News Observer Bakersfield
Volume 46 Number 44
Serving Kern County for Over 46 Years
Observer Group Newspapers of Southern California
Activists Bring Their Pain to State Capitol
“Stop Killing Us”
Asale Haquekyah Chandler, left, Yolanda Banks, right. (Photo: Antonio Harvey)
Families affected by police violence came from all across the state to participate in the Stop Killings Us Rally in Sacramento. (Photo: Antonio Harvey)
Antonio Ray Harvey California Black Media Last week, several California social and criminal justice organizations, as well as community-based groups,
Sen Bradford (D-Los Angeles) speaks to local reports at the event. (Photo: Antonio Harvey)
gathered for a rally at the state Capitol titled “Stop Killing Us.” Oakland-based All of Us or None (AOUON) organized the event — with the help of other partners across the state — to condemn police violence against African Americans. AOUON is a project of Legal Service for Prisoners With Children (LSPC), a nonprofit civil rights organization that advocates for the rights of formerly and currently incarcerated people and their families. Their demonstration was peaceful — done with official permission — and less spontaneous than recent explosive protests and riots triggered by the brutal murder of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man in Minnesota, at the hands of police officers. But it was charged with strong convictions and a solemn sense of grief, much like those protests. “You mess with our children, I’ll come running,” said Yolanda Banks, the mother of Sahleem Tindle, who a Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) officer killed on Jan. 3, 2018. He was 28. “I have to march,” Banks continued. “We fight together.” Banks frequently joins other grieving African American families from around California who have lost loved ones to police violence for rallies and vigils like the one AOUON held in Sacramento. Participants arrived from Riverside, Los Angeles, San
Bernardino, Bakersfield, Vallejo, Richmond, Oakland, San Francisco, and other places in the state. Most of the people in attendance were people who have been impacted by police violence. On the front steps of the State Capitol, large blackand-white photos of people of color who have been victims of police deadly force were on display. According to AOUON, police violence has claimed the lives of 600 people in California over the last five years Asale-Haquekyah Chandler (pronounced “Ah-SAHlah”) made the trip east to Sacramento from San Francisco to support Banks and the other families involved with “Stop Killing Us.” Chandler is hosting the “One Life Walk: A Silent Walk Parade Protest” in downtown San Francisco July 28. Chandler, who ran unsuccessfully for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors District 10 seat in 2018, has also been affected by violence, but not at the hands of law enforcement. Her 19-year-old son Yalani Chinyamurindi, while on a lunch break in San Francisco, was shot and killed, along with three individuals he knew. The young men 20, 21, and 22 years of age were giving her son a ride back to his job when four gunmen surrounded the car they were in and opened fire. Locally, around the Bay Area, the crime, which took place on Jan. 9, 2015, has been dubbed the “San Francisco 4.” Chandler said she and Banks (the two women knew each other well before their sons died) attended the event because see themselves as “fighters of justice and equality for all of our lives,” she said. “We were fighting way before these children were murdered,” Chandler said. “So, the uniqueness we’re bringing to the table was meant to be. Though I hate to say it — because we lost (our children). My child was killed by the community and her child was killed by the police. We Continued on page A2
Past Due Time for American Healthcare System to Protect Black Americans By Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr. President and CEO, National Newspaper Publishers Assc. Today, Americans are facing unprecedented times. We are in the midst of a global pandemic, our country has fallen into an economic recession, and hundreds of thousands are protesting police brutality and racial injustice. But there is another epidemic in this country that must be addressed, and it must be addressed now. CNN’s Don Lemon said it best – “there are two deadly viruses killing Americans: COVID-19 and racism.” Because of the systematic racism that is rooted in our nation, racial disparities in American healthcare have caused illness, injury, and death in minority communities across the country. Black Americans suffer the most at the hands of the American healthcare system. Now, we are seeing COVID-19 shine a much-needed light on the harsh reality that has been plaguing an entire race for centuries. In my own home state of North Carolina, Black Americans make up 30 percent of COVID-19 cases and 34 percent of the COVID-19 deaths, even though they only make up 22 percent of the population. Really think about that math. How does it make sense? That means, 162 Black North Carolinians will die due to COVID-19, which is 70 more than would be expected based on the demographic makeup of the state. That is 70 more Americans who will die just because of the color of their skin. Unfortunately, these healthcare disparities are nothing new. Black Americans have long suffered from a severe lack of access to quality, affordable care, which predisposes them to increased rates of underlying conditions and illnesses. Due to the lack of access, Black Americans are often forced to travel very far for care. This usually means, if they have insurance, they must go to out-of-network facilities and often find themselves hit with exorbitant surprise medical bills. Surprise medical bills are unanticipated costs related to out-of-network or emergency care a patient received. These bills can range from a $50 prescription drug to $30,000 in emergency transport. Not surprisingly, Black Americans suffer from a higher rate of surprise medical bills, at higher costs compared to White Americans. Congress holds the pen when it comes to reforming surprise medical billing in this country, but they are falling far short of what needs to be done. There are multiple bills in the House and the Senate that claim to rectify this injustice, but all of them still leave the cost to patients or providers without holding insurance companies accountable. While Congress is trying to figure it out, we are seeing the administration miss the mark as well. In a Twitter thread on June 22, CMS Administrator Seema Verma may have misdiagnosed the real root of the issue – insurers. Because
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Wednesday, July 8, 2020
Workplace Violence Allegations Against Police Official BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (AP) – The assistant chief of police in Bakersfield, California has been placed on administrative leave as the department investigates allegations of workplace violence by him, according to a news report. An anonymous department employee filed a complaint Tuesday against Assistant Chief Joe Mullins, KBAK-TV reported. Both a criminal and administrative investigation will be made into the allegations, according to Chief of Police Greg Terry. “The criminal investigation will be conducted by the Kern County Sheriff’s Office, and the administrative investigation that will follow the criminal will be done by an external entity outside of Kern County,’’ said Terry. Mullins is the second assistant chief in Bakersfield to be placed on administrative leave in less than a year, the news station reported. In September of 2019 Assistant Police Chief Evan Demestihas was placed on leave after allegations of domestic violence surfaced. The Bakersfield Police Department submitted his case to the Kings County District Attorney’s Office, which recommended one count of domestic abuse.
7 Men Yelled Racial Slurs at Black Family in Oregon
LINCOLN CITY, Ore. (AP) – Seven men were arrested after police say they taunted a Black family by yelling racial slurs and using Nazi salutes during a Fourth of July incident in an Oregon beach town. The men challenged police to a fight when officers arrived to the beach in Lincoln City and set off fireworks that were banned, police said. They were arrested on suspicion of charges including riot, disorderly conduct, interfering with police and possession of illegal fireworks, the Oregonian reported. The men are from Clark County, Washington, police said. They were cited and released. The men arrested were: Gennadiy Kachankov, Antoliy Kachankov, Andrey Zaytsev, Oleg Saranchuk, Ruslan Tkachenko and Yuriy Kachankov. A seventh man refused to identify himself, police said. Listed phone numbers couldn’t be found for the men. It’s unknown if they have attorneys. The central Oregon beach community is about 88 miles (142 kilometers) southwest of Portland.
Ex-Officer Charged in Floyd’s Death Posts $750K Bond MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – A former Minneapolis police officer charged in the killing of George Floyd has been released from jail, according to Hennepin County jail records. Tou Thao, age 34, is the third former officer accused in Floyd’s death to be released on bond. He posted $750,000 bond on Saturday, the Minneapolis StarTribune reported. All four officers on the scene of Floyd’s death have been fired and face criminal charges. Floyd, who was Black and handcuffed, died May 25 while being arrested. A white police officer used his knee to pin Floyd’s neck for nearly eight minutes as Floyd begged for air and eventually stopped moving. Besides the charges against the officers, Floyd’s death led to worldwide protests over police brutality and racial injustice. Thao is set to appear in court on September 11 on charges of aiding and abetting second-degree murder and aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter. Two other former officers, J. Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane, face the same charges as Thao. Derek Chauvin, the officer who pressed his knee to Floyd’s neck, is charged with second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter with culpable negligence. He remains in police custody.
White Woman Charged in Racist Confrontation
In a recent Congressional hearing, Dr. Rhea Boyd, a practicing physician and healthcare scholar said, “ensuring that insurance is not a barrier to healthcare is really critical, particularly for African Americans...” (Photo: iStockphoto / NNPA)
of the blatant and intrinsic greed, these companies are starving patients of care and putting the financial burden on their shoulders. In a recent Congressional hearing, Dr. Rhea Boyd, a practicing physician and healthcare scholar said, “ensuring that insurance is not a barrier to healthcare is really critical, particularly for African Americans...” Insurance companies make billions of dollars every year by using sly tactics like skinny networks to lure consumers in and then slap them with a surprise medical bill when they go out-of-network. It is time to put a stop to insurance companies making billions off the backs of hardworking Americans. It is clear that Senator Lamar Alexander and Representatives Frank Pallone and Greg Walden, three of the members committed to eradicating surprise medical
billing, are in the pockets of Big Insurance. The bills they are sponsoring do not even bring insurance companies to the negotiating table, let alone hold them responsible. We are halfway through 2020, and we still do not have proposed legislation that gets at the root of the surprise medical billing problem. We must get rid of skinny networks, improve access to care, and cover emergency services. It is time for insurance companies to pay, so we can save Black lives. Black Lives Matter. Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr. is President and CEO of the National Newspaper Publishers Association based in Washington, DC. and he regularly comments on public policy issues that impact the quality of life of Black America. Dr. Chavis was the first person to coin the term “environmental racism.”
NEW YORK (AP) – A white woman walking her dog who called the police during a videotaped dispute with a Black man in Central Park was charged Monday with filing a false report. In May, Amy Cooper drew widespread condemnation for calling 911 to report she was being threatened by “an African-American man’’ when bird watcher Christian Cooper appeared to keep his distance as he recorded her rant on his phone. District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. said in a statement on Monday that his office had charged Amy Cooper with falsely reporting the confrontation, a misdemeanor. She was ordered to appear in court on Oct. 14. After the backlash, Amy Cooper released an apology through a public relations service, saying she “reacted emotionally and made false assumptions about his intentions.’’ “He had every right to request that I leash my dog in an area where it was required,’’ she said in the written statement. “I am well aware of the pain that misassumptions and insensitive statements about race cause and would never have imagined that I would be involved in the type of incident that occurred with Chris.’’