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Last Updated on January 5, 2023 by BVN

Black Voice News and IE Voice: 2022 in Pictures

Celebration-goers and vendors enter and exit White Park in Riverside where The Black Collective X Itoas hosted their annual Juneteenth Celebration on June 18, 2022. (Aryana for Black Voice News Newsroom /CatchLight Local ).

Image: Aryana Noroozi

Photographed and Curated by Aryana Noroozi

This year, Black Voice News and IE Voice showcased a compilation of images from photographer Aryana Noroozi, a Report for America corps member and CatchLight Local Fellow who joined our  team June 1st. The images we published over the previous six months in partnership with CatchLight captured the resilience of the communities we serve and their voices. 

This year, Black Voice News and IE Voice collaborated with the community to create stories that highlight their joy, pride and tradition as well as the collective resilience to social inequities, gun violence, environmental racism, and the persistent and disproportionate impact of COVID-19. While the former issues are not unique to the Inland Empire, what is distinctive is how this community shows up in its own way. 

Black Voice News  and IE Voice appreciate your support and feedback as we create and continue to grow a vibrant visual archive of the community in 2023.

Celebration-goers enjoy shaved ice at the Juneteenth Celebration at San Bernardino Valley College on June 18, 2022. (Aryana Noroozi for Black Voice News Newsroom /CatchLight Local).

Aceani and Lo, both 25, pose for a portrait on July 17, 2022 at the Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo which was founded in 1984 and stands as the longest running Black rodeo in the U.S. They are from Ohio and now live in Los Angeles where they are attending the rodeo for the first time. (Aryana Noroozi for Black Voice News Newsroom / CatchLight Local).
JW Rodgers, Houston native and bullfighter of 21 years, poses for a portrait. Rodgers says the worst injury he sustained while bullfighting was damage to his vertebrae. ”Shit happens” he said with a shrug. (Aryana Noroozi for Black Voice News Newsroom / CatchLight Local) July 17, 2022.

Left: Shanita poses for a portrait on July 17, 2022.  Her husband introduced her to the rodeo over 15 years ago and she’s attended every year since.  Last year she lost her husband to COVID-19.  She says it’s difficult being at the rodeo without him this year but she feels uplifted by the environment and everyone’s kindness. 

Right: Shanita shows a photo with her late husband and son, (now 15) in the crowd, at the Rodeo over a decade ago. She lost her husband to COVID-19 last year. Shanita’s husband introduced her to the rodeo over 15 years ago and she’s attended every year since. (Aryana Noroozi for Black Voice News Newsroom / CatchLight Local).

The crowd waits for a bull to emerge from the chute into the arena at the Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo on July 17, 2022. (Aryana Noroozi for Black Voice News Newsroom / CatchLight Local).
ROTC members enjoy a frozen treat at the reopening of Bloomington’s Ayala Park on August 6, 2022.  (Aryana Noroozi for Black Voice News Newsroom / CatchLight Local).
A champagne glass sits on a table at the 1010 Wine and Events one year celebration on August 21, 2022. The Jones sisters enacted their shared vision of creating a Black owned wine bar in Inglewood when they opened 1010 Wine and Events on North LaBrea during the pandemic. (Aryana Noroozi for Black Voice News Newsroom / CatchLight Local).
Founder and President of Nogales Buffalo Soldiers Legacy Association, Donna Jackson-Houston, poses for a portrait on July 17, 2022 at a traveling exhibit she curated honoring the Nogales Buffalo Soldiers. A year ago, she discovered that her grandfather, Lucius Franklin Monroe Jackson, was a Buffalo Soldier in the 25th Infantry of the U.S. Army stationed at Camp Little, Arizona.  Jackson-Houston is the Chair of the Pomona Community Life Commission and has collaborated with Mayor Sandoval and community leaders to share this exhibit with Pomona. (Aryana Noroozi for Black Voice News Newsroom / CatchLight Local).
A youth performer smiles into the mirror on one of the “My Hair My Health” posters at the My Hair My Health community health event on August 28, 2022. The posters were part of the mini outdoor museum created by the organizers to shed light on the leaders that paved the way for widespread celebration and recognition of Black excellence. (Aryana Noroozi for Black Voice News Newsroom/ CatchLight Local).
Donavan Caver points to the wall, at the San Bernardino Justice Center on August 26, 2022, where he and fellow peaceful protesters hung posters in memory of victims of police brutality. At the end of the protest, police wearing polo shirts but no uniforms began ripping the posters down.  When Caver tried to photograph their badges, they hid them. Caver was arrested at the next protest on July 31, 2020 for writing “FTP” on a planter with chalk. Caver said the letters “FTP” stood for “free the people” or “free the protesters” or “fight the power”.  (Aryana Noroozi for Black Voice News Newsroom / CatchLight Local).
Lauren Taylor- Mayweather holds a football shaped urn containing her son Daniel Dexter’s ashes on July 29, 2022. Dexter was playing basketball with his brother Daelyn when he was struck by a bullet from a drive-by shooter on June 1, 2022 in Rialto, CA. Daniel lost his life to this random act of violence. Daelyn survived but suffered a traumatic brain injury. Football was one of Daniel’s passions and he was an outstanding linebacker and teammate on the Silverado High School football team.  (Aryana Noroozi for Black Voice News Newsroom / CatchLight Local).
On July 29, 2022, Daniel and Daelyn’s grandmother Faye sits in the exact spot she sat on June 1, 2022 when a construction worker remodeling her bathroom said, through an open window, he heard  gunshots. They were from the shooting that took Daniel’s life and severely injured his brother, Daelyn. Faye says most mornings she wakes up and forgets all of it is real for just a moment. (Aryana Noroozi for Black Voice News Newsroom / CatchLight Local).
On July 18, 2022, Michael Denby (right), his son, Michael Denby Jr. and grandson, Nadir Denby, walk at the park beside the knoll where Daniel and Daelyn were shot.  On the day of the incident, Denby and Michael Jr. heard the gunshots from their home and ran to the scene where they found Daniel and Daelyn. (Aryana Noroozi for Black Voice News Newsroom / CatchLight Local).

Left: A truck drives past Zimmerman Elementary School and the homes along the road on August 24, 2022. Truckers often do not abide by the route laws and take back roads past homes and schools. Right: A Bloomington resident wears a traditional Mexican dress as she rides her horse at the David Jayne Equestrian Arena on September 18, 2022 where residents finished a march protesting a new warehouse in their community, the Bloomington Business Park Specific Plan. The project was approved on November 15, 2022. Warehouses have continued to pop up in Bloomington and other communities across the Inland Empire where Mexican ranch culture still flourishes. (Aryana Noroozi for Black Voice News Newsroom / CatchLight Local).

The playground remains empty after at The Zimmerman Elementary School on August 24, 2022. The Bloomington Business Park plan was approved by the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors on November 15, 2022. The project is set to demolish and relocate Zimmerman Elementary School to a heavily trafficked road. Currently, there is already another warehouse across the street from the school. (Aryana Noroozi for Black Voice News Newsroom / CatchLight Local).
Carolina Verduzco and her daughters pose for a portrait after participating in a march to protest the Bloomington Business Park Specific Plan, a warehouse project that will be placed in the center of their community. Verduzco has lived in the Bloomington community for 34 years and said she is not against warehouses but their placement in close proximity to homes and schools. Residents marched on foot and horseback, celebrating the Mexican ranch culture that thrives in Bloomington. The San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors approved the project on November 15, 2022. (Aryana Noroozi for Black Voice News Newsroom / CatchLight Local)
Aja Smith unwraps a Jolly Rancher candy to give her daughter Elisia, 3, after an afternoon at the waterpark in Moreno Valley on July 18, 2022. The mother and daughter spent most of their summer at the park as Smith built her gratitude journal business which caused friction between her and her family. Smith said she liked to stay outside and even tried to temporarily live in her car due to tension with her family.  Smith says the conflict with her family began with their lack of support for her decision to leave the warehouse industry where she worked 60-70 hour weeks and felt disconnected from raising her daughter. (Aryana Noroozi for Black Voice News Newsroom / CatchLight Local)
Children play at Celebration Park in Moreno Valley on July 18, 2022. Aja Smith and her daughter, Elisia spent most of their summer at the park. (Aryana Noroozi for Black Voice News Newsroom / CatchLight Local)
Aja Smith has a moment to herself while her daughter plays at the water park on July 18, 2022. Smith says she mainly watches motivational content about building a successful business as she works to grow her own business. (Aryana Noroozi for Black Voice News Newsroom / CatchLight Local)
Aja Smith and her daughter Elisia walk home after a trip to Starbucks on October 11, 2022. Smith continues to stay out of the house most of the day even as Fall approaches. She said her gratitude journal business experienced an influx of orders at the beginning of the school year. Smith hopes it will soon generate enough income for her and Elisia to move out of her parents and to a hotel and for her to be able to donate part of her income to give back to others. (Aryana Noroozi for Black Voice News Newsroom / CatchLight Local)
Pepi Jackson, president of the Black Chamber of Commerce, poses for a portrait in his office on September 13, 2022. “Financial literacy is a buzzword. When you use a buzzword, you have to say ‘what does it look like in real life?” Jackson says. Pepi’s team describe him as humble and destined to help others. (Aryana Noroozi for Black Voice News Newsroom/ CatchLight Local).
Doula, Karen Sykes asks her client, Nalah Morrow, various questions about her pregnancy and lifestyle during one of their initial home visits on June 26, 2022. Morrow is training to become a birthworker herself, specifically a nurse midwife. Morrow gave birth to her second child in October while completing her schooling, which included cross country travel for clinical rotations. (Aryana Noroozi for Black Voice News/ CatchLight Local).
Judges watch the contestants walk the runway and begin casting their decisions for the pageant winner on August 27, 2022. The runway show was part of the afternoon tea fundraiser for the 54th Miss Black Awareness Scholarship Pageant held by the Concerned Citizens for the Development of North Fontana. (Aryana Noroozi for Black Voice News Newsroom / CatchLight Local).
A contestant poses for a portrait on the runway at the 54th Miss Black Awareness Scholarship Pageant held by the Concerned Citizens for the Development of North Fontana on August 27, 2022. (Aryana Noroozi for Black Voice News Newsroom / CatchLight Local).

Left: On July 28, 2022, in her office at Esri where she is Chief Scientist, Dr. Dawn Wright holds a styrofoam cup she brought on the Challenger Deep expedition. It shrunk to the size of a knuckle due to the hydrostatic (under water) pressure. In July, Wright became the first Black person to descend the Challenger Deep, the deepest known point in the earth’s seabed. (Aryana Noroozi for Black Voice News Newsroom / CatchLight Local).

Right: Dr. Dawn Wright poses for a portrait in front of her map of the Challenger Deep on July 28, 2022. The expedition took place in the Mariana Trench, a territory of the Federated States of Micronesia, in the western Pacific Ocean. Wright sees a parallel of Challenger Deep “generating knowledge and excitement” for the indigenous people of the region, to Black people diving to slave shipwrecks and “discovering and claiming” their history. (Aryana Noroozi for Black Voice News Newsroom / CatchLight Local).

Signs express the sentiments of Amazon workers who walked off the job and picketed the KSBD Amazon Airhub in San Bernardino on October 14, 2022 in protest of unfair and unsafe working conditions and to demand living wages. (Credit: Aryana Noroozi for Black Voice News Newsroom / CatchLight Local).
Amazon workers chant as they march the picket line in front of KSBD, the Amazon air hub warehouse on October 14, 2022. They expressed frustrations of working long strenuous hours and being unable to earn a living wage. Many workers spoke about having to choose between purchasing gas or food. (Aryana Noroozi for Black Voice News Newsroom / CatchLight Local).
Javier Lopez poses for a portrait during a picket outside of KSBD, the Amazon air hub warehouse on October 14, 2022. “Unfortunately, a lot of us didn’t have either personal time or unpaid time to join the protests. But I’m here for them, I’m there with them,” said Lopez about his coworkers at Amazon. “We are the people, we have the power to support each other. Take care of one another.” When Lopez began working at the warehouse he thought of it as an “opportunity to grow with the company,” but eventually he injured his lower back on the job. He says he then witnessed retaliation, leaving him without workers compensation for three months. Lopez said at this point he decided it was “time to step it up” and go back to school.  He is currently writing a paper about the working conditions he experienced and is studying video game design at Chaffey College.  (Aryana Noroozi for Black Voice News Newsroom / CatchLight Local).
Vendors hired by the Warehouse Workers Resource Center sit and chat after serving lunch to picket participants. The Warehouse Workers Resource Center organized taco and vasos de fruta meals for picket participants on October 14, 2022. (Aryana Noroozi for Black Voice News Newsroom / CatchLight Local).
Alejandra Gonzalez poses for a portrait at her family’s home which doubles as the land for their nursery and landscaping business on August 24, 2022. Gonazalez is an activist, speaking out against warehouses next to schools and homes. (Aryana Noroozi for Black Voice News Newsroom / CatchLight).
Goats feed on August 24, 2022 at Gonzalez home, where a warehouse was built just behind the property. Across the street from this warehouse, with recent approval from San Bernardino County, another 213 acre development will be built.  It includes a warehouse that will be larger than one million square feet. (Aryana Noroozi for Black Voice News Newsroom / CatchLight Local).
Matthew Robinson, a Buffalo Soldier descendant, poses for a portrait at the California African American Museum on October 29, 2022, where he visits the Buffalo Soldier exhibition a day before it closes. “Sometimes, I don’t think it’s maliciously done. But I often think it is malicious,” said Robinson about the lack of recognition of Black history and contributions. “At this point people just don’t even think to put it in the curriculum. But the curriculum is designed for that to happen” said Robinson, referring to the educational curriculum that does not fully capture Black History including the Buffalo Soldiers. Robinson’s great grandfather, Benjamin Blayton, served in the 325 Battalion in France where he learned to speak fluent French and cook French cuisine. Robinson said he learned that the French soldiers did not have a problem serving alongside Black soldiers. Blayton was awarded several medals including a Victory Medal. Robinson says he was able to discover his great grandfather’s legacy not only through oral history, but also through artifacts such as Blayton’s letters, service jacket and medals which Robinson’s family discovered after his passing. These artifacts are now a part of the Smithsonian Museum collection. (Aryana Noroozi, Black Voice News Newsroom / CatchLight Local).
While visiting the California African American Museum on October 29, 2022, Buffalo Soldier Descendant Forescee Hogan-Rowles takes a photo of a map of the various military bases across California where Buffalo Soldier troops were stationed. Hogan-Rowles recently found out about multiple Buffalo Soldiers in her family after her close friend made a discovery. After finding one relative she looked for more. “One thing led to another and I started asking in my own family, ‘hey, do we have any Buffalo Soldiers?’ And yeah, our great uncle Cornelius was a Buffalo Soldier,” Hogan-Rowles says of her discovery. “He helped found Lincoln University. He was one of the Blacks that actually got a land grant from the federal government in 1865.” Hogan-Rowles says after slavery ended, her great uncle became a Buffalo Soldier during the war. In this discovery she also learned that her great uncle received 40 acres and a mule from the government and used it to start a church in 1896 which still stands today in Missouri where Hogan-Rowles’s family is from. (Aryana Noroozi, Black Voice News Newsroom / CatchLight Local).
Benoit Malphettes poses for a portrait in his home studio on November 9, 2022, beside the technical camera, a camera that gives the photographer the ability to move the position of the lens and sensor separate of each other, he used to shoot the photographs for his “Open To Your Interpretation” exhibition featured at the San Bernardino County Museum. For this series, Malphettes photographed odd objects he collected over the years. “The viewer will discover explicit or diffuse associations that may or may not have anything to do with my personal views,” says Malphettes. “The symbols are all there for the audience’s choosing,” Credit: Aryana Noroozi, Black Voice News Newsroom / CatchLight Local
After exploring the exhibition, attendees enjoy refreshments at the private opening of the Civil Rights Institute on Thursday October 20, 2022. The site was developed in a partnership between the Wakeland Housing and Development Corporation, Riverside Fair Housing Council and the Civil Rights Institute to create 72 units of affordable workforce housing and a new home for the Fair Housing Council of Riverside County. At the private opening of the Civil Rights Institute, The CEO of Wakeland Housing and Development Corporation, Rebecca Louie announced that the units will be a new home for currently homeless veterans. (Aryana Noroozi for Black Voice News Newsroom / CatchLight Local).
VIP guests arrive at the invitation-only sneak preview of the Civil Rights Institute of Inland Southern California on Thursday evening October 20, 2022. The institute notes how a century of struggles and achievements of Black Inland communities will be unveiled at the opening of the new Civil Rights Institute of Inland Southern California (CRIISC) on Saturday, October 22, 2022. (Aryana Noroozi for Black Voice News Newsroom / CatchLight Local).
Staff verify ballot signatures of San Bernardino County voters using protocol to identify and compare two points of verification of signatures on November 2, 2022 at the San Bernardino County Registrar of Voters.  (Aryana Noroozi, Black Voice News Newsroom / CatchLight Local).
Staff at the San Bernardino Registrar of Voters extract ballots from original envelopes in preparation to scan and organize them by precinct on November 2, 2022. (Aryana Noroozi, Black Voice News Newsroom / CatchLight Local)
Silva poses for a portrait next to a Helen Tran sign whom she voted for as mayor. (Aryana Noroozi, Black Voice News Newsroom / CatchLight Local)
Noemi Silva poses for a portrait after voting at the Frank Dominguez Elementary School polling site in San Bernardino on November 8, 2022. She said she votes every year and enjoys casting her ballot in person.
A family begins to cry as Yvonne Trice (right), founder of A Mother’s Voice, leads the group of protesters in a prayer outside of the San Bernardino Juvenile Justice Court on November 16, 2022. The family was leaving the Juvenile Court when they encountered the group speaking about the challenges of losing custody of their children to CPS. The family spoke with organizers who gave them signs to hold to join the protest. (Aryana Noroozi, Black Voice News Newsroom / CatchLight Local).
(From left): Savana Villanueva, Aimee Durante and Bobbie Butts protest along with fellow parents and community activists against San Bernardino County Child Protective Services (CPS) and the Juvenile Court System outside of the San Bernardino Juvenile Justice Court on November 16, 2022. (Aryana Noroozi, Black Voice News Newsroom / CatchLight Local).
Queen Shamala, Bessie Davis Fayemi Smith, poses for a portrait in her home in Gardena, California, on November 19, 2022. Smith is a longtime artist and educator who recently released her book, “Breaking the Cycles of Pain: Soul Secrets, A Memoir.” The book is the first in a trilogy detailing her life story and trauma she overcame as a Black woman. (Aryana Noroozi, Black Voice News Newsroom / CatchLight Local).
A white balloon hangs over Queen Shamala’s chair at her book signing on November 19, 2022. She encouraged guests to wear white to the celebration. (Aryana Noroozi, Black Voice News Newsroom / CatchLight Local).
Queen Shamala Bessie Davis Fayemi Smith holds the hand of one of her guests at the book signing event at her home in Gardena, CA on November 19, 2022. Smith is a longtime artist and educator who recently released her book, “Breaking the Cycles of Pain: Soul Secrets, A Memoir.” The book, an autobiographical memoir, is the first in a trilogy touching on topics of sexual abuse and overcoming trauma. (Aryana Noroozi, Black Voice News Newsroom / CatchLight Local).
Maria Cuadros (center), a former student of Queen Shamala talks about her connection to Queen Shamala during the book signing reception on November 19, 2022. Cuadros, who brought her son (right), shared that after moving schools in her freshman year of high school, she began to struggle academically. Her brother knew Queen Shamala and connected them. Cuadros became a part of Queen Shamala’s magnet program and they have been close ever since. Queen Shamala bought Caudros’ quinceanera dress and says the magnet program students still gather today. (Aryana Noroozi, Black Voice News Newsroom / CatchLight Local).
A child makes a reindeer bookmark with a volunteer at the Women, Children’s, and Infant (WIC) Program booth on December 20, 2022. Many partners at the Holiday Giving Event, including WIC, were community health organizations. (Aryana Noroozi for Black Voice News Newsroom /CatchLight Local).