For the past several weeks living rooms, barber shops, zoom calls and social media have been bombarded with polls, debates and even arguments, all asking the questions “Who Is The Best Choice For Vice President?” The selections may vary drastically depending on what part of the country you live in, whether you consider yourself a “liberal” or a “progressive”? But whomever you decide on that Vice Presidential Running Mate MUST BE AN AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN. Whether it be Senator Kamala Harris, Congresswoman Karen Bass, Former U.S. National Security Advisor Susan Rice, Former Georgia State Representative Stacey Abrams, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms or Florida Congresswoman Val Demings? One thing is for certain if Vice President Biden expects to secure the Black vote one of these women must be his running mate. ... read more »

We come into this August conscious of its meaning as an honored month and central site of 400 years of righteous and relentless resistance. It is both a month and a monument to a series of significant events in our history: our arrival and beginning resistance in the U.S. (1619); the history-changing Haiti Revolution (1791); the audacious revolts of enslaved Africans led by Gabriel and Nana Prosser (1800) and Nat Turner (1830); and the critical founding of the Underground Railroad (1850) involving Nana Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass and numerous other freedom fighters dedicated to increased resistance to the Holocaust of enslavement and the liberation of our people.  ... read more »

Sometimes, good things can come out of life’s most tragic events. We are experiencing trying times that are making all of us rethink how we operate and how we carry out our daily lives. The fallout of COVID-19 has touched both our personal and professional lives.  ... read more »

Clergy for Black Lives, a collective of clergy members from throughout Southern California, sent a letter to California State University, Los Angeles (CSU Los Angeles) President, William Covino, on July 11, 2020 to inquire as to his reasoning for not appointing Dr. Melina Abdullah as the Inaugural Dean of the College of Ethnic Studies, the second College of Ethnic Studies in the nation. President Covino responded on July 13, 2020, stating that he was not on campus and could not address personnel matters.   ... read more »

When will you do what you said you were going to do? Sometimes promises are made and the person has no intent to keep their word. Who, above all others do you expect to keep their word and hold to their promise? For me, I say, the Lord first. But, I also want the persons who are closest to me to keep their promise. You know, people are faulty. They are sometimes inflexible and other times flexible. Some don’t understand the importance of keeping their word. Suppose you have  appointments with someone and repeatedly the person is late. Suppose you have one of those internet dates and the person is late. Or even suppose the person comes dressed shabbily. Should you expect that this person is going to change miraculously and for the rest of that relationship? Very possibly “no.” Some would say “yes.” Promises are important statements. ... read more »

Black women are many things. We are business executives, political strategists and elected officials, philanthropists, and activists. We are health and wellness practitioners. We are entertainers and faith leaders. We are wives, mothers, daughters, educators, and students. We set and shift culture. We build power and we are powerful. ... read more »

For decades, Ethnic Studies faculty, students and staff have argued and struggled to have Ethnic Studies as a requirement in the university curriculum as an indispensable contribution to a truly inclusive and quality education. Gov. Newsom should sign AB 1460 when it reaches his desk this week. It is in the best interest of preparing students for the global society in which they will live and work and eventually play important and leading roles. AB 1460, authored by Dr. Shirley Weber (D-79th District), addresses this issue in a clear and meaningful way. Under the law, beginning 2021-2022, in order to graduate, CSU students would be required to take a class in one of the four major ethnic group disciplines: Native American, African American, Latinx American or Asian American. The benefits of this requirement are numerous and include: its enhancing and expanding knowledge of the various peoples and cultures of the state, country and world; sharing and sharpening perspectives; improving interracial and intercultural relations; and helping prepare students for the diverse state, national and global community in which they will contribute and succeed.  ... read more »

Throughout the course of my life I have shared a lot about my ups and downs, with the hope that something I share could help someone along their journey.  When you open yourself up in such a public way, you never know how you will be perceived or received.   Last week in my article I shared about my journey of love and how after two decades I was blessed to marry the love of my life.  Due to miles, marriages, and mistakes, becoming Ron’s wife was a dream that I thought would never come true. Especially as life continued to last and death passed, and I was not getting any younger.  In part two of my story I want to encourage everyone to think about a specific dream you may have given up on.  Pick it back up, dust it off and start believing in what is possible. No matter what your age or how much time has passed. ... read more »

The Ethnic Studies requirement bill, AB 1460, which will reach Governor Gavin Newsom’s desk this week, will help determine not only the quality of higher education and campus life for decades to come in the CSU system. But it will also shape the quality of life conceived and built by students who will benefit from that education and use it to ground, enrich and expand their lives with mutually beneficial relations of learning, life, work and service. This bill, AB 1460, requires each graduating student to take ONE three-unit class in one of the Ethnic Studies disciplines – Native American, African American, Latino/a American and Asian American Studies. And all people who value the lives, learning needs, culture, history, intellectual traditions and life experiences of peoples of color and the indispensable and enriching contribution Ethnic Studies makes to creating an inclusive quality education should support this bill. Likewise, Governor Newsom should surely sign it when it reaches his desk.  ... read more »

Moses, along with other great prophets, had first hand experiences communicating with  the LORD, listening to the LORD and following His instructions and mandates. The expression,” the LORD said” was made some 45 times in Exodus: to Moses, to Aaron, to Pharaoh and to others.  Why is this important? In looking at Exodus and the experiences in a more narrative way, we can grasp the sense of  these great signs and miracles done by Moses at the directive of God and with Moses prophet, Aaron. ... read more »

The police attack in Century City took place the year before a more famous LAPD abuse case involving motorist Rodney King. Millions saw the televised video of the police beating Rodney King as he lay on the ground. When the police were acquitted by a mostly white jury, the verdict triggered the 1992 Los Angeles civil unrest. ... read more »

Wendy's Window ... read more »

Clearly, there are several lessons to be gleaned from the legacy of these freedom warriors and workers for a new society and world. And the first is to rightfully locate them in Black history among their people, our people in the midst of an unfinished and ongoing Black freedom struggle. Indeed, there can be no correct understanding, appropriate appreciation or honest emulation of their lives and the lives of all those who preceded them and made them and us possible and of those who were their co-combatants, unless we place them all in the context of their people, our people, Black people and our struggle. ... read more »

Success On “The Way” www.AskDrJeanetteParker.com tm ... read more »

Have you heard about the 2020 Census? I am sure you have received mail, phone calls, or maybe drove past a billboard with information on the Census. Do you still wonder what it is about and who gets counted? The new baby just born yesterday? She gets counted. Your Uncle Leroy who is 108 years old? He gets counted, too! ... read more »