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Vol. 63 No. 12
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Thursday, March 23, 2023
The California Black Media Political Playback:
Five Must-Know Stories
Your weekly California Black Media news roundup
www.sdvoice.info
Serving San Diego County’s African & African American Communities 63 Years
One Resident’s Nightmare with City of San Diego Hiring
PHOTO: Wikimedia Commons
early two weeks ago, a representative from the City of San Diego announced on ABC 10 news that the city was hiring.
Throughout my career I’ve never really been interested in working for the city as an official government employee. However, after watching how ABC 10 news has diversified its staff to include phenomenal talents like Wale Aliya, Nia Watson and Moses Small, I figured that if a large media conglomerate like ABC could practice DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion), then I am sure applying to the City of San Diego would be a step in the right direction. After all, in 2021, the City created the Office of Race and Equity. With one of its intended goals “to end racial disparities within City government by advancing fairness in hiring and promotions,” little did I realize that my application process would rapidly turn into an absolute nightmare.
By Tanu Henry CALIFORNIA BLACK MEDIA
Five California Cities Sign First Partner’s Equal Pay Pledge Last week, California First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom announced five cities — Oakland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Long Beach, and Fresno — have signed the California Equal Pay Pledge. “The California Equal Pay pledge is a partnership between the Office of the First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom, the California Commission on the Status of Women and Girls, and the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency to turn the strongest equal pay laws in the nation into the smallest pay gap in the nation,” according to the governor’s office.
SEE PAGE 9
By Katrina Hamilton
N
Kimberley Ellis, Director of the San Francisco Department on the Status of Women speaking at a press conference March 14 in Sacramento. Standing behind her is First Partner Jennifer Newsom and Government Operations Secretary Amy Tong. PHOTO: Felicia Rule
UNCF SAN DIEGO SCHOLARSHIPS AWARDED
First off, the city had an opening for a Literacy Coordinator’s position. I decided to enthusiastically apply since the possession of a Masters Degree in Education or Social Sciences would substitute for the job required experience. I’ve had my Master of Arts in Education for years. As a matter of fact, with my additional two years experience for this particular position, it appeared that this was a perfect match. However, to my surprise, I received an email one day after the position closed stating that my application was ineligible to move forward based on me not meeting the minimum requirements. Baffled, I made certain to call ASAP since the correspondence stated I only had five days to respond with any questions.
Covid-19 cases in southeast SOURCE: County of San Diego [Updated 3/16/2023]
14,646
22,208
20,846
25,102
18,454
12,492
92102
92105
92113
92114
92115
92139
SEE PAGE 8
OUR NEGRO NATIONAL ANTHEM: SOMETHING EVERYONE SHOULD KNOW? SEE PAGE 7
Silicon Valley Bank Collapse
Concerns Founders of Color By Kat Stafford and Claire Savage ASSOCIATED PRESS
a bank to open an account, because they’re visiting parents overseas.
preneurs face while attempting to navigate industries historically rife with racism.
One clear theme emerged: a deep concern about the broader impact on startups led by people of color.
“All these folks that have very special circumstances based on their identity, it’s not something that they can just change about themselves and that makes them unbankable by the top four (large banks),” said Asya Bradley, a board member of numerous startups who has watched the WhatsApp group grapple with SVB’s demise.
While Wall Street struggles to contain the banking crisis after the swift demise of SVB — the nation’s 16th largest bank and the biggest to fail since the 2008 financial meltdown — industry experts predict it could become even harder for people of color to secure funding or a financial home supporting their startups.
Siebel Newsom said public and private partnerships are essential to closing the gender gap.
See PLAYBACK page 6
CITY WIDE YOUTH BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS
PUBLIC HEALTH ORDER & COVID UPDATES SEE PAGE 11
“From building credit to building wealth, we know that the wage gap has greatly hindered progress toward actualizing women’s equality,” says Ellis. “The City and County of San Francisco is proud to support the First Partner’s initiative and look forward to doing our part to making pay equity a reality for all women in the Golden State.”
California Black Media is following up with a report on gender and employment that focuses on data specific to Black women.
SEE PAGE 8
See NIGHTMARE page 6
Kimberly Ellis, Director of the San Francisco Department on the Status of Women, said closing the gender gap is something California “must do.”
“Pay inequity stems from a patriarchal system that was not built with gender equity in mind, but instead built to keep money and power in the hands of few men in control,” she said.
ROLANDO STREET FAIR
Silicon Valley Bank headquarters. PHOTO: Wikimedia Commons
I
n the hours after some of Silicon Valley Bank’s biggest customers started pulling out their money, a WhatsApp group of startup founders who are immigrants of color ballooned to more than 1,000 members.
Questions flowed as the bank’s financial status worsened. Some desperately sought advice: Could they open an account at a larger bank without a Social Security Number? Others questioned whether they had to physically be at
SVB had opened its doors to such entrepreneurs, offering opportunities to form crucial relationships in the technology and financial communities that had been out of reach within larger financial institutions. But smaller players have fewer means of surviving a collapse, reflecting the perilous journey minority entre-
Banking expert Aaron Klein, a senior fellow in Economic Studies at the Brookings Institution, said SVB’s collapse could exacerbate racial disparities. See BANK page 6
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