Rookie Pittsburgh Steelers running back Najee Harris, who was born in Martinez and attended high school in the East Bay town of Antioch, came home last week to join Gov. Newsom in Santa Clara as he announced his efforts to address the state’s ongoing homelessness crisis and a new COVID-19-related rental relief program. ... read more »

Bonta said the new Bureau of Racial Justice, which will be housed under the Civil Rights Enforcement Section, will also support the California task force that the state has charged with studying the impact of slavery and Jim Crow and coming up with reparations recommendations for Blacks in California and around the country. ... read more »

Jerri was an award-winning journalist who from 1969 to 1979 hosted community-based television shows in the Bay Area on KEMO; KBHK; KGO; and KQED, where she became the first black woman to host a national talk show, Turnabout, and where she served on the Board. ... read more »

At the United States Park Police, Chief Pamela Smith will lead a 560-member workforce that protects the public, parks, and the nation’s most iconic landmarks in Washington, D.C., New York City, and San Francisco metropolitan areas. ... read more »

On Friday, Feb. 5, the United States Supreme Court voted 6-3 in favor of allowing California churches to reopen their doors to worshippers. The ruling, which lifted the state’s ban on indoor, in-person church services, went into effect this weekend. ... read more »

Malia M. Cohen, the only African American member of the California Board of Equalization (BOE), has some critical concerns about the cost homeowners will have to bear because of Proposition 19, a constitutional amendment that took effect on Dec. 16, 2020. ... read more »

The California Department of Justice (DOJ) launched the investigation responding to allegations of excessive force, retaliation, and other misconduct, including a number of reported incidents involving LASD management and personnel. ... read more »

In the midst of the holidays, as Christmas decorations go up, so does the rate of COVID-19 infections. L.A County health officials are seeing their early holiday predications coming to light after Thanksgiving, as many visited with others outside their residences. The result has sent L.A. County into stricter Stay-At- Home order guidelines. ... read more »

Madam Vice-President Kamala Harris is a living legend, her election marked a new day during a colossal shift in social awareness. As the first Black and South Asian woman to be listed on a major political ballot and the first woman to hold a seat as vice president, she has created a new wave of thought and possibility. It will continue to grow for women, as an increase in young girls will strive to be on that level of power. Delivering her candidacy on the day Martin Luther King Jr. declared a universal dream, more diversity will be a new normal as the whole world is changing into that vision.  ... read more »

The legal push-and-pull over whether ride-hailing company drivers in California will maintain their status as independent contractors or become W-2 employees continued last week.  On Oct. 22, the First District Court of Appeal in San Francisco upheld the injunction issued against Uber and Lyft last August that those companies’ app-based drivers are employees.  ... read more »

The program, which began accepting applications on Sept. 14, will be administered with long-standing partner APIA Scholars to students entering college and current college undergraduates for the Spring 2021 semester. The financial aid will be able to help cover costs of education like books, computers, materials to support distance learning, tuition, and housing. ... read more »

About 41 weeks into her pregnancy now, California Board of Equalization (BOE) member Malia Cohen, who is the state’s only African American woman constitutional officer, is preparing to give birth on Sept. 3. ... read more »

Ahead of the November election, the Opportunity for All Coalition has begun its “Yes on Proposition 16” campaign. To kick off the drive, the group held a virtual press conference on Zoom July 14 featuring lawmakers, advocates and activists.  ... read more »

On the June 28 broadcast of the 2020 BET Awards, the network included Brown’s image and name in a video montage of famous African Americans who have died within the last year. The tribute included Diahann Carroll, Bill Withers, the Rev. Joseph Lowery, Pernell Whitaker and others.   ... read more »

The state of California  started recognizing Juneteenth or Black “Freedom Day,” marking the emancipation of enslaved African Americans, back in 2003 as an official state observance. That was 17 years before Juneteenth became a household word across the United States this year.  ... read more »