Author Archives: S.E. Williams

Stephanie Williams is executive editor of the IE Voice and Black Voice News. A longtime champion for civil rights and social justice in all its forms, she is also an advocate for government transparency and committed to ferreting out and exposing government corruption. Over the years Stephanie has reported for other publications in the inland region and Los Angeles and received awards from the California News Publishers Association for her investigative reporting and Ethnic Media Services for her weekly column, Keeping it Real. She also served as a Health Journalism Fellow with the USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism. Contact Stephanie with tips, comments. or concerns at myopinion@ievoice.com.

House Speaker Mike Johnson dismisses Congress early for the holiday break to avoid a vote on the Democrats’ bill calling for an extension of the COVID-19 era COVID-19 subsidies.

Keeping It Real

Keeping it Real: The Grinch That Stole Christmas by Blocking the Extension of ACA Subsidies

by S.E. Williams December 23, 2025December 23, 2025

Black Voters Matter, the Mass Blackout initiative and more than 50 grassroots organizations across the country called for a national boycott during Thanksgiving weekend, The ”We Ain’t Buying It” initiative focused on pre-selected retailers who dispassionately traded the loyalty of their Black and Brown customers for political expediency.

Keeping It Real

Keeping it Real: Assessing the Impact of “We Ain’t Buying It!” Boycott

by S.E. Williams December 16, 2025December 16, 2025

Richard Matus’ nieces and nephews, Alleena Morales, Maddie Morales, Willy Jr, and Bella Fuentes, and his sister and brother-in-law, Rachel and Willy Morales, his mother, Lisa Matus, and older brother, Andrew Cortez, pose for a portrait in Lisa’s home, where Richard lived, on June 14, 2023. Matus was one of 19 deaths in Riverside County Jails in 2022.

Keeping It Real

Keeping it Real: FAC Sues Riverside Over Transparency in Quest for Sheriff Department Jail Deaths Accountability

by S.E. Williams December 11, 2025December 11, 2025

Keeping It Real

Keeping it Real: Major Settlement Reached in Moreno Valley School District Police Brutality Case

by S.E. Williams December 2, 2025December 2, 2025

With so much political negativity in the air rising from extreme and questionable actions of the current commander-in-chief, it is sometimes challenging to remember how much power we have as citizens; how local communities and leaders are standing as bulwarks against these actions; and how gratitude is a powerful tool for effecting change.

Keeping It Real

Keeping it Real: “Gratitude Can Transform Any Situation”

by S.E. Williams November 25, 2025November 25, 2025

Keeping It Real

Keeping it Real: Why “We Ain’t Buying It”

by S.E. Williams November 18, 2025November 21, 2025

On Sunday, at least eight moderate to conservative Senate Democrats voted with Republicans to end the filibuster and pass a continuing resolution to reopen the government without the promised extension of the ACA subsidies.

Keeping It Real

Keeping it Real: After a Watershed Election, Democrats Unexpectedly Cave on ACA Subsidies

by S.E. Williams November 11, 2025November 11, 2025

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “Give us the ballot, and we will fill our legislative halls with men of good will.”

Keeping It Real

Keeping it Real: Will Proposition 50 Yield an Opportunity for Riverside to Throw the Bums Out?

by S.E. Williams November 5, 2025November 5, 2025

Keeping It Real

Keeping it Real: The Time for Cautious Politics is Over

by S.E. Williams October 28, 2025October 28, 2025

As Civil Rights lawsuits continue to accrue against Bianco, we should not only be concerned about individuals who died or were harmed in our county’s jails, we must also be concerned about what Bianco’s aberrant leadership will cost the county in the long run as the claims against him continue to be settled.

Keeping It Real

Keeping it Real: The Collector . . . Chad Bianco’s Dark Obsession

by S.E. Williams October 21, 2025October 21, 2025