By Dianne Anderson Grades for Black students in Math and English fared far worse during the pandemic than all other groups of students, a systemic failure that is providing a teachable moment for educators at Long Beach Unified School District. Frustrated Black parents and advocates turned out to the last LBUSD board of education meeting ...

By Edward Henderson California Black Media If you follow social media or if when you’re out in public and count the number of masks being worn, you might conclude that the COVID-19 pandemic is over. People have resumed posting pictures of their summer vacations and family gatherings. Fourth of July celebrations and fireworks shows entertained ...

By Dianne Anderson In a perfect world with her perfect five-star customer ratings, Deanna Margarith’s video arcade should have had standing room only. Her virtual reality family center was drawing the little kids, the bigger kids and adults all to the same space for high-quality fun and games. Margarith, a local Black business owner, was ...

By Charlene Muhammad California Black Media The Covid-19 pandemic is taking a heavy toll on the health, finances, and mobility of people around the world, affecting almost everyone on the planet. Youth, in particular, have been experiencing an uptick in mental health cases, including depression, in a trend U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy is calling ...

By Charlene Crowell An estimated 3.5 million renters face the likelihood of eviction over the next two months – despite the availability of $46 billion in emergency rental assistance (ERA) allocated by Congress. The crux of this looming crisis is the uneven local response to providing authorized assistance to both renters and landlords. And the ...

By Charlene Crowell Each year Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies (JCHS) publishes a comprehensive report on the nation’s challenges and prospects in one of life’s most basic needs. This year, its State of the Nation’s Housing 2021assesses the rippling financial effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, while also warning that despite substantial federal government ...

By Aldon Thomas Stiles California Black Media As more Californians get vaccinated and new COVID-19 cases are on the decline, there’s an argument to be made that the state has rounded the corner from the worst stages of the global crisis. As of June 6, 53.1% of Californians had been vaccinated and there were 757 ...

By Stacy M. Brown NNPA Newswire Sr Nat’l Correspondent For Walter Coleman, an independent contractor in Washington, D.C., Samantha Robles, a hairstylist in Bethesda, Maryland, and Robin Pruitt, a loan officer who also lives in Bethesda, the coronavirus pandemic not only resulted in close calls, but the financial fallout may lead to bankruptcy. Each says ...

From “Vaccines to Vaccinations” By Steven Vargas California Black Media COVID-19 hospitalizations are starting to decrease in California, but that decline does not mean the pandemic is over, state health officials warn. The number of cases in California dropped by 31% over 14 days leading up to Jan. 22, according to the New York Times ...

“Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health is the most shocking and inhuman.” — Martin Luther King Jr.   Three African American health leaders — advocates for expanded health care who are on the frontlines of the battle against COVID-19 raging across California — took a moment to reflect on the state of ...