The presence of Madam Vice President-elect Kamala Harris represents the new era of America. She solidified the time for change and exemplifies the tide of cultural balance.
As the first Black and South Asian woman to be listed on a major political ballot, and the first woman to be voted on as vice president, Harris raises the awareness of a nation before her words begin to cut through her lips.
As the past generation takes her win as a nod to the countless steps made in the past for women empowerment and racial equity, the future will use her resolve as a vessel to sail through the future with a fresh force.
She is symbolic of the change America is seeing, Harris embodies the energy of a new day in American history.
Kamala Devi Harris was born on October 20, 1964, in Oakland, California to Donald Harris and Shyamalan Gopalan.
Harris was the first-born and that preliminary title follows her into a professional career. 
Harris’ family were people of strategy, with her parents holding their own in economic study and cancer research center; Kamala and her younger sister Maya were brought up in a house of mental elevation.
As a daughter of South Asian and Jamaican genetic makeup, she was aware of cultural awareness early on.
That energy is draped over her heart; Harris plans to be planted in that solidarity, to be persistent until physical evidence of Justice.
She knows how to continue on into battle, even if the odds seemed to be stacked up against her.
Empowered by the jostle of her mother, Harris pushed through seemingly unbreakable boundaries.
She holds the title as the first Black woman to have held district and general attorney roles in California’s history.
From 2004 to 2011, Harris had a meteoric effect on many communities as district attorney, finding her essence in the initiative that gives first-time drug offenders the chance to earn a high school diploma and find employment in California.
Knowing her place was at the top, Harris bloomed with the determination and perseverance to become a lawyer, district attorney, and U.S. Senator.
Longing for change, Harris wore her courtroom introduction, like a pendant of honor and embodied the statement: “Kamala Harris, For the People.”
From there, she has installed those words as part of her personal trait that shines through her platform of public policy. Harris followed in her destined role with the armor to fight against an enemy of any size.
Harris shared experiences fighting in court; she fought for the residents of working-class communities and victims of a failed system.
Harris expressed that she could recognize the hunter and hunted, and she is well suited for the battle for the sovereignty of fairness.
Before she was the first Black woman and South Asian American to be voted in as vice president, Harris was a student in a sea of new minds.
Harris attended Howard University and she graduated with her B.A. in 1986. She completed her courses to earn a Juris Doctor degree from Hastings College. Passionate to fight for justice, Harris was admitted to the state bar in 1990.
She was the leading attorney of the Career and Criminal Unit in San Francisco, eight years later.
As U.S. Senator, her “quiet and exquisite power” burrowed through testosterone filled rooms, creating the tunnel vision needed to become the vice president.
Harris overcame strongholds that left the previous political aesthetic narrow, she was the first Black woman to be on a major ballot, breaking the mold of the White male line up found in the American timeline of political candidacy.
Harris continues to stand on the words she discovered while being a prosecutor; she is for the people.
Relishing in the memories of fighting for children and survivors of sexual assault, Harris was never afraid of confrontation.
She would take on some of the most prominent banks and conglomerate companies that tried to take advantage of smaller voices.
Harris formally accepted her nomination as vice president on August 19. Her speech consisted of mindfulness, alignment, faith, and the fight this country needs to elevate to a new definition of equality and freedom.
Harris disclosed the details of her alignment with Biden, she stated, “We must elect Joe Biden.
I knew Joe as Vice President. I knew Joe on the campaign trail.
But I first got to know Joe as the father of my friend.”
Her election is the steepest crack into the glass ceiling; Harris cultivated her answer for evolution of human quality to be the vehicle navigated by the Biden Administration.
There is a shared goal of moving forward with a new sense of purpose, healing generational wounds, and restoring the health of the nation.
The Harris name now embarks on authority; she has pushed a new standard forward. The story of her victory told America, there is no need to wait permission to make the change for equality.
COVID-19 has heavily influenced the need for change. Harris stressed her strong faith in the Biden Administration to be the best guide through this new terrain.
She stated, “We believe that our country—all of us, will stand together for a better future.
We already are.”
Public policy is being represented by a Black woman, Harris continues to mirror a new dimension of change and aspires the nation to accept the new frontier.
She continues to lean on a pillar of Justice and center her purpose to bring balance back into a system that has seen the same type of political figures in seats of power.
Vice President-elect Harris continues to break barriers with each step she takes on Capitol Hill soil and her position works as a pivotal point for the course of history.
There is much to be admired about this time of acceptance. Harris intends to bring an overflow of inclusivity and balance in the White House.
Her words come with high potency to make needed change, but her presence solidifies that it will take place under her watch.
Heriza Kwanzaa, Happy Kwanzaa to African people everywhere throughout the global African community. We bring you Kwanzaa greetings of celebration, solidarity, and continuing struggle for good in the world. Kwanzaa is a special season and celebration of our sacred and expansive selves as African people.
It is a unique pan-African time of remembrance, reflection, reaffirmation, and recommitment. It is a special and unique time to remember and honor our ancestors; to reflect on what it means to be African and human in the most expansive and meaningful sense; and to reaffirm the sacred beauty and goodness of ourselves and the rightfulness of our relentless struggle to be ourselves and free ourselves and contribute to an ever-expanding realm of freedom, justice and caring in the world.
And Kwanzaa is a special and unique time and pan-African space to recommit ourselves to our highest values that teach us to live our lives, do our work, and wage our struggles in dignity-affirming, life-enhancing, and world-preserving ways as we continue forward on the upward paths of our honored ancestors.
But our celebration this year is, of necessity, different, even though it is no less needed and necessary.
For we gather together this year to celebrate Kwanzaa in the midst of the devastating pandemic of COVID-19 which continues to cause great loss of life, widespread disabling illness, economic havoc, immense suffering, and a health crisis of monumental proportions.
The infectious and deadly nature of the disease has compelled us to practice physical distancing, to limit face-to-face contact everywhere and this has taken a heavy toll on us as persons and a people.
Thus, we are compelled to reconceive our choreographies of closeness, to rethink the familiar rhythms of our daily lives, and to realign our lives to deal with the new realities we face. And we must do this, our people, without conceding or compromising our relational closeness, and losing the soul-defining essence of who we are.
Moreover, we continue to suffer, not only from the pandemic of the coronavirus, but also from the persistent and pervasive pathology of oppression in all its vicious and various forms.
And still our history and culture and the demands of our times, call and compel us to be resolute and relentless in our resistance to oppression and resilient and resourceful in our struggles to recover and care for each other in righteously African ways. Here our poet laureate, Gwen Brooks, reminds us we will weather this winter as others before.
For we are the people who constantly “conduct (our) blooming in the noise and whip of the whirlwind.” We who have survived the Holocaust of enslavement, colonialism, imperialism, and numerous hurricanes of history, will, as Howard Thurman challenged us to do, “ride the storm and remain intact.” For as Nannie Burroughs reassured us as a people, “We specialize in the wholly impossible.”
The conception and practice of Kwanzaa is rooted in both ancient African harvest celebrations and the Black Freedom Movement and thus it calls for and urges an active and ongoing commitment to African and human good and the well-being of the world.
This year’s annual theme is “Kwanzaa and the Well-Being of the World: Living and Uplifting the Seven Principles.”
It seeks to call rightful attentiveness to the immediate and urgent need to be actively concerned and caring about the well-being of the world. For as Kwame Nkrumah taught us, the affairs of Africa cannot be isolated from the world as a whole and the united world African community must “become one of the greatest forces for good in the world.”
And the crisis and challenge are, not only the daily and destructive assaults on the earth and its ecosystems, its soil, fields, forests, waters and waterways, its air and atmosphere, its animals and their habitats, and the resultant disease and devastation, but also the domination, deprivation and degradation of humans themselves by systems of interrelated oppression.
This results in unfreedom, unhealthiness and illness, homelessness, loss and lack of income, police violence, food insecurity, and lack of access to pure water, income and quality education and other necessities of life. And this must be resisted and overcome.
For in such a context of devastation and oppression, there is no real and reliable remedy except resistance, and serious and sustained struggle dedicated to African and human good and the well-being of the world and all in it.
And Kwanzaa and Kawaida philosophy, out of which Kwanzaa and the Nguzo Saba were created, pose the Nguzo Saba, The Seven Principles, as a foundational way forward in this awesome and urgent challenge to each and all of us.
Indeed, the Nguzo Saba offer us an African value system that provides morally grounded guidance for our lives and living. They serve as a mirror and measure of our living up to our highest and most beneficial values.
The First Principle, Umoja (Unity), begins with ourselves, but expands outward to include others and the world. It reaffirms Anna Julia Cooper’s assertion that “We take our stand on the solidarity of humanity, the oneness of life, and the unnaturalness of all special favoritism whether of race, sex, country or condition.”
Umoja urges a moral sensitivity and caring kinship with each other, other human beings, all living beings, and with the world itself. For as our ancestors taught, we are not only human beings (watu), but also world beings (walimwengu). And thus, they taught in the sacred text, Odu Ifa, that we must “take responsibility for the world and do good for the world.”
The Second Principle, Kujichagulia (Self-Determination), teaches us we must think and act for ourselves and define ourselves by the good we choose and do in the world. It speaks to our right and responsibility to be ourselves and free ourselves and make our own unique contribution to the radical reimagining and remaking of our societies and the world.
And Kujichagulia stresses our moral obligation to reaffirm and support this right for others, especially those oppressed and struggling for freedom, those wronged and injured and struggling for justice, and those disempowered and struggling for power over their destiny and daily lives.
The Third Principle, Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility) speaks to the ethical obligation and transformative practice of building together the good world we all want and deserve to live in and leave as a rightful legacy for future generations.
It teaches us to recognize and respect the common good in and of the world, to cultivate and harvest it together and practice an ethics of sharing this and other goods of the world.
The Fourth Principle, Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics), lifts up and promotes the values of shared work and shared wealth; the right of all people to a decent and dignity-affirming life, and thus the right of all people to a just and equitable share of the common goods of the world.
Indeed, as Wangari Maathai taught, “We must now rethink our relationship with the living world, (and) the way we manage resources.” And we must resolutely and continuously resist mindless consumerism and the plunder, pollution and depletion of the world by corporations and countries who ride roughshod over the earth and the vulnerable peoples in it.
The Fifth Principle, Nia (Purpose), teaches us the collective vocation of constantly building and developing the capacity of our people to be ourselves and free ourselves to pursue an expansive good and come into the fullness of ourselves. And it reaffirms the interrelatedness of the pursuit of African and human good and the well-being of the world.
For it remembers and reaffirms the sacred teachings of our ancestors in the Husia, that the good we do for others and the world we are also doing for ourselves. For we are building the moral community and good world we all want and deserve to live in.
The Sixth Principle, Kuumba (Creativity), uplifts and promotes the practice of the ancient African ethical principle of serudj ta, the moral obligation to repair, renew and remake the world, making it more beneficial and beautiful than we inherited it. And it interprets this as both a social and environmental practice. For oppression is damaging and destructive to us and others as well as to the world.
And as a moral and social vanguard, we must see ourselves in our ultimate agency, as injured physicians, who will heal, repair, renew and remake ourselves in the process and practice of repairing, renewing, and remaking the world. For as Mary McLeod Bethune taught “Our task is to remake the world. It is nothing less than this.”
The Seventh Principle, Imani (Faith), teaches us to believe in the good and our capacity to achieve it, share it, and leave it as a worthy legacy for those who come afterward. Let us have faith, then, in the sacred teachings of our ancestors which say to us across millennia: “Let’s do things with joy for surely humans have been divinely chosen to bring good in the world” and this is the fundamental mission and meaning of human life.
Thus, chosen by history and heaven to constantly strive to bring good in the world, we must audaciously and ceaselessly dare to do so. So, let’s continue the struggle. Keep the faith. Hold the line. Love and respect our people and each other. Seek and speak truth. Do and demand justice. Be constantly concerned with the well-being of the world and all in it.
And dare help rebuild the overarching movement that prefigures and makes possible the good world we all want and deserve to live in and leave as a legacy worthy of the name and history African.
Dr. Maulana Karenga, Professor and Chair of Africana Studies, California State University-Long Beach; Executive Director, African American Cultural Center (Us); Creator of Kwanzaa; and author of Kwanzaa: A Celebration of Family, Community and Culture and Essays on Struggle: Position and Analysis, www.OfficialKwanzaaWebsite.org; www.MaulanaKarenga.org,
Los Angeles public officials must prove their loyalty and commitment every day they hold their position. Their oath includes preserving the health, safety, and protection of the lives of the community. Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas has upheld that responsibility since 2008, and with much pride, Los Angeles watches him prepare for a new chapter in his public service career.
Through his patience and determination, Ridley-Thomas saw monumental works come to pass. He has devoted much of his life’s energy to the betterment and improvement of Los Angeles.
Former Supervisor, Ridley-Thomas favored terms like “resolve,” and “ingenuity,” because that’s what he found it takes for long-lasting initiatives and measurements to become a reality for underrepresented communities.
As the former second-district supervisor prepares for his role as a councilmember, there is a permanent imprint of his journey over two-million people that benefited from his work ethic.
Councilmember Ridley-Thomas evolves in the heightened state of change. As he began to lay the framework down as a member of the Los Angeles Board of Supervisors, the economy had reached a point of recession.
Additionally, the world witnessed the first Black President of America sit in the Oval Office.
In this new chapter, Ridley-Thomas finds his footing as a councilmember, as the world faces a moment of grave uncertainty during a viral pandemic.
As well as, a new level of equality has erupted, and the masses heed the words of the First Black woman Vice President of the United States. One can say Councilmember Ridley-Thomas is aligned with unprecedented moments in history.
Throughout Ridley-Thomas’ career, the board meetings were long, and the list of concerns in his jurisdiction was extensive.
Facing homelessness, vulnerable youth, and inequality in highly compacted communities, Ridley-Thomas looked at these generational milestones and honed into ways to meet them with a customized solution.
For Ridley-Thomas, there is always a way to the idea of equity and making it a reality for all Angelenos.
His words riled thousands, as Ridley-Thomas spoke numerous times about the truth on what can be done for the people of Los Angeles. Ridley-Thomas stands for results; each day as the supervisor of the second-district, he prepared to exercise the oath as a public servant and hear the concerns of two-million people. He has walked the same blocks of every community member, and seen those laying on the ground with their palms stretched out. Ridley-Thomas never turned a blind eye to an imbalance that lives in the streets of Los Angeles.
Noteworthy acts like Measure H will honor the community long after the movement of Ridley-Thomas. Measure H is an initiative, combatting the escalated rise in the population of the unsheltered. In 2017, Angelenos voted to tax themselves, and fund directives that look to end the tragedy for thousands experiencing homelessness.
Ridley-Thomas sat as Board Chairman when Measure H was voted in, and his words were captured, “Thanks to voters’ trust, generosity and compassion, we now have the means to implement proven strategies to end and prevent homelessness on a massive scale, and address the defining civic issue of our time.”
Working diligently right up to the brink of the COVID-19 outbreak, Ridley-Thomas spoke at the Safe Landing project in early February. As previously noted, Safe Landing was an initiative created to host ten local families in mobile homes of modern design. In its presentation, Ridley-Thomas revealed the speed of this directive coming forth in one month; he enlisted that as one of the miracles he has seen in his lifetime.
At the forefront of every platform Ridley-Thomas has stepped on, the mission for racial equity has always been present. Ridley-Thomas demonstrated his understanding of justice for all, in directives such as the ATI/ODR, and the Anti-Racism motion. More recently in his career, Ridley-Thomas orchestrated a six-page measurement, addressing institutionalized racism among the County walls of Los Angeles. In July, he made the call for recourse and a movement for anti-racist sensibility.
Supervisor Ridley-Thomas held a virtual briefing, and broke down the benchmarks of the “establishing an anti-racist Los Angeles County policy agenda.” During the wake of health and wellbeing, there needed to be an immediate action for equality for people of color in Los Angeles.
The COVID-19 outbreak did not distinguish the fire Ridley-Thomas had for equity. He did more than hold virtual meetings and socially distanced discussions. Ridley-Thomas physically moved and sought to help the community by providing them with supplies needed to waiver this viral pandemic.
In May, Ridley-Thomas rallied for unincorporated areas to receive 1.8-million dollars in federally funded emergency rental assistance.
Areas under the second-district jurisdiction include Athens, East and West Rancho Dominguez, Florence Firestone, Ladera Heights, Lennox, View Park, Windsor Hills, and Willowbrook. Within his latest acts during the COVID-19 pandemic, Ridley-Thomas traveled for several weeks and passed out over 10,000 masks to essential workers across the second-district.
Since the pandemic has escalated to over 200,000 cases, masks have been in high demand.
With the majority of Personal protective equipment (PPE) reserved for medical centers and first responders, Jobs in underserved communities are left with even fewer preventative resources.
This environment leaves them exposed to the risk of community transmission.
Ridley-Thomas acknowledged the vulnerability that left people of color, they still have the essential responsibility to work during COVID-19.
This created tremors that could engulf underserved neighborhoods. Ridley-Thomas has shown persistence, unwavering commitment, and the necessary level of work needed to be done in the community.
Reflecting on his time in public service, Ridley-Thomas said, “I find this work fulfilling.
I deliberately chose to stay here all of my life, because I see so much opportunity to do good— to make a difference.” Ridley-Thomas continued, “To me, that is what life is about, so it’s pretty natural for me to salute servant leadership, and that is essentially what I do.”
The community looks forward to the continual devotion and civic duty Councilmember Ridley-Thomas will put forward in the coming changes of history.
NBA legend, Isiah Thomas is doing fantastic work in the champagne industry. He has the number one first seeded grape champagne in the United States.Thomas not only made history playing basketball, now he's making history as an entrepreneur.
Thomas spoke with the L.A. Sentinel about his recent endeavors and partnerships to help expand his company. To reach the success where Thomas is today, it wasn't easy. Growing up in Chicago gave him the mentality to be successful in all areas of life.
Breaking into the champagne industry was challenging for Thomas, mainly because he is a Black man and according to Thomas, companies weren’t willing to work with him.
He decided to create his own, and it worked out for the better. Thomas started Cheurlin Champagne, and now they are one of the fastest-growing champagne companies in the United States. "Things are going extremely well right now. Our champagne is one of the leading sellers in some of the states.
We are putting our champagne online right now with Thirstie. When you're trying to navigate your way through COVID, everyone had to come through where we are today, on zoom and the virtual world," said Thomas.
Thomas states the partnership is unique because it gives them the e-commerce and online presence they have been looking for, and it allows them to retain customers and interact with them.
When consumers go to Cheurlin Champagne's website, they can purchase from there directly. "It's been a good working relationship, and we plan to expand it further.
When the pandemic started, Thomas brought his team together to make sure they could communicate virtually, via phone, zoom, or skype, to keep one another updated with their weekly meetings instead of meeting face-to-face.
Working virtually has given Cheurlin Champagne an extended reach.
They are not only in the United States, but they are located in Ontario, Canada as well.
To continue their success during the pandemic, Thomas gave everyone assignments. During this unprecedented time, Thomas applied essential social methods to keep the teams’ spirits high, knowing during the pandemic, people are struggling in their personal lives.
"The things we tried to do was stay
afloat and adjust our expectations, and what I said to all of our staff was that our goal is to ready ourselves to hit the ground running again once the pandemic is over."
Being in sports and entertainment has helped them thrive. Cheurlin Champagne partners with 450 NBA players, and it has helped them reach an audience of over 2.5 billion people. Thomas says, "Using the social media platform that they have and ours, we were able to stay on top of minds and expand our brand reach."
He also says sports has a way of bringing people together. "Sports also has a way of helping you communicate and being a good teammate, meaning you have to have an accomplish a goal and set a vision.
Playing in the NBA has helped Thomas become a great leader in the business world.
"What I've learned from sports, and what I've been able to bring over from sports to business is the ability to focus a group of individuals on setting a goal and setting a higher vision and then putting some values around in it,” Thomas said.
Thomas implied sports and entertainment is pretty much how the Black culture is introduced to the world through those vehicles.
He stated, "Sports and entertainment, you not only have a voice, but you have change-makers as opposed to going through the traditional route in the champagne space.
I used the assets that I had in terms of being in sports and entertainment.
Partnering with the NBA and NFL, we were able to leverage the credibility and the sustainability to move through a twelve-month cycle."
Cheurlin Champagne has one of the healthiest products in the country. Thomas recognized the American pallet was shifting towards healthier things that balanced your body rather than go against your body.
"When we look at what sugar has done to our bodies over the years, what I wanted to bring a champagne that was zero sugar or low sugar."
Thomas had naysayers telling him low sugar wasn't the way to go, and he stated the American people hadn't had the opportunity to taste low sugar champagne.
Thomas claims that they are the largest high-value producer of the first grape champagne in the world. He states, "No one can claim that.
I'm the largest African American owner- importer of the first grape champagne in the world. That means we're bringing you the best of the best every time you open up of our bottles."
It was a process of becoming the first grape champagne brand in the world. There were many doors slammed in Thomas' face, and he states those doors are still being closed today.
"We're the fastest growing, but Sam's Club and Walmart still haven’t put us on their shelves. Amazon, Whole Foods still hasn't put on their shelf, along with Target and Costco.
You can imagine all the no's that I've gotten, but I'm from the West Side of Chicago, and I keep knocking. I've been told no all my life." Thomas said he grew up shining shoes and took that mentality. “I keep pushing.”
He has been named Champagne Producer of the Year, the last two years.
"Every time somebody tastes our champagne, compared to any other champagne, they quickly decide they want the best of the best, which is ours."
Nobody has disputed any of the claims Cheurlin Champagne has made regarding being the best low-sugar and zero-sugar champagne in the world.
Cheurlin Champagne is disrupting the champagne industry, and Thomas said they have no problem with being the underdogs. "We don't mind being the disruptor.
I'm used to having the bad boy role with the Detroit Pistons, and we had to show up when it was a Laker-Celtic party, and we were the new kids on the block.
That's kind of who we are with Cheurlin Champagne.
With the Pistons, we had a good team, but people didn't know about it, so we had to let it be known.
Once we stepped on the stage, we were able to compete.
Now that our Cheurlin Champagne has stepped on the stage, and people have tasted it, now we're competing."
Thomas' company doesn't have the traditional resources that big corporations have, such as massive revenue and all the materials for their products. Cheurlin Champagne relies on its quality and a strong team to drive their success.
Thomas gives the analogy that his champagne teammates are like the best NBA players in history, but they have raggedy shoes.
"We walk in, and we are the team that has the mismatched uniforms, raggedy shoes, and holes in our socks. But on my team, I have Kareem, LeBron, Jordan, I got Magic and myself, and we're getting ready to compete. We don't have the pretty colors on our uniforms, but when the game starts, we're the best team, and that's Cheurlin Champagne right now."