Community
Manhood conference focuses on mentors, power of forgiveness
WAVE NEWSPAPERS — The critical need for male mentors, the importance and power of forgiveness and how to heal from violence and sexual abuse were just a few of the topics discussed April 27 during the third annual Manhood Conference held by the nonprofit Positive Results Corporation. “Our goal is to engage men and boys to increase awareness of dating, domestic violence and sexual assault while being proactive in ways to prevent it,” said Kandee Lewis, executive director of the organization that sponsored the conference at the Douglas F. Dollarhide Community Center.
COMPTON — The critical need for male mentors, the importance and power of forgiveness and how to heal from violence and sexual abuse were just a few of the topics discussed April 27 during the third annual Manhood Conference held by the nonprofit Positive Results Corporation.
“Our goal is to engage men and boys to increase awareness of dating, domestic violence and sexual assault while being proactive in ways to prevent it,” said Kandee Lewis, executive director of the organization that sponsored the conference at the Douglas F. Dollarhide Community Center.
Boys and young men from the ages of 10 to 24 gathered for a day of talking, listening and healing.
“Big” John Harriell, the keynote speaker and the diversity manager and superintendent for Morrow Meadows, an electrical and data communications contractor, emphasized the importance of fathers. Harriell said that many boys lack a father figure to look up to.
“The absence of a father in the home can be detrimental to a young man or a woman,” he said. “Without that guidance, the children could do things that are counterproductive to themselves, their family and the community.”
Harriell, who grew up in a home filled with domestic violence, said he went down the wrong path as a youth. It was only after he did a stint in prison that he was mentored by other inmates — “father figures” who taught him how to be a provider, protector and leader.
On a Consent, Abuse and Other Conversations panel, featured speakers included community advocate Dustin Baker;Harriell, and Terry Boykins, CEO of Street Positive, a company that assists youth impacted by adverse childhood experiences. Donta Morrison, program manager at APLA Health, served as the moderator.
“How many of you young men have had a conversation about sex?’ Morrison asked the audience. Only a handful of young men raised their hands.
The panelists warned that young men who are not knowledgeable about sex could contract sexually transmitted diseases or be faced with an unwanted pregnancy.
“Please have that conversation with your parents or guardian,” Morrison urged.
Sexual abuse was also a topic of conversation.
“An adult engaging in sexual activities with a child is wrong and needs to be held accountable,” said Boykins, who added that sexual consent should occur between two adults, not with children.
Baker warned youths about predators.
“There are a lot of men who get molested by women like the babysitter,” Baker said. “Or teen boys who are seduced into sexual activity by their teachers.”
Baker shared his own experience.
“I was 15 and I was secretly struggling with my sexuality,” he said. “One day, this adult who was 30 years old and a mentor of mine leaned over and kissed me. I thought, ‘I was dirty, I was wrong.’ I was confused because my sexual identity was still being developed.”
He said he was coerced into embarking into a sexual relationship with the mentor.
“I wanted to instantly go back to being a teen, but I couldn’t,” Baker said.
Morrison confessed that he was also sexually molested at the age of 8.
“I told my father, but he called me a liar,” said Morrison, who was traumatized by the incident. “I didn’t tell anyone else about the abuse until I was 29 years old.”
Morrison added that every day, he tests young men at APLA who are stunned to find out that they are HIV-positive because they didn’t practice safe sex.
A young man raised his hand and asked, “If we’re in school and the principal touches us in a strange way, can they go to jail?”
“That’s a very good question,” said Boykins, who quietly passed the boy’s confession on to probation officers listening in the room.“Young people, if someone is touching you inappropriately, tell an adult you trust. When someone is a predator, you are probably not the first victim he has done it to.”
“Our culture says, ‘Don’t snitch,’” Baker said. “But you have to tell someone if you’ve been sexually molested because the trauma will affect you well into your 30s and 40s.”
“Remember, ‘if someone approaches you sexually, tell them ‘no’ means ‘no,” Harriell said.
The Importance of Mentorship featured Arturo Flores from the Big House,Dillon Iwo, senior field representative for U.S. Rep. Karen Bass; and Torrence Brannon Reese, CEO of F.A.M.L.I., a mentoring program for at-risk youth. The panel was moderated by Los Angeles County Fire Capt. Brent Burton.
“Where can a young person find someone to help them grow and develop?” Burton asked.
“A mentor can be anyone who can provide a level of guidance for you,” Iwo said. “Mentors can be people we aspire to be like in various aspects of our lives.”
“You can find mentors at the Boys and Girls Club or at church,” Flores said.
“It’s not hard to find people for inspiration,” said Flores. “Be tech savvy. You can find or read about mentors on Google, Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat.”
Reese added that youths can also find mentors in books.
“Books saved my life,” he said. “My mother gave me ‘The Autobiography of Malcolm X’ when I was 10 years old. He and Muhammad Ali became my mentors.”
“If you know someone you admire, be confident enough in yourself to ask them, ‘How do I make it out here?’” Iwo said. “Your mentor could be someone you are connected to spiritually or even in a book.”
“Be the best that you can be and you will attract mentors,” Reese said.
During a break, the room turned lively as the men showed the youths how to properly tie a tie — considered a definitive rite of manhood.
The third panel, Healing and Forgiveness, featured speakers Shontez Williams of Back to the Basics, gang interventionist Ben “Taco” Owens and pastor of Hope in Christ Community Church Ed Robinson.
“I am a survivor,” said Williams, who spent 17 years in prison. “I have to live on for my daughter who was killed by another female. My friends were upset. They told me, ‘Man, somebody should have her killed.’
“But I made calls from prison and told my crew not to touch the young lady or her family,” Williams said. “My healing and forgiveness came when I forgave.”
“My stepfather used to beat my mother,” said Ben Owens III, who was angered by the abuse and joined a gang at an early age. “When I got out of Los Angeles County Jail at 18, I asked myself, ‘Where was my real father when I was going through these challenges?’”
Owens tracked down his father in Alabama and found out that he was mentally disabled.
“I was holding a grudge against him for years that he didn’t have any control over,” Owens said. “I forgave him. That forgiveness changed my life.”
Robinson said that he also grew up in a home filled with domestic violence.
“My father was an alcoholic and he beat my mother. One day he approached her with a butcher knife. But at 13, I was an amateur boxer and I was ready to fight him. When he tried to beat my mother, I said, ‘No, not today.’” He stopped in his tracks.
“I forgave my father,” said Robinson, who forged a strong bond with his dad during the last three years of his life. “Not forgiving someone will destroy you physically,” Robinson said as he poured a sack of rocks on the table.
“We have a choice to release that bondage, pain and hurt or be weighed down with hate and anger for the rest of our lives,” he said, pointing to the rocks.
Sociologist Tre Watkins concluded the conference by holding a “healing circle.”
“Do your best every single day,” he urged the youths. “Repeat these words: ‘I am strong, I am powerful, I am intelligent and I am worthy.’”
“We need men to set examples for us,” said Abel, who stood up to speak. “If you see us young people going down the wrong path, show us how to go down the right one.”
This article originally appeared in the Wave Newspapers.
Community
Asm. Corey Jackson Announces Launch of 24-Hour Childcare in His District
Assemblymember Corey Jackson has secured $2 million in state funding for a proposed childcare special district in Moreno Valley and Perris. This funding aims to establish a system providing 24-hour, seven-day-a-week childcare, which would be California’s first special district focused solely on childcare. The initiative seeks to address the area’s designation as a “childcare desert” and high costs for working families. The funding will cover startup, planning, and formation costs for the district. Read more about the specifics of this groundbreaking initiative.
Assemblymember Corey Jackson (D-Moreno Valley) has secured $2 million in state funding to launch a proposed childcare special district serving families in Moreno Valley and Perris, paving the way for a system designed to provide childcare 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The Moreno Valley-Perris Childcare Special District would be the first special district in California focused specifically on childcare, according to Jackson’s office. The state funding will cover startup, planning, and formation costs and help the district meet requirements set by the Riverside Local Agency Formation Commission, or LAFCO.
The proposed district would coordinate a mixed-delivery childcare system that could include home-based and center-based care. The goal is to provide universal childcare for families who work overnight, early morning, or other nontraditional shifts.
Jackson’s office says Moreno Valley is a certified “childcare desert,” with licensed childcare spaces available for only 15% of children with working parents. Infant care in Moreno Valley averages $2,776 a month, or about 35.7% of median household income. In Perris, licensed infant care can cost more than 60% of an individual worker’s gross median earnings, according to the assemblymember’s office.
“Securing this $2 million in startup funding is a monumental victory for the working-class families of Moreno Valley and Perris who have been trapped in a childcare desert for far too long,” Jackson said.
The proposal follows Jackson’s unsuccessful effort to establish the district through Assembly Bill 2083. The legislation would have created the district as a dependent special district covering Moreno Valley, Perris and their spheres of influence, with Riverside LAFCO responsible for reviewing its formation and boundaries.
The new funding allows the district’s formation to move forward without requiring mandatory contributions from local school districts and other stakeholders, according to Jackson’s office. His spokesperson, Daniel Peeden, said Jackson hopes the district can be operating by 2028.
The proposal has faced questions from some local officials. Moreno Valley City Councilmember Ed Delgado, who is running against Jackson for the 60th Assembly District seat, said he supports affordable childcare but questioned how the proposed district would operate and how much it would ultimately cost.
“Basically, he didn’t have a plan. We didn’t see a plan,” Delgado said, adding that officials had questions about operating costs, insurance and eligibility.
“It’s going to take a lot more than $2 million to create a special district to provide affordable childcare,” Delgado said.
Delgado has suggested working with existing childcare centers to subsidize costs for local families rather than creating a new agency.
Jackson’s office says the program will lower barriers to “workforce participation” and reduce “affordability anxiety” for young families. This landmark District is poised to trigger a virtuous cycle of economic upward mobility and long-term regional prosperity in the 60th Assembly District, his office added.
Black History
IN MEMORIAM: The Rev. Leon “Sonny” Clark, Longtime Orange County Pastor and Community Leader, Dies at 72
Rev. Leon William “Sonny” Clark, the longtime pastor of New Spirit Baptist Church in Santa Ana and a prominent faith and community leader in Orange County, passed away on September 9 at the age of 72. Born in Bennettsville, South Carolina, Clark was a U.S. Navy veteran who dedicated his life to service. He served various Southern California churches before leading New Spirit Baptist Church for over 22 years, extending his work into counseling, mentoring, and civic engagement, and supporting the African American community. To learn more about his life and contributions, read more.
Rev. Leon William “Sonny” Clark, longtime pastor of New Spirit Baptist Church in Santa Ana and a respected faith and community leader in Orange County, died Sept. 9. He was 72.
Born Oct. 2, 1953, in Bennettsville, South Carolina, Clark was a U.S. Navy veteran who later built a life of service centered on family, faith, ministry, and community.
Clark began his formal ministry at Metropolitan Baptist Church in Altadena in 1978. After acknowledging his call to ministry in 1980, he preached his first sermon and went on to serve churches throughout Southern California, including Second Baptist Church in Riverside, Mount Vernon Baptist Church in Rubidoux, Antioch Missionary Baptist Church in Pomona, and Friendship Baptist Church in Yorba Linda.
In November 2003, Clark was called to lead New Spirit Baptist Church in Santa Ana, where he served as pastor for more than 22 years. His work extended beyond the pulpit through counseling, mentoring, civic engagement, and efforts to strengthen Orange County’s African American community.
Clark served on the Orange County Heritage Council and supported efforts to preserve and celebrate African American history and culture. He helped organize the Orange County Black History Parade and Unity Festival, served on the Interfaith Committee and the Orange County Transit Authority, and served as president of the Orange County Ministers Conference.
In 2024, the City of Santa Ana recognized Clark for his contributions to the community. He also received the Orange County Southern Baptist Association Hall of Faith Award and was previously honored as Pastor of the Year by the Orange County Heritage Council.
Clark is survived by his wife, Andrea Joyles Clark; six children, Shawn Williams, Le Ondra Clark Harvey, Kyla Coward, Joshua Clark, Marissa Clark and Ashley Clark; grandchildren and great-grandchildren; siblings; extended family; and the New Spirit Baptist Church congregation.
A wake will be held Thursday, Oct. 1, from 4 to 8 p.m. at New Spirit Baptist Church, 701 S. Sullivan St. in Santa Ana, with a remembrance service from 5 to 6:30 p.m.
A Celebration of Life will be held Friday, Oct. 2, at Friendship Baptist Church, 17145 Bastanchury Road in Yorba Linda. Viewing begins at noon, followed by the service at 1 p.m.
Burial will take place Monday, Oct. 5, at 10:15 a.m. at Riverside National Cemetery.
Clark often shared a guiding principle that shaped his ministry: “Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.”
Business
From Historic Memories to New Possibilities: Oakland Celebrates Coliseum 60
More than 75 people gathered at Youth UpRising in East Oakland on Friday, September 18, for Coliseum 60, an event marking six decades of sports, entertainment, employment, and community memories at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Complex. Held 60 years to the day after the Coliseum first opened, the celebration featured cultural performances and a mini-documentary highlighting its history. Speakers reflected on the venue’s significant role in the community and its future possibilities. Read more to learn about the individuals and stories honored during this special event.
More than 75 people gathered at Youth UpRising in East Oakland on Friday, Sept. 18, for Coliseum 60, a celebration honoring six decades of sports, entertainment, employment and community memories connected to the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Complex.
Held 60 years to the day after the Coliseum opened, the event carried the theme, “One Community. One Legacy. One Future. Forward Together.”
The celebration opened with the national anthem performed by sisters Anese Jade, Amina Benjamin and Zaza Benjamin. Diamano Coura West African Dance Company contributed African dance and drumming, bringing movement, rhythm and cultural expression to the program.
A mini documentary highlighted the Coliseum’s sports history and its broader role as an entertainment destination. Archival material recalled performances by Prince and Tina Turner, along with memorable games featuring the Warriors, Oakland A’s and Raiders.
“The Coliseum 60 is about much more than celebrating a building or looking back at 60 years of history,” said event organizer Quixote Atkins of VillageGIVE.
“It’s about the people who made that history possible: the families, workers, athletes, artists, community leaders, fans and generations who gathered there and created memories together.”
A panel exploring that history featured author, historian and former Black Panther Party member Tareka Lewis; stagehand and union representative Keith Brown; and Ray Bobbitt, president of the African American Sports and Entertainment Group AASEG. Lewis described her family as fourth-generation Bay Area pioneers.
“My family and Black families who arrived even earlier helped build the Bay Area, grew businesses and established culture here,” Lewis said. “This should be taught in the public schools.”
Lewis recalled Oakland’s influence on sports, music and literature, from the Raiders’ beginnings at Laney College to stars such as The Pointer Sisters and Rickey Henderson who attended Oakland public schools. She also advocated for school museums, historical timelines, entrepreneurship training and investments benefiting corridors such as Bancroft Avenue and High Street.
Keith Brown, a member of Local 107 of the International Alliance of Theater and Stage Employees (IATSE) who began working at the Coliseum in 2011, remembered the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, the Ice Capades, baseball bat giveaways and Nelson Mandela’s 1990 appearance.
“The special events are amazing, but it’s the workers that make the memories real for everyone,” Brown said. “They make the magic happen at the Coliseum.”
The program recognized longtime workers, including beer-stand manager Robert Preston, who served for 40 years, and Kenyatta Gentry, who worked as a vendor for 24 years and used her earnings to purchase her first apartment. Union workers Jose Gonzales and Carmen Sandoval were also honored. Speakers emphasized that Coliseum employment provided generations of residents with union wages and benefits.
Dr. Denise Saddler, the superintendent of the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) was also honored. Saddler shared her family’s history of working at the Coliseum.
District 7 Oakland City Councilmember Ken Houston discussed the complex ownership arrangements involving the city, county and private interests.
“This was the most complex deal of its kind in the country,” Houston said.
Prior to moving from the East Coast, Alameda County Supervisor and Coliseum Joint Powers Authority Chair Nate Miley recalled learning about Oakland through its three professional sports teams. As an elected official and public servant, Miley fought hard to keep the Golden State Warriors, Oakland As, and the Raiders, but he is hopeful for the future.
“The story is not over for the Coliseum,” Miley said. “We’re entering a new chapter.”
Bobbitt said the departure of three teams had once seemed unimaginable, but he maintained that Oakland’s future remains bright.
“Oakland is a cultural superpower worldwide,” Bobbitt said. “We’re going to write the future where we participate and drive the redevelopment.”
Bobbitt highlighted AASEG’s four-year partnership with Castlemont High School’s architecture program, which engages students in reimagining and creating redevelopment concepts for the Coliseum property. “The youth will always move us forward. They are the future.”
In closing, Atkins said, “September 18 is the celebration, but what we build together afterward is the legacy.”
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