What We Shouldn’t Permit

By Ben Jealous Picture a mountain valley somewhere in the Alleghanies, Appalachians or Blue Ridge. It’s a safe bet what you just imagined didn’t include a metal pipeline more than three feet wide running down a steep ridge or crossing a pristine stream. People from West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, and several Indigenous nations have…

Five reasons lawmakers need to improve public health emergency preparedness

By Phyllis Arthur and Tom Cotter The Covid-19 pandemic is seemingly behind us; in fact, President Biden recently ended the official national health emergency [April 10]. So perhaps it’s unsurprising that Americans want lawmakers to start preparing for the next public health threat, according to a new survey from the Biotechnology Innovation Organization and Healthcare…

Untouchable in America

By Sunita Sohrabji Dalit activist Prem Pariyar says his family was brutally attacked in Nepal for being “untouchables.” He fled to the U.S., but finds caste discrimination persists here as well. In 2014, Prem Pariyar’s father, who lives in Kathmandu, rented a truck for a day at a cost of 50 Nepali rupees. He asked…

(BPRW) The 2023 ESSENCE Festival of Culture™ Presented by Coca-Cola® Celebrates Hip-Hop’s 50th Anniversary with Partners AT&T®, Disney, L’Oréal and Target

(Black PR Wire) NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)– It’s about to go down at the 2023 ESSENCE Festival of CultureTM presented by Coca-Cola®. This year’s four-day event will celebrate Hip-Hop’s undeniable legacy with new and returning experiences from long-standing presenting sponsor, Coca-Cola®, and major partners AT&T®, Disney, L’Oréal and Target. From June 29 to July 3, festival…

New Study Reveals Excess Mortality and Years of Potential Life Lost Among the Black Population in the US from 1999-2020

NNPA NEWSWIRE — The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) said their results show that new ways of doing things are needed. JAMA looked at statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which showed that when the coronavirus pandemic hit the world in 2020, the number of deaths and years of…

New Legal Standards: California Takes Steps to Crack Down on Housing Discrimination

Aldon Thomas Stiles | California Black Media Since the early 1990s, landlords and managers nationwide have partnered with law enforcement to implement “crime-free housing” policies. These policies aim to reduce criminal activities such as drug use and gang activity. In California, crime-free housing has become increasingly controversial. Advocates and some state officials have been railing…

USDA to Bring New Jobs and Improved Infrastructure to Rural Partners Network Communities

More Than Two Million People to Benefit from Economic Growth WASHINGTON, May 22, 2023 – U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced that USDA is helping rural communities across eight states and Puerto Rico address some of their immediate needs and foster long-term economic growth. “President Biden’s Investing in America agenda provides…

IRS Free Tax Filing Service Could Further Harm Black, Low-Income Taxpayers

 By Hamil R. Harris (TriceEdneyWire.com) – The IRS is exploring a direct e-file system for tax returns. However, some believe the system would bring undue harm to historically marginalized communities – including Black and low-income taxpayers – based on recent reports concerning IRS enforcement actions. The Internal Revenue Service submitted a report to Congress, required…

Ramos bill with exemption for military pensions heads to Senate

First time military retiree measure leaves its house of origin SACRAMENTO—Military retirees and their surviving spouses are one step closer to seeing their armed forces pensions exempt from state taxation after the Assembly today approved AB 46 on a bipartisan 77-0 vote. Several past attempts at similar legislation have failed to pass the house of…

LA County Library Recognized as a 2023 Recipient of Nation’s Highest Museum and Library Honor

National Medal for Museum and Library Service Recognizes  LA County Library’s Community Contributions LOS ANGELES, CA— The Institute of Museum and Library Services announced LA County Library was selected as one of eight recipients of the 2023 National Medal for Museum and Library Service, the nation’s highest honor given to museums and libraries that make…

BOE Adopts $146.1 Billion in State-Assessed Property Values for Fiscal Year 2023-24

Schools and Local Communities Set to Receive $2.35 Billion  Sacramento – Today, the California State Board of Equalization (BOE) unanimously adopted the $146.1 billion in state-assessed property values of 336 companies within California, which include telephone, gas, and electric companies, independent power producers, regulated railroads, and intercounty pipelines. In the upcoming fiscal year, schools and…

Black women are two to three times more likely to have uterine fibroids—here’s how to manage and treat them

By Megan Sayles, AFRO Business Writer, Report for America Corps Member, msayles@afro.com In the U.S., 26 million women aged 15 to 50 have uterine fibroids, or benign growths of the uterus, and more than half of those women will experience associated symptoms and health risks.  For African American women, the lifetime incidence of fibroids is…

Grassroots Organizations Request $100 million to Invest in Black California

Antonio Ray Harvey | California Black Media SACRAMENTO,CA-A coalition of movement-based organizations from various parts of California converged on the grounds of the State Capitol in Sacramento to send a message: Black Californians need financial resources to overcome setbacks caused by centuries of system and institutional racism. The coalition, which included members of the California…

California Panel Takes Big Step Toward $800 Billion Reparation Payments to Black Residents, and Formal Apology

California’s reparations task panel approved recommendations to compensate and apologize to Black communities for centuries of discrimination. At a meeting in Oakland, the nine-member committee, which first met nearly two years ago, approved a lengthy list of reparations recommendations for state lawmakers to examine. By Stacy M. Brown California’s reparations task panel approved recommendations to…