By Allen Payton

Antioch business owner and author, Rossolyn Turner held a book signing with the Antioch Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday, December 13, 2016 for her autobiography, entitled “I’ve Got Words for You: The abuse that killed me, and the words that brought me back to life.”

The introduction to her book offers readers a hint of what to expect, as you will find out why Turner accepted abuse and molestation for years and how she finally found the courage and strength to deal with her past.

The description on Amazon.com reads: “Find out what she did to save her life and turned depression into love and success by starting her very own company. This book is perfect for junior high school age and up. Anyone who has experienced any abuse in their life will appreciate this book and will realize they are not alone.”

Turner also owns Playback Communications which provides captioning services and sign interpreting for clients with various disabilities. She shared a few thoughts during her book signing.

“Anyone can overcome abuse and become anything you want in life. It just depends on how bad you want it,” said Turner.  “I have heard from many who said they had decided to throw in the towel and after reading this book they began to fight harder to follow their dreams.  I knew then I accomplished my purpose for writing the book.”

“Once you begin reading it, you won’t want to put it down,” she added.

Purchase your copy of Turner’s book on Amazon by clicking here. She can be contacted for speaking engagements at (951) 496-8618,

By Allen Payton

Sage Bennett, a sophomore at Antioch High School, was the winner of this year’s Reggie Moore Scholarship Award, which was presented to him during Monday’s annual Antioch Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Celebration.

The $400 scholarship is in memory of the late Councilman Reggie Moore who was the first African-American elected to the Antioch City Council. It was presented by former Mayor Wade Harper and Moore’s widow Dashon and family.

Sage shared his poem based on this year’s theme, United by the Dream, that day and with our readers, here:

Change

By Sage Bennett

Change is a word,

Meaning a difference in ways,

Like from black to white,

Years and then to days

Change is inevitable,

As some people come to fear,

Change is in the workings,

And change is with us, in this new year

Dr. Martin Luther King,

A man of great word,

He was killed for what he preached,

As some thought it was absurd.

He often spoke of a greater future,

One where we can love, cherish, and nurture,

One where his four little children would not be bound by discrimination,

One where he might still be alive,

if not for his assassination

We are able to sit here,

Together,

In this room today,

While fifty-three years ago the blacks would be all sent away,

Given by the Creator,

A set of “unalienable rights”,

Given to all men by the Declaration,

Not just the whites

Segregation brought separation,

lost communication, and fright,

Things we seen often in the day,

And often in the night

Oppression in the media,

Police Brutality in the streets,

Social injustice in the schools,

And again so it repeats

You can’t have a house,

without a door,

You can’t have a school,

without a teacher,

Although I could go on,

The point is you can’t have the dream,

without the dreamer

So Dream on.

Although change is slow,

From what we can see,

Change is happening everywhere,

And it’s coming with the fee

By following his theme,

We could turn dream into reality,

We could save this world’s credibility,

And save it from fatality,

Our country, our world, can be much better than it seems,

Stand with me, together, United by the Dream.

Discover Diablo is Save Mount Diablo’s new free public hike series, offering an annual schedule of guided walks, hikes and interpretive tours open to any and all trail blazers. Generously sponsored by the Shell Martinez Refinery, the Discover Diablo Free Public Hike Series will launch in early 2017. Discover Diablo will offer two events per month for the entire year (please see schedule, below) – one taking place and focusing on a Save Mount Diablo property and one designed for families on other public parks.

Hosted by Save Mount Diablo, the new Discover Diablo program seeks to build awareness of local land conservation efforts and to convey the importance of protecting open space for habitat and recreation. With the launch of Discover Diablo, we intend to reach new audiences, build our membership base of adventurers, explorers and outdoor enthusiasts, and spark a passion for the Diablo Range.

We invite you to join us in exploring the Bay Area’s beautiful wild lands and open spaces. We hope that with two events per month in various locations, there will be something for everyone to enjoy and learn from. Save Mount Diablo’s Family walks are for hikers of all skill levels and will take place on other portions of open space on and around the mountain. Save Mount Diablo’s Property tours will illustrate the importance of preserving wildlife habitat, building corridors between existing parks, and of course, all the beauty that the Diablo Range has to offer.

To honor Save Mount Diablo’s mission, we aim to display both our current property holdings as well as those we have helped protect over the years. Hosting monthly hikes is an effective way to engage and grow communities invested in the sustainability of local open space. SMD properties aren’t usually open to the public, so these are rare opportunities.

To complete the land conservation picture in the Diablo Range and pay homage to collaborating agencies, we also host monthly outings on Mount Diablo State Park, East Bay Regional Park District, and Walnut Creek Open Space Foundation lands. Save Mount Diablo’s new hike series, Discover Diablo, ties these outings together by offering an annual schedule of free public hikes to explore these diverse lands – with the added bonus of being guided by staff and experienced volunteer hike leaders.

According to Ted Clement, Executive Director of Save Mount Diablo, “It is the goal of the Discover Diablo program to build connections between people and land, helping communities develop a strong sense of place and a deepened appreciation for our collective backyard. Most importantly, we want to cultivate a love of the land in participants – so as to grow the land ethic and stewardship for our precious Mount Diablo area.”

We intend to reach audiences from all over the Bay Area to improve awareness of and advocacy efforts for the Diablo Range. There is something for us all to discover in the nooks and crannies surrounding Mount Diablo. Please join us on the trails to find your own individual inspiration!

Visit us on Eventbrite to our full schedule of upcoming hikes: Discover-Diablo.eventbrite.com. RSVP required.

What: Save Mount Diablo’s Discover Diablo Free Public Hike Series

When: Two monthly events throughout 2017. (See schedule, below)

Where: CONTRA COSTA COUNTY – Walnut Creek, Clayton, Concord, Livermore, Pittsburg.

Save Mount Diablo is a nationally accredited, non-profit land trust founded in 1971 with a mission to preserve Mount Diablo’s peaks, surrounding foothills, and watersheds through land acquisition and preservation strategies designed to protect the mountain’s natural beauty, biological diversity, and historic and agricultural heritage; enhance our area’s quality of life; and provide recreational opportunities consistent with the protection of natural resources. To learn more and support Save Mount Diablo please visit www.savemountdiablo.org.

By Allen Payton

The Antioch community joined together on Monday to celebrate the life and work of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. with prayers and performances, and by awarding $1,275 in annual scholarships to local students. The event was held in the Beede Auditorium at Antioch High School and was lead by Councilwoman Monica Wilson.

Sponsored by the City of Antioch, Antioch Unified School District, Antioch Community Foundation and the Arts & Cultural Foundation of Antioch, the theme for the day was “United By The Dream” and began with a welcome message by Antioch High Principal Louie Rocha, followed by the invocation by Pastor Christine Liddell of Power for Living Ministries.

The Divine Voices of Deer Valley High performed the National Anthem, followed by a special rendition of Lift Every Voice and Sing, also known as the Black National Anthem, by recroding artist Ornicia Lowe. Students from Marsh, Mission and Jack London Elementary Schools offered presentations, and music and dance performances were provided by the Antioch High Music Masters, Deer Valley High School Black Student Union and Dance Xtreme of Antioch High. Antioch High’s Claryssa Wilson, Miss California Black Talented Teen and Miss Black California USA Darinisha Williams provided a special Martin Luther King Day tribute.

Antioch High sophomore Sage Bennett was presented with the Reggie Moore Scholarship Award, for his poem entitled, Change, which he read for the audience. The $400 scholarship is in memory of the late Councilman Reggie Moore who was the first African-American elected to the Antioch City Council. It was presented by former Mayor Wade Harper and Moore’s widow Dashon and family.

Two brothers who are Deer Valley High students received scholarships for their essays both using this year’s theme. Sophomore Adeboye Adeyemi took the High School First Place honor and $200 for his essay and freshman Adegoke Adeyemi won the High School Second Place and $100 for his essay. Deer Valley High senior Jafar Khalfani-Bey won third place and $75 for his poem entitled Kings of Color.

Winners of the High School Honorable Mention and $50 each were Deer Valley High junior Emily Gavrilenko for her essay entitled Equality for All, and Dozier-Libbey Medical High School senior Elizabeth Adams for her poem also using this year’s theme. Orchard Park Middle School eighth-grader Dennis Gavrilenko was honored with $100 as the first-time award recipient by a middle school student for his essay.

First Place High School honors for art and $200 was awarded to Dozier-Libbey High senior Mina Hernandez for her small canvas painting and Dozier-Libbey junior Munachiso Joy Anwukah won Second Place honors and $100 for her small poster pencil drawing.

The event concluded with a special poem about African-American history performed in a rap by Antioch resident Keith Archuleta, a portion of which can be seen on the Antioch Herald Facebook page. He introduced his poem with the following:

We are thankful that Martin Luther King, Jr.did much more than march or make speeches. We are thankful that Dr. King did much more even than fight for policy goals that would apply to all Americans, no matter their color, such as ending poverty, reducing the war-like aspects of our foreign policy, promoting the New Deal goal of universal employment, ending voter intimidation and discrimination, making this a stronger democracy for all people, and so on.

More than the marches, or the speeches, or the policy accomplishments, we are thankful that Rev. King and others sacrificed their bodies and their lives to end 200 years of terrorism that had been used to exclude an entire people from social, political, and economic participation in this country.

We are thankful that King and so many others stood side by side, fighting for justice and equality; and by so doing they inspired a people who had lived in fear to confront and overcome those fears.

We are thankful that King and others helped us as a people and as a nation to overcome our fears. That’s what freedom is all about.

And even now, as there are those today who seek to bring us back to that time of fear and bigotry and intimidation, we are thankful that we know better. We know that if we choose to love and not fear, we all will be free.

We are thankful that King and so many others showed the world what the love of God looks like.

So this poem is written to all those who “work together, struggle together, stand up for freedom together,” understanding that “we are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny.”

“Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be; and you can never be what you ought to be until I am what I ought to be.”

So I say ‘thank you for letting me be myself again.’

 

The Furry Friends Food Relief Program (FFFR) will hold their second annual benefit dinner Saturday, February 11, 2017. Just in time to spend a wonderful evening with family, friends or that special someone for Valentine’s Day.

We assist families in need in Contra Costa County with dog and cat food.  We now have our food pantry open every Monday from 7-8 pm and Wednesday from 6-8 pm, located at 1300 Central Blvd, Brentwood. We do low cost vaccine clinics and food distributions to the public every 4 weeks, please check our calendar on our website for the next upcoming clinic.

We are always in need of donations of medical supplies, flea treatment, food, bedding, collars, leashes, crates, anything to assist families and their furry friends.

The theme for this year’s dinner will be The Roaring 20’s and it will be held, once again at the beautiful event center at Shadow Lakes Golf Course in Brentwood, located at 401 W Country Club Drive from 5:00 to 10:00 pm.  The evening will be filled with music, dancing and wonderful silent auction items.

Cocktail hour from 5:00 pm – 6:30 pm. Appetizers and salads will be served along with rolls. Dinner choices are pork tenderloin, salmon, the vegetarian option is Eggplant Parmesan with sides of mashed potatoes and mixed veggies.  The pork tenderloin has a creamy Dijon-wine sauce and Salmon is topped with garlic, lemon, butter and onions. No-Host Bar.

We have wonderful raffle and silent auction items to bid on. Stop by to have some fun at the Photo Station. It’s going to be a great night of fun to raise money for this organization who helps families keep their pets out of the shelters.

Get your tickets before February 3, 2017 and join us in a fun and different way to spend time with friends, family, or that special someone.  Each table seats up to 8-10 people.

Ticket sales are going on now at http://furryfriendsfoodre.wixsite.com/fffr/roaring-20-s-benefit-dinner-2017.

Furry Friends Food Relief Program – “Helping those in need feed their Furry Friends.” Tax ID 47-2163583.

For more information visit us online at www.furryfriendsfoodre.wix.com/fffr,  “Like” us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/FurryFriendFoodReliefProgram or you can contact us by phone or text at 925-240-3178.