Los Angeles area Muslims share their thoughts about America's reaction to the San Bernardino shooting, teaching kids tolerance, Mattel's Ava DuVernay Barbie
After vigil, San Bernardino Board of Supervisors chair: 'We will move forward'
Hundreds gathered Monday night in San Bernardino at multiple vigils to honor the victims of last week's deadly shooting.
"Today was the first day that the workers came back to work," said Gilda Valdez, chief of staff at SEIU Local 721 at a vigil in front of the County Board of Supervisors. Ten of the 14 victims of last week's shooting were union members, according to the local chapter. "We had our community, friends and partners and folks from across the regions come and welcome the workers back, so that the workers know they are not alone."
A crowd held candles in front of the Supervisors' office. There was also a vigil at Cal State San Bernardino and a local church.
"We have a strong community, we unite around one another and we will move forward," said James Ramos, chair of the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors.
Clarification: The City of San Bernardino filed its bankruptcy exit plan earlier this year, after the initial filing in 2012.
San Bernardino shooting: SoCal Muslims fear retaliation in wake of attack
Last week's attacks in San Bernardino and the reaction to them since have created a new level of concern throughout Muslim communities living in the United States.
Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump introduced a new element of controversy Monday, saying that, if elected, he would ban all Muslims from entering the country.
At a rally in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, he reiterated his position:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viDffWUjcBA
The Obama administration’s stance has been markedly different. In a statement delivered Sunday from the Oval Office, President Barack Obama said that America must “enlist Muslim communities as some of our strongest allies.”
https://youtu.be/LpbJfi9N2WE?t=10m
For an in-depth look at the conversations taking place in the Southern California Muslim community, Take Two assembled a roundtable of young female leaders.
Fear in the wake of the shooting
Marwa Abdelghani, an outreach fellow with the Muslim Public Affairs Council in Los Angeles, says many women in her community fear retaliation following the San Bernardino shooting.
On Donald Trump
Tasbeeh Herwees, a staff writer with Good Magazine, says that Trump’s recent proposal will only lead to more aggression against Muslims.
The responsibility of all Americans
Muslema Purmul, a scholar-in-residence at the SAFA Center, an organization that promotes education about Islam, is also campus chaplain at USC and UCLA. She says now is the time for all Americans to come together, regardless of faith.
Press the blue play button above to listen to the roundtable discussion in its entirety.
(Correction: An earlier version stated that Muslema Purmul said America’s Muslims can no longer be passive. It has been fixed. We regret the error.)
The Brood: Teaching tolerance to kids amid anti-Muslim sentiment
Since the deadly rampage in San Bernardino last week, there's been a lot of confusion and concern about Muslims in America.
Most Muslims insist theirs is a very different faith than the one practiced by the suspected shooters. But that may be difficult to really understand, especially if you're a young child.
Christy Tirrell-Corbin, Executive Director at the Center for Early Childhood Education and Intervention at the University of Maryland, joined Take Two to discuss teaching children about tolerance.
To hear the full interview with Christy Tirrell-Corbin, click the link above.
How director Ava DuVernay fits the Barbie brand
In 1983, it was the Cabbage Patch Kid. In 1992, it was that beloved purple dinosaur named Barney.
What doll might be the hardest to get a hold of in 2015? It could be the latest offering from Mattel—the Ava DuVernay Barbie doll.
The small plastic likeness of the director of "Selma" went on sale yesterday online. But before long, the Platinum Label collector's edition doll was listed as "no longer available."
Mattel representative Michelle Chidoni and proud new Ava DuVernay doll owner
, founder of the site Afrobella.com, joined Take Two to talk about the fan excitement surrounding the Ava DuVernay doll.
Chidoni says that the challenges that DuVernay has faced, as well as her successes, send the message to girls that "you can be anything and do anything." Chidoni says, "That's really the message of the Barbie brand."
Patrice Yursik was one of the lucky few to buy the Ava DuVernay doll yesterday. "To me she's the most aspirational and relatable Barbie doll I can think of in recent history," Yursik says.
"The fact that she's wearing sneakers, and she's got a chair, and she's in control. And she's got natural hair, and she is representing African American beauty," Yursik adds, "It's really phenomenal."
Can drinking too much green tea make you less fertile?
According to recent study out of UC Irvine too much green tea can hurt development and reproduction... at least in fruit flies.
Mahtab Jafari is an associate professor of pharmaceutical sciences at UC Irvine and she joins A Martinez to talk about why this result matters for people who drink green tea and just how much green tea could be too much.
To hear the entire interview click on the full audio embedded at the top of the post.
New documentary says chemicals 'Stink'
The holiday season is a time that most of the country engages in buying products as gifts for loved ones; pajamas, cologne, shampoo, there's no end to the gifts that are given out.
John Whelan, director of the new documentary "Stink!", says that the chemicals that are used in these and more every day products are more harmful than they at first appear.
He first began to question it one holiday season after when he decided to buy his kids pajamas from the internet. When they arrive, he says they had a distinct smell that made him worried what chemicals they had been contaminated with.
"Stink!" is in now airing in select theaters.
To hear the entire conversation, click on the blue player above.
New music from Syd Tha Kyd, Gloria Ann Taylor, The Pointer Sisters and more
If you love music, but don't have the time to keep up with what's new, you should listen to Tuesday Reviewsday. Every week our critics join our hosts in the studio to tell us about what you should be listening to, in one short segment. This week, Oliver Wang from Soul-Sides.com joins A Martinez with his top picks.
Artist: Syd Tha Kyd
Song: "Smile More"
Syd is one-half of the L.A.-based duo known as The Internet, but this is a solo release she just put out on Soundcloud. To me, it falls into that category of "summer songs that just happen to come out in the winter." I love the sunny, chill vibe of this. So sultry and soulful and sexy.
Artist: Gloria Ann Taylor
Album: "Love Is a Hurtin' Thing"
Songs: "Love Is a Hurtin' Thing," "World That's Not Real"
Gloria Ann Taylor was discovered in Toledo, but cut most of her songs here in L.A. alongside her then-husband, producer Walter Whisenhunt and her musician brother Leonard Taylor. This new compilation is the first anthology that I know of that collects her mid-70s output, including an early disco era EP that can easily sell for $1000.
I’ve long been a fan of her music, especially because it’s so haunting in its affect. Part of it is the lo-fi-ness of some of her recordings, like on "Love Is a Hurtin' Thing," but even on her higher fidelity recordings, the overall feel of the song is surprisingly dark and moody. I think her best song, also on this anthology, is “World That’s Not Real,” which Columbia released in 1973. I still get chills from it.
Artist: 4th Coming
Album: "Strange Things 1970-1974"
Song: "You’re My Precious Someone"
Speaking of L.A. artists, 4th Coming was the L.A. duo of Hank Porter and Jack Williams who recorded a slew of singles in the early 1970s and for the most part, were obscure even by local standards until the soul/funk collector community in L.A. began to rediscover them beginning in the 1990s. What’s so incredible about their output is the diversity of styles they recorded: some of it is in the funk vein of Sly Stone, some of it sounds like Southern gospel, still other tunes are straight up County and Western. It’s marvelous if not also a bit multiple personality.
Artist: The Pointer Sisters
Album: "This Records Belongs To ___"
Song: "Pinball Number Count"
This is from a new compilation of children's music put together by DJ Zach Cowie for Light in the Attic Records. Great choices from an eclectic set of children songs recorded between the 1960s and ‘80s. For me, as a '70s baby who grew up on Sesame Street, the “Pinball Number Count” was the jam and quite possibly my introduction to funk music.