WSSN Stories

As California goes, so does the nation.  

You’ve probably heard that cliché many times before. It certainly rings true for Juneteenth.  

The state of California  started recognizing Juneteenth or Black “Freedom Day,” marking the emancipation of enslaved African Americans, back in 2003 as an official state observance. That was 17 years before Juneteenth became a household word across the United States this year.  

On June 19, 1865, Union General Gordon Granger led troops into Galveston, Texas, to announce the end of the Civil War and to let enslaved people in that

town know that nearly 250 years of slavery was finally over. They were now recognized as free people.  Thousands of African Americans in that former Confederate Gulf Coast town had not yet heard that more than two years before on January 1, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln had signed the Emancipation Proclamation. That document officially granted them their freedom.  

“Four hundred years, African Americans have fought through struggle and oppression only to rise to the occasion and be the creators, inventors and leaders of society,” said the Rev. Shane Harris, a San Diego based civil rights leader, reflecting on the history behind the holiday.  

In the wake of the brutal murder of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man who Minnesota police killed last month —  and amid the global protests his death has sparked — there were more Juneteenth celebrations across California than ever before in history. The commemorations took on especial significance as Californians up and down the state paid homage to the suffering and triumphs of African American history in the United States.  

“Juneteenth is Freedom Day and a cause for celebration,” said Assembly member Shirley N. Weber (D-San Diego, chair of the California Legislative Black Caucus. 

On Friday night in Sacramento, Weber, other members of the California legislature, and people from all walks of life, watched from the lawn of the  California Capitol as the building’s famous dome lighted up in Red, Green and Black. African Americans use those colors to symbolize the pain and the richness of the African American experience and the African heritage of Black people in the United Sates.  

 “What is encouraging is the renewed interest in Juneteenth by young people. I think it is this moment where they recognize their power to make change. The message of Juneteenth is especially salient in the context of the current protests over ongoing and persistent brutality and inequity in the lives of Black Americans,” said Weber.  

American ideals promise equality, but have yet to fulfill that promise. By lighting the State Capitol in red, black and green, the California Legislative Black Caucus demonstrates its commitment to making that promise a reality in California,” she said.  

Across the country, more and more, businesses  — including Nike, Target and Spotify —have started to consider Juneteenth a paid holiday. 

And as social and recreational venues began to open across the United States, Californians last weekend  organized events for an all-American holiday celebration throughout the state. 

There were marches for justices in San Francisco, Oakland, Fremont, Pittsburg, Palo Alto and Santa Clara that ended up with political rallies. Some events featured live performances, food and other entertainment.  

In Sacramento, the California Black Agriculture Working Group held an event at Cesar Chavez Plaza called “2020 Sacramento Juneteenth, Dia De Los Negroes.”  

According to their Eventbrite page, the goal of the event was to educate Californians about “the unique legacy of ‘Slavery in California’ our journey towards freedom and ongoing systemic impacts from ‘America’s Peculiar Institution’ here in the Great State of California.” 

Beginning last Friday, Californians have been joining other Americans around the country for a Juneteenth Online Festival, which will run through June 28,  2020. The U.S. Census Bureau is participating in the national virtual festival to raise awareness about this year’s census count.  

“This online festival is something for the history books,” said Betty Williams, president of the Sacramento NAACP branch and U.S. Census Bureau Sacramento area partnership specialist.  

“I think the first ever Juneteenth Online Festival will create a huge amount of curiosity, which will equate to a large interest from the Black community, resulting in a successful event,” she said before the event kicked off last week.  

From June 13th, the San Jose/Silicon Valley-based African American Community Service Agency has been hosting  their 39th annual Juneteenth In The Park Festival entirely online for the first time in its history.  

The festival featured African American art, a Black hair session and a live virtual musical performance by Neo-Soul singer Anthony Hamilton. He headlined the online event.  

In San Bernardino, The Dino Can and the M.U.D.A.Foundation, local grassroots community-based organizations, teamed up to organize a “community-centric” event on June 19 called “Feed The Dino.” It featured free food, music and entertainment and was held at Perris Hill Park in San Bernardino.  

Lexi, one of the founding members of the activist and art collective Kawaii Killas, expressed the importance of her organization’s involvement in the San Bernardino event. 

“Feed The Dino is an event me and Kawaii [Killas] are very excited to be a part of because in a city that is in the top three most dangerous in America, we are bringing light and joy to our city,” Lexi said. “We are serving the people that have paid their dues and maybe even fell victim to our streets. Feed the Dino is retribution to our people. The things everyone deserves: community, food and life.” 

Lisa, another founding member of Kawaii Killas, highlighted the need for a celebration in these turbulent times. 

“To me, Juneteenth means resting your soul just for a second,” Lisa said. “Just a day. Freedom, sweet but short lived in realization.” 

While Freedom Day is a celebration of the Emancipation Proclamation, many California organizations are reminding policy makers that there is still a civil rights movement for Black lives that has not seen its end. 

For those still wary about gathering in public on the 19th, the South LA/South Bay African American Infant and Maternal Mortality Community hosted a virtual Freedom Day celebration that that featured Dr. Sayida Peprah, a Los Angeles-based psychologist as the keynote speaker.  

Like the state Capitol, San Francisco and San Diego counties lighted their administration buildings, too. Swaths of red, green and gold light shone against the white exteriors of those local government centers.  

“Tonight we accomplished lighting the San Diego County Administration Building in honor of Juneteenth,” says Harris. “We are part of creating a new narrative.” 

“But we must move from just illuminating buildings on the outside to going inside of them to address the inequities facing African Americans,” he said.   

By Tanu Henry | California Black Media 

On June 12, the California Assembly voted 61-12 to approve AB 3121. 

The “reparations” bill calls for the creation of a task force to study and propose ideas for how African Americans in California can be compensated for slavery and its “after lives,” as the author of the legislation, Dr. Shirley Weber (D-San Diego), describes the Jim Crow laws and other forms of injustice and state-sanctioned discrimination that have existed in the United States from 1865 until now. 

“The bill would require the task force to recommend, among other things, the appropriate mechanism for redress as it pertains to California’s role in the enslavement of Black people,” Weber read in a statement at the bill’s hearing to her colleagues on the California state Assembly floor. 

The California state Senate is now reviewing the bill and is expected to vote on it by June 25. 

If the bill passes the Senate and Gov. Newsom signs it into law, the state will appoint and commission an eight-member task force comprised of people from different backgrounds. The team would lead the study that defines what reparations should look like and who would be eligible to receive compensation. 

“Until the end of the U.S. Civil War, California city and county law enforcement authorities enforced a contract labor system, allowing slave holders to effectively hold persons in bondage,” Weber said. “In other words, California state, county and city authorities actively supported the institution of Black slavery both within and beyond California.” 

In May, the Assembly Judiciary committee voted yes on the bill. Nearly a month later, the Appropriations committee passed it, too, before it moved to the Assembly floor for a full vote last week. 

“Its time we took an honest look at our history. This is not about pointing fingers. It’s about getting to the truth. African Americans have loved this country, and we have served it, and we have contributed to its might as much as every other American,” said Hardy Brown, the founder of California Black Media. 

“We are not making this up. The history is all there. City councils, state legislatures and the federal government crafted racist laws and adapted racially-biased public policies that deliberately excluded African Americans,” Brown continued. “They erected legal barriers that held us back and robbed us of economic opportunities that were afforded others for centuries — both here in California and across this land.” 

Standing with Weber, all the other members of the California Legislative Black Caucus co-sponsored AB 3121. They are Senator Steven Bradford (D-Los Angeles), the group’s vice chair; Senator Holly J. Mitchell (D-Los Angeles); Assemblymember Sydney Kamlager (D-Los Angeles), secretary; Assemblymember Jim Cooper (D-Sacramento), treasurer; Assemblymember Chris R. Holden (D-Pasadena); Assemblymember Mike A. Gipson (D-Los Angeles); Assemblymember Autumn Burke (D-South Bay, Los Angeles); Assemblymember Reginald Jones-Sawyer, Sr. (D- South Los Angeles); Assemblymember Kevin McCarty (D-Sacramento). 

“Justice requires that those who have been treated unjustly need the means to make themselves whole again,” Weber told her colleagues. 

Twelve of the 17 Republican members of the state Assembly voted no on the bill. They are Assemblymembers Frank Bigelow (R-O’Neals); Bill Brough (R-Dana Point); Steven Choi (R-Irvine); Jordan Cunningham (R-Paso Robles); Megan Dahle (R-Bieber); James Gallagher (R-Yuba City); Kevin Kiley (R-Rocklin); Tom Lackey (R-Palmdale); Devon Mathis (R-Visalia); Jay Obernolte (R-Big Bear Lake); Jim Patterson (R-Fresno); and Randy Voepel (R-Santee). 

The Assembly Republicans have not issued a formal statement opposing AB 3121. However, Joshua Hoover, Kiley’s chief of staff, has said that he believes a discussion about reparations for slavery should happen on the federal level.

By Assemblymember Dr. Shirley Weber, Chair of the California Legislative Black Caucus

One thing is clear this Juneteenth: change cannot wait. Today, not only do we commemorate Black liberation from slavery, we also commemorate victims of police brutality and the lives lost at their hands.

Our nation is witnessing an uprising of righteous self-expression onto our streets, onto our newsfeeds, and into our discourse. This includes expressions of anger, grief, exhaustion, but most importantly a desire to create real change. And change that is immediate.

The average Black family is financially 10 times worse off than the average white family. We protest economic injustices bolstered by systemic racism.   We protest the underinvestment in Black neighborhoods, the disparity in health outcomes, and the criminalization of Black bodies. We protest the killings of unarmed Black people and the systemic inequities legally written into this country’s fabric.

If I have one message for the inspirational people who have taken to the streets to manifest our demands, it is this: change is a movement and a process. And change will happen and is happening because we are making it happen.

So yes, we must voice our anger, and seize this moment to make our demands clear. We must also be conscious that change requires the continued participation of every single one of us.

Some of that energy must come from lawmakers. That’s the reason why I’ve put forward proposals to repeal Proposition 209 and study reparations to Black Californians. Across the country, we are seeing a wave of reforms to address police brutality, whose victims are overwhelmingly Black. Those are crucial legislative steps we must march to combat the impacts of racism and inequality.

And we’ve still got work to do.

To create true change, our civic and political culture needs to reflect and represent this movement’s gravity. Anyone who values justice and equality must be ready to organize, to advocate, to run for office – to vote.

Participating in the 2020 Census is one immediate action every Californian can take right now. Filling out a simple, nine-question form that only asks for basic information like your name, address, age, and race might not feel revolutionary. But, like filling out a ballot, participating in the Census is just as essential as protesting to the health of our democracy and the fight for justice and equity.

An accurate Census is foundational to our democracy and our communities’ growth because the data helps determine how much federal funding and political representation each community receives. Its influence on how dollars are spent in communities around the country means it can help reverse some of the structural inequities by bringing back to our neighborhoods what rightfully belongs to us. For Black Californians, this is one small step toward equality that only comes around every 10 years.

Black communities have been historically undercounted in the Census, dating back to the very first one in 1790.  In the 2010 Census, more than 800,000 African Americans were undercounted in the U.S. Totaling billions of dollars for programs for our children and seniors, ranging from health care to education, food programs to housing grants.  Participating in the Census alone may not be enough to bring the change our society needs – yet it is still an absolutely necessary component. 

We can’t afford to wait another 10 years.

We cannot deny the history of this country. We know this. We also know we must face it and fight it. And because there’s no one solution, we must be a united front and combat systemic injustice from all angles.

Protest, act, organize, vote – and count. Count now.

Bill Allowing Voters to Vote Yes on Affirmative Action Is One Step Closer to the November 2020 Ballot

SACRAMENTO — The Opportunity For All Coalition today celebrated the bipartisan passage of ACA 5 off the State Assembly Floor. The bill, introduced by Assemblymember Dr. Shirley Weber (D – San Diego), would allow California voters to have their say on equal opportunity programs like affirmative action, for the first time in a generation — as they were banned by Proposition 209 in 1996.  If the State Senate approves ACA 5 later this month, the measure would be placed on the November 2020 ballot. 

Opportunity for All Coalition co-chairs Eva Paterson and Vincent Pan said, “We are in the midst of a national conversation about systemic racism and the urgency with which we must root out bigotry — because lives depend on it. Today’s historic victory for ACA 5, to give California voters the chance to have their say on affirmative action for the first time in 24 years, is part of that national fight.” 

They continued, “The coalition behind this critical bill, just like the legislators who voted yes today — represents the broad diversity and vibrancy of California.  We are all united in our love for our communities, as well as our belief that to build a stronger future for our state — one that protects all communities from health and economic crises, one that believes that Black Lives Matter — we must make California first in opportunity for all.” 

With its passage off the Assembly Floor, ACA 5 became the first bill providing a path to a full restoration of affirmative action to pass out of one chamber of the California State Legislature.  It will face a floor vote in the Senate later this month, before the June 25th deadline. 

ACA 5 has been endorsed by over 250 organizations and leaders, including U.S. Representatives Barbara Lee (CA-13), Maxine Waters (CA-43), Karen Bass (CA-37) and Ro Khanna (CA-17), California Lt. Governor Eleni Kounalakis, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, San Francisco Mayor London Breed, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, San Francisco Board of Supervisors President Norman Yee, California State Board of Equalization Member Malia Cohen, California Secretary of State Alex Padilla, California State Controller Betty Yee, Insurance Commissioner of California Ricardo Lara, and Stockton Mayor Michael Tubbs. It is also endorsed by SEIU California, ACLU of California, AFSCME Local 3299, California Black Chamber of Commerce, California Federation of Teachers, California National Organization for Women, California/Hawaii State Conference NAACP, Chinese for Affirmative Action, Equal Justice Society, The Education Trust – West, and the University of California Student Association.

ACA 5 was also introduced by Assemblymembers Gipson and Santiago, and co-authored by Assemblymembers Burke, Cooper, Gonzalez, Holden, Jones-Sawyer, Kamlager, Kalra, McCarty, Stone, Wicks, and Senators Bradford, Mitchell, Hueso, and Skinner. ACA 5 is supported by the leading civil rights organizations, labor groups and business leaders across California including Equal Justice Society, the California Black Chamber of Commerce, Chinese for Affirmative Action, ACLU of California and scores of other community advocates. 

For more information about the Opportunity for All Coalition behind ACA5, visit https://opportunity4all.org.

By Ebone Monet and Antonio Ray Harvey | California Black Media  

Author and investigative journalist Ida B. Wells-Barnett, a staunch crusader against lynching at the turn of the last century, would likely have been included among the hundreds of thousands of people calling for a thorough investigation into recent hanging deaths of two Black men in California and another in New York.  

Wells-Barnett (July 16, 1862 – March 25, 1931) led one of the most aggressive anti-lynching campaigns through the Black press, beginning in the 1890s right up to her death about 40 years later. Wells wrapped statistics in touching stories that personalized the brutal lynchings and other race-based crimes happening in towns across the Deep South, bringing them to the attention of people across the country and in other parts of the world.  

Now more than 150 years later, Los Angeles County called in California state Attorney General Xavier Becerra to keep an eye on the investigation of a Palmdale man found hanging from a tree last week.  

Although local authorities have listed suicide as the likely cause of death in both instances, people in California and across the county are demanding more transparency in the investigations of the separate hanging deaths of the African American men.  

On May 31, San Bernardino Sheriff’s deputies responded to a report of a man found hanging from a tree in Victorville, a desert city nearly 100 miles northeast of Los Angeles.  On June 13, authorities released information identifying the man, who was homeless, as 38-year-old Malcolm Harsch. He died at a makeshift encampment for unsheltered people where officials believed he lived, close to Victorville City Library. 

It took the San Bernardino Sheriff’s Office 10 days to release information about Harsch’s death. 

The delay in releasing information about this case is the crux of many complaints being lodged against law enforcement in San Bernardino County. People are incredulous about authorities preliminarily deciding that Harsch’s hanging was a suicide. The comment sections of the Sheriff’s social media accounts include calls for investigators to release more information about the case.

 People are also questioning if Harsch was lynched.  

About 52 miles away, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department is investigating another hanging in Palmdale. Saturday people gathered at Poncitlán Square park near a tree outside of City Hall. That is where 24-year-old Robert Fuller’s body was found hanging on Wednesday June 10.  

City officials have backpedaled since initially saying that Fuller’s death was likely a suicide. 

Last Friday, authorities in Palmdale told people who crowed into a City Council meeting on Friday that there is no security footage from outside of city hall. 

Activists are also calling on the New York Police Department to conduct a deeper investigation into the death of an unidentified Black man who authorities say died from another apparent suicide. He was discovered hanging from a tree in a park in the Inwood neighborhood of northern Manhattan near the Hudson River during the early morning hours of June 9.  

Investigators in New York are conducting an autopsy to get to the root of his cause of death.  

On Sunday, Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva announced that State Attorney General Xavier Becerra will “monitor” the Fuller investigation. On Twitter Villanueva described his choice to bring in Becerra as part of his “commitment to transparency”. 

On Monday, Becerra told California Black Media he dispatched a team of investigators to Palmdale.  

“They will assess what has been done so far by the local investigators, with the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department, and we will assist moving forward,” said Becerra. “We are an independent agency and our work we do on behalf of the Department of Justice — and we will do that as best we can.” 

A “Justice for Robert Fuller” petition has nearly reached its 300,000-signature goal. Petition organizers question if Fuller was possibly the victim of a lynching. They cite heightened emotions caused by recent Black Lives Matters (BLM) protests as a possible factor. Hundreds of people reportedly took part in Palmdale BLM demonstration a week prior to Fuller’s death.  Despite creating some traffic issues, authorities say the demonstrations were peaceful.  

Over the weekend Fuller’s family and supporters held rallies to demand an independent investigation into his death. They reject the suicide claim presented by the Sheriff’s office. Instead in the Change.org petition they point to the community’s past “history of racism and negligence”. 

The Southern Poverty Law Center reports that Victorville and the surrounding county is home to  several anti-government and anti-immigration hate groups. In 2012, a man was found hanging from an electric wire in an incident police believed was a suicide.  

Still, Victor Valley News reports that San Bernardino Sheriff’s officials said there is no indication of foul play.  

A similar online petition is gaining signatures for Malcolm Harsch. Twenty-three thousand people have signed petition to seek a thorough investigation. The Harsch family told Victor Valley News that law enforcement’s assessment of suicide possibly linked to the coronavirus was off base. 

“He didn’t seem to be depressed to anyone who truly knew him. Everyone who knew our brother was shocked to hear that he allegedly hung himself and don’t believe it to be true as well as the people who were there when his body was discovered. The explanation of suicide does not seem plausible,” it reads, 

Sheriff Villanueva scheduled a virtual town hall on Monday. He said residents can talk with law enforcement and get more information about the case.  

In both Palmdale and Victorville authorities say the investigations are ongoing. 

During her life, Wells-Barnett put all of her resources into journalism and bought a stake in the Memphis Free Speech newspaper. After three of her friends were lynched by a mob in 1892, her journey as a social reformer.  She lectured about the atrocities of lynching all over Great Britain. Her three friends’ deaths changed her life.  

Today, the end of the lives of three Black men, brings back the memory of Wells-Barnett’s cause.  

Lynching is defined as a form of violence in which mobs, consisting mostly of non-Black people in the Deep South states, executed a person without the fairness of a jury trial.  

This practice soared after the Emancipation Proclamation freed slaves in 1865 and continued for about 100 years. Graphic photos of lynchings, many in a spectator setting, still circulate in various forms of media, including U.S. postal cards. 

The National Memorial For Peace and Justice (NMPJ) in Montgomery, Ala., is the first memorial dedicated to the legacy of enslaved Black people and Black people terrorized by lynching. 

In May of 2020, 89 years after her death, Wells-Barnett was posthumously awarded a Pulitzer Prize for her journalism.  

“The way to right wrongs is to turn the light of truth upon them,” Wells-Barnett once wrote. 

LOS ANGELES, CA— Almost 7,000 homeless people living in encampments near freeways, as well as homeless seniors over 65 and others vulnerable to COVID-19, will be brought indoors over the span of 18 months under a joint legal agreement signed by the County and City of Los Angeles and approved today by Judge David O. Carter.

Under the agreement, the City committed to provide 6,000 new beds within 10 months, plus an additional 700 beds over 18 months. The County, meanwhile, committed to investing $300 million over five years to fund essential services for the people occupying those beds.

Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas and Council President Nury Martinez were tapped by Judge Carter to help negotiate the joint agreement between the County and the City.

“With the COVID-19 pandemic further exacerbating Los Angeles’ homeless crisis, it is imperative that we marshal our County and City resources to bring our most vulnerable neighbors indoors as expeditiously as possible,” Supervisor Ridley-Thomas said. “This is a new milestone in our partnership to ensure that everyone in Los Angeles has a life of dignity and worth.”

“This agreement will lead to major action, not rhetoric,” said City Council President Martinez. “The Court has challenged us to do better, to do more and to do it quickly, and we need to meet that challenge. We are now positioned to dive into difficult but honest conversations with our County partners about future financial resources and obligations. The Los Angeles City Council, and its leadership, will continue to do its duty to lead, collaborate and negotiate on behalf of the City with our County partners toward our common goal to house more homeless Angelenos faster.” 

On May 15^th, Judge Carter ordered both the County and City to “humanely” relocate anyone camped within 500 feet of an overpass, underpass, or ramp and into a shelter or “an alternative housing option.” Today’s agreement encompasses not only those people but also the most vulnerable segment of the homeless population – those who are 65 years or older, or who have chronic underlying health conditions that put them at high risk of being hospitalized or dying if they contract COVID-19.

In approving the agreement between the County and the City, Judge Carter dropped his injunction.

The agreement builds on the existing partnership between the County and the City, which together housed a record number of 22,000 homeless people last year, based on the Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count released last week.

The County and City have been housing more people every year since the passage of the County’s Measure H in 2017 and the City’s Proposition HHH in 2016, but they have also had to contend with the significant inflow of people becoming homeless for the first time due to economic pressures.

The agreement will also go hand-in-hand with the post-pandemic housing plan being developed by the County under motions by Supervisors Ridley-Thomas, Janice Hahn and Sheila Kuehl, as well as the Comprehensive Crisis Response to homelessness endorsed by Governor Gavin Newsom’s Council of Regional Homeless Advisors, co-chaired by Supervisor Ridley-Thomas and Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg.

In times like these we need more human-kindness and love. I want to highlight Pastor Derek Smith and his congregation at Loveland Church for hosting a successful diaper drive. Because of their community efforts, the church collected more than 10,000 diapers.

The diapers have been donated to Children & Families Commission – First 5 San Bernardino and will be distributed to families throughout San Bernardino County.

First 5 San Bernardino (F5SB) is a funder of more than $20 million per year to non-profit, government, and educational contract agencies throughout the County of San Bernardino.

‘The Lord placed a diaper drive on my heart and I had to be obedient”, states Pastor Derek.

Thank you to Pastor Derek and to all that are doing their part to make the world a better place. Until next time folks! Stay Safe out there. L’ssss!

Special to California Black Media Partners From The San Francisco Sun Reporter

For Black Lives Matter co-founder Alicia Garza, the widespread global protests and activism that followed the murder of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man, by Minnesota police have been heartening — and they make her feel hopeful for the future.  At the same time, she said, “It’s bittersweet that it takes someone being murdered on camera to get to the point of conversation that we’re in.” 

“I was horrified,” Garza said of viewing the video of Floyd’s life being taken by a White police officer with his knee on Floyd’s neck.  “Every time a Black person is murdered by police there is something disturbing about it.”  She added, in this case, “Just the callousness of it; and him calling for his mother. There’s just so much in there that’s horrifying. It’s just a brutal reminder of how Black lives don’t matter in this country.” 

Garza, who lives in Oakland, is Strategy and Partnerships Director for the National Domestic Workers Alliance and Principal at the Black Futures Lab.   

Seeing Black Lives Matter (BLM) signs held by protestors in all 50 states, including in many small towns with few Black residents, Garza said, “It’s humbling to see it and to have been a small part of it.” She is heartened that people are awakening.     

“I got to take over Selena Gomez’ Instagram last week. It was awesome.” She said people are really hungry for information. “We’ve been doing a lot of work and talk about what’s going on.  When folks like Selena do that, it engages people in issues of our time. I plan to work with her through this election cycle”.

Garza said she will also be taking over Lady Gaga’s social media in the coming week.  “We’re really focused on transferring this energy into political power.” 

She said it’s important to change the people who are making the rules and those who aren’t enforcing the rules. She cited as an example the recent election in Georgia where voters in predominantly Black areas waited hours to vote. Movement for Black Lives is not just about police violence. It’s about how Black lives are devalued.  

Black Lives Matter is for an opportunity for us to recognize and uphold the right to humanity and dignity for Black people.  She said Black people also have to work “to remove the negatives we’ve internalized about ourselves.”  

“For people who are not Black, there’s also work to do.”  She said it’s not only about changing the rules, but also about a culture shift. “That’s what I think we’re seeing now.  It’s going to take all of us staying committed.” 

She said the millions joining protests following the murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Auberry and Breonna Taylor were sparked by “a powder keg waiting to happen.”  “People are mad about a lot of stuff.  We’re all tender right now.  It’s an election year. We find ourselves in a global pandemic. The lack of human touch… and being able to gather.  Because of that we also have the expansion of an economic crisis.  Not only are people trying to stay healthy, they’re trying to pay their bills.” 

“What we can all agree on is that policing is not serving the people that they’re supposed to serve.  When we’re afraid of the police that’s not serving.  Whenever I see tanks, rubber bullets, and tear gas being used -we pay for that. Are we keeping people safe?  We’ve been defunding the Black community for a long time.”   

“Defund the Police” is a controversial slogan that has been held by some protestors.  Garza said that slogan comes from the Movement for Black Lives, a coalition that includes BLM.  “This work is something many organizations have been doing for many years,” she said.    

“It’s really about getting a handle on how we’re spending our money.” She cited the fact that education funds have been cut, the postal service is near bankrupt, and thousands of homeless are living on the streets.   

“We’re using police to deal with homeless. You don’t send a nurse to deal with a drug cartel.”  “We did the largest survey of Black America in 2018 – The Black Census Project.  The overwhelming majority said in the past six months they’d had a negative experience with the police.”   

She said what she supports is “limiting the size, scope and role police play in our communities. Police also need consequences when harm is enacted. Police unions are a huge, huge issue.  They block transparency for officers.”   Speaking of another campaign that’s getting national attention Project Zero’s “8 That Can’t Wait,” Garza cautioned, “We have to be wary of things that are a quick fix.”    

She said “8 That Can’t Wait,” s campaign that pushes proposals for police reforms, “doesn’t deal with the real issue here: nobody should be above the law.” 

“Public safety is not about bloated police budgets. It’s about expanding the safety net for Black people,” she concluded. 

By Tanu Henry | California Black Media  

Last week, Norman Pearlstine, the editor of the LA Times, sent a memo to staffers announcing that the publication will begin capitalizing “B” in the word Black in its articles when referring to a race of people.   

That move puts the publication with the largest circulation in California in line with the way the majority of the Black Press in California and around the country have referred to African Americans for decades since they retired “Negro,” beginning in the 1960s to the early 1970s.  Pearlstine also announced that the LA Times is taking steps to add more diversity to its newsroom by increasing the number of Black and Latino journalists on its staff.   

“Within the next two weeks we shall form a group to work on overhauling our hiring process,” Pearlstine wrote to employees. “The global pandemic and the global financial crisis constrain our ability to make a hiring commitment by a specific date. We can commit, however, that the next hires in Metro will be Black reporters, as we begin to address the underrepresentation.”  

In the wake of the brutal murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis and the violent protests that followed it, across America, more and more people have begun to point out, own up to, and apologize for abetting racism and anti-Blackness in all of their forms — explicit, subtle and systemic. Americans from all backgrounds have begun to publicly acknowledge how discrimination, over the years, have hurt and held back African Americans for centuries.   

Last week, other media organizations across the country, including BuzzFeed News, NBC News, MSNBC, Metro Detroit, and others, announced that they have made the decision to begin capitalizing the “B” in Black as well.  

The National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ), the country’s largest professional organization of Black media professionals and journalism students,  released a statement that said the organization has been writing Black with a capital “B” in all of its communications for about a year now.   

The NABJ is also recommending that “White” and “Brown” be capitalized, too, when referring to race.   “It is equally important that the word is capitalized in news coverage and reporting about Black people, Black communities, Black culture, Black institutions, etc,” the NABJ statement said.    

Sarah Glover, past president of the NABJ, wrote a letter to the Associated Press (AP).   “I’m writing today to request the mainstream news media begin capitalizing the “B” in Black when describing people and the community,” wrote Glover.   

“I’m also asking the AP to update its Stylebook to reflect this change, effective immediately,” Glover continued.  

“This book is the bible for working journalists and sets journalistic industry standards. The AP has tremendous impact as a wire service with more than 1,000 subscribers worldwide.”   

Larry Lee, the publisher and CEO of the Sacramento Observer, the oldest Black-owned news publication in California’s capital city said whenever he sees a lowercase “B” in Black, it feels like a “slap in the face.”   

I always felt that they were devaluing our community,” said Lee, who is a second-generation publisher of the Observer. He took the helm of the family-owned business from his father William Lee, who founded the newspaper in 1962 and passed last year.   

“This is wonderful. Its progress,” Lee continued. “I applaud other media outlets that are doing that. We thought it was important, in a journalistic sense, to recognize Black Americans and African Americans in the same vein that you stylistically recognize Hispanics and any other ethnicity.”  

Lee, who’s is 47, says for as long as he can remember, the Observer and other Black-owned newspapers across the country have capitalized the “B” in Black also to affirm the humanity of African Americans, evoke a sense of cultural pride,  and to align themselves with the 1970’s “I’m Black and I’m Proud” movement popularized in pop culture by James Brown and others.   

Lee says, for a while now, Black publishers have called on general market newspapers to adapt that policy, too.   Paulette Brown-Hinds, Publisher of the Black Voice News in Riverside, is also a second-generation executive of an African American, family-owned newspaper in California.   

“As a newspaper, we have capitalized the word Black for decades,” said Brown-Hinds, who took over the day-to-day operation of the paper in 2012 from her parents, Hardy and Cheryl Brown.   

“We have always shared a Pan-Africanist worldview, regarding Black as being more encompassing of people of the African Diaspora,” she continued. “I guess our counterparts, in what people call the mainstream media, are finally catching-up with something we’ve been doing all along.”  

In her letter, Glover said organizations moving to change their policy on capitalizing Black is a “good first step.”  

“This matters. It’s to bring humanity to a group of people who have experienced forms of oppression and discrimination since they first came to the United States 401 years ago as enslaved people. I ask for this change in honor of the Black Press,” she wrote.   

The New York Times, which adheres to its own style guide that is different from AP’s, also still uses Black with a lowercase B.