March 29, 2018 

NNPA Newswire 

 

The NAACP, the nation's foremost civil rights organization, has joined a coalition of other social justice organizations to push for more affordable housing policies across the country through the “Opportunity Starts at Home” campaign.

 

Recent NLIHC research shows the U.S. has a shortage of 7.2 million rental homes affordable and available to extremely low income (ELI) renters, and 11 million ELI renter households are severely housing cost-burdened, spending more than half of their incomes on housing. There are only 35 affordable and available rental homes for every 100 ELI households nationwide, and no state has an adequate supply of affordable rental housing for the lowest income renters. Just 1 out of 4 eligible low-income households receives federal housing assistance.

 

The consequences of America’s affordable housing crisis are spilling over into many other areas like the education, health care, civil rights, anti-hunger, homelessness, and anti-poverty sectors.  By combining voices and expertise, leading organizations from these sectors seek to build a broad national movement that promotes federal policies that protect and expand affordable housing.

 

“The NAACP is proud to join this multi-sector housing campaign as it aligns with our goal of economic equality in housing,” said Derrick Johnson, NAACP President and CEO. “The research is increasingly clear that housing affects all aspects of a quality life; therefore, federal housing policy is very important for the people we serve. We find that threats to federal housing assistance are unprecedented and this campaign will indeed shed a brighter light on the needs of all communities.”

 

The Opportunity Starts at Home campaign launched March 20, 2018 at the National Low Income Housing Coalition’s (NLIHC’s) Housing Policy Forum in Washington, D.C. With financial support from the Funders for Housing and Opportunity, NLIHC launched this new multi-sector affordable homes campaign together with the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Children’s HealthWatch, Make Room, and the National Alliance to End Homelessness. The NAACP is part of the steering committee of the campaign, which includes, Catholic Charities USA, Children’s Defense Fund, Community Catalyst, Food Research and Action Center, National Alliance on Mental Illness, National Association of Community Health Centers, National Education Association, and UnidosUS.

 

Joining the Opportunity Starts at Home campaign is part of the NAACP's commitment to advocating for the Economic Sustainability—1 of its 6 game changer issues. Affordable and inclusive housing has historically been a roadblock for many African-Americans on the path to financial growth, and present-day policies still fall short in closing the economic gap between Black Americans and their white counterparts.

 

The Opportunity Starts at Home campaign seeks to mobilize powerful new constituencies beyond housing to ensure that people with the lowest incomes have access to safe, decent, affordable housing in neighborhoods where everyone has equitable opportunities to thrive.

 

The long-term goals of the campaign are to promote federal policies that:

 

• Bridge the growing gap between renter incomes and rising housing costs;

 

• Provide aid to people experiencing job losses or other economic shocks to avert housing instability or homelessness; and

 

• Expand the affordable housing stock for the lowest-income renters.

 

The campaign will also act to defend against funding cuts and harmful policy changes in existing low income housing programs.

 

Opportunity Starts at Home is also working to strengthen the capacities of multi-sector state coalitions that share the campaign’s goals.  The campaign has already issued capacity-building grants to partners in seven states: California, Idaho, Maine, New Jersey, Ohio, Oregon, and Utah.

 

“The time to act is now,” said Diane Yentel, NLIHC president and CEO. “The housing affordability problem has reached historic heights. Federal housing assistance is chronically underfunded and faces increasing threats. It’s time for those who believe that everyone in America deserves a safe and affordable home to join in a movement that will ensure fundamental opportunities for people most in need.”

 

“UnidosUS is dedicated to improving opportunities for Latinos and we’re especially proud of our work over the past 50 years to empower Latinos to contribute and to share in the nation’s economic opportunities,” said Eric Rodriguez, UnidosUS vice president for policy and advocacy. “A good home is the foundation for many of those opportunities: a better education for our children, enhanced employment opportunities, and a safe and stable place for families to live. We joined Opportunity Starts at Home because too many hardworking families struggle to keep a roof over their heads and it will take all sectors of society to make progress and ensure that more Americans, including Latinos, have a place to call home.”

 

“The United States cannot say we cherish our children when millions of extremely poor children each year suffer through homelessness or are denied access to safe and affordable housing,” said Richard Hooks Wayman, national executive director of the Children’s Defense Fund. “Research shows that half of our intelligence potential is developed by age four. Positive child development is linked to a sense of safety, predictability, and routines. We must do our part to ensure that children have housing stability during a critical stage of development. We must do our part to ensure that housing in this nation is affordable and accessible. And we must do our part to ensure that investments in affordable housing production that keep children safe and secure is continued.”

 

“NAMI is proud to be a part of this multi-sector housing campaign, because access to decent, safe and affordable housing is a critical need for people living with a mental illness,” said Andrew Sperling, director of legislative and policy advocacy at the National Alliance on Mental Illness. “It is simply not possible to achieve recovery and a full life in the community without stable housing.  Given the current threats to rental assistance programs it is critical that NAMI joins with our partners across so many diverse sectors to fight for policies and future investments in affordable rental housing programs.”

 

“NEA is committed to the three million members and the 50 million students we serve and are pleased to support programs, campaigns and initiatives that are in support of students, educators and families,” said Lily Eskelsen Garcia, president of the National Education Association. “We understand and know firsthand the impacts affordable and stable housing have on student success. We also know that given the wages and income of some of our members, it impacts where they work as well as their own families.”

 

“Housing affordability is one of the greatest challenges facing our nation. It limits economic mobility, reinforces racial inequities, reduces health and education outcomes, and is a primary driver of homelessness in the United States,” said Nan Roman, president and CEO of the National Alliance to End Homelessness. “The Opportunity Starts at Home campaign brings together an unprecedented multi-sector coalition, focused on increasing critically needed federal investments in affordable housing. We are honored to be part of this important effort.”

 

“No one should be without a safe and stable home, which is why the Opportunity Starts at Home campaign is so critical, especially now,” said Ali Solis, president and CEO of Make Room Inc. “By partnering with organizations from the healthcare, housing and education sectors who share our mission, Make Room hopes to accelerate our goal of creating a country where everyone has a home that they can afford. We are honored to be part of this important campaign.”

 

“Too often, the issues of housing, health, education and income security are considered in silos, separate from one another,” said Doug Rice, senior policy analyst for the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. “But a home is much more than just four walls and a roof; it’s the pathway to a healthier, more prosperous, and more secure life, and something that far too many Americans cannot attain. We are excited to join forces with leaders in so many fields to advance effective solutions to help our nation’s most vulnerable.”

 

“A stable, affordable home is a prescription for good health,” said Dr. Megan Sandel, principal investigator with Children’s HealthWatch. “Children’s HealthWatch is excited to join our colleagues on the Opportunity Starts at Home campaign to identify solutions that provide access to safe, decent, affordable housing in neighborhoods where everyone has equitable opportunities to thrive.”

 

Learn more about the Oppor­tunity Starts at Home campaign at www.OpportunityHome.org.

March 29, 2018 

By Brian W. Carter 

Contributing Writer 

 

Well, it’s turning out to be one of the biggest “who knew” questions of the year when it comes to comedian Byron Allen. Bet you didn’t know that besides making people laugh for years, he’s also an entrepreneur, media mogul and the CEO of his own company, Entertainment Studios, Inc. Founded by Allen in 1993, Entertainment Studios is a global media production and distribution company with 8 HD networks, dozens of syndicated shows, over 5,000 hours of HD programming, a film distribution company, a podcast network, and more to come. But, that’s not the big news, this is—Allen recently acquired the Weather Channel for around $300 million, making it a now Black-owned company.

 

“The Weather Channel is one of the most trusted and extremely important cable networks, with information vitally important to the safety and protection of our lives,” said Allen.

 

“We are excited to join Entertainment Studios, and we are especially proud to be part of one of the largest emerging global media companies,” said Dave Shull, CEO of The Weather Channel. “Byron Allen’s purchase of our innovative and forward-thinking organization will increase the value we bring to our viewers, distributors, and advertisers.”

 

In the early 1970s, Weather Central develops the first on-air weather system using computer graphics with WSI being founded on December 29, 1978 (WSI). In the early 1980s, there is expansion into aviation weather systems and WSI is the first to provide aviation weather briefings via dial-up, called Pilotbrief. The Weather Channel debuts on May 2, 1982 becoming the first 24-hour weather programming and first national TV network able to automatically customize content based on viewer location. For over three decades, The Weather Channel has provided national and local weather forecast for cities, as well as weather radar, report and hurricane coverage.

 

Allen moved from Detroit to Los Angeles, when his mother took an internship at NBC. The exposure to television shows such as “The Tonight Show”, “Sanford and Son” and more encouraged his interest in entertainment. At the age of 14, Allen began performing standup comedy at amateur clubs which led to chance meetings with likes of comedian Jimmie Walker, David Letterman and Jay Leno. He would go on to appear on “The Tonight Show” becoming the youngest person to do so and made appearances on “Dinah”, “Hollywood Squares”, and the “Merv Griffin Show”.

 

NBC would offer Allen the job of co-host on “Real People”, and early reality TV show. While working on “Real People”, he learned television production and started thinking up his own television shows. In 1992, Allen got multiple breaks hosting “Kickin’ It With Byron Allen”, “Entertainers with Byron Allen”, “The Byron Allen Show” and “Comics Unleashed”. “Entertainers with Byron Allen”,  was a weekly series profiling film and television stars that ran for 32 series, setting the record for the largest independent producer of first-run syndicated programming for broadcast television globally. The Byron Allen Show premiered on 155 television stations. Now with his media production, Allen is set to make even more strides in the network industry.

 

“We welcome The Weather Channel, which has been seen in American households for nearly four decades, to our cable television networks division. The acquisition of The Weather Channel is strategic, as we begin our process of investing billions of dollars over the next five years to acquire some of the best media assets around the world,” said Allen.

March 15, 2018 

City News Service 

 

Seven women from the L.A. Street Vendor Campaign were arrested outside City Hall last Friday during a protest against a proposal that would give brick-and-mortar business owners veto power over street vendors receiving licenses to work on their block.

 

The Los Angeles City Council voted in February 2017 to stop making street vending a misdemeanor criminal charge, although it is being penalized through citations as the council works on a legalized permit system for the industry that may include the veto proposal.

 

According to the L.A. Street Vendor Campaign, about 80 percent of all street vendors are women.

 

“This business veto puts them at risk. They are already suffering from businesses extorting them, charging them to use public right-of-ways on the sidewalks, and if this business veto stays in the policy, it will hurt our street vendors and it will hurt the women who go out on the day to day to provide for their family,” said Isela Gracian, president of the East L.A. Community Corporation.

 

About 100 activists participated in the demonstration, then some of them entered City Hall to visit the offices of City Council members. Upon exiting the building, seven of them entered Main Street between City Hall and City Hall East, blocked traffic and were arrested for unlawful assembly, according to Sgt. Barry Montgomery with the Los Angeles Police Department’s Media Relations office.

 

“They extort us for money to use public property and City Council cannot continue to allow that. Our elected officials have to come up with better policy,” said Debbie Hyman, a street vendor from the Leimert Park neighborhood. “These women getting arrested are making sure our voices are heard because it’s a matter of justice for women.”

 

Two Los Angeles City Council committees approved a comprehensive plan in November for a regulated permit system for street vending, which is also referred to as sidewalk vending. The plan would end the city’s distinction as the nation’s only major municipality that bans the practice. But the proposal is still working its way through the City Council and would bring significant regulation to the industry, including a permitting process that could generally only allow two vendors per block.

 

“It’s alarming to know that we are the largest city without a vending policy,” Councilman Joe Buscaino said in November. “If you look, cities around the world have vending policies that work for everyone. This is exactly our end goal, and today the system is a failure, it’s an embarrassment.”

 

Last month, Sen. Ricardo Lara, D-Bell Gardens, introduced a bill that would prevent cities from regulating or banning vending unless they develop a permitting system. The system would not allow cities to “unreasonably restrict” vendors to operate only in certain areas, and also would prevent municipalities from requiring a vendor to get the consent or approval of any non-governmental entity or individual.

 

"I'm here today representing 800,000 union workers in the county of Los Angeles to stand in solidarity with street vendors, and I'm proud to carry on the legacy of the labor movement honoring women and especially women of color in the informal economy as drivers of social change," said Rosemary Molina, a field director at the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor.

 

"We are in a critical moment as a city," she said. "We have begun to decriminalize and legalize street vending, but we have not gone far enough and it is time to be bold. We must stand against a business veto which would give private business owners governing power over public space."

 

Pressure to give businesses veto power over street vending on their block has been coming from some business groups, and also raises a number of legal issues. Chief Legislative Analyst Sharon Tso, in a report to the council, recommended that the city attorney be consulted before letting businesses have a say in street vending in their area.