By Edward Henderson, California Black Media
Former California Assemblymember Reggie Jones-Sawyer represented the 57th Assembly District, which includes the communities of Exposition Park, South Los Angeles, and downtown Los Angeles, including Skid Row.
Elected to the State Legislature in 2012, Jones-Sawyer served for 14 years, earning a reputation for being a progressive reformer and champion of second chances.
Jones-Sawyer focused on reforming judicial, criminal justice, and police policies to ensure greater public safety and equal treatment under the law. His P.E.A.C.E. Act (AB 89) transformed the recruiting process for law enforcement by raising the age limit to 21 and introducing new college curriculum requirements for cadets.
He also worked to improve living standards for socially and economically disadvantaged communities.
California Black Media (CBM) spoke with Jones-Sawyer as he concluded his term. He reflected on his accomplishments this year and shared his goals moving forward.
Looking back at 2024, what stands out to you as your most important achievement and why?
The things we did on reparations because it is the beginning of reversing the river of racism that’s been permeating our community. And if we’re successful at over 100 recommendations, we will have generational success that will go well beyond what people are expecting now and into the lives of your children, your grandchildren, your great-great-grandchildren, and so forth. I think the first step is the apology — the letter that formally says that California is extremely sorry for what they did and how they were complicit in perpetuating a lot of the same policies and procedures that were perpetrated against African Americans in slave states, even though we were officially not a slave state, we still apprehended escaped slaves.
How did your leadership and investments contribute to improving the lives of Black Californians?
Since I first got to the Assembly, I’ve always worked on public safety issues. And this year it’s really been the fruition of all that I worked on. When I got elected, I told my staff: before I leave the Assembly, marijuana would be legal, and we would close a prison. Right now, we’re closing three prisons. And as you know, I worked on making sure that cannabis was legal here in California, because it was being used to lock up African Americans.
We had 136,000 brothers and sisters locked up in our prison system. That number is now down to 96,000.
What frustrated you the most over the last year?
This thing called fear. Fear is probably the most powerful emotion that’s out there. And so there are people who would like to have us go back to those days of three strikes, go back to the days where punishment was more important than rehabilitation, go back to the days where we didn’t have second chances. And a lot of this. It’s because of fear.
What inspired you the most over the last year?
The number of people who have the courage of their convictions. The courage to stand up against all of these individuals who want to turn us back.
What is one lesson you learned in 2024 that will inform your decision-making next year?
Stay true to who you really are. Don’t try to be someone else to appease others and do what other people want you to do even though that is not
where your heart is, where your soul is, or who you really are. Not only does that create stress, not only does that create problems for you, you lose your soul.
In one word, what is the biggest challenge Black Cali what is the biggest challenge Black Californians face?
Complacency.
We’ve got to get out and vote like our lives depended on it – vote like, people who fought for us to vote for the first time, we got to look at it like it’s not a right and a privilege, but it’s our legacy, our heritage.
What is the goal you want to achieve most in 2025?
I have legislative and administrative expertise, which I think could be helpful for some organizations, some governmental agency. I’m also in the doctoral program at USC. And so, I think Dr. Jones-Sawyer really would like to use all his skill sets for African Americans, and not have to worry about the confines of being an elected official and really be able to do things that I couldn’t do.
