Author Archives: William Covington

Author’s note:
On December 9, 2010 OurWeekly ran a cover story on the medical marijuana industry in South Los Angeles with a focus on African American dispensaries. There has been a marked increase of new medical marijuana clinics and clubs in the community since that article published. This may appear at odds with an ordinance approved by the Los Angeles City Council to shut down hundreds of medical marijuana dispensaries and impose strict rules on the operation and locations of these cannabis clubs, shops and collectives. The ordinance capped the number of dispensaries at 70 (with the exception of those registered with the city prior to 2007). At press time, hundreds of new establishments have opened in the city since the passing of that ordinance. In anticipation of April 20, or “420” widely recognized as the Smoker’s Holiday, OW decided to take another look into the budding industry.

I never realized that my parents (both deceased) had a problem with chicken and watermelon until the summer of 1968. My mother had just completed nursing school and in celebration of her graduation, my parents decided to take us out to eat at Ontra Cafeteria, a restaurant that was located on Crenshaw Blvd., where the Baldwin Hills Wal-Mart stands today. My brothers and I were instructed to grab a tray and follow our parents down the food serving counters and if we wanted a serving of something just let the server know. A simple task. We were familiar with food lines; between the three of us we had years of experience dining in the cafeteria at 49th Street Elementary School.

Author Note: During the Cold War era (1947-1989) both the United States and the Soviet Union fought an on going battle without bullets or bombs being used directly against the other—a type of undeclared limited war.

“This has been an unknown continent to us because it was dominated by Europe. Now it’s opening up, and we want to be part of it. And our interest is wholly disinterested. We have no great commercial history. We have no record of exploitation. We have supported the United Nations effort in Africa. We want them to be independent.”
—President John F. Kennedy, 1962

By now, whether you are a National Football League fan or not, you have probably heard of tackle Jonathan Martin and offensive lineman Richie Incognito of the Miami Dolphins. Although not verified, it has been rumored that besides protecting quarterback Ryan Tannehill on Sundays, Incognito’s other job was to toughen up Martin, a 24-year-old African American second-year offensive lineman.

With the recent release of “12 Years A Slave” and “Django Unchained” and numerous slave genre movies awaiting release, it appears the slavery motif is possibly generating a new African American Renaissance in Hollywood.

Nearly two weeks ago a federal jury in New York ruled that Rob Carmona, who identifies as Black and Hispanic and STRIVE, the nonprofit employment agency he co-founded, must pay punitive damages to African American employee, Brandi Johnson.

When the 15-year-old Georgia resident was denied an opportunity to get on the heart transplant list by Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston, allegedly because of his lifestyle, the dark underbelly of the transplant system was exposed.