In a definitive and consequential ruling, the Honorable Ebony Scott in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, Civil Division, issued on May 10, 2023, a factual “Summary Judgment” in favor of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA).
Today, in an official notice sent out to each member publisher of the NNPA, Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr, President, and CEO of the NNPA, confirmed, “In the matters of Dorothy R. Leavell v. NNPA, Amelia Ashley-Ward v. NNPA, and Carol Geary v. NNPA, the courts in the District of Columbia have now ruled in favor of the NNPA.”
The NNPA is the national trade association of the Black Press of America representing over 240 African American-owned newspapers and multimedia companies throughout the United States.
Chavis resoundingly attested, “Finally, after four years of extended and financially costly, frivolous lawsuits against the NNPA, we have good news for the NNPA upon winning these significant legal victories.”
Chavis concluded, “The NNPA will continue to work diligently to ensure that the voting rights of all our member publishers are protected from any future effort to subvert the overall interests of the membership of the NNPA.”
Leavell, Ashley-Ward, and Geary who are members of the NNPA, disagreed with the outcome of the 2019 NNPA national elections and sued the NNPA, in part, to contest the results of the 2019 NNPA Board Elections.
In 2019, the membership of the NNPA duly elected Karen Carter Richards, publisher of the Houston Forward Times, as the new NNPA Chair.
Leavell was defeated by Richards for Chair of the NNPA.
“As much as I would like to say that I’m excited about this ruling I’m not [because] this should have never happened to our esteemed organization or the wonderful publishers who make up this important entity,” Richards stated.
“This entire ordeal has been a stain on this organization, led by three individuals who refused to accept the will of the qualified vote of our publishers.”
Richards continued:
“Not only did we have to fight through the COVID-19 pandemic and other changes in the market, but we also had to fight against the frivolous actions of three of our member publishers.
“Now, thankfully after four years, we can put this unjustified action behind us and move forward for the betterment of our organization and continue to do what’s right for the NNPA.”
During the past four years, however, the NNPA continued to make substantial progress even in the face of the continued civil litigation.
“We are pleased with the judge’s decision, and it’s been a long time coming,” NNPA General Counsel Attorney A. Scott Bolden stated.
“There was never any substance to the plaintiffs’ allegations. Unfortunately, it took four years and a lot of legal expenses to prove that there was nothing there.”
Bolden said Judge Scott also issued a separate order of sanctions – the second during the case – “for some of the conduct of the plaintiffs and their counsel.”
“This isn’t the first time the plaintiffs and their lawyers were sanctioned,” Bolden asserted. “It is fortunate that we were able to emerge victorious.”
Bolden said many lessons were learned about how the lawsuit was brought and how the plaintiffs and prior judges handled it.
“Going forward, we’re looking forward to working with NNPA members and the board members to prevent any future lawsuits against the organization by amending the NNPA Bylaws to ensure that any disputes will require mediation or arbitration,” Bolden said.
He said the two avenues are far less expensive than civil litigation.
Bolden also noted that Carole Geary, publisher of the Milwaukee Courier, lost her lawsuit against the NNPA in 2022, appealed the defeat, and lost again.
“Thanks to our outstanding legal team, our leadership, and Dr. Benjamin Chavis, our president/CEO for pressing forward as we endured such an unfortunate and costly situation,” Richards added.
The NNPA is now preparing to celebrate the 196th Year Anniversary of the Black Press of America at its 2023 Annual National Convention in Nashville, TN, June 28-July 1, 2023.
By Assistant Democratic Leader James E. Clyburn (SC-06), NNPA
In 2019, my daughter Jennifer and I took part in a Congressional Delegation to Ghana that included my good friend, the late Congressman John Lewis. Our visit was to commemorate the 400 years since Blacks were forcibly taken from the continent of Africa and enslaved in America. During that visit, Jennifer and I stood silently in the “door of no return,” holding hands. I never asked her about her thoughts, and she did not ask me about mine. Last Saturday, she and her husband joined me at the dedication of the International African American Museum (IAAM) in Charleston. It is fitting that IAAM stands on the site of Gadsden’s Wharf, where nearly half of all enslaved Africans brought to this continent arrived.
When I was asked by then-Charleston Mayor Joe Riley 23 years ago to chair the steering committee to develop his vision of establishing such a museum in Charleston, I thought of the countless slaves that were stolen from their homeland, stripped of their identities, and brought to this strange land in shackles. But I also thought of the African Americans who rose above the circumstances of their ancestors and their countless descendants eager to honor their memories. I said during my dedication remarks that IAAM tells the story of perseverance through the middle passage, resistance to enslavement, triumphs over Jim Crow, and significant contributions to the greatness of this country.
In the early days of our efforts, there was significant debate about the focus of the museum. But I knew we had to do justice to all 400 years of the Black experience in America. On the day we broke ground on IAAM, another good friend, Congressman Elijah Cummings, was being funeralized in Baltimore, Maryland. Elijah was the great-great-grandson of Scippio Rhame, who, until he was freed in 1868, worked the same land as Elijah’s parents, who were sharecroppers.
Because of his parents’ participation in the great migration, Elijah was born and grew up in Baltimore, Maryland, where Elijah was placed in special education classes. He overcame that profiling and graduated college, Phi Beta Kappa. He became an accomplished lawyer, rose to serve in the United States Congress, and became Chairman of the powerful Oversight Committee. IAAM tells the story of the ancestors and descendants of Scippo Rhame, and countless others with similar backgrounds and experiences.
Those stories are about more than the institution of slavery—they are uplifting experiences that epitomize the varying possibilities of who we are and what we can—and have—become. In that spirit, IAAM has established a one-of-a-kind center dedicated to African American genealogy research. The Center for Family History hosts a growing collection of photos, historical documents, and family histories that the public can comb through to find more information about their family trees.
To help bolster their records, the IAAM Center for Family History has issued an open call for obituaries, photos, family histories, and other historical documents. It is not lost on me that at the site where some researchers say half of all African Americans arrived in this country will sit a museum committed to reunifying their descendants with lost histories.
There is significant currency in the museum’s acronym, “IAAM.” In my office is a statue of a sanitation worker holding a sign with a simple message: “I am a man.” This statue tells the story of the 1968 Memphis Sanitation Workers’ strike, born out of anger over the deaths of Black sanitation workers Echol Cole and Robert Walker, who were killed on the job by malfunctioning equipment. The primarily Black sanitation force demanded recognition of their union, improved safety standards, and a living wage. It took nearly 2 months and the death of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., but in the end, their demands were met. The museum’s acronym, “IAAM,” serves to recognize their struggle and ultimate success.
I often quote George Santayana’s admonition, “Those who do not remember past lessons are condemned to repeat them.” African American history encompasses far more than the horrors of those who were enslaved. Their countless descendants include history-making visionaries, and IAAM honors and preserves their struggles and accomplishments and dares us to look toward the future.
I must admit that there were times during my chairmanship, especially in those early days, when I was not sure we would get this project across the finish line. I am proud that after more than 20 years of hard work and dedicated commitment, we are celebrating its opening, and future generations can learn fuller and more accurate stories of America’s greatness.
By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent
The U.S. Supreme Court has permitted redrawing the Louisiana congressional map, paving the way for adding another majority-Black district.
The justices have reversed their initial plans to hear the case directly and lifted the hold placed on a lower court’s order regarding the need for a revamped redistricting regime.
Notably, there was no dissent among the justices.
This move by the Supreme Court follows a recent ruling made earlier this month regarding Alabama’s congressional maps.
The ruling upheld the historical approach of courts when dealing with the redistricting provisions in the Voting Rights Act, a historic civil rights law that Black voters are utilizing to challenge the Louisiana congressional plan.
The lower court proceedings, which the conservative majority had put on hold in June of last year, will now resume because of this new order.
At that time, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had been preparing for an expedited review of a judge’s ruling that suggested the 5-1 congressional plan likely violated the Voting Rights Act.
U.S. District Judge Shelly Dick, who presided over the case, had been considering a remedial congressional plan after Louisiana lawmakers refused to pass a plan that included a second majority-Black district.
The Supreme Court clarified on Monday that their latest decision “will allow the matter to proceed before the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit for review in the ordinary course and in advance of the 2024 congressional elections in Louisiana.”
A congressional map that the Republican legislature had passed over Democratic Governor John Bel Edwards’ veto last year led to the lawsuit against Louisiana state officials.
The map, which only designated one out of six districts as majority Black, came under scrutiny considering the 2020 census revealed that 33% of the state’s population is Black.
Over a year ago, Judge Shelly Dick ordered the map redrawn to include a second Black-majority district, concluding that the Republicans’ map likely violated the Voting Rights Act’s prohibition of racial discrimination in voting.
Judge Dick emphasized that “the evidence of Louisiana’s long and ongoing history of voting-related discrimination weighs heavily in favor of” the arguments put forward by the Louisiana State Conference of the NAACP and other challengers involved in the case.
Subsequently, Robinson v. Ardoin proceeded to the conservative-leaning 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, where a three-judge panel, including two Republican-appointed circuit judges, declined to suspend Judge Dick’s order.
The appeals court expedited a comprehensive review of the case, but those proceedings were halted last summer when Louisiana officials successfully sought intervention from the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court then took up the case in June but paused it while deciding the challenge to the Alabama map.
Republicans representing Louisiana’s state officials argued in subsequent filings that the Louisiana case presented a “unique situation” for the Supreme Court to address unresolved legal issues with the Voting Rights Act because of the Alabama ruling in Milligan.
“Today’s decision in Milligan does not address the district court’s significant errors of law that should rightly result in reversal,” the Louisiana filing stated.
However, opponents of the state’s position countered by highlighting that the district court in the Louisiana case had determined that the 5-1 map likely violated the Voting Rights Act using the same legal test that the Supreme Court endorsed in its Alabama ruling.
With the Supreme Court’s latest decision, the ongoing debate surrounding the Louisiana congressional map’s compliance with the Voting Rights Act will proceed through the ordinary review course in the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
It was one short year ago that City Council President Pro Tem Monica Montgomery Steppe led the San Diego City Council’s unanimous and historic vote to approve the new San Diego Black Arts and Culture District, now located along nine blocks of the Imperial Avenue Corridor between 61st and 69th Streets. On Friday, June 9, 2023, the San Diego African American Museum of Fine Art (SDAAMFA) hosted the San Diego Black Arts and Culture District’s One Year Anniversary celebration at the Second Chance Headquarters on Imperial Avenue.
“The artists will lead this,”proclaimed SDAAMFA Executive Director Gaidi Finnie, to applause from the crowd.
The event gave the community a chance to see the San Diego Black Arts and Culture District (SDBAC) master plans and hear about the vision for the future for the once thriving arts district in the community of Encanto. The new district will put a spotlight on the contributions, history, arts and culture of Black San Diegans and is meant to complement the existing Black culturally significant institutions located throughout the city. Nearby Marie Wideman Park serves as a hidden gem that has recently been re-imagined by local creatives in the area.
SDAAMFA (San Diego African American Museum of Fine) has established a partnership with the New School of Architecture & Design Project Studio.
“We appreciate the opportunity to work with the artists, entrepreneurs, creative businesses, historians, and all who are interested in making this district the vibrant community we know it can be,” said Finnie.
Mayor Todd Gloria // Photo Mike Norris
The enthusiasm in the crowd, which included local civic and community leadership from Councilmember Montgomery Steppe to City of San Diego Executive Director for the Arts & Culture Jonathon Glus to San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan, was palpable. There were cheers and laughter as poems were read and high praise was had for the project.
“From kindergarten to sixth grade, I was right down there at Encanto Elementary. The art and culture within our community are integral to our identities. Making this a place where we all belong strengthens our bonds, it boosts our community pride,” said Dr. Akilah Weber Assembly Member, District 79.
San Diego’s Mayor Todd Gloria was also in attendance and had this to say, “Our city is not great without our Black community.”
The San Diego Black Arts + Culture District Advisory Committee, comprised of residents, artists, musicians, educators, non-profits, and business and property owners, meets on the third Tuesday of the month at 6:00 PM at the Second Chance Building located at 6145 Imperial Avenue, San Diego, CA. Meetings are open to the public.
It is clear that The San Diego Black Arts and Culture District project is a great step to reclaiming a community that gave us the Encanto Street Fair.
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Civil rights icon James Meredith fell outside the Mississippi Capitol on Sunday at an event marking his 90th birthday, but he suffered no visible injuries and was resting comfortably at home later.
Meredith leaned onto an unsecured portable lectern as he stood to speak to about 200 people. The lectern toppled forward, and he fell on top of it. Those around him quickly scrambled to stand Meredith up upright, and they helped him back into the wheelchair he had been using. People also gave him ice packs and cold water as the temperature hovered at about 95 degrees Fahrenheit (35 degrees Celsius).
Meredith remained at the event until it ended about 45 minutes later. An ambulance crew checked him afterward, and Meredith then left in a sport utility vehicle with friends and family.
His wife, Judy Alsobrooks Meredith, said in a text message to The Associated Press hours later that he was at home with family.
“He’s enjoying his birthday cake now,” she said. “He’s tougher than anybody I’ve ever known.”
Meredith was already an Air Force veteran in 1962 when he became the first Black student to enroll at the University of Mississippi, after winning a federal court order. White mobs rioted on the Oxford campus as federal marshals protected Meredith.
In 1966, Meredith set out to promote Black voting rights and to prove that a Black man could walk through Mississippi without fear. On the second day of his planned walk from Memphis, Tennessee, to Jackson, Mississippi, a white man with a shotgun shot and wounded Meredith on a highway.
The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and other leaders of the Civil Rights Movement continued Meredith’s march in his absence, and Meredith recovered enough to join them for the final stretch. About 15,000 people rallied outside the Mississippi Capitol on June 26, 1966.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The 2023 BET Awards celebrated 50 years of hip-hop with tributes to the genre’s earliest voices, late legends, and new talent during a show packed with spectacular performances that consistently felt like a party.
Sunday’s biggest surprise came when Quavo and Offset, the surviving members of Migos, performed “Bad and Boujee” in front of an image of Takeoff, who died in a shooting in November.
“BET, do it for Take,” the duo shouted near the beginning of their set, as their backdrop switched from the image of a space shuttle to one of Takeoff pointing in the air.
Throughout the show, whether it was Tupac, Notorious B.I.G., Biz Markie or Pop Smoke, performers and emcee Kid Capri paid homage to late hip-hop stars, often by quickly highlighting a taste of their best-known hits. In a show where few awards were given, Capri and BET kept the emphasis on the music.
Busta Rhymes took home the night’s biggest honor, the Lifetime Achievement Award, handed to him by Swizz Beatz. The 12-time Grammy Award nominated rapper, producer, and pioneering hip-hop figure is widely regarded as one of the great MCs, with seven Top 10 Billboard Hot 100 hits to his name.
Diddy, Janet Jackson, Chuck D, Missy Elliot, Pharrell Williams, and Mariah Carey recorded a video tribute to Rhymes.
“Alright, Imma wear it on my sleeve. I do wanna cry,” Rhymes started his speech, as his eyes started to water. He talked about his six children, being kicked out from his hip-hop group Leaders of the New School, and learning how to rebuild by going into studios, sharing a cigar with whoever was in the studio, and “quickly whipping up a 16 bar verse. … By default, I pioneered the feature,” he said. “A lot of greatness from out people in our culture is by default. Because it’s just a magic we have.”
An energetic tribute to Rhymes followed — the MC teamed up with Spliff Star for “Ante Up Remix”, “Scenario,” “Look At Me Now”, “I Know What You Want”, before a long list of A-listers jumped in: Scar Lip with “This Is New York”, Coi Leray with “Players,” BIA with “Beach Ball,” among them. Halfway through the performance, Rhymes shifted gears to celebrate dancehall alongside Dexta Daps “Shabba Madda Pot,” Spice, “So Mi Like It,” Skillibeng, “Whap Whap”, and CuttyRanks’ “A Who Seh Me Dun (Wait Deh Man).”
Throughout the show, old school hip-hop heroes and modern stars mixed it up onstage, performing tracks celebrating rap’s most influential cities and innovation. For Miami, Trick Daddy and Trina rocked through “Nann” and Uncle Luke took on “I Wanna Rock (Doo Doo Brown).” For Atlanta, Jeezy ripped through “They Know”, T.I. hit “24’s,” and Master P did “No Limit Soldiers” into “Make ‘Em Say Ugh.” And for hip-hop’s reggae influence, Jamaica’s Doug E. Fresh and Lil ’Vicious did an acapella version of “Freaks,” Mad Lion performed “Take It Easy,” and PATRA nailed “Romantic Call.”
Capri spun some of Tupac’s “Hail Marry” to tease a crash course on West Coast rap: Warren G’s “Regulate,” Yo-Yo’s “You Can’t Play With My Yo-Yo,” Tyga’s “Rack City”, and E-40’s “Tell Me When To Go.”
An ode to trap started with Capri spinning the late Pop Smoke’s “Dior”, before Chief Keef nailed “Faneto” and Ying Yang Twins did “Wait (The Whisper Song.”)
Audience members, danced, sang along (and a few hopped up on stage) while Capri and MC Lyte keep the hostless show moving. It was a mostly hiccup-free show — save for a hitch during Patti LaBelle’s performance and the show running nearly four hours — particularly noteworthy for an event scheduled in the midst of the ongoing Hollywood writers’ strike.
LaBelle honored the Tina Turner with a performance of the late singer’s hit “The Best,” telling the audience at one point she couldn’t see the words. “I’m trying, y’all!” she said before powering into the chorus.
A masked Lil Uzi Vert opened the show at Los Angeles’ Microsoft Theater before it jumped into a quick history lesson. Capri walked the audience through a medley of the earliest days of New York City ’80s rap culture featuring The Sugarhill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight,” MC LYTE’s “Cha Cha Cha”, D-NICE’s “Call ME D-Nice” and Big Daddy Kane’s “Raw,” into a partial cover of “Just A Friend,” an homage to the late great Biz Markie.
“I would not be in this business on the stage tonight if it wasn’t for one person,” Big Daddy Kane said introducing the song. “Rest in peace.” He invited audience members to sing along to the song’s infectious chorus.
The coveted best new artist award went to Coco Jones, in a category which featured only female performers.
“For all of my black girls, we do have to fight a little harder to get what we deserve,” she said in her acceptance speech. “But don’t stop fighting even when it doesn’t make sense. And you’re not sure how you’re going to get out of those circumstances. Keep pushing because we are deserving of great things.”
It was followed by a supermarket-themed performance of AP’s pick for club song of the summer, Latto’s “Put It On Da Floor Again,” sans featured artist Cardi B but no less catchy. It ended with a text tribute: “RIP Shawty Lo,” a screen read.
Teyana “Spike Tey” Taylor won video director of the year, which was accepted by her mom Nikki Taylor – like a true matriarch, she interrupted the show to videocall her daughter and let her have the moment.
At the end of his acceptance speech, Rhymes urged the hip-hop community to “stop this narrative that we don’t love each other,” urging veteran musicians and newcomers alike to embrace one another.
It was the perfect mirror for the night: New York rapper Ice Spice ran through abridged versions of “Munch (Feelin’ U),” “Princess Diana” and “In Ha Mood”; Glorilla brought “Lick Or Sum” to the BET stage, and Kali powered through her TikTok hit, “Area Codes.”
In the audience, generations of hip-hop heavy-hitters cheered.
As the summer football camp season continues, Apex Creation Enterprise in conjunction with the Day II Day Foundation took their turn at teaching football last Saturday at Lincoln High School’s Vic Player Stadium.
Kids from elementary and middle school were invited to attend the free camp to learn some football fundamentals and some drills to enhance their skills.
“I especially like this age group because they are not as narrow minded yet, as older kids and adults can be, and they are very expressive at this stage in life,” ACE CEO and camp instructor Neno Jones shared.
“We want to catch them now and teach them some important facts about life and how to succeed in life, with or without sports,” continued Jones. “The football camp is one of our ways to work with them. We will be doing more camps and a lot more events in the future.”
The campers were able to run, catch, throw, and learn some new football techniques from some of Lincoln’s State Championship coaching staff.
“I came here today to help me get better at football so I can go to college, hopefully at SDSU,” happy camper Gregory Mills of Holly-drive leadership Academy said. “My Grandpa coaches here (J. Stutts) and he has a lot of Championship trophies and medals. I learned a lot today. It was fun. I would definitely come back again.”
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Monday lifted its hold on a Louisiana political remap case, increasing the likelihood that the Republican-dominated state will have to redraw boundary lines to create a second mostly Black congressional district.
The development revived Black Louisianans’ optimism of creating a second majority-Black district in the Deep South state. For more than a year there has been a legal battle over the GOP-drawn political boundaries, with opponents arguing that the map is unfair and discriminates against Black voters. The map, which was used in Louisiana’s November congressional election, has white majorities in five of six districts — despite Black people accounting for one-third of the state’s population.
White Republicans hold each of the five mostly white districts. A mostly Black district could deliver another congressional seat to Democrats.
“I’m super excited,” Ashley Shelton, head of the Power Coalition for Equity and Justice, one of the groups challenging the maps, said following Monday’s news. “What this does is it puts us back on track to realize a second majority-minority district.”
The order follows the court’s rejection earlier in June of a congressional redistricting map in Alabama and unfreezes the Louisiana case, which had been on hold pending the decision in Alabama.
In both states, Black voters are a majority in just one congressional district. Lower courts had ruled that the maps raised concerns that Black voting power had been diluted, in violation of the landmark federal Voting Rights Act.
The justices had allowed the state’s challenged map to be used in last year’s elections while they considered the Alabama case.
In Louisiana, U.S. District Judge Shelly Dick struck down the map in June 2022 for violating the Voting Rights Act, citing that “evidence of Louisiana’s long and ongoing history of voting-related discrimination weighs heavily in favor of Plaintiffs.” Dick ordered lawmakers to hold a special session to redesign the map and include a second majority-Black district. However lawmakers failed to meet their deadline and as a result Dick said she would enact a map of her choosing.
The Louisiana case had been appealed to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, when the high court put the case on hold. The justices said that appeal now could go forward in advance of next year’s congressional elections.
U.S. Rep. Troy Carter, Louisiana’s only Democratic and Black congressman, applauded the Supreme Court for lifting its hold.
“This decision shows that in a healthy democracy fair and equitable representation matters, whether to the people of Louisiana or anywhere else in the world,” Carter tweeted.
Every 10 years, state lawmakers — armed with new U.S. Census Bureau information — redraw political boundaries for seats in the U.S. House, state Senate, state House, Board of Elementary and Secondary Education and the Public Service Commission. The process ultimately affects which political parties, viewpoints and people control the government bodies that write laws, set utility rates and create public school policies.
The redistricting process in Louisiana proved to be a tense political tug-of-war, with the Republican-dominated Legislature and Democrats, including Gov. John Bel Edwards, fighting over the boundaries since February 2022. Along with the legal battle, the debate over the map was marked by Edwards vetoing the boundaries and the Legislature overriding his veto — marking the first time in nearly three decades that lawmakers refused to accept a governor’s refusal of a bill they had passed.
By Joe W. Bowers Jr., Antonio Ray Harvey and Edward Henderson, California Black Media
Black Caucus Members Sen. Steven Bradford and Sen. Lola Smallwood-Cuevas Recognize Juneteenth on Senate Floor
Last week, the California Senate voted 39-0 to pass Senate Concurrent Resolution (SCR) 76. This measure recognizes June 19, 2023, as Juneteenth. During the session before the vote, Senators Steven Bradford (D-Inglewood) and Sen. Lola Smallwood-Cuevas (D-Ladera Heights) spoke about why the commemoration is important for all Americans.
Bradford highlighted the historical significance of the color red for formerly enslaved people.
Sen Steven Bradford ( D-Gardena) (vice chair of the Legislative Black Caucus)
“Many times, people stereotype African Americans as great lovers of watermelon, red soda pop, or other things of that nature. But if they knew our history, they would know the significance of ‘red’,” Bradford told his colleagues before they cast their votes in favor of California commemorating the 158th Anniversary of Juneteenth.
“It is the significance of the watermelon, the significance of hibiscus tea, or as my old man used to say, ‘red velvet cake’,” Bradford continued. “The red was reflective of the blood that we shed in this country. The blood that we shed for over 250 years of slavery. That’s why those items are so significant to a Juneteenth celebration if you’ve ever been to one.”
Smallwood-Cuevas reminded her colleagues that Black Americans were enslaved longer than they have been free.
“It is a celebration, historically, of how America became the “Land of the Free” for everyone in this country on Juneteenth,” said Smallowood-Cuevas. “An estimated $20 trillion was amassed on the backs of enslaved labor, making the U.S. the largest economic power in the world.”
Authored by California Black Legislative Caucus (CLBC) members Bradford and Smallwood-Cuevas, SCR 76 urges lawmakers and Californians to celebrate the anniversary of the day in 1865 when some of the last enslaved African Americans in America were told they were free through the Emancipation Proclamation signed by President Abraham Lincoln more than two years earlier in 1863.
Hate Crime Hotline Receives 180 Reports in First Month
In May, the California Civil Rights Department (CCDR) launched a hate hotline to provide support and services to victims of hate crimes. One month into the effort, 180 reports from across the state have been processed.
“Make no mistake: Hate and discrimination remain a threat across the country,” Director Kevin Kish said in a statement. “However, here in California, you’re not alone in the face of hate.”
According to Kish, nearly half of those who reported hate acts accepted services from department staff, including help in obtaining legal aid and counseling.
“No place is immune to hate, but in California, we’re committed to doing everything in our power to uplift, protect, and heal all our communities,” Kish said.
Of the 180 reports received by the CCDR hotline, hate acts related to race and ethnicity were the most commonly reported. Acts related to religion and sexual orientation followed. The majority of reports were from individuals who were directly targeted by hate acts. The CCDR plans to release more detailed numbers in the future. Reports can be made online in 15 languages at any time at cavshate.org, or by calling (833) 866-4283 or 833-8-NO-HATE, Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. PT. Trained staff are prepared to receive reports in over 200 languages.
CBM
Attorney Gen. Rob Bonta Releases “State of Pride” Report
In honor of LGBTQ+ Pride month, California Attorney General Rob Bonta released a new “State of Pride Report.” The report highlights recent actions taken by the California Department of Justice’s (DOJ) to support, uplift, and defend the rights of LGBTQ+ communities across California.
The report documents discrimination against the LGBTQ+ community in the classroom, sports, healthcare and public access. The report also lists rights that members of the community have to protect themselves against discrimination.
According to the report, about 2.7 million or 9.1% of California adults identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender — the largest share of any highly populated state and higher than the national average of 7.9%.
Between 2021 and 2022, there were over 391 reported hate crime events motivated by sexual orientation bias, and 45 hate crimes motivated by anti-transgender or anti-gender non-conforming bias in California.
“As a committed LGBTQ+ ally, I firmly believe that everyone deserves to be safe, healthy, prosperous, and celebrated for who they are — regardless of how they identify or who they love,” said Bonta. “As we come together this Pride Month to celebrate our LGBTQ+ communities, we must also recommit ourselves to the ongoing fight for LGBTQ+ rights at home and across the country.”
The State of Pride Report can be accessed on the Attorney General Office’s website. For more information on hate crimes and LGBTQ+ discrimination, visit https://oag.ca.gov/hatecrimes.
“A Confluence of Crises”: Gov. Newsom Unveils Multibillion-Dollar Housing Plan for Mentally Ill
On June 20, Gov. Gavin Newsom, in partnership with Senator Susan Talamantes Eggman (D-Stockton) and Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin (D-Thousand Oaks), announced a legislative package to build housing for people with mental illness and addiction.
The plan proposes using $4.68 billion in new bond funding and modernization of the Mental Health Services Act (MHSA) for the March 2024 ballot.
“We are facing a confluence of crises: mental health, opioids, housing, and homelessness – and this transformative effort will ensure California is tackling these head-on in a comprehensive and inclusive way,” said Newsom in a statement.
“Over the last few years, California has led the nation in expanding access to affordable and quality mental health services – especially for children, teens, and people with untreated mental illness. The historic legislative effort announced today will supercharge these efforts to ensure California continues to lead the way in the decades to come.”
SB 326 (Eggman) and AB 531 (Irwin) are two bills that aim to transform California’s behavioral health system through housing with accountability and reform. The funding would provide California with the resources needed to build 10,000 new beds across community treatment campuses and facilities.
“We are facing mental health and substance abuse crises on our streets in communities throughout California,” said Eggman. “This legislation will help us transform our behavioral health system and provide critically needed support for the most vulnerable among us, many of whom are struggling with homelessness in addition to mental illness. The time to act is now.”
University of California San Francisco Study of People Experiencing Homelessness
The University of California San Francisco’s Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative
ANAHEIM, CA – JANUARY 9, 2017 Homeless encampment lined up along the Los Angeles River along a bike trail.
(BHHI) recently published the largest representative study of homelessness in the United States since the mid-1990s.
The California Statewide Study of People Experiencing Homelessness (CASPEH) was designed to all adults 18 years and older experiencing homelessness in California.
CASPEH includes nearly 3,200 administered questionnaires and 365 in-depth interviews with adults experiencing homelessness in eight regions of the state, representing urban, rural, and suburban areas.
The study provides a comprehensive look at the causes and consequences of homelessness in California and recommends policy changes to shape programs in response.
The study found that, for most of the participants, the cost of housing had become unsustainable. Participants reported a median monthly household income of $960 in the six months prior to becoming homeless. Most believed that rental subsidies or one-time financial assistance would have prevented their homelessness.
The study also found that the state’s homeless population is aging, with 47% of all adults aged 50 or older, and that Black and Native Americans are dramatically overrepresented.
“The results of the study confirm that far too many Californians experience homelessness because they cannot afford housing,” said Margot Kushel, MD, Director, UCSF BHHI and principal investigator of CASPEH. “
CASPEH recommendations can be found on the final page of their executive summary.
State Announces New Action to Attack Organized Retail Crime in California
California Attorney General Rob Bonta, with retailers and online marketplaces representing a large share of retail and online business, signed an agreement committing to specific actions aimed at addressing the growing issue of organized retail crime.
Organized retail crime refers to large-scale theft and fraud by individuals or groups who steal retail goods from the retail supply chain with the intent to resell, distribute, or return stolen merchandise for financial gain. In some cases, resale may occur through third-party online platforms. California and other states have seen a pattern of organized retail crime.
The agreement will help advance information-sharing and detection of lost items from various stages of the supply chain, including cargo and retail goods, that may end up for sale in online marketplaces.
“The fact is, we are stronger when we work together as a united front,” said Bonta. “Organized retail crime costs businesses, retailers, and consumers — and puts the public at risk. This new partnership signals a robust and genuine commitment shared by the retail marketplace and law enforcement to crack down on these crimes. Whether it is law enforcement, online marketplaces, or retailers — we will not tolerate organized retail crime in our state.”
LOS ANGELES (AP) — “Rap City.” “106 & Park.” And even, “Uncut.”
From innovative to provocative, BET has played a crucial role in creating several influential programs that helped spread hip-hop to millions of homes across the globe. Other than its rival show “Yo! MTV Raps,” the network known as Black Entertainment Television took up the mantle — despite some reluctance — to showcase a misunderstood rap culture decades before it became today’s most popular music genre.
For many, BET became a safe place for those within hip-hop to express their artistry, although not without criticism. Through it all, the network has been a mainstay for established and emerging rap artists.
It will all come together during the BET Awards on Sunday. Show officials plan to celebrate the genre’s 50th anniversary during the telecast dubbed as a “non-stop Hip-Hop Party.” It also comes at a pivotal time for the network, which will be soon be sold. Several Black entrepreneurs and celebrities, including Tyler Perry, media executive Byron Allen and rapper-entrepreneur Diddy, are interested in purchasing the network.
The new owner will acquire an important cultural fixture, one whose success was partially built on how it elevated hip-hop.
“BET was a big platform for hip-hop and urban music overall,” said E-40. His song “Tired of Being Stepped On” with the rap group The Click appeared on BET’s “Video Soul,” which was created in 1981 at a time when MTV refused to play videos by most African Americans. The rapper recalled how guest host Jamie Foxx dissed The Click’s song but the comedian’s critical words didn’t faze him. He felt his group gained important exposure to promote their “unorthodox” West Coast rap style.
“The network really stepped up. We needed that,” said E-40, who also made a few appearances on another BET show called “Rap City,” which featured hip-hop music videos, interviews and freestyles booth sessions with big names including Jay-Z, Lil Wayne and MC Lyte. The show, which highlighted popular and up-and-coming rappers, became the longest-running hip-hop TV show in history.
E-40 credited BET founder Robert Johnson for giving hip-hop a chance. Johnson built the brand into the leading TV network for Black Americans in hopes of creating content geared toward jazz, comedy and gospel. But at the time, he and other founders were unsure about featuring a rap show, believing the genre would be short lived.
Rival MTV’s “Yo! MTV Raps,” however, showed that hip-hop had staying power.
“After kind of a brief initial hesitancy, the founders of BET really understood how hip-hop was transforming culture overall and specifically Black entertainment,” said Scott M. Mills, BET’s president and CEO.
“They rapidly embraced hip-hop as part of the mission of BET,” he said. “You went from BET having shows with no hip-hop artists or music to artists and music starting to trickle through shows to this full evolution of creating dedicated shows, celebrating hip-hop music, artists and culture.”
BET’s decision to embrace hip-hop literally paid off: Johnson and his then-wife, Sheila, sold the network to Viacom in 2000 for $3 billion — which made them the nation’s first Black billionaires. He remained CEO until 2006.
After the sale, BET continued to beef up its content with reality shows and the network’s flagship program “106 & Park,” a weekday show that started in 2000 and lasted for more than a decade. The show thrived with a video countdown, interviews and performances. A year later, the network started the BET Awards then the BET Hip-Hop Awards.
For Lil Jon, he certainly benefitted from appearing on “106 & Park.” One day, the rapper-producer joined the show’s audience during the time when he had a hard time getting music on BET.
Lil Jon had no clue “106 & Park” co-host A.J. Calloway would notice him sitting in the crowd before he shouted out his name. The exposure helped him become more recognizable, particularly to the BET brass — who he says initially struggled to grasp the concept of his crunk music, which eventually gained mainstream appeal.
“We strived to be on ‘Rap City.’ We strived to be on ‘106 & Park,’” Lil Jon said. “A.J. knew who I was, because he would go to the South and host things. He knew the power of my music. … They would show me in the audience throughout the whole show. It was what they call an impression in the advertising world. It was a way for me to be around people at BET. They started to see and get familiar with me, and they wanted to look out for me. BET was just a place where we would get support from our community.”
Like Lil Jon, other hip-hop artists took advantage of the exposure from BET — which often highlighted positive images of Black people through shows such as “Teen Summit” and “106 & Park.” But in the early-2000s, the network started to take an odd turn as several popular figures — from filmmaker Spike Lee to Public Enemy’s Chuck D — heavily criticized the channel’s content for depicting African Americans in a negative light.
Many took aim at the now-defunct “BET: Uncut,” a late-night mature program that contained highly sexual content such as Ludacris’ “Booty Poppin” music video. The tipping point came after Nelly’s “Tip Drill” video featured women simulating sex acts with themselves while men grabbed their bodies.
“Uncut” normally finished airing early Sunday just hours before the network’s faith-based programs began.
At the time, Big Boi of Outkast was taken aback by some of the raunchy content, calling it “distasteful” and “soft porn.” Other political figures and activists showed their displeasure. Co-founder Sheila Johnson even said in a 2010 interview that she was ashamed of BET, suggesting that no one, including her own children, should watch the channel.
After the backlash, BET took a new approach. The company researched what their viewers wanted to see and created a lineup of more family-oriented shows such as “Reed Between the Lines” and “Let’s Stay Together.”
“If you look at it, hip-hop is like a huge family,” said Roxanne Shante. “You’re going to have family members that do things that’s necessarily not my thing.”
“But who am I to criticize what they go through? It’s a form of expression,” said the “Roxanne’s Revenge” rapper. “I think BET has shown its ability to go with that form of expression. Now, people are expressing themselves in a different way. And now, they cater to a different audience and started to show different programming.”
Despite controversy, Mills said a symbolic relationship was kept between BET and the hip-hop community. He said the network has a chance to break new artists through the BET Hip-Hop Awards while showcasing the more popular ones at the BET Awards. He shouted out veteran rapper and Oscar-nominated actor Queen Latifah, who recently hosted the NAACP Image Awards this year.
“When you look at artists today, they’re profoundly talented,” he said. “The evolution of people deciding how they want to show up to the world is something that ultimately, I think we have to embrace. One thing about hip-hop, it’s always changing. We’re in the moment today, and that moment will evolve to whatever comes next.”
Mills said BET is exploring ways to bring back “106 & Park” as a possible residency live show.
With a new buyer looking to purchase BET soon, the network’s future focus and how much it emphasizes hip-hop will be closely watched.
Rapper Too Short said BET should continue to serve the Black community’s needs.
“’Teen Summit’ was the best show ever,” he said. “Just for kids to sit there and have an intellectual conversation every Saturday morning. That was amazing to see Black kids thinking intelligently and debating with each other and an audience tapping in.
“I don’t know why anybody doesn’t think that kind of programming is needed right now. I think BET just needs to be the community. Don’t show me an aspect. The whole thing. Be Black entertainment.”
CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — When the International African American Museum opens to the public Tuesday in South Carolina, it becomes a new site of homecoming and pilgrimage for descendants of enslaved Africans whose arrival in the Western Hemisphere begins on the docks of the lowcountry coast.
Overlooking the old wharf in Charleston at which nearly half of the enslaved population first entered North America, the 150,000-square-foot (14,000-square-meter) museum houses exhibits and artifacts exploring how African Americans’ labor, perseverance, resistance and cultures shaped the Carolinas, the nation and the world.
It also includes a genealogy research center to help families trace their ancestors’ journey from point of arrival on the land.
The opening happens at a time when the very idea of Black people’s survival through slavery, racial apartheid and economic oppression being quintessential to the American story is being challenged throughout the U.S. Leaders of the museum said its existence is not a rebuttal to current attempts to suppress history, but rather an invitation to dialogue and discovery.
“Show me a courageous space, show me an open space, show me a space that meets me where I am, and then gets me where I asked to go,” said Dr. Tonya Matthews, the museum’s president and CEO.
“I think that’s the superpower of museums,” she said. “The only thing you need to bring to this museum is your curiosity, and we’ll do the rest.”
The $120 million facility features nine galleries that contain nearly a dozen interactive exhibits of more than 150 historical objects and 30 works of art. One of the museum’s exhibits will rotate two to three times each year.
Upon entering the space, eight large video screens play a looped trailer of a diasporic journey that spans centuries, from cultural roots on the African continent and the horrors of the Middle Passage to the regional and international legacies that spawned out of Africans’ dispersal and migration across lands.
The screens are angled as if to beckon visitors towards large windows and a balcony at the rear of the museum, revealing sprawling views of the Charleston harbor.
One unique feature of the museum is its gallery dedicated to the history and culture of the Gullah Geechee people. Their isolation on rice, indigo and cotton plantations on coastal South Carolina, Georgia and North Florida helped them maintain ties to West African cultural traditions and creole language. A multimedia, chapel-sized “praise house” in the gallery highlights the faith expressions of the Gullah Geechee and shows how those expressions are imprinted on Black American gospel music.
On Saturday, the museum grounds buzzed with excitement as its founders, staff, elected officials and other invited guests dedicated the grounds in spectacular fashion.
The program was emceed by award-winning actress and director Phylicia Rashad and included stirring appearances by poet Nikky Finney and the McIntosh County Shouters, who perform songs passed down by enslaved African Americans.
“Truth sets us free — free to understand, free to respect and free to appreciate the full spectrum of our shared history,” said former Charleston Mayor Joseph Riley, Jr. who is widely credited for the idea to bring the museum to the city.
Planning for the International African American Museum dates back to 2000, when Riley called for its creation in a State of the City address. It took many more years, through setbacks in fundraising and changes in museum leadership, before construction started in 2019.
Originally set to open in 2020, the museum was further delayed by the coronavirus pandemic, as well as by issues in the supply chain of materials needed to complete construction.
Gadsden’s Wharf, a 2.3-acre waterfront plot where it’s estimated that up 45% of enslaved Africans brought to the United States in the late 18th and early 19th centuries walked, sets the tone for how the museum is experienced. The wharf was built by Revolutionary War figure Christopher Gadsden.
The land is now part of an intentionally designed ancestral garden. Black granite walls are erected on the spot of a former storage house, a space where hunched enslaved humans perished awaiting their transport to the slave market. The walls are emblazoned with lines of Maya Angelou’s poem, “And Still I Rise.”
Dr. Tonya Matthews, the museum’s president and CEO and Dean, Phylicia Rashad, left, speak during the dedication ceremony for the opening of the International African American Museum on Saturday, June 24, 2023, in Charleston, S.C. Overlooking the old wharf at which nearly half of the enslaved population first entered North America, the 150,000-square foot museum houses exhibits and artifacts exploring how African Americans’ labor, perseverance, resistance and cultures shaped the Carolinas, the nation and the world. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)
The museum’s main structure does not touch the hallowed grounds on which it is located. Instead, it is hoisted above the wharf by 18 cylindrical columns. Beneath the structure is a shallow fountain tribute to the men, women and children whose bodies were inhumanely shackled together in the bellies of ships in the transatlantic slave trade.
To discourage visitors from walking on the raised outlines of the shackled bodies, a walkway was created through the center of the wharf tribute.
“There’s something incredibly significant about reclaiming a space that was once the landing point, the beginning of a horrific American journey for captured Africans,” said Malika Pryor, the museum’s chief learning and education officer.
Walter Hood, founder and creative director of Hood Design Studios based in Oakland, California, designed the landscape of the museum’s grounds. The designs are inspired by tours of lowcountry and its former plantations, he said. The lush grounds, winding paths and seating areas are meant to be an ethnobotanical garden, forcing visitors to see how the botany of enslaved Africans and their descendants helped shape what still exists today across the Carolinas.
The opening of the Charleston museum adds to a growing array of institutions dedicated to teaching an accurate history of the Black experience in America. Many will have heard of, and perhaps visited, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture in the nation’s capital, which opened in 2016.
Lesser known Afrocentric museums and exhibits exist in nearly every region of the country. In Montgomery, Alabama, The Legacy Museum: From Enslavement to Mass Incarceration and the corresponding National Memorial for Peace and Justice highlight slavery, Jim Crow and the history of lynching in America.
Pryor, formerly the educational director of the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History in Detroit, said these types of museums focus on the underdiscussed, underengaged parts of the American story.
“This is such an incredibly expansive history, there’s room for 25 more museums that would have opportunities to bring a new curatorial lens to this conversation,” she said.
The museum has launched an initiative to develop relationships with school districts, especially in places where laws limit how public school teachers discuss race and racism in the classroom. In recent years, conservative politicians around the country have banned books in more than 5,000 schools in 32 states. Bans or limits on instruction about slavery and systemic racism have been enacted in at least 16 states since 2021.
Pryor said South Carolina’s ban on the teaching of critical race theory in public schools has not put the museum out of reach for local elementary, middle and high schools that hope to make field trips there.
“Even just the calls and the requests for school group visits, for school group tours, they number easily in the hundreds,” she said. “And we haven’t formally opened our doors yet.”
When the doors are open, all are welcome to reckon with a fuller truth of the Black American story, said Matthews, the museum president.
“If you ask me what we want people to feel when they are in the museum, our answer is something akin to everything,” she said.
“It is the epitome of our journey, the execution of our mission, to honor the untold stories of the African American journey at one of our nation’s most sacred sites.”
Prolific author and former Ghanaian education minister Ama Ata Aidoo passed away on 31 May 2023 at the age of 81. News of her death reverberated around the world, proof of her towering influence in literary, feminist and political spaces.
Aidoo was Ghana’s foremost woman writer and her distinguished career spanned several decades. Her literary contribution places her among the first generation of African women writers of the post-independence era. After independence in Ghana in 1957 she became a leading feminist voice within postcolonial writing.
For over 20 years, my research, scholarship and teaching has explored the literature of African women writers, including Aidoo. My work celebrates their remarkable contributions to women’s and gender studies through literary expression.
Through a feminist lens, Aidoo’s writing conveys great insight into the complexities and challenges of African women’s lives in colonial and postcolonial societies. She writes about women who must navigate local norms and expectations, customs and traditions – including race, class and gender inequalities.
A consummate storyteller, Aidoo captures in her body of writing the dynamism of Ghanaian and African women’s lives. Strong women characters exhibit intelligence and agency in the search for happiness and success.
As a writer and an outspoken thinker, Aidoo was a pioneering global figure.
Who was Ama Ata Aidoo?
Aidoo was born on 23 March 1942 in southern Ghana to a royal family of the Fante ethnic community. Encouraged by her father to pursue western education, she began writing at 15. After completing school in Cape Coast, she attended the University of Ghana, where she majored in English literature.
At university she participated in the Ghana Drama Studio and published her first play, Dilemma of a Ghost, in 1965. This was the first play to be published in English by an African woman.
Her teaching career began in 1970 and lasted for over a decade at the University of Cape Coast. But the unfavourable political climate in the country failed to nurture her creative talent. In 1982 she was appointed Minister of Education by head of state Jerry J. Rawlings. She resigned from her position in less than two years because of political repression and migrated to Zimbabwe, where she resumed writing and teaching.
She subsequently taught in the US until her retirement in 2012. Her many literary works have been met with critical acclaim, documentaries and robust scholarly engagement.
Her writing
Aidoo repositioned women’s writing within a male-dominated canon in African literature during the mid-1960s. Dilemma of a Ghost was followed by her second play, Anowa, in 1970.
Her novels Our Sister Killjoy: or Reflections of a Black-Eyed Squint (1977) and Changes: A Love Story (1991) disrupted the stereotypical portrayals of women that were common in male-authored African texts. In both, Aidoo crafted strong, intelligent and outspoken female protagonists – a form of “writing back” to reclaim African women’s voices from the literary margins.
Important themes in Aidoo’s works include postcolonial perspectives, feminist expression and the interplay of tradition and modernity. She also explored the relationship between Ghana and its diaspora in the rest of the world.
Aside from her novels and drama, Aidoo produced multiple works across genres of poetry, short fiction, essays and literary criticism. Her literary style draws heavily upon African oral traditions and a combination of prose and poetry.
Key works
I’m fortunate to have experienced a rewarding friendship with Aidoo that began in 2012, at the African Literature Association conference. I cherish the memory of her warmth and hospitality and her insightful perspectives on contemporary women’s issues. Her fiction inspired my early scholarly engagement with victimhood and agency in the work of African women writers and influenced my approach to feminist-inspired African texts.
Of particular interest to me have been her novel Changes: A Love Story, the short story collection No Sweetness Here and the play Anowa. In these works Aidoo presents mixed outcomes for women characters as they respond to patriarchy, urbanisation and conflicting demands of modernity in Ghana.
Changes skilfully examines the complexities of Ghanaian women’s difficult choices and their responsibility for their destiny in life. Aidoo interrogates the extent to which a woman who follows her own path ends up better off than the woman who obeys conventional social norms.
No Sweetness Here portrays Ghanaian women faced with choices that challenge these norms and expectations and who must deal with the realities of the modern world of social flux and changing identity.
Anowa is set in the 1800s in colonial Ghana, where feminist themes emerge through the actions of the female protagonist. Anowa rebels against her parents’ authority and traditional roles for women by marrying a man her family has rejected. The outcome for her is tragic.
As an outspoken voice for women, Aidoo articulated the impact of social, economic and political forces on the lives of African women. She asserts:
On the whole, African traditional societies seem to have been at odds with themselves as to what exactly to do with women.
This dilemma lies at the crux of the feminist perspectives found in her writing. They underscore the pressing need for social transformation and equality for women.
Legacy
Aidoo’s legacy may be seen in the outpouring of African literature in the 21st century by women authors who now dominate the field. A new generation of leading women writers from Africa owe their inspiration to Ama Ata Aidoo and other pioneers like Flora Nwapa and Buchi Emecheta from Nigeria and Senegal’s Mariama Ba. They all broke barriers for women as literary godmothers of feminist expression and through innovative ways of telling the African story.
Ghana and the world may have lost a commanding presence on the literary stage but her works will remain as cherished classics in African and world literature.
Unlike many news organizations, Voice & Viewpoint delivers content that matters to you. Help us keep it that way by making a generous donation for as low as $2. Your support will fund local, investigative journalism for the community, by the community.
