Community

A Tragic Death, Health Fears Add to Concern Over California New Extreme-Heat Reality

A Riverside County family is grieving — and a local community is stunned — after a 12-year-old boy suffered a fatal medical emergency during an excessive heat wave last week in Lake Elsinore.

Published

3 years ago

October 10, 2023

Oakland Post

Middle School Student Yahushua Robinson collapsed and became unresponsive during PE activities as a heatwave hit Southern California. Courtesy photo.

By Mark Hedin, Lila Brown and Edward Henderson

A Riverside County family is grieving — and a local community is stunned — after a 12-year-old boy suffered a fatal medical emergency during an excessive heat wave last week in Lake Elsinore.

On Aug. 29, Yahushua Robinson, a student at Lake Canyon Middle School, allegedly did not “dress out” appropriately for gym class and was consequently punished by running laps in his street clothes.

His aunt told NBC4 Los Angeles that he was denied a water break by his physical education teacher. His classmates reported that Robinson repeatedly complained of difficulty breathing before collapsing and becoming unresponsive.

Despite the efforts of medical professionals, Robinson was pronounced dead at Loma Linda University Medical Center-Murrieta.

The coroner’s report attributed Robinson’s death to cardiac arrest.

On the day of the incident, temperatures reached a high of 106° F. The California Department of Education advises schools throughout the state to assess whether outdoor activities, such as physical education and sports, should continue under such conditions.

However, it is still being investigated whether the proper protocol was followed. At 11 a.m., Riverside County Sheriff’s deputies were called to the school.

“Our hearts are with the family, friends, and our school community,” said Lake Canyon Middle School Principal Gil Rodriquez.

The family has since started a GoFundMe page (https://www.gofundme.com/f/yahshua-yaya-robinson) to raise money for funeral costs and other related expenses for the child they affectionately called “YaYa.”

Yahushua Robinson

Around the state, there is a growing concern among Black Californians about how extreme heat could affect elderly family members, impact skin care and exacerbate other health concerns.

Authorities have warned that sweltering temperatures will now be a part of life in the Golden State.

Worldwide, July was the hottest month on record, and the California Governor’s office reports that 2023 is “shaping up” to be the hottest year on record.

During an Aug. 29 press briefing hosted by Ethnic Media Services (EMS) and California’s Office of Community Partnerships and Strategic Communications, speakers discussed what’s changed and what can be done to adapt to this new reality.

“These are not your grandmothers’ heat waves,” said Braden Kay, Extreme Heat and Community Resilience Program manager for California’s Governor’s Office of Planning and Research.

“We have a critical need to support behavior change and mind-shift for a lot of people who feel their bodies should just be able to handle the heat, but are not,” Kay continued. “Not just today, not just this summer, not just next summer, but for decades to come.”

According to Kay, “Extreme heat is a climate risk that all 58 counties in California will face,” noting that 90-degree weather now sometimes occurs as early as March and as late as November.

Sara Gardner, a massage therapist in San Diego, said skin care is extremely important during heat waves and everyone should wear sunscreen to protect their skin from dangerous sun rays.

“When it’s hot and dry out, I’ve have found exfoliating and moisturizer to be a must every day. I like to use ice each morning directly on my skin to help close my pores which helps me make sure I don’t let out as much sweat and buildup throughout the day. I also like to lock in my moisture with a cream, typically something with Vitamin C.

Experts who participated in the EMS news briefing said Black Californians, Indigenous communities and other people of color are the most affected by health disparities worsened by extreme heat and are at a higher risk of heat-related deaths.

“As doctors, perhaps one of the most useful things we can do is educate the public,” said Sharon Okonkwo-Holmes, a doctor of family medicine at Kaiser Permanente Southern California.

“Older adults in general don’t feel as thirsty, but I’m telling them, ‘Stay on top of your hydration. Add lime, lemon, cucumber, whatever’s necessary to make you have an incentive for drinking.’”

To combat the extreme heat, California is making historic investments in climate action and public awareness. The state has launched a website at heatreadyca.com.

“It is an “all-of-state-government approach” to the challenge, Kay said. The site offers a new grant program to support awareness campaigns and add trees and shade infrastructure.

Last week, the Governor’s Office of Emergency of Emergency Services (CalOES) released a number of online toolkits (in 12 languages) to inform state residents about extreme heat and natural disasters.

Symptoms of heat exhaustion include feeling fatigued and tired, said Okonkwo-Holmes. Swelling in the lower extremities and high blood pressure are other signs.

“We really need our bodies to stay cool, 96-99 degrees. If we’re not listening to those warning systems, we can get seizures and death,” Okonkwo-Holmes added.

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Business

How Oakland’s Courtsmith is Scaling its Business and Local Impact

OAKLAND POST — “As Courtsmith grew, scaling wasn’t just about selling more—it was about building the infrastructure to deliver consistently, with a strong supply chain and production process,” said Courtney Smith, founder of Courtsmith. “We needed the right kind of capital and partners to help us expand without losing the Oakland authenticity that made us who we are.”

Published

2 days ago

August 1, 2026

bpusa-syndication

By JPMorganChase

With support from ICA Fund and JPMorganChase, founder Courtney Smith is strengthening his supply chain, creating jobs and expanding local production, and positioning the Oakland-born brand for long-term growth

When Courtney Smith founded Courtsmith in Oakland in 2014, he was building more than an athletic apparel company. A lifelong basketball enthusiast, Smith saw an opportunity to create performance wear that reflected the culture of the game—its style, community and sense of belonging.

From the beginning, Courtsmith was rooted in the idea that basketball is not just a sport, but a lifestyle and a community. The brand set out to make athletes look and feel good on and off the court while building partnerships that give athletes a stake in the products and stories they help shape.

“As Courtsmith grew, scaling wasn’t just about selling more—it was about building the infrastructure to deliver consistently, with a strong supply chain and production process,” said Courtney Smith, founder of Courtsmith. “We needed the right kind of capital and partners to help us expand without losing the Oakland authenticity that made us who we are.”

As the company grew, Smith faced a common challenge for small businesses: maintaining quality, reliability and authenticity of products while scaling—and having the resources to do so. The next move was not simply about expansion; it was about building the infrastructure to last.

That is where ICA Fund—a Bay Area impact investor, small business support organization and long-time partner to Courtsmith—came in. ICA’s relationship with Smith began in 2017 through its Growth Strategies advising program, and over time, the organization paired mentorship, technical assistance and capital to help the company grow with intention. More recently, philanthropic support from JPMorganChase helped ICA expand the range of capital products it can offer entrepreneurs like Smith, including options designed for companies that are ready to scale but may not be a fit for traditional debt products or equity investments.

“Too many great businesses stay stuck small without access to fair and flexible capital— ICA Fund’s role is to change that,” said Allison Kelly, CEO of ICA Fund. “With support from JPMorganChase, we’re able to provide founder-friendly financing alongside long-term partnership, giving entrepreneurs the tools they need to grow stronger businesses that create opportunity in their communities.”

The right kind of capital for a new stage of growth

ICA recently provided Courtsmith with a loan to help it buy a local manufacturing business, a major step toward bringing more of its production process closer to home, strengthening its supply chain, reducing costs, continuing its growth and creating local jobs.

The transaction also marked a milestone for ICA: the first time the organization approved capital for a merger-and-acquisition transaction. It reflects a broader expansion of the financing options it offers, supported by JPMorganChase’s American Dream Initiative, which aims, in part, to help power 10 million small businesses—up from seven million today—over the next several years with the capital, coaching, tools and practical policy support they need to thrive. It’s also an example of the kind of tailored support—delivered through trusted local pathways and the firm’s own relationships—that JPMorganChase provides to small businesses in the Bay Area, including our more than 295,000 small business clients.

“Small businesses are the backbone of our economy, and Courtsmith’s story shows how access to the right capital at the right time can unlock growth,” said Gwyneth Galbraith, Vice President for Global Philanthropy at JPMorganChase. “By supporting organizations like ICA Fund, we’re helping expand access to the kinds of financing and guidance entrepreneurs need to strengthen operations, create jobs and build lasting businesses across the Bay Area.”

Building with staying power

For small businesses, access to financing that fits their stage of growth can determine whether expansion is sustainable. A one-size-fits-all approach does not always work for companies with distinct cash-flow cycles, customer demand and operational needs. In Courtsmith’s case, the ICA loan gave the company a path to invest in its future while preserving the founder’s vision and control—and reflected the kind of flexible financing JPMorganChase is helping expand through its support of local community and mission-driven lenders.

Courtsmith’s trajectory reflects that momentum. The company reports that revenue grew 259% from 2021 to 2025, while its workforce expanded from four employees in 2017 to 13 in 2025, including growth in full-time roles from one to 11.

Behind those numbers is a company deepening its roots in Oakland through local partnerships, community presence and a model built to last.

“Courtsmith is about Oakland, representing the culture that raised us and creating opportunity for the next generation,” said Smith. “With ICA Fund and JPMorganChase in our corner, we can keep turning that mission into something people can see and feel in our community.”

Courtsmith’s next chapter is still being written, but the path is clearer: a founder-led brand with deeper local production capacity, a stronger supply chain, and a larger role in Oakland’s small business economy.

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Activism

Oakland Post: Week of July 29 – August 4, 2026

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of July 29 – August 4, 2026

Published

2 days ago

August 1, 2026

Oakland Post

To enlarge your view of this issue, use the slider, magnifying glass icon or full page icon in the lower right corner of the browser window.

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Black History

OP-ED: ‘The Trusted Messenger’ and the Black Vote

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — Now, as we approach one of the most important Midterm elections in the history of this nation, it appears that, once again, the Black Press will be expected to carry the message about voter turnout, while political and campaign dollars go to the White mainstream media.

Published

5 days ago

July 29, 2026

bpusa-syndication

It is a well-established fact that the Black Press is and always has been the “Trusted Messenger” of the Black community. With that being said, it is also very interesting that when many political organizations and donors decided to support Voter Registration and Get Out The Vote, those donors gave their dollars predominantly to Black organizations like the Urban League, the NAACP, the League of Voters, and other nonprofit groups. Those groups will prepare and send out press releases about such voter participation efforts since Black people were responsible primarily for the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

What is most interesting is that those press releases rarely find their way onto CNN or the major news networks. Those press releases and calls to Black voter participation are carried in the Black Press. However, the dollars that support those press releases being written, nor the ads that carry the message of those releases, reach the Black Press. Historically, the dollars behind those messages do not find their way to the very Black Press that carries those messages.

Now, as we approach one of the most important Midterm elections in the history of this nation, it appears that, once again, the Black Press will be expected to carry the message about voter turnout, while political and campaign dollars go to the White mainstream media.

Those who are spending the billions of dollars that will go to Campaign Finance appear to have forgotten that elections are won and lost on a single vote.

Now is the time to remind the candidates, the political Initiatives and Propositions that will appear on the ballots across this nation, that the Black Vote must not be taken for granted. It does not belong to any particular political party or interest group. It can not be judged by whether it exists in a Blue or Red State.

The Democrats, Republicans, Independents, and supporters of Initiatives should not assume that our votes are unimportant.

Elections are won on a single vote.

The United States Supreme Court in Reynolds vs. Sims, 1964. That case established the ‘One Person, One Vote” rule. The rule in that case made it mandatory to base legislative seats on population within districts rather than on geography, and guaranteed Equal Protection coverage under the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution.

That principle has not been abolished, and neither should we act as if our one vote does not count. Let us not forget our own values, and we look toward the Midterm elections. The “Trusted Messenger” can make the difference.