December 26, 2019
By Khari Jones Jr.
Contributing Writer
South LA Cafe recently held a grand opening to celebrate its community-focused coffee shop. A significant win for the culture because they are impacting lives, inspiring others to follow, and bringing more African American ownership in the area. SLAC's mission is to build for the community, bring people together, provide quality food at affordable pricing.
The founders of this establishment are Joe and Celia Ward-Wallace. The Ward-Wallace's saw a need in the community. It wasn't that many places in the neighborhood for people to have a comfortable space to build. Imagine having coffee shops that's community-focused in under-represented areas, and you would see the rise in black-owned businesses.
There are so many talented, innovative entrepreneurs in our communities, but the lack of resources hinders us from moving forward. SLAC is setting the blueprint of what African Americans should continue to strive for in the city of Los Angeles.
There is a lot of gentrification going on, and black people get pushed out of our neighborhoods. It's a crucial time for us to start investing in the community, and taking control of our destiny.
Joe Ward-Wallace said the vision started in his mind, where he just wanted a place to hang with his peers, have fun, and build. “I just wanted a kick it spot,” Ward-Wallace implied. He went on to say, “I saw the change coming, I saw what was about to happen. People are telling me I was crazy. I stood out there with trash cans, dirty, and digging, people asking me what I am doing. I didn't listen to the naysayers. I said you know what, this is my community. I am going to build it.”
Joe and his wife, Celia Ward-Wallace, had a vision and executed. At the grand opening, there were community leaders from all over Los Angeles, entrepreneurs, councilman, artists, and even the LAPD Captain, Lee Sands was in attendance. Sands said, "I think this is way overdue in this community. For me, as a law enforcement officer we will support this wholeheartedly.
This is a place we will use for officers to interact with people in the community, which I think is even more important. This coffee shop will not only bridge community members together, but it will enhance the relationship between law enforcement and those individuals, which I think is needed." Everyone was there, vibing with one another, networking, laughing, drinking coffee, and having a great time. This celebration ignited innovators in the area because they now have a place to express their creativity and meet other like-minded individuals.
Celia Ward-Wallace encouraged the attendees to follow their dreams, and build businesses that create an impact, but only if you genuinely feel called to do it. In a journey of building an empire, there are going to be times when you inspire others, and there will be trials, tribulations, and obstacles that will make you want to give up.
The only thing that will keep you pushing in times of hardship is if you have a purpose behind what you want to accomplish. Celia Ward-Wallace came up with the mic and said, "To speak to the mission, if you are interested in businesses that make an impact or driven by purpose, you really shouldn't be doing it, if you aren't deeply rooted in a why, and a mission.
Keep that in mind, when you are deciding what you want to do. Don't do it unless it's something you feel internally called to do. Like you are the planet because you need to do this." She kept it real and emphasized how serious it is to have a story behind your mission. You have to have a purpose more significant than you when making a difference.
L.A. City Councilmember, Marqueece Harris-Dawson came and supported the grand opening. The Councilman is happy to be apart of this project, and he talked about King Estates is an untapped area in the community. Harris-Dawson said, "King Estates is one of the most powerful neighborhoods in the community.
It's a neighborhood with a lot of potentials that haven't been realized here today. Joe and Celia invested like two years ago, and they figured out a way to make it work. Not just to make it a gathering place in the community. But for people to come from all around the world. It's part of a bigger revitalization of Western Blvd. There a lot of things happening here in King Estates."
Harris-Dawson also touched on the fact that there are a lot of upcoming entrepreneurs coming up in the area. "It's a movement. People in our community, our sons, our daughters, our grandchildren, our nieces and nephews, they are figuring out if we want a certain thing in our community we can't wait for someone to come in and bring it. We have to build it ourselves.
That's what Joe and Celia have done here today at South LA Cafe. It's a whole movement. We have more cafe's now black-owned that we've had in the last 25 years.
We're figuring out coffee shops, we're figuring out retail, apparel establishments. Nipsey Hussle behind us lit that spark about six years ago." Councilman Harris-Dawson went on to discuss how proud the late Nipsey Hussle would be to see black people building businesses. "This is exactly what Nipsey would have wanted to see.
One of his moments famous quotes is the highest human act is to inspire. He said that a lot because he understood that there is a limit to what you can do as an individual and by yourself. But what we all can do together is much bigger. What we see today and all along Western Blvd is an example of what we can do when we're pointing in the same direction."
December 26, 2019
By Faith Petrie
Contributing Writer
Just below the second floor of Hilltop Coffee + Kitchen the phrase, “WE’RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER” functions as a sentry to the patrons who enter the shop residing on the corner of La Brea Avenue and Regent Street.
The expression could be a testament to its inauguration, a collaborative effort between co-creators Ajay Relan, Yonnie Hagos and producer and actress Issa Rae from HBO’s “Insecure.”
Hilltop Coffee + Kitchen is the second location of the Hilltop brand, the first located in View Park and a third set to open in Eagle Rock.
The union between the trio came to be due to a shared interest in generating an area where Inglewood residents could congregate and create. Calling her an “authentic partner” Relan said that Rae’s values and mission were similar to their own.
The coffee shop is one of the newest additions to Inglewood, an ever-evolving city subjected to constant change including Metro construction and new sports arenas. What sets Hilltop apart from other businesses is that it’s “something that services the incoming population,” Relan said in a video press release.
“All the culture that comes out of South of LA [is the] origin for a lot of culture that a lot of people consume and it just doesn’t get the credit that it deserves, so we hope that through visual, the food, the interaction with our team, people leave feeling inspired,” Relan said in the video.
Rae, who grew up in View Park and Inglewood, echoed Relan’s statement noting that Hilltop was fashioned with concerns of its surrounding residents in mind. The partnership between Rae and the creators can be attributed to Rae’s desires to open a coffee shop in her own neighborhood.
“In such a time where we hear about neighborhoods being gentrified with no interest in the community and pushing other people out and we really just want to invite the community, we want to say we’re here for you,” Rae said.
The interior of the coffee shop features an open floor plan full of seating tucked into every corner of the space, a large Inglewood poster hung on the wall that leads to the second floor. Rae shared that it was important that each Hilltop Coffee + Kitchen site is attuned to characterize the city it resides in.
“The one in View Park is representative of the View Park residents, the one in Inglewood is the same thing,” Rae said. “The one in Inglewood is even a bit more elevated, it’s meant to be an elevated space for our community and acknowledges the fact that it creates a different role.”
Hilltop’s Inglewood location was established with creators in mind, a place for them to work on their craft and meet others at the same time. Still, Hagos affirmed that this shouldn’t deter anyone else from coming in for a beverage or food item.
“Hilltop is an inclusive space, it's for the communities that we’re putting them into but for the creator, for the writer that's coming in to write, for the entrepreneur that’s coming in taking meetings and for the family that's coming in that lives down the street for brunch on the weekends,” Hagos said.
Los Angeles has seen a surge of Black business owners in the realm of coffee shops including shops like Sip and Sonder and Hot and Cool Cafe. Despite the competitive nature of business, Rae shared that they want to instead help one another.
“A lot of us are Black-owned specifically and we don’t want to compete, we want to work together, we don’t want people to feel like they have to choose it’s really just like this is our area where we have our own interests at heart,” Rae said.
“I feel like in the same way we’ve been talking about a film and television renaissance just with Black creators really stepping up and coming to the forefront, I hope the same thing happens with Black owners in Black neighborhoods.”
December 19, 2019
By Aldon Thomas Stiles
California Black Media
About two years ago, Calvin Dubois, Executive Director of First Step Group Homes (FSGH) in San Bernardino County, says he made the right call when he subdued and held down an enraged child in his care.
The 17-year-old boy was armed with a six-inch knife outside of the home, according to Dubois.
Video of the June 5, 2017 incident details how Dubois, who is African American, overpowered and held the child down in the front yard of the Rialto home that houses high risk, hard-to-place boys.
Dubois, 33, says his move “saved the child’s life.”
“Calm down, calm down,” Dubois repeated to the boy, who is also Black, in a measured voice after pinning the teen’s wrists to the ground as he held him down, the video footage shows.
But the state of California sees it differently.
The Community Care Licensing Division (CCLD) of the California Department of Social Services (CDSS) argues that Dubois “verbally taunted” and engaged in behavior that “violated the personal rights of the child.” Last month, CDSS revoked FSGH’s license and dismantled the group home, leading to the displacement of 12 foster children in Dubois’ care.
“The state doesn’t understand the importance of intervening in these situations with Black and Brown kids before the police get involved,” Dubois said. “As if Black kids aren’t being killed everyday.”
Dubois was referencing the scores of recent shootings of Black boys and men by police officers around the country and in California. In many of those cases, the officers suspected the victims were armed and dangerous, as in the case of Joseph Mann, a 51-year-old Black Sacramento man who two police officers shot more than a dozen times and killed. Mann was wielding a 4-inch knife.
Now, the African American-owned-and-operated FSGH has filed a discrimination lawsuit against CDSS.
“I was told that I should have closed the door and left him outside, but if he kills himself or gets killed by police, that’s on me,” Dubois said, noting his disagreement with the action the CDSS told him he should have taken.
Neither Dubois nor the child suffered any serious injury during the confrontation.
George Jones, the attorney representing Dubois, said his client’s case reflects a broader pattern of discrimination against Black men working with the state social services system. He also praised FSGH and Dubois’ relationship with the foster youth.
“He’s like their big brother. They think he walks on water,” Jones said.
On Dec. 2, community members and activists assembled at the San Bernardino County Counsel building to support Dubois and FSGH, holding up signs that read “Protect Foster Care Youth” and “Keep People in Power Accountable.”
The Rev. Shane Harris, a social justice activist, spoke in strong support of Dubois at the event, saying, “African Americans have to go through harsher processes with licenses for childcare services. This is where California has failed.”
“The bottom line is that Calvin was trying to protect that child and he’s being punished for it,” Harris said. “He saved this boy’s life and that is exactly the kind of leadership we need.”
Dubois’ main focus is bringing the displaced boys back home, as many of them had become settled into the San Bernardino County neighborhood, he says.
“They tried to hurt me, and they did. But they also hurt 12 boys who weren’t at fault. Boys who had girlfriends, jobs and lives here who now have no choice where they’re moved to,” Dubois said. “How inhumane is that?”
In an email to California Black Media, Scott Murray, Deputy Director of Public Affairs and Outreach Programs at the CDSS, said “the department cannot comment on litigation.”
However, Murray shared the court order and decision which states, “Constraint is only to be used as a last resort,” according to the “Program Plan.”
“Manual restraints are never approved for use for the purpose of punishment or discipline; harassment or humiliation, or to prevent an individual from leaving the facility, except when the individual is running away and this poses an immediate danger to the individual, among other things,” the document reads.
Since the incident, Dubois’ has been engaged in a battle with the CDSS. According to his timeline of events, his removal came after the CCLD cleared him of his “deficiency” in August of 2018.
But CDSS is defending its right to revoke Dubois’ license.
“The fact that a deficiency has been cleared, however, does not eliminate the authority of the department to seek revocation or suspension of a license, or to seek exclusion of a person, under applicable law,” CDSS states.
Jones expressed dissatisfaction with the process CDSS used to shut down FSGH and revoke Dubois’ license, referring to the agency’s administrative hearings as “kangaroo courts.”
“There were two days of testimonies but [CDSS] won’t give us the transcripts, which means we can’t appeal their decision,” said Jones.
In October, Gov. Newsom signed AB 175, also known as the Foster Care Rights Act, into law. The bill introduced by California Legislative Black Caucus member Mike A. Gipson (D-Carson), revises the rights of children in the care of the state. It makes provisions for foster kids to receive culturally competent care and takes other measures to reduce police intervention, which have led to high rates of kids in foster care crossing over into the juvenile delinquency system.
In an open letter to members of the San Bernardino County community, Dubois claimed that CDSS did not take issue with the way FSGH operates but instead with him being at the helm.
“Seeing that the issue was with me, I even offered to step down as executive director so that the boys wouldn’t be disrupted. CCLD denied my offer,” Dubois said.
At the rally, Harris called on Assemblymember Eloise Reyes (D-San Bernardino) and Gov. Gavin Newsom to investigate the state’s handling of FSGH and Dubois.
As for Dubois, he remains committed to seeing the case through and changing the way, he says, the system operates, especially when it comes to African-American caregivers.
“My team and I will continue to fight until things are turned around, First Step Group Homes’ name is cleared, and all 12 of our boys are back home,” Dubois said. “We are demanding that the State of California look at the systemic way people are being destroyed without due process.”
December 12, 2019
By Shannen Hill
Contributing Writer
Chef Corbin, executive chef at Alta Adams restaurant in West Adams is opening a soul food and grains restaurant in Culver City early 2020.
Growing up in Watts, Corbin learned to cook from his grandmother. He has always loved cooking but didn’t think about it as a career until four years ago. As a young adult, Corbin didn’t get the chance to build a career. His environment almost got the best of him and as a young adult he spent 10 years in prison.
“I grew up in the Jordan Downs Housing Projects in Watts, California, which is truly an impoverished and underserved community,” said Corbin, 37. “You can absolutely become brainwashed to believe that the circumstances that comes along with living in such environments are normal and a way of life, from the gang culture, violence, police brutality, drugs, and lack of opportunity and resources.”
Being in prison, Corbin really began to think of his future. He reevaluated what was important to him and came home in 2014, ready for a fresh start. Corbin began working at an oil refinery and was soon promoted. With his new position, he had to be cleared to drive the company vehicles. This resulted in the company running a background check, which showed the Corbin had been to prison. The company let him go.
Often, there are setbacks for formerly incarcerated men and women when they are trying to find work. Because of this, many parolees go back to their old lifestyle and end up back in prison; it is a vicious cycle. Fortunately for Corbin, he was able to find another job doing what he loves, cooking. He was hired at Locol Watts, where he was again, soon promoted. Within six months, he was the research and development chef of the restaurant and the director of operations.
The owners of Locol, Daniel Patterson and Roy Choi, were very impressed with Corbin and gave him opportunities to work at their fine dining restaurants to get hands on experience on culinary development. This led to them partnering with Corbin to open Alta Adams, where Corbin is currently the executive chef. In the creation of Alta Adams, Corbin wanted to make sure to give people the same opportunities that he received. He gives professional jobs and opportunity for growth to formerly incarcerated men and women.
“At Alta we hire differently than the rest of the culinary industry. We provide opportunity for underserved communities and the people that come from these communities. I’ve been to prison, our CDC Chef has been to Federal prison and our General manager has been to prison,” said Corbin. “Alta is one of the hottest new restaurants in L.A. and is being run and operated by formally incarcerated inmates that have reformed. At any other restaurants, we probably wouldn’t have gotten a job any further than dishwasher. Our vibe at Alta is different.”
The vibe at Alta is doing something right as Corbin was offered a chance to open his own restaurant from two diners.
“Two gentlemen came into Alta for dinner, enjoyed the food, service and ambience so much that they asked to speak with the chef,” said Corbin. “When I came to their table, I was handed a business card and was asked to reach out to them, which I did. Sometime later, these two gentlemen gave me an offer that I couldn’t refuse. From there, Louella’s Cali Soul was born.”
Corbin named his restaurant after his grandmother Louella, his daughter Cali, and his favorite, food Soul. However, it is not the usual take on soul food. The menu will feature grain bowls, with soulfully cooked vegetables and meat. Corbin will bring in some aspects of African cuisine, as well and work with local farmers.
Louella’s Cali Soul will open early 2020 and Corbin will remain executive chef at Alta Adams.