By Yera Nanan

On July 23, Greater Zion Church Family head pastor, Michael Fisher, hosted a Facebook Live conversation via Zoom which discussed the topic of criminalizing menthol.

This Zoom call featured a distinguished panel of guests that had interest and knowledge in discussing Senate Bill 793, which directly affects the flavor menthol.

SB 793 is a bill that would prohibit the sale of flavored tobacco products and/or having the product with the intention of selling it. This bill stems from the Stop Tobacco Access to Kids Enforcement (STAKE) Act, which was made effective Jan. 1, 1995 to stop the selling of tobacco products to persons under 21 years of age.

As the Zoom call commenced, a theme that became recurring throughout the conversation was no one is in support of any using tobacco products but there is an argument as to whether legislation can create harm for the Black community.  Senior pastor at Weller Street Missionary Baptist Church, K.W. Tulloss, started off the argument by being opposed to the bill since he believes it will increase the criminalization of Black people.  “A bill that is prohibiting and possibly criminalizing our community is a bill that we cannot support”, said Tulloss.

Tulloss acknowledges that smoking has been a problem in the community for long time but efforts should be poised toward educating people instead of unwanted attention by authorities.

The American Lung Association reports that nearly 17 percent of smokers in this country come from the African-American community, making them the second largest ethnic population of smokers.  Out of this ethnic population, roughly 3 in 4 smokers use menthol cigarettes which can make the smoking process easier yet harder to quit.  Carson Councilmember, Jawane Hilton, expressed how this ban is targeting menthol and people within the community will be negatively affected by this.

“I think it has a few consequences in it that we need to rethink…we have a broad brush and we need to paint the brush back just a little bit to make sure out community is healthy”, said Hilton.

Pastor William D. Smart Jr. of Christ Liberation Ministries, also added to the argument by making this a civil rights issue.  “You cannot deny us a cigarette but not deny it to White people and their predominant choice…to me that’s racism and discrimination”, said Smart.

He argued that White people predominately smoke Newport cigarettes which have no flavor and hookah tobacco retailers are exempt from this bill which took the Mediterranean population into consideration.   Others in this discussion felt that this is not a matter of race but instead this bill help save Black lives in the long run.

ES Advisors Group President, Edward Sanders, supports the bill getting passed since he believes it will help not only the Black community but all communities.  “If there is one thing you can do to save Black lives, it is moving menthol off the market…it’s not a question of racism and special treatment”, said Sanders.

The CDC reports that tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of death in the United States with more that 480,000 deaths annually.  Sanders argues that 45,000 of those deaths are African-Americans with tobacco being a major contributor to heart disease, cancer, stroke and diabetes.   Co-Chairperson of the African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council, Carol McGruder, also supports SB 793 and argues that racism doesn’t play a role in this specific bill.

“The FDA in two different reports said it would be in the best interest of the public to take menthol off the market…we want to take off a product that kills 45,000 Black people every year in this country”, said McGruder.

The African American Tobacco Control Leadership council is suing the FDA since they believe they have not protected Black people and racism can be found on their end.  Councilwoman Michelle Chambers of District 1 in the City of Compton, also gave her input on where resources and attention should be directed which is healthcare.

“Give us some money for cessation…help us with cancer research and help us with mental therapy”, said Chambers.   As someone who is against the bill, she argues that if this bill passes another George Floyd or Eric Garner incident could ensue and the criminal justice will be affected.   As this bill continues to make its way through the legislature, the debate still remains if this will help reduce tobacco use across the board or marginalize the Black community even more.

The California Senate has already passed the bill and it will make its way to the Assembly for consideration.

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. 

ETHNIC MEDIA SERVICES

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — California’s rich diversity of ethnic populations makes an accurate census count extremely challenging, says Karthick Ramakrishnan, founder and director of AAPI Data.

“California’s diversity is the source of our strength. There’s a lot that we gain from having the kind of racial diversity. At the same time, those factors make it more

challenging to count,” said Ramakrishnan, who serves as the associate dean of the UC Riverside School of Public Policy, and professor of public policy and political science.

Ramakrishnan cited a lack of in-language resources, geographic diversity, including populations living in rural areas, and first-generation immigrants who may not understand the census process or its importance as barriers to getting an accurate count of California’s population.

Many immigrants also fear the information they share on the nine-question form may be shared with immigration enforcement authorities or the Internal Revenue Service. “It’s important to reassure them that all of the information they provide is protected by law,” and not shared with other agencies, said Ramakrishnan.

“The census is constitutionally mandated by the US Constitution to make sure that every person counts. So this includes citizens as well as non citizens regardless of their immigration status or what kind of visa that they have,” he said.

Reaching the Asian American Pacific Islander population poses some unique challenges, said the researcher, noting that a large percentage of the population of California are first generation AAPIs with limited English language proficiency.

“So it’s so important for us to make sure that we are reaching out to them in a language that they understand and that we’re using trusted messengers, people that they trust from their faith-based associations to nonprofits that serve them so that they can be reassured that this information is protected,” said Ramakrishnan.

The U.S. Census Bureau conducted a survey of Asian Americans, Blacks, Hispanics and whites two years ago.Two-thirds of Asian Americans surveyed said they were extremely to somewhat concerned that their data would be used against them.

About 43 percent of AAPIS surveyed said they would not likely fill out the Census form. Only 22 percent said they were familiar with the Census.

The COVID-19 pandemic has also made it harder to reach populations that have had a history of non-participation. “The disease and the economic fallout are hurting communities that are least likely to be counted by the census,” said Ramakrishnan, advocating for investments in health care and economic assistance for vulnerable communities.

Census data, collected every 10 years, is used to allocate federal resources and accurate representation in Congress. Businesses also use data from the decennial survey to determine where to set up shop.

As of early July, more than 46 percent of California households had filled out their Census forms, according to the California Census 2020 Campaign. San Mateo County had the highest response rate in the state, with over 72 percent of residents returning the survey, which can be mailed in or filled out online. Enumerators do go door to door to reach households who have not filled out their census forms.

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.

By John Coleman, Community Photographer

Rebellion against authority has been a big feature of governance and society in America since it’s early days. Rebellion against the authority of the King of England over the control of England’s 13 colonies in North America lead to the Revolutionary War; the independence of the people and government of the United States of America; The U.S. Constitution; and the “Bill of Rights”.

But among the number of issues NOT effectively resolved by “the Revolution”,   “the Constitution”,   or “the Bill of Rights”,    was the “peculiar institution” of slavery in the U.S. as the country grew and evolved, and conflicts emerged over who had the “right” and power to decide outcomes.

The issue opened with whether the “Federal government” or the individual state (in collection with like-minded individual states) was the decision-maker. This opinion was more widely shared in the mainly agricultural sections of the country known as ‘the South’, as distinguished from the increasingly mercantile ‘North’. In many areas of the South there were many more enslaved Black people than there were Whites, who feared revolts and retribution.

To Southern officials, the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860 was taken as a rejection and a sign that the South HAD to go its own way. Southern states withdrew ‘membership’ in the United States; established its ‘own’ Army and Navy; (almost ALL had been ‘regulars ‘ of the United States); and eventually fired another ‘shot heard around the world’. War again became THE instrument for ‘problem-solving’!

In September 1862, in the middle of America’s horrendously bloody Civil War (referred to in ‘the South’ as “the war between the states”) President Lincoln issued a Presidential Order, under his authority, during wartime, to go into effect on January 1, 1863, as an “Emancipation Proclamation”, which ordered that “ALL PERSONS HELD AS SLAVES ” WITHIN THE REBELLIOUS STATES “ARE AND HENCEFORTH SHALL BE FREE !…” Furthermore, Lincoln pointedly directed the military to fully and faithfully effect this order.

As the Civil War was going on, the Emancipation Proclamation and Lincoln’s authority was disregarded by the Confederate South, which greatly depended on slavery to support its economy, and for the labor support for its Army; however, the Emancipation Proclamation helped turn the tide of the war. Every advance of the Union Army expanded the areas of freedom and great numbers of newly-freed men enlisted into the U.S. Army, & Navy. By the time the Civil War ended, almost 200,000 Black men fought for the Union AND for freedom!

Still, until the end of the war and the presence of Union troops, the Emancipation Proclamation had no liberating effect in many areas. Only after the surrender of the Confederacy and the arrival of Union General, Granger, with 2,000 Federal troops into Galveston, Texas, on June 18 and 19, 1865, did the dream of FREEDOM become real.

Riverside’s 11th Annual Juneteenth Celebration had many similarities with Southern celebrations in the years following emancipation. Inside the Stratton Center at Bordwell Park there were speakers, displays and reading material about African American inventors, educators, performers and organizations whose work benefitted society. Most people however, preferred to be outside where there was food, music, dancing, performances, and gatherings of families and friends enjoying their freedom to celebrate.  ‘Twas  a bright, sunny “Juneteenth” day.

Where are ‘we’ now?    2020,     Pandemic?     “United? States”   Governance?      Laws & “Justice”?      

Perhaps ‘we’ can check back in another 150 years.