Starting Thursday, 169 locations will serve customers with appointments, offering limited services. Customers encouraged to use online and expanded virtual services when possible 

Sacramento – The California Department of Motor Vehicles on Thursday, June 11, will reopen its remaining field offices that were temporarily closed during the COVID-19 pandemic. With this phase of reopening, employees at 169 field offices will assist customers with current appointments at the specific office and limited transactions that require an in-person visit. Behind-the-wheel drive tests are not yet available, and the DMV continues to recommend that customers use its online services, expanded virtual services and other service channels to complete transactions, including eligible driver license and vehicle registration renewals.

“I continue to encourage Californians to use our online services, the Virtual Field Office, DMV Now kiosks and business partners whenever possible,” DMV Director Steve Gordon said. “Nearly all DMV tasks can be accomplished without an office visit. To keep wait times down and to maintain public health guidelines, I ask you to only visit a DMV office when absolutely necessary and to come prepared.”

Limited service: Employees will continue serving customers with existing appointments and Californians in need of selected transactions that can only be completed in a DMV field office, including:

Paying registration for a vehicle impounded because of registration-related issues

• Reinstating a suspended or revoked driver license
• Applying for a reduced-fee or no-fee identification card
• Processing commercial driver license transactions
• Applying for a disabled person parking placards (this can also be done by mail using the REG 195 form)
• Adding an ambulance certificate or firefighter endorsement to a driver license
• Verifying a transit training document to drive a transit bus
• Processing DMV Express customers for REAL ID transactions, if time and space allow
• Vehicle verifications

Offices will also offer additional services for commercial drivers, including vehicle inspections and basic control tests. The commercial offices will begin contacting previously scheduled applicants to reschedule the vehicle inspection and basic skills components. The DMV also will resume offering motorcycle drive tests.

Appointments: The DMV has already begun rescheduling appointments canceled during the temporary closure and notifying customers of the new date. Once the DMV has accommodated those customers, the DMV will begin offering a limited number of new appointments.

 The DMV plans to resume offering all services to appointment and non-appointment customers in the coming weeks, as space allows. The DMV notes for its customers that the San Bernardino field office is closed until further notice for repairs. 

 Public health measures: Customers will notice numerous changes to safeguard the health of employees and customers. including: Employees are wearing face coverings and maintaining physical distancing and have access to disinfecting wipes, hand sanitizer, facial shields, gloves and soap and water. The DMV also is providing hand-washing stations for customer use in select locations. Customers are required to wear a face covering and remain 6 feet apart in line. Customers are offered a text message that will allow them to wait outside the building until notified they are ready to be served. Entry into the building is metered, and customers may experience extended wait times.

Behind-the-wheel drive tests: Behind-the-wheel tests are currently not available due to physical distancing concerns. The DMV plans to resume behind-the-wheel exams for both commercial and non-commercial drivers in the coming weeks. The DMV suspended the tests in March to comply with physical distancing guidelines. The DMV will reschedule canceled appointments for drive tests automatically when testing resumes.

Credit cards: The DMV has expanded credit card and digital wallet (Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay) payment options to all offices statewide.

REAL ID: The DMV has expanded its “DMV Express” option to all field offices, allowing customers to fill out the online application for REAL ID, upload documents at home and receive an expedited experience at a local DMV office. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government extended the REAL ID enforcement date to October 1, 2021, a year later than previously announced, to give people more time to apply.

“We appreciate the public’s patience as we navigate this time of unprecedented challenges,” Director Gordon said. “We will continue to monitor the situation and act in the best interest of our customers and employees.”

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!

Edwin Benard Benson, age 74, received his heavenly wings on Friday, May 15, 2020.

Benard was born May 6, 1946, to John Henry and Rebecca Benson in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He accepted Christ at an early age at Morning Star Missionary Baptist Church. John Henry ensured that the Benson kids were in church. This is where Benard developed his solid foundation of honesty, respect, and compassion. These core values he carried with him throughout his life.

He attended Anderson High School where he graduated in 1964, then immediately enlisted in the United States Army. He returned to Winston-Salem after serving honorably for 7 years, and later moved to Los Angeles, California, where he met and married Vanessa. From that union, he had a daughter, Regina.

In 1991, he married Claire Laverne. They enjoyed a loving and fun-filled marriage for 29 years. They loved traveling, family gatherings, and enjoyed spending time with their grandchildren. Benard’s second love was refurbishing vintage cars, but he also truly enjoyed home-remodeling projects, and playing the lottery.

He enjoyed a remarkable career with the California Department of Corrections for 27 years in various capacities, including Correctional Officer, Correctional Sergeant, and Correctional Lieutenant, before retiring in 2002. He inspired and motivated through his consummate leadership, and was loved and highly respected by all.

He was preceded in death by his parents John Henry and Rebecca Benson, one sister Mary Jordan, brothers-in-law, Robert Earl Key, Lawrence Lindsay, Charlie Jordan, Melvin Brown, and sister-in-law Annie Benson. He leaves to cherish his memory, his devoted and loving wife, Claire Laverne, a daughter, Regina, two stepsons, Lamont and Lawrence, four sisters, Margretta Key, Alice Lindsay, Roxie Burns (Carl), and Queen Withee (Al), three brothers, Leroy, John, and George (Sharon), one Aunt, Naomi Thomas, 5 grandchildren, and a special life-long friend, George Fields, all whom he adored, and they loved him as well. Also to cherish his memory are a host of other relatives and friends who will remember his kind heart and his gentle and good nature. He will be truly missed and will be always remembered as the level-headed, caring, and fun person that he was.

By Laushaun Turner

Hello Everyone, hope you’re staying safe through Covid19. I wanted to share with everyone that I will be leaving KCAA as of July 1st and have launched my own platform at Cali.FM.

Cali.FM is a fully licensed digital platform headquartered in Southern California streaming worldwide- Hiphop, House, Latin/Reggaeton and Caribbean music. Real Music, Real Talk all the time! 

Cali.FM is a platform for sharing the voices, narratives, and cultures of urban communities nationwide. Music programming alternates with songs from various genre’s in 2-4-hour blocks between them, with special programming including Cali’s Best Radio Show- to be slotted from 4-6pm pst. Spinning mainstream hits and Independent music in all genre’s, Cali.FM provides a media outlet for Artists, Entrepreneurs and Guru’s worldwide to expose their talents, be seen and be heard.

The station and its web platform are looking for content contributors with meaningful and if need be, politically incorrect dialogue, – that means as our slogan says Real Talk! Cali.FM is especially interested in blogs and shows that matter to the urban communities, trending topics, and music news. Cali.FM has welcomed its first serial blogger, Blonde Intelligence aka Ms. Roni, and each Friday her posts are where you will “experience exquisite cranial repertoire”.  To be considered for a blogging opportunity email attn: BLOGGER to CaliFm247@gmail.com. If you have a sample of your writing, you can include it.

The station is owned and programmed by Lashaun Turner, owner of Urban Starz Media &P.R. -Lashaun (aka Lady I.M.PRE$S) is a 10 year industry Music Publicist, Media Talent, and 5 yr KCAA, CNBC/NBC affiliate, radio broadcaster and host of “Cali’s Best Radio Show”.  The station will be ad supported and will offer ( fee for service) promotions to Artists and Entrepreneurs in the form of Interviews, Advertisements, Blog posts and Song rotation. Ascap, Sesac, BMI, Sound Exchange & Socan royalties paid through Live 365. The station also is monitored by Digital Radio Tracker for music charting purposes. The station is heard on site and via the Tunein App. The station launches officially June 13, 2020 and is running an estimated 45K visitors monthly to the site since its been up. Radio listeners are tuning in from all over the globe. Real Music, Real Talk  #YouShouldBeOn 

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.

By Antonio Ray Harvey

There are many aspects to the protests occurring in cities and towns up and down the state of California. One that stands out is the participation of young, Black people.

Outspoken, courageous, and committed, these young African Americans have become, by default, the anchors in a mass movement sparked by the brutal murder of George Floyd in Minnesota.  

Although they are diverse group of Black youth – by political identification, education, where they are from in the state, and more – they are all uniquely equipped to articulate and bear witness to the racial and economic injustices that a multiracial coalition of Californians have now made their cause.

“At the end of the day everybody here is united, and we all want justice for George Floyd. Period,” said Jamier Sale, 28, co-founder of Cell Block By Cell Block, a community-based organization in Sacramento that focuses on criminal justice reform.  

Across California, Latinos, Asians, Arab Americans, and Whites — Christian, Jewish, Muslim, et al — have jumped into action with passion. But the presence of Black youth, millennials between the ages of 25 and 39 and the Generation Z crowd born in the mid-1990s to mid-2000s, has become central to holding down the coalition of people raising their voices and fists in unified condemnation of police violence and discrimination.

Sale, who is also a member of the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL), a progressive political action organization, attended a demonstration at the State Capitol in Sacramento this past weekend. Thousands of people gathered at the rally to protest Floyd’s murder.  Sale and other members of the youth-led movement met officers of the California Highway Patrol (CHP) at the steps on the east side of the state building adjacent to California State Capitol Park.

 “You can name the names (of all the people who experienced police brutality) because everybody comes with their own history, but this is about George Floyd,” Sale told California Black Media (CBM).

On Memorial Day, Floyd, 46, died in police custody after a White Minneapolis Police Department officer pinned him down and pressed his knee into the African American man’s neck for nearly nine minutes. A cellphone video showed Floyd telling the cops, “I can’t breathe.”

Like Sacramento, at demonstrations in Oakland, San Francisco, San Jose, Los Angeles, San Diego, Long Beach, Modesto and more Golden State cities, youthful Black faces have become conspicuous in the crowds of activists and citizens calling for justice as well as peace.

The Floyd tragedy shifted the country’s consciousness from the COVID-19 pandemic to the fraught and distrustful relationship, rooted in a well-documented history of violence, that persists between African Americans and law enforcement. 

Most of the demonstrations across the country started as peaceful marches, but, for days now, they have escalated into violent rioting and rebellions that have rocked every major city in the United States as well as in California. The riots have resulted in several deaths, mass looting, arson, vandalism, and billions of dollars in property loss.

For instance, in Sacramento the movement began peacefully in the city’s oldest suburban neighborhood Oak Park on the night of May 29. Thousands of protesters, the majority of them young people, gathered to kick off the protests organized by Black Lives Sacramento (BLMS). 

The CHP officers expected the crowd to attempt a march down one of the nearby Highway 99 off-ramps. The north-south interstate is a major California intra-state freeway that runs through the San Joaquin valley.

But, according to Tanya Faison, founder of BLMS, that was not a part of the group’s protest plan.

“Just to let you know, CHP is deep on the other side of that bridge. They are not going to let us get on that freeway,” Faison said, speaking into a bullhorn to the large crowd. “But one of the police stations is right around the corner.”

The protestors marched a little more than a mile to the Joseph E. Rooney Police facility of the Sacramento Police Department, a substation in South Sacramento. When they arrived, a few Sacramento Police officers emerged from the facility in riot gear toting rifles that shoot rubber bullets. 

The confrontation between the young people and the police was contentious, but it did not get physical. Stevante Clark, the older brother of Stephon Clark, who was killed by two Sacramento police officers in March 2018, described how he felt about the march.

“This all brought me back to my brother and Eric Garner,” said Clark, 27. “We’re hurt, and we all feel the same way, though a cop has been charged. As for George Floyd, justice is still being denied. There are still killer cops on the streets.”

Garner, the man who Clark was referring to, died after New York City cops held him in a chokehold in 2014. The incident happened on Staten Island, one of the city’s five boroughs. He was also African American.

The next day, Clark participated in a demonstration at the State Capitol where he and other activists met CHP officers who had formed a perimeter around the building where California’s laws are made.

Grace Swint, 29, from the San Francisco Bay Area, was one of the young protesters that helped lead the rally that went on for hours. Swint told CBM that she appreciated non-Black people participating in the movement, but she had to ask them what they would do once the rallies subsided.

“Personally, I’m just out here to make sure they are focusing that energy in the right place and that they know what to do when they go home,” Swint said. “This is good but it is not enough. I know for a fact that media and propaganda … they feed off of our emotions. It’s a good outlet to let those emotions and opinions out. But what are you going to do when you leave here? I need to make sure that they understand that.”  

Since the demonstrations began in the state capital, there have been some non-fatal casualties. Late night on May 30, two protestors, one female the other male, were hit by rubber bullets when a deputy from the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department shot them in downtown Sacramento, according to several local news reports.  

The female, struck in the face during the peaceful protest, is 18 years old and the male is 19. The Sheriff’s office had a different take on the situation and released a statement telling its version of the events.

‘The initial investigation indicates the subject was throwing objects at the offices and deputies prior to being struck by a less than lethal weapon that was utilized by a few of the officers to stop the assault,” the Sheriff’s office said in a written statement.

The protests continued through Sunday in Sacramento with the youth still leading the way. There were reports of store break-ins and property damage around the city that increased after nightfall.  

Sale said that society must begin to understand how people between the ages of 13 and 39 think. It’s a generation that must be reckoned with and they “bounce their energy off of each other’s energy,” Sale said.

“Between each other, they have so many forms of communications that older people don’t know about. (If society) doesn’t absorb the energy of the youth, the youth are going to create their own organizations to replace the current organizations.”