Asante-Ra In a move to uphold educational freedom and ensure a comprehensive and inclusive learning experience for all students, Governor Gavin Newsom has signed Assembly Bill 1078 (AB 1078) into law, effectively banning book bans and textbook censorship in California’s vast network of over 10,000 schools. This landmark legislation, authored by Assemblymember Dr. Corey Jackson […]
Posted inEducation
Moreno Valley School District’s Leadership Shift: Superintendent Termination Amid Landmark Settlement
Content Warning: This article mentions a child’s death and contains brief descriptions of graphic violence. Reader discretion is advised. Asante-Ra In a pivotal decision, the Moreno Valley Unified School District Board of Education voted 3 to 2 in a Special Closed Session Board Meeting on Tuesday, September 19, to terminate the contract of employment for […]
Posted inHealth
Out of the Darkness: Suicide Prevention– Destigmatizing the Struggle
Breanna Reeves Trigger Warning: This article discusses the topic of suicide and suicide prevention. September is recognized as National Suicide Prevention Month. In 2021, more than 48,000 Americans died as a result of suicide — that’s one death every 11 minutes, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). During the month […]
Posted inCommunity
Digital Divide: Newsom to Fund Shortfall in Broadband Infrastructure Project
Phyllis Kimber Wilcox In a recent meeting with the California Black Caucus, Governor Gavin Newsom shared his proposal to fully fund the Middle Mile Broadband Infrastructure Project (MMBI). The MMBI, paid for by both state and federal funding, plans to create the physical infrastructure necessary to bring high spéed high capacity internet to the entire […]
Posted inKeeping It Real
Keeping it Real: UAW negotiates “stand up strike” with auto industry’s Big 3 for better pay and benefits
S.E. Williams When the United Auto Workers (UAW) walked off the job at selected facilities recently, it was just the latest occurrence of workers putting their employers on notice that enough is enough. There have been more than 287 labor driven actions at no less than 452 locations across the country this year as of […]
Posted inKeeping It Real
Keeping it Real: Still No Oversight of Riverside Sheriff’s Department Even as Corrections Officers are Arrested and More Inmates Die
IMPORTANT UPDATE: Subsequent to the publication of this editorial I learned that on Sunday, September 17, 2023, another Riverside corrections officer was arrested for allegedly transporting 44 pounds of narcotics while armed and traveling along Interstate 10. This was followed on Monday, September 18, 2023, with the report of yet another in-custody death involving an […]
Posted inCommunity
60 Years Later: The Bombing that Rocked the Civil Rights Movement and Tore at the Conscience of America
Prince James Story Sixty years ago, on September 15, 1963, the day started as a typical Sunday for most residents in Birmingham, Alabama— they woke up and prepared for church. Before 10 a.m., children poured into the 16th Street Baptist Church to attend Sunday school. Before the main sermon began, Addie Mae Collins, Carol Denise […]
Posted inHealth
Consequences of Extreme Heat
Breanna Reeves | Photos by Aryana Noroozi “Our planet has just endured a season of simmering — the hottest summer on record. “Climate breakdown has begun,” said United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres on Sept. 6. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) noted that August was the hottest month on record, followed by July, according to data […]
Posted inHealth
Updated COVID-19 Booster Shots Available Soon
Breanna Reeves The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved and authorized the emergency use of updated COVID-19 booster shots that are designed to target the Omicron variant XBB.1.5. Following the FDA’s decision, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices met on Sept. 12 to decide who should […]
Posted inKeeping It Real
Keeping it Real: Generations and Homelessness
Many readers are aware that after multiple extensions over a two year period, California’s eviction moratorium came to an end June 30, 2022, with the expiration of both the COVID-19 Tenant Relief Act (CTRA) and the COVID-19 Rental Housing Recovery Act. Despite it coming to an end, the California Apartment Association continued to ask its […]