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.
We begin this week and this year with a special look-back by BVN’s executive editor Stephanie Williams with her editor’s picks for 2025. The article, titled, Truth, Resistance and Resilience, reflects on the year’s most impactful stories as reported by Black Voice News, from federal attacks on social safety nets to wildfires and new, statewide warehousing regulations. Despite facing a politically tumultuous and socially destabilizing year, the inland empire community also found ways to find joy and celebrate, while also making progress on key local concerns. The year’s stories set the stage for what may lie ahead in 2026.
In another retrospective titled, Black Voice News Uplifts Inland Empire Stories Through Visual Journalism in 2025, photojournalist Aryana Noroozi, who joined the team in 2022, has built community partnerships that uplift stories across the Inland Empire through her photographic images, celebrating the region’s resilience and strength. The fourth edition of the annual Black Voice News and IE Voice Year in Photos report continues building a visual archive that reflects the breadth and depth of life in the Inland Empire.
Next, in a great news story that rounded out 2025, titled Fortune School Outpaces CA by Closing the Achievement Gap for Black Students, Black Voice News reporter Alyssah Hall highlighted how the Fortune Schools, a network of tuition-free public charter schools in California, is closing the Black achievement gap by preparing scholars for college from preschool to 12th grade. The schools serve predominantly Black students and have outperformed state averages in narrowing the gap, according to the California Department of Education’s 2025 California School Dashboard. The schools emphasize intensive small group instruction with master teachers, longer school days and years, and pre- and post-testing to re-teach where academic gaps are found. More than a third of their students graduate with an associate’s degree, compared to the typical 1% of students in the state overall, regardless of race.
In another good news story, Black Voice News reported, Bishop L. Kirk Sykes and Pastor Karen Sykes, were selected as the 2026 recipients of the Moreno Valley College Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Legacy Award, recognizing their commitment to education, community leadership, and social justice in the Inland Empire. The couple has supported Moreno Valley College for over two decades through scholarships, sponsorships, student programming, and consistent engagement with campus and community initiatives. They will be honored at the 13th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarship Award Ceremony on January 23.
And in this week’s editorial titled Nexus 2026: The Third Monday in January and the First Tuesday in November, Black Voice News executive editor Stephanie Williams discusses the legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his advocacy for economic and social justice, as well as the importance of the right to vote. Williams argues that despite the progress made during King’s lifetime, the same hatred that motivated his assassination still exists today, and that the power of the ballot is crucial in the fight against racism. The article also highlights the importance of learning from the history of the Civil Rights Movement and then applying those lessons today especially in relation to the 2026 mid-term elections. Williams also encouraged readers to view the 36-minute documentary, “Voting Rights: The Struggle To Be Counted 1619-2014”. This documentary was produced in response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 25, 2013 decision in the Shelby vs Holder Voting Rights case which struck down Sections 5 of the historic Voting Rights Act.
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 Esther Gatica with Black Voice News.
