Best Start Community Meetings

First 5 LA, a funding organization whose revenues come from cigarette and tobacco taxes has begun its community-driven effort, Best Start, in four regions throughout South Los Angeles. Best Start brings together community residents and leaders — including parents, nonprofits, local business owners, faith-based organizations and other neighbors — to create a plan for how best to serve the children and families living in Compton, East Compton, Watts-Willowbrook, West Athens and Broadway-Manchester.

Best Start has four main goals it focuses on for children, ages 0-5 years old. These include: children are born healthy, children maintain a healthy weight, children are safe from abuse and neglect, and children are ready to enter kindergarten.

As the first step in this effort, Best Start is holding a series of meetings in each South L.A. Best Start community. All members of the community are encouraged to attend these meetings to learn more about Best Start, and get involved in helping to shape a positive future for children and families. Food, childcare and interpretation services will be provided. Transportation will be available upon request. If you missed the first meeting, don’t fret…come to meeting #2!

Watts-Willowbrook
All meetings will be held at:
Charles Drew University – Keck Auditorium
1721 E. 120th Street
Los Angeles, CA 90059

Meeting: Wednesday, June 1, 2011 10a .m. - 12:00 p.m. http://wattsjune1.eventbrite.com
Or RSVP to: Aimee Loya Owens, Program Officer
ALoya@first5la.org, 213-482- 7560

Broadway-Manchester
All meetings will be held at:
Christian’s Community Center
8725 South Broadway
Los Angeles, CA 9003
Meeting #2: Thursday, April 28, 2011 1pm-3 pm http://bmapril28.eventbrite.com/
Or RSVP to: Marvin Espinoza, Senior Program Officer
MEspinoza@first5la.org, 213-482-7527

SHIELDS for Families Day at Chili's

SHIELDS for Families would like to say a special THANKS to everyone who participated in the Chilis fundraiser last Thursday, May 26, 2011! Your participation helped to raise money for our programs and we appreciate your support!

Thanks to our Heros/SherosTherapists for having supervision at Chilis to help raise funds for the youth!
 
YOU can help  raise money for SHIELDS programs next time! SHIELDS will be hosting a restaurant fundraiser once a month so stay tuned for more info on how you can get involved and spread the word!

Support CoCo to win a Toyota Van!

Mark Your Calendar: June 1st
SHIELDS community partner Community Coalition needs you to mark your calendars for June 1st – their voting day for the Toyota “100 Cars for Good” Facebook contest. Out of 5000 submissions, they were picked as one of 500 finalists, with the opportunity to win one Toyota vehicle. They’re competing against four other non-profit groups next Wednesday - they have a 20% chance of winning - and with your support that day they can do it! As part of the contest, they entered this cool video they made with CoCo youth leader Josh – watch it today!

Community Coalition Needs that Van!
They entered this contest with perfect timing – their current 7-passenger van was recently involved in a bad accident and is now out of service. Their passenger vans are critical to providing safe and reliable transportation to youth who come from different neighborhoods in South LA (across 40+ square miles) to participate in their after-school programs – otherwise many wouldn't be able to get involved without safe passage from school to CoCo. They provide leadership development and academic support to ensure that African American and Latino youth attend college, and a new Toyota van will help them continue this valuable work.

Less Than a Week Away: Vote on Facebook
They will only have ONE DAY to collect as many votes as they can. So next Wed., June 1st, make sure you visit http://apps.facebook.com/carsforgood/  and cast a vote for CoCo!

Thanks for your support, and together they can win this new Toyota van!

SHIELDS invites you to the 2011 South Los angeles Resource Fair

 

Spring Into Summer Job fair 2011

SAMHSA Releases School Toolkit for Suicide Prevention

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s Suicide Prevention Research Center has released, “After a Suicide: A Toolkit for Schools.” The toolkit describes common warning signs and causes of suicide, provides best practices on suicide prevention in schools, and provides information about how a school should respond when a suicide has occurred. Topics include crisis response, helping students cope, working with the community, social media, bringing in outside help, and more.


The toolkit is free and available online.

Resources:
Download the toolkit at http://www.sprc.org/library/AfteraSuicideToolkitforSchools.pdf

Psychology Today reinforces false sentiment that Black women aren't attractive.

Nearly 20 years after a black parent documented how hard it was to hear, "Mommy, I want to be white,"¹ Psychology Today reinforced the false and hurtful sentiment that Black women aren't attractive. 

Last week they published an article claiming it to be scientific fact that Black women are less beautiful than women of other races,² penned by Satoshi Kanazawa, who is notorious for hiding behind pseudoscience to promote discredited racist and sexist ideas.³

By giving Kanazawa a platform and validating his ideas, Psychology Today dehumanized Black women and girls everywhere. After widespread public outcry, they removed the article from their website.⁴ But that alone won't erase the damage they've done by validating these discredited ideas — the editors need to apologize, explain how this happened, and let us know that it won't happen again. Please join us in demanding they do so immediately, and then ask your friends and family to do the same:

http://act.colorofchange.org/sign/psychtoday

Kanazawa's article is flawed from top to bottom.⁵ Using a dataset from an unrelated study of teenagers, he draws the obviously false conclusion that Black women are "objectively" less attractive than women from other racial groups.

Kanazawa has a long history of hiding behind pseudo-science to express racist and sexist views. He once wrote an article asking "Are All Women Essentially Prostitutes?" and another suggesting that the US should have dropped nuclear bombs across the entire Middle East after 9/11 because it would have wiped out Muslim terrorists.⁶

So why does Psychology Today continue to give him a platform? Black women constantly face both subtle and explicit messages that they are valued less than women of other races —  messages that are especially damaging to Black girls. Now Psychology Today has served as launching point for yet another attack, this time in the name of science.

Almost as if to cover up the racism inherent in his piece, Kanazawa says that black men are, "if anything more attractive" than their counterparts of other races because of "greater testosterone."⁷ But even here Kanazawa relies on the same pseudoscience to describe black men in familiar terms — brutish, hypermasculine, oversexed, exotic. And that's dangerous, too.

He uses a modern-day version of the faulty logic used to dehumanize blacks as inferior for hundreds of years, from the social Darwinists and eugenicists of the 19th century to The Bell Curve just 15 years ago. Psychology Today has a responsibility not to give such false logic a stage, nor validation.

To undo the damage it's done, Psychology Today needs to explicitly reject Kanazawa's ideas. Please join us in demanding that their editors apologize, explain how this article was published in the first place and what they'll do to ensure it won't happen again in the future. It takes just a moment:

http://act.colorofchange.org/sign/psychtoday

So why does Psychology Today continue to give him a platform? Black women constantly face both subtle and explicit messages that they are valued less than women of other races —  messages that are especially damaging to Black girls. Now Psychology Today has served as launching point for yet another attack, this time in the name of science.

Almost as if to cover up the racism inherent in his piece, Kanazawa says that black men are, "if anything more attractive" than their counterparts of other races because of "greater testosterone."⁷ But even here Kanazawa relies on the same pseudoscience to describe black men in familiar terms — brutish, hypermasculine, oversexed, exotic. And that's dangerous, too.

He uses a modern-day version of the faulty logic used to dehumanize blacks as inferior for hundreds of years, from the social Darwinists and eugenicists of the 19th century to The Bell Curve just 15 years ago. Psychology Today has a responsibility not to give such false logic a stage, nor validation.

To undo the damage it's done, Psychology Today needs to explicitly reject Kanazawa's ideas. Please join ColorOfChange.org in demanding that their editors apologize, explain how this article was published in the first place and what they'll do to ensure it won't happen again in the future. It takes just a moment:

http://act.colorofchange.org/sign/psychtoday

Thanks and Peace,
Rashad, James, Gabriel, William, Dani, Matt, Natasha, and the rest of the ColorOfchange.org team
  

References:

1. "Growing Up in Black and White," Time, 5-17-1993
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/828?akid=1987.549087.bnJueT&t=8

2. "Why Are Black Women Less Physically Attractive Than Other Women?" Psychology Today, 5-15-2011
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/829?akid=1987.549087.bnJueT&t=10

3. "The Illustrious Career of a Crap Psychologist," Jezebel
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/830?akid=1987.549087.bnJueT&t=12

4. "The Pseudoscience of "Black Women Are Less Attractive'," ColorLines, 5-17-2011
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/831?akid=1987.549087.bnJueT&t=14

5. See note 3

6. "How to Debunk Pseudo-Science Articles about Race in Five Easy Steps," Racialicious, 5-17-2011
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/832?akid=1987.549087.bnJueT&t=16

7. See reference 2

 

Chili's Cordially Invites You To SHIELDS for Families Day!

Click HERE for Flyer

This Hurts All of Us

Last year during the Census, tens of thousands of African American and Latinos from Los Angeles County were not counted as residents of our communities, resulting in L.A. County losing out on political power, resources for schools, hospitals, and federal funding for roads. But you can help fix that by sending one quick email today.

Instead, tens of thousands of incarcerated men and women from poor communities like South L.A. were counted as residents of the distant counties where they are kept as inmates. This results in inflated population counts and political power for the districts where prison institutions are located while poor communities like South LA lose out.

Fortunately Community Coalition has been working on a solution to this problem and you have the opportunity to make it a reality. By taking a minute out of your day to email a letter in support of AB 420 you can help end this unfair counting of African Americans and Latinos. AB 420 is sponsored by Assemblymember Mike Davis (CA 48 Assembly District) and was put forth by Community Coalition to ensure that communities with high rates of incarceration, like South LA, don't lose out on their fair share of resources, services and political representation. Take action now.

There are about 160,000 incarcerated men and women in California and more than a third come from LA County alone. More than 60% of people incarcerated in our state are African American and Latino and come from poor communities like South LA. When men and women leave prison THEY COME BACK HOME and the resources should follow them home so that we can provide the services and support ex-offenders need to reintegrate back into our communities. Your action today can help bring fairness to the redistricting process.

So please email Assemblymember Felipe Fuentes, the Chair of the Assembly Appropriations Committee, to support AB 420. Click here.

8th Annual Inner-City Sports Festival and Health Fair

8th Annual Inner-City Sports Festival and Health Fair
Saturday, May 21
9 AM - 6 PM

Jesse Owens Park
9651 S. Western Ave.

"Unifying the fight between obesity and diabetes"

- Free Health Screenings: Diabetes, Vision, Dental, Lung Function, Blood Pressure, Healthy Eating & Fitness Demos
- Low cost health and dental services available with same day signups
- 23 mile bike tour - starts at Jesse Owens Park, Registration at 7:30 AM
- 5 mile walk, skateboarding and bike tour: starts at Magic Johnson Park (905 E. El Segundo Blvd.) Registration at 8 AM

MORE INFO: www.City-Lites2004.org

Make 9 calls Today to Move Senate Bill 9 Through the Appropriations Committee

The decision was postponed --- It's coming up Monday (5/23/11)

In LA, California or from anywhere in the nation or the world -

WE NEED YOUR HELP TO GIVE YOUTH SENTENCED TO DIE IN PRISON AN OPPORTUNITY FOR RE-SENTENCING.

Make 9 calls today - it will only take about 20 minutes - and push the California Senate Appropriations Committee to pass Senate Bill 9 to give people sentenced to Juvenile Life Without the Possibility of Parole in California a chance to have their sentence reviewed.

Last month all your hard work got SB9 through the Senate Public Safety Committee.  This Monday the bill will be heard in Senate Appropriations at the California State Capitol.

How to Reach CA Senate Appropriations Committee:

Hello, I am calling to support a Senate Bill 9. It will be before the Appropriations Committee on Monday, and I know the Senator is on that committee. Would you please let the Senator know I called to urge him/her to vote yes?

(Add what is next to each person’s name below. If you want to, say something about why you support the bill, such as:) I believe young people should get a chance to work towards rehabilitation and to prove that they have changed.

Senate  Committee Members to call:
Christine Kehoe (Chair) (916) 651-4039 ”Thanks for your support of SB 399 last session, we now hope you support SB 9.”

Mimi Walters (Vice Chair) (916) 651-4033 “Please support SB 9 when it comes to the Appropriations Committee.”

Elaine Alquist (916) 651-4013 “Thanks for your support of SB 399 last session, we now hope you support SB 9.”

Bill Emmerson (916) 651-4037 “Please support SB 9 when it comes to the Appropriations Commitee.”

Ted W. Lieu (916) 651-4028 “Please support SB 9 when it comes to the Appropriations Committee.”

Fran Pavley (916) 651-4023 “Thank you for your support of SB 9!”

Curren Price (916) 651-4026 “Thank you for your support of SB 9!”

Sharon Runner (916) 651-4017 “”Please support SB 9 when it comes to the Appropriations Committee.”

Darrell Steinberg (916) 651-4006 “Thank you for your support of SB 9!”

THANK YOU!!!!!!
Click Here for the JPEG Version

RELOAD Los Angeles

Registration Online

Pre-Registration: $30
At the Door: $40
Register for RELOAD Los Angeles 2011 in La Mirada, CA on Eventbrite

Pre-Registration Deadline: May 17th. After that, please register at the door.
Register by Mail or Fax (check or credit card)
Registration FAQs

General Session will be in Sutherland Hall Auditorium – campus map
Parking Note: Park in Lot A off Biola Avenue.

Featured Speakers

Larry Acosta - Urban Youth Workers Institute
Hank Fortener - Mosaic LA
Trammel Orr – Relevant Life Church

LearnShops Discussions

• How To Build A Healthy & Thriving Youth Ministry: Matt Marino, Episcopal Diocese of Arizona
This learnshop will focus on team building and will also cover the following:
• How your youth group today may be killing the church of the future.” • My youth group is small. What do I do?
• Being friends with un churched kids in their world.

• You’re Next: Accessing Federal Funds: John Lewis, Urban Strategies
Each year federal agencies provide billions of dollars in grant funding to impact communities in need. Many organizations are NOT accessing these available resources to serve the community.  YOU’RE NEXT is a learnshop where you will learn the skills, develop the relationships, and gain the confidence to begin the process of writing a competitive proposal for federal funding.

• Gospel Sex Talk: Aaron Dailey, Pure Path Phoenix
This session will cover how to proclaim the Gospel in a sex saturated culture. The power of the Gospel can save our youth from sexual impurity. Find out how the Gospel speaks to those who have been sexually abused and how the church can minister to them, among other related topics.

• Stress in the City: Irene Cho, Brad Griffin, Kara Powell and Jude Tiersma Watson, Fuller Youth Institute
Feeling overwhelmed by the chaos and trauma that seems to be all around you in the city?  Come learn strategies for surviving the “environmental press” of the urban setting and becoming more attuned to the ways it impacts our lives in order to prevent being crushed by it.   You’ll discover new things you can try every day, week, and month to find rest and balance in the midst of juggling your life and ministry.

• Future Profits: Financial Literacy: John Liotti and Jenni Ingram, Northern California Urban Development
Welcome to the next level in financial literacy training, designed to reach the emerging generation of youth in today’s media-driven economy. The FutureProfits curriculum blends essential life skills along with traditional financial literacy subjects, such as budgeting and banking, and also gives an in-depth look at topics including:
•Understanding predatory lending schemes •How money circulates in urban communities
•Race, class, and power structures in our society •How goal setting and decisions affect your future
•The benefits of delayed vs. instant gratification

• Impacting your school campus for Christ: Pete Contreras, Jessica Lopez & Jeremy Cross, New Vision Christian Fellowship
Is an interactive discussion for you and your student leaders regarding campus ministry, from beginners to veterans. We will be discussing how you might have a better impact on your school campuses from bible studies to mentorship and anything in between. We want to equip, inspire and encourage you in the work God has called you to. Some area of discussion will be on how to adopt a school, how to work with administrators, how to navigate your way through school systems, how to plan and finish strong with the work you are doing.

Workshops

•  Bruises on the Soul: Healing for the Abused, Hopeless and Helpless: Herberto Romero, Project Tools
•  When the Men are MIA (Missing in Action): Peter Watts, The R.O.C.K. Church
•  “Sex On / Sex Off”:  The Why and How of Purity: Marcos & Susie Gamez, World Impact Los Angeles
• All in the Family: Tommy Nixon, Solidarity
• Leading Beyond Fumes: Re-Fueling Your Soul and Re-Writing Your Future: Larry Acosta, Urban Youth Workers Institute
•  Teen Leadership Track: Moving students from Salvation to Lordship (2 Part): Pete Contreras, New Vision Christian Fellowship

click here to view our workshop descriptions

Ministry Site Visits & Team Building Experiences

These ministry site visits are a great opportunity to bring your whole team and learn about ministry models that are working in local communities.  Site visits take place Friday morning 10-12 before RELOAD begins. You are responsible for your own transportation to the site, and then you’ll join us at BIOLA University in the afternoon for RELOAD.   Register and select your site early: Space is limited.

• The Rock Ebenezer (Sports Model & Boxing Program) – Carson, CA
• The Dream Center (CCDA Model) – Los Angeles, CA
• Kid Works Center (After School & CCD Model) – Santa Ana, CA
• Solidarity (Economic Development Model) – Fullerton, CA

Soul Care Retreat

A time and space for renewal through silence, meditation, prayer, journaling and spiritual direction.
Led by Archie Honrado

Friday Schedule

10:00am-12:00pm Team Site Visits
1:00-2:00pm Registrations Opens
2:00-5:00pm LearnShops Discussions
3:00-5:00pm Soul Care Retreat
5:00-7:00pm Dinner break (on your own)
7:30-9:00pm General Session #1
9:00-11:00pm Late Night Options (StreetLights/Humble Beast Records Block Party, Artisan Lounge, Coffee bar and more…)

Saturday Schedule

8:00-9:00am Registration, Breakfast & Networking
8:00-8:30am Prayer & Acoustic Worship
9:00-10:30am General Session #2
10:45-12:15pm Elective Workshops
12:15-1:15pm Lunch
1:30-3:00pm Elective Workshops
3:15-4:45pm General Session #3
4:45pm RELOAD Ends

Nearby Hotels with Biola Discounts (Click Here)

Download Los Angeles Brochure

Event: Reload West
Tour: Reload Tour
Date: Friday, May 20th 2011 - Saturday, May 21st 2011
Time: 10:00am
City: Los Angeles RELOAD
Venue: Biola University
Address: 13800 Biola Ave La Mirada, CA 90639

Register Here
 Add to Google Calendar | Download iCal

Webcast and Forum To Discuss Improving Children's Programs

On May 19, 2011, at 9:00 a.m. E.T., the Urban Institute will host a Webcast and forum in Washington, DC, Building Better Children’s Programs…And Public Confidence.

The forum brings together a panel of experts to discuss the challenges of improving children’s programs and how to increase the public’s confidence that these programs are working, needed by families, and worth funding. 

Participants may view the Webcast online.

Resources:

For more information about the forum, visit
www.urban.org/events/thursdayschild/Building -Better-Childrens-Programs.cfm.

To register to attend the Washington, DC, forum, visit www.eventbrite.com/event/1667169549.
 
To view the Webcast, visit www.ustream.tv/channel/urban-institute-events.