Vol. 63 No. 44| Thursday, November 2, 2023

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Vol. 63 No. 44 | Thursday, November 2, 2023

www.sdvoice.info

Serving San Diego County’s African & African American Communities 63 Years

SAN DIEGO CONSISTORY NO. 1 APPRECIATION LUNCHEON SEE PAGE 9

BULLYING IN CALIFORNIA:

IN SOME SCHOOL DISTRICTS, BLACK STUDENTS ARE BEING TARGETED BY THEIR LATINO PEERS

PHOTO: Adobe Stock/ Ruslan Batiuk

By Edward Henderson CALIFORNIA BLACK MEDIA On Feb. 16, 2022, a Black student in the Santa Barbara Unified School District was assaulted by Latino students. His attackers called him the n-word and kneeled on his neck while repeatedly, chanting the name “George Floyd.” A district-wide acknowledgment of the hate crime was not sent out until Feb. 22, of that year.

Despite the psychological trauma this student experienced, the school did little to provide him with mental health support. This is in spite of Assembly Bill (AB) 1145, the Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act, a state law that provides specific instructions for schools to follow in such incidents. See BULLYING page 2

THE BLACK DIASPORA OF ISRAEL/PALESTINE SEE PAGE 8

COMMON GROUNDS’ ‘BLACK NATIVITY’ RETURNS SEE PAGE 10

PART 2: WHAT SURVIVORS OF HATE CRIMES

NEED TO KNOW

(Part 2 of a local series on Hate Crimes) By Shawn Smith-Hill CONTRIBUTING WRITER

To comprehend the gravity of hate crimes, it’s essential to start by defining what exactly constitutes a hate crime. According to the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office, a hate crime is any offense committed gainst an individual or their property due to their race, ethnicity, religion, nationality, PHOTO: AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack disability, gender, or sexual orientation. Importantly, the definition of a hate crime extends actions, regardless of their background or identity. This means that hate crimes aren’t limited to far beyond a particular group, and anyone can be a victim. targeting specific minority groups but encompass a wide spectrum of potential victims. The language of the law is intentionally broad, See HATE page 7 designed to protect everyone from hate-driven

CITY TAKES ACTION TO FLUSH OUT BATHROOM CRISIS Grand Jury Report Yields Response from Mayor and City Council to Build More Restrooms By Macy Meinhardt VOICE AND VIEWPOINT STAFF WRITER Five Grand Jury reports and one (major) hepatitis outbreak later, San Diego proposes a finalized response to claims that the city needs to prioritize the quality and quantity of public bathroom facilities in the downtown region.

Inside one of the city's fifteen 24/7 public bathroom facilities, off of Third St. in Downtown San Diego. PHOTO: Macy Meinhardt/ Voice & Viewpoint

To maintain San Diego’s status as “America’s Finest City,” more work needs to be done to assure residents, visitors, and the downtown workforce have access to clean and safe public restroom facilities, the report suggests.

Given the increase of homelessness presence in downtown, the latest report, DOWNTOWN AREA PUBLIC RESTROOMS IN THE CITY OF SAN DIEGO Stop Kicking the Can Down the Road, underscores the urgent need for the city to address the byproduct of this crisis; the growing presence of human waste, odor, and infectious diseases resulting from poor street and bathroom sanitation.

On Monday, the San Diego City Council voted to approve a

See BATHROOM page 10

CALIFORNIA BLACK MEDIA POLITICAL PLAYBACK News You Might Have Missed

By Tanu Henry, Antonio Ray Harvey and Joe W. Bowers Jr. CALIFORNIA BLACK MEDIA

“Shameful” Cal DOJ Report: Hospitals Ignored Racial Bias Training Mandated to Address Black Women’s High Maternal Death Rate

(From Left to Right) U.S. Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-CA-37), Assemblymember Akilah Weber (D-La Mesa), Sen. Lola Smallwood-Cuevas (D-Ladera Heights), L.A. County Supervisor Holly Mitchell, California Attorney General Rob Bonta and Gabrielle Brown, Black Women for Wellness Maternal and Infant Health Program Coordinator, at a California Department of Justice press conference. The briefing was organized to announce a Department of Justice report that found hospitals and clinics are ignoring racial bias training mandated to address California’s high maternal mortality rate. PHOTO: Courtesy of Office of the Attorney General, State of California

Four years ago this month, Senate Bill (SB) 464, also known as the California’s Dignity in Pregnancy and Childbirth Act, was signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom.

formal response to the 22-page grand jury report, highlighting numerous issues stemming from the inadequate availability of public restrooms in the downtown area, posing health and safety concerns for residents.

NEW COVID-19 VARIANT HV.1 EMERGES AS DOMINANT STRAIN IN THE U.S. By Stacy M. Brown NNPA NEWSWIRE SR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT

The law, authored by LA County Supervisor Holly Mitchell, when she served in the State Senate, mandated that health care facilities implement training to address unconscious racial bias toward expectant mothers to address California’s high maternal death rate among Black women.

As COVID-19 continues to evolve, a new variant has emerged, garnering attention from health officials across the United States. Known as HV.1, the latest variant has shown a significant surge in cases, raising questions about its potential impact on public health.

See PLAYBACK page 2

See COVID-19 page 2

PHOTO: Courtesy of NNPA

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