To make matters worse, what happens if our elected officials choose to ban menthol cigarettes in a city where investigative stops are still legal? ... read more »

This week we will get to work on the City’s annual budget. The question is: “What will it do for South Los Angeles where most African Americans in our city live?” ... read more »

Regardless of the obvious legal language, focus and maneuvering in that Minneapolis courtroom that is being watched by the world in horror, hope, trauma and righteous anger, there is in it all a larger moral meaning. ... read more »

Proposition 19 was approved by the voters last November by a slim margin and it is creating tremendous uncertainty and confusion among taxpayers and assessors statewide. ... read more »

Once again, the idea of Statehood for the District of Columbia has not only come before the U.S. Congress but has also passed the House of Representatives. ... read more »

A senior citizen living alone in a hotel room he can barely afford. Families staring down eviction because a parent is one of the millions of Californians to lose their job this year.  More than 269,000 K-12 students currently experiencing, or on the brink of homelessness across California, enough to fill Dodger Stadium five times over. This is the picture of homelessness in Los Angeles today -- a crisis that has been allowed to fester for decades, and has greatly worsened due to COVID-19. ... read more »

Since the 1970s, in an era now known as the Age of Mass Incarceration, Los Angeles County has operated the largest jail system in the nation. ... read more »

We call on the City of Los Angeles to direct a $1 billion dollar investment over the next two years towards poor and working-class families hit hardest by COVID, and develop a formula targeting 80% of the resources towards communities hardest hit by COVID.  Those funds should be accountable to the people so that we see results for dollars spent.  ... read more »

By now all of America, and Blacks in particular, are aware of the “Voter Suppression” legislation introduced in more than 28 states with more than 108 and legislative proposals introduced to restrict voter participation aimed at African Americans in particular. These legislative proposals introduced and passed already in some states are the products of Republican controlled state legislative bodies. ... read more »

While some of us are spending our time watching the news or wondering how we are going to survive the pandemic, now is the time to understand the battles we are in and determine what we must do individually and collectively. ... read more »

L.A. City Councilmember, 9th District, Marqueece Harris-Dawson explains why Black and Brown Councilmembers representing predominantly communities of color take the safety and the funding of our communities very seriously. The Council remains focused on prioritizing meaningful investments in disadvantaged communities and communities of color and broader discussions and actions around public safety. ... read more »

I'm writing to inform you of the steps my Office is taking to ensure equitable distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine. As you might know, Council District 9 is among the hardest hit communities with the most COVID-19 cases and coronavirus-related deaths. ... read more »

We know from the appearance of former President Trump at the conservative Republican gathering in Florida over the weekend that their agenda against America continues. ... read more »

Today there is a crisis in Black America that is greater than the Tuskegee experiment itself. That experiment for more than 30 years deliberately used Black men as lab rats to test the effects of syphilis on men infected with venereal disease. ... read more »

When we look at the diversity of the people who attacked the capitol on January 6, most of us are surprised to find that at least 57 of those assaulting the building were elected officials in their home states and cities. These are people who have lived, worked and participated in “Democracy” as we know it. These people and the thousands of others who join them, refuse to acknowledge an election run and won according to our own constitutional mandates. ... read more »