May 25, 2023
By Stacy M. Brown
NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent
Earlier this month, a scathing report from ProPublica noted the apparent betrayal of one of the most trusted and powerful Democratic politicians in America.
South Carolina Rep. James Clyburn, the so-called kingmaker and assistant House leader, allegedly sold out his state to Republicans to keep his seat.
ProPublica claimed Clyburn made a secret deal with the GOP during the redistricting process in 2021 that sapped the strength of the all-important Black vote while making it extremely difficult for Democrats to compete for a congressional seat.
ProPublica reported that Clyburn cut the deal to ensure his seat would remain safe.
Though the revelation occurred two weeks ago, Clyburn has mostly remained mum. But rumblings have led many to wonder when he will explain.
As political writer Isaac Bailey wrote, the NAACP sued over the gerrymandered voting map.
Bailey noted that a three-judge federal panel called it a racial gerrymander, and the court determined that it was “effectively impossible” to have moved more than 30,000 black voters into Clyburn’s district without it.
Further, Bailey observed that the court pushed back against some of the NAACP’s claims by showing that Clyburn had requested some of the changes.
“It’s just one example of the ugly, often-hidden layer of what we keep referring to as a democracy, a term that’s often misapplied given the state of things,” Bailey offered.
“In a healthy democracy, the people choose their representatives. Increasingly, that’s not what’s happening in ours.”
ProPublica reported on a series of meetings between Clyburn and high-ranking Republicans following the release of the 2020 Census map.
They noted that the slightest line changes could determine who wins and holds power.
But as the process commenced, they said Clyburn had a problem: His once majority Black district had suffered a daunting exodus of residents since the last count.
He wanted his seat to be made as safe as possible.
“Republicans understood the powerful Black Democrat could not be ignored, even though he came from the opposing party and had no official role in the state-level process,” ProPublica explained.
“Fortunately for them, Clyburn, who is 82 and was recently reelected to his 16th term, had long ago made peace with the art of bartering.”
The fallout?
“The resulting map, finalized in January 2022, made Clyburn’s lock on power stronger than it might have been otherwise,” the report stated. “A House of Representatives seat that Democrats held as recently as 2018 would become even more solid for the incumbent Republican.
“This came at a cost: Democrats now have virtually no shot of winning any congressional seat in South Carolina other than Clyburn’s.”
The report continued: “As others attacked the Republican redistricting as an illegal racial gerrymander, Clyburn said nothing publicly. His role throughout the redistricting process has remained out of the public view, and he has denied any involvement in state legislative decisions.
The report further notes that while it’s been clear that the South Carolina Congressman has been a key participant in past state redistricting, “the extent of his role in the 2021 negotiations has not been previously examined.”
ProPublica said they culled their reporting from public records, hundreds of pages of legal filings, and interviews with dozens of South Carolina lawmakers and political experts from both sides of the aisle.
“It’s troubling,” said Daniel Frasier, a longtime Democrat voter from Northeast, Washington D.C.
“And troubling is putting it mildly. It tells me that any politician can be bought and sold, and it puts my vote in doubt next year,” said Frasier, who took in a Washington Nationals game with Steve Hamilton, who identified as Republican.
“That’s why my father told me a long time ago to really watch and consider which party you align yourself with,” Hamilton said. “I think they all should represent the people honestly and be tough about it. But to make backdoor deals to secure your power and say to ‘heck with my party and my constituents’ sucks. But I expect that from Democrats.”
ProPublica spoke with Bakari Sellers, a former Democratic lawmaker who once served on a redistricting committee.
“There is a very unholy alliance between many Black legislators and their Republican counterparts in the redistricting process,” Sellers told the outlet.
He said Clyburn’s district “is probably one of the best examples.” Moving that many Black voters into Clyburn’s district meant “we eliminate a chance to win” in other districts, he explained.
“I’m not saying that we could win, but I’m saying we could be competitive, and people of color, those poor people, those individuals who have been crying out for so long, would have a voice,” Sellers said.
While Clyburn hasn’t said much publicly, a spokesperson acknowledged to ProPublica that the office had “engaged in discussions regarding the boundaries of the 6th Congressional District by responding to inquiries.”
“Any accusation that Congressman Clyburn in any way enabled or facilitated Republican gerrymandering that wouldn’t have otherwise occurred is fanciful,” Clyburn’s office said in a statement, calling the notion a “bizarre conspiracy theory.”
May 18, 2023
LAWT News Service
Three LSU Manship School of Mass Communication students, Jessica Jefferson, Mea Morrell and Kyle Stanley, were among the 88 recipients of The LAGRANT Foundation’s (TLF) 2023 Scholarship Program, which recognizes ethnically diverse students from colleges and universities across the nation for their academic achievement, mass communication career goals and community involvement.
Jefferson and Morrell, both public relations students, each won a $2,500 undergraduate scholarship. Stanley, a Ph.D. student in media and public affairs, won a graduate scholarship of $3,250.
Jefferson, a freshman from Dallas, said being a recipient of the award is special because TLF could have picked anyone, but the organization chose her. She said the award means her hard work is being recognized. The award will help Jefferson continue working toward achieving her career goals by helping her make new connections and cover funding for internship necessities such as housing and transportation.
“It is very special to me to have been a recipient of this award because it could've gone to anybody else, but they chose me among others,” Jefferson said. “It also just lets you know that your hard work is paying off.”
Morrell, a junior from New Orleans, said she is honored to be a recipient of the award. She also looks forward to connecting with other like-minded students and networking with professionals during TLF’s career-building activities. She believes being around successful professionals will give her further motivation to strive for excellence in everything she does.
“I have worked very hard throughout my collegiate career to set myself up for success in the future,” Morrell said. “I am happy that I was chosen for this opportunity that recognizes my hard work.”
The award will help Stanley, a two-time Manship School alumnus and second -year media and public affairs doctoral student, fund research for his dissertation. The Monroe, Louisiana native said he is most excited about the possibility of traveling to do fieldwork for his dissertation about influencers on an international scale.
It would be an amazing experience, he said, to immerse himself in different cultures and gain a new perspective on the mass communication landscape.
“I feel incredibly grateful to have been selected as a recipient of The LAGRANT Foundation award,” Stanley said. “The recognition of my accomplishments and potential as a future scholar and mass communication professional is truly humbling.
This award is not only a personal achievement, but also a testament to the encouragement and support I have received from my mentors, peers and academic community.”
In addition to earning scholarships, Jefferson, Morrell and Stanley will participate in TLF’s career building activities in Minneapolis. These activities include a welcome dinner with a keynote speaker, career development workshops and a scholarship and donor recognition reception.
Students will also meet and network with industry professionals who work at some of the biggest companies, including Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Coca-Cola, Nike and Starbucks.
TLF provides scholarships, career development workshops, professional development, mentors and internships to undergraduate and graduate students from ethnically diverse groups who are obtaining a degree in advertising, marketing or public relations.
Learn more about TLF’s 2023 Scholarship Program by visiting https://www.lagrantfoundation.org/about-our-scholarships.
May 18, 2023
By Edward Henderson
California Black Media
On May 11, the Essie Justice Group (Essie), along with Bay Area leaders, community organizations, and advocates gathered at the Alameda County Superior Courthouse in Oakland to call attention to the damage inflicted on families and communities by the mass incarceration of Black women over generations. The event was part of the annual National Bail Out Campaign (NBO), #FreeBlackMamas.
The NBO #FreeBlackMamas campaign raises awareness about the human and financial costs of incarceration. The press conference focused on the voices and experiences of Black women, who have been disproportionately affected by mass incarceration. This is especially significant given that the number of women in prison has been growing at twice the rate of men in recent decades, with 80% of women in jail being mothers.
Essie is the nation’s leading advocacy organization for women with incarcerated loved ones taking on the injustices created by mass incarceration. They focus on organizing women who have loved ones in prison, including one in four women and one in two Black women in the US. Founded by Gina Clayton-Johnson in May 2014, Essie is a community of Black-led, Black-centered, multicultural organizers with a membership body of mothers, daughters, grandmothers, siblings, and partners of incarcerated people.
Since 2017, Essie has led Black Mama’s Bail Outs in California in the weeks leading up to Mother’s Day. To date, they have posted bond for 13 Black women totaling of $1.9 million. This year, in collaboration with the National Bail Out collective, two Black mothers and caregivers (one in Alameda County and one in Los Angeles County) will be released on bond so they can spend Mother’s Day with their children and families.
Betty McKay, a member of Essie and a formerly incarcerated woman, hosted the event. She set the tone of the gathering by introducing the speakers, sharing her personal story, and leading the audience in the Essie chant ‘We come for ours, and when we come, we win.’
“I hold these bailouts close to my heart because I know what it means to be caged,” said McKay. “We believe in a future where our loved ones are free. What I know to be true, is that we are here because we are still buying our folks freedom, just like slavery days. Mass incarceration is the new slavery. We will continue to buy freedom until we abolish mass incarceration.”
Gina Clayton-Johnson, Executive Director of Essie, spoke passionately about the organization’s mission and shared some of the innovative ways Essie is changing bailout culture. For women who have lower incomes, affording bail is impossible when the median bail amount in California is $50,000, five times the national average. Under her watch, 473 mothers and care givers have been freed nationwide.
“We don’t allow the bail industry to see not one penny of this money that we raise,” said Clayton-Johnson. “We don’t get the discounted rate; we don’t get to pay the 10% that the bail industry lets you pay and then go into debt with them. We raise all the money, give it to the court to buy the person’s freedom. Once that case is disposed of, we get that money back so we can continue to bail out more Black women.”
Clayton-Johnson highlighted the fact that when Back women are released from prison, they can provide support to others who have been victims of the prison industrial complex.
“There are tens of thousands of people who come home from jails and prisons every single week. Where do you think they go? When people come home from prison they are most likely coming home to the arms of a Black woman. What we are here to say is free Black mamas and to remind you that Black women are the blueprint for re-entry.”
Assemblymember Mia Bonta (D-Oakland) spoke about her commitment to the cause of freeing Black women.
“I am making sure our public defenders get funded. When we have a system that puts five dollars to the district attorney’s office and one dollar to the public defender’s office, that is broken,” she said. “Black mamas are going to jail because we’re criminalizing poverty. We need to ensure we are actually building pathways to work and rehousing when our mamas come back to us, when our brothers and sisters come back to us, they do not have any doubt they have a home to go to and can immediately provide for her family.”
Shaundrika Price, a beneficiary of an Essie bond and services, testified about how Essie has impacted her life. A mother of five children, Price was imprisoned, and her bail was set at $200,000. Unable to pay, Price remained in Lynwood Women’s Jail in Los Angeles for months as her trial continued to be pushed back.
“Every person I got to know at the women’s jail had mental health needs and trauma like I did,” said Price. “What people don’t understand is that many of us locked up in the system have not been convicted of a crime. Locking women and Black mamas up is not the answer.”
Brendon Woods, a public defender from Alameda County, was the last speaker. He gave a passionate speech about the injustices surrounding the bail industry.
“This criminal justice system is hellbent on caging Black mamas because they cannot afford to post their bail,” said Woods. “This has nothing to do with public safety. This is about wealth, a system built on money, power, privilege, and White supremacy.”
“California itself holds about 40,000 people a year in a cage and they haven’t been convicted of a crime,” Woods continued. “They are presumed innocent, and they are caged. What this means is that people cannot afford to buy their freedom, or they are coerced into a plea deal for their freedom. It should not be that way.”
For more information or to donate, visit the National Bailout Campaign.
May 18, 2023
LAWT News Service
The Maggie Hathaway Golf Course received a $7 million infusion on May 16, and $8 million more is coming as Los Angeles prepares next month to host the U.S. Open Golf Championship for the first time in 75 years.
As part of the U.S. Open partners’ commitment to expanding access to the sport in the host community, the U.S. Golf Association (USGA), Southern California Golf Association (SCGA), and the Los Angeles Country Club united to create the Fore Youth Foundation.
The collaboration resulted in the multi-million-dollar contribution to treasured golf course in South Los Angeles.
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved Supervisor Holly J. Mitchell’s motion to accept the initial $7 million donation and direct the Department of Parks and Recreation to create a plan with Fore Youth Foundation and partners, for investing money raised towards improving the golf course and expanding access to diverse communities in South Los Angeles and neighboring areas.
“Maggie Mae Hathaway broke barriers to bring to the joy and excitement of golf to Black people and communities of color. I am proud that this investment helps further the vision of this golf course that is a treasured community asset in the heart of South L.A.,” said Mitchell.
“I want to thank the Fore Youth Foundation and all our U.S. Open Community Legacy Project partners involved, for working to create a truly lasting and impactful legacy — one that invests directly in people and communities that were once excluded from the game,” she added.
“The Los Angeles Country Club worked with the USGA and SCGA to launch the FORE Youth: 2023 U.S. Open Community Legacy Project to ensure that the impact of this year's championship is felt long past this spring through improvements at the county's Maggie Hathaway golf course in South Los Angeles and expanded youth programming across the County,” said Gene Sykes, president of the Los Angeles Country Club.
“We are grateful for Supervisor Mitchell's support and are excited to work with the County Department of Parks and Recreation to build on its strong commitment to diversify and grow the sport of golf, and to provide recreational opportunities that improve social, academic and professional outcomes for young people,” noted Sykes.
“As an organization committed to expanding diversity and access to golf, we’re excited to see this level of investment in a course that is perfect for learning the game. Maggie Hathaway is a community gem, and once renovated, it will be able to serve an even broader community,” remarked Glen Porter, CEO of Southern Area Youth Programs, Inc. and vice president of the WSGA Southern Area.
“We’re proud to continue to work with the project partners, County Parks, and Supervisor Mitchell’s office to make a lasting impact for future generations of golfers.”
Maggie Hathaway Golf Course, first opened in 1962, it is a 9-hole, 1,008-yard, Par-3 located next to Jesse Owens Park near the intersection of Western Avenue and Century Boulevard that hosts an annual average of over 20,000 rounds of golf.
The Legacy Project is anticipated to include a new practice pitching area and putting green, reconfiguration and renovation of the driving range, restoration of existing buildings, youth development partnerships and maintenance of the improved amenities over time.
“The U.S. Open Community Legacy Project at Maggie Hathaway Golf Course, highlights that investing in public golf courses ensures affordability and access for youth and players of all levels,” said Norma E. García-González, director of the Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation.
“The Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation is thrilled by this dynamic public-private partnership aimed at creating a legacy of greater access and inclusivity to the sport of golf, especially among communities of high need, youth of color, and women and girls.”
May 18, 2023
By Jaivon Grant
California Black Media
Malcolm X, originally known as Malcolm Little, was born 98 years ago on May 19, 1925. He was a prominent activist and minister during the 1960s civil rights movement. His unapologetic and passionate advocacy for Black rights brought him national attention. However, some have criticized his rhetoric as being extremist and racist.
Others explain that the assertive, Black nationalistic posture he took in his speeches was necessary for Civil-Rights-era America when discrimination and segregation were legal in many parts of the country and racism was routine in many aspects of life.
To that point, Malcolm X, who was assassinated in 1965 at the Audubon Ballroom in Harlem, spoke about what some considered his extremist viewpoints.
“I don’t believe in any form of unjustified extremism. But I believe that when a man is exercising extremism, a human being is exercising extremism, in defense of liberty for human beings, it’s no vice.
And when one is moderate in the pursuit of justice for human beings, I say he’s a sinner,” he said.
In 1964, Malcolm X announced his separation from the Nation of Islam, changed his name again to El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz and converted to Sunni Islam, the branch of the religion most Muslims around the world practice.
After making a religious pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia and trips to Africa, Malcolm X began to preach less about America’s racist past and divisions and more about Pan Africanism and about the universality of principles like freedom, justice and human rights, especially as they concern people of African descent.
This week, as we celebrate what would have been Malcolm X’s 98th birthday on May 19, here are ten quotes that capture Malcolm X’s promotion of racial healing, tolerance and racial inclusion.
1. On self-love …
“There can be no Black-White unity until there is first some Black unity. We cannot think of uniting with others, until after we have first united among ourselves. We cannot think of being acceptable to others until we have first proven acceptable to ourselves.”
2. On intermarriage …
“It's just one human being marrying another human being or one human being living around and with another human being.”
3. On Truth and Justice …
“I’m for truth, no matter who tells it. I’m for justice, no matter who it is for or against. I’m a human being, first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.”
4. On Peace and Freedom …
“You can't separate peace from freedom, because no one can be at peace unless he has his freedom.”
5. On Racial and Religious Unity …
“During the past seven days of this holy pilgrimage, while undergoing the rituals of the hajj [pilgrimage], I have eaten from
the same plate, drank from the same glass, slept on the same bed or rug, while praying to the same God—not only with some of this earth's most powerful kings, cabinet members, potentates and other forms of political and religious rulers —but also with fellow‐Muslims whose skin was the whitest of white, whose eyes were the bluest of blue, and whose hair was the blondest of blond—yet it was the first time in my life that I didn't see them as 'White' men. I could look into their faces and see that these didn't regard themselves as 'White’”
6. On Love and Unity …
We need more light about each other. Light creates understanding, understanding creates love, love creates patience and patience creates unity.
7. On Learning to Hate …
“If you're not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people who are doing the oppressing.”
8. On Overcoming Hatred and Anger …
“Hatred and anger are powerless when met with kindness.”
9. On Fairness and Justice …
“You're not supposed to be so blind with patriotism that you can't face reality. Wrong is wrong, no matter who says it.”
10. On Human Rights …
“I believe in human beings, and that all human beings should be respected as such, regardless of their color.”
This California Black Media report was supported in whole or in part by funding provided by the State of California, administered by the California State Library.
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