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Category: Bakersfield

Bakersfield
Stefi Mar

A Supreme Fight Over Voting Rights

Janai Nelson, President of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and Head of Counsel for the organization, argued before the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday for the civil rights stance of leaving Section 2 of the 1965 Voting Rights Act untouched. Spencer Overton, a professor at George Washington University, was in the High Court when the arguments took place over Louisiana v Callais. Overton proudly emphasized that “Jaina [Nelson] was basically like Bruce Lee taking on everybody.”

Stefi Mar October 20, 2025
Bakersfield
Stefi Mar

Taste of Soul Marks 20 Years With Food, Culture, Politics — and a New Honor for Founder Danny Bakewell Sr.

For 20 years, the Taste of Soul festival has brought food, music and community pride to Crenshaw Boulevard in Los Angeles. This year’s festival, held on Oct. 18, carried even deeper meaning for organizers and festivalgoers. The day before the celebration, the City of Los Angeles officially named the intersection of Crenshaw and Obama boulevards Danny J. Bakewell Sr. Square, honoring the civil rights leader, businessman and founder of Taste of Soul.

Stefi Mar October 20, 2025
Bakersfield
Stefi Mar

Private Data Tells the Story Washington Won’t: Jobs Are Disappearing

With the federal government shutdown grinding on, the nation’s economic picture is collapsing into silence and uncertainty. For the first time in decades, there is no official monthly employment report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — the same agency many now say can no longer be trusted after the White House moved to control its data release following a weak jobs report earlier this year. In the vacuum, private firms have stepped forward with independent analyses that show the country losing jobs and faith at the same time.

Stefi Mar October 20, 2025
African Americans
Stefi Mar

High Court Weighs Decision That Could Silence Black Voters Nationwide

The U.S. Supreme Court is hearing arguments today in a case that could decide the future of voting rights in America. At the heart of Louisiana v. Callais is whether Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which bars racial discrimination in voting, remains constitutional. The outcome could strip away one of the last remaining protections for Black voters since the Civil Rights Movement and embolden efforts already underway in states like North Carolina, where Republicans are pushing new gerrymandered maps that would silence voters and cement partisan control.

Stefi Mar October 20, 2025
Bakersfield
Stefi Mar

The New Normal: Racism Without Consequence

They laughed about gas chambers. They mocked Black people as “monkeys” and “the watermelon people.” They joked about rape, slavery, and “fixing the showers” to suit the “Hitler aesthetic.” These weren’t anonymous extremists on the internet. They were rising Republican leaders — state chairs, vice chairs, campaign strategists, and even staffers with ties to Donald Trump’s administration — plotting their path to power while spewing messages of hate.

Stefi Mar October 20, 2025
Bakersfield
Stefi Mar

The Jackson Legacy: A House Divided by Wealth and Whiteness

There is a tragedy that runs through the name Jackson—not the tragedy of loss alone, but of transformation. It is the story of what happens when the dream that began in Black struggle is reborn in white comfort. When Jermaine Jackson once said he would trade it all—fame, fortune, and fans—to return to Gary, Indiana, to live again as a family, he spoke a truth too heavy for the world that fame built.

Stefi Mar October 20, 2025
Bakersfield
Stefi Mar

Newsom and Elected Officials Make Case to Black Press for Prop 50

On Oct. 7, members of the California Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), the California Legislative Black Caucus (CLBC), and Gov. Gavin Newsom briefed Black media across the state, urging support for Proposition 50 – The Election Rigging Response Act – ahead of the upcoming special election.

Stefi Mar October 14, 2025
Bakersfield
Stefi Mar

Trump’s War on America Ramps up with Vow Not to Pay Federal Workers

The White House has continued to wage war against the American people — not through bombs or foreign troops, but through policies that strip workers of their dignity, their pay, and their hope. The cruelty is no accident. It is deliberate, orchestrated, and flaunted as a spectacle of power. America’s government has turned its might inward, and its victims are the citizens who once believed they were free.

Stefi Mar October 13, 2025
African Americans
Stefi Mar

Democrats Tout State Races, but Party of Diversity Still Refuses to Invest in Black Media  

The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (DLCC) announced ten key state legislative races to watch this November, touting the contests as pivotal for maintaining and expanding Democratic power in states such as Virginia, New Jersey, Minnesota, Mississippi, and Washington. Yet, even as the DLCC calls attention to its candidates and their communities, the party’s silence and neglect toward Black-owned media — particularly the historic Black Press of America — continues to speak louder than its press releases.

Stefi Mar October 13, 2025
Bakersfield
Stefi Mar

Essay: Intentional Self Care and Community Connections Can Improve Our Wellbeing

I went to a medical school that was steeped in the principles of classical western medicine. However, I also learned mindfulness meditation during that time, which opened me to the multifaceted relationship between illnesses and the interconnecting environmental, mental and emotional realities that can impact an individual’s health. 

Stefi Mar October 13, 2025
Bakersfield
Stefi Mar

The Shutdown Standoff

“We are not going to back down,” demanded House Minority Leader Congressman Hakeem Jeffries regarding healthcare for Americans. The Affordable Care Act is one of the key issues that created a stalemate between Democrats and Republicans, which resulted in the government shutdown. The New York Congressman says he is open to meeting with the president, the vice president, and others in the Republican Party to end the government shutdown that began on October 1st. However, he is adamant about not caving on the healthcare issue.

Stefi Mar October 13, 2025