Category: National

African Americans
Stefi Mar

Young Black Men Suffering in Silence A curse that can be Broken

As a young Black man, this topic is personal to me. When people discuss mental health, they usually don’t picture someone who looks like me. Instead, Black men are often seen as strong, tough, or able to handle anything life throws at us.

African Americans
Stefi Mar

OPINION: 57,000 Empty Apartments and Not a Word of Apology – City Limits

Every indicator in New York City’s housing market is pointing in the wrong direction. Rents are at historic highs. Foreclosure notices are climbing in Black and brown neighborhoods that never fully recovered from the last crisis. Deed theft, the predatory stripping of generational wealth from families who built their equity over decades, continues to devastate communities from Brownsville to Jamaica.

African Americans
Stefi Mar

COMMENTARY: The Great Potential of Black Children in Texas

Every child deserves a fair chance to learn, grow, and achieve their dreams. In Texas, millions of brilliant, creative, and hard-working Black children want to become doctors, engineers, artists, and leaders. However, facts show that Black youth face tough challenges that make it much harder for them to succeed.

Bakersfield
Stefi Mar

COMMENTARY: ICE Already Shocks America – Gloves Can’t Hide Their Fingerprints!

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announcement that it would spend $20 million to equip ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) with electric shock gloves is indeed shocking. Equipping ICE with electric shock gloves is tantamount to equipping a wolf with a knife and fork to enter the hen house.

Amber Alert
African Americans
News Observed

Nearly Every Missing Child in California Gets One Label: Runaway

California logs more than 60,000 missing-child reports a year, and roughly nineteen of every twenty are classified as runaways — a label that advocates say falls hardest on Black children. The state built the nation’s first Ebony Alert to counter it, but does not publish the racial data that would show whether it works.

US Supreme Court
Valleys
News Observed

Six States Redrew Black Districts Before November. Yours May Have Changed.

After the Supreme Court narrowed the Voting Rights Act this spring, Republican-led legislatures in six states redrew congressional maps that dismantle or dilute Black districts — a shift one analysis calls the largest single-election loss of Black representation since Reconstruction.

Bakersfield
Stefi Mar

Rising Car Insurance Rates Are Putting New Pressure on Household Budgets

Rising car insurance rates are forcing households to reconsider how much they drive, what coverage they carry, and which expenses can wait. Drivers can ease the pressure by comparing policies, reviewing deductibles, and removing unnecessary costs without giving up essential financial protection.

African Americans
Stefi Mar

Why Black-Owned Businesses Can’t Afford to Be Invisible to AI

Many people use AI tools to search for products and services instead of search engines. If Black-owned businesses aren’t easy for AI to find, they end up losing potential customers. Let AI help you gain the trust of people who are considering your business for the first time so your brand can grow.

African Americans
Stefi Mar

Insurance redlining means two identical drivers pay different prices

Insurance redlining happens when the address on your policy shapes your rate more than your record behind the wheel. Companies build prices from personal details like your neighborhood and credit, not just your driving history. The result: two drivers with identical records can pay far different premiums, and the steeper bill usually falls on Black neighborhoods.

Bakersfield
Kathleen Untalan

Why Kern County and Black Americans love Dolly

I wonder if “quiet” is the right reference here. Maybe it’s more a particular kind of “grief?” In Kern County, Dolly Parton is being mourned as much for her philanthropy and impact on children as she is for her worldwide impact on music and bridging cultures.

US Dept of Labor
African Americans
News Observed

Black Women’s Unemployment Rate Fell. The Reality Behind It Didn’t

Black unemployment is the highest of any group in the country, yet one number moved the ‘right’ way this year. The improvement is a statistical illusion — and understanding why reveals both who got pushed out of the workforce and what Black women are building instead.

FEMA - 38805 - Utility crews working on power lines
African Americans
News Observed

Gary’s Blackout Is a Storm Repair, Not a National Grid Collapse

A viral claim ties Gary, Indiana’s two-week power outage to a supposed 18-month nationwide blackout. The outage is real and NIPSCO’s response deserves scrutiny — but the 18-month figure comes from a 2014 sabotage scenario that has nothing to do with this storm.

Maternity ward Gellman Hospital Raahe 20240817 03
African Americans
News Observed

One in Three U.S. Counties Now Has Nowhere to Give Birth

A 2026 March of Dimes report finds 34.6% of U.S. counties are maternity care deserts, with at least 96 labor and delivery units closed since January 2024 — and research shows the closures fall hardest on hospitals serving Medicaid patients and Black families, including in Kern County and the Antelope Valley.

Bakersfield
Stefi Mar

The cost of living is becoming a stronger magnet for smaller cities

Choosing to live in a smaller city with a lower cost of living isn’t always an easy decision. You’ll feel more confident if you see how much you’ll save on food and transport. Never ignore such costs since they add up quickly and can make you spend more even if your rent is affordable.

African Americans
Stefi Mar

Rights & Rituals: Black Women and the Sage We Breathe

1Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 through the middle of the street of the city. On either side of the river is the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each month, and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.