SAN BERNARDINO, CA—– The PAL Center,  a local San Bernardino non-profit organization located in the heart of San Bernardino and Muscoy,  has been serving the Inland Empire with a variety of community programs for over 35 years.

They were among several COVID-19 front line organizations that shared in an Arrowhead United Way funding drive-thru on Thursday, August 13th at United Way Headquarters.

Dwaine Radden Sr., the PAL Center CEO, stated: “It is always great when your organization and staff are recognized with a grant for making a difference in your community.

Cars were lined up for blocks filled with community leaders to participate in this historic first funding drive-thru hosted by the Arrowhead United Way.

United Way President, Gwen Dowdy Rodgers, said: “Arrowhead United Way has always been the beacon of light for our community and during COVID-19 we continue to serve those in need along with organizations dedicated to our community during these unprecedented times    

We supported 30 local agencies affected by COVID for a total of $285,000 because of generous donor support. The Arrowhead United Way team reached out locally and to the mountain communities to make these awards.

While we continue to stay safe and maintain social distance, our Marketing lead, Christopher Ortiz, and the staff felt we could do a safe drive through check presentation, and a follow up virtual check presentation for those unable to make the drive-thru celebration. Most of the organizations were able to join us in the drive-thru celebration.” 

Radden, saluted President Gwen Rogers and the Arrowhead United Way Team, for keeping funds in our community and making sure local non-profit organizations were included in this grant. He said, “This grant will provide all of us working on the front line with funds to continue and expand needed services for our families and community.”

Visit PAL Center at www.palcenter.org, or social media Facebook, and Twitter. To make donations, or to learn more about their programs and organization, call (909) 887-7002

Visit Arrowhead United Way website and Facebook and follow up on social
Media to donate.

The PAL Center,  a local San Bernardino non-profit organization located in the heart of San Bernardino and Muscoy,  has been serving the Inland Empire with a variety of community programs for over 35 years.

They were among several COVID-19 front line organizations that shared in an Arrowhead United Way funding drive-thru on Thursday, August 13th at United Way Headquarters.

Dwaine Radden Sr., the PAL Center CEO, stated: “It is always great when your organization and staff are recognized with a grant for making a difference in your community.

Cars were lined up for blocks filled with community leaders to participate in this historic first funding drive-thru hosted by the Arrowhead United Way.

United Way President, Gwen Dowdy Rodgers, said: “Arrowhead United Way has always been the beacon of light for our community and during COVID-19 we continue to serve those in need along with organizations dedicated to our community during these unprecedented times    

We supported 30 local agencies affected by COVID for a total of $285,000 because of generous donor support. The Arrowhead United Way team reached out locally and to the mountain communities to make these awards.

While we continue to stay safe and maintain social distance, our Marketing lead, Christopher Ortiz, and the staff felt we could do a safe drive through check presentation, and a follow up virtual check presentation for those unable to make the drive-thru celebration. Most of the organizations were able to join us in the drive-thru celebration.” 

Radden, saluted President Gwen Rogers and the Arrowhead United Way Team, for keeping funds in our community and making sure local non-profit organizations were included in this grant. He said, “This grant will provide all of us working on the front line with funds to continue and expand needed services for our families and community.”

Visit PAL Center at www.palcenter.org, or social media Facebook, and Twitter. To make donations, or to learn more about their programs and organization, call (909) 887-7002

By Hermene D. Hartman

The shouting is over. The 2020 Democratic National Convention was well crafted, programed and designed. The Democrats told the stories of the candidates.

President Bill Clinton reminded us of another time when he was President. Hillary Clinton reminded us that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris could win by 3 million votes and still lose. Trust me she knows what she’s talking about.

President Barack Obama gave us a strong and forceful lesson on constitutional law. He powerfully presented in unprecedented terms how Trump as President, just didn’t have it. He pulled no punches. He stated, “I never expected Trump to embrace my vision or continue my policies, I did hope (for the sake of our country) that Donald Trump might show some interest in taking the job seriously.” “Trump has shown no interest in treating the presidency as anything but one more reality show that he can use to get more attention he craves.” He said that Joe and Kamala will rescue the economy and deeply cared about Americans, together they would get the pandemic under control.

Michelle Obama gave it to us middle of the road, southside girl style, stating the facts of the case and telling it like older generations use to say “T-I-S!” Wearing a “Vote” necklace, Michelle called Trump by his name and said “Donald Trump is the wrong president for our country.” We watched a moving documentary on democracy.

The highlight of the convention was the introduction of Kamala Harris. We heard of her background being raised as a Black woman born of an Indian mother and a Jamaican father. Her mother, a biologist and cancer researcher, raised her and her sister as a single parent, and her father left the family when she was 5 years old. Her mother is deceased. Her dad is an economics scholar and was the first Black male to gain tenure at Stanford University.

As we listened and watched Kamala accept the Democratic nomination for vice president, we wondered if we were watching a future president. She could make astounding history as the first woman and the second Black in the Oval Office. Wow. This could really happen in our lifetime. A lady from Howard University could possibly lead the White House. Hello to all of the AKA’s.

Harris meets ambivalence with some Black men as they question her deeds as a prosecuting attorney in California. She locked many of them up. She will be questioned, yet she was only doing her job. But, would you rather have Trump? That’s the legitimate question.

Dr. Jill Biden will make her very own history as First Lady, community college professor and super mom if Joe’s elected president. She promised that she wouldn’t leave her students, not even for the job at the White House. She will be the first First Lady with outside employment. Let’s see how that works and who enrolls next semester.

Finally candidate, former vice president Joe Biden. Joe presented himself in a strong speech, perhaps the best in his 47 years of public service. It wasn’t a convention speech but felt like a fireside chat. He was compassionate, elegant, dignified and real. He told his story about his hometown of Scranton, Pennsylvania where he knew real life causalities, from his Dad’s loss of job, to the accidental tragic death of his first wife and daughter.

His political journey has been from being the youngest Senator to being possibly the eldest President. When he lost his first wife and daughter in a tragic car accident in 1972, he commuted to work every day via Amtrak to and from Washington, DC every day (the trip’s about 90 minutes) and tucked his kids in bed nightly, as they got through the pain. He did this for 36 years. He lost his son, Bo, to brain cancer. You could hear Biden’s pride of his son the solider, as he went into public office, yet the agony lingers as he tell us, you never get over it. If you don’t identify with that, you are heartless.

During his speech, Biden pulled at your heartstrings as he spoke about his personal stuttering. He introduced to a young boy he met on the campaign trail, with the same problem. Biden told the 13-year-old boy how to conquer his speaking issue. “Kids like me are counting on you to elect someone we can all look up to” he said.

The convention was staged beautifully. It was different. It’s messages deliberate. Zoom was used at its best especially during the home spun roll calls. No fanfare, no balloons or confetti, no applause, no tears, and no cheers. Taped speeches were controlled and purposeful as they were delivered with everyone talking straight to the American public, from their living rooms to ours. It was cozy, casual and comfortable.

As perfect as the Democratic National Convention was, its speakers missed a few things. They missed telling us their plans on what they will do with program and policy for the future of America. Many of them ran against Trump, but did they run for a Democratic platform? We assume it will be better with Biden’s seniority and his lovely family but what should we expect? In the days to come we need to hear the Biden-Harris platform and not just see pretty faces and storytelling.

What about the eradication of racism in this era of Black Lives Matter? What about the economy, as we face a changing face of culture with the pandemic? What about police reform? What about education? Kids have missed a full year of school. We need to hear policy positions.

I like the idea very much that the future Vice President is in place. Kamala will represent a new generation. She will be groomed to assume office if need be. I like that Biden knows his way around the White House from his vice presidency days. I like the fact that he knows the Senate and can cross the aisle to get things done. I like his seniority very much. He can hit the ground running with vigor and energy as an expert surgeon. Experience matters. Biden’s experience matters.

Enters Trump…

And now comes the movement of Trump. He plans on appearing all four days of the Republican National Convention. His talks will be bold, pompous, filled with greatness and illusions of grandeur. His will be a scene from a patriot play that speaks in code to the ways of yesteryear, filled with America great slogans.

The rose garden has a new look for the television screen. Trump will tell us with boundless optimism how great he is, as he plays the political hand that has destroyed the Republican Party. He takes us backwards to a place we won’t go, as he disrupts even the post office. He challenges the system in a bold crazy way with his lovely fashionable family at his side as main speakers of the Trump parade.

His presidency is a virtual reality show. The last three years of his presidency has been flawed and Trump will tell us of the many hoaxes during his last three years.

Trump is not to be discounted, ignored or dismissed. He is ruthless and enjoys the attention of being president. He’s nothing but outrageous – from challenging birthing and calling people out of name. It’s nothing but a good hand of playing “signifying monkey.” His tactics work for him, because they are so daring. He’s like the drunk in the bar that everybody laughs and listens to, but nobody puts him out. They do nothing but give him another drink so that he can be more outrageously offensive.

Trump is not to be under estimated. He is a master of the media. He is bold. He’s an escaped convict running desperate. He’s a pied piper. All of his men have been jailed for their wrongdoing. Trump will pardon them as he can. Trump is telling us loud and clear if he loses it will be because the Democrats cheated. Perhaps the U.S. marshall will be called to remove him from the White House.

Trump with his many conspiracy theories, tells us that the post office will fail us, especially with mail-in votes. So what does he do? He removes the mailboxes off the streets and destroys the sorting machines. He has no fear. He tells us that even if he looses, he will not leave the White House. We look in disbelief and wonder, what on earth will he do next as he mounts his campaign for a second term. How much more offensive can he be? What other lunatic tactics and alien-like methodology will he use in a second term? Mrs. Obama has warned that it could get worse. This will only add to more fodder for books written about his ill and zany ways.

These are amazing times that we live in. As society changes daily, we watch old ways become new. We watch with fright and astonishment as we cope with a world pandemic, that the leader of the free world cannot embrace. He tells us it will be all right eventually, rather than pay attention to the science of the matter. Yet Trump will try and take credit for everything once a cure is found for COVID-19.

As we pray, we better damn sure get out to vote, at all cost. The vote is the only thing we can do to save America. Vote Trump out. Vote for Joe Biden. We HAVE to save our democracy. America’s at stake, please STAY woke.
The best thing that can happen to American democracy is to tell Trump “You’re FIRED!”

VOTE. Please share.

Fighting to uphold the Constitutional right to vote, Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas urged the Board of Supervisors to oppose the Trump Administration’s cost-cutting efforts at the United States Postal Service, calling it a brazen attack on Americans’ ability to vote by mail.

Acting on his motion, Board Chair Pro Tem Hilda Solis issued an Executive Order authorizing County Counsel to join litigation as amicus curiae (friend-of-the-court). The Board is expected to ratify the Executive Order when it reconvenes on September 1^st.

“We’ve fought too hard to have our voices heard on Election Day, and we cannot allow the Postmaster General to suppress our right to vote by mail and undermine a pillar of our democracy,” Supervisor Ridley-Thomas said. “It is imperative that we take a stand so voters can cast their ballots without having go to a polling station during a pandemic.”

US Rep. Karen Bass, who chairs the Congressional Black Caucus, expressed support for the motion during a Facebook Live conversation with Supervisor Ridley-Thomas on leadership and community organizing. She is among the leading Congressional representatives calling for the resignation of the US Postmaster General, Louis DeJoy, and for the Trump Administration to cease any “operational initiatives” that will have an impact on election mail.

“My father was a letter carrier for more than 30 years here in Los Angeles,” Rep. Bass said. “The US Postal Service is not only vital to our election, but also to the livelihood of so many in our communities. The Post Office is one of the largest employers of veterans. We must continue to do all that we can to protect this institution from those who are looking to destroy it.”

Supervisor Ridley-Thomas has fought for voting rights for decades. He founded the African American Voter Registration, Education, and Participation (AAVREP) in 2002, the largest organized effort to register African American and urban voters in California. This after a decade of service as the Executive Director of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, whose national organization was founded by the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.

More recently, Supervisor Ridley-Thomas has worked with Susan Burton, founder of the nonprofit A New Way of Life, to support L.A. Free the Vote, aimed at increasing the civic engagement of people in the justice system.

“As a formerly incarcerated person, I know that my vote matters. I depend on the Post Office to deliver my vote to the County Registrar Recorder’s Office,” Burton said. “We are appalled at the Trump administration’s attempt to disrupt the United States Postal Service during such a critical time.” A New Way of Life helps formerly incarcerated women successfully reenter society by connecting them to supportive services. It works to restore the civil rights of formerly incarcerated people, including their right to vote.

The USPS has always played a central role in the functioning of American democracy but has become even more critical amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Many people rely on mail not only to cast ballots but also to receive life-saving medications and other supplies during a time when it is incredibly risky to gather in one place, stand in line, and touch the same election machinery. 

Despite that, Postmaster General DeJoy recently, and just months before the November 3rdGeneral Election, decided to implement changes at the USPS without first seeking authority from the Postal Commission, and despite acknowledging that the service reductions would result in “mail left behind.” DeJoy, a Republican Party and Trump campaign donor, later canceled some of the changes after a public outcry. The USPS, however, has already removed many mailboxes from service across several states.

The Attorneys General of Washington, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and Wisconsin have all filed lawsuits opposing the changes. The Attorneys General of Pennsylvania, with California, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, North Carolina, New Jersey, and New York, are also expected to the challenge the changes in court.

By Antonio Ray Harvey | California Black Media 

Eric Garner’s mother Gwendolyn Carr says, for Black Men, selling a single cigarette, known as “loosey,” can lead to an arrest, a prison sentence or even death. 

Six years ago, a police officer put her son in a chokehold and strangled him to death for allegedly selling illegal cigarettes on Staten Island, a borough of New York City. 

Now, Carr is speaking out in a new video against California Senate Bill (SB) 793, which she says will create the same circumstances – the illegal sale and use of menthol cigarettes and aggressive, racially-biased law enforcement — that led to her son’s death. If the Senate passes the bill and Gov. Newsom signs it into law, it would ban the sale of menthol tobacco and other flavored cigarette products. 

“A new law would criminalize menthol cigarettes, which Black people smoke almost exclusively, giving police officers another excuse to harm and arrest any Black man, woman or child they choose,” Carr says in the video opposing SB 793. “A bad law has consequences for mothers like me.” 

Carr is not alone in her opinion of the bill. Across California, there is opposition to SB 793, which, if passed, would become the country’s strongest restriction on flavored tobacco products, including Newport, Kool and Salem cigarettes — three brands Blacks disproportionately smoke. 

Old and young, faith leaders, retired law enforcement officers, and civil rights activists came together to protest SB 793. At protests in Los Angeles and Sacramento on Aug. 20, they called out the inherent discrimination coded into the language and spirit of SB 793, which California Sen. Jerry Hill (D-San Mateo) authored. 

“The goal of this protest is to ensure we are heard,” said Rev. K.W. Tulloss, President of Baptist Ministers Conference Los Angeles and co-founder of Neighborhood FORWARD, a community-based social action organization. “SB 793 is a bad bill that’s not good for California. The unintended consequences of this legislation are real. Bills like this take us backward.” 

But on the same day of the protests, the Assembly Appropriations Committee passed the bill, sending the bill to the full Assembly for consideration. 

The rallies were two in a series of three held against SB793. The first one was held in front of the home of California Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Lakewood). 

Like Carr, people and organizations that oppose SB 793 say it is discriminatory because some adult tobacco products — those preferred by Whites – are exempted from the ban. 

Meanwhile, the tobacco products preferred by African American adult smokers, menthol cigarettes, are included in the ban. Exemptions in SB 793 include shisha tobacco, which is used in hookah water pipes, premium tobacco, and loose-leaf tobacco. 

The retail sale of flavored handmade premium cigars with a minimum price of $12 are also not prohibited under this bill. 

Some California residents say that the exemptions for certain kinds of tobacco nearly mirror laws that unequally penalized people for selling or possessing the same amounts of crack cocaine and powdered cocaine. 

In 1986, the federal government passed the Anti-Drug Abuse Act, which mandated stiffer punishments for people who sold crack cocaine, the rock form of the drug, which more Blacks used. Penalties for possessing or distributing cocaine powder, preferred by Whites, were much lighter. Distributing just five grams of crack triggered a federal mandatory minimum prison sentence of 5 years. But it required 500 grams of cocaine for a distributor to receive a federal prison sentence of the same length of time – a 100:1 disparity. 

Law Enforcement Action Partnership (LEAP) and the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement (NOBLE) agree that the bill has a racist element to it. They say the bill demonstrates clear discrimination and preferential treatment between two tobacco products preferred by two different cultural groups. 

“We will not and cannot stand for more policies that resemble another Black tax yet find a way to make concessions and amendments for certain groups,” Rev. Tulloss said. “Hookah is exempted, yet menthol cigarettes are not. The Speaker can make this bill fair and that’s all we’re asking.” 

Existing law prohibits a person from selling or otherwise furnishing tobacco products to a person under 21 years of age. It also prohibits the use of tobacco products in county offices of education, on charter school or school district property, or near a playground or youth sports event. 

If SB 793 passes, each violation of the law would be punishable by a fine of $250. 

“Using candy, fruit, and other alluring flavors, the tobacco industry weaponized its tactics to beguile a new generation into nicotine addiction while keeping longtime users hooked. SB 793 breaks Big Tobacco’s death grip,” said Hill said after the Senate voted 33-4 to advance the bill to the Assembly last month. 

An estimated seven out of 10 African American youth ages 12 to 17 years smoke menthol cigarettes, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In addition, African American adults make up the largest percentage of menthol cigarette users compared to other racial and ethnic groups, the CDC says. 

The coalition of SB 793 supporters include the Office of Lieutenant Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, the Tobacco-Free Kids Action Fund, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, the American Heart Association, the American Lung Association, and the Common Sense Kids, who are all bill sponsors. 

“SB 793 coauthors, cosponsors, African American thought leaders in government, health, the faith community, science, the arts and among our youth, as well as other supporters, have provided strong counterpoints to the obfuscation,” Hill stated. “We are confident that together we can ensure the strongest tobacco control restrictions in the country become California law.”

Photo by Antonio R. Harvey

Tanu Henry | California Black Media 

On July 25, the federal government’s Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program ended for most states, leaving millions of Californians without the extra cash many of them had been relying on for months to make ends meet. 

The $600 extra in federal stimulus pay was added cushion to the amount states already provide for their residents in unemployment insurance payments. Created for Americans who lost their jobs due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, the program was authorized by the Cornonavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) act, which was signed into federal law in March. 

Then, last week, the California Employment Development Department (EDD) announced that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) approved California’s application to participate in the federal Lost Wages Assistance (LWA) program — funding that President Donald Trump authorized by memorandum Aug. 8. The LWA program provides $4.5 billion to California from which $300 extra in unemployment insurance benefits will be paid to individuals for three weeks. 

“Since the beginning of this pandemic, we have sought to maximize federally funded unemployment benefits to Californians. These benefits are critical for the basic security of families and communities and for our economy, which have been so devastated by the virus and its financial impacts,” said California Labor Secretary Julie A. Su after the EDD’s announcement. 

To qualify, unemployed Californians would have to already be eligible to receive at least $100 each week in unemployment benefits and they would have to provide proof that their job loss resulted from the coronavirus crisis. 

Although the U.S. House of Representatives has approved a fifth stimulus bill, the $3-trillion-dollar ‘‘Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions (HEROES) Act, the Senate has not brought it up for debate or vote. That bill includes an extension of the $600 federal supplement through Jan. 31, 2021. 

Senate Republicans have countered the $600-a-week proposal in the HEROES act with a $400 weekly payment in UI benefits. Democrats turned down that offer in negotiations. 

Some Republican Senators opposed to the $600 payment approved in the last stimulus package argued that it does not provide an incentive for workers who were laid off to look for work. 

“We cannot encourage people to make more money in unemployment than they do in employment,” Sen. Tim Scott (D-SC) pointed out. 

While the U.S. Congress decides what should be included in the next stimulus package, for now unemployed Californians can apply to get $300 a week extra in unemployment benefits 

dating back to Aug. 1. 

“As we modernize and strengthen the state’s unemployment insurance delivery system, we will continue to leverage any additional resources the federal government makes available,” Su said.

By Dr. G.S. Potter | Contributing Editor, B | e Note

Perhaps it’s a way for Biden to somehow make amends for helping pass the destructive law and actively repair decades of damage

Reparations isn’t just about slavery. It isn’t just about broken promises following the Civil War. It might be rooted in the need to repair the damages done by these atrocities – but that’s not where it ends. The damage done to Black Americans has been continuous and ongoing for centuries. And not only must this damage be ended, but it must be repaired.

The current debate over the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, or the 1994 Crime Bill as it is commonly referred to, might offer the opportunity for us to do this.

This bill has always been a point of contention in communities working on criminal justice reform, but it has been currently highlighted in the mainstream media because of Joe Biden’s role in passing it and his refusal to outright condemn it — much to the dismay of many in the Black voting bloc he needs to win the election.

Currently, the debate surrounding the 1994 Crime Bill hasn’t amounted to much more than a wedge issue for the Democratic Party. What it can and should evolve into is a point of leverage for the Black community.

Biden needs the Black vote to win the 2020 election. The Black community needs meaningful criminal justice reform and reparations. Instead of threatening to tap out of the election because of his defense of the Act, the Black community can apply the massive amount of leverage they have accumulated to flip the script. In other words, instead of canceling themselves out of the 2020 election, Black voters can offer support for the Biden campaign in exchange for revisions … and reparations.

Even if Biden did acknowledge that the Act had a severely detrimental effect on the Black community, that would do little to repair the damages done. On the other hand, if the Black community presented a piece of legislation that undid that damage to the greatest extent possible, then we can transmute one of the most damaging pieces of legislation in criminal justice reform history into a point of power and repair.

Undoing the Damage

To be fair, there are pieces of the crime bill that were beneficial. Those should be acknowledged.

For example, the Act banned 19 different types of assault weapons and created stricter licensing standards for gun dealers, for example. Those pieces should stay in place. The overwhelming majority of the Act, though, served to increase the harassment, brutalization, and imprisonment of Black (and Brown) people. These pieces of the 1994 Crime Bill should be identified, acknowledged, and remedied. The people that suffered from these pieces of legislation should also be directly compensated for the damage done to them and their communities.

There is already a legislative effort to undo some of the damage caused by the Act. It comes in the form of the Reverse Mass Incarceration Act. According to the Brennan Center for Justice this bill – which was reintroduced to Congress by Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), along with Rep. Tony Cárdenas (D-CA) in 2019 – would include:

– A new federal grant program of $20 billion over 10 years in incentive funds to states.

– A requirement that states that reduce their prison population by 7 percent over a three-year period without an increase in crime will receive funds.

– A clear methodology based on population size and other factors to determine how much money states receive.

– A requirement that states invest these funds in evidence-based programs proven to reduce crime and incarceration.

It’s a start, but the Reverse Mass Incarceration Act clearly does not go far enough to remove the structuralized racism implemented as a result of the 1994 crime bill or repair the communities and families destroyed by it.

For example, according to the Brennan Center …

… through the Violent Offender Incarceration and Truth-in-Sentencing Incentive Grants Program. This provided $12.5 billion in grants to fund incarceration, with nearly 50 percent earmarked for states that adopted tough “truth-in-sentencing” laws that scaled back parole. Under this grant program, eligible states received money to expand their prison capacity to incarcerate people convicted of violent crimes.”

The $20 million grant programs included in the Reverse Mass Incarceration Act are designed to acknowledge the $12.5 billion in grants supplied by the 1994 Crime bill, adjust the amount for inflation, and attach federal funding to a decrease in the rate of incarceration by 7 percent. This is a small step in the direction away from mass incarceration, but it does not do enough to undo the damage done by the 1994 Crime Bill, nor does it repair that damage.

The Brennan Center goes on to explain that ….

…. the most significant and long-lasting impacts of the legislation was the authorization of incentive grants to build or expand correctional facilities through the Violent Offender Incarceration and Truth-in-Sentencing Incentive Grants Program. This provided $12.5 billion in grants to fund incarceration, with nearly 50 percent earmarked for states that adopted tough “truth-in-sentencing” laws that scaled back parole. Under this grant program, eligible states received money to expand their prison capacity to incarcerate people convicted of violent crimes.

In addition to Truth in Sentencing Laws and an overwhelming increase in prisons, the 1994 Crime Bill also promoted the use of Three Strikes Laws. As the ACLU reports …

The crime bill implemented a rash of new three-strikes laws — laws that impose automatic life sentences for people convicted of certain felony offenses if they already have two convictions on their record. Dozens of states followed suit and enacted three-strikes laws, resulting in a ballooning of the incarceration rate in certain states, especially for black and Latinx Americans.

Imposing life sentences simply because an individual has a criminal record disproportionately targets people of color, who are more likely to have a record in the first place because of unequal contact with police and the justice system. Harsh collateral consequences limit employment opportunities for returning people, especially people of color, and increase the likelihood of recidivism. The crime bill’s three-strikes provision sent thousands of Americans to prison for life based on previous offenses for minor crimes such as stealing loose change from a parked car. In 2016, 78.5 percent of Americans serving life sentences in federal prison were people of color.

The Reverse Mass Incarceration Act does little to nothing to help the individuals and families targeted by these provisions.

Reparations for Time Served

A reform bill should be presented to Biden that not only reverses these provisions, but that also identifies individuals that were incarcerated for minor offenses under three strikes laws as well as those whose sentences were extended because of Truth and sentencing laws. Their cases should be revisited, and the charges should be commuted and expunged. Individuals and families should be compensated for time served as well as the financial losses associated with loss of income, economic opportunity, and personal trauma.

In other words, reparations should be from the government and made directly to individuals for the damages that have resulted from the 1994 Crime Bill.

In addition to repairing the damages done to individuals and removing the pieces of the Crime Bill and subsequent legislation that was built off of it, there are a number of other provisions that have bolstered the mass incarceration of Black Americans that should be removed and remedied.

For example, decreasing incarceration rates by 7 percent is an important step attempted by the Reverse Mass Incarceration Act. However, this incentive does not go far enough. Not only should there be a higher rate of decrease of incarceration to receive funds, but the act should specifically outline who should be released. For example, as already mentioned, people being held for nonviolent crimes, people being held because of three strikes laws and people being held because of Truth in Sentencing laws should all receive case reviews for commutation. Individuals imprisoned for drug use and possession, mental health issues, and crimes of poverty should also qualify for commuted sentences and expunged records under any act designed to end mass incarceration.

Additionally, states should be expected to reduce the number of prisons in order to receive funding.

Undoing the “Drug War”

The Brennan Center continues that …

The number of state and federal adult correctional facilities rose 43 percent from 1990 to 2005.” Provisions can and should be put in place to incentivize the elimination of these prisons in exchange for federal funding. They additionally report that the Act “provided funding for 100,000 new police officers and $14 billion in grants for community-oriented policing, for example. From 1990 to 1999, the number of police officers rose 28 percent, from 699,000 to 899,000, partly funded by the crime bill.

This $14 billion should be adjusted for inflation and used as an incentive to deconstruct or repurpose prisons and eliminate police officers. Again, a specific process should be used in order to do this.

For example, a newly re-envisioned legislative response to the 1994 Crime Bill can be used to incentivize the elimination of police officers involved in cases of brutality and harassment. It can be used to eliminate police officers that have posted racist and racially biased posts on social media accounts. The Act can also be used to eliminate the use of police officers from schools. In this way, we can reduce the asymmetrical contact between Black communities and law enforcement while also removing racist officers and those that have specifically done direct damage to Black people.

By using the 1994 Crime Bill as a source of reversal and reparations, a model can also be created to use other pieces of legislation to undo the structural injustice that has targeted Black Americans for generations.

For example, The Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 was a federal cornerstone of the War on Drugs. This Act established mandatory minimums for drug possession, increased funding for drug enforcement, and blocked funding for drug prevention programs. Just as a true reversal of the 1994 Crime Bill could establish pathways for legislative reforms and reparations, a similar act could end the so-called War On Drugs, eliminate the use of incarceration for drug use and possession, commute sentences for those that were incarcerated under this law and derivative legislation, and give reparations to individuals and families whose lives and livelihoods were stolen as a result of the Act and the war on Black communities it encodified.

Similar legislation can be also presented at the state and local levels to remedy and repair damages caused by legislation such as cash bail practices, gang injunctions, predatory lending practices, redlining, housing injustice and a number of policies that have directly harmed the Black community.

In this way, we can not only reform the policies that have targeted and traumatized Black Americans, but we can formalize a reparation process that directly repairs the people and communities most damaged by structural racism. But it all starts with the 1994 Crime Bill.

The Black community has an unprecedented amount of leverage right now. Instead of asking Biden to apologize for his part in supporting the crime bill, legislation that truly reverses and repairs the damages done by the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 should be presented to him and the Democratic Party for his approval. Let our anger translate into reform and reparations, and let his apology be encodified in legislation. And then let’s move on to the next Act, and then the next. Until we tear down every last piece of structural racism and repair the damages done to every last Black American.

By Tanu Henry | California Black Media  

Family members, friends, former colleagues and other loved ones across California were shocked to learn about the passing of former California Assemblymember Gwen Moore on August 19. Her family has not yet announced the cause of her death.  

Moore was first elected to the state legislature in 1978 and served for 16 years until 1994, representing California’s 49^th district (redistricted and renumbered in 1990 as the 47^th district), which currently includes Long Beach, Catalina Island and parts of Los Angeles and Orange counties.  

While serving in the Assembly, Moore, introduced over 400 bills that were signed into law. She also served as Majority Whip and was a member of a number of influential committees, including the Assembly Utilities and Commerce Committee.  

Moore was the architect and political force behind California General Order 156. It is a state supplier diversity program that has, over the years, strengthened and stabilized a number of California Black-owned, Women-owned and other minority-owned small businesses by helping them secure lucrative state contracts.  

In 1994, Moore resigned from the Assembly to run for Secretary of State. Although she didn’t win that race, Moore began to pursue other opportunities outside of elected office that influenced state policy and impacted the lives of people.  

The founder and Chief Executive Officer of Los Angeles-based GeM Communications Group, Moore was a sought-after consultant and worked with several prominent clients across the state.  Her family, relatives, former colleagues and friends across California and the United States reached out to each other as the shocking news of her unexpected death was shared across her political, business and social circles.  

Moore served on numerous boards. Among them were the California State Bar Board of Trustees, the California Small Business Association board and the national board of the NAACP. She was also First Vice President of the California State Conference of the NAACP, Vice Chair of the California Utility Diversity Council and Chairwoman of the California Black Business Association. For her work in California and across the United States, Moore won numerous national and local awards, including honors from the U.S. Department of Commerce and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.  

California Black media will continue to follow Hon. Moore’s death with updates, tributes from loved ones and news about her final arrangements. 

The Transformative Climate Communities and Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities grants will fund integrated and sustainable transit, affordable housing, and urban greening in the Eastside Community.

RIVERSIDE, CA— The California Strategic Growth Council awards $31.2 million to the City of Riverside for the Eastside Climate Collaborate project, which will fund affordable housing, sustainable transportation infrastructure, transit rail access (including bus stops and solar walkways), free bus passes, solar power installation, urban greening projects, community engagement, displacement avoidance, and various workforce development initiatives.

The grants were the result of community-based efforts to empower Riverside’s Eastside neighborhood by creating new economic opportunities and improve the health and well-being of the neighborhood residents through cross-sector collaboration and community engagement led by Riverside Community Health Foundation (RCHF) through the Eastside Healthy Eating, Active Living or HEAL Zone (EHZ) and the Chicago-Linden Project. As a part of the multi-level stakeholder engagement, RCHF’s role through the EHZ is to encourage, support, and foster the community voice in the planning, implementation and evaluation of the proposed projects in the Eastside Climate Collaborative project.

The Eastside HEAL Zone was established in 2012 with a vision of a community driven effort towards social, cultural, and physical environmental changes that would shift the community towards healthy eating and active living as a way of life. Over the years, the resident led initiative has trained over 40 residents in community advocacy through the Riverside Leadership Academy, facilitated the conversion of 4 corner stores into healthy food markets, helped improve 4 parks, initiated 2 community gardens, and facilitated nearly 30 community improvement projects, which included the clean-up of alleyways and safe paths for children to walk to school.

The grant applications had significant community input from the Residents of Eastside Active in Leadership (REAL) Group, Healthy Living Project, Eastside Faith Collaborative, Eastside Think Tank, and Lincoln Park Community Group.

“Congratulations to the residents of the of the Eastside who have been so passionate and who have been working so hard to create a healthy community in the Eastside area,” said Dr. Shené Bowie-Hussey, Vice President of Health Strategies and Chief Strategic Officer. “We are getting ready to embark on a pretty large initiative, but it’s nothing you haven’t already done before! This is just another step in creating a healthy community.”

Community engagement activities during the course of the grant will take the form of workshops, monthly meetings, community participation in large project-related events, and recruitment of organizations and networks to assist in data collection and dissemination of information and notices. Community Settlement Association, an affiliate of RCHF, will act as a liaison for Eastside residents and small business and lead activities in displacement avoidance while providing information, training, and workforce development.

Additional partners in the TCC and AHSC grant applications include the County of Riverside Economic Development Agency, University of California, Riverside Center for Environmental Research and Technology, Riverside Community Health Foundation, Riverside Unified School District, GRID Alternatives, Wakeland Housing and Development Corporation, Riverside Transit Agency, Community Settlement Association, Santa Ana Watershed Project Authority (SAWPA), WRCOG, Tree People, and Eastside community groups and community members.

“[We are] optimistic that this grant will enhance the City of Riverside’s Eastside neighborhood and will help elevate the quality of life for the residents of that community,” said Rick Bishop, Executive Director of Western Riverside Council of Governments (WRCOG). “In light of the grant awards, it is WRCOG’s hope that this success will set the pace for jurisdictions, agencies and the private sector to pursue Public-Private Partnerships and multi-agency/jurisdictional collaborations in grant program efforts.”

The collective grant of $31.2 million is the largest amount the City of Riverside has ever been awarded and marks a new historic high.

For more information about the Eastside HEAL Zone or activities, please visit www.rchf.org/ehz. For more information on the TCC and AHSC grant programs, visit https://sgc.ca.gov/programs/tcc/ or https://sgc.ca.gov/programs/ahsc/ or visit the City’s Grant homepage at www.riversideca.gov/eastside.

By Hardy Brown | Special to California Black Media

U.S. Senator Kamala Harris, the first Black woman to serve on a major party’s presidential ticket made history last week when Joe Biden, the Democratic Party’s presumptive nominee, announced that she would serve as his running mate.  While much of the national and local news centered around the selection of Senator Harris, California political insiders were having a different conversation. Almost immediately after Biden’s announcement, the politicos in the Golden State began formulating predictions on who Gov. Gavin Newsom would select to serve the balance of Senator Harris’s term in the U.S. Senate, which ends in January 2023.

The opportunity to see the celebrated rise of a member of another ethnic minority, whether it be the Latino community, API community, or other group, should not come at the expense of California’s Black community.

Political insiders in Sacramento report that Newsom is already being pressured by outside groups to make history by appointing a Latino to replace Harris.  With close to 40% or more of the state population being Latino, the governor will be under pressure to deliver to such a large constituency.  However, according to some capital insiders and news reports, discussions have already been had with the governor to appoint California Secretary of State Alex Padilla to the U.S. Senate, should Sen. Dianne Feinstein decide to retire before her term ends in 2024. 

Black women and men have poured decades of work, blood, sweat, tears and sacrifice into the Democratic Party, and Gov. Newsom must recognize that. Black voters are not the Democratic Party’s mules; they should not have to put the histories of other groups’ oppression on their backs and step aside so someone else can walk through the political door that Senator Harris has opened. To prevent what would be a consequential snub, the Governor should be intentional about acknowledging the important role that Black people have in California politics, and the trail that has been blazed by Kamala Harris, by choosing among California’s Black elected officials to replace her in the U.S. Senate. Fortunately, California has an impressive list for the Governor to consider:

Congressional Members

Congresswoman Barbara Lee.  Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA-13), former Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus and the Congressional Progressive Caucus, was an early supporter of Gov. Newsom and is beloved by her Bay Area constituency.  Though she is in her 13th term as a Congresswoman and may not want to give up the seniority she’s earned in the House, Lee would garner support from progressives and African Americans statewide, and be a force in the U.S. Senate.

Congresswoman Karen Bass.  It is likely that Governor Newsom has already added Representative Karen Bass (D-CA-37) to his shortlist of candidates to fill Senator Harris’s seat.  A 10-year veteran in the House of Representatives, Congresswoman Bass, the current Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus and former Speaker of the California Assembly, possesses both the leadership skills and the acumen to serve in the U.S. Senate in this historic moment.

Congresswoman Maxine Waters. Affectionately called “Auntie Maxine” by fans from all backgrounds and ages, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA-43) has been a member of the U.S. Congress for almost 30 years. She is both loved and loathed for her no-nonsense, in-your-face politicking and sharp criticism of political opponents, including Republican Presidents George W. Bush and Donald Trump. The eldest of the 12 Black women currently serving in Congress, Waters, 82, may not be at the top of the governor’s shortlist. Her experience, though, serving 14 years in the California Assembly before being elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, where she is the current chair of the House Financial Services Committee, certainly qualifies her.

Constitutional Officers

Superintendent Tony Thurmond.  Tony Thurmond became California’s State Superintendent of Public Instruction after successfully defeating a well-funded opponent statewide.  Prior to this position, he served as a state Assemblymember, a member of the Richmond City Council and a member of the West Contra Costa County Unified School District.  Superintendent Thurmond has enjoyed national attention in the wake of COVID-19 with innovative plans to initiate distance learning and to reopen public schools.  

Board of Equalization Member Malia Cohen. Board Member Malia Cohen, a native of the vote-rich Bay Area, is no stranger to Gov. Newsom and is a tested and proven viable statewide vote getter, having garnered 72 percent of the vote in her 23-county Board of Equalization District, representing over 10 million Californians. She was elected the first Black woman to Chair the BOE, which administers the $70 billion property tax system. Prior to her election to Constitutional Office, BOE Chair Cohen served two terms on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and as President of the Board. 

State Legislators

State Senator Holly Mitchell.  Senator Holly Mitchell (D-Los Angles), who serves as the Chair of the California State Senate Budget Committee, is one of the most well respected, and powerful policy makers in California.  Senator Mitchell has developed a close working relationship with Gov. Newsom which has served the state well. They have pursued policies that align with their respective agendas on homelessness, criminal justice reform, early childhood development, etc.  

Assemblymember Shirley Weber.  Assemblymember Shirley Weber (D-Sam Diego) serves as the Chair of the California Legislative Black Caucus.  She is one of the most effective and respected policymakers serving in the California legislature.  She passed landmark legislation establishing a new reasonable force standard in the wake of the death of Stephon Clark by Sacramento law enforcement officers.  This year she championed the Assembly Constitutional Amendment 5, which placed on the November ballot Proposition16. If voters approve, Prop 16 would overturn anti-affirmative action Proposition 209, which passed in 1996.  

Local Elected Officials

City Council Member Herb Wesson.  Los Angeles city council member Herb Wesson is former speaker of the state assembly, former president of the Los Angeles City council and is currently a candidate for Los Angeles County supervisor. He is well known around the state and is widely regarded as a persuasive and effective deal maker.  

Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas.  Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas is one of the most effective policymakers in the state of California.  Ridley-Thomas previously served in both the California State Assembly and the California Senate, and served as the Chair of the California Legislative Black Caucus.  He was a strong supporter of Gavin Newsom in his race to become Governor, and Ridley-Thomas has worked closely with the governor to address homelessness in Los Angeles County and statewide. 

Mayor London Breed.  Mayor London Breed, the first African American woman to serve as Mayor of San Francisco, made a splash on the national political stage this year because of her pro-active response to the COVID-19 pandemic.  Prior to serving as Mayor of San Francisco, Breed served as the President of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.  Breed, who was appointed to the San Francisco Fire Commission by then-Mayor Gavin Newsom, enjoys a close working relationship with the governor and has the experience of running a major metropolitan city. 

When coming up with this list, I did a poll check and talked to both young and older veterans in the political space.

Chaya Crowder, an African American Political Science Professor at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, said, “Black women continue to be the most loyal voting block within the Democratic Party.  The Democratic Party cannot continue to rely on Black women as voters without having Black women in represented in elected office.”

Danny Bakewell, publisher of the Los Angeles Sentinel and producer of the largest Black festival in California, ‘Taste of Soul,’ said, “at a time that we say Black lives matter, Black people must be considered for this and other positions.  

Gov. Newsom has been confronted with a plethora of difficult decisions in 2020, ranging from the management of COVID-19 to balancing a budget in the middle of a severe recession.  After the general election, if the Democrats win, the Governor would be charged with an equally important decision — who to choose to serve out the remaining two-and-a-half years of Senator Harris’s term. Our advice to the Governor is to be thoughtful in his deliberations and understand that his decision will speak very loudly to Black communities throughout California and the nation.

Senate Republicans, by rejecting the Congressional COVID-19 Stimulus Plan, are encouraging COVID-19, suppressing the economy, suppressing the vote and promoting chaos! Cashless renters are facing eviction… Cashless mini-landlords and cashless homeowners are threatened with foreclosure! Small and large businesses are closing because they have no consumers!

The Republican leadership is obviously willing to kill urban dwelling minorities and Democrats! The red state governors proved that with their “no mask- crowds welcome- get back to work” policies utilized in their urban area! This opinion was declared ridiculous when I first suggested it in March… Now the term “killer republicans” has a hat-rack!

The fact that the COVID-19 stimulus, if delivered, will also benefit poor and middle class Republican voters, is either invisible to or ignored by Senate Republicans! It appears that Senate Republicans are mean-spirited enough to sacrifice poor and middle class republican voters along with minorities and Democrats! They are willing to do it all in order to maintain their racist, inequitable, self-serving, freedom eroding power.

People are dying daily from the virus and yet, Republican leaders are still sending mixed messages regarding COVID-19 policy… Their lack of action on the stimulus plan will definitely suppress the small business economy! It will cause evictions which will disproportionately affect minorities and poor people… Evictions and foreclosures will cause address changes, which can void voter registrations and suppress votes!

Walk together children, and don’t you get weary! There is a long hot road ahead!