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Category: Bakersfield

Bakersfield
Stefi Mar

Trump Intensifies Campaign to Rewrite American History

The Trump administration has intensified its campaign to rewrite how America tells its history, ordering federal agencies to remove exhibits and materials that emphasize slavery and racial injustice by September 17. The directive, issued by Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, has set off a wave of protests, most prominently in Philadelphia, where activists gathered this weekend to defend the President’s House site. That outdoor memorial, located steps from Independence Hall, documents the reality that George Washington enslaved nine people while serving as the nation’s first president.

Stefi Mar September 23, 2025
African Americans
Stefi Mar

The Black Press: Two Centuries of Truth— But Who Will Save It?

The Black Press is two years away from its 200th anniversary. Two centuries of carrying our story when others denied us a voice. Two centuries of fighting mobs, resisting Jim Crow, surviving fire, and standing against lies. And now, in its hour of need, as corporate America cuts ties and Washington turns away, the silence of Black America’s billionaires is as loud as the betrayals of history.

Stefi Mar September 23, 2025
Bakersfield
Stefi Mar

Remembering the Four Little Girls

It is 62 years later after the death of the four little girls in the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, just weeks after the August 28, 1963, March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.

Stefi Mar September 23, 2025
Bakersfield
Stefi Mar

New CBCF Policy Playbook Targets Racial Wealth and Justice Gaps

The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation (CBCF) has released Forward Together: The Black Policy Playbook for an Equitable America, a sweeping set of recommendations designed to dismantle systemic barriers and chart a course toward racial equity in the United States. Published in 2025, the playbook arrives at a critical moment, with Black communities confronting deep disparities in wealth, health, education, and criminal justice.

Stefi Mar September 23, 2025
Bakersfield
Stefi Mar

AmeriStarRail Pushes Plan to Put Coach Riders on High-Speed Libertyliner 250 Trains

Coach passengers, who make up the majority of Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor ridership, are being left behind as the railroad launched its new Acela service. AmeriStarRail, a Delaware-based company, says that exclusion not only discriminates against everyday riders but also risks safety by keeping millions on aging equipment that has been in service for half a century.

Stefi Mar September 16, 2025
Bakersfield
Stefi Mar

The Game: What Black City Gets the National Guard

“I refuse to pretend that any of this is normal,” said Governor JB Pritzker (D-II) over the weekend, referring to President Trump’s threat to send National Guard Troops to Chicago under what Pritzker called the “fake guise of fighting crime.” Large-scale protests with scores of demonstrators took to the streets in cities like Washington, D.C., and Chicago over the weekend in efforts to push back on Trump’s plans for National Guard troops in those cities.

Stefi Mar September 16, 2025
Bakersfield
Stefi Mar

The Black Vote, Polling, and Redistricting

As California enters the redistricting battle over control of the U.S. House of Representatives, it is very interesting to observe the lineup for and against Proposition 50, which would place Redistricting on the November Ballot. From the moment the Governor signed the legislation, the opposition immediately started direct mail campaigns. The supporters of the measure, mainly the Democratic Party, began to gather and spend money on Radio and television Ads and the polling of the people in the state to see where Support could be found. As usual, the African American community, which largely votes democratic, has not been included in the early stages of this campaign on either side.

Stefi Mar September 16, 2025
Bakersfield
Stefi Mar

The Lasting Impact of Bedtime Stories

One of the joys of parenthood is the peaceful, soothing experience of reading a bedtime story to your child. Your comforting voice can help lull them into a sleepy state as you read aloud melodic nursery rhymes and other enchanting stories.

Stefi Mar September 16, 2025
Bakersfield
Stefi Mar

Estate Planning Seen as Survival for Black Families

Constance Carter, the founder of California’s largest independent Black-owned real estate firm and bestselling author, put the spotlight on the basics that protect Black wealth: life insurance, wills, and living trusts. “Estate planning isn’t just paperwork.

Stefi Mar September 16, 2025
Bakersfield
Stefi Mar

Nation’s Report Card Shows Drop in Reading, Math, and Science Scores

The latest results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reveal troubling declines in academic performance among U.S. students, with twelfth-graders posting lower scores in reading and mathematics and eighth-graders showing setbacks in science.

Stefi Mar September 16, 2025
Bakersfield
Stefi Mar

Under Trump, FDA Seeks To Abandon Expert Reviews of New Drugs

FDA leaders under President Donald Trump are moving to abandon a decades-old policy of asking outside experts to review drug applications, a move critics say would shield the agency’s decisions from public scrutiny.

Stefi Mar September 16, 2025
Bakersfield
Stefi Mar

From Slavery to Civil Rights and Environmental Racism

The National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) has relaunched its global news feature series on the history, contemporary realities, and implications of the transatlantic slave trade as today’s leaders try to erase this history. This is Part 8 in the series. “Racism is still with us. But it is up to us to prepare our children for what they have to meet, and, hopefully, we shall overcome.” — Rosa Parks. “Racial discrimination is the deliberate targeting of ethnic and minority communities for exposure to toxic and hazardous waste sites and facilities, coupled with the systematic exclusion of minorities in environmental policy making, enforcement, and remediation.” — Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr., 1981

Stefi Mar September 16, 2025