Happily Divorced And After

Black, Indigenous and Latino folks need to have a real conversation about what can make them all great as a winning political combination

By Dr. G.S. Potter | Contributing Editor | b |e News

As many have already heard, actress Eva Longoria is under fire for these comments…

Eva Longoria under fire after her interview with @MSNBC about Biden’s victory:

“The women of color showed up in big ways. Of course, you saw in Georgia what Black women have done but Latina women are the real heroines here,” pic.twitter.com/VBcgdTq3cr

— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) November 9, 2020

Naturally, there was a fierce backlash (for the most part, on social media), and she was forced to make a clarification…

Eva Longoria apologizes and clarifies why she said Latinas were ‘the real heroines':

"When I said that Latinas were heroines in this election, I simply meant that they turned out in greater numbers and voted more progressively than LATINO MEN," pic.twitter.com/60wSq2vxMU

— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) November 9, 2020

So, here we go again, imagine that: the media using a celebrity to spit a divisive talking point to split people of color. Except, in this particular situation, Latinxs get actors instead of rappers. 

In light of this, there is a real need for a conversation on coalition building. And, maybe, after that conversation we can understand what makes coalitions coalitions – and how intertwined our political fates are given the circumstances we face as what is regularly known as “BIPOC:” Black, Indigenous, People of Color. We’re not all the same, that goes without saying, the complexities in terms of history, culture and specific needs are there. But, we are all on the front lines of a war waged against us by white supremacy and we find a common existential threat from that against our well-being and future. 

Yet, many of us still don’t realize how powerful we are united against that. 

We all need to lead a coalition. The Black community must lead a coalition of people of color, as hard as that may seem, if it’s going to win. Group nationalism won’t work here, especially when Black folks are outnumbered by Latino communities – and, we’re all still outnumbered by Whites in this country. But, imagine how powerful we are as a united front. 

We have to be careful about getting too immersed in a debate over which “people of color” had it worse than the other or who lays claim to what piece of American land. The United States is, still, originally Indigenous land and Indigenous people have been nearly wiped out as a result of white supremacists and imperialists stealing it. American history is a horrific tale of Black slavery, as well as a horrific tale of Brown and Red slavery. Our collective legacy is a tale of poverty, deliberate miseducation and incarceration. We are all reacting to colonialism, not just Americanism. We are all being targeted with the same vicious nuclear arsenal of racism by the same people, just in different languages and thought processes. 

This is the part, however, that many folks don’t want to talk about. Every group, instead, wants to say they have it the worse and to hell with everyone else and that’s their claim. But, that’s how crab-barreling works. For example: I’ve personally seen how this plays out in grassroots homeless organizing. We’re all homeless and being beaten, shot, or about to die – but, sure, let’s fight over whether or not this person that’s Indigenous and Black has it worse than this other person that’s Mexican and Black because that’s all you think gives you power. 

That’s why it’s important to hold court on expertise and how it relates to organizing. Yes, sometimes being Black makes you the expert on certain things. Sometimes, it doesn’t. Know when to hold that court … or everyone is Kanye or some random Black intellectual who is promoted by White-owned media.

Anti-immigrant sentiment is great for White folks, that’s why it’s one of the more baseless fallacies that Brown folks are stealing their jobs. It’s also a false assumption that a middle-class Black person (who is actually “working class” when compared to actual White middle-class) has it harder than an immigrant field worker living in a tent and getting beaten daily by police. Homeless Brown folks and Black folks, together, are still getting beat up sleeping on carboard boxes. 

We need to acknowledge historical and current policies and patterns of treatment and respond accordingly as a coalition. We don’t need to crab barrel ourselves into a white nationalist utopia. So, we’ll need to have a serious Black and Brown conversation in a way that still puts Black folks at the forefront but not in a way that says “me before you” to Indigenous and Brown folks. It must say “all of us” according to need. 

SAN BERNARDINO, CA—- San Bernardino County has filed an action directly in the California Supreme Court asking the court to find that the governor’s stay-at-home orders exceed the authority found in the California Emergency Services Act. The county seeks to exercise local control in response to the COVID-19 pandemic rather than be restrained by the state’s regional approach that treats San Bernardino County the same as significantly different counties such as Los Angeles, Santa Barbara and San Diego.

“The governor is not permitted to act as both the executive and legislative branch for nine months under the California Emergency Services Act,” said Board of Supervisors Chairman Curt Hagman. “If it is concluded that the act allows him to do so, the act is unconstitutional as it permits the delegation of the Legislature’s powers to the executive branch in violation of the California Constitution.”

San Bernardino County has worked tirelessly on behalf of county residents and businesses urging the state to recognize that the county’s size and geographic diversity should allow for fewer restrictions in communities with lower COVID-19 metrics than the county as a whole.

“The governor declared that the state’s approach would be based on science and data, but the state has not produced science or data that suggest the restrictions he has imposed would address the current trajectory of the pandemic in San Bernardino County,” said former Supervisor Josie Gonzales, who joined the county in the Supreme Court filing as a private citizen.

The filing states the county seeks to reclaim its constitutional authority “to tailor regulations and orders which are specific to its residents based on facts which are unique to their locations rather than subject its residents to overbroad multi-county, Governor-implemented, regionalized lockdowns.”

By Dale Hunter | In Partnership with California Black Media 

Depending on where in California you live, some of the water from your faucet probably traveled hundreds of miles from its origins: either a melting snowbank in the high Sierra Nevada or a winter rainstorm that doused its foothills. 

That origin point, California’s headwaters, on average receive 60 percent of the state’s annual precipitation falling as rain or snow. Californians consume roughly the same amount of water after it flows through streams and rivers into reservoirs, accounting for half of the state’s surface water storage. 

However, the harsh reality of destructive wildfires that mar every California warm season — especially this year — can also hit these headwater forests. When these catastrophic blazes, which are driven by climate change, burn through forests, they can affect water treatment because ash is washed into watershed streams and rivers.

Intense heat from these fires bakes the ground into hardpan. Seasonal rains wash ashes off the surface into streams leading to reservoirs that feed water treatment plants. Water providers can still treat and deliver safe drinking water, but the ash makes the job more difficult because it adds sediment to the reservoirs. 

The good news is there are solutions within our reach. Work to achieve those solutions is underway in many parts of the Sierra Nevada and requires reversing a hundred years of well-intentioned, but ultimately destructive forest management. 

During most of the last century, wildland firefighting focused exclusively on preventing forest fires from starting. And When one did start, minimizing its size at all costs was the main priority. However, this strategy ignored the natural role of fire over millennia. Ignited by lightening or set by Native Americans who understood its value, natural fire kept forests thinned and healthy by removing excess undergrowth. These fires tended to creep along the forest floor and burn less hot and in more controlled patterns than today’s raging and record-setting conflagrations. 

However, large swaths of forests kept largely free from fire have overgrown. Instead of larger trees spaced apart, much of the Sierra Nevada headwater forests have become a thick carpet of smaller trees packed together and growing over dense underbrush. Years of severe and intermittent drought have cooked this vegetation into bone-dry kindling, explosive fire fuel that feeds all-consuming fires such as the ones that swept through California and the Pacific Northwest this year. 

Removing this undergrowth, thinning headwater forests back to their natural state and restoring the role of fire within the ecosystem represents a massive undertaking, but is not impossible. In California, public water agencies, environmental nonprofit organizations, as well as local and state agencies and the federal government are collaborating on many levels to enhance headwaters health, and in doing so protect the quality and reliability of our water supplies. 

Natural fire has partially returned through what are known as prescribed burns. Set outside of the height of fire season and closely monitored, this tactic has successfully cleared out overgrowth in limited sections of forest. There are risks, and these fires do affect air quality, but the alternative is far worse. Another tactic, although labor intensive, is employing work crews to manually thin sections of forests. These projects often use heavy machinery, such as masticators, which are tractor-mounted woodchippers. 

One example can be found in the Northern Sierra Nevada. The Placer County Water Agency (PCWA) is leading a public-private partnership that treated more than 1,000 acres of forest in the Lake Tahoe area during 2019. Over 10 years, this single project aims to restore health to 22,000 acres of forest within the headwaters of the American River, a major source of water for the Sacramento area. 

Making those forests less vulnerable to catastrophic wildfires will require a long-term financial commitment, as well as determination. However, as with many challenges with California water, collaboration involving water agencies has opened a clear path toward a more resilient future for our state’s water supply. 

By Antonio Ray Harvey | California Black Media 

The new president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) California-Hawaii State Conference is keeping in step with a national movement making strides to level the playing field for Black women — long underrepresented in both private and public sector leadership roles. Like organizations and companies around the country, California’s conference of the oldest civil rights organization in the country is leading by increasing professional opportunities and offering critical career support for Black women. 

Kickstarting his tenure, the NAACP State Conference President Rick L. Callender announced last week that Betty Williams has been hired as the organization’s executive director. 

Williams, a longtime president of the Sacramento branch of the NAACP, calls her new statewide position a “blessing.” 

“I had thought about it, and it was like, ‘God this is my passion, I love the organization, I love the advocacy of civil rights, and being that voice (of NAACP) for almost 10 years,’” Williams told California Black Media (CBM). “I want to be a part of an organization that I absolutely adore, part of the decision-making process, the transition, and Rick Callendar’s vision of taking all the branches to a whole new level.” 

Williams was appointed with the full support of the State Conference board. In her new role, Williams will help Callendar represent the organization and oversee the operations of 55 branches in California and Hawaii, serving as a spokesperson and monitoring developments in politics at the State Capitol. 

Under Williams’s leadership as the Sacramento branch president of the NAACP, she helped law enforcement agencies in Sacramento develop community partnerships that contributed to the reduction of crime and safer communities in some of the most underserved areas of the city. 

Williams was also instrumental in effecting changes to economic and social policies in the Sacramento region. Her peers praise her for pushing for reforms in policing strategies, including police-use-of-force procedures. 

“She is the right person at the right time to lead the California-Hawaii NAACP into the future,” said Callender, who is also the chief executive officer of the Santa Clara Valley Water District. 

Callender has joined NAACP Chairman of the Board Leon Russell to fire up the organization’s members and delegates to become more engaged in the civic life of their local communities. He is also focused on promoting the participation of more Black women in politics in the state. 

Callender and the California-Hawaii NAACP supported a resolution calling for Gov. Newsom to appoint an African American woman to fill the U.S. Senate seat that will be vacant once Kamala Harris is sworn in as Vice President of the United States next month. 

“The California voters sent a Black woman to the U.S. Senate. She was, and is, the only Black woman in the U.S. Senate,” Callendar stated. “It’s the right thing that should be done. Let’s all mobilize to make this happen.” 

Callender, former president of the San Jose-Silicon Valley NAACP, was appointed president of the California-Hawaii State Conference of the NAACP in November. 

He assumed duties Dec. 1 after Alice Huffman stepped down due to health concerns. Huffman held the position for 21 years.

By Brooklyn White, Essence

Every year, The King Center in Atlanta leads the nationwide observance of the national holiday?commemorating the birth of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  One of the marquee events of the King Center’s week-long holiday experience will be the “Beloved Community?Awards” (formerly “The Salute to Greatness” Award). The Beloved Community Awards?recognizes international individuals and organizations that?exemplify excellence in leadership; pursue the universal quest for social justice and worldwide?peace in the tradition of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.; and have made notable strides toward improving the quality of life for all. In addition to the “Beloved Community Awards”, the King Center presents a number of other awards in honor of Mrs. Coretta Scott King, Mrs. Christine King Farris and Yolanda King, all of whom have made tremendous contributions to our world house. 

Dr. Johnnetta Betsch Cole has been chosen to receive the Soul of a Nation Award, which recognizes her as phenomenal woman leader who embodies the spirit of Mrs. Coretta Scott King’s quote, “Women, if the soul of the nation is to be saved, I believe that you must become its soul.” She is recognized for a life as an extraordinary servant leader who is empowering women throughout our nation and the world. Her career accomplishments, including those at Spelman College, Bennett College, and the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW), have helped numerous women to achieve higher levels of learning and success. Through her current work with the NCNW, the commitment to preparing and emboldening the next generation of women aligns with The King Center’s work of creating the Beloved Community, a more just, equitable, and peaceful world, where everyone is treated with dignity and respect. Her tireless fight for diversity and gender equality is helping to raise the consciousness of corporate America. Her passion for encouraging seasoned leaders, known as “Roots” to mentor younger generations of leaders, whom she affectionately refers to as “Wings” embodies the essence of the Soul of a Nation.  

About NCNW

National Council of Negro Women is a Washington, D.C.-based charitable organization making a difference in the lives of women, children, and families through a four-pronged strategy that emphasizes entrepreneurship, health equity, STEAM education and civic engagement. Founded nearly 85 years ago, NCNW has 290 community and campus bases sections and thirty-two national affiliates representing more than Two Million women and men. Johnnetta Betsch Cole, Ph.D., is the seventh President of NCNW. For more information, please visit www.ncnw.org.or the brand’s social channels via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or LinkedIn.

Offices remain open. Customers encouraged to go online first.

The California Department of Motor Vehicles is temporarily suspending behind-the-wheel driving tests for at least two weeks beginning December 14. The DMV is taking this step for the health and safety of customers and employees during the current statewide surge in COVID-19 cases.

“Behind-the-wheel drive tests require two people to share space in one vehicle and – while we have made numerous changes to safeguard the testing process – the current surge in COVID-19 cases presents increased risk to both parties,” said DMV Director Steve Gordon. “While our field offices remain open to serve the public, we hope customers will first go online to take care of their DMV needs.”

In-vehicle testing is a requirement for first-time driver’s license holders and commercial license applicants. The temporary suspension includes commercial and noncommercial tests but does not apply to motorcycle drive tests, which can be conducted at a safe distance.

Customers with scheduled appointments in the next two weeks will be notified their tests are canceled. The DMV will automatically reschedule the tests at a later date.

DMV drive test examiners will be redirected to assist with other customer transactions.

The DMV previously suspended drive tests for three months beginning in mid-March. The DMV resumed administering behind-the-wheel tests in June with safety protocols in place, including required face coverings, temperature checks, cracked windows for increased air circulation and seat covers.

Californians who do not have an urgent need to go to a DMV field office should delay their visit, including those interested in applying for a REAL ID. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has announced that the REAL ID enforcement date is October 1, 2021, and customers who want a REAL ID will have an opportunity to apply at a later date.

To protect customers and employees, the DMV requires everyone who enters the DMV to wear a face covering, physically distance and have their temperature checked. To best serve customers and maintain appropriate distance, the number of people allowed in the office is limited, chairs are appropriately spaced and plexiglass has been installed.

The DMV continues to recommend that customers use its online services, expanded virtual services and other service channels to complete transactions including eligible driver’s license and vehicle registration renewals. Nearly all Californians can now renew their driver’s license online – even if the renewal notice states an office visit is required. Customers can also use the Service Advisor on the DMV website to learn their options to complete DMV tasks.

By Ivan Walks, M.D. | Charles D. Ellison

As the first coronavirus vaccine shots are being administered, there is quite a bit of talk and anticipation around whether it’s safe and how fast we’ll get it. We’re definitely asking lots of questions about how we’ll be distributing that vaccine, who will get it first and if our already stressed medical supply chains can handle distribution and storage.

Fortunately, there is even a robust conversation on how government (state, local and federal), health professionals and vaccine manufacturers must gain the trust and confidence of justifiably skeptical Black and Brown communities.

According to one recent (and not so surprising) national COVID Collaborative survey, just 14 percent and 34 percent of Black and Latino respondents, respectively, trust the coronavirus vaccine. This is particularly worrisome because COVID-19 kills Black and Brown folks at a much higher rate. For Black populations, the legacy of medical violence is a long one and will not go away – public leaders and elected officials must tackle it.

Yet, one major question we may get blindsided on is this: who will get the “best” vaccine available … and who won’t?

It’s that tricky, age-old question of premium versus basic. Gold versus bronze. Brand name versus generic. Americans have a constant pre-occupation, sometimes warranted, with whether or not they’re getting the best product or if they’re forced into making tough choices based on cost, quality and, many times, bias. Because of the rather narrowed and incomplete way we’ve been having the national coronavirus vaccine discussion, many have assumed it’s just one type or one standard of vaccine. If we let headlines and cable TV talking heads tell it, there’s a public sense of the big singular “vaccine” and that it’s “… 95 percent effective.” However, most of us in the know have failed to focus on one major detail: there’s not just one vaccine, there are several … and not all coronavirus vaccines are created equal. Nor are all those vaccines 95 percent effective.

Starting this week, we have watched with a mix of nervousness and fascination as healthcare professionals have received the first administered doses of vaccine. According to the NY Times Covid-19 vaccine tracker, 2 vaccines have been approved for full use and there are 16 vaccines from different pharmaceutical makers and labs all around the world in final Phase 3 “large scale efficacy tests.” About 5 are in “limited use” as we speak.

Of those in Phase 3 or emergency use that are beginning to reach supply chains for use in the United States are Pfizer, Moderna and Astra Zeneca; Pfizer has already been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for emergency use. Both Pfizer and Moderna show 95 percent effectiveness. However, AstraZeneca, reportedly, has only seen “moderate” effectiveness, with trial efficacy ranging anywhere from 62 percent to 70 percent and sometimes 90 percent, depending on the level and sequence of dosage.

That’s not to say AstraZeneca’s vaccine is not effective. Indeed, trial studies show that it is. But, when a weary public only sees the percentages, we have not yet had that honest, open conversation about how two vaccines – Pfizer and Moderna – appear to significantly outperform one other vaccine, AstraZeneca, and maybe others. In a situation like that, as vaccine is gradually available, people are going to ask questions about if they are getting the “best” vaccine. More alarmingly, we will also find ourselves in a situation where governments and medical institutions may distribute a type of vaccine based on zip code, income, health insurance and, some will wonder, race.

Bad enough we see a rather high number of people in certain demographic groups who don’t trust the vaccine. Why add to those fears with extra anxiety over vaccine quality? We need to get ahead of that inevitable conversation and potential clash right now. The fear is that vaccine distribution or, rather, who gets what grade of vaccine will be determined by where they live, how much they make and the color of their skin. Expectations on vaccine supply have already been dramatically reduced as we’re now finding out the current administration didn’t prepare for or bother to purchase the “several hundred million doses” of Covid vaccine it promised – instead, states are planning for just less than 40 million doses to start with. We’ll only have a limited supply of that 95 percent effective Pfizer and Moderna, but initially – and likely – a greater supply of the potentially 70 percent effective AstraZeneca. So, what happens when word gets out that the 95 percent effective vaccine will be used up before certain communities or populations can get in line?  

It’s a valid question because we see it unfolding every day in the delivery of our healthcare, particularly as well researched and documented bias – consciously or not – often drives healthcare decisions.  What we know is that race and income oftentimes dictate level and quality of care. We know, for example, that Black and Latino patients face numerous barriers to needed prescription drugs: Black and Brown children were found less likely to receive antibiotics for respiratory infections than White children. If this is a norm, why should those populations expect the equitable distribution of coronavirus vaccine?

That’s the critical question I’ve seen unfold in terrible and tragic ways firsthand. As Chief Public Health Officer for Washington, D.C. leading the response to the first bioterrorism attack on our nation’s capital back in 2001, I had to explain to outraged Black D.C. postal workers why they were receiving a different and thought-to-be cheaper Anthrax antibiotic, doxycycline, compared to the Ciprofloxacin that was being taken by mostly White Capitol Hill personnel and postal workers in Manhattan. Two Black postal workers had already died from Anthrax and people wanted answers and optimal healthcare. Yet, the decision to pick “doxy” was based, ultimately, on risk vs. benefit, not cost …. difficult to explain in a setting of disparate mortality along racial lines.  

We might very well be headed down this same road in the distribution of coronavirus vaccine.  Even as we resolve the question over trust – since various public and private institutions may eventually mandate Covid vaccination as a condition of travel, employment and schooling, anyway – we’re going to hit the thornier topic of quality. How vaccine is dispersed could potentially come down to bias selection: the battle between haves and have-nots.  What we need to do now is have as much of a transparent conversation about these vaccines as possible and include the talk about vaccine efficacy as part of the overall conversation on closing the trust gap, especially as it relates to Black communities.

To ward off the dramatic and dangerous levels of skepticism from that, public health professionals and elected officials must be honest. Let’s get out in front of this: 1) we now know we’ll have limited vaccine supply to start off with and 2) our medical and emergency supply chains, including the cold storage needed to preserve the 95 percent effective Pfizer and Moderna, will also be limited. Hence, there will be heavier reliance on the 70 percent effective AstraZeneca which, incidentally, doesn’t likely need the cold storage. 

Policymakers on all levels should immediately huddle with public health officials and consider measures to prevent vaccine distribution that would appear to be based on income, healthcare access and race. All approved vaccines, regardless of proven or perceived quality, must be distributed equitably. As we attempt to navigate our nation out of this pandemic, let’s ensure our historical and ongoing national biases don’t further ruin the path to total recovery.

IVAN WALKS, M.D.is the former Chief Public Health Officer of the District of Columbia and Principal of Ivan Walks & Associates. 

CHARLES D. ELLISON is Senior Fellow at the Council of State Governments Eastern Regional Conference’s Council on Communities of Color and Publisher of theBEnote.com

Written by Naomi K. Bonman

SAN BERNARDINO, CA— In an effort to make the holidays special for families in need, Community Action Partnership of San Bernardino County will be hosting a Mobile Toy Shop on Saturday, December 19 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at San Bernardino Valley College located at 701 South Mt. Vernon Avenue in San Bernardino.

There are a few requirements that must be met in order for families to participate, which are that: You must be a resident of San Bernardino County and you must register online before attending. Families can register at mobiletoyshop.eventbrite.com where they can purchase one ticket per household. It is asked that you do not register for multiple time slots or the same time slot multiple times, doing so will delete your registration.

This event is also in collaboration with the Family and Friends Foundation, and is sponsored by: SoCalGas, Health Net, ConvergeOne, Southern California Edison, Union Bank, and Citizens Business Bank.

For more information, please call (909) 723-1558 or email fdpservices@capsbc.org.

By Antonio? ?Ray? ?Harvey? ?|? ?California? ?Black? ?Media? 

Months after Black employees called out widespread racism at the California Air Resources Board (CARB), Gov. Gavin Newsom has appointed two African American women to the board of the California agency that shapes state policy against air pollution.  

Last week, the governor announced that he appointed Liane Randolph, 55, of Oakland, who was in charge of integrating the resource-planning processes at the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), as the new chair of CARB.  

“Cleaner air is essential for California’s families and Liane Randolph is the kind of bold, innovative leader that will lead in our fight against climate change with equity and all California’s communities at heart,” Gov. Newsom said. “By committing to achieving carbon neutrality and a clean economy, my Administration is fighting for a healthier and more vibrant future for our families and our economy.”  

Randolph is the first Black person to serve as chair of CARB.

Responding to the news of her appointment, Randolph said she is “beyond excited” about the work she will do at CARB. 

“Governor Newsom and the Legislature have set California on a bold path to address the air pollution that burdens our communities and the existential threat of climate change,” Randolph said. “Implementing these policies requires effective management and strategy that centers the people affected most by environmental damage. I am eager to step forward and continue California’s leadership in tackling these challenging issues.” 

Randolph has been a Commissioner at the CPUC since 2015. Before that, she was deputy secretary and general counsel at the California Natural Resources Agency from 2011 to 2014. From 2007 to 2011, she was an attorney at the law firm Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP. 

Randolph, a Democrat, also served as chair of the California Fair Political Practices Commission from 2003 to 2007. From 1996 to 1997, she a was staff attorney there as well.  

She holds a Juris Doctor degree from the University of California Los Angeles School of Law. The CARB chairperson’s position requires Senate confirmation, and the compensation is $183,552.  

?Randolph replaces Mary Nichols, CARB’s outgoing chair, who is reportedly President-elect Joe Biden’s top pick to be the next Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).? 

Another Black woman, Davina Hurt, will also serve on the air agency’s board. She joins other members: John Balmes of Berkeley, Los Angeles’ Gideon Kracov, and Tania Pacheco-Werner of Sanger.  

Hurt, 45, has been a Belmont City councilmember since 2015. She has worked as a campaign manager at the Democratic Volunteer Center from 2014 to 2015. 

Hurt is a member of the Bay Area Air Quality Management District. This CARB board position requires Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Hurt is also a Democrat. 

In September, the Concerned Black Employees at CARB (CBE CARB) submitted a 13-page letter alleging discrimination at the agency. It stated that members had been the target of routine and systematic racism and that they had been excluded from promotions.  

CARB, the letter points out, has a total of 1,627 employees and only 73 of them are Black. Only one African American has held an executive position with the organization. 

“Our intent in sharing this Letter and Action Plan is not to shame or belittle CARB, or to assign blame. We enjoy the work we do at CARB and want to do all we can to improve CARB for the future, and our future careers with the agency,” CBE CARB stated.? 

Last summer, at the height of the George Floyd riots and the national reckoning on race, Assemblymember Jim Cooper (D-Sacramento), who is African American, expressed disapproval and disappointment after Nichols posted a tweet comparing air pollution violations with the tragic death of George Floyd. 

“How dare you use a dying man’s plea for help as a way to discuss your agenda. Have you no shame?” Cooper reacted to Nichols’ tweet.? 

Nichols posted on June 1, “‘I can’t breathe’ speaks to police violence, but it also applies to the struggle for clean air. Environmental racism is just one form of racism. It’s all toxic. Government needs to clean it up in word and deed.”? 

Nichols later issued an apology via Twitter, stating “I apologize for speaking at the wrong time about the wrong topic. Racism comes in many forms and I believe we must fight every instance of it in our society.”?