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Queen Califia: California Namesake or Legend?

Published

5 years ago

November 25, 2020

Kiki

Detail of ‘Calafia’ mural at the Mark Hopkins Hotel, San Francisco. Public domain photo.

Some poets and professors of medieval literature recognize Queen Califia as a part of California’s early history; a woman who ruled an island nation where gold was the only metal.

She’s been romanticized in the prose of great writers such as Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo, who, in 1500, wrote about a mythical island named California, populated by Black women with “beautiful and robust bodies … without a single man among them” in his novel “Las Sergas de Esplandián” (The Adventures of Esplandián).

Montalvo’s island is named for its queen, Califia. In it, she is described as a Moor and a pagan. Califia’s mission is to develop an army of women warriors. Together, riding on griffins, they join a Muslim battle against Christians defending Constantinople. But the army only meets defeat.

Despite the Amazonian army’s inability to conquer, Queen Califia remains a true legend in the hearts of many. In time, Spanish explorer Hernán Cortés, a fan of romance novels, would name the state of California for the Amazon queen.

According to historian John William Templeton, “Califia is a part of California history, and she also reinforces the fact that when Cortes named this place California, he had 300 Black people with him.”

Templeton served as curator of the Queen Califia exhibit assembled by the African American Historical and Cultural Society Museum in San Francisco in 2004. He described the exhibit as a “part of a larger story that Africans were seen by Europeans as being culturally advanced in the 15th century. Even Columbus had a Black navigator.”

Yet, there are still some who subscribe to the theory claimed in historical documents that California was named for the Latin word Calida Fornax, meaning “hot furnace” or kali forno, an indigenous phrase meaning “high mountains.” The origin of the state’s name being tied to Queen Califia, a Moor, for them is no more than a rumor.

Researchers, however, discovered that “California” was printed in Montalvo’s book prior to Spanish explorers speaking with the indigenous people. Thus the true origin of “California” remains a subject of great debate.

The myth of Queen Califia was once a secret held by poets and some rebels. But this changed during Disneyland’s 2001 renovation. In its California Adventure Park, a mural depicting Califia was painted. Inside the park’s theater, “Golden Dreams,” a brief wide-screen film, presents actress Whoopi Goldberg’s voice as Califia, the queen of California. After this exposure, Queen Califia, for many, became a symbol to the new multicultural California.

Despite the debate over the origin of the name “California,” Queen Califia remains important as a symbol, her spirit echoing in modern-day paintings, sculptures and films.

A seven-foot-high panel of Califia with her Amazons stands at the Mark Hopkins Intercontinental Hotel in San Francisco. A depiction of Califia, “The Naming of California,” graces the fourth floor in the Senate Rules Committee Hearing Chamber in Sacramento.

Califia’s influence remains and cannot be denied.

Sources:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etymology_of_California  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calafia http://www.theafrolounge.com/2013/12/11/california-was-named-after-a-black-queen/  https://domoregooddeeds.wordpress.com/2013/02/07/queen-califia-the-real-amazons/

Image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:TheDons_Detail.jpg

Kiki

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Poll Shows Support for Policies That Help Families Afford Child Care

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — New national polling shows persistent voter concern about the affordability and availability of child care for working parents, alongside broad support across key demographic groups for federal child care policies that help families afford care.

Published

3 days ago

March 2, 2026

Oakland Post

By First Five Years Fund

New national polling shows persistent voter concern about the affordability and availability of child care for working parents, alongside broad support across key demographic groups for federal child care policies that help families afford care.

The national survey was conducted by UpOne Insight on behalf of the First Five Years Fund from January 13–18, 2026.

Key findings include:

• Parents need help: 80% of voters say the ability of working parents to find and afford child care is either in a state of crisis or a major problem.

• This is an affordability issue: 82% believe federal child care funding will help lower costs for working families — including 69% of Republicans, 84% of Independents, and 94% of Democrats.

• And there continues to be strong support (62%) for the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG), a federal program that makes it possible for hundreds of thousands of families to afford safe, quality care for their children while parents work or go to school, including a majority of Republicans, 63% of Independents and 72% of Democrats.

• Support for funding child care programs remains strong: 75% believe child care funding should be increased or kept at current levels — including 75% of Republicans, 85% of Independents, and 97% of Democrats.

• 74% say funding for child care is an important and good use of tax dollars, including a majority of Republicans, three-quarters of Independents, and nine in ten Democrats.

FFYF Executive Director Sarah Rittling said, “Voters across the country are sending a clear message: federal child care and early learning programs work. These investments help parents stay in the workforce, strengthen families, and support healthy child development. They have also long had strong bipartisan support in Congress. At a time when affordability is top of mind for families, continued federal funding is essential to ensure child care remains accessible and within reach.”

First Five Years Fund works to protect, prioritize, and build bipartisan support for quality child care and early learning programs at the federal level. Reliable, affordable, and high-quality early learning and child care can be transformative, not only enhancing a child’s prospects for a brighter future but also bolstering working parents and fostering economic stability nationwide.

We work with Congress and the Administration to identify federal solutions that work for families with young children, as well as states and communities. We work with policymakers to identify ways to increase access to affordable, high-quality child care and early learning programs for children. And we collaborate with advocacy groups to help align best practices with the best possible policies. http://www.ffyf.org

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Oakland Post: Week of February 25 – March 3, 2026

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of – February 25 – March 3, 2026

Published

4 days ago

March 1, 2026

Oakland Post

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Trump’s MAGA Allies are Creating Executive Order Plan to Steal the 2026 Midterms

NNPA NEWSWIRE — The document that could lead to an executive order proposes using the claim that China interfered with the 2020 elections as grounds to “declare a national emergency.” The move would be an unprecedented step that would grant Trump new authority over the voting systems in the U.S.

Published

6 days ago

February 27, 2026

Oakland Post

By Lauren Victoria Burke, NNPA Newswire Correspondent

A group of MAGA pro-Trump activists, who say they are working in coordination with the White House, are circulating a 17-page draft executive order that would claim without evidence that China interfered with the 2020 presidential election. Donald Trump lost the 2020 presidential to President Joe Biden by over 7 million votes. Since Trump lost to Biden in 2020, he has repeatedly claimed that the election was “stolen” without evidence. The report of a group of “Trump allies” preparing an executive order to give Trump power over elections was first reported by The Washington Post.

The lies around the right-wing campaign that pushed falsehoods that the 2020 election was stolen was trafficked through right-wing media, particularly Fox News. Fox News was then sued for defamation for the claims by Dominion Voting Systems. Fox lost the case and had to settle for the largest defamation amount on record of $787.5 million in April 2023.

The document that could lead to an executive order proposes using the claim that China interfered with the 2020 elections as grounds to “declare a national emergency.” The move would be an unprecedented step that would grant Trump new authority over the voting systems in the U.S.

The story in The Washington Post arrives as Trump increasingly signals that he may take actions that would alter the result of the 2026 midterms. The Republicans are widely expected to lose as their approval ratings plummet as a result of a failing economy under Trump. Over 50 members of Congress have announced they will retire this year and not return in 2027.

The Trump Department of Justice, which now has a large image of Trump on the side of it, “sued five new states Thursday [Feb. 26, 2026] demanding access to their unredacted voter rolls — escalating a campaign that has been rejected by multiple federal courts and faces resistance from Republican-led states as well,” according to Democracy Docket, a group that works to protect voting rights.

Trump claimed back in late 2020, the last year of his first term, that he had the authority to issue an executive order related to mail-in voting for the 2020 elections — which he would then lose. But the Constitution states that control of elections lies with the states. As the GOP works to place hurdles in front of voting, Democrats worked to make voting easier.

In March 2021, President Biden signed an executive order calling on federal agencies to expand voting access as part of the Biden Administration’s effort “to promote and defend the right to vote for all Americans who are legally entitled to participate in elections.”

Trump’s focus is clearly on altering the November 2026 midterm elections. Trump’s polling numbers and the elections and special elections that have taken place around the U.S. over the last year clearly indicate that Republicans are about to be hit by a blue wave of Democratic victories.

Lauren Victoria Burke is an independent investigative journalist and the founder of Black Virginia News. She is a political analyst who appears on #RolandMartinUnfiltered and hosts the show LAUREN LIVE on YouTube @LaurenVictoriaBurke. She can be contacted at LBurke007@gmail.com and on twitter at @LVBurke