (310) 516-1433 Bishop Noel Jones

In Gardena

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

Blessed Family Covenant Church 325 North Hillcrest Blvd, Inglewood, CA, 90301 (310)-674-0303 • F: (310)-674-0303 • blessedfamilycovenant.org

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

Rev. Wendy Howlett Sunday School: 8:30am Morning Worship: 9:30am Wed. Prayer & Bible Study: 7:00pm

Pastor Profile: Kisheen Wayne (K.W.) Tulloss Church: Weller Street Missionary Baptist Church How Long at Church: 13 years Hometown: Los Angeles Family: Wife Khalilah, four children

In the midst of the COVID-19, how are you and your church faring?

My church has fared well pivoting to online worship only. We have implemented several ideas to keep people engaged and try to make things as personal with our members as possible through Facetime and prayer time every day. We had invested quite a bit over the years in our online messaging because being in Boyle Heights, 95% of our members commute so we were prepared. Our online views average 1200-1500 a week. That’s great when you were only seeing 100+ people on Sundays.

L.A. Focus/July 2020

As president of the Baptist Minister’s Conference, how are you helping members get through this crisis?

Most of all we had to get many of them to cross the digital divide–to help them embrace the online technology necessary for them to be effective in reaching members.

We paid for those who did not have streaming. We have members who have been pastoring 30-60 years and it was something to get them to adapt to their churches being shut down. None of us have pastored through a pandemic so this was an opportunity for us to branch out and support each other. We went from meeting in person to conference calls where we have city officials and coun-

26

ty representative share important information with them.

What do you think will be the lasting effects of the pandemic on the church?

I believe the church will bounce back stronger than before, because all of us have really now developed a strong base and have added another tool through social media and online to our war chest.

Were you raised in church?

I was raised in a very close home with family that knew the ways of God, that acted Godly, but unfortunately would never go to church. At the age of 14 is when my relationship became real with God. My mother was wrestling with a major drug problem and we were at a point where our family was about to be divided.

I remember going to church for donuts and the preacher talking about going into the prayer closet and that if you ask God for anything, He will give it to you. I went into my closet and prayed. I said, “Lord if you help my momma one time, I promise you I will serve you ‘till I die.” And it’s something I hold on to today because I recognize the power of the church.

It was the church that rallied around my mother and made my mother see hope and see past her problems. It was the church that made my mother feel special and made her feel a part, and it was the church that really embraced her two young sons, her newborn baby and gave us a life outside of our norms.

What was your journey like to the pulpit?

After the Lord set my mother free, I don’t remember missing a Sunday even on vacation. I played football and led the team in prayer for every game. Most of my friends would say I was just a nice guy. So, it was nothing I really yearned for, but it was something I was really pressed towards. At the age of 17 when I was fresh out of high school, I recognized that God had a very special calling on my life and I decided to follow.

I served 10 years as a youth pastor at First Antioch. I was the first to get there and the last to leave and it was a pastor here in LA, Donald Wilson, who asked me, “Are you interested in Pastoring?” And I said, “I’ve never thought about it.”

He said “Well, I have a friend who runs the LA police department street team, they monitor the youths while they are doing their marches. His church is looking for a pastor and he asked me if I had any recommendations and I was thinking about you, is this something you would be interested in?” He said it was Weller Street Missionary Baptist Church.

I’d preached at almost every church in the city and had never heard of this church. He said the church is in East LA and I said, “Aint no black

folks in East L.A., so how can the church be in East LA? But I submitted my resume, preached one time and they called me to the church in October of 2006.

What did your childhood struggles teach you about the power of God? They have literally brought me to a place of me knowing God for myself that there’s no problem too big for God and no situation too small that God doesn’t care about. It has literally strengthened my faith and dependence on God. Even now he is really elevating and taking me to a whole other level from president of the BMC to a leader of civil rights and human rights.

When did you get into activism?

My social justice activism is a part of my ministry. It’s a part of the makeup of my DNA. The Lord has always blessed me with opportunities to be of service from working with EDD at 17 to running a stay in school program, to working for the Kennedy family, to working for Crystal Stairs (a nonprofit child development agency) for 10 years.

I got into the National Action Network and was introduced to Reverend Sharpton who took me under his wings. I was placed into regional director position in 2012 when Rev Sharpton decided to reinvest back into our city, and we worked to become the most prominent civil rights group in the city.

Having stepped down as president of the National Action Network’s L.A. chapter, what does activism look like for you today?

Activism for me is literally taking the church beyond the walls. The National Action Network helped shaped me as a person, so I’m using that to help spearhead our efforts to organize churches to go beyond in our efforts.

Today, in 2020, we have COVID-19 and the protests and the church has been mostly silent relative to so many of our world issues, so I’m taking my knowledge and the skills that I’ve learned as an activist to get the church beyond the walls.

What would make you most successful in your efforts as president?

To make sure that we’re sharpening the tools of every pastor who is part of this 100-plus year-old organization to really make a difference in their respective communities.

What about personally?

To continue to be that voice vessel for God especially in these challenging times we’re living in. People being saved. I’m not focused on material stuff because I walk by faith and not by sight. I’m more focused on my heavenly reward which I believe is far greater than anything I’ve achieved in life.

From the Pulpit of: Faithful Central Bible Church

T

he headlines are gripped as something is happening globally under this broad heading of "protests." I remember the Watts riots. I remember the Rodney King riots. I remember the Vietnam [protests], but there's something different about this one. I believe God is doing something new.

I've never seen this kind of global response to an incident that has happened.

The death of a black man, unfortunately, is not new. It happens every day in some of our neighborhoods and never makes the headlines, but there is something different about this one. There's a new dimension to it and this difference gives me hope.

Corporations are stepping up like never before. Institutions are stepping up like never before.

All over the globe, from to Paris and London. Never before has there been an incident that lit such a global response.

Never been this kind of multiracial, multiethnic response.

But I suggest to you that the idea of protests–not only is not new, but there are biblical pictures of protests. The biggest one, "Let my people go" in Exodus…that was a protest. A line was drawn in the sand. People said, ‘we ain't taking this anymore.’ And God says, "Tell them, let my people go."

I suggest that, biblically and existentially even, there is power in protests.

Some of us know this story about Paul being thrown in jail. The Bible says in Acts 16: 22 that, "Then the multitude rose together against them”.

Why? Because there was a woman who was possessed by a demonic spirit and the spirit had given her as a spirit of divination. She was a fortune teller. The Bible calls her a slave and says she had an owner. Paul comes along, prays for her, lays hands on her and casts out this demon that gives her the power to tell the future.

Now, there's an economic dimension here, because here's a culture that not only affirms the slavery, but allows for this woman to be used for ill gain by the people who own her. So the Bible says the crowd came against Paul because once he healed

this woman, he messed up the economy.

I suggest to you, there's a systemic, institutional economic dynamic to what's going on in our world right now.

Paul upset the economy and they whipped him and they put him in jail.

When he gets in the jail, one Bible says long about midnight, God stepped in. At midnight, God moved. There was an earthquake.

Old, black preachers used to say, “God said, earthquake, go down and deliver my sons. Earthquake said, ‘Lord, do you want me to level it?’ God said, ‘Don't level it.

Just shake things up a little bit."

And so this earthquake shook the jail.

The indication is that the rest of the city was not necessarily shaken, but the jail of bondage and injustice was shaken. The penal system that held them was shaken.

Paul and Silas have a little prayer meeting and long about midnight, they were praying. When the earthquake hit, shackles fell off their hands and feet. Not only did it free Paul and Silas, who were there unjustly, (we don't know the reason the other ones were there, but we assume they were part of this same system), and yet, shackles fell off all of the jail doors and all of those who were in shackles.

Now, if we can just get the world to understand this: when black people are really free, everybody is going to be free – systemically free, economically free, existentially free.

I love the theology of South Africa. It is called Ubuntu and the root word means to be. And Ubuntu says this, "We can never be who we're meant to be solitarily."

We can never be who we're meant to be alone. My completeness, my fullness is related to you being free. Your fullness, your completion to fulfill all God has called you to do, is Bishop inextricably woven within the fabric of Kenneth Ulmer our relationship with

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

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

one another.

So God moves in this earthquake. In the midst of this is the jailer. The jailer says, what must I do? All of this rocking and rolling and shaking and Paul says this, "Believe on the Lord, Jesus Christ, and you and your family shall be saved.

The whole story plot shifts when a man's heart was changed.

There was a white lady on the TV and she was marching, had a sign or whatever and she said, "Now I get it. What she meant was, I've seen this story before, but something about this one, gripped me.

Much of what's going on in the streets… in our headlines is because hearts are being changed like never before. When did something happen in a ghetto in America and someone in Syria or Paris responded to it? When did it spark something in the heart and mind of someone around the world in Asia and Africa, in Europe?

Something is happening on a heart level and that's where it has to start.

God, by His spirit, is performing heart transplants. People now get it. I believe like never before God is touching the hearts of the religious and righteous minds who many at times have been arrogant, disengaged. We can change the laws, but only God can change hearts.

After the earthquake–Acts chapter 16 verse 35–it says when it was day, the magistrates sent the officers and saying, "Let these men go in peace”. Let us get back to business as usual. Let's act like this didn't happen.

Paul says, not today.

No, no. They have publicly beat us without a trial, threw us in jail, which is illegal and we're Roman citizens just like them. Now they want us to leave secretly? You want to just sweep this under the rug like nothing happened?

We now see the revelation of God's plan of action. We

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

Pastor James McKnight

Pulpit continued to page 24

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

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

see action steps and directives right out of the Word of God. How then do we respond?

Paul says, "Believe in the Lord, Jesus.

And you shall be saved, but it must also impact your family.

I believe God's first solution is this.

When people get through marching and protesting –what about when you go home? What are you saying to your family?

Those of you who didn't protest, but saw it on the news, what's happening in your home and your family?

Paul says, "There is a move of God that's going to have to change this thing, but it starts with change on the level of the family."

I love what my Jewish brothers say in the book of Deuteronomy, it says, "Teach these things to your children."

What are you going to teach your kids about this season?

There is a foundational family element to changing things. It starts at home. You are the main teacher. You're going to teach those kids before they go to school.

I love what a guy said this week on one of newscasts. The reporter says, "When you were growing up, did your parents give you “the talk?"

Everybody knows what the talk is. How do you handle it when police stop you. This boy says, "In my house, we had “the talk” before we had the sex talk."

It's a foundational family issue.

A part of what you must disciple and prepare your kids for is the reality of what's out there in the world. So my white brothers, my white sisters, tell your kids that racism is still there. I don't care what they hear in the media, it still alive and well.

A lady on TV a couple of days ago said, "I brought my kids out here because I wanted them to see what this is about. I don't want them to ever forget this."

There was a young lady who came out in her graduation gown and she said, tears in her eyes, she said, "I may be graduating, but I want to be a part of change. I'm graduating from one level of my school in academics, but I want to be a part of a gradu-

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

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

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 & Anointing: 10:45am Wed. Bible Study: Noon & 6pm Mothers of Murdered Youth & Children Where all receive a little attention, affection and love.

L.A. Focus/July 2020

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

“The Power of Protests”—Acts 16:22-40

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

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

In Lynwood

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

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

In Norwalk

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

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

Don’t be left out!

Add your chuch to our church directory?

Call (310) 677-6011 Ask for Kisha

L.A. Focus/July 2020

David A. Love continued from page 7 country suggests the U.S. has reached a seminal moment in local restrictions prohibiting law enforcement agencies its history. Citizens are questioning the role of law enforcement because its current configuration has been rendered from obtaining military weapons.

Meanwhile, Color of Change recommends making offi- unsustainable. Now is our opportunity to take advantage of cer misconduct records and disciplinary histories publicly this turning point in history and transform policing, lest we accessible, creating a national registry of officers recom- repeat our mistakes and produce more George Floyds. mended for termination because of misconduct, and David A. Love is a Philadelphia-based writer, commentator, responding to mental health crises with healthcare rather and journalism professor. He writes for CNN, Al Jazeera, than police intervention, thereby reducing fatal police Atlanta Black Star, theGrio, and other publications. shootings.

Crenshaw Mall continued from page 12 While proper training isn’t a panacea, it’s also still • Next a website was developed based on the initial research findimportant. But high-level changes to training might not ings about CIM Group and their relationship with the Trump family. make much of an impact without more substantial restrucThe purpose of the website was to educate the community and drive turing of police unions and police departments. residents to sign the petition.

Color of Change has urged elected leaders to refuse • Realizing the need for further support, Tulloss recruited other political contributions from police unions, who have local grassroots activists and leaders to join the cause and spread the enabled and encouraged police violence for years. “These word about signing the online petition. The activists then held a unions are toxic, and they should be treated as such,” said joint press conference near the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Mall on Color of Change President Rashad Robinson in a recent May 5, 2020 to announce opposition to the CIM Group’s purchase statement. “Accepting their money is no different than and to encourage the public to sign the online petition. This is accepting money from the gun lobby, or big tobacco. It’s a where the Coalition began to gain momentum. signal that you are on the side of white supremacy,” he • To further the momentum, the activists developed a grassroots added. plan to boost the online petition supporters. This plan included As I heard the police helicopters, sirens, and gunfire in sending a mailer to local residents, setting up a Facebook page, Philadelphia during the citywide curfew on the eve of June obtaining press coverage, and scheduling protest and demonstra1, the 99th anniversary of the Tulsa race massacre, I was tions at CIM’s office. reminded that these problems are rooted in centuries of • After putting the plan into action, Tulloss began to reach out to history. local community groups to obtain their support. Residents and local The U.S. never came to terms with its legacy of institucommunity groups were asked to sign the online petition and share tional and systemic racism, of slavery and Jim Crow segreit with their networks. gation, and now it has come back to bite us. Among the • Activists continually shared the coverage on Facebook and first police forces in America were the slave patrols, which online which helped increase the number of supporters for the deputized white men in the South to monitor and search online petition. the plantations, prevent slave rebellions and escapes, and • The activists also kept the pressure on the CIM Group by holdtake Black lives without punishment. ing several demonstrations and press conferences at the CIM office Even today, policing has not shed that slave patrol in Hancock Park. These demonstrations occurred during the same mentality in Black communities. This is because society time as the demonstrations regarding the killing of George Floyd and its institutions have not divested from institutional • Upon reaching 5,000 signatures on the petition, the activist held racism and structural inequality, opting to reduce another press conference near the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Mall to racism to a matter of bad people hurling epithets rather keep the momentum going. than systems of oppression, power, and privilege.

• Given the momentum, the Coalition began to garner support A true transformation will come when law enforcement from other leaders and residents in the community, who joined the no longer views its mission as protecting property over protests by walking and creating signs. human lives, monitoring and waging violence against • The CIM Group contacted Tulloss directly to try to get the low income and working communities, instilling fear, Coalition to stop the protest and the dialogue to express the opposiand suppressing social justice movements. tion to CIM’s potential acquisition of the mall began.

Police use of excessive force against peaceful pro• Tulloss and Smart communicated their opposition directly to testers and journalists in Minneapolis and across the

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Pulpit continued from page 23 ation, a change in our society."

Notice this, when Paul was beaten publicly and thrown into jail, nobody said a word. There is a systematic institutional governmental element to everything going on right now. There are mindsets that allow it. Somebody knew that man [officer Derek Chauvin] had 18 charges against him before he put his knee on George Floyd's neck, and somebody gave him a pass.

We do the spiritual stuff on Sunday and then go back out into a system that is as ungodly as the lives of those we saved before they got saved. So when you get through marching, carrying your sign, march on and register to vote because there was a system that allowed this. If the folk that we're praying for who are in power, are not doing the things that are righteous and of God, the system says the way to get them out is to vote them out.

When you get through dancing and praying and speaking in tongues, dance on down to the voting booth. Dance on to the census. Get into the system with the righteous mindset God has given you. Get into the system with a heart that has been changed by the power of God. Don't just hide behind the sanctified, four walls of the church.

When we go back out there, go with a different mindset… a different empowerment.

I believe by the power of God, there's an earthquake going on. It started with a man named George Floyd and is rippling around the world. I don't know how long the earthquake in Act 16, but the longest earthquake [on record] was just over eight minutes. This quake in Minneapolis with a knee on a neck, in 8 minutes, 46 seconds can change the world.

When a father and a future died in 8 minutes, 46 seconds, I declare some things ought to die now. Some mindsets ought to die. Some systems ought to die. Injustice ought to die. And if history, teeters at the fulcrum, at the bridge, at the break, at the point of 8 minutes and 46 seconds, through the tears, there can be triumph.

The powerful word from our God is for those of us who are yet alive. You can make a difference where you are–a difference in your community, in your home, in your family. It's not by accident that you are here for such a time as this and this time you get it. This time you realize that the church is called to go into the world. the CIM Group CEO on a daily basis during the week of June 8.

• As a result, on Sunday, June 14, the CIM Group made a decision to not purchase the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Mall and the Coalition declared Victory!

Now that CIM has stepped back from the deal, the Coalition says they’re hopeful they’ll find a minority-based developer that will help revitalize the mall.

“We want any African-American real estate developer that’s going to give us what was promised now that we have taken it from CIM,” said Tulloss. “We deserve the best.”

That sentiment was echoed by Pastor Jonathan Moseley Sr., of NAN’s Los Angeles chapter. “The people have spoken, the voices have been heard. Now it’s time for us to take hold of our community. Let’s get it done.”

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SavingGrace Lynn Whitfield

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hen Oprah set out to make Greenleaf, her hour-long drama surrounding an African-American mega church pastor that will debut on OWN later this month, she had but one actress in mind for the role of it First Lady–Lynn

L.A. Focus/July 2020

Whitfield.

If Whitfield has proven anything with her body of award-winning film and TV roles– from a cold motherin-law to be on the hit ABC series How to Get Away With Murder to critically acclaimed work in “Eve’s Bayou”, the Oprah Winfrey miniseries “The Wedding” and her Emmy award-winning performance on The Josephine Baker Story - it is that she meticulously does her homework when it comes to learning about, and gradually becoming, her characters.

The show, which is now in its fifth and final season, delves into the less than glamorous story behind megachurch leaders - but Whitfield says they were careful not to exploit the seedier details.

“We are humanizing people who happen to be a part of the church. “It’s not vulgar, but it is honest.”

The show–which has been the No.1 scripted show on cable among Black viewers– has generated formidable buzz for Winfrey who was intrigued by the role of First Lady Mae Greenleaf.

“I knew that this would be a woman that was important to bring to the screen. The textures of this woman, the flaws of this woman and the beauty of this woman– all very much interested me cause it’s a lot of little things to play.”

Whitfield saw purpose in bringing to the screen a mature woman seeking to step into her purpose.

Said Whitfield, “To see this woman look towards God to step into her purpose and her true strength, it seems to be resonating with a lot of women in lots of places.

That’s why the fans are so captivated by it all, because they want to see how it shakes out in the end”.

The Baton Rouge, Louisiana native is satisfied with the way Greenleaf handles the subject of megachurches and the clergy that run them.

“We’re not looking at it for drawing lines or pointing fingers and blame,”Whitfield said. “We’re not attacking any church or any spiritual leader. We’re just simply saying that every leader has issues.” What the show is doing is saying don’t look at the man, look at your own spiritual relationship. What do you believe in.”

In its final season, the Greenleaf family–led by her husband, Bishop James Greenleaf (Keith David)– will be trying to save their Memphis megachurch, the Calvary Fellowship World Ministries from being taken over by the Harmony and Hope Ministries. But, as always, secrets and subterfuge threaten to sidetrack their united front.

Rounding out the cast are Merle Dandridge, Lamman Rucker, Deborah Joy Winans, Lovie Simon, Desiree Ross, Rick Fox and Kim Hawthorne.

Whitfield was already in her element coming into the role. She served as a surrogate for President Barack Obama for both of his campaigns and visited churches, speaking to First Ladies across the country. She consid-

30

To see this woman look towards God to step into her purpose and her true strength, it seems to be resonating with a lot of women in lots of places. That’s why the fans are so captivated by it all, because they want to see how it shakes out in the end.

ers her relationship with God a close one, and frequently credits her faith to her ability to act.

This wasn’t, however, the case when she was young.

“I grew up Episcopalian. My grandfather was a Methodist, my grandmother was a Baptist so it was always around, but I didn’t really have a real relationship,” Whitfield says. “I didn’t feel the Spirit and the power and the protective hand of God (or his foot in my behind.) I didn’t feel all those things.”

It wasn’t until she hit a low point going through a divorce at the height of her career–after winning the Emmy and having a beautiful baby girl– that Whitfield found herself at West Angeles COGIC on a New Year’s Eve. “All the seats were gone,” she recalls. “There was no room at the inn and somebody pulled me in and said sit down. I sat there and that was my introduction to what praise and worship was…to ushering in the Holy Spirit. That was my introduction to building my own personal relationship with God. I might not step into a corporal place of worship for weeks or months, but my relationship is solid and I’m so grateful for that.”

The eldest of four caught the acting bug early growing up in Baton Rouge where her father, a dentist, was integral in community theater. The Howard University graduate cut her teeth performing with the Black Repertory Company in Washington, D.C. before moving to New York City where she appeared in several off-Broadway productions. She broke into television with 1981 with a guest role in “Hill Street Blues”.

More episodic TV would follow before she landed co-starring roles in a string of TV movies including “The George McKenna Story” and “The Women of Brewster Place”. But it was her role in the 1991 biopic, “The Josephine Baker Story”, that brought her critical acclaim and an Emmy.

Starring roles in “Stompin’ At The Savoy”,

“A Thin Line Between Love & Hate” and “Head of State” and a string of co-starring roles in TV series like “Without A Trace” would follow.

For all she has done, Whitfield believes her role in “Greenleaf” is one she was born for. She credits her relationship with God for her unique perspective into the human spirit itself, a skill, she says, has allowed her to delve deep into her Greenleaf character.

“I didn’t know why they wanted me to do it because there wasn’t much on the page,” Whitfield says.

“Lady Mae was a steely woman who didn’t have much to say about anything and it was all sour grapes. But I didn’t believe that to be the spirit of the woman. I didn’t believe that she didn’t adore her family, want the best for people.

Her time campaigning for Obama directly aided Whitfield’s understanding of Lady Mae’s life.

“They sent me out a lot and I went to lots of churches,” she continues. “I got to see First Ladies all over this country, Ohio, Tennessee, Pennsylvania. And there’s so many commonalities in them.

Whitfield says she thinks Lady Mae’s saving grace comes down to the authenticity of her character.

“She really wants the best for her family and she really does love the Lord.”

Offscreen, Whitfield says she is trying to adjust to the new normal of the COVID-19 pandemic and learn the discipline to exercise all the protocols and to be patient because we don’t know where everything is headed.

Adds Whitfield, “I’m feeling both saddened and hopeful that we are uncovering our other pandemic at the moment as racism and the volatile nature in which we now have seen a black man treated and have the history of how we’ve been treated and thought to be less than– maybe not human, and I’m feeling very excited and hopeful that I see so many young people of all races in the streets…in London, Berlin, Brazil and all over this country who are standing together for the right cause that black lives do matter. I am so hopeful because it feels a little different than it’s felt before.”

That’s not all she’s hopeful for.

“I believe my saving grace is that I am still excited about God and acting - I'm excited about possibilities,” the 67-year old actress reports. “People say black don’t crack, but you know... I don’t land anywhere I stay that can make me cynical. I don’t believe my own hype. I have to come from a place that is open or I’m going to become a parody of myself. I am not interested in that. I want to keep it fresh.”

Tune into Greenleaf every Wednesday on OWN.