By Bo Tefu and Tanu Henry, California Black Media
At Black Caucus Conf. in D.C., Sen. Laphonza Butler Talks About AI, Jobs, Black Newspapers, and More
At the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Annual Legislative Conference, held from Sept. 11 through the Sept. 15 in Washington, DC, Sen. Laphonza Bulter (D-Calif.) participated in a number of panel discussions covering a range of topics, including Artificial Intelligence Black women’s health and empowerment.
At the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Annual Legislative Conference, held from Sept. 11 through the Sept. 15 in Washington, DC, Sen. Laphonza Bulter (D-Calif.) participated in a number of panel discussions covering a range of topics, including Artificial Intelligence Black women’s health and empowerment.
On Sept. 12, Butler hosted a panel discussion titled “AI and Economic Empowerment in Black Communities.”
During that discussion, Butler joined other leaders in AI to emphasize the importance of embracing AI in Black communities and using the technology to create economic opportunities. Other panelists included Megan Holston-Alexander, Partner and Head of the Cultural Leadership Fund at Andreessen Horowitz; Tyrance Billingsley II, Founder and Executive Director of Black Tech Street; DeVaris Brown, CEO and Co-Founder of Meroxa and John Hope Bryant, Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Operation HOPE.
“Fewer people are going to be required across broader industries, particularly those in white-collar, traditionally white-collar positions,” said Butler to conference attendees. “Let’s take this moment today to get ahead of some of those workplace challenges.”
That same day, Butler and Sen. Mazie Horono (D-Hawaii) introduced a bill in the U.S. Senate called the Workforce of the Future Act. That bill proposes a $250 million federal government investment in educating and preparing students and workers in marginalized communities for jobs in AI.
“The purpose of this legislation is to solidify our commitment to today’s – as well as tomorrow’s – workers, preparing them to work in tandem with AI and to be ready for the jobs of the future” said Butler in a statement released Sept. 12.
That evening, the National Newspaper Publishers Association, an organization serving and representing historically Black news outlets around the country, also honored Butler for her support of Black-owned media over the years.
Butler said she is intimately aware of the critical role Black-owned newspapers have played in informing the communities they have served over the last 197 years since the first Black-owned newspaper, Freedom’s Journal, was published in the United States.
“Thank you for bringing us this far. And thank you for what you will do to continue to inform our communities, making sure our voices are represented in the publishing and media space,” said Butler.
At the conference, Butler also participated in a panel discussion on the Black women’s maternal health crisis and delivered remarks on about Black communities gaining access to the financial sector and capital at an event hosted by The Connective Capital Consortium Braintrust.
Rep. Barbara Lee Named to Official Advisory Board for Vice President Harris’ Presidential Campaign
On Sept. 10, Congressmember Barbara Lee (D-CA-12) was appointed as a senior member of the National Advisory Board for Vice President Kamala Harris and Tim Walz’s 2024 presidential campaign.
Lee said she is proud to join the campaign supporting Harris, who is a Bay Area native.
“It is a responsibility I do not take lightly,” she said.
“We must work hard to spread Kamala Harris’ message and vision for the future of this country in communities everywhere from coast to coast,” said Lee.
“A vision of hope, of justice, of making it easier for low-income people and working people to not only get by, but to get ahead,” she added.
Lee recalled her long-term friendship with Harris highlighting that she would make an excellent president.
“I look forward to working with her and her team so that she becomes the first Black woman, first South Asian woman, and the first woman from the Bay Area to sit in the Oval Office,” said Lee.
Black, Latino Leaders Denounce San Jose Mayor’s Comments on Prop. 36
California community leaders denounced the comments of San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan regarding Proposition 36, demanding that he disavows his “woefully ignorant” statements in a recent interview with Elex Michaelson of the Fox network.
The community advocates said Prop 36 is a dangerous measure on California’s November ballot that aims to restart the failed War on Drugs.
During the interview, Mahan said that Black and Brown communities stood to benefit from Prop 36.
Advocates opposing the measure argued that passing the law would cut money for drug treatment and make simple drug possession a felony, increasing mass incarceration affecting communities of color.
“Mayor Matt Mahan’s comments are woefully ignorant of the ways that decades of failed criminal justice policies destroyed thousands of lives in California,” said the Rev. Jethroe Moore, president of the NAACP San Jose-Silicon Valley Branch.
“This is especially true for Black men, who are ten times more likely than their White counterparts to be incarcerated. We are not going back to Proposition 36’s failed approach and the harm those policies inflicted on so many families across our state.”
Assemblymember Lori Wilson (D-Suisun City), Chair of the California Legislative Black Caucus (CLBC), agrees with Moore.
“I was a mayor, and I know the mayor knows better. It is clear what will happen if Proposition 36 is passed – thousands of lives will be destroyed, and most of those lives will be Black and Brown men,” said Wilson.
“We need to increase money for treatment programs that work, not make the deep cuts to drug treatment that Proposition 36 would inflict,” she added.
Hilda Solis, member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, stated that Black and Brown communities need real solutions from leaders who understand the problems that people experience statewide.
“Proposition 36 is nothing but a bunch of empty promises, proposing cuts to proven treatment programs, while wasting billions of dollars on additional jail and prison spending. Incarceration strategies have proven ineffective, and treatment and jobs are better ways of addressing systemic poverty and crime,” said Solis.
California Emerging Technology Fund Awards $20,000 Grants to 36 Local Governments
Last week, the California Emerging Technology Fund (CETF) launched a program awarding grants worth $20,000 to 36 jurisdictions in the state to participate in the Local Government Best Practices Check List Project.
Under the program, local governments can use $20,000 in grants to help close the digital divide in their communities. The counties and cities are encouraged to distribute affordable internet service plans and available digital literacy training resources in digitally disadvantaged neighborhoods.
Sunne Wright McPeak, president, and chief executive officer of CETF, expressed gratitude to its partners for promoting digital inclusion in efforts to achieve digital equity statewide.
“There is so much power and innovation that emerges when we join forces to deploy high-speed Internet infrastructure and get all residents online — especially the most digitally disadvantaged residents in low-income communities,” said McPeak.
The collaborative Digital Equity Leadership Grants aim to expand the adoption of the policies and practices to accelerate progress to reduce the digital divide across the state. The grant program was created as part of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the CETF and the telecommunications company T-Mobile. The network company committed to public benefits in affiliation with its acquisition of Sprint in 2020. The partnership included a $5 million contribution from T-Mobile for the grant program and CETF committed over $1.1 million to the local government project.
The 36 local governments awarded $20,000 grants include are: City and County of San Francisco; City of American Canyon; City of Artesia; City of Bell Gardens; City of Bellflower; City of Brawley; City of Cathedral City; City of Citrus Heights; City of Inglewood; City of Isleton; City of Long Beach; City of Los Angeles; City of Maywood; City of Moorpark; City of Ontario; City of Palmdale; City of Placerville; City of Rosemead; City of San Diego; City of San Luis Obispo; City of Sand City; City of Santa Paula; City of South El Monte; City of West Sacramento; County of Del Norte; County of Inyo; County of Marin; County of Mono; County of Napa; County of Nevada; County of Plumas; County of San Benito; County of Sierra; County of Sonoma; Town of San Anselmo; and County of Yuba.
Sen. Bradford Calls for Special Session on Reparations
Last week, State Sen. Steven Bradford (D-Inglewood) called on Gov. Gavin Newsom to hold a special legislative session on reparations after two bills he authored were not brought up for a floor vote in the California Assembly.
One of the bills planned to create a new state agency to manage the distribution of reparations payments for eligible Black Californians. The second bill aimed to restore land or compensation for victims of racially motivated eminent domain.
“Our ancestors have to be greatly disappointed in the fact that we’ve been waiting 160 years plus years for reparations, and it was right here in our hands, and we dropped the ball,” said Bradford.
As a member of the California reparations task force and the California Legislative Black Caucus (CLBC) vice-chair, Bradford requested that Newsom add reparations to an ongoing special session agenda since lawmakers are in the Capitol for the governor’s special session on gas prices and oil supply.
Reparations advocates also have been stepping up calls to recall legislators who they say blocked the bills. The CLBC proposed a total of 14 reparations bills, many of which passed the Legislature and are waiting for a final signature from Gov. Newsom.
Newsom stated that his office worked closely with the Black Caucus on the reparations bills that have advanced so far.
“The vast majority of those that we agreed to and worked collaboratively together with the Black Caucus have ended up on my desk,” said Newsom.
Despite the defeat of two reparations bills, the caucus has worked closely with community-based organizations to address issues affecting Black residents statewide.
This past weekend, the Black Caucus convened with community leaders in Sacramento to hear ideas from policymakers, residents, and grassroots advocates on current and emerging issues in the Black community.
California Warns State’s Big Tech Giants About Election Disinformation
California Attorney General Rob Bonta has written a letter to executives at big technology companies last week reminding them that current state laws prohibit certain types of voter intimidation, deception, and dissuasion.
Bonta clarified that state laws may apply to content posted on social media platforms and content generated by artificial intelligence. In his letter, Bonta urged executives at eight of the largest social media and AI companies to address the spread of false and misleading information regarding this year’s general election. The companies addressed in the letter included Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft, Open AI, Reddit, TikTok, X Corporation, and YouTube. The attorney general raised concerns over the spread of misinformation due to the enhanced capabilities to create deceptive content due to improvements in generative AI.
“The California Department of Justice is charged with protecting the rights of our residents. This is a responsibility I take seriously,” said Bonta. “That is why I am urging social media and AI companies to understand existing California laws and address the deception that our voters are being exposed to when it comes to their constitutional right to vote. Those deceptive activities must be better identified and reported to law enforcement. I am fully committed to working with the companies to that end. We cannot allow bad actors, whether foreign or domestic, to continue to threaten the sanctity of our democracy.”
Bonta’s letter highlighted the impact of social media and AI during the 2020 general election with an increase in the distribution of misinformation about voting on different platforms. Furthermore, various social media platforms either got rid of their international content-moderation policies or reduced resources to enact policies.
The California Department of Justice welcomed the opportunity to work with the tech companies in addressing misinformation about the upcoming elections. The state recommends that the companies set aside tools to detect, prevent, and report intentional interference with voting rights when users violate state laws using AI and social media.
Black and Hispanic California Residents Exposed to the Highest Levels of Air Pollution
Environmental researchers confirmed in a study released last week that people in California breathe cleaner air today than they did 25 years ago, but Black and Latino residents are exposed to the highest levels of vehicle pollution in the state.
According to a new study published in Science Advances, large and longtime racial disparities in exposure to vehicle air pollution persist statewide. Although the state has implemented aggressive emissions policies to reduce air pollution by 65%. Scientists defined air pollutants as fine particulate matter in the air. Those pollutants are mostly emitted by cars, trucks, and other vehicles.
However, the study revealed that low-income communities, where residents are mostly Black and Latino, have the dirtiest air due to high levels of air pollution.
Joshua Apte, a senior author of the study acknowledged that California has implemented effective laws and policies to control emissions from cars as well as light-duty and heavy-duty vehicles.
“This is a tremendous win for public health, but our work isn’t done, because there’s been no narrowing of the relative gap between the most exposed and least exposed racial and ethnic groups,” he said.
The fine particulate matter polluting the air is linked to a variety of negative health effects and is estimated to cause over 5,000 premature deaths in the state each year. Cars and large vehicles are the main sources of exposure, trucks have a higher impact on low-income communities.
Researchers attributed the poor air quality in communities of color to racist housing policies such as redlining that people of color live closer to highways and ports, far away from predominantly white communities. Recent findings in the study indicated that only reducing car emissions is not enough to improve the air quality to healthier levels.
Apte, an associate professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of California at Berkeley School of Public Health, said that disparities in air pollution have remained constant in Black and Brown communities.
“One of the things that we’ve learned through this work is that we’re not actually going to get rid of the relative disparities from vehicles, even when they’re all electric because things like tires and brakes will still give off emissions,” he said.
The researchers stated that reducing air pollution requires paying more attention to systemic factors such as shifting where emissions occur. The scientists recommended that the state accelerate the adoption of zero-emission cars and trucks to reduce disparities in low-income communities.
New California Law Enforces Tougher Penalties for Retail and Property Crime
Last week, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill enforcing tougher criminal penalties targeting large-scale theft crimes and smash-and-grab robberies to help law prosecutors hold criminals accountable.
On Sept. 12, Newsom signed Assembly Bill (AB) 1960, a law authored by Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas (D-Hollister) that creates steeper felony penalties for retail and property crime. Under the law, the courts are mandated to impose an enhanced sentence when suspects take, damage, or destroy property valued over $50,000 during the commission of any felony, including retail theft. Similar sentences will apply to people who knowingly receive stolen property or resell such property, targeting large-scale criminal operations.
“California already has some of the strictest retail and property crime laws in the nation — and we have made them even stronger with our recent legislation,” said Newsom. “We can be tough on crime while also being smart on crime — we don’t need to go back to broken policies of the last century.”
“Mass incarceration has been proven ineffective and is not the answer – we need true accountability and strategies that enhance our nation-leading efforts to address crime. I thank Speaker Rivas for his leadership in strengthening law enforcement tools in California,” Newsom said.
After signing the new bill, Gov. Newsom announced that the state’s $267 million investment in local law enforcement has produced strong results in tackling organized criminal activity. According to state data, law enforcement agencies arrested more than 6,900 suspects for retail and property crimes statewide.
