You’re listening to 91-9 KVCR. This is In Focus with Black Voice News, where we highlight stories you may have missed. I’m Esther Gatica.
Our opening story this week, Rev. Dr. Queen Shamala Smith Celebrates Art and Healing at Solo Exhibition, features Rev. Dr. Queen Shamala Ifawuyi (E-Fa-Woo-E) Bessie Davis Smith, a retired high school English teacher, counselor and magnet school principal, who recently held a solo exhibition and book signing at the Art by Wash Community Center in Compton, CA. Smith uses a technique called "sculpt painting," which features textured acrylic on canvas. This style of painting is classified as "outside art" or "salon style" by gallery owners. The exhibition also celebrated Smith’s soon-to-be-released publication, "The Books of Love Healing Trauma," which is the third book in a trilogy about her life. Smith's work–whether written or visual–is said to transcend the spiritual and the material, the seen and the unseen.
Our next story, Governor Newsom Announces Underutilized State Property in Riverside to Become 209 Affordable Homes, revisits California’s initiative to convert underutilized state-owned land into affordable housing. The goal is to help address the state’s housing and homelessness crisis, something experienced here in the inland region as it is throughout the state. Newsom’s executive order has enabled the development of hundreds of affordable homes around the state. The good news in the Inland Empire is that this effort includes Mulberry Gardens Senior Apartments and Mulberry Gardens Family Apartments in Riverside. The project, which broke ground recently and is being developed by Eden Housing, will provide 209 affordable housing units for low-income households, low-income seniors, and families. The development is made possible through a combination of Section 8 vouchers, local funds, state funding, and private sources.
Next, Black Voice News reporter Breanna Rep. highlighted U.S. House Representative Eric Swalwell’s near Thanksgiving announcement that he is running for governor of California in 2026. Swalwell, a Democrat, has now joined a crowded field of Democrats competing for this office that includes former state controller Betty Yee, former U.S. Health Secretary Xavier Becerra, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, and California Superintendent of Schools Tony Thurmond. Swalwell, who has been a member of Congress since 2013, is known for his opposition to President Donald Trump and his involvement in Trump’s impeachment trial. Swalwell and the other candidates face several economic, political, and social challenges, including affordability, homelessness, an enduring housing crisis, and climate disasters.
Also this week, Black Voice News Environmental Justice reporter Aryana Noroozi, reported on San Bernardino’s Future Green Leaders Summit. Over 500 middle-school students from 11 Title I schools in San Bernardino and Rialto attended the 3rd Annual event, a STEAM career and resource fair presented by the Southern California Regional Energy Network or SoCalREN. The summit was designed to give students curated lessons on sustainability and clean energy, and featured costumed superheroes representing different renewable energy sources, board games tackling extreme heat and drought, and artificial intelligence helping them redesign neighborhoods after climate disasters. The annual event seeks to connect students in communities shouldering the brunt of pollution to the clean energy transition.
And in this week’s Keeping it Real, Black Voice News executive editor Stephanie Williams shares her opinion on a major lawsuit settlement that involved the maltreatment and arrest of a ten-year-old Black student with special needs in the Moreno Valley School District by school police in 2020. The plaintiffs argued that the district systematically denied the student the legally mandated support services required under federal and state education laws, and that school police officers used excessive force and discriminated against the student based on his disability and race. The settlement awarded for attorney's fees and litigation costs amounted to $5,354,260, and the total settlement amount could range between $26,771,300 and $53,542,600. Although the settlement agreement avoided a trial, this case once again called into question the leadership of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department. In addition, a partial ruling in the case made in 2023, stated the Moreno Valley Unified School District had broken the law and violated the American With Disabilities Act. It further ordered the school district to change its policing policy. This order is believed to be the first such ruling in the nation and could eventually change the state of policing in schools across the country.
To read these and other BVN stories in their entirety, please visit blackvoicenews.com. This segment and collaboration with KVCR is made possible with support from the Inland Empire Journalism Hub & Fund. Until next time, I’m Nyla Glover with Black Voice News.
