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In an unanimous 98-0 vote presided over by Vice President Pence, a rare occasion, the Senate voted to confirm Gen. Charles “C.Q.” Brown as the Air Force’s next chief of staff.

In addition to being the first African American military service chief, Brown will be the first African American to sit on the Joint Chiefs of Staff since Colin Powell was chairman from 1989 to 1993.

The historic confirmation comes as the nation is gripped by protests over racial injustice that were sparked by the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died when a police officer who has since been charged with second-degree murder knelt on his neck for more than eight minutes.

In a video last week, Brown spoke starkly about his feelings on Floyd’s death and being an African American service member.

“As the commander of Pacific Air Forces, a senior leader in our Air Force and an African American, many of you may be wondering what I’m thinking about the current events surrounding the tragic death of George Floyd,” Brown said.

“I’m thinking about how my nomination provides some hope, but also comes with a heavy burden. I can’t fix centuries of racism in our country, nor can I fix decades of discrimination that may have impacted members of our Air Force,” added Brown, who also spoke about navigating “two worlds.”

President Trump, who has come under criticism for threatening to deploy active-duty troops to quell the protests, celebrated Brown’s confirmation Tuesday before the Senate even started voting.

“My decision to appoint @usairforce General Charles Brown as the USA’s first-ever African American military service chief has now been approved by the Senate,” Trump tweeted about a half hour before the vote. “A historic day for America! Excited to work even more closely with Gen. Brown, who is a Patriot and Great Leader!”

Brown, who has been the commander of Pacific Air Forces since July 2018, will take over for current Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein, who is expected to retire later this summer. The Air Force said Tuesday that Brown’s swearing-in ceremony will be held Aug. 6.

Trump nominated Brown in March, but his confirmation was delayed first by Senate scheduling uncertainty amid the coronavirus pandemic and then, as reported by Defense News, by an informal hold Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) placed on the nomination over questions about the Air Force’s KC-46 aerial refueling tanker.

Prior to leading Pacific Air Forces, Brown was the deputy commander of U.S. Central Command.

His résumé also includes time as the commander of U.S. Air Forces Central Command in 2015 and 2016 during the height of the air campaign against ISIS in Iraq and Syria.

He has also served multiple tours across Europe, Asia and the Middle East as an F-16 fighter jet pilot, racking up more than 2,900 flying hours.

Assemblymember Dr. Shirley Weber (D-San Diego), chair of the California Legislative Black Caucus, gave an emotional speech June 3, at a press conference held at the California State Capitol. 

On Wednesday, June 10, one of Weber’s bills, ACA 5, co-authored by Assemblymember Mike A. Gipson (D-Carson), will be taken up on the Assembly floor.  If passed, ACA 5 would give voters a new chance to weigh in on affirmative action, which was banned when voters passed Proposition 209 in 1996. Supporters say ACA 5 would remove roadblocks to opportunities for women and people of color.

By Lou Yeboah

At 2:45 p.m. on Friday, local time, in the year of 2011, life was normal in Japan.

People were working. Students were in class. Shoppers were in grocery stores. Trains were running and passengers were loading airplanes. Banks were open, government officials were in meetings, and lovers were thinking of dinner dates later that night. Power plants were running smoothly, roads were in the right place, and dock workers were preparing goods to be loaded on cargo ships.

At 2:46, without warning, the earth began to shake.

When it comes to earthquakes and tsunamis, Japan is the most prepared country in the world. Immediately, power was cut off to all power plants. Warning signals blared across the land. Students dove under desks, just as they’d been trained to do. Buildings swayed, but did not fall, just as they’d been built to do. Government, military and law enforcement officials went into emergency mode, just as they’d all drilled to do.

But the earth kept shaking.

Eighty miles out, in the deep blue seascape of the Pacific Ocean, six miles above the massive movements of the earth’s plates, salt water was being churned and tossed about with a force far stronger than any force ever created by man. The first waves slammed into the shoreline two hours later, 23 feet above the beaches that had been so calm just an hour earlier. Cars, ships, houses and chucks of roadway were swept along with the water, destroying everything in the path of the surge.

The aftershocks came, one after another, until more than 50 had been recorded.

By the time the first waves receded into the sea, preparing for yet another blast of water and houses and cars and explosions, hundreds of bodies were already among the litter. At sea, a ship loaded with 100 people was swept away. Tankers were flipped over in their harbors. A passenger train is missing. The whole thing. Missing. The waterfront of Sendai burns out of control, and firefighters can’t reach the area. All roads are broken, or missing.

Inland, 30 miles from the coast, and 50 miles from the worst of the damage, a dam in one town breaks, immediately sending a torrent of water through residential neighborhoods. By the time the damage is surveyed, 1,800 homes had been destroyed in an area that should have felt safe from the danger of a tsunami. Landslides triggered by the earthquake quickly buried other communities, while people were still inside the buildings. As far south as Tokyo, ambulances lined up outside a school where a roof had collapsed on an unknown number of students, teachers, and parents who had gathered for graduation ceremonies. With the collapse of infrastructure, six million homes lost power, and millions of people were looking for food and fresh water within the day. Many of them resorted to walking on the broken highways, hoping to find a way to survive on higher ground.

And on the horizon loomed the worst news of all. There were critical, potentially devastating, problems developing at a nuclear power plant.

Warnings were issued for countries all around the Pacific rim, and Hawaii braced for the worst. The tsunami raced across the surface of the ocean at more than 200 miles per hour, and visions of more destruction terrify coastal communities from Indonesia to New Zealand to the Americas.

Two hours and 14 minutes after the first tremor, officials announce that the death toll was expected to top 1,000. Even as they made the announcement, a magnitude 6.6 earthquake shook central Japan, and skyscrapers in Tokyo swayed as if they were drunk. When it was all over with, the death toll 15, 897.

Such is the nature of an unexpected storm.

This message is to once again warn you that Jesus is coming unexpectedly. As Jesus told the disciples, get into the boat that would take you all across the lake. The disciples survived their storm at sea only because Jesus was in the boat. The key to surviving life’s storms – is having a personal relationship with Jesus. You are to “take heed.” If you ignore God’s provision for your soul’s salvation how will you escape the consequences of such neglect? How will you escape His wrath? (John 3:36); His condemnation? [John 3:18]; His word of banishment? [Matthew 26:41].

God is so good, so merciful and so compassionate.  The Scripture says: “it is not the will of God that we should perish.” We are at that point of time where Judah was before the fall of the empire. But nobody is listening like in the times of King Manasseh. Nobody is listening to the Holy Spirit. Jesus said, “Repent, and believe the gospel because your redemption is drawing near.  I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance. [Luke 5:32].  “As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die?” (Ezekiel 33:11) Jesus died for you. Why will you die?

God gives only a certain time to repent, and after that point, it’s too late. Case in point, Jezebel. God said, “I have given her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling…” [Revelation 2:21-23]… The Bible is full of examples of people given time to repent but they refused: [Genesis 4; Jeremiah 5:3, Amos 4:6, Zephaniah 3:2, and Zechariah 7:1] to name just a few. [2Peter 3:9] tells us, “The Lord is patient towards us. He is not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” That’s God’s heart. He wants us to repent. That why He gives us time to repent. That’s why He pleads with us to repent. That’s why He sends people; ministers, preachers, friends, family members who beg us to repent. Jezebel was not ignorant of her sin. She knew what she was doing, and she refused to repent.  Therefore it became too late for her to repent – not because God wouldn’t pardon her, but because she had hardened her heart. Jezebel had been confronted, she’s resisted, and she refused to repent. Don’t be a Jezebel. The door of repentance is still open. There’s still hope, but not forever.… [Hebrews 12:17]… God’s EMS- This is not a test- Action is required. Repent!

Written by Keith McCarter

Pursuant to California Law CALCRIM No. 3470.  You have the right to defend another person if 1. You reasonably believed that person is in imminent danger of suffering bodily injury or is in imminent danger of being touched unlawfully, 2.  You reasonably believed that the immediate use of force was necessary to defend against that danger, AND 3. You used no more force than was reasonably necessary to defend against that danger.

Keep in mind, When an officer is acting within his supposed realm of duty, this is referred to as acting under the color of title.  So then the question becomes, DOES AN ORDINARY CITIZEN HAVE A CLAIM OF DEFENSE OF OTHERS WHENTHE PERPETRATOR IS A POLICE OFFICER.

This is where my message begins.  It is my opinion that no one, including those acting under color of title has the right to take the life of another if that person is not posing a threat.  It is legal to interfere with an altercation of an officer who is wrongfully killing a man.

To better understand this point let’s look at what happened in Minnesota and what possible options could have been taken by ordinary people to prevent the death of the victim.

ORDINARY PEOPLE CAN PREVENT A WRONGFUL DEATH.  Many were standing around yelling, screaming and filming the policemen.  I think we can agree that prong one and two ‘defense of others’ apply here.  The most important question becomes what amount of force ordinary people can use to prevent the death of another-“no more force than is necessary”.  Now we consider some action options for ordinary people to consider.

Option one-people can throw rocks and other bottles and other none deadly items at the officers and even at the police vehicle until the policeman removes his knee from the neck of the victim.  This is a safe bet because you are using none deadly force to try to stop a person from using deadly force.

Option two-people can charge the officers and attempt to subdue the officers until the threat to the victim is neutralized.  Since the policemen have guns this should only be done when there are a large number of ordinary people who are willing to physically charge and subdue the officers.  I suggest there should be at least four people per officer-One person to target each of the four limbs to immobilize the officer from using his gun.  This is also a safe bet for a successful claim of defense of others but a bit dangerous.  However, increasing the level of danger to many to save the life of one is worth the risk in my opinion.

Option three-an ordinary person who is legally carrying a gun can draw the gun on the police officers and demand for the office to remove his knee from the victim’s neck.  This option is obviously the most dangerous and the less likely to result in the ordinary person successfully claiming defense of others.  However, if done as a group, with at least one gun carrying ordinary person to each police officer, the defense may be successful as long as the citizens holster their weapons after the officer removes his knee from the neck of the victim.

When you see a police officer abusing his color of title, these are some of the options you can consider.  I believe 50 years of peacefully marching has not alleviated the problem of preventing policemen from senselessly killing Black Men.  At this time, the citizens need to police those who are charged with the privilege of policing our community to ensure that they perform their duty righteously.

These are my opinions.  I am not attempting to give legal advice on this matter nor am I qualified to do so.  My opinion in a nutshell is very simple.  If a policeman is killing a man who is handcuffed and poses no threat to the officer or society, then an ordinary citizen can use deadly force to prevent that ensuing death.

If you are afraid of going to prison for defending the life of another, then perhaps this will give you some comfort.  Just as a police officer who murders a black man and is later sent to prison will be protected and idealized by white supremacist gangs in the prison, so will a man who prevented the death of a handcuffed police victim be protected by the Black and Brown gangs inside the prison walls.

If you see a police officer murdering someone in the street, what would you do-voice, camera, rocks or gun?

I will be applying for my open carry permit tomorrow.

SACRAMENTO, CA—- The California Legislative Black Caucus (CLBC) had sobering words for Californians during its press conference today in Sacramento. They convened the event in response to the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officers.

The tone was set by Assemblymember Shirley N. Weber, Ph.D. (D-San Diego), Chair of the CLBC, who offered a reminder that American society has not really addressed the fundamental injustices committed against Black men, women and children.

“The issue we face in this country is the direct result of the enslavement, the continued mistreatment, the lynching and the attempts at genocide of Blacks,” Weber said. “This country has taught itself to hate African Americans. The death of George Floyd is a brutal illustration that we have not come to terms with that.”

Weber noted that focus on injustice is actually short-lived.

“There have been repeated uprisings – each as a result of the police brutality over the years – but that the outrage at the brutality of the taking of an innocent life is soon drowned out by outrage over the destruction of property,” Weber said. “Nobody condones looting or rioting. But what is often lost is that a Black man is dead, and we have not addressed how to stop that from happening.

“Our job as Black lawmakers is to be vigilant and persistent,” she said.

In recent years, the CLBC has been forceful in addressing these issues through legislation, including AB 392, which restricted law enforcement’s use of deadly force.

This year, the Caucus introduced an ambitious slate of legislation to address some of the issues that face African Americans, including reinstating Affirmative Action, eliminating debilitating court fees, increasing accountability for educational funds aimed at closing the achievement gap, establishing a commission to justify reparations, and affirming a right for housing for women and children in California. You can find a full list of current CLBC legislation here.

High profile acts of violence against African American men have been recorded and broadcast widely in recent weeks, including the death of a Minneapolis man, George Floyd.

USC experts share their expertise on how racial violence and recordings of these episodes intersect with history, law and health outcomes in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Even Ivy League degrees don’t protect African Americans

“A deathly disregard for black lives is the blood red thread stitched into the very fabric of our nation. As a historian of the black past, I am all too familiar with the litany of torture, lynchings, rapes, false imprisonment, peonage, convict leasing, mass incarceration and medical apartheid from 1619 to 2020.  As the mother of two black men, I live in fear of their injury, arrest or demise at the hands of a capricious passerby, contemptuous police officers, or uncaring physicians. The casual refusal by every level of government of black men and women’s right to breathe, bird or just be in their own bed or kitchen or car is soul crushing. 

“My three Ivy League degrees do not provide me with any more PPE against racism and white supremacy than Christian Cooper’s Harvard B.A. did in Central Park.”

Francille Rusan Wilson is an associate professor of American Studies and Ethnicity, History, Gender & Sexuality Studies at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences and the immediate past president of the Association of Black Women Historians.

Contact: frwilson@usc.edu

Police racial violence should be every American’s concern

“The core concern of the #BlackLivesMatter movement from its very inception has been the indifference or outright hostility of state actors like police officers and prosecutors to the value of black lives. Unlike private individuals, when state actors attack and disrespect citizens, they implicate all Americans because they act in our name and on our behalf. When a police officer is killed in the line of duty, law enforcement representatives have been quick to assert that an attack on an officer is an attack on America.

“By the same token, when an officer unjustifiably brutalizes or kills a black person, that’s not just a private citizen attacking another private citizen, that’s America assailing that black man, woman, or child. Cops don’t get to be equated with America when they are victims but then reduced to ordinary private citizens when they are victimizers.”

Jody Armour studies the intersection of race and legal decision making as well as torts and tort reform movements as the Roy P. Crocker Professor of Law at USC Gould School of Law.

Contact: armour@law.usc.edu or (213) 740-2559

The loop of videos takes a toll on kids

“My work has shown that when adolescents of color watch viral videos of police racial violence online, that exposure is associated with increased depressive symptoms and post-traumatic stress symptoms.”

“During the coronavirus pandemic, students’ classes and social lives are almost entirely online. Previously, young people had a traditional setting where they could find in-person social support if they are feeling overwhelmed by what they are seeing in digital spaces and not ready to share with members of their family. Now, young people may not have that buffer against poor mental health outcomes.

“We can’t underestimate the importance of touch and the ability to see the physical cues that someone is in distress. There is power in the in-person connections people make that we haven’t yet been able to replicate in the most common digital contexts.”

Brendesha Tynes is an associate professor of education and psychology at the USC Rossier School of Education. Her recent research has examined the association between exposure to violent racial videos online and mental health in African American and Latinx adolescents.

Contact: btynes@usc.edu

Images of racial violence can be exploitative

“To me, airing the tragic footage on TV, in auto-play videos on websites and social media is no longer serving its social justice purpose, and is now simply exploitative.

“Likening the fatal footage of Ahmaud Arbery and George Floyd to lynching photographs invites us to treat them more thoughtfully. We can respect these images. We can handle them with care.

“It’s time to revisit the relationship we have with cellphone videos and social media. Trauma is compounding for many African Americans, who are already fighting a separate, disproportionate battle against COVID-19.”

Allissa Richardson is an assistant professor of communication and journalism at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism and the author of the book, Bearing Witness While Black: African Americans, Smartphones and the New Protest #Journalism.

Contact: allissar@usc.edu or (213) 740-9700

Stress from racism leads to poor health outcomes

“For African Americans, the most stressful part of experiencing discrimination is not knowing when it’s going to happen next. That’s the key. Widely-circulated videos of violence against black people add to this anticipatory anxiety.

“This has implications for African Americans’ health outcomes during the coronavirus pandemic. Chronic stress can alter the expression of genes that are involved in both the antiviral and the inflammatory response. Chronic inflammation is involved in a number of health conditions including autoimmune conditions, diabetes and obesity. There have been several studies showing higher inflammatory markers in African Americans, so it’s not surprising that this group is disproportionately impacted and dying at higher rates from COVID-19.”

April Thames is an associate professor of psychology and psychiatry at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences. Her research has focused on how racist experiences increase inflammation in African American individuals, raising their risk of chronic illness.

Contact: thames@usc.edu

According to CNN, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison is increasing charges against former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin to second-degree murder in George Floyd’s killing and also charging the other three officers involved in the incident, according to a tweet from US Sen. Amy Klobuchar.

Ellison’s official announcement is expected to come Wednesday afternoon, more than a week after Floyd was killed while in police custody in Minneapolis, sparking nationwide protests that call for the end to police violence against black citizens.

Chauvin, who had his knee pressed into Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes, had previously been charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. Officers Thomas Lane and J.A. Keung, who helped restrain Floyd, and a fourth officer, Tou Thao, who stood near the others, were not initially charged.

Two autopsies on Floyd determined that he died by homicide. Minneapolis Police chief Medaria Arradondo fired the four officers and said they were “complicit” in Floyd’s death. Floyd’s family and protesters nationwide have called for them to be arrested and convicted for the killing.

George Floyd died while in police custody on May 25 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

According to the video and the criminal complaint, Chauvin kept his knee on Floyd’s neck as Floyd pleaded that he could not breathe, as witnesses protested that he was dying, and even as Lane twice asked to turn him onto his side. Still, Chauvin kept his knee on his neck for almost three minutes after Floyd became unresponsive, the complaint states.

Benjamin Crump, an attorney for the Floyd family, said on Twitter that the family was gratifiedwith the new charges. 

“FAMILY REACTION: This is a bittersweet moment. We are deeply gratified that (Ellison) took decisive action, arresting & charging ALL the officers involved in #GeorgeFloyd’s death & upgrading the charge against Derek Chauvin to felony second-degree murder,” he said.

Under Minnesota law, third-degree murder is defined as causing the death of a person “by perpetrating an act eminently dangerous to others and evincing a depraved mind,” without regard for life but without intent to kill.

Second-degree murder, a more serious charge, is defined as when a person causes the death of another with intent to effect the death of that person but without premeditation.

Minnesota AG cautioned for patience

Ellison was appointed by Gov. Tim Walz to take over the case from Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman on Sunday.

Why the three other officers in George Floyd’s death have not been charged — yet

A former Demoratic congressman, Ellison previously said that he had “every expectation” that charges will be filed against the officers and that he hoped they’d come soon. But on Monday, after taking over the case, he cautioned against a rush to judgment and said prosecutors will be careful and methodical in bringing charges.

“We are moving as expeditiously, quickly and effectively as we can,” he said. “But I need to protect this prosecution. I am not going to create a situation where somebody can say this was a rush to judgement.”

Police officers are rarely charged with crimes for violence against black men, and even in those rare cases, juries have repeatedly shown an unwillingness to convict. The list of such failed cases is long.

In 2017, for example, the Minnesota police officer who fatally shot Castile was found not guilty of second-degree manslaughter and intentional discharge of firearm that endangers safety.

After Minneapolis to Louisville

By Dr. DeForest B. Soaries, Jr.

Let us be clear: we need law enforcement. That is undeniably true. Having been abducted at gunpoint and saved by a white police officer myself, I will never deny the need for police. But I also cannot deny that we have a problem that is much larger and deeper than one, two, or even a handful of incidents.

What is true is that the legitimate protest that has emerged in response to the death of George Floyd is addressing the same issues that the legendary civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s addressed. What is also true is that in 1968 The President’s National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders—known as the Kerner Commission—released its report, condemning racism as the primary cause of the surge of riots that occurred in the mid-late 1960s. Headed by then Illinois Governor Otto Kerner the 11-member commission was appointed by President Lyndon B. Johnson in July 1967 to uncover the causes of urban riots and recommend solutions. It is true that the Commission report in 1968, which declared that “our nation is moving toward two societies, one black, one white—separate and unequal,” called for expanded aid to African American communities to prevent further racial violence and polarization. Unless drastic and costly remedies were undertaken at once, the report said, there would be a “continuing polarization of the American community and, ultimately, the destruction of basic democratic values.” But the Commission report did not awaken America to the awareness that institutionally law enforcement agencies were both the perpetrator and defender of the racism that would cause even economically and socially successful blacks to live in a perpetual nightmare.

It is true that the election of hundreds of black mayors, county officials, state legislators, congresspersons and even a black president has not had a measurable impact on this issue. And it is true that the protests that are occurring right now are likely to fail to result in creating long term, sustainable change. It is true that the protests in response to the Minnesota incident may influence the disposition of the cases that will be brought against the men responsible for the death of George Floyd. But the lack of coherent strategy, the lack of disciplined action, the lack of experienced organization, and the absence of long term, comprehensive policy initiatives all minimize the sustainable impact that will result from this formidable showing of discontent.

One intelligent, articulate, and passionate 30-year-old activist lamented that he suspects that the youthful crowds will return to their normal disconnected lives after a few more days of televised outrage. This is what has happened even in the era of video recordings of beatings and killings. And the sincere, most vulnerable young people that need the change the most will have contributed to the rise in prominence of “celebrity” activists – some new, some old – and will live on without the needed police reforms but also education, jobs, and access to health care. But they will be available for the next protest after a police shooting.

This protest is revealing a unique surge of serious concern among the demographic that seems to normally be preoccupied with fake reality TV and celebrating vulgarity and nudity wrapped in musical genres. As commendable as it is, our current “social uprising” lacks the guidance and the substance needed to know the definition of victory. For the past fifty years, blacks have behaved as if simply putting other blacks in the right positions constituted a victory for all black people. So, it must be excruciatingly painful to their otherwise political saviors when these young protesters seem to sense no substantial difference between their new, diverse political representatives and the former urban, white political machine despots. Many of them are railing against and expressing distrust in cities held by black mayors just as the activists of the sixties expressed no confidence in southern racist sheriffs.

And they lack formal, credible, trained leadership. Their base is comprised of fragmented grassroots sympathizers and their fragile organizational infrastructures have allowed them to be infiltrated and at times upstaged by those whose goal is chaos and destruction rather than justice and progress. Organization was a key to civil rights era successes.

A social movement in America is by definition legitimate only to the extent that its goal is to make America a better democracy. Any other goal is too narrow, shallow, and self-serving to deserve broad sympathy and support. This means that the core of a legitimate movement or protest must be the belief that America is worth improving and able to improve. Anything other than that is not much more than group selfies claiming bragging rights for cursing at the enemy government officials with impunity. That kind of movement cannot allow real progress to occur because it needs the problem to justify its existence.

The civil rights movement wanted to work itself out of a job. And its leaders knew what that looked like. Desegregation. Legal rights equal to other Americans. Support to catch up to historic deprival. The policing issue needs similarly concrete goals. And the “movement” for justice needs to define what justice means in the aftermath of the George Floyd moment. It must be more than hashtags, slogans, and periodic marches. We need a seven-part agenda:

1. We must find diverse communities that exemplify excellent police-community relations. We must study those communities, dissect the parts of their strategy to discover why it is working effectively, document the model, and promote it as a best practice. Communities must be incentivized to tailor the principles for use in their locale and replicate the model. We may want to start with Genesee County Michigan where Sheriff Chris Swanson marched with protesters in Flint, Michigan this past weekend.
2. We must increase penalties for abusive behavior by law enforcement officials and implement no tolerance practices for police misconduct. This includes lowering the threshold for charging law enforcement officials with violating the civil rights of citizens.
3. We must create independent commissions that review, evaluate, revise, and monitor the use of training manuals, procedures, and practices in law enforcement agencies.
4. We must recruit, train, and promote law enforcement personnel that possess the psychological, emotional, and cultural capacity for law enforcement work and assess them every three years to ensure that they have maintained that capacity.
5. We must incentivize law enforcement personnel to breach the “blue wall” of silence even as we motivate communities to oppose the “don’t snitch” culture.
6. We need a national database of law enforcement who were terminated for misconduct and ban them from working in other law enforcement agencies.
7. We must elect political representatives that support this agenda and hold them accountable for follow-through.

If the activist energy that is currently being displayed can be harnessed into support for a concrete agenda, then we may be able to unify our country and start working on the next issue that threatens the greatness that we all desire for our country. 

By Dr. DeForest B. Soaries, Jr.

First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens, Senior Pastor

Former New Jersey Secretary of State

dfree® Financial Freedom Movement, CEO & Founder

Los Angeles County will be under a countywide curfew that runs from 6 p.m. today, June 2, 2020, through 6 a.m. on Wednesday, June 3, 2020.

The curfew does not apply to individuals voting in Special Elections occurring today in the City of Commerce and in El Rancho Unified School District in Pico Rivera. In both elections, all voters were mailed ballots and the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk has one mobile vote center in each jurisdiction that has been open daily since Saturday and will be open today until 8 p.m. Poll workers are also exempt from the order.

This is the third night of a countywide curfew ordered to protect public safety. 

The County curfew applies to every municipality in Los Angeles County, but cities can implement stricter curfews based on their local needs. Please check with your local city to determine if they have implemented stricter curfews.

In addition to voters and poll workers being exempt, the countywide curfew does not apply to the following: peace officers; firefighters; National Guard or other military personnel deployed to the area; emergency medical services personnel; individuals traveling to and from work; individuals working on a public work of improvement construction project; credentialed media representatives involved in news gathering; people experiencing homelessness and without access to a viable shelter; and individuals seeking medical treatment.

The following cities have already implemented stricter curfews:

• Beverly Hills – June 2nd curfew starting at 1 p.m. 
• Culver City – June 2nd curfew starting at 4 p.m.
• Santa Monica –  June 2nd curfew starting at 2 p.m.
• West Hollywood – June 2nd curfew starting at 4 p.m.

Visit lacounty.gov/emergency for the most up-to-date information.