By Tanu Henry, Magaly Muñoz and Joe W. Bowers Jr. | California Black Media

Senate Bill (SB) 2, California’s controversial conceal-carry permit law that took effect Jan. 1, has been blocked for a second time now.

SB 2 prohibits gun owners from carrying their concealed firearms at most public places and gatherings, including religious institutions, banks, hospitals, parks and other venues.

On January 6, a 9th Circuit Court of Appeals lifted a temporary hold on a lower court injunction that blocked the law. This most recent decision upholds a Dec. 20 ruling issued by U.S. District Judge Cormac Carney that blocked the law.

Before that, on December 22, Attorney Gen. Rob Bonta filed an emergency motion appealing Carney’s decision. A three-judge panel of a different 9th Circuit Court Appeal granted Bonta’s request, allowing the law to take effect, at least temporarily.

The same day, the law was blocked from taking effect, Gov. Newsom’s office shared the findings of a new survey that reports California’s gun laws are working.

Conducted by Everytown USA, a gun safety advocacy group, the survey ranks California and New York at the top of its list for having the lowest rates of gun violence.

“We compared gun policy across the country, scoring every state on the strength of its gun laws and comparing it with its rate of gun violence,” the introduction to the report reads.

“In states where elected officials have taken action to pass gun safety laws, fewer people die by gun violence,” it continues.

By Tanu Henry, Magaly Muñoz and Joe W. Bowers Jr. | California Black Media

A California Department of Justice (DOJ) report released last week states that African Americans in California are stopped by law enforcement officers 132% more than expected, based on a comparison of stop data and residential population.

The findings were included in the DOJ’s Race and Identity Profiling Advisory (RIPA) Board’s seventh annual report. The report analyzes millions of vehicle and pedestrian stops conducted in 2022 by 560 law enforcement agencies in the state.

Established in 2016 as a result of Assembly Bill (AB) 953 written by former Assemblymember Shirley Weber (D-San Diego), RIPA aims to eliminate racial and identity profiling and foster diversity and racial and identity sensitivity within law enforcement.

The 223-page report features the board’s view of pretextual stops where the stops result in resisting arrest charges, looks at the impact police unions have on law enforcement accountability and protocols for law enforcement training on racial and identity profiling, and examines youth interactions with police both in and out of schools.

Black individuals made up 12.5% of stopped people analyzed in the report, with Hispanic/Latinos making up about 43% and Whites making up 32.5% of people.

In a statement released Wednesday, Attorney General Rob Bonta commented on the guidance that RIPA has given to the state in the report.

“The annual collection of the RIPA stop data is making California communities safer by directing thoughtful and reflective reform,” said Bonta.

But not everyone agrees that the data presented by RIPA is accurate or informative.

The Peace Officers Research Association of California (PORAC), an organization that represents 80,000 public safety members and over 950 associations, said the report “does not capture enough information for the Board to even satisfy California’s own legal standard for determining racial profiling.”

PORAC enlisted the help of Texas State University professor Dr. Brian Withrow to examine the data from the report which he found “inadequate in many ways.”

“The best data sets are those that recognize the complexities associated with an issue and provide robust qualitative information. However, the data the RIPA Board collects and analyzes — despite the breadth of its reach — is woefully inadequate as a measure of potential racial profiling in routine operations,” Withrow said in a statement.

Withrow recommended that other factors such as age, gender, and context of the communities where officers are assigned should all be taken into consideration along with race. He proposed that members of the RIPA Board sit down with police officers, one-on-one, to better understand why they might make a stop and how they proceed once they do.

By McKenzie Jackson  | California Black Media

On a sunny December morning in Inglewood, Center Park was bustling. Among the people enjoying one of the city’s smaller green spaces, were two women on a Zoom call sitting at a picnic table.

“It’s really upkept, quite secluded,” one of the women said, appreciating the park.

“I’ve seen people mingle. I’ve seen soccer practices,” she added.

Just as the parkgoers in Inglewood cherish their outdoor public recreational facilities, these spaces are valued assets within communities and their proximity can influence real estate prices.

However, some advocates say the state is not developing and maintaining community recreational facilities equally. They point out that green spaces in neighborhoods where Black Californians live remain underfunded even though the state has invested billions of dollars over the last decade-and-a-half to improve them.

“They need to have a system to get money to the Black communities,” said Danny J. Bakewell, Sr., a Los Angeles-based businessman, civil rights activist, and philanthropist.

“They will tell you they have a system to make sure it’s not unfair, but the way they do the funding is not fair,” continued Bakewell, the only Black member of the California State Park and Recreation Commission. “Black people are not getting that money.”

Bakewell has expressed concerns the scoring system employed by the California Department of Parks and Recreation’s Statewide Park Development and Community Revitalization Program (SPP) to determine how funds are distributed does not benefit African American cities and neighborhoods.

Defending its operations and application process, the SPP says giving all Golden State residents — especially those living in disadvantaged areas — access to open outdoor spaces is its main goal.

State Parks Deputy Director for Community Engagement Sedrick Mitchell said SPP has, “placed green spaces in places where they weren’t before.”

SPP’s grants initiative, according to Mitchell, is the largest parks-related program in California history. It has funded $1.16 billion in construction, expansion, or renovation of 299 parks since 2009.

Center Park in Inglewood is one of 120 expanded or renovated parks. The park’s $2.7 million revitalization was completed in the early 2010s.

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SPP was created by Assembly Bill 31 in 2008, which included among its co-authors former California Black Legislative Caucus Assemblymembers Karen Bass (D – Ladera Heights), Curren Price (D – Inglewood) and Sandré Swanson (D-Oakland). Legislative actions have funded the program since.

The state park’s office of Grants and Local Services received $7.69 billion in park project requests from local jurisdictions, nonprofit groups, and other entities in SPP’s first four rounds. Over $6 billion of the projects went unfunded.

Applications are evaluated in a competitive process. Project approval is determined by a scoring system that awards a maximum of 100 points.

SPP says, the main qualifying criterion for funding is the ratio of park acreage per 1,000 residents living near the park, the median household income of those residents, and the number of residents living below the poverty line.

“If you have zero acres, you are likely to get the most points,” Mitchell explained. “If you have two acres, you are going to get less. The law requires us to look at two things — acres per 1,000 and income,”

Bakewell, who has been a parks commissioner for two years, said Seaside, a small city on the southern tip of Monterey Bay with a Black mayor and a significant Black population, per capita, should have received SPP funds to revitalize three parks.

The three parks are Stuart Park, Havana Soliz Park, and Lincoln Cunningham Park. All of them are in desperate need of revitalization, said Bakewell.

Seaside Recreation Services Director Dan Meewis said the decades-old parks are connected by deteriorating sidewalks that are walking paths for many grade school students.

“It’s a centralized hub for kids from a variety of neighborhoods,” he explained. “The walking trails

throughout the parks are horrendous, tripping hazards. We have a lot of elderly individuals that would utilize those parks to walk, but they feel they can’t use their walkers or canes.”

The city’s two applications for SPP funding, the latest in 2021, were denied.

Although Bakewell and Meewis felt Seaside’s applications fulfilled the funding criteria, Mitchell maintained they did not.

The only park Seaside listed on their applications was near, but not located in a severely disadvantaged area, said Mitchell.

Seaside’s proposals also did not show how citizens engaged in the brainstorming of how funding would be used.

Additionally, Mitchell says, state legislation directed the Parks’ initiative to prioritize funding for the creation of new parks over rehabilitations.

Mitchell and his staff met with Bakewell, Meewis, and Seaside Mayor Ian Oglesby to review the city’s denied proposals. Meews said the meeting was beneficial.

However, he wished Seaside would have received guidance on how to improve their bid before their second application was rejected.

“We don’t have a lot of the dollars the bigger cities have, so we really needed that funding,” he said.

Oglesby was frustrated with the process.

“Every time we went for it, they said we don’t have enough points to receive the grants,” he noted. “The criteria seemed to change every year. I’m not saying that as a complaint. I’m talking facts.”

Mitchell said an area’s racial or ethnic makeup plays no part in how SPP monies are dispersed. He said $150 million has been awarded to communities with large African American populations.

SPP’s fourth round of funding, which began in late 2021, awarded $548.3 million to 112 projects. Parks received $2.42 billion in grants and $1.87 billion in requests were denied.

In late December, SPP announced an additional $41.9 million in grants provided by the 2023-24 state budget would be directed to eight projects, including a $936,060

renovation of Zela Davis Park in Hawthorne and a $7 million renovation of Van Buskirk Park in Stockton. The residents around both parks are a majority African American and Latino.

SPP’s fifth round has been postponed.

Bakewell wants to do more but said the commission he serves on doesn’t have a say in which projects are funded.

“The system does not give the board any type of discretion on making sure money gets to the right place,” said Bakewell. “It has such an inequity that it is paralyzing. Black communities at a minimum need stellar parks and recreation.”

Dreamers, Visionaries and Leaders Project will present a free live concert at 6 p.m. Monday, Jan. 15, in the Victor Valley College Performing Arts Theater. The show will honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with a performance by singer Dorian Holley, Nayanna Holley and the Dorian Holley Band.

Dorian Holley performed with the late Michael Jackson on each of his solo tours, including working as Vocal Director for Jackson’s This Is It tour and film. Holley has toured with icons Coldplay, Rod Stewart, Queen Latifah, Don Henley, Lionel Richie and Linda Ronstadt.

For more information, please call 760-245-4271, ext. 2395 or 760-242-2487.

By Antonio Ray Harvey | California Black Caucus

Closing out their 2023 activities and previewing what they intend to focus on this year, members of the California Legislative Black Caucus (CLBC) met with Black news media outlets from different parts of the state. During the meeting, held late last month, the lawmakers shared some of their top priorities for the 2024 legislative session, which began January 3.

Issues members stated are their primary concerns for the next legislative session fall into several categories, including health, education, public safety, social services, homelessness, affordable housing, and economics. CLBC is planning to bring immediate attention on creating legislation around the 100-plus recommendations the California Reparations Task Force panel presented to the Legislature in June of last year.

Assemblymember Lori D. Wilson (D-Suisun City), Chair of the CLBC, said, because so many of the caucus members have been appointed committee chairs by Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas (D-Hollister), she expects they will leverage their positions to meet the group’s goals over the course of the next year.

“It is a pleasure to be in this space where we have a record number of members of the Black Caucus being chairs of key leadership committees as well in the area of budget,” said Wilson.

“Traditionally, what happens is when our members are serving as chairs, they also serve budget subcommittees. All members are essentially sitting on budget subcommittees for the upcoming new year,” she continued.

Seven of the 12 members of the CLBC joined Wilson in attending the virtual news briefing facilitated by California Black Media (CBM). They included Sen. Steven Bradford (D-Inglewood) and Assemblymembers Corey Jackson (D-Moreno Valley); Tina McKinnor (D-Inglewood); Mike Gipson (D-Carson); Akilah Weber (D-La Mesa), Reggie Jones-Sawyer (D – Los Angeles) and Kevin McCarty (D-Sacramento).

The other five members were unable to attend the briefing due to holiday season obligations, Wilson said.

During the 2024 legislative session, Jackson, who will lead Budget Subcommittee 2 on Human Services, said he expects Black Californians will see that the CLBC is “protecting” key issues that concern Black Californians.

“I think it’s going to be an opportunity that other Black caucuses have never had before,” said Jackson. “So, I am looking forward to working with the speaker and Chair Wilson to get these things done.”

Speaker Rivas created the new Budget Subcommittee on Human Services to focus on state funding for programs such as CalWORKs, CalFresh and In-home Supportive Services. Budget Subcommittee No. 1 previously oversaw human services funding, in combination with health.

The new subcommittee Jackson is leading will engage in increased activities on social programs, in addition to interacting

with residents and advocates on issues such as disability rights, low-income jobs, childcare, and aging, Rivas stated in a Dec. 5, 2023, letter.

In addition to Jackson’s new role, Rivas appointed other members of the California Legislative Black Caucus (CLBC) in to leadership roles in November for the 2023-2024 legislative session.

Wilson is chair of the Transportation Committee; McCarty is chair of the Public Safety Committee; Weber is chair of Budget Subcommittee 1 on Health; and Gipson is chair of the Arts, Entertainment, Sports, and Tourism Committee; Bonta is chair of the Health Committee; and Issac Bryan (D-Ladera Heights), chair of the Natural Resources Committee.

McKinnor remains as the chair of the Public Employment and Retirement Committee from the previous Legislative session.

Assemblymembers Reggie Jones-Sawyer and Chris Holden (D-Pasadena) are both termed out this year. Jones-Sawyer is running for a seat on the L.A. City Council and Holden is running to serve on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.

In the Senate, Bradford chairs the Energy, Utilities and Communications Committee. He is also serving his last term in the Legislature.

Wilson said all the members of the Black Caucus are “excited” and “look forward to stepping” into their roles. Jackson says he

is excited to be working on issues affecting aging adults in California.

According to the Stanford Center on Longevity, the number of old people in California, those over 65, will double over the next twenty years from 4.3 million in 2010 to 8.4 million in 2030. This will take place as the huge Baby Boomer cohort — the population born between 1946 and 1964 — passes age 65.

“These resources are vital lifelines for many families. By separating out human services and public health committee work, the Legislature can do a better job of focusing and also give the committee more time to offer feedback,” Speaker Rivas stated, referring to the subcommittee Jackson chairs.

“Assemblymember Jackson has dedicated his career to social work, and I believe he is the best person to lead this new subcommittee,” wrote Rivas.

A recurring concern for members as they discussed the issues important to them is the state’s $68 billion budget deficit that the nonpartisan Legislative Accounting Office (LAO) projected last month.

“I am so grateful that our Speaker has placed me as chair (Subcommittee 1 on Health),” Weber said. “That is going to be so important not only to tackle our budget crisis right now but also making sure that as stated earlier by Assemblyman Jackson, be creative in ways in looking to see where we are putting our money that’s actually working.”

Maternity ward closures, educating public about reparations, retail theft, public safety, Medi-Cal reimbursement rates, improving the shortage of public employees, and divestment in oil are some of the issues CLBC members hope to address during the next 12 months.

Other pressing issues for members are early education, afterschool programs, childcare for African American parents, criminal justice reform, and finding solutions to end mass incarceration in California’s jails and prisons.

“As a group, this is not the last time (CLBC will meet with the Black Press). We know that the work you do is important, people laud us always for the work that we do, but you really are on the front lines of our communities,” Wilson told the Black news publishers and reporters.

By Lou K. Coleman

He said to me, “Daughter of man, stand up on your feet and I will speak to you.” As he spoke, the Spirit came into me and raised me to my feet, and I heard him speaking to me. He said: “Daughter of man, I am sending you to rebellious people that has rebelled against me; they and their ancestors have been in revolt against me to this very day. The people to whom I am sending you are obstinate and stubborn. Say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says.’ And whether they listen or fail to listen—for they are a rebellious people—they will know that a prophet has been among them.  And you, daughter of man, do not be afraid of them or their words. Do not be afraid, though briers and thorns are all around you and you live among scorpions. Do not be afraid of what they say or be terrified by them, though they are rebellious people. You must speak my words to them, whether they listen or fail to listen, for they are rebellious. But you, daughter of man, listen to what I say to you. Do not rebel like that rebellious people; open your mouth and eat what I give you.”

Then I looked, and I saw a hand stretched out to me. In it was a scroll, which he unrolled before me. On both sides of it were written words of lament and mourning and woe. And he said to me, “Daughter of man, eat what is before you, eat this scroll; then go and speak to the people.” So, I opened my mouth, and he gave me the scroll to eat. So, I ate it, and it tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth. He then said to me: “Daughter of man, go now to the people of and speak my words to them.  [Ezekiel chapter 2]

This is what the Sovereign Lord says. The night is nearly over, and the day is almost here. [Psalms 90: 11-12]. What day? The day of trouble described in [Matthew 24:21; Mark 13 and Luke 21]. The day of trouble, described back in [Ezekiel 36, Daniel 12] and elsewhere as the “Great Tribulation.” Listen to the sound of the trumpet.

But they said, “We will not listen.” [Jeremiah 6:17] The word of the Lord has become a reproach to them. They have no delight in it. [Jeremiah 6:10]. For they have done worse than their fathers; walking everyone after the imagination of his evil heart, stiffened their neck, turned to Me their back and not their face. And though I have taught them persistently, they have not listened to receive My instruction [Jeremiah 16:12; Jeremiah 17:23; Jeremiah 32:33]. God grieves. This has been their way from their youth, that they have not obeyed My voice although I persistently sent them all My servants the prophets. They are stubborn and hard-hearted people!

Jeremiah impugns God’s people for failing to listen, then records God’s message to them: “Therefore, thus says the Lord; Behold, I am bringing disaster upon you that you cannot escape. You have provoked Me to anger with the work of your hands to your own harm because you have neither listened nor inclined your ears to hear. [Jeremiah 11:11; Jeremiah 25:3-4].

God’s judgment came after twenty-three years of persistently speaking to stubborn and hard-hearted children who refused to listen. What a tragedy!

By Antonio Ray Harvey | California Black Caucus

Over the next few months, Californians will spend time processing the details of Governor Gavin Newsom’s 2024-2025 spending plan, which he is expected to present to the Legislature on Jan. 10 in Sacramento. However, reports of the state’s whopping $68 billion budget deficit — as projected by the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) — have foreshadowed the Governor’s announcement with uncertainty.

Despite anticipation of deep budget cuts, State Controller Malia M. Cohen has expressed confidence that California’s fiscal cash flow is in the position to withstand any financial challenges caused by forecasted economic downturn.

“Despite reports from various sources indicating a budgetary deficit of approximately $68 billion, the state’s cash position remains strong, and, absent any unforeseen circumstances, the state has insufficient cash to pay its bills and meet its financial obligations through the end of the fiscal year,” Cohen said in a Dec. 19, 2023, letter.

Cohen is responsible for accountability and disbursement of the state’s financial resources. She has independent auditing authority over government agencies that spend state funds.

According to the LAO, the budget shortfall increased by $53 billion when compared to the projections used in the development of the current year budget – up from $15 billion when the 2023–24 Budget was signed in June. The LAO faced challenges in providing budget estimates due the IRS delaying tax filings until November 16, 2023.

Regarding personal income, sales and property tax revenues, the state’s primary revenues, California entered an economic downturn in 2022 that is affecting the budget. Days before July 1, the start of a new fiscal year, Newsom and legislative leaders agreed to a state budget deal in the form of a $310 billion spending plan that provided guardrails for essential programs and mitigated what was previously a $32 billion deficit.

On Dec. 15, Senate Minority Leader Brian W. Jones (R-San Diego) and Senate Budget Vice Chair Roger Niello (R-Fair Oaks) wrote a letter to Gov. Newsom, urging him to “act early” to address the state’s worsening fiscal condition.

“This budget deficit will impact every California resident and doesn’t matter whether you’re a Republican or Democrat,” Jones stated. “That’s why we must roll up our sleeves and work together to bring spending in line with revenues.”

Cohen has been monitoring the state’s financial reports and clarified California is protected by its “rainy day reserves.” She indicated that the Newsom administration has been a step ahead in anticipating any potential financial obstacles that would disrupt the state budget.

“The state currently has more than $91.4 billion in available borrowable resources, due in large part to the Governor’s and

Legislature’s foresight in building prudent rainy-day reserves in the Budget Stabilization Account,” Cohen stated.

The budget negotiations will involve new leaders of the legislature — Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas (D-Salinas) and incoming Senate President Pro tempore Mike McGuire (D-Santa Rosa).

Rivas added California Legislative Black Caucus members Assemblymember Dr. Akilah Weber (D-La Mesa and Assemblymember Corey Jackson (D-Moreno Valley) to the Assembly’s budget leadership team in December. Weber will lead Subcommittee 1 on Health while Jackson will guide Subcommittee 2 on Human Services.

In particular, the state has $24 billion in reserves to help address the budget problem. In addition, there are options to reduce spending on schools and community colleges that could address nearly $17 billion of the budget problem.

Each year, LAO publishes the fiscal outlook in anticipation of the upcoming budget season. The goal of the report is to provide the Legislature its independent estimates and analysis of the state’s financial condition as lawmakers begin planning for the 20242025-budget year.

In addition to the deficit, other takeaways in the report included “multiple tools available” the Legislature has to address the budget problem.

Cohen is also a member of numerous public financing authorities, and fiscal and financial oversight entities including the Franchise Tax Board. Cohen serves on the boards of the nation’s two largest public pension funds.

“While legislators will have difficult choices to make in the new year, I am confident they will be deliberate in addressing the budget challenges before them, and I urge them to protect, to the extent possible, the health and social service programs designed to benefit those who are displaced, without shelter, or otherwise economically disadvantaged,” Cohen stated.