It’s the year 2020 and we are still fighting systemic racism – not just in our neighborhoods and streets, but also in our healthcare system. The roots run deep –the 19th and 20th centuries included several ground-breaking studies which advanced medicine. ... read more »

Since my own cancer diagnosis and treatment, I have spent a good part of my life listening to and supporting Black women battling breast cancer. ... read more »

President Trump wants to paper over the living wound of racism. He’s issued Executive Orders and established a new national commission designed to whitewash our history—and deny the daily reality of being Black in America. He actively appeals to white supremacists and fans the flames of hatred and division in our country, because he thinks it benefits him politically. He ignores the most basic job of every president: the duty to care for all of us, not just those who voted for him. ... read more »

I became a victim of crime when my brother was shot and killed.  I became a repeat victim of crime when my younger brother also was murdered by someone with a gun. Many of my neighbors can tell stories like mine. In South Central LA, as in other poor communities of color, crime and violence come knocking, invited or not. What sets me apart is that I was blessed to receive help to recover from my loss and trauma. Confronting my grief transformed me from a crime victim into a crime survivor. It also made me determined to see others get the same support.  That’s why I tell everyone I can to vote No on Proposition 20 on election day. ... read more »

Air quality has been a daily concern for all Californians in recent weeks due to the fires ravaging our state, but the truth is pollution has been choking Black and Brown communities for generations. It is time to hold our elected leaders accountable and ensure our voices are heard on important policies affecting our ability to breathe. ... read more »

There is a vicious storm brewing in our communities, and if we don’t stabilize our foundation, we will experience the repercussions for years, possibly decades. Since the COVID-19 outbreak, we have seen record-breaking unemployment, extreme economic instability and unfathomable toxic stress. ... read more »

This urgent letter of protest is filed by the Watts Labor Community Action Committee in objection to the ongoing 1845 East 103rd Street Request for Proposals Process (Mafundi RFP). The Mafundi RFP is in fact an invitation for bids to demolish a site of historic and cultural import for the City of Los Angeles, if not the nation: The Mafundi Institute, which includes the Watts Happening Coffee House. Among the many hindrances to achieving best use caused by this RFP is its title. The use of only the property address without reference to the widely recognized building and business names for the RFP is misleading and downplays the importance of the nature of the project by obscuring the historic value of the site. ... read more »

Los Angeles Sentinel 2020 Endorsement Slate ... read more »

There is no way around it—California’s Assembly Bill (AB) 5 has been a disaster for our state. The so-called “gig economy” legislation passed last year has been a short-sighted and dangerous attack on nearly ten percent of our state’s workforce. What’s worse—businesses continue to be attacked on all sides from attorneys looking to exploit the vague “ABC test.” And all this is peaking during the worst health crisis in a century, when millions of Californians remain jobless and small businesses are struggling to survive. ... read more »

In the mid-1960s, the University of California, Berkeley started its Educational Opportunity Program to target underrepresented applicants and combat this history of discrimination. Unsurprisingly, this program was asuccess and the number of Black freshmen continued to rise until 1996. That year, Governor Pete Wilson and Black conservative Ward Connerly led an effort to repeal these education gains by passing Proposition 209. ... read more »

A grand jury indicted one former Louisville police detective, Brett Hankison, in connection with the death of Breonna Taylor charging him with three counts of wanton endangerment of someone else – a man, his pregnant wife and their five-year-old daughter in an adjoining apartment.  But no officer was held responsible for Breonna Taylor’s murder.  The two officers who fired the fatal shots that hit and killed Ms. Taylor were not charged. ... read more »

First off, let me say this comprehensive tally values more than 2.5 million real estate parcels in Los Angeles County and results in the very tax dollars that goes to pay for vital public services, such as healthcare, police, fire, schools, and even librarians, to name just a few. I am constitutionally mandated to close the role by the end of the Fiscal Year on June 30. ... read more »

In their Sentinel op-ed last month, Tim Watkins and Mark Ravis made an argument that in the upcoming round of redistricting Watts should be moved from the 15th Council District, which I represent, to the 9th Council District. ... read more »

Two emotions, love and rage, seem to be commonly used to frame historical Black political and social public actions.  On the one hand, narratives of Black resistance and radical action are often popularly framed in terms of us having endured too much or simply being fed up with a society that refuses to offer racial equality.  ... read more »

I am a Black man in America who is a father, grandfather, husband, brother, uncle and cousin. I am also Assemblymember for California’s 64th Assembly District and a former police officer. ... read more »