By Dianne Anderson Juneteenth events are buzzing everywhere this year, almost one on every corner, but Trudy Coleman remembers when her Pomona Valley event was the only option for miles and miles around. Until about the mid-1990s, for the most part it was a little-known celebration, except for its Texas roots. She and her colleague ...

By Dianne Anderson Kids picking fights and bringing knives to school has parent Makeda Kumasi worried over what is being done lately to keep classes under control. Her daughter came home having watched a fight break out at a San Bernardino middle school. Rumor had it that a white girl was dating a Mexican boy, ...

By Dianne Anderson Not for lack of talent, the inland empire never had a gallery where Black artists could gather to exhibit their works, bask in their creativity, or otherwise have a place to call home – until now. In the works, the Charles A. Bibbs African American Museum & Cultural Center will serve to ...

By Dianne Anderson Most doors were shut tight when Dr. Lulamae Clemons and Jennifer Vaughn-Blakely first started their activism, but it never stopped the two iconic leaders from many decades of paving the way for social change. Dr. Lulamae Clemons and Ms. Vaughn Blakely, will be remembered – if not unmatched – in future generations. ...

By Dianne Anderson Living in perpetual crisis mode from one traffic stop to the next, and other killings of innocent Black men, is taking a toll. The most recent data available from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health Resource Center showed suicide as the second leading cause of death ...

By Dianne Anderson Dr. Regina Patton Snell didn’t attend the recent Riverside Unified School Board meeting as the local branch NAACP president, but more so as a parent and a grandparent concerned how long a recently suspended high school math teacher has been denigrating Native Americans, or other students of color. At issue, Candice Reed’s ...

By Dianne Anderson Some 40% of Black businesses have crashed over the last nearly two years of the COVID shutdown, while some owners have managed to soar to new heights. Pepi Jackson knows that it’s not luck. It’s access to money and strategy. While many businesses have gone under, he said others have managed to ...

By Dianne Anderson A lot of people don’t know about the backstory of Santa Ana and how much it had in common with Texas. But growing up, it was obvious to David Shipp. He said Santa Ana looked very different than it does today. There were a lot of Black folks. “Not 100%, but all ...

By Dianne Anderson Ballots are dropping by the thousands this week in Riverside, picking up speed ahead of the June 8 Election. Both Black City Council candidates are pressing forward for their constituents, concerned about cleaning up city pollution, getting folks into housing, addressing traffic and safety, and strengthening revenue streams for future projects. Anthony ...

By Dianne Anderson All around, the panoramic impact of the pandemic stretches into every area of life, with higher unemployment hitting poor communities of color hardest, increasing the worst kinds of desperation and profiteering. While the actual numbers are hard to nail down, the U.S. National Human Trafficking Hotline reports that it handled situations involving ...