Author Archives: Merdies Hayes

March is Women’s History Month, a celebration of the accomplishments that women have made throughout the nation’s history, from women’s rights pioneers Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton; Clara Barton of the American Red Cross; media mogul Clare Boothe Luce; first ladies Eleanor Roosevelt and Hillary Clinton and thousands more who have struggled to gain recognition while improving lives in what was believed through millennia as “a man’s world.”

There has always been a pioneering spirit among Black women in Los Angeles and throughout the nation. That courage and character—not often recognized by contemporaries—may be traced as far back as businesswoman Biddy Mason who did everything from manning a stage coach to founding the city’s African Methodist Episcopal Church, to journalists Charlotta Bass and Ruth Washington who elevated women into Los Angeles publishing; political pioneers Shirley Chisholm, Barbara Jordan and Yvonne Brathwaite-Burke, to present-day “sheroes” some of whom may travel in famous circles, and others who often toil in obscurity to brighten the future for the next generation of Black girls.

From child prodigies to literary masterpieces, the Lancaster Performing Arts Center will close its 2013-14 season with some of the entertainment industry’s most popular and surprising acts.

Coronary heart disease, heart failure and resulting stroke are the top killers of American women. In short, one woman dies every minute from heart disease. With February proclaimed American Heart Month, more women are adopting better health habits such as getting regular exercise, not smoking, and eating a more balanced diet to counter what is increasingly called the “silent killer.”

Lancaster Mayor R. Rex Parris last week railed against officials at the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) regarding inadequate funding for the growing population of homeless persons in not only his city, but throughout the Antelope Valley.