Legislation that would prohibit all public schools, buildings, parks, roadways and other state-owned property from being named in association with Confederate military and elected leaders passed in the Senate last week and will be sent to California Gov. Jerry Brown for his signature consideration. SB539, authored by Sen. Steve Glazer (D-Contra Costa) and co-authored by Sen. Bob Huff (R-San Dimas), passed with a solid majority of 31 votes. SB539 would apply to all elected leaders of the Confederacy and military generals. “This isn’t a difficult vote for me,” said Sen. Huff during the floor debate.
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Posted inAcross Black America
Across Black America week of Sept. 10
Songhai “Sunny” Armstead will be sworn in as a newly appointed judge to the Los Angeles Superior Court on Sept. 26 at 10 a.m. at the California African American Museum, 600 State Drive, L.A. Gov. Jerry Brown appointed Armstead to the position. The event is free, however, pre-registration is required. Those interested are asked to register by Sept. 15 by ordering tickets at this site. Armstead, a native of Los Angeles, is a graduate of the UCLA Law School and an experienced prosecutor, as well as community activist. She believes in a holistic approach to public safety. In fact, Armstead was instrumental in creating and implementing the city’s Homeless Alternatives to Living on the Street (HALO) program, designed to address the recidivism rate of Los Angeles’s mentally ill, drug addicted and homeless populations. She also initiated the Veterans’ Alternative Legal Options and Resources (VALOR), and runs the Los Angeles County Homeless Court program. Additionally, she manages the city attorney’s highly-regarded Dispute Resolution Program.
Posted inLocal Politics
NYPD wants to apologize to former tennis star for mistakenly cuffing him
New York City Police Commissioner William Bratton said Thursday he wants to apologize to former tennis star James Blake, who was mistakenly tackled and handcuffed by police in a sting operation that went awry outside a Manhattan hotel Wednesday.
Posted inAcross Black America
Across Black America week of Sept. 3
Memorial services will be held in Selma and Tuskegee over the next several days, Sept. 5-8, for civil rights activist Amelia Boynton Robinson, who died last week. Robinson, 104, was one of several people brutally beaten during the “Bloody Sunday” march in 1965 when she and other marchers tried to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma. Beaten unconscious, photos of her lying on the road were seen around the world and became a symbol of the brutality of anti-civil rights actions. “To me, she was a hero” said her niece, Germaine Bowser. “She was fearless. We had the Klu Klux Klan shooting in our windows, throwing rocks, calling, threatening to bomb the house. She would say, ‘Well, they’re afraid of us.’ She was calm. She took it in stride.” Boynton’s house at 1315 Lapsley Street in Selma in 1965 served as a headquarters of the Selma march planning with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights leaders convening there.
Posted inNews-OW
CD8 listening tour series begins
Community Coalition President and CEO Alberto Retana introduced City Council Member Marqueece Harris-Dawson to a group of nearly 100 Council District residents last Wednesday in the Van Ness Park recreational center’s un-air conditioned meeting room.
Posted inHealth
Black Women at increased risk of carrying breast cancer genes
Young Black women have a higher rate of breast and ovarian cancer-related gene mutations than previously reported compared to young White women with breast cancer, a new study finds.
Posted inBusiness-OW
Who wins when global currencies tumble?
The Brazilian real has lost 28% against the dollar just this year. The Turkish lira 20%, Colombian peso 23% and the Indonesian rupiah is down 11% versus the dollar in 2015.
Posted inAcross Black America
Across Black America week of Aug. 20
A White police detective withstood a beating because he feared the social response, if he used his gun to stop an assault by a Black suspect during a traffic stop. That suspect—Janard Shamar Cunningham, 34—has been charged with attempted murder for pistol-whipping a Birmingham police officer. Cunningham has six prior convictions for a variety of charges, including robbery and assault. According to police, as well as numerous witnesses, although Cunningham was ordered to get back into his vehicle after a traffic stop, he grabbed the officer’s revolver and began hitting him in the head with it until he stopped moving. The officer’s name has not been revealed, but he has been released from the hospital. After a search by police and U.S. Marshals, Cunningham was apprehended.
Posted inNews, News-OW
Knight hosts business expo
Rep. Steve Knight (CA-25) will host a free workshop and expo for local small business owners on Aug. 25 in Santa Clarita. The workshop will take place 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the city of Santa Clarita Activities Center, 20880 Centre Pointe Parkway.
Posted inNews, News-OW
Gov. Brown signs bill banning grand juries in fatal police actions
Gov. Jerry Brown recently signed into law SB 227, authored by state Sen. Holly J. Mitchell, (D- Los Angeles) . Widely supported by a network of activists and public-interest groups, the legislation prohibits the use of a criminal grand jury to investigate cases where a member of law enforcement is alleged to have caused the death of a suspect, either by a shooting or use of excessive force.