The government is providing $7.4 billion to expand the nation’s public health capacity, including hiring school nurses to vaccinate kids, setting up a health care service corps and bolstering traditional disease detection efforts, White House officials said Thursday.
It’s been nearly a month since President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan, which included economic stimulus checks for most American’s and tax benefits for the community. As we continue to forge through the pandemic and economic woes, Congressmember Karen Bass held a call geared towards helping navigate this tax season.
That range highlights the need for federal intervention — both continuing the moratorium, which happened this morning, and additional assistance that will help not only struggling renters but also their landlords, such as the $45 billion in rental assistance in the recently passed federal stimulus bill.
The American Rescue Plan will “devote $1 trillion toward building a bridge to economic recovery for working families, including those who work for small businesses; and provide critical support to communities that are struggling in the wake of the pandemic.”
We call on the City of Los Angeles to direct a $1 billion dollar investment over the next two years towards poor and working-class families hit hardest by COVID, and develop a formula targeting 80% of the resources towards communities hardest hit by COVID. Those funds should be accountable to the people so that we see results for dollars spent.
“We applaud the confirmation of Rep. Fudge as secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD),” Marcela Howell, president and CEO of In Our Own Voice: National Black Women’s Reproductive Justice Agenda, responded in a statement. “Her appointment comes at a pivotal time when her leadership is sorely needed. The U.S. faces a severe housing crisis as millions of residents struggle to pay their rent and mortgages due to the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.”
Co-Pastor Christ Liberation Ministries, William Smart Jr., dissects the functionality of Pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), and how they negotiate on our behalf to reduce the cost and burden caused by pricey medications and they are doing this all day every day.
In observing Black History Month, National Newspaper Publishers Association President and CEO Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr., has always maintained a poetic theory: “The best way to observe Black History Month is to make more Black history,” Dr. Chavis, one of America’s prominent civil rights icons, stated.
As small businesses in America have been hit the hardest by the economic fallout of the pandemic and Black-owned businesses are shutting down twice as fast as others according to NBER, L’Oréal USA teamed up with the NAACP to identify the most promising Black-owned small businesses and entrepreneurs in the beauty industry that are most in need of investment.
The Los Angeles Department of City Planning announced that it has improved its online application system to minimize the need for people to visit its Development Services Centers in person during the COVID-19 pandemic. The online system’s recent additions include a portal for accessory dwelling unit permit clearances, wireless telecommunication facilities, and other planning applications.
David G Brown Editorial Cartoon (February 4-10)
As we approach the 55th NFL Superbowl next Sunday in Tampa, Florida amidst the continued national spread of COVID-19, I believe that the time has come for the close-knit group of team owners in the National Football League (NFL) to take the necessary steps to open the door to African American business leaders who hope to join that exclusive club of owners.
The Seattle-based company, Starbucks, has created the Starbucks Community Resilience Fund—as of January 12, 2021, the franchise has committed to invest $100 million over the next four years to support small businesses and community development projects in areas mostly populated by Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC).
Gun violence spiked across the country in 2020, the most violent year in decades. 19,000 were killed in shootings, the highest death toll in 20 years (and that does not include gun suicides). Mass shootings — defined as four or more shot in an incident — also rose drastically to over 600.
A difficult year for unemployed Californians is closing out with one more thing for them to worry about.