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LB Details Framework for Reconciliation

Reporters Desk
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LB Details Framework for Reconciliation

LONG BEACH —The city announced plans June 15, for a “Framework for Reconciliation in Long Beach,” as unanimously approved by the City Council. Acknowledging the existence and long-standing impacts of systemic racism in Long Beach and the country, the initiative will provide a framework for engaging the public in a reconciliation process, internal process review and local action plan.

The Framework for Reconciliation centers around four key steps: 

Acknowledging the existence and long-standing impacts of systemic racism in Long Beach and the country.

Listening to accounts and experiences of racial injustice, inequity, or harm of community members.

Convening stakeholders to evaluate the feedback from the listening process and shape policy, budgetary, charter and programmatic reform ideas.

Catalyzing action, presenting immediate, short-term, medium-term, and long-term recommendations for the City Council’s consideration.

Long Beach residents will have the opportunity to participate in a series of collaborative, focus-group style community listening sessions to engage in and provide ideas for creating meaningful change for all aspects of inequity and racial injustice. 

The sessions began June 18 and will continue through July. Listening sessions will be held virtually.

Details:www.longbeach.gov/health/healthy-living/office-of-equity/reconciliation

Community members are encouraged to complete a brief online survey, and can submit their questions, ideas and inquiries about how to get involved by email to EquityLB@longbeach.gov. All comments will be reviewed, organized into thematic areas, and shared with policy makers and the public. 

Initial listening session topics, dates and times are as follows:

Racial Equity Across Systems (including health, economics, education, etc.)

June 18, 5:30 p.m. – 7 p.m.

June 30, 5:30 p.m. – 7 p.m.

Spectrum of Community Safety

July 2, 10 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.

June 24, 5:30 p.m. – 7 p.m.

Health Equity

June 25, 5:30 p.m. – 7 p.m.

July 2, 10 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.

Racial Equity in Housing and Homelessness

June 26, 10 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.

July 1, 5:30 p.m. – 7 p.m.

Economic Equity

June 29, 10 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.

July 2, 5:30 p.m. – 7 p.m.

Equity in Education & Youth Services

June 29, 5:30 p.m. – 7 p.m.

July 3, 10 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.

For more information,www.longbeach.gov/press-releases/city-details-framework-for-reconciliation/

Budget Cuts, Priorities

Terelle Jerricks
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Budget Cuts, Priorities

By June Burlingame Smith

Dear Joe [Buscaino]:

 What I didn’t say the other day, and should have, is that I was a Dodger fan when they were the Brooklyn Dodgers. We lived in Northern Jersey during World War II and I glued myself to the radio to listen to games. I loved those “bums.”

 But I’m writing on a more serious note, so please bear with me.

 We see, as a nation, that when we are all suffering together we turn to the arts for solace, expression and sanity. They offer us the creativity, emotional touch and release we seem to require to be stable human beings. So the arts are much more than just something “nice” in our lives; they are vital to our life and culture. Local businesses heavily depend on their health and vibrancy.

 As you well know, San Pedro is a mecca for all of the arts; look at what ballet and the success of Misty Copeland has done for us nationally. We are also the headquarters for the Watercolor Society and maintain the national reputation of our museums and aquarium. Without this creative and stimulating community, San Pedro would suffer financially and it would lose one of the mainsprings for tourism: nightlife and cultural attractiveness. To that end, I have a huge concern about upcoming budget cuts and what they will inevitably do to not only the arts communities individually but also to the collective economic and cultural life of San Pedro.

 Along with that loss, we are also changing the very “face” of San Pedro by new building and planning design. As we move into the mid 21st century, we have already seen the destruction of many of the older business buildings from the 19th and 20th century. As we tear out the old, we have to have a vision for the future that seeks to maintain one of the most important attractions to our town: families and family heritage.

Each new building changes the character of the town’s presentation; each new apartment house changes family structure; each new business builds a new economic engine. Too much elimination of  what makes San Pedro an essential current draw for the movie industry, for instance, will deprive that industry of one of its favorite sites and an income loss for us. We will always have the beach and the parks, at least I hope so, and we can probably depend on that continuing to draw movie revenues, but the rest of the town’s draw will diminish and eventually disappear forever.

 The proposed building along Pacific Avenue up to 22nd Street will further change the nature of San Pedro drastically; the whole west side of Pacific will be open to 45-foot buildings with inadequate parking for residents who occupy the buildings, diminished if not eliminated frontal local businesses and no parking for clients. Further, the proposed development and the  inevitable build-out that will follow, will narrow and constrict a major emergency roadway, one of only two, that must be available for tsunami evacuation or earthquake access to Fort [MacArthur] housing and the Point. No additional park or open space will be provided for the many thousands of new residents, nor for the “old residents” either, and the effect will be container architecture boring, a parking nightmare and loss of any old San Pedro charm.

Destroying the old character completely will not make the community more family- friendly, nor enticing, nor will it attract new businesses because it isn’t providing the space, the transportation, the open space, or parking required for successful business and cheerful living.

 So, Joe, I am very concerned.  How can I be a voice in the community to help you shore up and keep what is most valuable in our labor, immigrant and arts rich town?

POLA AND LADWP Swap Property to Facilitate Next Phase of Wilmington Waterfront Development

Terelle Jerricks
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POLA AND LADWP Swap Property to Facilitate Next Phase of Wilmington Waterfront Development

Wilmington – City of Los Angeles officials June 15, announced a land exchange transaction between the Port of Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) that will enable the port to proceed with development of the Avalon Promenade and Gateway, a key component of its Wilmington Waterfront Development Program. The land exchange will also provide LADWP with land required to move forward with the redevelopment of its Harbor Generation Station in Wilmington.

For more than a decade, the port and LADWP have worked on a way to connect Avalon Boulevard to the Wilmington Waterfront through land controlled by LADWP, a four-acre parcel that currently houses a 500,000 barrel petroleum storage tank and other buildings. The land swap now gives the port control of the parcel at Avalon Boulevard and Harry Bridges Boulevard, allowing the port to move ahead with the next phase of Wilmington Waterfront development—the Avalon Promenade and Gateway. Demolition and clearing of the former LADWP parcel started June 15, with construction of the Avalon Promenade and Gateway slated to start this fall.

Harbor Commission OKs $370,195 in Sponsorships

Reporters Desk
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Harbor Commission OKs $370,195 in Sponsorships

LONG BEACH — The Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners has approved 137 community sponsorships totaling $370,195, capping off a year of port awards that highlight the Port of Long Beach’s role in international trade and dedication to social responsibility.

With the latest sponsorships, the Port has awarded a total of $746,195 in the current fiscal year, which began Oct. 1, 2019, for 261 total events representing a wide cross-section of the city and causes such as the arts, environment, social justice and historic preservation.

Harbor Commissioners adopted an updated policy for the Port’s Community Sponsorship Program. The update includes a section about unforeseen circumstances and canceled or postponed events, a change in the payment disbursement percentage and a new advertising agreement requirement for awards greater than $7,500. The updated policy can be found on the Port’s website here.

Among the events and programs sponsored in the latest call for applications are the Casa Youth Shelter’s Youth Leadership Conference, The LGBTQ Center Long Beach’s AIDS Walk, and the Friends of the Los Angeles River’s Great L.A. River CleanUp.

Sponsorship recipients are required to promote the port through their sponsored events to spread awareness about the port’s maritime and commercial interests. This requirement is based on the common law Public Trust Doctrine which requires that revenues generated by the port be reinvested back into the public trust lands for the benefit of the public. 

Details:www.polb.com/community/sponsorships/#sponsorship-overview 

Long Beach Launches Safe Biz, Physical Distancing Self Certification For Businesses

Reporters Desk
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Long Beach Launches Safe Biz, Physical Distancing Self Certification For Businesses

LONG BEACH- The City of Long Beach June 11, launched SafeBiz, a web-interface which allows businesses, which may open according to the safer-at-home order to self-certify that they are committed to re-opening their business safely.

SafeBiz guides business owners through a checklist of safety measures required by the safer-at-home order to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The order Appendix A: Physical Distancing Protocol includes measures to protect employee health, to keep crowds from gathering, to keep people at least six feet apart and prevent unnecessary contact, and to increase sanitation measures to support a safe environment for patrons. Businesses must implement all applicable measures, or be prepared to explain why measures that are not implemented are not applicable to the business. If all questions are answered appropriately, a certificate will be automatically generated upon completion of the self-assessment for the business to print and post in a visible place along with a posting of a Physical Distancing Protocol.

Long Beach Code Enforcement staff will periodically review self-certification entries to ensure they are valid and will use the database to conduct spot checks of businesses to verify compliance.

Residents may report violations and non-compliant businesses by calling 562-570-2633 or emailing CETaskForce@LongBeach.gov.

West Coast Dockworkers Will Observe Juneteenth

Reporters Desk
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West Coast Dockworkers Will Observe Juneteenth

SAN FRANCISCO – ILWU dockworkers at 29 West Coast ports will stop work for eight hours on Friday, June 19, in observance of Juneteenth – the date in 1865 when Black slaves in Texas first learned of their emancipation.

“Juneteenth has long been recognized by the African-American community, but for many others it was unknown until now – as our nation, in the wake of George Floyd’s murder, refocuses on ways to address ongoing, systemic racial injustice,” said ILWU International President Willie Adams. “Thousands of dockworkers will stop work for the first shift on June 19, 2020, to show their commitment to the cause of racial equality and social justice.”

The plans for June 19 follow a brief action on June 9, when ILWU dockworkers stopped working for nine minutes to pay tribute to Mr. Floyd in conjunction with his funeral service in Houston, Texas.

“Juneteenth commemorates the end of slavery in the United States,” said ILWU International Secretary-Treasurer Ed Ferris, who attended Mr. Floyd’s memorial on June 8. “It’s appropriate and necessary for us to acknowledge this history in the search for ways to end racism and restore justice for all Americans.”

ILWU International Executive Board member Melvin Mackay also attended Mr. Floyd’s memorial. “It’s been 157 years since the Emancipation Proclamation,” said Mackay, “but our nation remains plagued by systemic racism, as the murder of Mr. Floyd so tragically demonstrated. We can and must do better.”

Events celebrating Juneteenth and the push for racial and social justice are being organized by dockworkers at West Coast ports, including Los Angeles/Long Beach, the Bay Area, and Puget Sound.

“On June 19, I’ll be supporting my union brothers and sisters in Southern California,” said International Vice-President Bobby Olvera, Jr., who represents ILWU members on the mainland. “We feel compelled to act on June 19 against racism, hate, and intolerance, while our nation endures a devastating pandemic and painful new wounds from a President who prefers division over unity.”

President Adams said, “We’re approaching June 19 in the spirit of our Union’s founders, including some who gave their lives in 1934. We still live by their creed: ‘an injury to one is an injury to all.’”

Re-Opening Our Schools: Hearing TOMORROW

Reporters Desk
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Re-Opening Our Schools: Hearing TOMORROW

As Chair of the Assembly Education Committee, Assemblymember Patrick O’Donnell invites you to watch a hearing he is holding June 16, on how to safely re-open our schools. Statewide education leaders and representatives from school districts and education organizations will provide information on important health and safety measures to consider, plans for instruction, and strategies to support our students for the next academic year.

SPEAKERS:

Assemblymember Patrick O’Donnell

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond

State Board of Education President Linda Darling-Hammond

Representatives from school districts, education organizations, California State PTA

To access and watch the hearing, which will take place in Sacramento, visit the State Assembly website at www.assembly.ca.gov/todaysevents.

Time:10 a.m. June 16

Details: 562-429-0470

San Pedro Bay Ports Clean Air Action Plan Second Advisory Meeting of 2020 to be Held Online

Reporters Desk
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San Pedro Bay Ports Clean Air Action Plan Second Advisory Meeting of 2020 to be Held Online

SAN PEDRO -The ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles will update the public on progress toward the goals of the San Pedro Bay Ports Clean Air Action Plan during a June 24, meeting.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the meeting will be held via WebEx, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. To participate in the meeting, click here to register, https://tinyurl.com/CAAP-stakeholder-meeting and you will receive instructions on participating via computer or phone.

Regular advisory meetings were called for as part of the CAAP Update approved by the Long Beach and Los Angeles boards of Harbor Commissioners in November 2017.

Strike Wave in Yakima Valley Demands Safer Working Conditions, Hazard Pay

Mark Friedman
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Strike Wave in Yakima Valley Demands Safer Working Conditions, Hazard Pay

Safer working conditions and an extra $2 an hour in hazard pay are the two main demands at the center of work stoppages by people working during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The May 14 COVID-related strike in Washington state’s Yakima Valley quadrupled in size, as workers walked out of three more apple packinghouses. More than a hundred stopped work on May 7 at Allan Brothers Fruit, a large apple growing, packing and shipping company in Naches, in Central Washington. On May 12, they were joined by 200 more workers, who walked off the job at the Jack Frost Fruit Co. in Yakima and at the Selah Matson Fruit Co. The next day, another 100 workers walked out at the Monson Fruit packing shed in Selah.

Inside these huge apple sheds, hundreds of people labor shoulder-to-shoulder, sorting and packing fruit. If someone gets sick, it can potentially spread through the workers on the lines and into the surrounding towns. Although packinghouse laborers are almost entirely immigrants from Mexico, most have lived here for years. Jobs in the sheds are a step up from the fields, with year-round work at 40 hours per week.

This part of agribusiness — Central Washington’s largest employer — and the industry has successfully fought off unions for many years. However, the virus may change that if the strike wave becomes the spark for creating a permanent organization. It is what the companies fear when they see workers stop the lines when farmworker union organizers are helping to sustain the walkouts.

“The most important demand for us is that we have a healthy workplace and protection from the virus,” said Agustin Lopez, one of the strike leaders at Allan Brothers. “Fourteen people have left work over the last month because they have the COVID-19. So far as we know, the company isn’t paying them. We need protections at work, like adequate masks, and we want tests. How do we even know if any of us have been infected if there are no tests?”

Allan Brothers didn’t disinfect the plant and stop production when the workers got sick. One worker, Jennifer Garton, told the Yakima Herald, “They are not doing what they’re saying they’re doing,” and that workers only heard about the cases of COVID-19 in the plant through their own conversations.


“People were taking their vacations or sick leave or anything they could to stay home,” said Edgar Franks, political director of a new union for Washington farmworkers, Familias Unidas Por La Justicia. “The company said that if we had worked for five weeks we could stay home, but they wouldn’t pay us. We’re only making minimum wage, so how could we do that? We have no guarantee we would even have our jobs back if we dBy Mark Friedman, Contributing Columniston’t come in to work now.”

In response to the demands, she says the company offered to buy the workers lunch. Over a hundred workers rejected that and struck the company.

The shed of another Yakima packer, Roche Fruit Co., did stop work in April to disinfect the plant, after two workers had become infected. After an hour of bargaining, the company offered them $100 per week instead and they went back to work.

“At the heart of their dissatisfaction is that they are essential workers, but their pay does not reflect that,” Franks said. 


At the rally in front of the Allan Brothers packinghouse, a woman said that the biggest question was whether they could work without getting sick. 

“We have people who have been affected in this shed,” she told Yakima Councilwoman Dulce Gutierrez. “We want the company to guarantee that there are no more people who have the virus here at work, so that we can protect ourselves and our families.”

Agustin Lopez has lived in the Yakima Valley and worked in its sheds since 1985. He thinks change is not just possible, but happening around him. 

“This connection between us is something new and there are people out here from lots of the plants,” Lopez said. 

He believes the answer will be determined by the strike.

“If the companies are willing to negotiate, we’ll listen to what they have to say,” he said. “And if not, then we will continue with our strike.”
 

Rapper Deuce Banga Tells His Story Through Music

RL Intern
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Rapper Deuce Banga Tells His Story Through Music

By Velia Salazar and Jessica Olvera, Editorial Interns

Derrick Fuller, aka Deuce Banga, was only five years old when his stepfather was shot in front of him. Fuller was sitting in the backseat when he was killed. 

As the young boy fled the scene, the killer named “Deuce,” a name that would mark his path as a rapper. 

Fuller, now known as Deuce Banga was born in Wilmington, Del. When he was 11 years old, his cousin, Jordan Ellerbe was shot and killed at the age of 16 in a drive-by shooting.  

“There was one song that was about my cousin, and that stuck out to me because I was actually young when the situation happened,” said Banga. “There was true stuff in that song that I experienced. And the other song, it just stuck out to me because everybody liked it. It had the most publicity out of all my tracks. It was Case Closed and onetwentythree.”

Following the shooting, Fuller said that his hometown experienced a rise of gun violence amongst young teens and the fear of shootings in the gang wars escalated. 

“It’s crazy in my hometown,” Fuller said. “I had situations where I was on a bus and then 

there was a whole shootout.”  

When Banga was 13, he was very excited for his voice to be heard, so he self-promoted the song through word of mouth and managed to get 3,000 SoundCloud streams. It was not easy since he did not get any help or promotion from anyone.

Deuce Banga, who is now 16-years-old, currently resides in Huntington Park and is heavily influenced by the rapper Nipsey Hussle. 

Besides being a rapper, Hussle was an entrepreneur and a community activist. He was shot outside his Marathon Clothing store on March 31, 2019.

Banga raps about his own traumatic experiences in his songs and believes that if his cousin had never been killed, he would not have started to write and begin his passion for rapping. 

“Gun violence still plays a pretty big part in my life and I try to distance myself and focus on music,” Banga said. “I had to learn how to maneuver right and as I got older, I tried to explain all of this in my music.” 

His lyrics, which Banga understands can come across as violent, pose a deeper meaning to express his past trauma and the environment he was raised in. 

With the tragic passing of Hussle and growing up with his music, Banga decided that he wanted to follow in his footsteps by creating music that explained the realism of gun violence and to inspire others. 

“Nipsey was a big influence in my life,” Fuller said. “He always stood out because he was real and he wasn’t all about violence but helping people and his community.” 

Banga aspires to be like Hussle one day. Banga’s very first studio track was a tribute to his late cousin titled, onetwentythree.

Banga came across an article of how Nipsey once sold 1,000 cd’s for $100 dollars each and even had Jay-Z, another rapper, buy 100 copies. The article that he read inspired him to form a plan for the year 2020.

Banga is donating $100,000 of the proceeds to a charity of Lauren London’s (Nipsey’s wife) choosing, and $100,000 will go towards opening an immediate start-up business in Nipsey’s neighborhood. The remaining proceeds will stay with him and be used for his rap career. He is currently halfway to his goal. He hopes with this article, it’ll get him even more exposure from a well-known artist.

“I know if I get that much publicity, then I’m definitely going to be able to reach her,” Banga said.

Banga doesn’t know London personally, but he knows some artists that have connections to her so once he achieves his goal; he’ll be able to give the money to her. 

He knows that getting more exposure as an artist means being able to budget. Banga wasn’t happy with just his friends and family listening to his music, he wanted more people to listen to his music. He was prepared to fail but his gut was telling him that he will win. With the help of 2econd, a Los Angeles based rapper. Banga convinced him to record several tracks for the promotional effort. Banga heard the first two songs and simply said: two is all we need.

Since he has gone through gun violence, he recommends for others to talk about it in order to cope.

“You need to vent about it, you can’t just keep it in,” said Banga. “I know my problem, personally, I try to keep it in and it does not help at all. That’s why I try my best to express it through my music because it is a lot to go through at a young age.”

Although his friends and family support him, the only person that is helping him with his career is his manager.

“I really don’t have anyone helping me,” said Banga. “It’s just my manager and me.”

With his self-promotion, he is currently at 6,000 pre-sales and hopes that his music will impact youngsters like himself in communities who have faced similar violence in their lives to focus on what they’re passionate about and push through obstacles. His music can be found through his Soundcloud account.

Banga still uses the support from his community in his hometown of Delaware and the legacy that Hussle has left behind to help heal from his past experiences of violence and to pay tribute to those who have fallen victim to it.

 “I’m trying to tell a story through my music but also give a voice to others who have lived a similar life like mine,” Banga said. “I want it to be something to relate to and become a good impact so that others can see that there are positive outcomes they can choose from instead of turning to negativity.” 

 

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