Student Trustee Richard Blackmon and Student Assistant from Student Life at Long Beach City College Oshin Tudayan hosted an event on February 25th during a virtual Zoom event with guest speaker Kirk Kirkwood.
The event was held as part of LBCC’s Black Heritage month’s list of events. The main topics discussed were race, identity, and culture.
The event opened up with a sacred libation ceremony, led by Kirkwood who is the Southern California Regional Director of the CalStateTEACH program.
“An African proverb teaches us that people who lack the knowledge of their past are like a tree without its roots. Like a story is a tradition of pouring a drink, offering to a plant to honor our creator,” said Kirkwood during the libation ceremony.
The event was then followed by discussions on the definitions of race, ethnicity, culture, identity and had the audience share their personal experiences and thoughts in each of the topics.
Blackmon said, “I think that considering that there is social injustice, in order to educate students in this so they can educate others and keep the conversation going.” This was in reference to why it is important to have these conversations.
“Social awareness is important.” said Blackmon.
“I find that we have taken so much media, especially during this time, and you see a lot of celebrities incorporate black culture. It is becoming more prevalent and people need to learn to not appropriate the culture so much,” Oshin said.
Shathana Coleman who attended the event said, “I always bring people into my world. I have to make them see how I see things. I have to help them not look at me as what they think a black person is.”
The event also had two guest performances from student, Nzingha Bryan and an alumni. They both recited poems that express their own feelings of being black women.
The event ended with open discussions for anyone to share their personal experiences.
There are more resources that students have access too in the link below:
As Covid-19 cases start to decline in California, schools in Long Beach are beginning to get ready to reopen to in-person learning.
According to the Long Beach Unified School District, schools are projected to reopen on March 29th with K-5 grade starting and Middle school and High school following in mid April. According to the board meeting that has taken place on Wednesday, February 17th.
“Schools have started preparing for the return of students and the new protocols,” said Superintendent Jill Baker.
With schools set to reopen soon in the future, some parents have mixed feelings about their children going back into the classroom.
Joanne Freely-Waugh, a mother of two girls shared her thoughts on her kids going back to school, “. . .Excited and nervous. Nervous because they haven’t been back in a classroom in so long so I am afraid they may have fallen behind in learning.”
Waugh said, “I’m hoping the numbers will continue to go down and the school, parents, and students follow health guidelines the best way they can.”
Another parent, Liz Varela, has two sons and has more concerns for them to return to school,
“I feel okay with my older child going back to school since he can follow protocol, but my youngest might not keep his mask on or wash his hands properly. I have a fear of him not following protocol.”
However, Waugh says her daughters are ready to go back to school, “They are ecstatic. They need the social skills to be mentally healthy.”
With schools opening up during the pandemic, there will be new safety protocols being put in place.
Principal Veronica Madrigal, of Grant elementary school said, “Classes will be downsized to 14-18 students per classroom, there will be weekly covid testing for students and school staff, no parents will be on campus at any time, students will be given a weekly questionnaire, some students might be put in to a AM/PM schedule with first group starting at 8AM, and the second group will start at 12PM.”
While going back to school in-person will look different than it did a year ago, it is the beginning of going back to in-person learning.
On Monday, February 22, LBCC’s Active Minds Club President Camesha Maxwell and ASB Representative of Student Services Kyra Childress, spoke with Los Angeles County Supervisor Holly J. Mitchell during a Facebook live event.
Mitchell spoke about her experience as an African American woman in politics, leadership, and the disproportionate effects of COVID-19 on communities of color.
Mitchell has previously served in the California State Assembly and the California State Senate. Currently, she is a representative for California’s District 2 on the Los Angeles Board of Supervisors.
Mitchell was able to gain an understanding of the importance of leadership while serving as CEO of Crystal Stairs, a non-profit child care organization based in Los Angeles. “It was there that I really understood and began to try to find my own leadership style,” Mitchell said.
Mitchell has many people who have guided her on her journey to County Supervisor. One in particular is Diane Watson, the first African American woman to be elected to the California State Senate, whom she worked for.
“I could not have asked for a better boss. (Watson) just opened doors for me and created opportunities for me. .. She took me under her wing and exposed me to the Democratic Party,” Mitchell said.
Mitchell was also greatly inspired by N.O.B.E.L Women (National Organization of Black Elected Legislative Women). The group’s members are Black women serving in U.S. legislative offices. “It was the women of N.O.B.E.L who showed me the courage it took to be a Black woman in public office in this country,” Mitchell said.
During Mitchell’s time as California state senator, she introduced The CROWN Act (Creating a Respectful and Open Workplace for Natural Hair).
The Crown Act was signed into California law on July 3, 2019, and prohibits discrimination based on hairstyles and hair texture (including braids, locs, and twists).
Mitchell was very proud to carry the bill and said, “I thought it was a great opportunity for me, as a living example of a woman who has worn her hair natural and in protective styles, to showcase to the world that the way I choose to wear my hair has no bearing on the quality of my work.”
Mitchell was featured in O Magazine because of her leadership role in passing the CROWN Act.
The law is now in seven U.S. states across the country.
“I am proud that (the CROWN Act) is one piece of the body of work that’s been done to really give us a sense of cultural pride and protection under the law,” Mitchell said.
During the interview, Mitchell also addressed the current COVID-19 pandemic and the disproportionate effects it has had on communities of color in Los Angeles county.
Many communities of color are densely populated, making it impossible for some to socially isolate from others in their households. “Economics, housing policies, and the conditions in which we live as a people have continued to impact the frequency of which we get this virus, more so than our white counterparts” Mitchell said.
Mitchell also states that people of color are at a great risk because many of them are essential workers who have not had the luxury to stay home amidst the pandemic. “It’s Black and brown people who are on the front line in many of these industries…That is why I think we’ve been disproportionately impacted by the virus,” she said.
Mitchell said that she and other community leaders are working overtime to ensure that COVID-19 vaccines are made available to Los Angeles County residents, especially those living in vulnerable communities.
Mitchell, during the live, raised the issue of the underrepresentation currently occurring in United States political offices. “Right now there are no Black women in the California State Senate and in our U.S. Senate…Our voice is missing. That’s a problem,” Mitchell said.
She urges women interested in positions of leadership to not be afraid of bringing their valuable life experience to the table. These experiences, according to Mitchell, allows for the leadership body to be a true reflection of the people.
Maxwell and Childress both believe that it is important for Black women to be represented in leadership and political roles. “It encourages the younger generation and lets them know that they can do it as well,” Maxwell said.
“It helps me, as a student, see myself in those types of leadership roles and I learned the importance of knowing that I deserve a place at the table,” Childress said. A recorded version of this event can be found here.
The Art Theatre of Long Beach, located at 2025 E. 4th St., has found new ways of staying active since closing its doors in March of 2020.
Before the pandemic, the theatre was full of one of a kind events such as movie director Q&A, Oscar viewing parties, and Rocky Horror Picture Show.
Art Theatre volunteers and employees are eager to open up once again, but reopening seems a little far down the road. For the meantime, the Art Theatre has come up with ways to continue to provide entertainment for the Long Beach community.
For starters, the theatre has moved its in person movie streaming to online movie streaming.
Movie-goers can now buy their movie tickets on the Art Theatre’s website and stream movies in the comfort of their own homes.
“Customers can buy movie tickets online and are good to watch for two days” says Karen L. Chinn, the Art Theatres board of directors.
Art Theatre board president Jan van Dijs said, “Although the Art Theatre has moved to online streaming, it is difficult because of other streaming services such as Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime. It’s better than nothing”.
In addition to buying movie tickets and online movie streaming; customers can also show support by buying a seat, joining their membership program, signing up for their newsletter, and giving monetary donations. More information can be found on the Art Theatre’s website at https://arttheatrelongbeach.org
Philip Williams, an Art Theatre Volunteer, says “Ever since the pandemic began, I have become more involved in the theatre. We have started fundraisers such as our curbside concessions. There are plenty of other ways to support the Art Theatre just look at our website.”
Although moving to online streaming services and closing its doors have been difficult, the theatre remains hopeful that its doors will soon be open once again.
Recently, the Art Theatre started a new service where customers can show their support by pre-ordering their concessions and do curbside pickup.
The theatre began as a silent movie theatre in the 1920’s, along with other independent cinemas. Overtime, it has become the last remaining independent cinema in Long Beach.
For more information on when Curbside Concession events are to take place, please visit their facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/arttheatre
Long Beach City College announced yesterday in an email to all students and faculty from The Board of Trustees President, Uduak Joe-Ntuk, that Mike Muñoz, currently the Vice President of Student Services, will take over as Superintendent-President as of March 14, 2021.
Current Superintendent-President, Lou Ann Bynum, did not come to a mutual agreement with the Board of Trustees regarding the extension of her contract, which is set to expire on March 13, 2021.
At today’s special Board of Trustees meeting, two interim appointments will be made. The first is naming Muñoz as the new LBCCD Interim Superintendent-President. His start date will be March 14, 2021 and his contract ends on June 30, 2021.
The second appointment is naming Student Support Services Dr. Nohel Corral as the Interim Vice President of Student Services. His contract will end on June 30, 2021.
“Dr. Muñoz has been instrumental in our work so far in advancing racial equity work at the College as Co-Chair of the President’s Taskforce on Race & Equity, and serves as the lead Administrator for the College’s Framework for Reconciliation. His team has taken the lead on increasing representation and celebrating our diverse campus community through programming including LBCC’s Heritage Month events and the Preferred Name policy,” said Ntuk in the announcement email.
Lastly, the Board of Trustees has decided to suspend the permanent Superintendent-President search for now and will resume next year. Ntuk said, “We want to ensure that we have enough time to find the absolute best final candidate for Long Beach City College. Because that’s what you, our students, faculty, classified and managers, all deserve — the best.”
A $29 million rent relief program is expected to launch in the city of Long Beach in the coming months as residents continue to struggle financially in the midst of the pandemic.
Many Long Beach residents including Long Beach City College student Akira Starks, were fired from their jobs last March and have relied on unemployment checks or other government funded financial relief programs to survive.
Though the intent of the federal aid is to assist with monthly costs, Starks claims that it is not enough to sustain all of her monthly bills.
“I have to pay rent, a car bill, tuition, loans, utilities. It’s very hard to do that with the money I get right now from unemployment. I’m like two months behind on rent and most people in my complex are in the same situation.” Starks said.
The program’s main purpose is to help eligible residents who are suffering from economic hardships due to COVID-19 catch up on rental payments as well as utility bills and other household costs.
Lower income families, or those who make 50% or less of the Long Beach median income, will have priority.
Additionally, there are many qualifications families must meet before receiving any aid.
These qualifications include being a Long Beach resident, annual income cannot exceed U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development established income limits, households must have been economically impacted, are currently renting and are not receiving any other forms of financial assistance.
Still, Starks believes the program has the potential to help thousands of residents.
“Just being able to have my rent covered while I can worry about catching up on car payments and all that would be such a huge help… Imagine how much this can help parents with making sure their kids are fed. This would be a huge help for students too.” Starks said.
Although COVID-19 cases are steadily decreasing around the nation due to public access to vaccinations, the consequences of it will still be prevalent. According to Tyler Curley, the manager of government affairs and head of the CARES Act in Long Beach, rent relief packages will still be needed well into the future.
“There will be a 2 to 5 billion dollar [relief fund] by the end of the month.” Curley claimed.
With stay at home orders slowly being uplifted, Curley adds that, “We could have used it much earlier, but it’s important to be able to have emergency assistance.” To apply for the LB CARES Program, applications can be picked up at the Long Beach City Hall or email LBCares@longbeach.gov for an online application.
As California sees a decline in COVID-19 cases, Governor Gavin Newsom signed a $7.6 billion COVID-19 relief package on February 23.
The relief package includes a $600 stimulus check for low income Californians and assists businesses with billions of dollars in aid.
Small businesses of California were granted more than $2 billion in aid while restaurants and hair salons will be waived from $25.6 million of fees.
A small business that feels like the aid isn’t necessary is Long Beach independent record store, Dex Records, located off 7th St and Mira Mar Ave. Store owner, Justin “Dex” Dexter, feels like the recent success of his business has been better than before operating during the pandemic.
“The business has been better than the pre-pandemic so I’m fortunate. A lot of people are stuck at home so [record shopping] gives them something to do.” said Dex.
According to AP News, businesses with annual revenues between $1,000 and $2.5 million are eligible for the money.
Dex continued, “I only have one other employee here, so I don’t even know if I would’ve gotten the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) Loan. Fortunately I’ve been able to avoid taking any aid like that.”
According to Fred Beebe, a business administrations and economics professor at Long Beach City College, the aid provided for smaller businesses is essential for getting the state back up and running.
Professor Beebe said, “While most of the GDP of California comes from big corporations, we have way more smaller businesses.”
“We can see that businesses have closed down and everybody knows somebody who lost their job at a bar or restaurant, so that type of aid is critically important.” the professor added.
Critical of how governor Newsom has handled the state during the pandemic, LBCC general business professor, Nick Carbonaro, compares the management of California to other states in regards to the country getting back on its feet.
The professor said, “How much more do we stay locked down? At this point I just feel like the California government is trying to get out money so they can stay close due to their constituencies that support governor Newsom.”
A 33 minute YouTube video of Newsom speaking more about the package can be found here.
The Kroger Co. has decided to close down Long Beach’s Food 4 Less and Ralph’s on April 17th, after the City of Long Beach announced it’s Hero Pay Mandate.
This mandate requires grocery stores in Long Beach to pay their employees an extra $4 an hour.
The Food 4 Less store that is being closed is on 2185 E. South St. and the Ralphs store that is closing is at 3380 N. Los Coyotes Diagonal.
Cities like Long Beach, Santa Monica and Seattle are exploring a new approach for how cities and counties can address the needs of frontline essential workers.
Although the Kroger Co. has provided assistance to their employees in the past, the decision to close down two of their local grocery stores was unexpected.
According to an LBCC Economics Professor, “The companies’ goals are to maximize their profits and businesses. Food 4 Less and Walmart do this by keeping their labor costs low.”
The end result of the Hero Pay Mandate has pushed Kroger Co. to close down these stores.
Kroger decided to close the Ralphs located off of Los Coyotes Diagonal due to the newly announced hero pay mandate. Photo by David Gonzales.
According to the Brookings Institution report, Kroger ended it’s $2 per hour “hero pay” in mid-May.
The report also states, “Walmart, Kroger, and Albertsons. Together, the three companies earned an additional$6.8 billion in profit in the first three quarters of 2020 compared to 2019—an average increase of 98%. Meanwhile, the extra hazard pay these companies provided their workers averaged just $0.76 per hour through the end of 2020—well below the average hazard pay of $1.19 per hour across the 13 companies in our analysis…”
“It just seems unfair for Kroger to have suspended the hero pay so long ago when in the meantime they’ve doubled their profits,” said LBCC student and regular Food 4 Less customer, Emileth Abadiano.
Hero pay is one way that employers can acknowledge their workers’ sacrifices and honor their essential value as well as having them compensated for it.
Emileth continued, “I guess it just sucks that it’s the front line workers and the people in our community who end up suffering in this battle between Kroger and the city.”
Recent UCLA school of law graduate Omarr Rambert spoke with Mike Muñoz, VP of Student Services, and Uduak-Joe Ntuk, President of the Board of Trustees. During a Facebook live event on Wednesday, February 17th, Rambert spoke about Black identity, his career path in law, and Black representation in law.
Rambert and his mother, April Daniels, went viral when he posted an Instagram video showing his reaction as he checks for the results of his California bar exam. As he sees that he passed, his mother jumps and screams with excitement.
Rambert said that the journey to that moment of joy was long and required him to overcome multiple challenges. He was a first generation, young, Black student who struggled to navigate his way through predominantly white institutions.
Rambert knew he wanted to pursue a career in law since the 5th grade. His late stepfather was a professional songwriter, which led Omarr to become fascinated with the entertainment industry from a very young age.
As a first generation student, he did not know any mentors to provide him with advice, tips, or opportunities in the field he wished to go into. “It was just a matter of going out on my own, meeting people at this networking event, and making those connections,” Rambert said.
During his final year of law school, Rambert was faced with the death of his stepfather, who was an influential figure in his life. Rambert was in the midst of studying for final exams and experiencing his last year at UCLA when he had to quickly fly back home to North Carolina to attend his stepfather’s memorial.
After his stepfather’s passing, he found comfort in his Christian faith, family, and the process of publishing one of his passion projects. Rambert completed a paper in one of his courses shortly before his father’s passing.
“The paper focused on the intersection of race, the child support and welfare system, and fatherlessness – particularly the notion of the absent Black father,” Rambert said during the Facebook live. The paper was published at the notorious UCLA Law Journal after his stepfather’s death.
Rambert continued to persevere on becoming an attorney after his loss. “Not only is graduating law school, passing the Bar and becoming an attorney something for myself – but it is something for (my stepfather),” he stated.
Rambert, when asked who his Black heritage role model was, said: “It’s 100% my stepfather. From a young age he taught me not only what it means to be a man, but what it means to be a Black man in America”.
Rambert is part of the only 4% of attorneys in California that are Black. A statistic that exemplifies the lack of diversity in the current legal system. Rambert recalls red flags being raised dating all the way back to his first day of law school at UCLA.
During orientation, the Dean “pointed out the great diversity numbers that UCLA had. I think she said our class was 40% people of color,” Rambert said. “But then I looked around and there were only about 10 Black students in a class of 300.”
As he continued through law school, Rambert was able to pinpoint the problem. “It really is a pipeline issue,” he said. A lack of Black law students means a lack of law firms recruiting Black people for positions and “it becomes a continuous cycle.”
Underrepresentation of Black individuals in law is a crucial issue to Rambert. But change is only possible through unity. The support from allies who aren’t people of color is critical in making a positive change for those who are.
“It boils down to sharing resources,” said Rambert. “Time, mentorship, or even as little as outlines for a class.”
Rambert encourages those interested in pursuing a career in law to begin the process of preparation as early as they possibly can. “You can never start too early in terms of thinking about what you want your college experience to look like and when it comes to the resume you’re crafting,” he said.
Muñoz believes that having conversations about the lack of representation of people of color in certain career fields, such as entertainment law, is important.“When you look at the numbers, Black, Latinx, and Pacific Islander folks are underrepresented in these spaces,”Muñoz stated.
Muñoz assures that Long Beach City College will continue to host Facebook live conversations with inspirational figures amidst the pandemic.
“There is a lot of power in our personal narratives,” Muñoz said. He believes inviting these inspirational individuals, such as Omarr Rambert, to share their stories through an event gives students encouragement, especially if they are experiencing self doubt.
If you would like to know more about Rambert, you can check him out on Instagram @weirdovision. He is currently an Associate at Ballard Spahr LLP.
A replay of the Facebook live event can be found here.
Long Beach City College baseball head coach Casey Crook has learned that recruiting has become more time consuming over the years. In past years, recruiting wouldn’t begin until April, whereas now recruiting is year round.
Crook and his coaching staff’s goal when they recruit is, “to find players that can develop in our system, transfer and play at four-year colleges and compete as a team for championships for LBCC, conference championships and state championships.”
Said Crook, “We also like to give a few underdogs an opportunity along the way.”
The interim athletic director Bill Husak said, “it’s very competitive among schools for players in this area. And I trust Coach Crook and his coaching staff to talk to a lot of good players to ultimately create a competitive roster.”
Crook believes that, “education is the key to success beyond playing baseball,” he tells the players he recruits that “education takes you further in life than the game or the sport of baseball.”
“In baseball if you work hard to do everything every coach or scout tells you (to) do, there’s less than a one percent chance that you will make a living playing baseball. I tell recruits that if they work hard to do everything every teacher or counselor tells them to do, there is almost a one hundred percent chance they will earn a degree that will help them make a living,” said Crook.
When asked about recruiting during the pandemic, Crook said, “I think my assistant coaches and I did a good job last spring and summer.”
Cook said that there is “excellent new talent in the program.”
Cook also said that there is a big roster right now because many sophomores took advantage of the extra year granted to spring sport athletes that had their season stop early because of the lockdowns.
“It’s disappointing that we haven’t been able to work with any of the athletes on the field or really get to know the new players,” said Cook.
The Vikings Baseball team currently has a large roster due to many sophomores taking advantage of the extra year granted due to the lockdowns in the middle of the season, ultimately causing the season to stop early.
“It’s disappointing that we haven’t been able to work with any of the athletes on the field or really get to know the new players,” said Cook.
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