Dudley Najieb also talks with California Relief Grant expert ahead of Jan. 13 deadline.
By ONME Newswire
ONR producer host, Julia Dudley Najieb interviews small business expert, Salena Pryor, who is urging people to fill out the California Relief Grant due Jan 13.
The Governor announced the creation of a $500 million COVID Relief Grant for small businesses that have been impacted by COVID and the health and safety restrictions. Funds would be awarded in amounts up to $25,000 to underserved micro and small businesses throughout the state by early 2021. Non-profits would also be eligible for these grants. The grant portal opened December 30, 2020, at 6 AM; the deadline has been extended to January 13, 2021, at 11:59 PM.
Producer host Julia Dudley Najieb interviewed about the California Relief Grant, Salena R. Pryor, Black Small Business Association of California, president. Her organization is available right now for African-American businesses to get through the process, which is much easier than what some people may think.
Then Dudley Najieb recaps on part 2 of "How Safe Is Youe Right to Vote?", featuring three attorney experts who explain the letigations cases and voter suppression: Judith A. Browne Dianis, Dr. Gabriela D. Lemus and Myrna Perez, Director.
Watch part 1 of "How safe is your right to vote?" now!
Voting is the most basic right in American democracy but many are surprised to
learn it's not enshrined in the U.S. Constitution. Despite unprecedented voter turnout on
Nov. 3 and in the Jan. 5 Georgia Senate runoffs, voting barriers persist and public distrust
of election outcomes is at historic levels. What are key proposals for rebuilding trust and
reforming the electoral system?
This episode, features election experts:
Judith A. Browne Dianis, a civil rights attorney and co-director of the Advancement Project talked about how the recent insurrection was not because of fear, but due to the idea of having to share power; white supremacist are watching the rise in power among people of color who are becoming the majority.
According to Dianis, January 6 proved there is a rise of the majority who are becoming the minority because they do not like the idea of having to share power.
"It is reminiscent of many painful points throughout our political history specifically during the reconstruction period," said Dianis. "It also is a moment we must be reflective of race not only because of the people who took over the capital ... but they came carrying confederate flags, with the theory that the confederate would rise again."
Dianis reflected on this past summer when people were marching on behalf of the Black Lives Matter movement; Black men were dying disproportionately at the hands of law enforcement.
"We must remember that race is central to what is happening. The insurrection is about the rise of the confederacy and the rise of white supremacy."
Dianis also said the requirements of one's ID during voting is too restrictive; she has not seen the proof of widespread fraud of voters pretending they are someone else; she noted that there are heavy penalties for such actions. She suggested other ways to determine one's identification such as through phone bills or student IDs.
Dr. Gabriela D. Lemus, Board chair of Mi Familia Vota and Centers for Common Ground, talked about her organizations which helped to invoke Latino voting power by educating them through these initial swing states: California, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, Texas and Florida. These have been important swing states in elections.
"You have to have lon-term engagement in order to have Latino voting power, explained Lemus."
The pandemic created unprecedented challenges for their organizaton because they usually do one-on-ones for new citizens and youth; usually to people who have never voted. But people lost their jobs and other crises. So they created their digital capacity but there is still the hurdle of the digital divide in the Latino community.
"Latinos are the nation's largest share of non-white voters."
Myrna Perez, director, Brennan Center's Voting Rights and Elections Program talked about
what they learned during the litigation of election cases and the process of state’s changing policy due to the pandemic. She also talked about the rise in misinformation, disinformation and intimidation practices toward voters of color.
"35 states changed some policy they had that made it easier to vote in November, said Perez. "We don't see this type of reform this quickly in ordinary circumstances. We usually see this a few times per year."
Perez also said they learned a lot from this experience.
"This country is terrible about making sure that people know how to get access to vote."
Perez also suggested that the country collectively must become more resourceful with information toward voting. She suggests passing the John Lewis Voting Right's Act which would address voting suppression, as states use the rubric of the list of 7 categories.
Perez said it is also imperative that more money is spent to address the international cyber attacks; Congress did not do a good job of providing these resources. Most resources went to the COVID-19 pandemic emergency instead.
Dedicated listeners, viewers and followers can find past ONR news producer, Dudley Najieb's weekly podcasts, The ONME News Review - News Too Real here.
Each week host Dudley Najieb broadcasts show News Too Real live under the ONME News Review, which distributes its original podcasts through The ONME Network and various third-party locations: watch her on the ONME Podcast Network at ONME TV Channel; listen via several external audio podcast outlets including: Apple Podcast, Spotify, Google Podcast, Castbox, Deezer, Podcast Addict, JioSaavn, Podchaser, iHeartRadio, Listennotes.com, and Spreaker; OTT apps Roku and Amazon Fire, and offline via cable TV. Audio podcasts are also available on the ONME News website.
In the Central Valley, from Stanislaus County to Tulare County, viewers can watch ONME original podcast programming during the ONME Network's time slot on TV (CMAC) Comcast Channel 93 and AT&T Channel 99. Watch The ONME News Review - News too Real on CMAC TV channels at 9:00 AM on Wednesdays and Thursdays, with encore broadcasts on Fridays at 6:00 PM.
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