L.A. Focus Newspaper May 2021

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Church News: Pastors Step Up In Defense of Maxine Waters PAGE

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Red Carpet Style: Oscars Was Coming Out Party for A-List Fashionistas PAGE

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Upfront

Isaac Bryan Dominates Endorsements, Fundraising In 54th Assembly Bid With a vacant 54th Assembly District Seat up for grabs, candidate Isaac Bryan has racked up donations and endorsements that have him dominating in a field of six opponents, including Heather Hutt, a former senior advisor to now Vice President Kamala Harris, businesswoman Dallas Fowler and civil attorney Cheryl Turner....

Saving Grace: Jody Watley

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contents

May 2021

L.A. Focus Publications

Left: Councilman Curren Price joined community leaders to cut the ribbon on Angels Walk Central Avenue, highlighting Central Avenue, once known as the west coast jazz music scene. Middle: Governor Gavin Newsom signs new legislation in San Fernando giving small businesses a $6.2 billion tax cut, before visiting local shops. Right: Supervisor Holly Mitchell joined Wellchild.org to bring a mobile COVID-19 vaccine clinic to residents of Florence-Firestone.

4 Commentary

From The Editor “Keeping Everything In Perspective”

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13 Cover Story 14

Special Report “The Growing Epidemic of Online Stalking”

“Police Reform and Personal Responsibility”

UpFront Isaac Bryan Dominates Endorsements Fundraising In 54th Assembly Bid; Reynaga and Sherif Face Off in Compton Mayor Runoff; One Down, Three to Go: How Will Chavin Verdict Factor in Trials of Three Remaining Officers Charged in Death of George Floyd

South L.A.’s “Dr. Fauci”- Dr. Jerry Abraham is on a Mission to Vaccinate the Community With A Shot of Faith

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Hollywood Buzz Big Year for Jurnee Smollett; Duke of Hastings No More

Head to Head

One On One

The Real Impact of Derek Chauvin’s Guilty Verdict?

Golda Rosheuvel

8 Headlines From Africa 10

Money Matters

Oscar Awards

Planning For Uncertainty

Eye On Gospel

Biz News Briefs

CeCe Duets With Carrie Underwood; Juan Winans Teams With Sister Deborah Joy Winans on New Single

Kobe Bryant Estate and Nike Fail to Come to Terms

On the Money The Skyrocketing Cost of Police Misconduct

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17 Red Carpet Style

Game Changer Community Build’s Robert Salcedo

staff

Publisher/Editor-In-Chief Staff Writers Photographer Advertising

Lisa Collins Gerald Bell,,Keith Delawder, Chez’Ney Hadley Ian Foxx Kisha Smith

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18 20 Church News

Through The Storm Pastor Endures the Pain for Which No One Can Prepare

Faith Leaders Respond to Chauvin Verdict; Pastors Defend Maxine Waters Controversial Statements

21 First Lady Files Pastor Profile 22 From The Pulpit of 23 In Good Taste 25 Saving Grace 26

Patricia Weaver - Atherton Baptist Church

Juan Williams–Ontario Christian Center

Loveland Church

Brandon “Pepperoni” Gray

Jody Watley

Charles O. Quarles, President of The Bedford Group of Companies at grand opening of the Quarles Business Opportunity Center, a business incubator offering free services focused on preparing minority entrepreneurs in the underserved communities of Watts, Willowbrook, Compton, Carson, and South-Los Angeles for post-pandemic progress.

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 Inglewood Minister’s Association

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 Bishop Robert T. Douglas Sr.

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

L.A. Focus/May 2021

advisory board Napoleon Brandford Pastor Beverly Crawford Lem Daniels Bob Blake

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Commentary

STAR PARKER Guest Columnist

“Police Reform and Personal Responsibility”

I

t is indeed rare, if not unprecedented, to see a highly diverse group of organizations such as the conservative Alliance Defending Freedom, the liberal American Civil Liberties Union, the libertarian Cato Institute and the Reason Foundation on the same page as the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund on the same issue.

But it is happening as the U.S. Senate takes up police reform. The issue is a legal doctrine known as qualified immunity.

These diverse organizations all agree that qualified immunity is bad law and should end.

The discussion is particularly high-powered today because it stands at the center of police reform that many see is needed in the wake of incidents such as the murder of George Floyd by former police officer Derek Chauvin.

The nation's first major civil rights law, the Civil Rights Act of 1871, passed shortly after the Civil War, contains a provision known as Section 1983 that protects citizens from violation of their civil rights by government officials. It says that a government official who violates a citizen's civil rights is liable and can be sued by the injured party.

Thus stood the law, until a series of Supreme Court decisions from 1967 to 1982 reinterpreted its application.

A new standard, qualified immunity, was added saying that it must be shown that rights were violated per "clearly established law." That is, there must be a previous case in which rights were violated the exact same way.

So, if a citizen's rights are violated but there is no previous case in which rights were violated in exactly that way, there is no protection. The government official is immune from liability.

Although the law applies to violation of a citizen's civil rights by any government official, the hot button today is

violations by police.

The qualified immunity doctrine makes establishing liability next to impossible, thus removing a serious deterrent against police violating civil rights in their law enforcement activities.

Police leadership and unions argue that qualified immunity is essential for them to do their job. This is a tough and dangerous business, they say, and split-second law enforcement decisions must be made, often under great uncertainty, sometimes with life-and-death implications.

But police officers being able to make deadly decisions, with no sense of personal responsibility and costs, leads to some of the horrors that we are seeing today.

Derek Chauvin had 18 complaints against him before he committed his final deadly act against George Floyd.

Had the incident, in all its gory and tragic details, not been captured on video by a young onlooker, the legal out-

From the Editor

come likely would have been much different.

Personal responsibility must be the hallmark in a free country, whether we're talking about obeying the law or enforcing it. When right and wrong become ambiguous, when personal responsibility becomes ambiguous, we see the chaos we are witnessing today.

Police officers perform a vital function in our society.

But what does law enforcement mean when law has no meaning? And law has no meaning if officers have free license to violate citizens' civil rights.

A creative solution has been proposed by the Cato Institute: Require police officers to carry liability insurance, like other professionals do. This would provide them the coverage they need. And those who are flagrant violators, like Derek Chauvin, would be priced out of the market.

The only stalwart on the Supreme Court questioning the status quo on qualified immunity has been Clarence Thomas.

Thomas is an originalist – read the law as written – and opposed to judicial activism. He has written that qualified immunity is "the sort of 'freewheeling policy choice(s)' that we have previously disclaimed the power to make."

Thomas has urged the court to take on and review this issue. "I continue to have strong doubts about our ... qualified immunity doctrine," he wrote last year.

Policing should be a local issue, not a national one. But civil rights is a national issue, and qualified immunity should be reformed.

Star Parker is president of the Center for Urban Renewal and Education and host of the weekly television show "Cure America with Star Parker." To find out more about Star Parker and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com

LISA COLLINS Publisher

“Keeping Everything In Perspective”

L.A. Focus/May 2021

L

ast month, the nation’s rollout in vaccinations experienced a hiccup when the CDC -temporarily paused Johnson & Johnson’s one dose vaccine, – a move that set vaccine hesitancy back a notch or two. The decision was made after six (eventually increasing to a total of 15) cases of thrombosis-thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS) or blood clots in the large blood vessels in the brain in what was an extremely rare occurrence for those with low blood platelets.

Of course, the rarity makes little difference if your loved one is the one in a million, but here’s some data that could help to keep things in perspective, keeping in mind that all of the cases occurred in women between the ages of 18 and 59–with a median age of 37 years with symptom onset 6 to 15 days after vaccination.

Deadly blood clots caused by birth control pills kill 300-400 women in the U.S. every year. According to another report, 100 people die every day of taking too much Tylenol. In fact, Acetaminophen (Tylenol) toxicity is the second most common cause of liver transplantation worldwide and is responsible for 56,000 emergency department visits, 2,600 hospitalizations, and 500 deaths per year in the United States. Fifty percent of them unintentional according to the National Center for Biotechnology Information.

The truth is there are risks to nearly every medication on the market.

Here’s the more relevant statistic. Without any of the three vaccines, 290 out of 100,000 blacks in L.A. County will die of COVID-19, according to the L.A. County Department of Public Health.

The good news is we are heading towards normalcy.

Just recently, the CDC relaxed some of the restrictions about mask wearing and Governor Newsom has said that by June 15 California will lift most COVID restrictions and reopen the economy.

With outdoor mask restrictions the first to go, experts are now focused on high risk settings, such as large

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gatherings and closed spaces with poor ventilation, which is why –erring on the side of caution–our annual First Ladies High Tea is scheduled for April 2022.

And keep those vaccination cards handy. All indications are that you will need them to prove that you have been immunized against COVID-19. According to some, they are the ticket back to the good old days and yet another reason to get vaccinated,– that’s unless you live in Texas or Florida where they are being banned.

In what was last month’s other big news story, a jury in Minneapolis came to the right verdict in a decision that is reverberating in police departments across the nation following a case that sparked the nation’s most intense reckoning on racial issues since the civil rights movement. This, as Americans are finding out just how deadly traffic stops can be for black men, and though less frequently black women, with Daunte Wright among the latest fatal casualties.

A report by the Los Angeles Police Department's Office of the Inspector General, published last year found traffic stops of whites (and some other groups) were most likely to be related to how the suspects were driving, while Black and Hispanic people were most likely to be stopped for having expired vehicle registration documents, or some other regulatory or equipment violation.

Philando Castile was stopped 52 times resulting in 86 minor traffic offenses before he was ultimately shot to death in a traffic stop in 2016 that turned tragic in less than a minute.

We understand that police are human and make mistakes. So too are the people they stop. Caution is always advised. Abuse is not acceptable.

Still, there are those who would argue that the jury had to find him guilty to stave off riots characterizing the verdict as mob justice even as one columnist ironically wrote: “a guilty man was railroaded.”

The truth of the matter was a not so perfect man was killed that day, despite people pleading with a heartless officer to take his knee off his neck so he could breathe.

After years of drug abuse, perhaps his heart wasn’t the strongest. He also had Fentanyl in his system and he may have inhaled carbon dioxide, but keeping everything in perspective, but for the knee on his neck, George Floyd would have lived to die another day.

There are reports that officers are leaving police forces in droves. But if that’s due to the idea that they could or should be held accountable for their actions–or their prejudices, perhaps they shouldn’t have been there in the first place.

I respect the fact that police put their lives on the line every day, but I respect just as much that the black community shouldn’t have to fear that a traffic stop could cost them their lives.

I’ve always believed that police should be held to a higher standard given the power they’ve been given under color of authority. And for all the talk about bad apples, sometimes they fall from rotten trees.

George Floyd’s family got $27 million in a settlement, but that won’t solve the problem. After all, in police settlements, it’s taxpayers like you who foot the bill.

In closing, I want to wish all a Happy Mother’s Day, especially to my Mom, Aleasta Newborn, who taught me that for every problem I had, that I was part of the problem and that– just as surely– I was most of the solution.

Keep the faith.

UpFront

News Briefs

Isaac Bryan Dominates Endorsements, Fundraising In 54th Assembly Bid

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ith a vacant 54th Assembly District Seat up for grabs, candidate Isaac Bryan has racked up donations and endorsements that have him dominating in a field of six opponents, including Heather Hutt, a former senior advisor to now Vice President Kamala Harris, businesswoman Dallas Fowler and civil attorney Cheryl Turner.

Many eyes have been on Bryan since his campaign gained swift momentum, raising over $55,000 before the campaign deadline last year. None of the other candidates had even passed the minimum threshold to file an online year-end report. To date, his campaign has gathered over $350,000.

Recently, more heat has been added to the race with the announcement of Bryan’s high-profile endorsements from Senator Sydney Kamlager-Dove, Congresswoman Karen Bass, and Supervisor Holly Mitchell — who were criticized by Huff and Turner for failing to endorse any of the three black women seeking the Assembly office.

“Their endorsement could discourage women from seeking office especially when women are making statements about supporting Black women, but are not supporting a qualified Black woman,” Hutt said to reporters.

Bryan’s line up of political and public figures support also includes Councilmembers Mark Ridley-Thomas, Marqueece Harris-Dawson, Mike Bonin, Kevin De Leon, Curren Price and Nithya Raman. In addition, Culver City Mayor Alex Fisch, actor and activist Common, and Black Lives Matter Movement Cofounder Patrisse Cullors are on the list.

“I'm feeling humbled by the amount of support that this campaign has received,” admits Bryan, an educator and director of public policy at the UCLA Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies. “The community put me on this ballot and the work isn't mine alone to claim. This campaign, like Measure J and so many policy changes before, is a labor of us. I feel like we have a real chance to do something special.”

If the election goes in his favor, Bryan’s first legislative action will be to ensure an equitable COVID-19 response.

“I will seize opportunities to use the state’s multibillion dollar surplus to allocate additional funds for COVID relief to

Isaac Bryan

the most impacted communities — particularly those, like black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC)-owned small businesses, that have been overlooked by Federal relief programs,” he said.

Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas says Bryan “has proven to be a force for change — as an organizer, academic, coalition builder, and powerful voice for changing our system of justice — he represents the next generation of leadership for Los Angeles and California.”

Hutt, whose most recent work was serving as state director and senior advisor to Sen. Kamala Harris’ , is further stirring the campaign pot. “You need the Black women’s perspective for balance,” she argues. “How can Black women elect the president of the United States, but we don’t have representation here?”

Like Bryan, Hutt isn’t running short on endorsements. Her list of influential names are majority current and former members of the California Legislative Black Caucus, and include Assemblymembers Autumn Burke, Reggie JonesSawyer, Mike Gipson, Jim Cooper, Willard Murray (Ret.), and retired Senators Isadore Hall and Kevin Murray, respectively.

“I’m going to hit the ground running,” said Hutt, who’s raised $250,000 in campaign funds. “I have relationships with members in the Legislature, I have relationships in the governor’s office, I have relationships in the community.”

If elected, Hutt will prioritize addressing homelessness and affordable housing, the education gap, the disparities in access to health care, and climate

GERALD BELL Contributor

change. As a Los Angeles native, she insists her connections and previous experience make her well-qualified to best represent the 54th District’s constituents.

“This district has been my home my entire life,” stressed Hutt, a single mother of three sons. “I am committed to making sure the people have an effective, unrelenting advocate that delivers on our community’s wide variety of needs during this challenging time. This includes COVID-19 relief resources, rebuilding our small business community, helping to lift-up working families, and strengthening the safety net for our most vulnerable.”

Civil Attorney and Trial Lawyer, Cheryl Turner, is another candidate who promises to help the 54th District rebound from the ills of the pandemic.

She’s banking on her record of legal counsel service in Los Angeles and the State of California to edge her into the open assembly seat.

“My legal background will enable me to propose, evaluate and advocate for laws that will benefit this district,” states Turner. “My history of public service to this community assures you that I will be on the lookout for [the residents] best interests and not be swayed by special interest groups whose interest conflict with our community’s needs.”

Turner’s endorsements include the Los Angeles African American Women’s Political Action Committee, the Sustainability Coalition, the Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles, and the California for Fair Housing.

“I will work tirelessly to improve our district and I will never give up until we accomplish what is best for our community,” Turner says.

Similar to Huff, she had words for Kamlager-Dove, Mitchell and Bass for their support of Bryan. “I am disappointed that our three women elected officials chose to support the candidacy of a man over the women candidates in the race,” Turner told reporters. “Politics will be politics and there is something to be said for showing loyalty to someone you have worked with in the past and can easily influence.”

“We need a generation of leadership that centers people first,” says Bryan.

“I've built coalitions and brought people Isaac Bryan continued to page 24

Reynaga and Sherif Face Off in Compton Mayor Runoff ompton is getting a new mayor, but with no candidate receiving a majority threshold in last month’s primary, residents will have to wait until a June 1 runoff to find out which of the two top vote getters– Cristian Reynaga or Emma Sherif–will precede Aja Brown as mayor of L.A. County’s “Hub city.”

With 31 percent (2290) of the less than 6,000 votes cast, Reynaga, a business owner who founded “Neighborhood with Anointing” and serves as vice-chair of the city’s Community Relations Commission, enjoyed a commanding lead over District 4 Councilwoman Emma Sherif, who garnered 19.32 percent, 1427 votes.

But according to Compton insiders, the equation changes dramatically if

L.A. Focus/May 2021

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Cristian Reynaga

Emma Sherif

those who voted for the other five black candidates on the ballot in the primary throw their support behind Sherif, giving her a clear advantage and in the words of one Compton resident, making it a “Black vs. Latino race”.

“I know that a great many people may see it that way, but it really should be about who will best represent and advo-

CHEZ HADLEY Staff

cate for the residents of Compton,” said J.T. Torbit, who has lived in Compton for four years and is disappointed at the 11 percent voter turnout.

Ironically, more than two thirds of Compton’s 96,000 residents are Latino.

About 30 percent are black.

“I think the low voter turnout really speaks to the level of apathy that exists in Compton concerning their future,” said Pastor Michael Fisher of the Greater Zion Church Family. “I urge everyone to vote. It’s the most significant race for the City of Compton. Whoever wins this race will determine if Compton steps forward or backwards.”

Aja Brown–who at 31 became Compton’s youngest mayor in 2013– announced in January that she would not seek reelection.

$30 Billion Tax Incentive Proposed for Those Who Invest In Black Businesses Inspired by an FCC Tax Certificate Policy established in the 70’s, BET founder Bob Johnson has proposed the enactment of a $30 billion tax incentive legislation to provide preferential treatment on gains to those who invest in businesses owned by Black Americans and other minorities. The proposed legislation– dubbed the BOOST Act (Better Opportunity and Outcomes for Socially Disadvantaged Talent)–addresses the longstanding problem minority businessowners face in attracting capital, particularly "strategic equity" capital.

The biggest challenge to racial equality in our nation is the glaring wealth chasm between Black and white American families,” said Johnson, in announcing the plan. “To close that gap, there must be a commitment to finding a workable solution to the lack of capital in the Black community."

Johnson–who presently serves as CEO of The RLJ Companies–believes that access to capital is just as important as voting rights.

"The BOOST Act, if enacted by Congress through tax legislation and embraced by investors, would elevate Black and minority businesses into the wealth-building and wealth-accumulation economic system that is the principal driver of economic opportunity and achievement in our capitalistic economy”.

Garcetti Unveils Guaranteed Income Plan for Low Income Families in New Budget As part of his annual “State of the City” address, Mayor Eric Garcetti announced the launch of what may be the largest guaranteed basic income pilot in the nation, budgeting $24 million to provide 2,000 Los Angeles households with $1,000 monthly for one year.

Said Garcetti, “We’re betting that one small but steady investment for Angeleno households will pay large dividends for health and stability across our city and light a fire across our nation.”

The $24 million does not include the $6 million Councilmember Curren Price earmarked for a guaranteed income pilot focused on single parents in his 9th council district, which includes South L.A. “Thanks to the leadership of Councilmember Curren Price, Councilmember Marqueece Harris-Dawson, and other councilmembers, these funds will grow to more than $30 million in direct help to begin to tear away at poverty in our city and show this nation a way to fulfill Dr. King’s call for a basic income once and for all,” Garcetti added.

Candidates for the one-year program would be selected from the city’s 15 districts, based on each area’s share of those living below federal poverty guidelines which is $12,780 for a single household and $31,040 for a family of five.

While the qualifications have not been fully determined, they will likely include households with at least one minor, those who have suffered some hardship relating to the Covid-19 pandemic.

"For families who can't think past the next bill, the next shift or the next health problem that they have, we can give them the space to not only dream of a better life, but to actualize it," Garcetti said in an interview with LAist.

UpFront One Down, Three to Go: How Will Chauvin Verdict Factor in Trials of Three Remaining Officers Charged in Death of George Floyd

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ne Down, Three to Go: How Will Chauvin Verdict Factor in Trials of Three Remaining Officers Charged in Death of George Floyd Staff As most in the nation applauded the verdict handed down by a Minneapolis jury finding former police officer Derek Chauvin guilty of two counts of murder and one count of manslaughter, one lingering question remains: how will the Chauvin verdict factor in the trial of the three officers also charged in the death of George Floyd last May. Now free on $750,000 bail, the fates of former officers–Tou Thao, J. Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane–still hang in the balance. All three were charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder which carries a maximum sentence of not more than 40 years, and second-degree manslaughter which could result in imprisonment of not more than 10 years or payment of not more than $20,000 or both.

“No doubt the guilty verdicts in the Derek Chauvin trial are bad news for the other three officers,” said L.A.-based civil rights attorney and CNN commentator Areva Martin. “Lang and Keung assisted Chauvin in putting George Floyd in the prone position and restraining him for nearly 10 minutes without providing medical assistance in violation of the department’s policies. Thao stood by in what can

Tou Thao

Thomas Lane

best be described as the “lookout.” position while the assault on George Floyd was carried out. The jury has made it clear this conduct is unreasonable excessive force and that the force caused Mr. Floyd’s death. They deemed this conduct murder.

This leaves very few, if any, defenses for the remaining three defendants. I expect they are already talking to their lawyers about plea deals.”

Attorney Ricky Ivie of Ivie McNeill Wyatt agreed.

“The handwriting is on the wall. The pathway for how to obtain a conviction has already been established,” Ivie said.

“The three officers are charged with aiding and abetting an unintentional murder. Now that the murder has been proven I predict the remaining defendants will make a plea bargain with the prosecution in exchange for a lesser sentence.”

Alexander Kueng

Thao, a seven year veteran, was Chauvin’s partner. Thao stood bay between the crowd and the officers restraining Floyd. While the 35-year old was the only one of the remaining three former officers to have not participated in physically restraining Floyd, he was charged equally.

Thomas Lane was the first officer to approach Floyd, pointing a gun to his head and giving him a profanity laced order to get out of the car before handcuffing him. Lane would later be seen kneeling on–and holding down–his legs. The 38-year old rookie, who at one point was concerned about the possibility of “excited delirium”, is reported to have asked Chauvin if they shouldn’t roll Floyd on his side.

Alexander Kueng, also a rookie–hav-

CHEZ HADLEY Staff

ing been on the Minneapolis police force for just a matter of days, kneeled on Floyd’s back for the more than nine minutes. He would subsequently check for a pulse after Floyd lost consciousness, and remark that he didn’t find one.

Kueng, who is bi-racial, was said to have joined the force to change the narrative between police and the Black community. His sister told the New York Times that as a Black man, her brother should have intervened. “I don’t care if it was his third day at work or not,” she said. “He knows right from wrong.”

While all three have been scheduled to stand trial together on August 23, their defenses will hardly be united as revealed in a legal motion by one of the defense attorneys.

“There are very likely going to be antagonistic defenses presented at the trial,” reported a lawyer for Thomas K. Lane. “It is plausible that all officers have a different version of what happened and officers place blame on one another.”

Lawyers for Lane and Keung say that they expressed concerns about Chavin’s actions, but did nothing to stop him even as in accordance with a 2016 Minneapolis police department policy, officers are required to "either stop or attempt to stop another sworn employee when force is being inappropriately applied or is no longer required.”

HeadToHead The Real Impact of Derek Chauvin’s Guilty Verdict?

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n the brilliant novel "The Derek Chauvin: is white, stood trial for allegedly Bonfire of the Vanities," murdering an individual suspect, The Great author Tom Wolfe describes Floyd, who is Black. Nothing White what he calls the intense media more, nothing less. Indeed, the Defendant interest in covering "The Great lead prosecution, in his opening White Defendant." statement, stressed that "the Minneapolis A review of "Bonfire" explains: "The police department" is not on trial, just soleoverarching theme of the book is the ly this defendant. Furthermore, many search for the great white defendant. The studies find cops more hesitant, more vast majority of defendants in New York reluctant do use deadCity are minorities, arrested for killing ly force on a Black another minority. The vast majority of the person than a white cops and prosecutors are all about the person. The facts simpress and their careers. One drug dealer ply do not bear out the killing another drug dealer is not going to Democrats' and media get you any attention; it's a dog-bites-man narrative of antistory – no story. What you want is a man- Black police "systemic bites-dog story. Therefore, subliminally, racism." According to the police, prosecutors and press are The Washington Post, Larry Elder always looking for a great white defendant in 2020, the police who will make their careers." shot and killed 18 unarmed Blacks. That Nobody, Wolfe writes, gets upset about represents one-quarter of 1% of the massive media coverage of The Great approximately 7,000 yearly Black homiWhite Defendant. Blacks enjoy watching cide victims. And this does not include media coverage of well-off white men, in Blacks killed by police through other this case a Wall Street trader, accused of means, although the total is likely not serious wrongdoing, in this case murder. much higher since most suspects killed by Guilty whites are used to perpetuate the police are shot. systemic racism media narrative. And the By elevating the Chauvin trial into a media feel noble when pushing it. Win, referendum on cops in general and on win, win.

America in particular, the media and irreThis brings us to the trial of Derek sponsible incendiaries like Echols and Chauvin, the white ex-Minneapolis cop Waters make violence more likely if the convicted of murdering George Floyd, a state had failed to convince 12 jurors of Black man who initially resisted arrest.

Chauvin's guilt. Inevitably, as buildings Cable channel HLN has covered the and businesses burn, someone on the left trial from gavel to gavel. When bumping in reminds us that Dr. Martin Luther King and out of commercial breaks, HLN dis- Jr. called riots "the language of the played a graphic, accompanied by forebod- unheard." ing music, showing two fists tearing an The King quoters omit two things.

American flag in half, with the caption First, at the time King said that, many "America's Very Soul Is on Trial." Black doubted the credibility of investigations, Lives Matter activist Maya Echols, in a given that whites ran the investigations. since-deleted TikTok video, said: "If Today, most big cities have or have had George Floyd's murderer is not sentenced, Black mayors, Black police chiefs, Black just know that all hell is gonna break prosecutors, Black leaders of city councils loose. Don't be surprised when building and Black superintendents of schools. are on fire. Just sayin'." And Rep. Maxine Who, then, is nothearing the unheard?

Waters, D-Calif., says she is "hopeful" of a Second, King also called riots "self-defeatconviction, but if not, Waters said: "We've ing and socially destructive." King said: "I got to stay on the street and we've got to will continue to condemn riots, and continget more active, we've got to get more con- ue to say to my brothers and sisters that frontational. We've got to make sure that this is not the way." they know we mean business."

Waters voted to impeach thenNo, America's "very soul" is not on trial. President Donald Trump a second time for An individual ex-officer, Chauvin, who allegedly "inciting an insurrection" in Larry Elder continued to page 24

Headlines From Africa

Benin: The United States has expressed concern about "the numerous arrests" of opposition political leaders in Benin related to the 11 April presidential election.

Chad: With the recent death of President Idriss Deby Itno—who died of wounds sustained on the frontlines of a battle against rebels— many are in opposition of a military council headed by one of his sons that has seized power. Pressure is being exerted to hand over power to a civilian transitional government and forge democracy.

Congo-Kinshasa: After a four-month power struggle with his predecessor, Joseph Kabila, President Felix Tshisekedi presented a new government last month just as rebel attacks have risen dramaticly. The UN reports that forces affiliated with the Islamic State, have killed over 200 people since the start of 2021 and forced another 40,000 to flee their homes.

Central African Republic: With recent fighting between government forces and rebels following contested elections in December, over 2,000 refugees have fled into Chad.

Ethiopia: Several regions in Ethiopia have been hit by ethnic violence in advance of next month’s national elections. The death toll in clashes between Ethiopia’s two largest ethnic groups, the Oromo and Amhara, are reported to be as high as 200, while the UN Security Council is voicing concern over a humanitarian crisis in the Tigray region and is calling for reported atrocities and brutality to be investigated.

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od knew how much we Moving Toward extremists for love that Martin could bear. This is a turnLuther King Jr. passionately advoHealing and ing point. Let's continue Forgiveness in cated in his "Letter from a to correct everything that the Aftermath Birmingham Jail." I thought about stands against love. That is true King's ardent appeal again when of George #justice." – Reverend Bernice A. Floyd's Death reading about Rep. Barbara Lee King and Sen. Cory Booker's call for the and the Reverend Bernice A. King, the Conviction of establishment of a formal Truth, daughter of Martin Luther King Derek Chauvin Racial Healing and Jr., posted this tweet shortly after Transformation Commission to the verdict was study institutionalized racism and the hisreached in the Derek torical disenfranchisement of African Chauvin trial. In Americans. Lee and Booker introduced a imploring us to fight resolution for this commission last against the vices that December, citing Floyd's death and disparincessantly strive to ities in "environmental, economic, health, defy love, King was and social institutions" as the primary facspeaking through the tors for its proposal. "As a nation, we must wisdom of her father, acknowledge and grapple with the sysJessica Johnson who told us, "(h)ate temic racism and white supremacy that cannot drive out hate; only love can do have been with us since our country's that." Nearly a year ago, our country founding and continues to persist in our watched Floyd agonizingly suffocate to laws, our policies and our lives to this day," death as Chauvin held his knee on Floyd's Booker said. Lee followed up by stating, "A neck for 9 minutes and 29 seconds. The painful and dangerous legacy of white country erupted into both rage and grief, supremacy lingers in our country, and we which was exacerbated by the afflictions of cannot begin healing until we fully the coronavirus pandemic. Chauvin kneel- acknowledge and understand how that ing on Floyd's neck is a gruesome visual legacy facilitates inequality today." I none of us will forget. Floyd pleaded for his believe most in our nation agree that we life while his face was pinned to the street, need to heal racially as a people; however, mustering up the strength to utter, "I can't the healing and transformation that is desbreathe." perately desired can only be accomplished The nation collectively held its breath through forgiveness. Legislation like waiting for the jurors' decision in Booker and Lee's is needed as far as goverChauvin's trial, a deliberation that extend- nance is concerned, but the brilliant comed over one day, which found him guilty of mission they are recommending cannot second-degree unintentional murder, transform people's hearts. third-degree murder and second-degree Forgiveness was a fundamental pillar of manslaughter. As Chauvin awaits sentenc- the civil rights movement, as King taught ing, the calls for healing abound in that "(f)orgiveness is not an occasional act; Minneapolis and throughout America, but it is a constant attitude." Bernice King fatal police shootings continue to occur, implied in her tweet that God heard the with the recent killing of 16-year-old cries for Floyd to receive justice. We need Ma'Khia Bryant rocking Columbus, Ohio. to pray that we can find it in our hearts to As Bryant's shooting is being probed by the forgive those who perpetrate the racism Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation and and prejudice that fortifies the ongoing Chauvin is being brought to justice, we still inequity and racial strife we continue to find ourselves asking the same question: confront. We need to pray for and forgive How do we move forward from this "turn- Derek Chauvin. I am reminded of the coming point" that Bernice King declared? She passion and forgiveness Nadine Collier, gave us the answer, just as her father the daughter of Emanuel African would have, in that we must press on in Methodist Episcopal Church shooting viclove. And I would humbly add that in pro- tim Ethel Lance, showed to Dylann Roof, gressing in love, we must also forgive. the white supremacist who killed her mothIn one of my columns on Floyd last year, er and eight others at a Bible study in 2015.

Jessica Johnson continued to page 24 I wrote about how we need to be the

A look at current news from the continent of Africa affordable residential accommodation for public and civil servants under Ghana’s affordable housing project.

Lesotho: After barely a year in office, Lesotho Prime Minister Moeketsi Majoro future is in jeopardy after a split of his ruling party has risked upsetting the parliamentary majority he needs to stay in power.

A new party is being led by the fired justice minister and former deputy leader, Nqosa mAHao. Malawi: Pointing to rape as a major hindrance to full participation of women in politics and leadership, several women’s groups are now pushing for 40-year minimum sentencing with a 40-year mandatory sentencing campaign.

Namibia: Namibia has been named among the world’s top 10 most gender-equal societies, according to the 2021Global Gender Gap Report.

Nigeria: Nigerians are bracing for tough times as food inflation nears a tipping point of 23 per cent amid the recent 18.17per cent inflation figure released by the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics.

Despite low purchasing power, the price of food has steadily increased.

Rwanda: Called a hero after “Hotel Rwanda”, Paul Rusesabagina now stands in trial in Rwanda for terrorism in a case that has drawn worldwide attention and has been called a sham by many.

Somalia: President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed’s failure to hold elections in February and signing of a law in in mid-April that extended his term for two years, have sparked a new crisis marked by public clashes .

Eritrea: Eritrea told the UN Security Council that it will start withdrawing its troops from Ethiopia's Tigray region, publicly acknowledging its role in the conflict.

Sudan: Sudan has warned that it may take legal action against Ethiopia if it goes ahead with plans to fill a megadam on the Blue Nile without a deal with Khartoum and Cairo.

Ghana: Officials recently announced the construction of 100,000 to 250,000 housing units every year to provide

Uganda: Plans to provide universal healthcare to all adult citizens and residents of Uganda in 2021 are in the works in the hopes that it will reduce medical tourism in the long term.

Money Matters

On the Money The Skyrocketing Cost of Police Misconduct

Planning For Uncertainty

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ike many women, Sheryl had always been involved in her family's finances, from balancing checkbooks to paying the monthly bills. But she left the longterm planning–the retirement savings and the investment decisions–to her husband who worked as a CEO for a large corporation. So, when Sheryl's husband passed away unexpectedly, she had little to no idea how to take control of her long-term finances, or how to make the best

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solely responsible for financial decisions, or make those decisions in conjunction with their partner. And by 2022, he repercussions of police misconduct and abuse women are expected to control more than 60 percent of the cases don’t just resonate in trials like that of diswealth. graced Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, It's incredibly important for women to plan for their but in the pocketbooks of taxpayers throughout the financial futures, because the vast majority of women–80 nation. There were over 1,100 reported police killings in to 90 percent –will be solely responsible for their finances 2020 according to the research collaborative, Mapping at some point in their life. This could be due to separating Police Violence. 96% were fatally shot with tasers, physical force and even police vehicles accounting for the remaining four percent. divorce, or death—is to keep some cash reserves accessible in staHundreds of cases of excessive and or deadly force, false ble investments or bank accounts, easily accessible should you arrests and harassment are filed every year, with cities need to make an unplanned withdrawal. Work with your financial paying out millions. New York City paid out $175.9 miladvisor to make sure you and your family members have the right lion in civil judgments and claims for police-related lawkind of life insurance or disability insurance to supplement your suits. Over $85 million in taxpayer funds was paid out by finances immediately in the event of a tragedy. the city of Chicago to settle police misconduct lawsuits in 2018, not including lawyer fees.

Don't be afraid to take some risks 606 lawsuits were filed against Los Angeles during the To avoid missing out on potential investments because of 2018-2019 fiscal year with L.A. County paying out over $58 a fear of risk, work with your financial advisor to understand million in police misconduct lawsuits and a whopping how much risk your portfolio can take while still achieving your $81.5 million in litigation expenses. baseline goals.

In fact, false arrests, civil rights violaStart planning for the future early tions and excessive force by police set It's crucial that women begin planning for long-term finantaxpayers back more than $300 milcial success early, not only because women tend to live longer, but lion in fiscal year 2019. In what also because they tend to make less than men. Saving for retirewas the largest pretrial civil right ment as a woman, for instance, means needing to save an average settlement ever in a case of police of 26 percent more than men to make up for wage gaps and differbrutality, the family of George ences in life expectancy. Make a list of long-term financial goals Floyd received a settlement of $27 and visualize the kind of life you want to lead in your retirement million. Listed below are the payyears. Then, make a plan for getting there. outs in some of the highest profile cases of police misconfrom a partner, as 40-50% of marriages end in divorce, or duct/brutality: the fact that women tend to live an average of five years longer than their male counterparts.

Breonna Taylor $ 12 million Planning for uncertainty can often seem like a daunting or Freddie Gray $ 6.5 million morbid task–but when it comes to planning for an uncerWalter Scott $ 6.5 million tain future–and navigating potential misconceptions Tamir Rice $ 6 million about women and wealth–financial experts agree: the Eric Garner $ 6 million more you know about financial investments, the more prepared you'll be for the future, whatever it may hold.

Laquan McDonald $ 5 million "The more educated you are, the more confident you Akai Gurley $ 4.1 million are," says Lisa Roberts, managing director and head of Brendon Glenn $ 4 million Northern California and Pacific Northwest Private Wealth Philando Castile $ 3.8 million Management for Union Bank. "There are a lot of things Rodney King $ 3.8 million that women do right when it comes to investing and which Sandra Bland $ 1.9 million ultimately may result in them being best suited to drive their own investment planning process."

Michael Brown $ 1.5 million

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Five Tips to Prepare for a Life-Changing Event Don't undervalue yourself

Women are just as capable at investing as men. Start by familiarizing yourself with your or your family's financial situation, from income to expenses, investments to IRAs. Get all that information in one place, so that it's easily accessible. Schedule a meeting with your banker to talk about "what-if" scenarios like death or divorce, and talk through how you might want to tweak your portfolio to account for unexpected life changes. Also take advantage of any "financial wellness" programs offered through your workplace—these are easy, low-stress ways to become familiar with the ins-and-outs of investing and financial planning.

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Surround yourself with a strong team of experts

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Plan for an uncertain future by thinking about the short-term

"Make sure you have a team of decision-makers. Start by identifying who you need to talk to in order to make decisions," says Hartley. "It's probably an accountant and somebody in the financial services industry. But your team can also involve people outside of the industry—i.e. a family member you trust.

One of the most important tips for ensuring financial success in the midst of an unexpected event—like illness,

investment decisions for herself and her family.

This disconnect between Sheryl's familiarity with her family's everyday finances and her understanding of her own long-term financial well-being is an all too common tale for many women. When it comes to investing, women are no less qualified than men to make decisions about their financial future, but something known as unconscious bias can hold them back.

A 2015 poll found that while 92 percent of women expressed interest in learning more about financial planning, only 47 percent felt confident enough to discuss their personal finances with a planner. In reality, women wield an immense amount of power when it comes to finances. In the next forty years, women are estimated to inherit 70 percent of the wealth tied up in estates.

In more than 90 percent of families, women are either

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Editorial content provided by Union Bank

Ezell Ford

$ 1.5 million

Biz News Briefs Kobe Bryant Estate and Nike Fail to Come to Terms

L.A. Focus/May 2021

A beautiful business partnership has come to an end as the Kobe Bryant estate and Nike executives have failed to come to terms on a contract extension after a partnership that has lasted two decades.

“Kobe and Nike have made some of the most beautiful basketball shoes of all time, worn and adored by fans and athletes in all sports across the globe,” Vanessa Bryant said in a released statement. “It seems fitting that more NBA players wear my husband’s product than any other signature shoe. My hope will always be to allow Kobe’s fans to get and wear his products.I was hoping to forge a lifelong partnership with Nike that reflects my husband’s legacy.”

Reports were that Bryant–frustrated by the limited releases of Kobe shoes after his retirement and the lack of children’s sizes–was looking for a lifetime contract similar to that of LeBron James with Nike.

“Kobe Bryant was an important part of Nike’s deep connection to consumers,” Nike said in a statement.

“Though our contractual relationship has ended, he remains a deeply loved member of the Nike family.”

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The move is likely to include the demand–and price– of Kobe shoes given that Nike will halt the manufacturing of his products.

In other basketball related business news, Dwayne Wade might have retired from the basketball in 2019, but he’s not planning to stray too far from the court as the former NBA all-star has purchased a minority ownership stake in the Utah jazz.

“Proud and excited to become a part of the Utah Jazz family with Ryan Smith and the rest of the amazing ownership team,” Wade posted. “As a businessman, entrepreneur, and investor, I bring a lot to this partnership outside of my basketball experience. I’m excited to help take the Utah Jazz to the next level.”

Byron Allen Launches Free Local News Streaming Service Last month, comedian-turned-business-mogul Byron Allen announced the launch of Local Now, a free, ad-supported streaming service that offers local news and premium content, using proprietary software and artificial intelligence to curate content based on the user’s zip code.

“Local Now is the most localized news and entertainment free-streaming service on the planet,” claims Allen, founder, chairman and CEO of Allen Media Group, Local Now’s parent company. “No other streaming service has this capability and advanced technology. We are wellpositioned as the new global standard for free streaming."

Available on Amazon Fire, Roku, the streaming service will offer upwards of 300 free-streaming channels, including a Local Now channel in every zip code in the country, as well as additional local channels and content from the

likes of Allen Media Broadcasting including the Weather Channel and Entertainment Studios Motion Pictures.

Black Corporate Leaders Take a Stand Against Voting Infringement Legislation Seventy-two of the nation’s most successful Black businessmen and top ranking corporate officials including– former AMEX CEO Kenneth Chenault, billionaire Robert F. Smith and Ariel Investments’ Mellody Hobson – signed an open letter published in the New York Times, calling on corporate America to publicly condemn the laws being introduced in over 40 states across the country to infringe on the voting rights of minorities.

The letter referenced the sacrifices of those like John Lewis, Fannie Lou Hamer and the freedom riders in its call to “stand united against those who seek to divide us and thwart the will of the people.”

“Last week, the Georgia legislature passed a sweeping set of changes to the state’s election laws that will unquestionably make it harder for Black voters, in particular, to exercise their right to vote,” the letter stated.

“This bill adds unwarranted restrictions on remote voting and disallows signature identification in favor of driver’s licenses in a state where over 200,000 Georgians lack a license. In addition, this law makes it illegal to use mobile voting units or to even provide food and water to voters standing in long lines. It also simultaneously expands the ability to purge large numbers of Black voters from the voter rolls for partisan political purposes.”

The group is urging their fellow corporate leaders to join them in taking a stand.

GameChanger:

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Robert Sausedo: “Community Build CEO’s Bold Vision for the Future”

L.A. Focus/May 2021

obert Sausedo is always looking ahead. He refers to his leadership style as having the “Issachar factor”-- a reference to the one of the twelve tribes of Israelites from the Old Testament who were described as men who “had understanding of the times and knew what Israel ought to do.”

After building a successful career in the private sector in the energy and technology fields, Sausedo was gearing up to make act two of his career about creating public policy that could positively affect the South L.A. community that has been his home his entire life-- when his plans took a turn. Divine intervention struck in the form of an opportunity to lead one of the area’s bedrock non-profit organizations, Community Build Inc. Though he didn’t see it at first, coupling his ability to create opportunistic visions of the future with his passion for building strong communities through empowering individuals made him the perfect person for the job.

“When the opportunity to take over as President of Community Build came before me, I initially didn’t want it, but I saw that God’s divine providence was involved in my coming here,” Sausedo tells L.A. Focus.

“One of the things that He has conditioned me to do is bring out the greatness in the people that work here, that we serve, and in the community. I believe we’re doing that, and we’ll grow the organization in a way that makes it sustainable for long term service to the community.”

Community Build Inc. was founded in 1992 by Brenda Shockley and Congresswoman Maxine Waters in response to the civil unrest which rocked the community after the Rodney King verdict. It’s goal: to revitalize South L.A. through human investment and commercial and economic development.

What started with a pilot program to provide education, training, employment placement and support services to former gang members and other at-risk young people, turned into a staple resource in the community for decades to come. In 2016, Shockley was tapped by Mayor Eric Garcetti to become Deputy Mayor of E c o n o m i c Opportunity, and Sausedo stepped in in 2019-- poised to take over an organization he saw as foundationally strong and brimming with potential.

“My role is to c r e a t e

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GERALD BELL Contributor

Community Build version 2.0 and set the groundwork for the next 25 years,” says Sausedo. “What I saw coming into this opportunity is that this organization has really good bones and a solid structure. When you combine that with someone like me, who is really a private sector thinker in a non-profit seat, we have the potential to expand the reach of our organization exponentially.”

And that is exactly what he’s done. In two short years, Sausedo has doubled Community Build’s funding, in turn allowing him to implement programs such as the Community Intervention, Census Canvassing and Community Patrol, resulting in over 2,700 jobs for unemployed or underemployed individuals in 2020 alone.

“I’m truly an economic development guy,” says Sausedo. “And of the three components of our mission statement: human capital development, economic development, and commercial economic development, the latter two we’ve barely scratched the surface of.”

Sausedo’s plan is to diversify the organization's income streams, expanding both their impact and the span of their outreach.

“The way we’re going to grow as an organization is by beginning to start social enterprises-- and that can be in the form of new business startups or taking over legacy businesses in the community and growing them, making them employee owned. But we’ll be using the revenue from that to offset government contracts,” says Sausedo.

“You have to diversify. The old model and way of doing things is rapidly going away. Clearly, we’ve done very well with various government contracts we’ve managed over the years, but we need to diversify around philanthropy, and invest into businesses that have an opportunity to provide career and/or business opportunities for the people that we serve.”

To accomplish that Sausedo understands that it starts by empowering the people within Community Build and making sure his staff stays focused.

“One of the things that I did immediately is require staff members to read the book “Start With Why” by Simon Sinek,” says Sausedo. “We have to know why we’re doing what we’re doing because part of my objective is to be innovative and not just an organization that says, ‘we do that too’. Instead, to be a force of thought leadership.”.

“The problem with non-profits is that they often don’t take care of their employees,” says Sausedo. “People get over-worked and reach burn-out. So, for me establishing a culture of care and an open door policy with the employees is important.”

Sausedo recalls his first several months at Community Build when it would often take him up to two hours to get from the front door to his office because he would stop at every single desk along the to check in with everyone and see where they needed support.

Sausedo’s knack for innovation in bringing people together and organizing were on full display last year when the pandemic hit. Inspired by seeing people in long lines outside of grocery stores, desperately stocking up on supplies, Sausedo knew South L.A. had a problem on its hands. That it was woefully ill prepared for an emergency. Sausedo got all the community leaders he knew on a conference call, and out of that the Community

What I saw coming into this opportunity is that this organization has really good bones and a solid structure. When you combine that with someone like me, —a private sector thinker in a non-profit seat, we have the potential to expand the reach of our organization exponentially.

“

Response System of South Los Angeles (CRSSLA), was born.

“Within South L.A. there’s a number of nonprofits both at the micro level and some larger scale, but for the first time we were able to get people to collaborate in such a way that it drove efficiency-- so if someone needed help or volunteers the other agencies could step in and provide services,” says Sausedo.

CRSSLA’s early work involved finding real estate assets that they could leverage into distribution centers for food and PPE, as well as medical triage facilities if the hospitals reach overcapacity and need to convert space into a temporary ICU. “That turned into us doing far more than we ever thought,” says Sausedo.

CRSSLA now has an education committee, a healthcare committee, and is engaged in the vaccine distribution-- even partnering with the rideshare company Lyft to get people to and from vaccine sights.

In just their first year as an origination CRSSLA was recognized by the L.A. Business Journal by being nominated for a Nonprofit and Corporate Citizen Award.

“When you look at who we were nominated with, the fact that we’ve only been around a year is very telling of the success we’ve had,” says Sausedo who was nominated for an award respectively along with Community Build Inc. Sausedo is an assistant Pastor at Los Angeles Community Church and has felt called to do community building as his way of living the Word of God. “To me this is God’s work”, says Sausedo. “It’s one thing to go to church and clap your hands and pray, but the church is not just the four walls. Church is actually being out here in the marketplace changing lives. We have to build the economy around our belief system as Christians. So how I conduct myself at church should be no different than how I conduct myself in the marketplace.

“I’m not as available to do ministerial work as I used to be, but my work is my ministry. My beliefs govern me.”

And Sausedo would like to remind everyone to answer when they hear God’s call-- but with action.

“It’s one thing to hear God,” Sausedo says. “And it’s another thing to know there’s a calling on your life. But it’s most important to be obedient and answer that call for the thousands of people you can actually impact on God’s behalf.”

SpecialReport “The Growing Epidemic of Online Stalking”

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ore than 80 million adults and 10 million children have daily access to the Internet in the U.S. and with the pandemic forcing more activities online has come a dramatic uptick in domestic violence cases across the U.S. According to the National Domestic Violence Hotline, digital abuse calls were up 101 percent. Nearly four out of five stalking victims are women with men far more likely to be the predator and far more likely to be familiar — namely, a current or former intimate partner.

“Our lives are more digital than they ever have been before,” says Adam Dodge founder and CEO of End Tech-Enabled Abuse (EndTAB) in California. “It is becoming a very popular way to exert power and control and harm somebody in a domestic violence relationship.”

Many relationships that begin romantically can quickly become controlling, with partners reading emails, checking texts and locations of social media posts. Online stalking can also mean a partner or expartner is using spyware or GPS locators to track their victims.

“It’s tough because online abuse is so pervasive and easy to harm someone anonymously,” explains Dodge, who helps organizations understand, prevent, and address the harmfulness of misused technology. “Victims are harmed wherever they are, and where they are is online.”

One global leader in digital security and privacy products reported a 51 percent increase in the use of spy and stalkerware during the lockdown between the months of March and June of 2020.

Stalkerware allows abusers to track someone's location, access their personal photos and videos, intercept emails, texts

and app communications such as WhatsApp and Facebook — as well as eavesdrop on phone calls and make covert recordings of conversations without the person’s knowledge or consent.

“Cell phones enable us to have constant access to others and they create an expectation of always being available,” says Tonjie Reese, founder of Eleven-24, a sexual violence prevention program.

“Cyberstalking and other forms of technology abuse are more stealthy and harder to frame as abuse. However, if someone is constantly texting or calling their partner, monitoring where they are, or invading privacy, that is a form of online abuse.”

Specialists have surmised that stalking of any kind is often an indicator of other forms of violence. 81 percent of women who were stalked by a current or former husband or cohabitating partner were also physically assaulted. 76 percent of women murdered by an intimate partner were stalked first.

“It [cyberstalking] is quick, elusive, and can be hidden in plain sight,” warns Benita Hopkins, chair of the California Collaboration Against Human Trafficking.

“It is too easy to become a victim as many

sites prey on women particularly.”

Hopkins says victims of online abuse are almost always targeted more than once and often experience a pattern that can last for days, weeks, months or even years.

“It is really important that victims understand who is connected to them in their online community,” urges Dodge.

“Because it’s exceedingly easy to create fake accounts and befriend, or get close, or even be monitored [by a stalker].”

Dodge also stated that on average a person has over 170 online accounts and apps all of which are access points for someone to manipulate or steal information. Worse, a predator may also post derogatory messages, share personal information or pictures of victims online to harass or scare them.

The number of online dangers that are leading to abuse are skyrocketing. In recent years, women are being targeted by what’s known as “deepfake”, where technology has made it possible to falsely place a victim’s image in a pornographic video and post or share it. More often this is perpetrated by an intimate partner or abuser seeking revenge.

There is also “sextortion” — when a victim is threatened with the release of private and sensitive information unless sexual favors, nude photos, or other demands are met. Reportedly, children and young adults are particularly susceptible to this level of abuse.

“Just as we protect ourselves against physical violence, it's important to be proactive against cyberstalking,” says Reese. “Every app has a backend that supports protection from abuse. Some ways to be proactive are to review your profile privacy settings and be aware of who has

GERALD BELL Contributor access to your digital space.”

Reese, who speaks to parents nationally on the prevalence of relationship and sexual violence, advises victims to immediately seek support and block or restrict abusers from their profile. This requires changing passwords, modifying privacy and location settings, and turning off the Bluetooth when not in use.

“You don’t have to be a tech expert to protect yourself and others,” Dodge points out. “In domestic violence situations, where technology is used as a weapon, the person wielding that weapon is often not a tech expert but somebody who has access to the victim’s devices and account information. That gives them opportunity to misuse technology as a means to exert harm.” He further adds, “Everybody’s got a smart phone and that is the portal to gaining access to someone. Which is particularly attractive during a pandemic when you can’t get physical access.”

Reporting online stalking or abuse is highly recommended by advocates and experts. Reports can be made online via the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center. This is the website that collects complaints and directs them to the appropriate field office. It is also recommended to report abusive activity to the platform on which the abuse is happening.

“Take pictures and screenshots of the evidence to present to law enforcement,” Hopkins advised. “And by all means stay on top of, and follow-through with the case.”

This article is the second in a eight- part series about domestic violence. For more information,call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-7997233 or visit: www.thehotline.org.

L.A. Focus/May 2021

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wo days before Christmas of 2020, Dr. Jerry Abraham--Director of Vaccines at Kedren Community Health Center in South Los Angeles- was fed up. It had been nearly two weeks since the Pfizer vaccine had received emergency authorization from the FDA, and despite the fact that Kedren was on the verge of closing for the second time because too many of its staff had contracted COVID-19, the community health center had yet to receive a single dose of vaccine from the county.

To add insult to injury, the very day the Pfizer vaccine was authorized he saw that local health giants like Kaiser Permanente, Dignity Health, Cedars-Sinai, and UCLA & USC Medical Centers had the vaccine and made a big show of vaccinating their staff. It would seem the Kedren and their team of majority black and brown healthcare workers-- and by extension, the people of their South L.A. community-- had been overlooked and forgotten, yet again.

That’s when Dr. Abraham took action. That night he began calling county officials demanding vaccines and inquiring as to why no one had yet to even reach out to him-- especially since at that point 1 in 5 residents of South L.A. had contracted the virus.

“The initial vaccine distribution roll-out was a complete hot mess during that time,” Dr. Abraham tells L.A. Focus. “I was incredibly frustrated that the places like South L.A. were getting the most infections but wasn’t where the vaccine was going right away. We were watching wealthy physicians and health care workers who were not even seeing patients at that point getting the shot, and we were like wait, what about the people who are actually on the front lines?

So, the way they did the whole thing was botched for a lot of reasons.”

The county’s initial response was apologetic but unsatisfactory, and when a week passed and Kedren still didn’t have the vaccine, Dr. Abraham had to take matters into his own hands. Two days before the New Year’s Eve, Dr. Abraham drove down to the L.A. County Department of Public Health warehouse in person and banged on the door asking for doses of

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KEITH DELAWDER Contributor

the life-saving vaccine which enabled him to get Kedren’s first fifty doses and vaccinate his staff of nurses. The next day they were able to get another 150 doses, and then 300 after that.

But the early days of Kedren vaccine effort were challenging to put it mildly. Dr. Abraham says that they were receiving such a limited supply of vaccine that they would start each day not knowing how they would get through it.

“Every day was like the miracle of loaves and fishes,” remembers Dr. Abraham. “We were only receiving a few hundred doses a week, but somehow we made it.”

To ensure that every drop of vaccine possible was administered into the arms of his community, Abraham and his team would race from one end of the county to the next picking up vaccines that were about to expire-- a routine that they still do to this day.

That’s why it infuriated Dr. Abraham when he found out that not all of his fellow medical professionals were handling the situation with the same sense of urgency.

“I’d be on calls with directors from other hospitals and hear them casually mention having to throw out hundreds of doses because they didn’t do what we did and open their doors to the public, because it was too difficult or wasn’t their job. It would bring me to the point of rage!”

To date, the Kedren team has administered an estimated 160,000 doses of vaccine, with a present avaerage of 5,000 daily.

Once Kedren began receiving regular supply of vaccine, Dr. Abraham was able to mobilize his team of nurses, hundreds of volunteers, partners such as the American Red Cross, AmeriCorp, California Volunteers, the International Medical Corps, and all the resources at Kedren’s disposure to move with an urgency that has been quite literally life or death.

Currently Kedren’s operation facilities are full of outdoor tents that resemble a military field hospital to optimize the number of people that can come through and receive their shot on a daily basis.

“It’s been a race against time-- not a moment to lose, not a drop to spare,” says Abraham so often it has become somewhat of a catch phrase. “We need to get black and brown L.A. vaccinated yesterday. We were dying at higher rates than wealthier zip codes and other skinned people and that was not fair. That’s the

It’s been a race against time-- not a moment to lose, not a drop to spare.

We need to get black and brown L.A. vaccinated yesterday. We were dying at higher rates than wealthier zip codes and other skinned people and that was not fair.

The State of California, in partnership with L.A. Focus on the Word and the Sierra Health Foundation, has launched “Shot of Faith,” a campaign designed to engage the

disparity that we live with everyday.”

Much of Kedren’s success in distributing so many vaccines so quickly is due to the commitment Dr. Abraham has made ensuring that the vaccine is accessible to everyone.

“We quickly gained a lot of attention because we took down every barrier to getting vaccinated,” says Dr. Abraham. “No appointment, no internet, no phone, no car, can’t walk, don’t speak English, no I.D.-- no problem. None of those things were going to keep people from getting their vaccines at Kedren.”

Kedren was also one of the first places in the state to pilot vaccine eligibility programs based on zip code and household rather than simply by age.

“When the Governor said seniors were eligible for the vaccine, we knew that was going to be a flawed strategy from the beginning,” says Abraham. “Because now what we saw were rich grandmas and grandpas who had been socially isolated all showing up at Kedren trying to get there shot-- but I had not fought to get Beverly Hills vaccinated. I fought to get the people of South L.A. vaccinated. We had told the county from the get-go that they should focus on zip codes and geographic priorities first, and then we begged them to let us pilot a household based strategy where if one person in the home was eligible for the vaccine, everyone in the home could get it. So we fought for and achieved pilot programs that would end up being policy recommendations and led to our success of increasing the vaccination rates in the black and brown community.”

But word got out that Kedren had the vaccine and was giving it out liberally, which brought in the much reported influx of “vaccine chasers” to their facility. Socalled “vaccine chasers”are folks from outside the community that lined up in front of Kedren, waiting all day long in lawn chairs with camping supplies for the chance of getting an unused vaccine at the end of the day which would otherwise expire. Oftentimes white and notably affluent, they could be seen typing away on their laptops and ordering Uber-eats while they waited for the possibility of getting a shot. Local media jumped on the story as the line of white people in front of the South L.A. medical center invoked reminders of the gentrification and vaccine distribution inequity that was happening around the county.

“But while everyone was freaking out about white people lined up outside Kedren, what some of those news stories failed to share was who was getting in and out,” notes Dr. Abraham. “It was always black and brown healthcare workers and the frail and elderly who got their shots first, everyday.”

Abraham goes as far as condemning those news stories that painted a false narrative of the vaccine distribution process at Kedren.

“I don’t blame anyone waiting in any line for a lifesaving essential medicine. What I ask is that you wait your turn and help us get people who are eligible in and vaccinated, and we will get to you,” says Abraham adding, “We have from our inception done so much with so little, don’t be surprised that this historically black institution becomes the place where we care for and save all Angelenos lives.”

Founded in 1965 after the Watts riots, Kedren Community Health Center was started by a group of 22 black psychiatrists who came together to create a mental health institution that would serve the needs of the mentally ill population in South L.A. who were contin-

Black/African American faith-based community and provide critical information about COVID-19 vaccine access, safety and equity. Events include informational town hall meetings, webinars, and popup vaccination sites at local churches.

“The State recognizes the influence and impact clergy and churches have within the Black/African American community,” said Dr. Nadine Burke Harris, California Surgeon General. “With their support, we know that we can envision a day when California reaches community immunity.”

The campaign encourages the community to remain vigilant against COVID-19 by continuing to practice safe behaviors like wearing a mask correctly, washing hands, watching physical distance and getting vaccinated.

“Educating the faith community is key,” said K.W.

Tulloss, senior pastor of Weller Street Missionary Baptist Church and president, Baptist Minister’s Conference of Los Angeles and Southern California. “As trusted advisors, it’s critical that we get the word out about the vaccinations and direct our parishioners to available resources as well as to medical experts able to answer the many questions that have arisen out of this COVID-19 pandemic.”

Tulloss’ experience with COVID-19 is firsthand.

“I would not wish this virus on anyone. I’m here today as a testament that God can heal you and God can restore you, but it’s been a journey that takes a toll on you and I still worry about getting COVID again.”

For more information about Shot of Faith, visit: www.shotoffaith.org

uously excluded by white institutions at that time.

Since then Kendren has expanded on their psychiatric hospital to include a primary care clinic which provides for the general health care needs of the community.

“Kedren is today as it was when it was founded: a city on a hill, a beacon, and a safe harbor for everyone in the community seeking health needs,” says Dr. Abraham. “We’re ‘the little Kedren that could’. It’s ingrained in our DNA to be a go-to resource and that’s what we’ve been during the pandemic crisis when we became a city and county resource for testing and when we picked up the phone and demanded our vaccines. We take pride in being an exemplary role model for equitable vaccine distribution and a model template for the whole nation on achieving health equity.”

And “the little Kedren that could'' has now caught the attention of the entire country. Along with the national news media coverage Dr. Abraham and Kedren have received from outlets like VICE News and CNN for their valent vaccination efforts, in March Dr. Abraham was invited to go to Washington D.C. to testify in front of the U.S. Senate to share his story about their frontline response to the pandemic.

Locally, Kedren is partnering with Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti’s office in launching their “Live, Work, Worship, Play” (LWWP) initiative which is centered around taking the vaccine mobile and integrating the vaccine effort into the community by meeting people where they’re at such as work, schools, churches and community centers. Kedren has also opened a new permanent site in Watts which, through their NiteVax program, is open until midnight daily to expand vaccine availability. The Watts site also functions as a bus terminal where bus loads of people from schools, churches, workplaces and housing areas can be brought to receive their shot and conveniently returned to their lives.

Kedren is also planning on throwing events for young people with music and festivities including Vaccineland for children, VaxFest for highschool ages, and MAXVAX for the millennials and gen z.

“We believe what we are building here is a revitalized healthcare delivery system and we’re laying the groundwork for public health infrastructure that was lacking here in South L.A.,” says Dr. Abraham.

“Connecting churches, schools, and all the places we live, work, worship and play are part of the solution so the next time there is a major public health crisis we will be better off and there will be less needless loss of life.”

In February California Governor Gavin Newsom came and toured the Kedren main facility operation and was so impressed that he asked Kedren to take over the “Shot of Faith” initiative where they hold mass vaccination events at churches around South L.A. “The Governor knew that we would work to meet the pastors and the congregants where they’re at and not put the burden on them,” says Dr. Abraham. “We really take the time to engage, educate, vaccinate and activate their congregants, because we want people to be able to open up their churches safely, and that’s crucial to us.

Churches are an important part of the public health infrastructure and will play an important role in revolutionizing health care delivery.”

For Dr. Abraham the church holds an especially important place in his heart as he was in the middle of becoming an Episcopal Priest when he was accepted into medical school.

“I knew that I’d always had a calling to faith, but then I hit this fork in the road. Do I continue my training in the priesthood or do I go on to medical school? I had to make a choice and I chose medical school because I believe in healing. I believe in healing the mind, the body, the spirit, and the soul so for me when I had to choose I knew I could always minister regardless of whether I got my calling through the structures that exist. For me, I knew that the best way to heal was to make sure that I was competent, credible and that would practice sound, responsible, and safe medicine and being a doctor was the best way to do it,” tells Dr. Abraham.

Abraham did his residency training after medical school at USC Medical in the school of family medicine program where he became chief resident and later joined the faculty. After graduation he found his passion caring for patients experiencing homelessness and substance abuse at the community-based health center, Eisner, in downtown. In 2019 he was recruited to come to Kedren where he’s championed work surrounding chronic pain including people with opioid addiction, providing high quality care for people with psychiatric illnesses, and the care he provides for migrants. Then in 2020 the pandemic happened, and Dr. Abraham jumped into a new position-- Director of Vaccines.

“This job was not really something that happened by design or something I sat around hoping to do,” says Abraham. “But we knew we had to be part of the response so this was the work needed to be done.”

According to Dr. Abraham, he hasn’t taken a day off since before Christmas, oftentimes working tireless hours in fast paced and high stakes situations. But when he’s so often asked by the media-- who has historically been predominantly white--why he’s taken on such a colossal project with the relentless ferocity and dedication that he’s shown, he can’t help but scoff.

“What do you mean?” he typically answers. “We didn’t have a choice. We had to do this. It was our patients, our staff, our families that were getting infected. The Lord called and we answered.”

HO L LY W OOD SPOT LIGHT Chez Hadley “Monster” After premiering in 2018 Sundance Film Festival under the original title of ‘All Rise’, the legal drama ‘Monster’ is now set to air on Netflix Friday, May 7th, 2021. The new title matches the New York Times bestselling novel from which the screenplay was adapted.

Kelvin Harrison Jr. of Mudbound and The Trial of the Chicago Seven, stars as 17-year-old film student Steve Harmon whose world comes crashing down around him when he is charged with felony murder.

The film–which was shot in 2018– follows his dramatic journey from a smart, likeable film student from Harlem attending an elite high

school through a complex legal battle that could leave him spending the rest of his life in prison.

The formidable cast of ‘Monster’ includes Westworld’s Jeffrey Wright, Grammy and Academy award winner Jennifer Hudson, John David

Washington (BlackkKlansman, Tenet), Emmy winner Jharrel Jerome (When They See Us), Greenleaf’s Lovie Simone and rapper ASAP Rocky.

‘Monster’ is the feature debut for music video and commercial director Anthony Mandler and is executive produced by John Legend, Nasir ‘NAS’ Jones and Jeffrey Wright.

Mandler told the Hollywood reporter “Netflix has time and time again stood behind films with a social message. Helping to curate an audience and create content that is both entertaining as well as thought-provoking. I’ve always seen my film as a medium for change”.

‘Monster’ is the perfect film for todays social climate.

OUT THIS MONTH

HOLLYWOOD BUZZ

The Water Man May 7 Big Year for Jurnee Smollett

L.A. Focus/May 2021

2021 is turning out to be quite a big year for Jurnee Smollett, who has earned rave reviews for her role in HBO’s Lovecraft Country and is currently on location in Australia filming the Chris Hemsworth Netflix action movie Escape From Spiderhead.

Last month, she was tapped to star in and exec produce the Netflix movie, Lou. It is the story of mother who– without any other options– teams up with a mysterious older woman next door in pursuit of the person who has kidnapped her young daughter. The journey into the wilderness in pursuit of the kidnapper is a thrill ride that will test their limits and expose dark and shocking secrets from their pasts.

While Smollett’s profile is rising, she revealed in an interview last year, the pain she has endured standing by her brother, Jussie Smollett. “It’s one of the most painful things my family's ever experienced – to love someone as much as we love my brother, and to watch someone who you love that much go through something like this, that is so public,

16

Wrath of God May 7

Here Today May 7

has been devastating. I was already in a very dark space for a number of reasons, and I've tried to not let it make me pessimistic. But everyone who knows me knows that I love my brother and I believe my brother.”

Duke of Hastings No More It’s official. Bridgerton’s breakout star Rege-Jean Paul is a duke no more as the 31-year old break out star will not be returning for season two of Shonda Rhimes hit series. Turns out, Paul was never intended to be part of season 2, for which production is about to get underway. In fact, America’s latest heartthrob was only signed to a oneseason contract as season two was to focus in on another of the Bridgerton’s quest for love, as is the case of the book series that inspired the show. Had they only known that it would be the most successful original series in Netflix’s history, we’re sure things might have been different. Paul, who was rumored to be in the running to become the next James Bond, reportedly declined an offer for more money, opting instead to focus on film. He is currently filming the Netflix-bound action movie, The Gray Man, with Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans and he set to star alongside Hugh Grant and Michelle Rodriguez in “Dungeons & Dragons.”

Smollett Idris Elba to Publish Children’s Books Award-winning actor, musician, filmmaker, and activist Idris Elba has signed a global multi-book deal with HarperCollins to publish a range of children's books launching in 2022. Publishing will include picture books and fiction featuring a character and world imagined and developed by Idris and his writing partner Robyn Charteris, who

Spiral: From The Book of Saw — May 28 has written numerous live-action drama, pre-school and animation programs for BBC, Channel 4, the Jim Henson Company and Endemol as well as educational theatre for schools. Said Elba,"I feel privileged to have the opportunity to bring stories inspired by my daughter to life with my incredible partner Robyn Charteris, and the powerhouse team at HarperCollins."

Will Smith Moves Production of Next Film Out of Georgia in Protest The shooting of the Will Smith’s slave thriller, Emancipation, just became the latest revenue hit in the fallout over Georgia’s new restrictive voter legislation. Instead, Smith and famed director Antoine Fuqua (The Equalizer, Training Day) have decided to move production of their upcoming film to Louisiana.

“At this moment in time, the Nation is coming to terms with its history and is attempting to eliminate vestiges of institutional racism to achieve true racial justice,” said Fuqua and Smith in a prepared statement. “We cannot in good conscience provide economic support to a government that enacts regressive voting laws that are designed to restrict voter access.”

Briefly: Braxton Family matriarch Evelyn Braxton reportedly has a cooking show, Cooking With Ms. E., inspired by her upcoming cookbook…

And Starz is developing a limited series, The Case of Cyntoia Brown, inspired by the real life story of Cyntoia Brown-Long, who was sentenced to life in prison for killing a man when she was just 16. Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson and Lala Anthony will exec produce the project based on the book, Free Cyntoia: My Search for Redemption in the American Prison System.

Q&A

Golda Rosheuvel Hometown: Guyana, (raised in the UK) Big Break: Lady McBeth Upcoming Projects: “Bridgerton” Golda Rosheuvel is best known for the role of Queen Charlotte in Netflix’s blockbuster hit, Bridgerton, but what may for many seem to be the 49-year old actress’ overnight success was actually two decades in the making on TV shows like “Luther”, films like Lady McBeth and a great deal of work on the London stage.

It is, however, Bridgerton and that has put her front and center with American TV audiences in a role she was born to play.

On playing Queen Charlotte in Bridgerton: For a long time now, stories had been told by the privileged and I think it's time that the door has opened, and the time is now that the door is being opened by people of color, black and brown people.' To be able to create the space where you can have a black queen in the highest-watched period drama on Netflix, you can have that to be able to break down the boundaries to make the space for black and brown people to be in a lavish, sexy, scandalous, beautiful representation of life. The journey is not over but it’s definitely going in the right direction.

On developing the persona of Queen Charlotte: I’m biracial, and my mother was white from England and my dad is South American. My entire career I’ve played, you know, “Black roles,” obviously. The industry has a way of pigeon-holing us. This is the first time that I wasn’t playing a role that didn’t completely revolve around me being Black. So, for me, this is the first time been able to tap into my mother’s side. Do you know what I mean? That side of me that loves afternoon tea and scones with clotted cream and jam, that loves horse riding through the countryside.

On her love for theater: “I love it, and I know I will go back. I like the quickness of TV and film. I like the way that the excitement of a TV set challenges me. Once a director says it’s done, it’s done. And you have to trust. So, I find that it challenges my ego. And I like that.

On struggling with her identity: There was a time when my mental health struggled with identity. I went through periods of wondering whether I was black enough. And I realized I needed to find out who Golda Rosheuvel was. And what that meant. And so, I realized that I had to take the things I love from both sides to make the whole.”

On what first inspired her to perform: Music and performance have always been a big part of my life growing up. My parents met while singing together in a choir in Barbados. I had all this music around me, but I was passionate about sports. I was going to be an athlete. I was good at the long jump, the javelin, the 100 meters, the 100 meters relay, so I trained for the Olympics. What turned the corner for me and took me down the road of acting and singing was I got an injury. I sprained my ankle.

RedCarpet Style

HALLE BERRY in Dolce & Gabbana

It is the most glamourous red carpet of the year in back in business and designers pull out all the stops to have their fashions donned by some of your favorite stars. Here are some of the best looks we spotted.

VIOLA DAVIS in Alexander Queen

ANDRA DAY in Vera Wang

ANGELA BASSETT in Alberta Ferretti

REGINA KING in Louis Vuitton

Eye On Gospel CeCe Duets With Carrie Underwood CeCe Winans turned in another electrifying performance at none other than the 2021 Academy of Country Music Awards, performing a duet of “Great Is Thy Faithfulness” with Carrie Underwood and a medley of two gospel classics–“The Old Rugged Cross” and “How Great Thou Art”.

2021 is proving to be a great year for Winans, whose latest release “Believe For It”, debuted at number one on Billboard’s gospel charts, while also snagging #1 Gospel Digital Song and #1 Top Christian/Gospel Album.

"It’s exciting to see one of my songs on the charts because, to me, it means people are hearing the message.

Music opens so many doors to convey a powerful message.

So, when I see a song going up the charts — I visualize the thousands and thousands of people that might be impacted by the music and message of a song,” says Winans of the album dubbed as “an inviting 78 minutes of worship”.

The multiple Grammy winner kicked off the a l b u m release with a media blitz of TV appearances in seven major markets that included an exclusive interview w i t h Entertainment Tonight and is on a mission to not only bring

awareness to the record, but to encourage people from every walk of life to believe for better days ahead and not give up during these challenging times.

For over three decades she has been encouraging all who listen with an array of music that has evolved into all-time classics.

“This album is filled with such powerful songs that need to be heard around the world. I believe some amazing testimonies will be shared after people listen to this project,” Winans said.

Juan Winans Teams With Sister Deborah Joy Winans on New Single Grammy-nominated recording artist and songwriter Juan Winans is set to release his new urban inspirational single, "Never On My Own," with his sister, actress, and singer Deborah Joy Winans later this month. The single is a follow-up to Juan Winans' No. 1 Billboard hit, "It Belongs To Me," with his wife, Lisa Winans, featuring his uncle, Marvin L. Winans.

The tune previews Juan's upcoming album, Legacy, which, Juan explains, "references the musical legacy I've inherited and hope to build upon. It is equally about my legacy as a Black man in America."

Juan and Deborah Joy previously starred together as BeBe and CeCe Winans, in the 2019 stage musical Born for This: The BeBe Winans Story.

Deborah Joy Winans is best known for her role as Charity Greenleaf-Satterlee on the hit drama series, Greenleaf.

"She possesses that incredibly rich tone and texture that is consistent amongst the women in the Winans family," says Juan of his sister, adding, "'Never On My Own' attests to the security and peace we can derive from knowing that God never leaves us. It is also the perfect song because it is an accurate description of our relationship."

"I never saw myself as a singer until working with Juan in the musical 'Born For This,'" says Deborah Joy. "He helped me find my voice. He is an amazing singer/songwriter, but an even better brother."

The Return of Jason Nelson Jason Nelson, best-known for his No. 1 gospel ballads “Shifting the Atmosphere” and “Forever,” is showcasing another dimension to his immense talent on the smooth, mid-tempo track, “Residue”. Dueling guitars — including Nelson on Bass - open this R&B-flavored groove about a bright future with no residue of a dark past. “The blind mark on my soul has been erased,” Nelson testifies. The warm track shows the Baltimore, MD native’s seemingly effortless and soulfully measured tenor that is on par with that of Charlie Wilson or Luther Vandross.

“Residue was inspired by the idea that being in proximity to GOD has a cleansing effect on a person,” Nelson explains. “The song gives insight to how GOD cleans us up when we come to Him. He never has the expectation that we are perfect to engage with Him. He takes us as we are and washes away the residue of the past.”

“Residue” is Nelson’s first release in three years and he’s planning to release a full album later in the year.

“The new album will definitely be a departure from what I’m known for,” Nelson confides.

“First, it’s a studio record [He usually does live albums]. Secondly, the record will dig into who I am artistically and musically. We will delve into music that helped to nurture my sound as a singer. It pays homage to Dawkins and Dawkins, Commissioned, and Fred Hammond. All of them played a major role in my musical journey.”

Also releasing new music is Kelontae Gavin, with his sophomore full-length album The N.O.W. Experience.

Featuring his #1 Gospel radio hit single “Hold Me Close,” other highlight tracks include “Great,” “Goin’ Up” featuring chart-topping Christian rapper Aaron Cole, “Still Got Joy,” “Victory,” and “I Shall Live (Reprise)” featuring rising gospel singer Isaiah Templeton.

“We’ve all been in a place where we need God to come through right now. But I want people to know that where they are now in their life is just as important as where they are going. Don’t forsake your now in great expectation of the next,” said Gavin, who wrote of twelve of the tracks.

Through the Storm Pastor Endures the Pain for Which No One Can Prepare

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o matter what he does, Lafayette Dorsey Sr. cannot unsee what he witnessed the morning of August 6, 2020, when after hearing a loud scream from his wife, he rushed out to see his only son and namesake’s lifeless body hanging from a rope after having committed suicide. And that he is the pastor of a growing L.A. church tasked to spread the gospel of Christ, has not softened the pain, even if it has provided a level of deliverance from it.

“Our lives have never been the same,” says Dorsey, who pastors Love & Live Again Ministries. “And the thing people are dumbfounded by is that I never stopped ministry… The ministry has been my deliverance.”

“I never thought I'd be in this situation,” he says incredulously. “I gave my life to Jesus when I was 21. I remained celibate until I got married at 25. Living my life for God from 21 to 52 years old, and to be at this place– and that God would permit this to happen. The only question you ask is why me?”

With suicide as the second most common cause of death among young people between the ages of 10-24, Dorsey is among a growing number of anguished parents seeking answers to that very same question.

Answers that for Dorsey and others like him are reflected in the growing national mental health crisis that has the American Psychological Association sounding the alarm to a crisis that has put at risk the mental health of an estimated 34% of Gen Z young adults.

At first, Dorsey hadn’t seen any signs of mental illness in his son, Lafayette Dorsey Jr. (affectionately called “Laf”)– an all-city guard at Dorsey High and excellent student who’d won a basketball scholarship to University of the Pacific. Never any major issues. Never any trouble with law. Never any drugs or alcohol issues.

That is right up until near the end of Laf’s sophomore year when he announced that he did not want to return to school. He had also begun smoking marijuana, telling his Dad that it calmed him.

“Then one day, I was at the gym working out and my phone rang, and my son was saying, “Don't come home.

Somebody’s about to rob the house,” Dorsey recalled.

“I’d called some friends and went to the house and when my son drove up, he was paranoid. I'm asking him, what's going on? He says, “We got to go. They’re coming.’

“He laid down in the back of the truck as if somebody was out to get him. I got him calmed down and by the time we got to the therapist, he had normalized.”

What the 52-year old pastor would come to find out was that his son had been dealing with it for some time.

He later found out that one of the coaches had told him to go home and get help.

“He was dealing with depression, not only with the school stress basketball school,

Pastor Lafayette Dorsey Sr.

but he was dating a young lady who was looking for a more committed relationship,” Dorsey said. “The young lady wanted to be with him so bad that she told him she was pregnant. I believe that's what triggered it.

“She later told me that she told him she was pregnant: ‘to keep his dumb a** around. If I cannot be with him, committed to him, he’s dead to me.’

“Those were her exact words at 19 years old.”

By the end of the summer of 2019, he’d normalized and received a scholarship to Nicholls State University.

“He should've never went, because in a month’s time he’d missed 24 of the 30 days of school. The paranoia, the anxiety, matter of fact even hallucinations and schizophrenia had returned,” Dorsey continued. “I heard it in his voice. He said, “Dad, come and get me.’

“All my son wanted to do is be around his family.”

This time, Dorsey noticed his son was smoking cigarettes along with the weed and drinking wine coolers– a common factor for youth coping with stress.

“It affected his whole body. The toxins in his body were coming through pimples and he would just scratch until he scraped the blood. And when COVID hit, it only got worse, so I took him to Kaiser. They said he was dealing with depression and schizophrenia, but sent him home without prescribing any medication.”

“By mid-July he was challenged by the voices and couldn't sleep–sometimes for two or three days. Or he would sleep during the day and walk through the night.

One night he walked from where we live in Leimert Park all the way up to Westwood, UCLA.” By that time, Dorsey was painfully beginning to recognize all the signs.

“I had learned his triggers. I was a trigger,” Dorsey reveals. “Never my daughter, never my wife, but because I’d spent time trying to understand the voices in his reality and episodes of psychosis, he now had those voices in his head having him think I was the enemy.

“Through all of it, he never became aggressive towards any of his family. The therapist would say, I've never seen a kid have more respect for his parents than I see your son. But during these episodes, the voices convinced him that they were his friends.

“He called me one day, said, ‘Dad, if I could just go to a hotel and be to myself, I think I'll be okay.’ That was again, just his mind, but I got him a room and less than two hours later, he called and said “Dad, I need to go to the hospital. I need some medication.”

Dorsey and wife, Chelsea, took him to St. Francis Hospital. But after two and a half hours and the same diagnosis: depression and hallucinations–once again, the hospital sent him home with no medication.

“By that time, the discouragement, the frustration set in,” Dorsey recalls. “My son was like, ‘Dad, nobody wants to help me?’

The next month, Dorsey had begun a fast and thought things were turning around. His son had gotten a job and seemed to be getting better.

“Usually, every night my son would come in and kiss me and my wife on the head. None of that happened that Wednesday,” Dorsey recalls. “He was outside on the deck as I was in the garage and I wanted to call to him and didn't because he was on his phone. When he came in the house, my wife was talking to him. He said, ‘Mama, I’ll get up in the morning, go to the job and get my first check.’

“That following morning, my wife got up and after we prayed, she went outside and all I heard was a loud scream. I ran out and

saw

him

Lafayette Dorsey Jr.

“

She told me that she told him she was pregnant: ‘to keep his dumb a** around. If I cannot be with him, committed to him, he’s dead to me.’ Those were her exact words at 19 years old...I believe that’s what triggered it.

”

hanging there…

“After he passed, God said you were fasting for his healing, but I had you fast to be able to deal with what I was about to do. Ironically, my son had told me about a month before he passed, – ‘God's got me’ and he told his therapist, ‘God's going to give the peace’.”

Nine months have passed since their 23-year old son took his life, a double hit to his mom who lost a son when she was in high school. They still have the money in the envelope from that very first check their son had been excited to pick up, that night before the voice–his Dad reasons–told him otherwise.

“I asked God to give me insight. So that I can be used.

That's where I'm right now,” said Dorsey, who has had the support of his entire congregation in getting through this difficult time. “Nothing in life prepares you to bury your child. For God to permit this to happen, there has to be for a purpose for my life.

“For years, I would question God on the scripture, “Count it all joy when you fall into diverse temptations, knowing that the trying of your faith worketh patience.”

“How can a person experience such tragedy and count it joy, and then ended up having to deal with what I'm dealing with to gain the understanding? I know there is purpose. My prayer each morning is that God, whatever you have for me to learn in this, I want to learn it, but I need you to help me get out of the way.

“So, when my son passed, two things I picked up.

First, he told me before he passed away, ‘Dad, DCTG (don't cheat the grind)’. I adopted that into ministry and want to help all of these young people who have been coming to me.

“We’re going to do a nonprofit in in his name for kids dealing with mental health issues”, Dorsey pauses for a moment. “I took up sociology in college– never thought this is where I would be, but we’re doing so much better.

God has kept me through it all.”

ChurchNews

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

Faith Leaders Respond to Chauvin Verdict

Corprate Office: 4602 Crenshaw Blvd, Suite 2A, Los Angeles, CA 90043 (323) 295-5571 www.agapela.org Bishop Craig A. Worsham, Founder & Senior Pastor Sunday School: 10:00am Morning Worship: 11:00am Loving, Lifting & Liberating Humanity Through The Word Bethel Missionary Baptist Church of South L.A. 10905 S. Compton Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90059 (323) 566.5286 Pastor Alvin Stafford Jr. Sunday School: 9:30am Morning Worship: 10:30am Book by Book Bible Study (Wed.): 6:30pm Sunday service broadcast on Facebook live Sunday school and Book by Book Bible Study services are conducted on Zoom For more information, visit www.bethelsola.com

Surrounded by faith leaders, Pastor Shep Crawford addresses Derek Chauvin verdict to a group of reporters.

L

os Angeles faith and community leaders let out a collective sigh of relief and elation as twelve jurors found former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin guilty of two counts of murder and one count of manslaughter in the death of George Floyd last year.

“I believe that this verdict is showing us that the judicial system can do the right thing and that it is possible that we can have justice for all,” said Pastor Michael J.T. Fisher of the Greater Zion Church Family.

In anticipation of the verdict, Pastor Shep Crawford of ECM Ministries had organized a large group of prominent and influential faith in joining forces to proactively inform and instruct the community in an effort to discourage harsh and harmful reaction to the possible outcome.

“I’m elated,” said Crawford of the verdict. “Yesterday, I was tensed. I had a headache last night and when the verdict came in, I got this feeling in the pit of my stomach and had to pull my car over to hear it. Then when I heard guilty three times–one for the father, one for the son and one for the Holy Ghost–I was very excited. But we need to work hard so we won’t be excited by a verdict like this.

That it becomes normal for police to be held accountable.

So, while that was a moment, this is a movement, and we have a lot of work to do.”

Geremy Dixon, senior pastor of the First Church of God Center of Hope, concurred.

“Obviously, we are far from rooting out the deep entrenchment of systemic racism in the American criminal justice system. However, this moment does breathe much needed wind into the sails of hope in communities of color. Today, as we released a collective sigh of relief, we exhaled only as a precursor to the drawing of breath so that we might with courage continue the fight.”

Said Bishop Kenneth Ulmer of the Faithful Central Bible Church, “Today the justice journey began anew in the slow but significant trek toward realization. Pushed by faith, justice began to roll; a long slow rolling journey down the hill of inequity to the valley of joy after receiving prophetic marching orders: “… roll down like waters” in the path of righteousness forging the way like an everflowing stream”. It is a day of hope in response to generational echoes down the corridors of time: “how long, Lord, how long?”

“It is a day of hope ordained and made by God before the foundation of the world. More mountains to climb, more battles to wage, more victories to be won. But today — let us rejoice in it.”

Pastors Defend Waters Controversial Statements

L.A. Focus/May 2021

Led by Senior Pastor Shane B. Scott and Bishop Craig Worsham, six south Los Angeles-based pastors called for policy change on issues that affect the Black and Brown communities and showed their support for Congresswoman Waters who has received criticism comments made prior to the verdicts being passed down.

“I hope we get a verdict that says guilty, guilty, guilty,” Waters said. “And if we don’t, we cannot go away. We’ve got to stay on the street. We get more active, we’ve got to get more confrontational. We’ve got to make sure that they know that we mean business.”

“Congresswoman Waters was right, while speaking in Brooklyn Center, MN,

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where Daunte Wright was shot and killed by police and a few miles from where former Police Officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty,” Scott said.

“Congresswoman Waters has always been on the side of the marginalized; she has been for the people because she is of the people. Her legislative agenda has not been partisan, although as a proud progressive, and regardless of race, sexual orientation, criminal background, educational attainments, or socio-economics, Congresswoman Waters has sought to create a just and equitable society for everyone.”

Pastors Scott and Worsham were joined by Pastor J. Edgar Boyd, Senior Minister, First AME Church, Reverend John Edward Cager III, Senior Pastor, Ward AME Church, Pastor Najuma Smith-Pollard, Program Manager, USC Cecil Murray Center for Community Engagement and Senior Pastor K. W. Tulloss, Weller Street Missionary Baptist Church.

The South Los Angeles-based pastors noted that the work of justice is was far from over and that they would not “stop not-violent protesting, legislating and fighting back until black, brown, yellow and every other lives in America matters”.

Said Worsham, “Together, the new majority, from all walks of life–the street, the boardroom, the church, the workplace, and in our homes where we teach our children “that we hold these truths to be self-evident”, must continue to push for change because in the greatest country on Earth, The United States of America, the majority rules and we are the new majority.”

Co-Pastor Sarah Jakes Releases Fifth Book Last month, One Church L.A. at the Potter’s House copastor Sarah Jakes released her fifth book, "Woman Evolve: Break Up with Your Fears and Revolutionize Your Life." In it, the bestselling author, renowned speaker, media-personality, and businesswoman, demonstrates how women can harness the disappointments and even mistakes of their past to transform their lives.

Drawing on her own journey, Roberts explains how women can change their lives by facing their fears and moving through obstacles one step at a time. The book is named for the larger Woman Evolve lifestyle movement, Roberts launched three years ago to help every woman to overcome their fears to realize her own potential, and includes podcasts, sold out tours, philanthropy, video content and more.

"Since starting this movement, I've had an opportunity to meet women from so many walks of life," Roberts said. "I've seen women 's desires for lasting, transformational change. With the "Woman Evolve" book, I wanted to offer a guide for going more in-depth. It's not that women don't recognize the need for change in their lives, but they often don't know where to start. This book offers women the tools and advice to take ownership of their journey and revolutionize their world from the inside out.

Jakes, who is married to Pastor Toure Roberts, also serves as copastor of the Potter’s House of Denver.

Sarah Jakes

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 Sunday LiveStream: 10:00am (facebook.com/christianfellowshipla) Sunday Conference Call: 10:00am (310-372-7549 / code: 342408) Tue/Thurs Morning Word & Prayer: 7:00am Wed. Bible Study w/ Elder Stephen Brown (701-802-5001 / code: 825252# 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 Starting May 2nd: Channel 886 Dish, Smart TV 35.2

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

Rev. Dr. J. Arthur Rumph, Senior Pastor

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. Dr. Ken Walden, 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 (Adults) Bible Study: Every Thursday @ Noon We Gather,Grow,Go and Live the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

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

Mt. Sinai 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)

Contributor

Patricia Weaver

Reappointed to Grant AME Church Los Angeles Rev. Dr. James A. Rumph

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

KAREN A. BROWN

R

Atherton Baptist Church

aised in a Christian family in Los Angeles County, Patricia Weaver, began serving the Lord as a young girl. Her mother established early on that no one was allowed to go on outings until they went to church first.

“If you don’t go to church, you don’t go anywhere else,” her mother would say.

As Patricia grew, so did her relationship with the Lord, subsequently becoming a demonstrative praise and worshipper, singing in the choir and serving in ministry.

She met her husband, Pastor Larry Weaver, at her workplace and they began dating. She invited him to church and soon he became intricately involved and before long they were married, serving in lay ministry together.

Twenty years into their marriage, Rev. Weaver acknowledged the call to preach on his life, sharing it with his wife. “If you feel that this is what God is calling you to do, then I’m supportive,” were the encouraging words that Weaver said to her husband. He consequently resigned from his job and began working full-time at the church. As he rose in his responsibilities, she was right by his side supporting and uplifting.

“We worked together as a team,” she said.

After a short time, her husband received the call to pastor the Atherton Baptist Church in Hawthorne. Sis. Weaver always had a heart for young adults for whom she immediately began building a ministry for which included young mothers.

“I started a young adult class that I simply enjoyed. I loved it!”

This year, the Weavers will celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary and their 20th pastoral anniversary.

During the pandemic, Atherton’s ministry platforms shifted online with Sis. Weaver hosting a weekly bible study that has grown exponentially from 15 to over 80 women from all over the nation.

A proven teacher, leader, and advocate of women, Sis. Weaver shares words of wisdom and advice to young pastor’s wives.

She says, “Build your own relationship with the Lord, trust your husband and prioritize your family.

Weaver sums up her life in this phrase, “I am blessed to be a blessing and I’m saved to serve.”

New Antioch Church of God in Christ 7826 So. Vermont Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90044 (323) 778-7965 • www.newantiochcogic.org Superintendent Jeffrey M. Lewis Sunday Early Worship: 8am Sunday Morning Worship: 11am Sunday School: 9:30am Tuesday Bible Study: 11am Wednesday In The Word: 7pm All services streamed on Facebook and You Tube @New Antioch Church of God In Christ 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

People’s Independent Church of Christ 5856 West Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90043 • (323) 296-5776 Pastor Roshod Sundays: Morning Worship: 8:00am & 11:00am Wednesday Bible Study & Mid Week Worship: Noon & 7:00pm Prayer Meeting: 6:30pm

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: 9:00am, 11:15am & 1:00pm Thursday Midweek Service: 8pm 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 Services: 10:00 am YouTube channel: tv.trinitybaptist.cloud Facebook/Website:trinitybaptistchurchofla.org SundayRadio Broadcast KJLH FM: 9:00am Zoom Wed. Night Virtual Bible Study: 7:00pm Sign in to zoom.us click on “join in a meeting” enter meeting ID: 480-271-5449. By phone call 1-699-900-6833 give zoom ID. Sign-in at 6:55pmrchofla.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 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) Service Time: 10:45 Virtual Worship: Youtube

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 • info@loveandunity.org Apostle Ronald C. Hill, Sr. Founder and Pastor Live Stream Sunday Worship:10am & 6:30pm Live Stream Bible Studies:Wed.7:30pm&Sat 9am Live Stream Prayer w Apostle: Fri: 9am Food For Your Soul TV Ministry Impact Televison Network: Mon-Fri @6:30amPST KJLH 102.3 Sundays 9:00pm

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

In Gardena

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

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 Pastor Wendy Howlett Sunday Morning Worship & Word: 9:30am Wednesday Prayer & Bible Study: 7:00pm View Sunday Worship: www.youtube.com (Under Blessed Family Covenant Church)

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 Sunday Services: 7:00am, 9:30am & 11:45am Wed. Mid-Week Service: 7:00pm The Tabernacle is located at 321 N. Eucalyptus Ave., Inglewood www.faithfulcentral.com

Jacob’s Ladder Community Fellowship, inc.

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

Pastor Profile: Juan Williams Church: Ontario Christian Center How Long at Church: Founded church 33 years ago Hometown: Los Angeles Family: Married to wife Tracy, three adult sons and one daughter

How did you come to be in Ontario?

I graduated from UC [University of California] Riverside. I went there on a baseball scholarship in the 70's. After meeting my first wife, I got connected with a Foursquare church and ended up never leaving Riverside.

Through my involvement with the Foursquare denomination, they recruited me to start pioneering a church.

You had not been in a church when you met your first wife?

No, I had no church history at all. I was ending my baseball career after working out with the San Francisco Giants. I was frustrated because God gave me great skills, but as you know, baseball in America has not been very friendly to black people, and I was tired of it so I went into law enforcement. I needed to have something that was not going to be controlling my destiny like baseball.

Then you got into something that controlled your destiny even greater?

Yeah, but it's about God. God had a plan for my life and through those circumstances, I kind of woke up and began to recognize the calling on my life.

L.A. Focus/May 20210

Let’s go back a minute. When your first wife takes you to church, are you truly getting the word or are you attending to appease her?

Yeah. Ironically, the pastor was telling her that she really didn't need to be messing with me, so I decided I would go and talk to him. I didn't know any kind of protocol. I just figured he was a man, and instead of talking to her, he should say whatever he needed to say to me. So, I made up my mind that I would go to church and after service, I would talk to him. I got in there that day and the Holy Spirit fell on me. I ended up getting saved. I started there as just a lay person, ended up being a deacon, an elder, and then I recognized the calling.

I was there almost nine years, faithfully, never missing, always supporting. Even when I was in law enforcement, I worked full time, but would always put in time during the week to help out with anything I could help with.

What do you feel your church has brought to the city of Ontario?

People know that they're going to get sound doc-

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trine at our church. They know they're going to get loved.

Fifty two weeks a year, we feed anywhere from 100 to 200 families a week. So, it's like God's blessing is on it. The spirit of hope, confidence and faith…I believe this is what is being spread around and God is just honoring it.

What is the one theme you preach about most?

I teach faith, just like Dr. [Frederick] Price did. There's nothing in the Bible that's going work without faith. It's like the fire that gets everything else to work, so I just speak a range of truth. Things that are going to help us be better Christians in this environment in which we live here, not just better Christians, but Christians who are on top. So, the basis is truth, but faith makes all that other stuff work.

Was there ever a time you felt like giving up?

Oh, yes. When I was at UC Riverside, a guy from Campus Crusade ministered to me and I got born again, but I wasn't walking in it. After I finished school, that's when my salvation really began to work. At the time, I thought all Christians were so close to God that if someone told me ‘I’ve been saved 10 years’, I’d think, oh my God, they might walk on water.’

So, the first disappointment–where I thought about giving up–was when the Foursquare fathers asked me, would I be interested in starting a church, and I said I had to ask my pastor first, in my naivete I believed I was supposed to be with him until he died.

Just so happens that a friend of mine had to go to rehab and I took his things to my house to keep for whenever he got out. Lo and behold, there were a bunch of Dr. [Fred] Price's CDs. I started playing them and it started getting in me. The pastor would have me teaching in the first service, which was kind of like a Bible study and the next thing you know I'm beginning to sound like this man on TV. The pastor caught it and said, ‘Man, you sounding like that Dr. Price?

You keep saying faith and stuff like that?’ He said, ‘I ain't trying to make you stop doing it, but that stuff ain't real’.

I said, okay, but it was too late.

So, when I asked his permission about leaving to start a church, he

said, ‘Yeah, go ahead’, and then he just kind of turned against me. All of a sudden, it was like, ‘get your stuff and get off my property’. It broke my heart the way they did it to me because I gave my life to them and I just wanted to give up.

On another occasion, my first wife–who I met while at UC Riverside–was an academic genius and her commitment to study the word of God was unmatched. She ended up being diagnosed with cancer just as we were beginning to learn how to walk by faith. When we found out she had cancer, she was at stage four.

When stuff like that happens, the first thing the devil wants to do is try to tell you that you're responsible for saving her. I never got out of faith, but I was dealing with all this other stuff in my mind about look at all the people you're praying for, why can't you save your wife? I was so torn up that I was going to take my own life. Just so happened I got a phone call from a friend at that exact moment and it saved my life.

What did you have to work out to be more effective for God? So many things. When you are an athlete, you learn how to win…how not to quit. You don't listen to what others have to say, and people are intimidated by people like that. So, I've had to make certain I constantly practice humility and so always constantly, less of me and more of him and I'm not done.

Another thing we forget is that Abraham was 80 when he really got started. Moses was 80 and he’d killed somebody.

Four days a week, I do six miles. I walk up the mountains to warm up, then I run through the city and come back home. I don't care how much you pray, you got to put some work in on that body. I'm 65, but I'm running five miles in less than an hour. I know that God has some things for me to do and I’m not going to get it done if my body is weak.

There's been a lot of defining moments in my life, but God is not done with me. I have not arrived by no means and so I'm constantly pressing God to make me better. My dad used to always tell me the minute you can start believing Pastor profile continued to page 24

From the Pulpit of: Loveland Church “The Backslidden Church”—Revelations 2:4

I

f you've never been there, that's a place you need to go. I'm not trying to be religious. I'm not trying to fulfill my duty to pray or go to church.

I just want that if you've never been there, you need to go there and it's in a spirit much like that, our message comes today.

It's about the backslidden church.

Might be your church. Might be you. In fact, there are probably more of them than you realize, because it's so acceptable nowadays to be backslidden.

Say what? I’m following all the rules and the church I go to is doing all the right stuff. We meet Sunday morning at 11:00.

What about us might be backslidden?

Jesus shows us there's one question and it's a big one when it comes to the whether a church is backslidden, and the Lord introduces this question in a kind of strange, but original way, because if you want to know if your life is right with God, most people will say I don't do this. So, it's a matter of don'ts. And some people will go the other way and they'll say, “Well, I've done this.” And so, it's a matter of I do. In both cases, you can miss it.

In the second chapter of Revelation, Jesus is addressing the seven churches of Asia, which covers all of us. Those seven churches are typical of all churches. And he is addressing the first of those churches, the church at Ephesus.

Jesus first calls out the beauty of what they're about. (He has a way of complimenting before he tells you what's wrong).

They were doctrinaire. In Chapter 2, Jesus said, they call themselves apostles and they're not. They claimed to have a word from God, and they did not.

For all the doctrinaire stuff they were doing right, He said, ‘I got one problem with you’ and I'll read Revelations 2:4 just to make sure we see it from the lips of Jesus: “Nevertheless, I have this against you that you've left your first love.”

Speaks for itself, but to get a full picture, here’s another translation. In the Good News Bible, that verse: “But this is what I have against you. You do not love me now as you did at first.”

The whole idea is that there's something waning. We'll call it backsliding.

Our point today is to realize that when you look at the agenda of the church–not all (God always has a remnant and I hope we are part of that remnant)– but there are many, and I dare say most, could have lost it and it's not something new.

It started with a fellow who walked in the dusty streets of Jerusalem who had been born, not at Kaiser, but in a manger.

Who comes along as an itinerant preacher wearing a robe, but not one of those with the gold embedded strings, but who walks in dusty streets preaching, then calls fishermen as his disciples and without credential or pulpit, they change the world.

Most of them are uneducated, with the possible exception of Luke, maybe Mathew. But within 100 years, some others come along. They have put pointed hats on their heads. They have encased themselves in robes with stripes that tell you who they are; who stand in pride and sometimes arrogance; who demand that you bring your gifts and lay them at their feet; who wear rings that you are obligated to come and kiss.

You, a believer in Jesus, are to become a believer in the Cardinal, the Bishop, the Pope... Let me tell you something you can't add a thing to what Jesus did on the cross.

Start from right here. Let's throw all your religious stuff out the window.

Oh, there are some do's and don'ts, but I'll show you what the basis of that is.

It is much like what happened in the 22nd Chapter of Matthew, when one of those religious guys with the robes and all that stuff came to Jesus and asked him a question, and I’m paraphrasing. He said, “Okay, I might not be able to get all these commandments right, but if I’ve just got to get one, which one is it? Just give me one.”

Here's the answer Jesus gave in Matthew 22:40: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind.”

Let me just break it off. “Love God with everything you got.” Then he said, “And your neighbor as yourself.”

The very one who spoke the words “let there be” and everything that is came out

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

Antioch Church of Long Beach 350 Pine Ave. ,Long Beach, CA 90802 (562) 591-8778 •www.antiochlb.com Senior Pastor Wayne Chaney, Jr.

In Long Beach

Online Services Stream live: Sunday 10:00 am at antiochlb.com Give: text antiochib to 77977 Social Media: facebook.com/antiochlb instagram.com/antiochlb youtube.com/antiochlongbeach

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

of nothing. He spoke and the constellations took their place. He spoke and the earth began to spin. He spoke and the fish began to swim through the sea. He spoke and flowers began to bloom.All He did was speak and everything that is on the earth came out of nothing.

In Revelation 2:4, the one who made everything out of nothing says, “You don't love me like you used to.” That's the revelation of a backslidden church.

One of the funny things about Halley’s Comet. I believe it comes through here every 76 years. When we get to see Halley’s Comet, people get all excited. But the reason it comes back every 76 years is because it ain't been nowhere. There's a lot of action, but not a lot of movement.

And there are a lot of churches like that– a lot of action, ain't going nowhere.

So, how can you tell if a church lost its first light? I'll show you. If you've been here or you've been watching us, there's something I like to call the Trinity or three -pronged prayer life.

One hundred years ago, evangelist Leonard Ravenhill wrote that when a man prays, he operates in three worlds at the same time. What does that mean?

Well, you’re operating first in heaven.

After all, the Lord's Prayer starts with ‘Our father, who art in heaven,’ so I worship at the same time when I pray.

Secondly, prayer is not all fun. Not all of prayer is goosebumps and great feelings. The reason why some people can't praise is because they want all prayer to be like that. Some prayer is work.

So at once, I'm in heaven–worship.

Same time I'm in earth–work. But with that same prayer, you know where else I am? Hell.

Listen, the devil will mock my preaching and he will imitate our singing, but he trembles at our praying.

For that housewife who's learned to call the name of Jesus in prayer, victory is on the way. For that believer who knows how to call his children's name in prayer, victory is coming. The Bible tells me, “Men are always to pray and not faint.”

I'm worshiping, same prayer, I'm work-

ing, same prayer, and I'm warring. That church that's not worshiping, that's not working, not warring,– you lost your first love. And yet Hebrews 13 says, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

He loves those who are part of his church and we need to understand that.

That’s the reason why in spite of the preachments that say, God, go strike them dead, He doesn't because He loves His church. He's married to the backslider.

But let me show you the second point.

The only reason a church can lose its love is because the people in the church lose them. They kind of slowly drift away.

I recently mentioned the Nightline telecast where an atheist said I would not follow a God who demands I worship Him. “He's on a cosmic ego trip.”

Let me explain worship. Why do I worship Him as an expression of love to Him, and He already loves me like that?

It's a love relationship and so my worship is an expression of love. I am loving on God and God is loving on me. So, when I turn from worship, I turn from love.

And let me give you the third and final point. Ever heard somebody say I ain't as close to God as I used to be? Well, if you're not as close to God, guess who moved? continued to page 24

Pastor Chuck Singleton

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

Grant AME Church of Long Beach 1129 Alamitos Ave. Long Beach, CA 90813 • (562) 437-1567 grantamelb@aol.com • www.grantamelb.org Rev. Dr. Michael W. Eagle, Sr.

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

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

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.

Bishop Sherman A. Gordon, E.D. Min

Dr. Arnetha E. Inge, Pastor

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

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

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

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

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)

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

Larry Elder continued from page 8 Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6. If the state had failed to convict Chauvin, a distinct possibility given the state's heavy burden of proof, would media similarly accuse Waters of incitement to riot?

Larry Elder is a bestselling author and nationally syndicated radio talk show host. His latest book, "The New Trump Standard," is now available. To find out more about Larry Elder, or become an "Elderado," visit www.LarryElder.com or www.creators.com.

L.A. Focus/May 2021

Jessica Johnson continued from page 8 It is the power of forgiveness shown through the love of God that will get our country to the place of racial healing in the aftermath of Floyd's death, the "#justice" that can mend the deep wounds of bigotry entrenched in our nation's soul.

Dr. Jessica A. Johnson is a lecturer in the English department at Ohio State University's Lima campus. Email her at smojc.jj@gmail.com. Follow her on Twitter: @JjSmojc.

To find out more about Jessica Johnson and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

24

For more information, call

310.677-6011

Pastor continued from page 22 in your own hype is the minute you finish.

What will say to you that you've been successful?

When I know I've done everything to give God an opportunity to get his message through me and through our ministry and I see the fruit of it. Like right now we're redoing our college, and we are in the process of opening up other locations to start at least with Bible study. Our foreign missions are picking up. So, doing the kind of things where I see people in need requesting what we have, then I can begin to say, ‘okay, we’re doing what God has called us to do’.

Isaac Bryan continued from page 6 together who usually don't see eye to eye, but who recognize our shared values.”

The communities in district 54 include Baldwin Hills, Crenshaw, Culver City, Ladera Heights, Leimert Park, Mar Vista, Mid-City Los Angeles, Palms, West LA, Westwood and Windsor Hills in Los Angeles County.

Other candidates on the ballot are Samuel Robert Morales and Bernard Senter, respectively. The special primary election is May 18, 2021.

Pulpit continued from page 23 There are churches, believers and denominations that were birthed in the heat of revival. Those who were around in the 80s and 90s who knew the Lord saw the charismatic movement. People got on fire for God and begin to walk with God in the faith movement. But now that's dying. There were folks before that in the temple movement of the 60s and 70s, under the heat of evangelism. That was a move of God. In the early 1900s, right down the road here in Azusa was the Pentecostal movement. That was a move of God. Believers have this tendency to grow cold in their love for the Lord and there's only one way to keep the fire burning: worship. When Jesus said in John 4, God is a spirit and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth, watch what he says right behind it: for the father is looking for such to worship Him. There's one way to be in love with God and that way is worship. I'm not just talking about your Sunday morning.

That's important, but you ought to worship God even if you don't come out of the house. There's nothing as important for you or for the church as worship.

Know how you spot a terribly backslidden church?

They don't worship. I'm not talking about a pretty song.

I'm talking about folks who worship from their soul, and if you are a worshiper, I'll tell you how you know for sure.

The Bible puts it this way in Psalms, “Deep calls deep.”

You don't just go and say, let me see how this preacher preaches. You’re more than that. Your heart is to be in the presence of God. Years ago, I never will forget what one of our members said so clearly to me. We’d had five services on that particular Sunday, and we were moving so fast we just didn't have enough time for the choir to sing much.

"Pastor,” she said. “That was a great message, but I want to come in.”

I knew right there what she was saying. Every believer ought to have that kind of heart–‘Lord, I want to come in’.

Father in Jesus' name, thank you for inviting us. We want to know that you're pleased–not with our performance in worship–but our eagerness to worship. So in the name of Jesus, we make this humble submission of our worship before you. Not all of us can sing like these, praise leaders, not all of us can play the instruments so skillfully like these that have played in the band, not all of us can preach, but would you take what we have?

InGoodTaste

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SavingGrace

L.A. Focus/May 2021

I

n a five-plus decades long career in entertainment, it’s hard to isolate those great moments, particularly since for Jody Watley, there have been so many. So, she settles for the “now” moments and for the 62-year old R&B/pop star, that’s the honor she received last month of when the National Museum of African American Music (NMAAM) in Nashville, Tennessee honors Jody Watley for her contribution as a trendsetting pioneer in music, video, fashion and style and named her as its first-ever membership ambassador.

Part of the festivities included the unveiling of a larger-than-life digital billboard of the dance, R&B and pop icon at the top of their building on the historic 5th and Broadway Street in Nashville.

The honors couldn’t have been more well deserved for the singer who parlayed her early success at 18 as one of the most popular dancers in the history of iconic TV show “Soul Train” into becoming a Grammy-winning artist with six Billboard Hot 100 Top Ten Singles, a string of gold and platinum albums and a Billboard Magazine Lifetime Achievement Award.

Looking at Watley, it’s hard to believe that so much time has passed since she catapulted onto the music scene with a string of hits that skyrocketed her to the top of the charts and to superstardom, influencing a whole generation of youth, fusing the worlds of music and street fashion, expanding the boundaries of crossover and becoming one of the architects of 21st century pop.

But Watley–the goddaughter of music legend Jackie Wilson–is not given to counting the years.

“I’m just so busy living life that I’m not counting,” shares Watley, who is also credited as first African American women to have a Number 1 workout video, Dance To Fitness. “The longevity of life is a blessing, but I still have the enthusiasm as if I'm just beginning. One of the secrets of my longevity through the ups and downs and cherishing the now moments, is gratitude.

“Professionally, with my music past and present, I just bring a joy and a high level of integrity to what I do, and I think it's important for young people to know that.

Wherever you are in life like learn your lessons and keep it moving. Don't get stuck on the highs or your lows.”

And that Watley has, recording, touring and as a businesswoman with her own record label and a growing line of home products.

“I talk a lot about wattage – our inner light,” Watley adds. “Sometimes it gets dimmed when you're a teenager. Sometimes you dim it when you're in relationships because you want your significant other to feel more comfortable. I went through a period where I wanted other people to feel comfortable with my success. But it's okay to let your light shine and never dim your light to make someone else feel tall, especially when they're trying to make you feel less than.”

It is a feeling she knows all too well as for all of her success, Watley’s rise to stardom didn’t come without a few bumps in the road.

“There was a time shortly after I won the “Best New Artist” Grammy when crossing over for black artists was almost taboo,” Watley recalls. “I was at the Soul Train Awards when Whitney Houston got booed because she was a crossover success and they’d done a whole feature in Rolling Stone about artists selling out. With me being R&B dance and pop, it was challenging.

“I actually wish I’d had a better manager at the time because he didn't really know how to navigate the crossover with me and there were two big opportunities– a Pepsi commercial and a Chrysler car commer-

26

Jody Watley When I think about it, that was pretty badass because I was in my early 20s. And because nobody thought I would make it as a solo artist, when I won the best new artist Grammy, I felt like it was God's gift to me for stepping out on faith and believing in myself.” cial– that were turned down on my behalf.

“I'm usually very big on standing up for myself, but there've been times–in trying not to be a know-it-all– that I didn’t speak up,” she continues.

“Now, every time I see an artist on the cover of a fashion magazine, I’m reminded of when I first got the Harper's Bazaar fashion layout and the label was like, "what does fashion have to do with selling records’”.

So, Watley flew herself to New York to do it, understanding how keenly important imaging was for artists even before fashion played the pivotal role it does now in defining one’s artistry.

“You really have to know how to navigate and take those opportunities and be fearless about it,” she says.

“Sometimes people get it, sometimes they don't.”

In her own way, she has always been fearless.

“My mom likes to remind me when I was four, I would say I'm going to have my own business,” Watley recounts. “In fact, there've been so many times where people counted me out and I always have that, oh yeah, I can.”

A point she proved to the music world when in 1983, the Chicago native left Shalamar, the group through which she’d first gained notoriety and had scored five hit albums and such classic hits as “The Second Time Around” and “A Night to Remember”. While the group’s success may have looked like a fairy tale, behind the scenes it was in Watley’s words, “a toxic misogynist nightmare”, and the breakup was anything but pretty, with fans turning on Watley and people in the industry telling her she would never make it on her own.

But, says Watley, “I wasn’t happy. I was being disrespected and I wasn't really being paid. It was just so many things but then my dad passed away unexpectedly at 49 and it changed the way I lived my life because tomorrow is not promised, and I needed to get on with my life.

When I think about it, that was pretty badass because I was in my early 20s.

“And because nobody thought I would make it as a solo

artist, when I won the best new artist Grammy, I felt like it was God's gift to me for stepping out on faith and believing in myself.”

Raised in church her grandfather was a pastor and her grandmother was a missionary. Her dad, also a minister, was her biggest supporter.

“He had a radio show”, Watley recalls, “and he would say, one day my records will be on. I was so sad he didn't get to see me become a success as a solo artist.”

But what he instilled in her was faith.

“Faith is always there to guide you through the doubt because you can't stress and worry and have faith at the same time,” Watley says. “If you really have faith, even those moments when you wonder will it get any better, faith always lets you know that will.”

These days, her audiences are as diverse as her music which incorporates the pop, R&B and dance she is most known for along with the jazz, electronic and house music that has graced her later releases.

“It's young people. It's older people. It's all races. It's having a gay fan base,” Watley reports. “It is a melting pot and because of my solo music, I have all the 80s babies and from the dance music that has been heavy in the clubs from the 2000s I get the underground club kids. So, it's a very unique audience.”

An audience that has fueled a demand for her touring and propelled her 2018 single, “Waiting In Vain” into a top ten slot on Billboard’s jazz charts and an EP, The Passion” to #1 on the UK Top 30 Soul Chart.

Though no longer a fixture on the R&B/Pop charts, Watley continues to record on the label she established in 1995 and has yielded 14 number one dance singles through the years, leading to her 2016 ranking in Billboard as the 21st most successful dance artist of all time.

“My last single was called The Healing. It came out just after the pandemic and it's really about healing, living in the now, creating more love, abundance and peace in the now.”

Part of that peace and abundance for Watley comes in her passion for candles which led to the development of a private label, signature collection of candles she first launched back in 2014 and just recently expanded.

“It's been a passion of mine as an adult. in fact, I take that back,” she says. “The first candle I made was in the girl scouts. They just bring such a sense of peace. I've had candles on stage and with my album Intimacy– which was my fourth solo album– the whole vibe was incense and candles.

“I also have an interior spray that sold out on my online store: Jodywatleyshop.com.

But it’s another venture, because I've always been entrepreneurial.”

To that end, the mother of two adult children says she’s “very much about building this other branch in the Jody Watley tree.”

“In life,” she continues, “the greatest success is to be your authentic self. Music is always my first love, but I have other loves. If the next thing is being a home and wellness mogul, I'll take that too.”