: Council Districts (CDs) 8, 9 and 10 saw minimal changes in the final draft map to be submitted to the Los Angeles City Council by the Redistricting Commission. The adopted draft map, which passed by a 15-6 vote, featured adjustments to the three CDs with the city’s highest numbers of voting age African Americans. Most notably, Exposition Park is now located in CD 8.
Danny J. Bakewell, Sr. and several Black citizens hosted a gathering for L.A. mayoral candidate Karen Bass and 150+ leaders of the city’s African American community. Audience members unanimously vowed to support the Bass campaign.
It is a story as old as this country: a new technology is developed, programs and policies are offered to help consumers to adopt the technology and bring down the costs over time, and just when people in Black and brown communities are beginning to be able to afford the technology and benefit from it – the programs and policies are often taken away.
Local Pastors, community leaders and clergy announce their film picks from this year’s Faith-based Film Festival. The Black Hollywood Education and Resource Center (BHERC) extended the 2nd Annual BHERC Faith-Based & Inspirational Film Festival (FBIFF) through Sunday, October 3, to allow additional access and viewing of the films. Curated from 1,000+ entries from across the globe, the selection committee programmed 34 films for this year’s festival. Initially scheduled to be a hybrid event, the rise in the Delta variant of the COVID – 19 virus led to the festival being held online and currently streaming 24/7 on www.BHERC.TV. To obtain festival tickets,
Gov. Gavin Newsom trampled his Republican competitors to emerge victorious in the gubernatorial recall election, which means that he’ll serve the remainder of his term.
The cascade of protests against racism and police brutality in response to the killings of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd sent a shockwave through the consciousness of America. The grief, love, and solidarity on display seems to be on a larger scale than ever before. When our brothers and sisters marched in Ferguson in 2014, they lacked the groundswell of support across the country that we’re witnessing now. Even still, we have a long way to go until African Americans can truly enjoy, “equal justice under law,” a promise etched in stone on the Supreme Court building but not yet fulfilled in daily life.
The Rev. K.W. Tulloss, president of the Baptist Ministers Conference of Southern California, assembled a protest on June 2, to honor the life of George Floyd, an African American man who was murdered on May 25, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Clergy from throughout the Los Angeles community participated to demonstrate solidarity and demand justice for George Floyd. “It is not enough to remain silent. It is the responsibility of the church to shine light on dark situations. Now is the time for leaders of faith to voice our concerns in the spirit of our beliefs,” Tulloss stated. L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti
Although the California Department of Public Health announced the statewide reopening of places of worship on May 25, L.A.-area faith leaders are not rushing to resume religious services on Sunday, May 31.
In response to community pressure, last week, Los Angeles County released initial racial data on who is contracting and dying from COVID-19. The rate of Black death is twice the Black population share. Black people constitute 9% of the population, but 17% of the County’s COVID-19 deaths. While trillions of dollars are being spent on the crisis and there is no shortage of local, state, and federal initiatives, resources are not being directed to meet the particular needs of the Black community. The disproportionate and deadly impact of COVID-19 on the Black community magnifies what we have known, that “underlying conditions” result from an enduring system of racial apartheid and oppression.
On Monday, July 8, Agbasi joined other members of the “I’m Independent Coalition” for a press conference at the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce. At the event, a panel of advocates, community leaders and drivers called on lawmakers to fix the California Supreme Court’s Dynamex decision and amend AB 5, a bill the full Senate is expected to hear and vote on in September. Nearly 500 on-demand delivery drivers from across the state also rallied at the State Capitol July16 asking state legislators to fix the pending bill and protect their flexibility.
Christ Liberation Ministries kicked-off their March Miracle Sessions on March 4, with the “Millennial Open Mic Night.” Pastors William and Thembekila Smart, organized the event, held at the Fernando Pullum Community Arts Center in Leimert Park, to provide a platform for youth and millennials to share their gifts. The night began with a drum and performance by the Izibongo Praise Dancers led by Minister Kimberly Bolanile Paggett Willis. They presented a healing African dance, which garnered audience participation. Next, phenomenal spoken word artists shared their gifts. Adjoa Jones who recited a message on Black love, which stressed the importance of
Pastor William Smart, president/CEO of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference of Greater Los Angeles, noted the similarity of the pipeline protest to past and current civil rights protests by African Americans.