#NNPA BlackPress
L.A. DIGEST: YMCA offers hygiene facilities to homeless
LOS ANGELES WAVE NEWSPAPERS — “In a crisis like the one we are currently facing, it is vital that our most vulnerable are taken care of,” said Kevin James, president of the Los Angeles Board of Public Works, which approved the use of the YMCA facilities April 3.
Wave Staff Report
LOS ANGELES — Nine YMCA centers have opened across Los Angeles to provide access to restrooms, showers and locker rooms for homeless people who are unable to take shelter during the coronavirus pandemic.
“In a crisis like the one we are currently facing, it is vital that our most vulnerable are taken care of,” said Kevin James, president of the Los Angeles Board of Public Works, which approved the use of the YMCA facilities April 3.
The partnership will provide the YMCA centers with six mobile hygiene units currently deployed by the city and 17 by the Board of Public Works for unsheltered residents.
Among the YMCAs providing the facilities are the Stuart M. Ketchum-Downtown YMCA, 401 S. Hope St.; Weingart YMCA Wellness & Aquatic Center, 9900 S. Vermont Ave.; and the Westchester Family YMCA, 8015 S. Sepulveda Blvd., Westchester.
Financial literacy essay contest offered
LOS ANGELES — OneUnited Bank, the nation’s largest black-owned bank, is holding its 10th annual “I Got Bank!” National Financial Literacy Contest in celebration of National Financial Literacy Month. Ten children between the ages of 8 and 12 will win a $1,000 savings account.
Students are invited to read a financial literacy book of their choosing and write a 250-word essay or create an art project to show how they will apply the book to their daily lives. Submissions must be emailed or postmarked by June 30, and winners will be announced Aug. 31. Among the winners from 2019 were DeAsia Mauldin, 11, of Compton and Sabreen A. El-Amin, 12, of Pasadena.
OneUnited Bank also offers free copies of the “I Got Bank! What My Granddad Taught Me About Money” e-book, to support families who are home schooling their children due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
For more information, visit www.oneunited.com/book.
Plus Men offers journaling course
LOS ANGELES — The Plus Me Project, a community partner dedicated to empowering youth through the art of storytelling, will launch “Our Stories Matter: A 10-Week Community Journaling Experience” April 13 through June 19. The journaling project will offer motivation and encouragement for teens to write down and share their stories of the current moment virtually.
The “Our Stories Matter” journaling experience is designed to increase self-awareness and self-confidence through storytelling, and also to build the foundation for college personal statements and scholarship essays.
The program is free for California high school students and $20 for adults and high school students outside of California The project also offers journals, and for each sold, one will be sent to a deserving teen in need in Southern California. For more information, visit theplusmeproject.org.
Radio show host to discuss book
LOS ANGELES — Earl Ofari Hutchinson will discuss his new book, “COVID Politics—Trump’s Deadly Game” during the 10 a.m. hour April 11 on The Hutchinson Report on KPFK 90.7 FM.
The book is a scathing indictment of the president’s political gamesmanship during the coronavirus crisis.
The show begins at 9 a.m.
Duchess narrates elephant documentary
BURBANK — A documentary on a herd of elephants migrating across the Kalahari Desert in Southern Africa in search of water narrated by Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, is now streaming on Disney+.
“Elephant” follows African elephant Gaia and her spirited 1-year-old son Jomo as their herd travels hundreds of miles from the Okavango Delta to the Zambezi River. The Kalahari Desert covers parts of Botswana, Namibia and South Africa.
The documentary is the first entertainment project for the former Meghan Markle since she left the USA Network legal drama “Suits” to marry Prince Harry in 2018.
The premiere of “Elephant” and a second Disney nature documentary, “Dolphin Reef,” narrated by Oscar-winning actress Natalie Portman, coincides with Earth Month.
Youth apprentice grants available
LOS ANGELES — The U.S. Department of Labor has announced the availability of $42.5 million in youth apprenticeship grants to support the enrollment of in-school or out-of-school youth apprentices into new or existing programs nationwide.
“These apprenticeship grants offer communities the opportunity to make targeted investments that will fuel future economic growth, by enabling young people to earn a living while learning critical job skills at the same time,” U.S. Secretary of Labor Eugene Scalia said.
The department’s Employment and Training Administration intends to fund 15 to 25 Youth Apprenticeship Readiness grants, with awards ranging from $1 million to $5 million for private nonprofit, for-profit or public agencies that act as pipelines for youth apprenticeship.
The amount of grant funding an applicant can receive will depend on the proposed number of youth ages 16 to 24 enrolled in Registered Apprenticeship Programs.
Information on how eligible applicants can apply for funding can be found at www.grants.gov. Visit www.apprenticeship.gov to learn more about the department’s broader efforts to connect career seekers with apprenticeship opportunities and expand apprenticeship into new sectors and industries.
Leimert Park garage damaged by fire
LOS ANGELES — A fire in the garage of a Leimert Park four-plex was extinguished in less than 20 minutes April 2 and no injuries were reported.
Twenty-six firefighters arrived at the scene in the 3800 block of South Arlington Avenue, near Obama Boulevard, about 8 p.m., according to Nicholas Prange of the Los Angeles Fire
Department.
The fire was extinguished by 8:19 p.m., Prange said.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Compiled by Quinci Legardye.
L.A. Digest is designed to help promote events, activities and initiatives that are serving the interests of residents in L.A. To submit an item, send emails to newsroom@wavepublication.com.
The article first appeared in The Los Angeles Sentinel.
#NNPA BlackPress
Trump Set to Sign Largest Cut to Medicaid After a Marathon Protest Speech by Leader Jeffries
BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — The bill also represents the biggest cut in Medicare in history and is a threat to the health care coverage of over 15 million people. The spending in Trump’s signature legislation also opens the door to a second era of over-incarceration in the U.S.

By Lauren Burke
By a vote of 218 to 214, the GOP-controlled U.S. House passed President Trump’s massive budget and spending bill that will add $3.5 trillion to the national debt, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). The bill also represents the biggest cut in Medicare in history and is a threat to the health care coverage of over 15 million people. The spending in Trump’s signature legislation also opens the door to a second era of over-incarceration in the U.S. With $175 billion allocated in spending for immigration enforcement, the money for more police officers eclipsed the 2026 budget for the U.S. Marines, which is $57 billion. Almost all of the policy focus from the Trump Administration has focused on deporting immigrants of color from Mexico and Haiti.
The vote occurred as members were pressed to complete their work before the arbitrary deadline of the July 4 holiday set by President Trump. It also occurred after Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries took the House floor for over 8 hours in protest. Leader Jeffries broke the record in the U.S. House for the longest floor speech in history on the House floor. The Senate passed the bill days before and was tied at 50-50, with Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski saying that, “my hope is that the House is gonna look at this and recognize that we’re not there yet.” There were no changes made to the Senate bill by the House. A series of overnight phone calls to Republicans voting against, not changes, was what won over enough Republicans to pass the legislation, even though it adds trillions to the debt. The Trump spending bill also cuts money to Pell grants.
“The Big Ugly Bill steals food out of the hands of starving children, steals medicine from the cabinets of cancer patients, and equips ICE with more funding and more weapons of war than the United States Marine Corps. Is there any question of who those agents will be going to war for, or who they will be going to war against? Beyond these sadistic provisions, Republicans just voted nearly unanimously to close urban and rural hospitals, cripple the child tax credit, and to top it all off, add $3.3 trillion to the ticking time bomb that is the federal deficit – all from a party that embarrassingly pretends to stand for fiscal responsibility and lowering costs,” wrote Congressional Black Caucus Chairwoman Yvette Clarke (D-NY) in a statement on July 3.
“The Congressional Budget Office predicts that 17 million people will lose their health insurance, including over 322,000 Virginians. It will make college less affordable. Three million people will lose access to food assistance through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). And up to 16 million students could lose access to free school meals. The Republican bill does all of this to fund tax breaks for millionaires, billionaires, and corporations,” wrote Education and Workforce Committee ranking member Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA) in a statement. The bill’s passage has prompted Democrats to start thinking about 2026 and the next election cycle. With the margins of victory in the U.S. House and U.S. Senate being so narrow, many are convinced that the balance of power and the question of millions being able to enjoy health care come down to only several thousand votes in congressional elections. But currently, Republicans controlled by the MAGA movement control all three branches of government. That reality was never made more stark and more clear than the last seven days of activity in the U.S. House and U.S. Senate.

#NNPA BlackPress
Congressional Black Caucus Challenges Target on Diversity
BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — we found that the explanations offered by the leadership of the Target Corporation fell woefully short of what our communities deserve and of the values of inclusion that Target once touted

By Stacy M. Brown
Black Press USA Senior National Correspondent
Target is grappling with worsening financial and reputational fallout as the national selective buying and public education program launched by the Black Press of America and other national and local leaders continues to erode the retailer’s sales and foot traffic. But a recent meeting that the retailer intended to keep quiet between CEO Brian Cornell and members of the Congressional Black Caucus Diversity Task Force was publicly reported after the Black Press discovered the session, and the CBC later put Target on blast.
“The Congressional Black Caucus met with the leadership of the Target Corporation on Capitol Hill to directly address deep concerns about the impact of the company’s unconscionable decision to end a number of its diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts,” CBC Chair Yvette Clarke stated. “Like many of the coalition leaders and partner organizations that have chosen to boycott their stores across the country, we found that the explanations offered by the leadership of the Target Corporation fell woefully short of what our communities deserve and of the values of inclusion that Target once touted,” Congresswoman emphasized. “Black consumers contribute overwhelmingly to our economy and the Target Corporation’s bottom line. Our communities deserve to shop at businesses that publicly share our values without sacrificing our dignity. It is no longer acceptable to deliver promises to our communities in private without also demonstrating those values publicly.”
Lauren Burke, Capitol Hill correspondent for Black Press of America, was present when Target CEO Cornell and a contingent of Target officials arrived at the U.S. Capitol last month. “It’s always helpful to have meetings like this and get some candid feedback and continue to evolve our thinking,” Cornell told Burke as he exited the meeting. And walked down a long hallway in the Cannon House Office Building. “We look forward to follow-up conversations,” he stated. When asked if the issue of the ongoing boycott was discussed, Cornell’s response was, “That was not a big area of focus — we’re focused on running a great business each and every day. Take care of our teams. Take care of the guests who shop with us and do the right things in our communities.”
A national public education campaign on Target, spearheaded by Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr., president and CEO of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA), the NNPA’s board of directors, and with other national African American leaders, has combined consumer education efforts with a call for selective buying. The NNPA is a trade association that represents the more than 220 African American-owned newspapers and media companies known as the Black Press of America, the voice of 50 million African Americans across the nation. The coalition has requested that Target restore and expand its stated commitment to do business with local community-owned businesses inclusive of the Black Press of America, and to significantly increase investment in Black-owned businesses and media, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU, Black-owned Banks, national Black Church denominations, and grassroots and local organizations committed to improving the quality of life of all Americans, and especially those from underserved communities. According to Target’s latest earnings report, net sales for the first quarter of 2025 fell 2.8 percent to $23.85 billion compared to the same period last year. Comparable store sales dropped 3.8 percent, and in-store foot traffic slid 5.7 percent.
Shares of Target have also struggled under the pressure. The company’s stock traded around $103.85 early Wednesday afternoon, down significantly from roughly $145 before the controversy escalated. Analysts note that Target has lost more than $12 billion in market value since the beginning of the year. “We will continue to inform and to mobilize Black consumers in every state in the United States,” Chavis said. “Target today has a profound opportunity to respond with respect and restorative commitment.”
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