Vol. 48 No. 48
March 22, 2018 - March 28, 2018
This publication is a Certified DBE/ SBE / MBE in the State of California CUCP #43264 Metro File #7074 & State of Texas File #802505971 “If you can control a man's thinking you do not have to worry about his action. When you determine what a man shall think you do not have to concern yourself about what he will do. If you make a man feel that he is inferior, you do not have to compel him to accept an inferior status, for he will seek it himself. If you make a man think that he is justly an outcast, you do not have to order him to the back door. He will go without being told; and if there is no back door, his very nature will demand one.” Carter G. Woodson, The Mis-Education of the Negro
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National Walkout Day Protesters Converge on NRA Headquarters
Editor in Chief’s Corner Email: sbamericannews@gmail.com Clifton Harris Publisher of The San Bernardino AMERICAN News
Even Cops Think the Officer Who Killed Brendon Glenn Should Be Prosecuted. Los Angeles’ Prosecutor Doesn't By Michael Harriot
By Sun Kim | California Black Media
Brendon Glenn Photo: The Law Office of James DeSimone
Sun Kim, protested in downtown Sacramento at the NRA headquarters Sacramento, Calif. – Protesters of all backgrounds converged on the Sacramento headquarters of the National Rifle Association, as a culminating event to cap off regional demonstrations against gun violence. The protests were in response to the recent school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida that took the lives of 17 individuals. The rally was organized by Women’s March’s Sacrament youth program. Event speakers included Assemblymember Kevin McCarty, who represents the 7th Assembly District, Dr. Mariama Smith Gray from California State University, Easy Bay, and Rebecca Gonzales of the National Association of Social Workers.
Protesters spoke passionately about the need to curb gun violence and about the need for more responsible media portrayals of gun ownership. “Students of color have been wrongly associated with violence and aggression,” said Gray. “And yet we need to consider the demographics of the school shooter because we also need to pay attention to what is happening to white adolescent boys who have access to guns.” Her speech at the rally visibly touched many mothers in the audience. Hiram Johnson High School in Sacramento Unified School District participated in the walkout by allowing students to use the walkout “as an opportunity to be
Sheros “On A Divine Path Mission” By Twillea Evans-Carthen
given a voice; to empower the students,” according to Barbara Tigert, who teaches English at the high school. Presenters were mindful to tell youth protestors that once the allotted 17-minute protest time given by school districts had passed, that they were expected to return to their schools if they had opted to participate the walk out. “We need to broaden the people who are active on this issue because gun violence effects all communities, but especially communities of color,” said Gonzales who serves a government affairs director for the National Association of Social Workers and is the co-chair of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun
Violence. “Hollywood and our culture for too long have romanticized violence and the use of guns. It must stop but it will only happen if consumers reject this form of ‘entertainment.” Both Dr. Gray and Mrs. Gonzales were visibly ecstatic from seeing high school students taking initiative to tackle gun violence. All speakers encouraged the audience members to get involved with the political process any way can from calling, emailing, tweeting, and writing members of Congress, Senators, and/or State Representatives. As of press time, the National Rifle Association has not returned requests for comment.
Sheros “On A Divine Path Mission”...continued American and African women and children by nourishing and elevating the mind, body, and spirit.
For more information visit http:// www.sacredsistahsinc.org/
Assemblymember Holden’s Water Conservation Tax Relief Legislation Helps Keep California Out of Drought State/Government News
L/R: Shero Cherilynne Hollowell, Shero Twillea Evans-Carthen and Shero Gail Martin-Mathews Sacred Sistahs, Inc. 10th Annual Shero and Scholarship Fundraiser Breakfast was held on Saturday, March 17, 2018 at Immanuel Praise Fellowhip Church. Dr. Tonia Causey-Bush, Founder and Chief Excecutive Officer was pleased to honor Shero Twillea Evans-Carthen, University Ombuds Officer and Director of Ombuds Services at California State University, San Bernardino; Shero Cherilynne Hollowell, Educator for Riverside Unified School District; and Shero
Gail Martin-Mathews, Retired Assistant Superindent of Curriculum and Instruction. Congratulations to the following 2018 scholarship recipients: Thandiwe Bush, Summit HS; Alondra Duncan, Summit HS; Jada Simone Gray, St. Bernard HS, and Kandace Simmons, Summit HS. The mission of Sacred Sistahs, Inc. is to empower serve, and improve the overall health, well-being, spirit, and vitality of African (continued in next 2 columns)
Sacramento, CA – Assemblymember Chris Holden’s legislation to extend tax relief for individuals participating in a turf removal water conservation program, Assembly Bill 2283, passed the Assembly Committee on Revenue and Taxation today with a 6-0 vote. “Water conservation shouldn’t be taxed,” said Assemblymember Chris Holden. “California barely got out of the drought last year and we’re already experiencing a shortage of rainfall this year.” Assembly Bill 2283 extends the sunset date from January 1, 2019
to January 1, 2024 on previous legislation which excludes from gross income, under both the personal income tax and corporation tax laws, amounts received as a rebate, voucher, or other financial incentive issued by a local water agency for participation in a turf removal water conservation program. “We must continue to implement policies that incentivize water conservation, and extending tax relief on already proven programs is a win for California and consumers,” said Assemblymember Holden.
Brendon Glenn is dead. Like in the countless cases that preceded his, Glenn was an unarmed black man killed by a police officer. Like those of his innumerable predecessors, his death was captured on video. As usual, the officer who shot Glenn says that the man was reaching for a fellow officer’s gun even though eyewitnesses and video do not show it. But unlike in most cases, the police chief says that the officer who shot Glenn should be prosecuted. The cop whose firearm Glenn was allegedly reaching for testified that he didn’t feel Glenn trying to reach for his weapon and said that he had no idea why his partner shot Brendon Glenn. Yet Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey decided not to bring charges against Clifford Proctor, the officer who shot Glenn in cold blood. According to the Los Angeles Times, Lacey admits that her decision had nothing to do with whether or not Proctor’s decision to shoot Glenn was justifiable. She did not convene a grand jury or file a single charge. In fact, though, there is such clear and convincing evidence in this case that legal experts familiar with it have wondered if Lacey would ever prosecute a case of police brutality. On May 5, 2015, a bartender at a Los Angeles bar dialed 911 to report that a customer was being “loud and obnoxious,” refusing to leave. Los Angeles Police Department officer Clifford Proctor and his partner, Jonathan Kawahara, arrived on the scene to find 29-year-old Brendon Glenn and his dog. Kawahara’s bodycam shows Proctor, who is black, cursing at Glenn and telling the offender, “Don’t come over here with your dog or I will shoot your dog.” Even though the chief of the Los Angeles Police Department would later fault Proctor for cursing and yelling, which “likely escalated the situation,” Kamahara’s report would describe
his partner as acting “calm and professional.” The officers told Glenn to leave, which he does, prompting the officers to turn off their bodycams. But Glenn continued to yell at customers at another bar, and video surveillance footage shows a bouncer from another establishment throwing Glenn to the ground, at which point Proctor and Kawahara try to handcuff Glenn. As they wrestle with Glenn, he tries to stand up. Glenn’s left hand is not visible in the surveillance footage, and neither is Kawahara’s gun. Proctor backs up and fires twice at point-blank range, hitting Glenn in the back and killing him. After investigators determined that Glenn was on his stomach and using his arms to push himself off the ground when he was shot, LAPD Chief Charlie Beck announced in January 2016 that he would recommend that the prosecutor, DA Lacey, file charges against Proctor for Glenn’s death. In a 12-page document, Beck noted that both responding officers were aware, before their arrival, that they would be dealing with someone who was possibly intoxicated but that the officers failed to develop a tactical plan. He also deemed Proctor’s defense that Glenn was reaching for Kawahara’s weapon to be null and void. Kawahara said that he did not feel a tug on his holster, and Beck added: Video footage obtained from the Townhouse Bar captured the struggle between Glenn and the officers and at no time during the struggle can Glenn’s hands be observed on or near any portion of Officer [redacted] holster. Officer [redacted] holster was attached to the left side of his duty belt. Witnesses to the incident also said that they didn’t see Glenn reach for Kawahara’s gun. Kawahara said he had no idea why Proctor shot Glenn. DNA tests of Kawahara’s service belt (continued on page 7)
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