Election

Oct 21 2010

Proposes annual $18 vehicle surcharge to fund state parks

Proposition 21, also called the “California State Parks Initiative,” will change the way California’s state parks and wildlife conservation efforts are funded.

A “yes” vote on Prop. 21 means that an $18 annual surcharge will be added to the cost of vehicle registrations. The new revenue will help fund state park and wildlife conservation programs.

Aubry Stone  |   OW Guest Columnist
Oct 21 2010

Minorities need the clean jobs

Proposition 23, the ballot measure that would suspend California’s progress toward a clean-energy economy, would be very bad news for California’s low-income and minority communities. It would stifle job growth, an effect especially harsh in minority communities, where unemployment is among the state’s highest. It would also stymie efforts to clean up some of the state’s most toxic facilities, areas where a disproportionate number of California’s minorities live.

Oct 21 2010

Los Angeles’ preeminent African American voter empowerment organization, the African American Voter Registration, Education and Participation (AAVREP) project, kicked off their general election campaign three weeks ago with a goal of registering 10,000 new voters.

This week, as the deadline for new voter registration ended, they had exceed that goal by 1,150 people.

Oct 21 2010

Associated with hate groups, research says

Statement by: Ms. Alice Huffman, president National Association for the Advancement of Color People California State Conference

We are here today to share with the public a report prepared and released by the Institute for Research & Education on Human Rights, which details various associations between Tea Party organizations and acknowledged hate groups in the United States.

Oct 21 2010

Gavin Newsom, Abel Maldonado

California’s Lieutenant Governor is decidedly less glamorous than the more prominent posts of governor or senator, but the holder of this office has the distinction of being a heartbeat away from the governorship, while earning a $160,000 annual salary. The current election for this post pits San Francisco mayor and tarnished Democratic golden boy Gavin Newsom against lesser-known Republican incumbent Abel Maldonado, who personifies “El /sueño/ Americano"- the Latin version of the American Dream.

Across Black America

Here’s a look at African American people and issues making headlines throughout the country.

California
San Diego college students and volunteers will carry out their sixth home restoration project on Wednesday, July 10 through Sunday, July 14. as part of the “Healing our Heroes’ Homes” (H3) program created by the nonprofit Embrace. The five-day effort will take place at the home of medically retired Marine Corps Capt. Sarah Bettencourt. Bettencourt served with many different units across the country during the Global War on Terrorism and developed a rare neurological disorder in 2008. With a focus to restore the homes of disabled veteran homeowners, H3 falls in line with Embrace’s mission to mobilize college-student volunteers and community members to serve less fortunate members of civilian and veteran communities. The project for the Bettencourts’ home includes kitchen and bathroom remodeling, building ADA-compliant disability ramps, widening their driveway to ADA standards, widening doorways and landscaping.
 
District of Columbia
The 2013 Smithsonian Folklife Festival will showcase its five-year community research project on African American identity with the program “The Will to Adorn: African American Diversity, Style, and Identity.” This multicity collaboration examines the history and culture of the aesthetics of African Americans. The festival will be held June 26-30 and July 3-7, outdoors on the National Mall between Seventh and 14th streets. “Whether we realize it or not, we are all dress artists. The way we compose our look is a creative expression of our ideas about who we are and who we aspire to be,” said Diana N’Diaye, program curator. “This program explores the diversity of African American traditions of style, but also teaches young people the importance of documenting their own culture and saving that information for themselves and future generations.”