Monterey Bay Black Folks Event Calendar |
Week of Mon Dec 7 through Sun Dec 13, 2020 |
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About the Monterey Bay Black Folks Event Calendar
The purpose of the Monterey Bay Black Folks Event Calendar is to connect the Black Community of CSU Monterey Bay with the local Black Communities of the Greater Monterey Bay Area. The idea for the calendar came out of the community forums organized as part of CSUMB's annual Super Saturday Black student recruitment events. The Calendar is edited by Steven Goings with new editions being released every Monday. To submit an event for possible inclusion, please send to AfricanQuazar@gmail.com. The submission deadline is Friday at 6pm.
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Editor's Note:
Throughout this newsletter, Blue Underlined copy (including above!) indicates a searchable link.
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In the Spotlight: Mrs. Ruthie Watts
The Black Folks Calendar
congratulates
Mrs. Ruthie Watts
for her selection as the
2020 recipient of the Baha'i Human Rights Award!
2020 Human Rights Day
Online Event
Sat Dec 12, 2020: Noon to 1:30
Profile:
Ruthie Watts grew up on a farm in York, South Carolina. York’s black children walked five miles each day to their segregated school, taunted by white students aboard a passing school bus. Ruthie was a basketball star and the football Homecoming Queen in high school. Ruthie married William Watts and moved to the Monterey Peninsula in 1965 with their two children as a military family.
Upon moving to the Peninsula, Mrs. Watts immediately became involved in her community, first as Charm Director for the Cotillion Ball and Ms. Black Teenage California Pageant. In 1977 she attended her first NAACP meeting and was elected Membership Chairperson. Mrs. Watts chaired and organized the NAACP Life Membership Banquet for thirty years and was given the NAACP Life Membership Award for helping Monterey Peninsula Branch become the Branch with the most Life and Golden Heritage Members in the entire NAACP.
Mrs. Watts also organized and continues to chair the Ministers/Stephen E. Ross Award Breakfast to establish a stronger working connection between the local churches and the NAACP.
Starting in 1986, Mrs. Watts served as President of the Monterey Peninsula Branch NAACP for four years. She was also elected to serve as 2nd Vice President of the NAACP Western Area Conference and was presented the Unsung Hero Award at the NAACP National Convention in New York.
Mrs. Watts has also served in leadership roles in the Salvation Army; the YWCA; Monterey Bay Links, Inc.; the Foundation to Support the Monterey Unified School District; the Coalition of Scholarship Organizations; the Monterey Peninsula College Affirmative Action Board; the Monterey County Overall Economic Development Commission Central Coast Visiting Nurses’ Association/Hospice; the Seaside Art Commission; Leadership Monterey Peninsula and chaired the Seaside Black History Program for thirty-two years.
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In the Spotlight: Congressman Joyce Beatty Elected Chair of Congressional Black Caucus:
Congresswoman Joyce Beatty is a native Ohioan with a strong history of connecting people, policy and politics to make a difference. Since 2013, Beatty has proudly represented Ohio’s Third Congressional District.
Beatty serves on the exclusive House Committee on Financial Services and is a member of two Subcommittees: Housing and Insurance and Oversight and Investigations. The Financial Services Committee oversees the entire financial services industry, including the nation’s banking, securities, insurance, and housing industries, as well as the work of the Federal Reserve, the United States Department of the Treasury and the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.
A sought after public speaker and the recipient of numerous awards, she was previously named one of Ebony Magazine’s 150 most powerful African-Americans in the United States.
Congresswoman Beatty is active in The Links, Inc., Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., National Coalition of 100 Black Women, Columbus Urban League, The American Heart Association—where she previously served on the board—and numerous other organizations.
Beatty received her Bachelor of Arts from Central State University, her Master of Science from Wright State University, and completed all requirements but her dissertation for a doctorate at the University of Cincinnati. In addition, she has been awarded honorary doctorate degrees from Ohio Dominican University and Central State University.
Congresswoman Beatty is married to attorney Otto Beatty, Jr. and a proud grandmother of two toddlers who lovingly call her “Grammy.”
Click Here to read full profile on Congressman Beatty's official House of Representatives page.
Press Release from Beatty's Congressional Webpage
U.S. Congresswoman Joyce Beatty (OH-03) was elected the 27th Chair of the powerful Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) today. Immediately following the vote, she said:
“It is the honor of a lifetime to be voted by my peers to lead the Congressional Black Caucus in the 117th Congress. Right now, our nation is facing three pandemics that have disproportionately impacted the lives of Black Americans: COVID-19, economic turmoil, and social injustice. As Chair, I will work with the Biden Administration, House and Senate Leadership, as well as my congressional colleagues, to defeat the pandemic and ensure better days lie ahead for all of us. Moreover, I will use my voice to address enduring economic and health disparities and fight to break the chains of systemic racism that have held back the Black community for far too long.
The Caucus will mark its 50th anniversary in 2021, and I will do everything in my power to build upon our previous successes, work to create racial wealth equity and sustainability, increase access to affordable healthcare, housing and education, reform our criminal justice system, and clean up our environment.
Together—standing on the shoulders of the 13 CBC founders—we will continue to fight for our families, fight for our communities, and fight for justice for all.”
Since its establishment in 1971, the CBC has been committed to using the full Constitutional power, statutory authority, and financial resources of the federal government to ensure that African Americans and other marginalized communities in the United States have the opportunity to achieve the American Dream. As part of this commitment, the CBC has fought for the past 49 years to empower these citizens and address their legislative concerns. For the 117th Congress, the CBC will be comprised of a historic 57 members in the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate.
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In the Spotlight: The Congressional Black Caucus:
Since its establishment in 1971, the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) has been committed to using the full Constitutional power, statutory authority, and financial resources of the federal government to ensure that African Americans and other marginalized communities in the United States have the opportunity to achieve the American Dream. As part of this commitment, the CBC has fought for the past 48 years to empower these citizens and address their legislative concerns by pursuing a policy agenda that includes but is not limited to the following:
- reforming the criminal justice system and eliminating barriers to reentry;
- combatting voter suppression;
- expanding access to world-class education from pre-k through post-secondary level;
- expanding access to quality, affordable health care and eliminating racial health disparities;
- expanding access to 21st century technologies, including broadband;
- strengthening protections for workers and expanding access to full, fairly-compensated employment;
- expanding access to capital, contracts, and counseling for minority-owned businesses; and
- promoting U.S. foreign policy initiatives in Africa and other countries that are consistent with the fundamental right of human dignity.
The CBC is engaged at the highest levels of Congress with members who serve in House leadership. Representative James E. Clyburn (D-SC) serves as the Majority Whip in the House of Representatives, Representative Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) serves as Chairman of the House Democratic Caucus and Representative Barbara Lee (D-CA) serves as co-chair of the House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee. In addition, five CBC members serve as chairs on full House committees, and 28 CBC members serve as chairs on House subcommittees.
While the CBC has predominately been made up of members of the Democratic Party, the founding members of the caucus envisioned a non-partisan organization. Consequently, the CBC has a long history of bipartisan collaboration and members who are both Democrat and Republican.
As founding member Rep. William L. Clay, Sr. said when the CBC was established, “Black people have no permanent friends, no permanent enemies…just permanent interests.”
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Black Lives Matter launches Black Love Letters campaign:
Learn more through this video about our #BlackLoveLetters campaign and why it’s so important that we participate in writing #BlackLoveLetters to one another — then, get to writing!
The attacks the USPS continues to face are not just attacks on the postal service but attacks on Black lives.
With federal desegregation in the early 1920s, the postal service became one of the first and largest opportunities for Black people to become a part of the middle class. Today, nearly 50% of postal workers are Black and brown folks. For the everyday Black worker, the postal service has represented the dignified, stable employment they deserve and are often refused elsewhere. To defund the USPS would be to deny future generations this opportunity and dishonor the legacy of Black postal workers.
Now, we’re taking this matter into our own hands by writing and sending #BlackLoveLetters through USPS. In our #BlackLoveLetters video, we asked parents to write love letters to their children. Their letters embody everything our movement stands for: why Black Lives Matter.
While we do our part, we also believe the federal government should get to work ensuring the long term success of the USPS through programs such as postal banking. Measures like this would not only increase employment and revenue at the postal service but also further economic justice by expanding access to secure banking in communities of color.
Through #BlackLoveLetters, we are celebrating our historic contributions to the USPS and demanding that our legacy be protected. Over the next few days, we’ll be sharing on social media remixes of stamps celebrating Black people done by supremely talented Black artists as well as love letters written by some of our friends which you can see in our video.
By sending #BlackLoveLetters, we are centering love, connection, and beauty in a time of isolation, tension, and change. Every day, we embody the spirits of our ancestors and can connect through this creative intervention — all the while, it fuels our movement as we uplift and support our friends and family at the USPS.
Whether you’re writing to yourself, to an ancestor, to this country, to a friend, or to a family member, there are so many ways to get creative with this. Then, just buy a few stamps at your nearest post office, and send it!
Together, we heal, we love, and we connect to one another near and far as we celebrate and support our historical and current ties to the U.S. Postal Service.
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NAACP Executive Committee Member and MPC Governing Board Trustee, Rosalyn Green, wants the Black Community to know about these free online workshops...
Space is first-come, first-serve, so sign up today!
Ways to build and improve-Resilience
Wednesday, December 16, 2020
6:00 pm-9:00 pm
This workshop uses neuroscience-informed practices with an emphasis on the development of emotional resilience in oneself and children. The workshop is designed on the three building blocks of emotional resilience, enriching personal relationships, and optimizing the brain in learning. The participants build knowledge and practical strategies that will improve executive function skills.
Monterey Peninsula College in partnership with From The Root: Educational Consulting Firm is pleased to offer Supporting Families: Combating Crisis Fatigue (SFCCF) workshops.
These workshops are designed to support families during these challenging times. They will give families effective tools to not only survive but thrive as we move forward to 2021. The workshops offer practical skills to enhance parents’ abilities to support their children who may be experiencing hardships including trauma. Their focus is the development of parent skills to help children cope in healthy ways, develop resilience, and preserve mental health.
Our families are living through the most vulnerable times and collective traumatic experiences (a psychological effect shared by a group of people of any size, up to and including an entire society) ever faced in the past century due to the pandemic. The need to locate and support parents through trauma-informed and trauma-sensitive training to work from the root of psychological needs is imperative. It is one of the essential keys to preserving mental health and optimizing resilience for our families in Monterey County. Participation is welcomed by all parents or caregivers of school-aged children living in Monterey County. The workshops will be offered virtually and are free!
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Truth Be Told -- Dirrick Williams:
To understand racism three forms of racism should be recognized, systemic, structural, and institutionalized. This video will discuss racism in these three forms and how the power of racism is sustained.
Dirrick Williams
Dirrick Williams Enterprises, LLC
Office: 831-383-1261
Cellular: 831-383-2205
Authorship:
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F*&K Your Diet with Chloe Hilliard
December 9, 2020
7:00pm — 8:00pm
Join OSU and OC3 for Self Care in Action Week as Chloe Hilliard, journalist turned comedian, discusses society's body norms and the holiday season.
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Upcoming
Community Events:
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to Register for 2020 Human Rights Day Event honoring Mrs. Ruthie Watts
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Useful Links:
New! County Employment Opportunities: Monterey County Supervisor Elect Wendy Askew encourages community members to "register for job announcements from the County - and to apply for anything that seems interesting so that your resume gets into the system."
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Here is something the Monterey County Branch NAACP is working on. You can send your entries directly to lbogene@yahoo.com
- Check out the list and add your bio and photo to it.
- We all know the so-called criminal justice system treats our folks much more harshly than others, sometimes just having community members show up at court can make a difference in how things turn out.
- Check it out or add your favorite to the list
- With so few African Americans working in our K-12 and higher education systems, our kids have too few opportunities to see professionals and role models who look like them. We are looking for Black community members and professionals who can be called on to be occasional guest speakers in local classrooms.
- Just the basic public contact and position info
- Check out the current list of churches, update existing entries or add new ones.
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Monterey Bay Black Folks Weekly Event Calendar
Submit to AfricanQuazar@gmail.com
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