Legislation to help a family reap a portion of the benefits of their ancestors’ lost wealth could get approval from the state Senate this week.
Senate Bill 796 — which would allow L.A. County to return two parcels of oceanfront land it owns in Manhattan Beach back to the descendants of the original Black owners — is scheduled for a full Senate vote on Thursday, May 20, according to the office of the secretary of the senate.
The item is on the Senate’s consent calendar, office of the secretary of the senate said. And since the consent calendar is a set of uncontroversial items that get voted on all at once, the bill will almost certainly pass unless a senator pulls it off for discussion.
State Sen. Anthony Portantino, chair of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, determined the bill had no significant costs to California and sent the bill to the Senate floor on Monday, May 17, according to the office of Sen. Steven Bradford, D-Carson.
The two parcels at the heart of the bill were once part of a flourishing seaside resort owned by and operated for Black people in the early 20th century, during a time when African Americans had limited coastal access.
Willa and Charles Bruce ran a flourishing resort for Black people on that land in Manhattan Beach in the early 20th century, providing refuge for the people who at the time had limited coastal access.
But the original owners, Willa and Charles Bruce, as well as those who visited the resort and Manhattan Beach’s other African American residents, faced harassment and terrorism from some White neighbors who didn’t want Black people in the community.
The city still owns the largest portion of the former resort, which eventually became Bruce’s Beach Park.
But the two parcels closest to the surf became state-owned in 1948. The state gave those two parcels — and larger swaths of the beach — to L.A. County in 1995.
The county currently operates a lifeguard station there.
But under the 1995 transfer agreement, the county cannot sell or give the land to anyone else.
SB 796 would undo those restrictions and allow the county to return the land.
The County CEO’s Office, County Counsel and the executive director of racial equality, in consultation with the county fire chief, have until June 19 to report back to the board with a plan for how to deed the property to the Bruce family.
That plan, which the supervisors would have to OK, will include a timeline, options for addressing property tax issues after the transfer and ways the county could either lease the property from the Bruce family or relocate the lifeguard facility there.
If the bill passes the state Senate with a two-thirds vote by June 4, it would then go to the state Assembly, which would have to vote on it by Sept. 10. After that, the bill would go to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk for his signature.
Getting the land back, though, is only a part of what the family is seeking, said Bruce family historian and representative Duane Shepard.
“We wanted the land restored, punitive damages for the police department terrorizing our family and restitution from lost revenue those enterprises would’ve had right now,” Shepard, a distant relative, said in an April interview. “Giving back the land doesn’t replace generational wealth.”
Last week, California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced that he has created a new bureau within the Department of Justice (DOJ) dedicated to fighting discrimination and investigating hate crimes.
Bonta said the new Bureau of Racial Justice, which will be housed under the Civil Rights Enforcement Section, will also support the California task force that the state has charged with studying the impact of slavery and Jim Crow and coming up with reparations recommendations for Blacks in California and around the country.
In September last year, Gov. Newsom signed Assembly Bill (AB) 3121 into law. The legislation, introduced by current California Secretary of State Shirley Weber when she served in the Assembly, requires the state to set up the task force.
Bonta has not yet spelled out how the bureau will contribute to the state’s reparations efforts, but he stressed the urgency of creating it.
“Throughout California’s history, too many of us have felt the sting of hate and discrimination,” said Bonta. “The fact is: No part of California is immune to hate. Too many Asian, Latino, Black, Native American, people with disabilities, LGBTQ, Jewish, Muslim, and Sikh Californians all across the state are hurting.
According to the DOJ, the bureau will focus on six areas: hate crimes and organizations; implicit and explicit bias in policing; law enforcement best practices; campus climate issues; and the Task Force to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans.
Bonta says the DOJ will work with the Big City Mayors, a group of officials from the state’s 13 largest cities, on its anti-discrimination and anti-hate crime initiatives. The cities are Los Angeles, San Diego, San José, San Francisco, Fresno, Sacramento, Long Beach, Oakland, Bakersfield, Anaheim, Riverside, Santa Ana, and Stockton.
At the end of this month, the DOJ says Bonta will host a virtual meeting with the Big City Mayors.
“Drawing on the expertise of local elected leaders, the virtual convening will seek to raise awareness around regional concerns involving hate crimes, support those who have been impacted by hate, and secure commitments for direct action across California,” the DOJ said in a statement.
The California Legislative Black Caucus welcomed the news. The group comprised of African American members of the State Legislature says, “California, after its acceptance into the union in 1850 until the end of slavery in 1865, actively supported the enslavement of Blacks.”
The CLBC says the California Task Force to Study and Develop Reparations will increase understanding among Californians at a time when racial and political divisions divide Americans.
“As Chair of the Legislative Black Caucus, I am humbled to be a part of this groundbreaking task force and look forward to having the difficult but necessary conversations on the age of enslavement here in California and across the nation,” said Sen. Steve Bradford (D-Gardena), who is also chair of the CBLC and a member of the reparations task force.
“The remnants of slavery and Jim Crow are still alive and well today and need to be addressed. We have found ways to not only apologize but also provide reparations to every group wronged in America and around the world except for African American decedents of slavery,” Bradford pointed out.
Nearly three years after her successful run for a seat on California’s Board of Equalization (BOE), Malia Cohen now has her sights set on a higher office: State Controller. The election for State Controller will be held in November 2022.
Cohen is one of two women — and the only African American — serving on the BOE, the state agency responsible for representing taxpayer interests and making county-by-county tax assessments and adjustments across the state.
She announced her candidacy for State Controller during the California Democratic Party (CDP) 2021 convention, held online from April 29 to May 2.
“I am running because I am committed to equity, empowerment, hope and opportunity for all Californians,” Cohen told California Black Media.
During the Democratic Party convention, current State Controller and BOE member Betty Yee gave her blessing. She endorsed Cohen to occupy the seat she was first elected to in November 2014. Yee was re-elected for a second term in 2018.
Yee, who is termed out from running for State Controller in 2022, was elected vice chair of the CDP at its recent convention.
Taisha Brown, chair of the California Democratic Party Black Caucus, said she’s ready to support Cohen and see more African American women, the most loyal voting bloc in the Democratic Party, in leadership roles.
“I’m happy to see more Black women moving in the direction to lead California as statewide officers. We have always been capable and have put in the work. I’m excited and ready to roll up my sleeves and get to work for Malia Cohen to be our next State Controller,” Brown said.
Cohen and Yee recently participated in a discussion the CDP’s Women’s Caucus, titled “Honoring Trailblazing Democratic Women on the Frontlines.” They discussed how they have both worked hard to find innovative solutions to longstanding problems, broken stereotypes and lead while facing various challenges in their respective careers.
If Californians vote Cohen the next State Controller, she will become chair of the Franchise Tax Board and serve on the boards of the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) and the California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS) as well.
CalPERS and CalSTRS manage financial investments totaling more than $620 billion.
The controller’s office is the state’s independent fiscal watchdog, providing oversight and managing more than $100 billion in receipts and disbursements of public funds a year. The state department also offers fiscal guidance to local governments and uncovers fraud and abuse of taxpayer dollars. It is also charged with protecting the state’s coastline and helping to build hospitals.
As a member of the BOE, Cohen represents 23 counties and 9.5 million constituents in the Second District, an area that stretches along California’s coast from the top of the state down to Santa Barbara County.
Before that, Cohen represented the 10th District on San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors from January 2011 to January 2019. Cohen, born in the Richmond District of the “Golden Gate City,” was also president of the Board of Supervisors, succeeding London Breed, who was elected the San Francisco’s mayor in 2018.
Cohen, 43, earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in political science at Fisk University in Tennessee and a Master’s in public policy and management at Carnegie Mellon University in Pennsylvania.
For more than a decade now, Cohen has been an influential figure in California state politics, taking on a number of high-profile issues.
In 2017, she introduced legislation to end the sale of all flavored tobacco products, including, menthol cigarettes in San Francisco. The measure was approved. She celebrated last month when the Biden administration announced its intention to make that prohibition national.
“I knew if we had a victory, it could start something big. But I did not know just how far it would go,” Cohen said. “After our ordinance passed in San Francisco, 75 other cities in California passed similar bans.”
After she was re-elected to represent the 10th District in 2014, Cohen gained national attention when she defended San Francisco’s “sanctuary city” policy. The ordinance shields undocumented immigrants living in the city from deportation.
Bill O’Reilly, then a conservative commentator for FOX News, took issue with Cohen and her pro-immigrant stance. He said on his show, The O’Reilly Factor, that Cohen was a disgrace and should be apprehended.
“If I were the attorney general of the United States, I would place her immediately under arrest,” O’Reilly said at the time, “That woman is a disgrace.”
The former FOX News talking head made the comment while blaming the policy for the death of a 32-year-old woman who was killed by an undocumented immigrant from Mexico.
Cohen expressed horror at the woman’s death and called the incident a tragedy, but she did not shy away from O’Reilly’s attack.
“We cannot allow one event to dictate 25 years of our city’s policies towards undocumented immigrants in our city,” Cohen responded. “And more importantly, we cannot allow hateful conservative news stations to drive how we respond to incidents in our city. I’m not afraid of Fox News and they don’t influence how I make my policy decisions here in San Francisco.”
Paul Mooney, the comedian, actor and writer for Richard Pryor, died on Wednesday morning, his representative Cassandra Williams confirmed to Variety. He was 79.
He died at his home in Oakland, CA after suffering a heart attack.
Mooney’s Twitter account also shared the news on Wednesday morning, posting “Thank you all from the bottom of all of our hearts…To all in love with this great man.”
Mooney served as the head writer on “The Richard Pryor Show” and co-wrote some of Pryor’s material on several of his comedy albums and his “Saturday Night Live” sketches. Mooney also wrote for “Sanford and Son,” “Good Times,” “In Living Color,” “Pryor’s Place,” “The Larry Sanders Show,” “Chappelle’s Show” and BET’s reality TV parody show “Real Husbands of Hollywood.”
In addition to his stand-up comedy, Mooney appeared in movies like “The Buddy Holly Story,” where he played Sam Cooke; “Bustin’ Loose”; “Hollywood Shuffle”; Spike Lee’s “Bamboozled”; and most recently “Meet the Blacks” in 2016.
On Dave Chappelle’s Comedy Central show, Mooney played the recurring character Negrodamus, a Black version of the philosopher Nostradamus who specialized in answering questions like “Why do white people love Wayne Brady so much?” (Answer: “Because Wayne Brady makes Bryant Gumbel look like Malcolm X”).
Much of Mooney’s stand-up material focused on race. His sets at the 2005 BET Comedy Awards and the 2006 BET tribute to Black History Month skewered celebrities like Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Oprah Winfrey, Lil’ Kim, Diana Ross, Flavor Flav, Terrell Owens and more.
In 2007, he published a memoir titled “Black Is the New White,” in which he discussed his relationship with Pryor and some of his most iconic and controversial comedy sets.
“…What it will be like standing before the King? What it would be like to walk, by [His] side? I can only imagine, what my eyes would see, when [His] face is before me. I can only imagine, what it will be like to be surrounded by [His] glory. What will my heart feel? Will I dance for [Him], or in awe of [Him] be still? Will I stand in [His] presence, or to my knees will I fall? Will I sing Hallelujah? Or will I be able to speak at all? Oh, I can only imagine, yeah, when that day comes… Can you imagine, just standing before the King, what it would be like…” [Song by Tamela Mann? I Can Only Imagine].
Pause for a moment to let that image settle in your mind, because I can only think of one thing worse than going to Hell, and that would be to go to Hell with Heaven on your mind. Listen, the Bible gives us several vivid examples of this phenomenon. Consider the following people and their rejection of the Savior. Judas Iscariot – He kissed the gates of Heaven and went to Hell – [Matt. 26:49; Acts 1:25]. Felix – He looked into salvation, but he wanted to wait to a more convenient time – [Acts 24:25]. Herod Agrippa – He stepped up to the very door of Heaven and turned away – [Acts 26:28]. Festus – He heard the claims of the Gospel and called them the ravings of a mad man – [Acts 26:24]. Tell me, how shall you escape, if you ignore God’s provision for your soul’s salvation, how will you escape the consequences of such neglect? [Matthew 10:32-33]. How will you escape His wrath? [John 3:36]; His condemnation? [John 3:18]; His word of banishment? [Matthew 26:41].
Listen, the Bible declares it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment. [Hebrews 9:27]. I tell you, nothing in your entire life could be more important than being ready for that day, because it will determine whether you will spend eternity in heaven or in hell. You shouldn’t think twice about it. Understand the present time. For as [Romans 13:11-12]] says, the hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. The Bible says “Now is the acceptable time. Now is the time of God’s favor. Now is the day of salvation….” Please do not cast aside God’s offer. I want you to know that through visions, prophecies, visitations and signs, Jesus have given many warnings to the world that there was little time left and that after the trumpet call, it will be too late! Don’t wait until its too late! Can you imagine standing before the King, what it will be like for you?
After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, “Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this.” Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne set in heaven, and One sat on the throne. And He who sat there was like a jasper and a sardius stone in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, in appearance like an emerald. Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and on the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white robes; and they had crowns of gold on their heads. And from the throne proceeded lightnings, thundering, and voices. Seven lamps of fire were burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God. Before the throne there was a sea of glass, like crystal. And in the midst of the throne, and around the throne, were four living creatures full of eyes in front and in back. The first living creature was like a lion, the second living creature like a calf, the third living creature had a face like a man, and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle. The four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying: “Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!” Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne and worship Him who lives forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying: “You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power. Hallelujah all Praises to the Most High God! [Revelation chapter 4]. I Can Only Imagine!
WASHINGTON — The Washington, D.C., area is home to a bustling population of food trucks. Streets surrounding the city’s monuments are often lined with stationary trucks vending shawarma, hot dogs and many other foods. Clearly, the competition for such vendors is intense.
Against that backdrop, Jerk At Nite began in 2013 with the experimental cooking of Denville Myrie Jr., a Jamaican student at Howard University admired by his peers for his cooking. Jerk At Nite initially seized the dearth of late-night food options in the years before meal delivery apps became popular. With the campus cafe closing at 10 p.m., there were only one or two restaurant options for late-night students.
Thus, the business was born, with Myrie Jr., Kadeem Todd and a few other Howard students operating a small enterprise serving their peers. In 2014, it grew to catering larger Howard events, getting their name out and growing their customer base of the future Howard alumni. In 2016, its food truck arrived on the scene. Then, in 2019, they started work on their first restaurant — but soon ran into a variety of obstacles in working to make that spot a reality.
Todd, one of the business’ five managers/owners recently took time out of his schedule to speak to Zenger News about the solid foundation that the business is built upon, and why they’re confident those hurdles will ultimately be overcome.
Jerk At Nite’s first brick-and-mortar location at 2149 Queens Chapel Road N.E., in Washington, D.C. (Courtesy of Kadeem Todd)
Zenger: How did this business begin?
Todd: Myrie used to always cook and stuff at night, and we all admired his food. During this time he got the idea of making Jamaican food. He had the idea of making it for years prior to that. Myrie had already graduated a year prior to me and started working for the Department of Health, a career he wasn’t really into, and I was fresh out of college trying to figure things out. I originally was an EMT, working in hospitals, but I wasn’t really into it, to be honest. So he came up with the idea: We’ve been doing this all these years, let’s put our money where our mouth is and invest in a food truck. At the time, food trucks were really big in D.C., and we definitely saw the opportunity of it being very lucrative because we’d see them every week downtown by all the monuments.
Zenger: Since there are a lot of food trucks in D.C., competition seems to be tight. How did you rise above that?
Todd: We kinda of came in struttin’. We came in like we had the best because we felt like we were the best. And we kinda promoted ourselves like that. Downtown D.C. business spaces are really mundane. People are walking to and from in their business suits, but we came through and cut through that with our own aura. So we would come in playing our music really loud, it was almost like the ice cream man concept, the people would hear it at 11 o’clock and we would get there before they even get out for their lunch break, we had the grill smoking and you could smell the food. You couldn’t walk past without wondering “what are they cooking?” and Jamaican culture is really worldwide; people love Jamaican food. People love it, and people who don’t love it have friends who love it who will take them there to try it.
It was easy to cut into the competition, as everyone [else] was selling tacos and burritos at the time. We always had the mindset that we wanted to be a business, not just like a hot dog stand. There’s nothing wrong with that, but we wanted to have a brand, so we always marketed ourselves that way. So with that game plan we found it easier to cut through the food truck competition. We found ourselves more in competition with other Jamaican restaurants in the area.
Zenger: You started getting noise complaints on social media. Why did that happen and how did you respond?
Todd: We had acquired our restaurant space in 2019, we had no outside funding, so we were using the food trucks to fund the buildout for the restaurant. We were pretty intentional about not having outside investors at that time. So with us finally building out the store, painting and remodeling it, we decided instead of moving around with the food trucks in downtown D.C., we planted our flag right here where our restaurant is coming, and we started parking on Eighth street.
So we would park both of our food trucks on Eighth street. Playing our music, curating a vibe, a culture to it — and people love it, our customers really love it. Because who doesn’t love good reggae music? It’s calming, it’s relaxing, you feel like the islands have been brought to you, so you feel like a happier mood and you’re engaging with the food or the people that’s around. Our neighbors on 11th and H weren’t too happy with that, but we were in complete compliance with the law, as far as that goes. We didn’t technically have to turn our music down to a certain decibel level until 10 o’clock.
We made sure to check in with everybody to maintain that so nobody would feel offended. I personally went door to door once we started cooking and working there to ease people’s minds about it. We were saying, hey, we’re not trying to disturb the neighborhood, we’re trying to be a part of this community, and we want to be on a good footing with everybody.
But it didn’t quite go that way. There were a lot of deceptive smiles and yeses, but we found ourselves in a situation where the police were called numerous times about noise complaints, about us not being in compliance with our crowds. Which again, we were by the book every single time. But it was annoying that every time we had service police were called. We want to be a part of the community, but we didn’t know exactly who to communicate with to resolve this. People were kind of hiding from it, and they weren’t really with the energy we brought, I guess — because we weren’t the only restaurant who played music; there was another restaurant adjacent to us that also played music — but I guess because we didn’t have the same amount of traffic they felt they didn’t need to call the police on them, but they needed to call the police on us, so there was a bit of a bias there.
Denville Myrie Jr. (left), founder of Jerk At Nite, and co-founder Kadeem Todd, in front of one of their food trucks on Queens Chapel Road in Washington, D.C. (Courtesy of Kadeem Todd)
Zenger: What happened that caused you to stop work at the restaurant?
Todd: We invested a majority of our funds to build out our restaurant, and because of the police being called on us at the time, our landlord wasn’t really on our side because of — well, let’s just say he would have preferred to have other tenants. The value around that area had gone up since we had been there, and we locked in our lease in 2019, when there was nothing on that street. The street was in transition, and a lot of restaurants had closed prior to COVID-19. So we got a really good deal on the price of our location, but after us being there and other businesses opening around, the value had gone up around us, so our landlord at that point was trying to nitpick and find a way to get us out.
So we were in the last stages of building out the restaurant, installing the HVAC system. So with authorities constantly being called, we always had to pull out our paperwork. So this time they came and they wanted our permits for the HVAC system, even though they were called for a noise complaint. It turned out our landlord had not signed off on the permit, so he kind of derailed us. We technically weren’t in compliance then, so we ended up getting a stop work order from DCRA [Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs] which pushed a lot of things back for us.
Zenger: Why have your neighbors and landlord been such roadblocks?
Todd: Well, internally, I think that our traction has caught a lot of attention. But anyone who would look at this from the outside, they would think it’s definitely prejudice because of who we are. They see two young black men with no outside help, no huge backer trying to literally build something from scratch. We don’t depend on anybody to create for ourselves. We’ve never had to, we’ve always found ways to reinvest into ourselves, and we put 100 percent into ourselves.
We’re not out here living lavish lifestyles, we’re literally trying to create a brand and a product that people appreciate and love, and it’s for everybody, it’s for our community. A lot of people don’t like that, so we get picked on. But it’s not a matter of us having a victim mentality, it’s about finding new solutions. At the end of the day, if we keep putting in this kind of work, we will have success.
Zenger: What were some other solutions you have employed to mitigate these conflicts?
Todd: We sat in with a few council members to understand where we might be in the wrong, how we should properly be operating. We also receive mentorship from H Street Main Street, which operates through the mayor’s office to help small businesses. We got a lot of guidance and mentorship from them. They make it easier — they write a lot of our letters to our landlord — besides our lawyer, of course. But they teach us how to properly approach these business situations because a lot of this is new ground for us. They have also gotten us grants to help combat this, because when we had to shut down, when we had no income coming in, we had to find ways to alleviate our finances. But also since we vocalize our battles, we get more opportunities.
Zenger: What advice would you give to entrepreneurs just starting out?
Todd: The best advice is to just do it. Then you need to firmly believe in yourself, have a product that is good and do it for the right reason. Our reason is we really want to have a quality cultural product for our community. So if you have the right reasons and good motivation, you’ll run into success no matter what. So to anybody starting a business, just start and don’t stop. If you do that, there’s always a solution to whatever comes up.
Zenger: Anything you’d like to add?
Todd: Follow us @jerkatnite on Instagram if you want to see some young brothers really trying to make something happen in the world, join us on our journey. Feel free to comment, reach out if you need help, ideas, conversation, inspiration or even mentorship. That’s one thing, we’re always open to learning. There’s a Jamaican idiom that my mother always says: “Raw meat seek fire.” It means every single day you have to actively look for information and opportunity. As a company, we do that. We love our community and we want to keep being able to serve it.
Discovered harmonizing on the streets of New York by legendary producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Solo is thankful for its Motown-like intro into the music industry.
Live instrumentation and focus on vocals and songwriting makes it more suited for the golden era of R&B. They released their self-titled album in 1995 that went gold, thanks to hits such as “Heaven,” “Where Do You Want Me To Put It,” and a cover of Sam Cooke’s “A Change Is Gonna Come.”
Zenger News spoke with Dan Stokes, Dnell Chavis and J.D. Wesley about their musical influences, a potential Christmas album and much more.
Percy Crawford interviewed Dan Stokes, Dnell Chavis and J.D. Wesley for Zenger News.
Zenger: What was it like to start your career with production from the legendary duo, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis?
J.D. Wesley: It’s like starting off with A+, morally, ethically sound, great people and creative people. You are working with the best. We were lucky and blessed to meet at that moment in time. And we just learned so much.
Dnell Chavis: The experience was organic. I’m going to keep it short and sweet.
Dan Stokes: It was also like everything was happening at one time in all the rooms. It almost had the vibe of what it would have been like if we had been around back in the Motown era. Things were happening live. People were writing and creating in this room and building a track in that room. It was just full of energy every time you walked in. You couldn’t help but be in awe of the process.
Zenger: You guys had that old school Motown sound and vibe. Was that the inspiration behind the group?
Dnell Chavis: Definitely! The Temptations, Sam Cooke, Otis Redding, Marvin Gaye. All of those legendary sounds were inspiration.
Dan Stokes: Because Jimmy and Terry discovered us singing on the streets— people don’t believe that story was true — the music we were singing were all classics. Classics will stop people in their tracks if you could sing them well. We were able to block traffic on the greatest days. Jimmy and Terry just happened to see us.
Percy Crawford interviewed Dan Stokes, Dnell Chavis and J.D. Wesley for Zenger News. (Heidi Malone/Zenger)
They orchestrated that whole thought of, lets bring that to the ’90s. But we were young. We knew that we could write music, but we didn’t have a vision or idea of what would sell, who would like it. That sound was Jimmy and Terry’s idea completely.
Dnell Chavis: They definitely had the vision for us for that sound.
Zenger: How did a group, get its name?
Dnell Chavis: Well (laughing), it was actually me and a guy that’s not in the group right now, Eunique [Mack]. We came up with the name, which actually means “one” in Spanish. Plus, we were solo artists that could do solo things, so we figured why won’t we call ourselves Solo.
Zenger: I never want to sound like I’m not appreciative of today’s music and talents, but it seems things are more gimmick-driven now. You guys came on the scene, just amazing voices, implementation of real instruments and great storytelling. I feel we lack that today. What are your thoughts on that?
J.D. Wesley: Like you said, it is a gimmick. Most of these acts don’t have any real depth. There is nothing really there. I can’t even bring myself to listen to most of it now. But if you really listen to some newer stuff, especially since the pandemic, it seems like people are trying to go back to what music is really all about. And I’m glad about that. That’s good for groups like us, because it’s what we do.
Dan Stokes: I kind of disagree in a way. I do think that the authenticity of how we sing or what we were brought up on needs to be continued. I do hear it in different versions of people younger than us. I hear musicianship coming back into the forefront, in particular with our black and brown brothers and sisters.
It’s ironic you used the word “gimmick” because when we came out with our upright bass, singing doo-wop, people said that that was our gimmick, even though that was our authentic style. So, I try to listen to the artistry and musicianship of everything that’s out there. I don’t want to broad-stroke it and say, they’re not doing anything, because there is a lot of talent out there in these young cats. I listen to all types of music, and I listen to what’s happening today, and I’m actually loving it. Vocalization is coming back, and I’m excited about it.
Solo was discovered performing on a New York street. (Courtesy of Ibrahim Duarte)
Zenger: I also think about the lack of tracks. You guys would put 18 or 19 tracks on an album. I don’t know if it’s about catering to the lack of attention span or it’s a creativity thing, but we get eight- or nine-track albums now.
Dnell Chavis: Yes! It’s very much rushed and another thing is, it’s missing soul. I mean, I like some of it too, don’t get me wrong. But most of it is just missing the soul.
J.D. Wesley: It was buried. You used to be able to go to the store, and whether it was CD or record, the person who was selling the music would tell you what’s hot, what he or she thinks you would like. They’ve been listening to it all day, and they can get you amped up. But with streaming, you gotta dig for it. You have to know what you’re looking for and set up the algorithms, so it dumps that into your streams, so that you’re exposed to music in a different way. I see my mom do it all the time: She listens to five artists. That’s what YouTube is going to shoot back to her because that’s what she listens to. You have to search harder for it.
We were told the mom-and-pop stores built the network of what were called the black foundation of listeners. You go to Chicago and make sure you stop at George’s, which I don’t even think is around anymore, to make sure he connects with what he’s been playing in the store, and people have been asking, “Who is that?,” which all translates into word-of-mouth.
Dnell Chavis: They were promoting it to a degree.
Dan Stokes: Particularly for our age group, which has never been the case ,except for maybe the ’60s. They don’t include people over 30 anymore. They don’t think about you as a consumer, which is dumb to me because we have the most money to spend (laughing).
Zenger: Do you sometimes feel there’s a lack of knowledge or appreciation for those who came before you in the music business?
Dnell Chavis: Everyone is in their own lane, man. But it would be nice to collaborate with different artists from today and back in the day.
Dan Stokes: I work around college students a lot, and it’s like a generational gap. You can name a show or artists, and they have no idea. Have you seen those two young black guys on YouTube who came across Phil Collins and their minds were blown? It’s like that. I think the record companies have a responsibility to keep the history alive. To understand that R&B ain’t dead, that jazz is not dead. People are going to jazz and R&B concerts all over the world every day.
Why not connect what the younger generation is doing to that? They used to be better at doing that. Clive Davis was good at doing that; he brought a lot of people whose careers were considered over back to life by doing that kind of stuff. It’s just about connectivity and consistency of the art form. I don’t feel like there is a respect for black music like that.
Zenger: What is it about “A Change Is Gonna Come” that brings out that inner Sam Cooke in everyone? Dnell, you brought it on your version, brother.
Dnell Chavis: Like I said before, it’s just the soul of it.
Dan Stokes: And a shout out to Eunique Mack for blowing that up and Stokely, who played the drums. We were really going for that live vibe, and then the moment kind of happened. And he killed it. I think it started with the lyrics that Sam wrote. And also, you can’t sing that song and sing it straight. His little inflection gives you that soulful umph when you’re singing it. And I think it started with him, his emotion in that song. It is timeless. You can listen to that today and be like, this is exactly what we need to hear.
Zenger: What can we expect to hear from Solo now?
Dan Stokes: We are still together, and we are all still doing our own things, so hopefully if you are able to search for the algorithms that show you our information, you might start hearing our music. Dave does music and also acts. And hopefully, we will get back out on the road and do a few shows here and there around the country once COVID-19 lets up. We enjoy being out there live more than anything.
Dnell Chavis: And hopefully, we get together and do a new song.
Dan Stokes: And maybe we’ll get that Christmas album finished.
J.D. Wesley: Oh, that would be awesome.
Zenger: What keeps you guys motivated?
Dan Stokes: For me, it’s the fear that when I die and meet God, he says, “I gave you all of this talent and you didn’t do anything with it.” I want to be able to say, “Look, I was trying. I was putting my heart in it.” It’s the inner need to create something or to feel something that drives me. But I also want to be able to meet my maker and say, “I tried to do the best that I could with the tools that you gave me.”
Dnell Chavis: I’m going to piggyback off of Dan — it’s creating new ideas.
J.D. Wesley: And for me, because music has been an intricate part of my life almost since day one, I don’t know anything else. I sincerely believe that I am music, and music is me. Most people can see the separation, but I don’t. So, if I’m not doing it, it’s almost like I shouldn’t even be alive. I could just stop breathing.
Rob Roche merged his talents as an attorney and a business-management professor to become one of the NFL’s top agents. Garnering lucrative deals on the field, while marketing players off the field is his forte.
Roche is president of RSR Sports Management. Being a former college football player, he relates to the needs of his clients. He’s created a family-like atmosphere and forms a close bond with his athletes that eclipses the player/agent connection.
With over 20 years under his belt, his entire client roster once consisted solely of kickers, punters and snappers. But in recent years, he has expanded and welcomed several other positions to the RSR family. Adjusting to the NFL’s evolving landscape, Roche admits that COVID-19 posed several challenges, but also created innovative ways of communicating with athletes.
During a conversation with Zenger News, Roche discusses those topics and more.
Percy Crawford interviewed Rob Roche for Zenger News.
Zenger: As an attorney, what made you want to start a sports agency?
Roche: Representing football players has always been my goal. That’s why I went to law school. I also played college football, as a wide receiver at The College of New Jersey. When I got out of law school, I clerked for a judge for a year, and then I interviewed with both the NFL and a bunch of different law firms. I didn’t find the right fit, so I said, you know what, let me start my own practice. That’s what I did. I then went out and recruited players. My first player was Neil Rackers. He was a kicker who got drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals. That was the start, and here we are, 22 years later.
Zenger: It appears you do more than negotiate contracts, you are into branding your clients, career development and creating situations for them on and off the field.
Roche: It’s the holistic approach of representing players — you’re going to be there for everything that they can possibly need. Just as importantly, we provide them with a family atmosphere. We have a personal relationship with the clients. Within the first two seconds of talking to any of my clients, I know if something is not right. I can tell by the tone in their voice. And that’s the major difference with my firm and other firms. It really is the personal attention from me and the people in my office, which is cool.
Zenger: You have recently added different positions, but at one point, kickers and punters made up your entire roster. Was that circumstantial or intentional?
Percy Crawford interviewed Rob Roche for Zenger News. (Heidi Malone/Zenger)
Roche: I came into this as a wide receiver. I didn’t know anything about kicking, punting or snapping. But my first client was Rackers, and he was friends with Shayne Graham. Shayne asked me to help him with his contract. From there, we got Josh Brown. The kicking, punting and snapping community is a closed niche community. You do a good job for one client; they’re going to tell somebody else.
That wasn’t my business plan going in, but it worked out that way. There are only 32 kickers in the NFL. Look at the contracts I’ve gotten for the guys I represent. Imagine what I can do for a wide receiver or defensive tackle, where they’re keeping five or six guys at that position on a roster.
I had Leonte Carroo, a wide receiver out of Rutgers, who was a third-round pick by the Miami Dolphins. I had Landon Cohen years back, a defensive tackle who was drafted by the Detroit Lions. This year, we’ve got New Jersey’s own Mike Dwumfour, a tackle who signed with the Jets.
Zenger: The NFL is a position-based pay scale. You have garnered some record-breaking deals for kickers, which is tough because that’s not a heralded position, like a quarterback. How have you been able to broker such lucrative deals?
Roche: I think being an attorney has helped. A lot of it is experience as well. I know what to look for and how to set it up in terms of what we are looking to accomplish from the outset. I also teach sports management to colleges at The College of New Jersey and Drew University, so it all comes together.
Zenger: Obviously, the numbers are much bigger now, as opposed to when you started. Are there any other glaring differences when negotiating for a player?
Roche: What’s really different in the agent business as a whole is social media and obviously the internet. When I started, the internet was just starting up. You had to research players, and it wasn’t as easy. Communicating with players was much more difficult.
Now, you can reach out to players on social media that you want to recruit and do a Zoom. You don’t have to travel to meet with them. Technology has made it a lot more efficient for an agent to function and to be profitable. In terms of negotiating contracts, information is key. We get our information from the NFL Player’s Association and between media and things like that, we can actually help shape a client’s image.
Zenger: You have the most proficient kicker in the NFL on your roster, the Baltimore Ravens Justin Tucker. Not only is he a great kicker, but he is an amazing opera singer. How did you build a relationship with him?
Roche: I signed Justin when he came out of the University of Texas. At one of the first meetings, I asked him: “What else do you like to do besides play football?” And he said, “I can sing opera in seven different languages.” As an agent, my job is to bring value to the player. When he said that, the bells went off in my brain. How do I monetize that talent?
But the key for all of these guys: first you have to perform on the field. Win the job in Baltimore, go kick well, and then we’ll address your talents off the field. And that’s what we have done. He’s done commercials for Royal Farms and Dr. Pepper, as well as a promo for Netflix this past winter.
Zenger: The kicker position has always been a Catch-22 to me. In one sense, it’s probably the only position where you could have a roster spot into your 40s, but in another, they are not afforded the bad string of games like a quarterback, lineman, or running back.
Roche: It’s a very finite position because it’s black or white. You either make the kick or miss the kick. And that has instant results and instant consequences and instant rewards based upon that operation of 1.35 seconds. An offensive lineman can blow a couple of blocks during a game, and most people aren’t going to notice that.
That’s why kickers should be paid what they’re paid — it’s such a consequential position.
But if you look at the teams that do well, they all have a good kicker. My thought process is, and I’ve been beating this drum for years now, kickers should be getting paid more money. They are more valuable to teams because they need the points. How many games were won or lost last year within the margin of 3-points? It’s a pretty high number.
Zenger: What are your thoughts on the NFL’s handling of COVID and still providing us with a season? How did it impact your ability to recruit players entering the draft?
Roche: No. 1 kudos to Commissioner Roger Goodell. He did an awesome job, and the teams did an awesome job of making sure there was football last year. And major props to the players because of all the protocols they had to go through to make sure it happened.
In terms of players we wanted to look at from college, that was very difficult. First, you had everyone’s Pro Day canceled. So, going into the pandemic, the NFL Combine happened and basically after that, everything shut down.
The good thing was, they increased the practice squads a lot — to 16 players. That helped alleviate some difficulty, but if you weren’t a draftable player, and you were going to be one of the undrafted free agents, it was difficult last year to make the team. You just didn’t have the opportunities.
As far as recruiting players, it’s funny how businesses adjust. I had three or four Zoom meetings a day, and it was efficient. Normally, you would have to travel to different cities and meet with the player and their parents. Now, you can walk right down to your kitchen, turn on Zoom and do the same thing. Given that, I do think that Zoom will stick around. It’s pretty convenient for all parties involved, and pretty effective.
Watching your tax dollars, elected officials and legislation that affects you.
It has been over 13 months since cops in Kentucky killed Breonna Taylor, and just shy of a year since Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin murdered George Floyd.
These high-profile deaths of African Americans, along with many others sparked global protests and resulted in politicians and activists on the political Left calling on their cities to and counties to defund their police departments. More precisely, many of are pushing their elected officials to reallocate money in police budgets to more social service-oriented interventions in efforts to reduce the number of violent police encounters.
But some cities in California — Sacramento, San Diego and Los Angeles — are planning to do just the opposite.
From 2019 to 2020, Sacramento’s approved police budget saw an increase of over $7 million. This year, California’s capital city will spend a record $165.8 million on police, a $9.4 million increase.
However, Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg says, by mid 2022, at least $10 million will be directed away from the police department toward the Department of Community Response.
“I’m not for ‘defunding,’” Steinberg told the Sacramento Bee. “There are some things that are part of running a city, like collective bargaining and binding arbitration, and genuine needs for the police department.”
“I’m not going to get pinned to the argument that the measure of whether or not we are investing in the community in an aggressive way is whether or not we’re taking the money directly from the police department,” he continued.
In San Diego, the city is planning to raise the police budget for the 11th year in a row.
San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria proposed a 3% increase for police spending next year, meaning that the police budget has ballooned by a total of 52% since 2008.
The city is introducing that increase with a decrease in library hours in an effort to offset those costs.
San Diego City Council President Georgette Gómez says that she planned to cut the police budget but former Mayor Kevin Faulconer would have vetoed that measure.
Gloria has expressed interest in reducing police spending over time also, but activists insist that more needs to be done.
In Los Angeles, after two reports from the Los Angeles City Council and the Los Angeles Board of Police Commissioners admonished the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) for their mishandling of several protests over the past year, the LAPD has announced that it wants a $67 million increase in its budget to contend with the costs of protest response reform.
During various protests in the summer of 2020, police made over 3,000 arrests with little to no accommodations for those arrested.
Police Chief Michel Moore admitted the protest response could have been handled better but asserted that most of his officers responded the way they did because of their training.
“While there were missteps and shortfalls in communication and command and control, especially from senior staff in the field, the vast majority of personnel performed admirably with their ongoing efforts to tirelessly serve the city, even in the face of antagonistic and violent crowds,” Moore wrote in a letter to the board of commissioners.
Training will be the primary focus of this proposed budget increase, according to Deputy Chief Dominic Choi.
Choi stated that much of the budget will be going towards salaries and overtime for extended training.
The Police Commission has not moved on the proposed budget and the LAPD needs the City Council’s approval before it can go into effect. However, Mayor Eric Garcetti has proposed a $50 million increase in the police budget, much to the dismay of members of the Los Angeles Black Lives Matter organization.
While a couple of these budget proposals are still being deliberated and wouldn’t fully go into effect until next year, they are far cries from defunding the police.
Despite a growing chorus of voices against it, more Golden State taxpayer money will likely go toward increased funding for “California’s finest.”
The prescription Jesus gives us is to stay awake at all times and pray. Watch and pray! Stay in step with the Holy Spirit, because a day is coming suddenly like a trap. For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth. [Luke 21:34-36]. I tell you, there will not be time, as in the past, to get ready. If you do not respond swiftly and fiercely by repenting now, and receiving Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you will suffer massive loss of life. You see, a major war is coming soon, and it will be massive. The players are in place and this coming war will be the birth pangs of the Gog-Magog Wars as foretold by God to the prophet Ezekiel. I tell you, you must prepare and prepare NOW! The ‘End Times’ are here and you must choose a side: heaven or hell. Above all, understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” “But do not forget this one thing: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. I say, and I say again, don’t be caught off guard!
I want you to know that the “End-Time Prophecies” intends to serve as a warning to all of humanity that things are about to end. It urges us to get out of denial, to wake up to the truth, and to look at our spiritual relations and actions. Speaking of this time, which is soon to take place, Jesus said, “And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened” [Matthew 24:22].
I want you to know that God’s chosen nation is now back in the land of promise. Understanding that country’s position in the arena of the Middle East and world affairs is critical to understanding all other geopolitical realities. [Zechariah 12:2-3]. Yeah, I know, some people think we should avoid the frightening images of what the Bible says will take place in the last days, yet how can we ignore such an important element of the Bible, and the need to be prepared? We cannot ignore the truths about the future as Jesus tells us.
This is a time to stay tuned and watch current events ever more closely. We have entered a different world. Peace and security will never be quite the same. As the apostle Paul tells us in [Romans 13:11], “now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.”
‘But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Beware, keep alert; for you do not know when the time will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or at dawn, or else he may find you asleep when he comes suddenly. And what I say to you I say to all: Keep awake.’
As [Matthew 24:32-39] tells us, “Learn a lesson from the fig tree: When its branches become green and soft and new leaves appear, you know summer is near. In the same way, when you see all these things happening, you will know that the time is near, ready to come. I tell you the truth, all these things will happen while the people of this time are still living. Earth and sky will be destroyed, but the words I have said will never be destroyed. When Will Jesus Come Again? “No one knows when that day or time will be, not the angels in heaven, not even the Son. Only the Father knows. When the Son of Man comes, it will be like what happened during Noah’s time. In those days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving their children to be married, until the day Noah entered the boat. They knew nothing about what was happening until the flood came and destroyed them. I tell you, don’t be caught off guard! The prescription, stay awake and pray!
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