California lawmakers this week passed some of the nation’s most ambitious legislation aimed at atoning for a legacy of racist policies that drove disparities for Black people, from housing to education to health.
A study on disparities revealed that Black people in California experiencing unstable housing are more likely to struggle with mental health at a higher rate, stated a report by the Center for Health Policy Research (CHPR) at the University of California Los Angeles.
Although California reached its lowest uninsured rate in state history in 2022, many Californians still do not have access to timely, quality and affordable health care.
On Feb. 21, the California Legislative Black Caucus (CLBC) held a press conference at the State Capitol organized to introduce a package of reparations legislation the lawmakers call “a starting point” to atone for the state’s legacy of discrimination.
A California Department of Justice (DOJ) report released last week states that African Americans in California are stopped by law enforcement officers 132% more than expected, based on a comparison of stop data and residential population.
Recent studies suggest that the economic picture for Black Californians is not looking rosy. Increasingly, the state is becoming more unaffordable for African Americans, leading many families to relocate to less expensive places both within and outside of the borders of the Golden state.
The conclusion of Suicide Prevention Week on Sept.16, served as a reminder, according to wellness advocates, of the ongoing mental health crisis faced by Black Californians. Between 2010 and 2019, Black Californians experienced a 31.1% increase in suicide deaths, according to the California Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission.
According to numbers from the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS), around 14,000 Black Californians lost health insurance with the state’s safety net health care exchange because they didn’t turn in the required renewal paperwork to continue their Medi-Cal enrollment or their coverage was switched to the state’s insurance provider, Covered California.
San Francisco resident Pia Harris hopes for reparations in her lifetime. But the nonprofit program director is not confident that California lawmakers will turn the recommendations of a first-in-the-nation task force into concrete legislation given pushback from opponents who say slavery was a thing of the past.
Economists advising The California Task Force to Study and Develop Reparations Proposals for African Americans have developed economic formulas that project the reparations owed to Black Californians who are descendants of people enslaved in the United States are likely to exceed $800 billion.
The “Stop the Hate. Spread the Love,” initiative spearheaded by California Black Media (CBM) and others, was introduced to the Los Angeles community at the 17th annual Taste of Soul Family Festival on Oct. 15.
The California Health Care Foundation (CHCF) has released a study that found Black Californians are highly engaged with their health care, are active in advocating for their health and have strong and clear opinions about how the healthcare system can be improved.
Death tolls across California tell a distressing story about the indelible mark the pandemic has left on all of us. Black Californians and other minorities experienced a disproportionate reduction in life expectancy occurred compared to White Californians.
The California Task Force to Study and Develop Reparations Proposals for African Americans held its ninth meeting on April 13 and it continues through April 14 at Third Baptist Church in San Francisco.