Crime

Facing the Assault on Civil Rights

Published

7 years ago

July 11, 2017

The Trump administration has launched an unprecedented rollback of civil rights and voting rights. Those who care about building a more perfect union face harsh headwinds.

We’ve gone from an administration seeking to fulfill these rights to one seeking to repeal these rights.

Instead of a reconstruction, we are faced with a retrenchment, an effort to radically reverse the gains that have been made by women, people of color and the LGBTQ community.

Instead of understanding that expanding civil rights is a vital therapy to heal this nation, the Trump administration views it as a threat to its rule.

The rollback is government wide. The Labor Department has announced plans to disband the division that polices discrimination among federal contractors as a “cost cutting measure.”

The Environmental Protection Agency plans to eliminate the environmental justice program that focuses on the environmental threats to minority communities. The Education Department is decimating staffing of its Office of Civil Rights.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development has revoked guidance on a rule that allows transgender people to stay in sex-segregated shelters matching their gender identity.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions, formerly a senator representing Alabama, has led the rollback. The DOJ has reversed its opposition to a Texas discriminatory voter ID law.

Sessions has announced that he would review consent decrees that the Obama Justice Department made to reform police departments.

Sessions has ordered U.S. prosecutors to seek the maximum sentences, while moving to revive private prisons. The administration is gearing up for a national assault on voting rights, pushing measures that will make voting more difficult.

Women, people of color, the poor and the LGBTQ are the targets and the direct victims of this assault. But the entire country will suffer, as basic rights are denied, prisons are expanded, and hopes and dreams are stuffed out.

In Chicago this week, leaders from across the country will gather for the annual Rainbow Push National Summit. We will use this time to map out our response to this assault on all that we have fought for. Now is the time for citizens of conscience to join together to defend and expand basic civil rights.

We will work to defend voting rights, building the movement to add the federal right to vote to the U.S. Constitution. As some move to constrict voting, we will move to expand it.

Illinois is about to become the ninth state to pass automatic voter registration, with the potential addition of an estimated 1 million voters to the voting rolls. We will push to pass automatic voter registration in states across the union. If successful, we will add a stunning 51 million new voters to the rolls.

We will demand that President Trump fulfill his promise to invest $1 trillion in rebuilding America, helping to generate real jobs doing vital things that need to be done.

We will defend sanctuary cities providing some support for undocumented workers with children.

As the Department of Justice retreats from the enforcement of civil rights, we will expand the pressure on corporations and governments to adhere to equal employment opportunity from the boardroom to the basement, from their contracts to philanthropy.

Dr. Martin Luther King taught us that “human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable . . . Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering and struggle — the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals.”

Now, in this headwind of injustice, it is time for the tribunes of justice to move forward. Now is the time for citizens of conscience to come to the aid of their country.

Oakland Post

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Justice for Henry Texada

Henry Texada was known as a leader, a role model, godfather, and a friend to all. He enjoyed mentoring younger members of his family and participants at the Boys and Girls Club. He was always giving and present in the lives of others with a kind word or suggestion. Henry used the skills gained at Youth Radio as a digital media photographer to inspire others. He wanted to learn as much as he could to be a supportive person for youth, so he enrolled at Laney College for the fall of 2020 for classes in Early Childhood Development. He was killed when several people exited a 2020 silver Nissan Armada and shot him around 2 p.m. on April 28, 2020, on 68th Avenue in East Oakland.

Published

5 hours ago

May 4, 2024

Oakland Post

Henry Texada was 23 when he was slain in 2020. Courtesy photo.

Family Seeks Justice for Murdered Son on Fourth Anniversary of His Death

Special to The Post

Henry used the skills gained at Youth Radio as a digital media photographer to inspire others. He wanted to learn as much as he could to be a supportive person for youth, so he enrolled at Laney College for the fall of 2020 for classes in Early Childhood Development.

He was killed when several people exited a 2020 silver Nissan Armada and shot him around 2 p.m. on April 28, 2020, on 68^th Avenue in East Oakland. Police were able to recover the vehicle, which had been rented in Reno, Nev., but have been unable to solve the case.

Henry’s senseless murder continues to deeply impact his loved ones who are suffering from his loss.

“I hate the phrase passed away or died,” his mother says. “My son, Henry, was very protective of me, and we had a bond that could not be broken. I miss him so much.

“I hate April 28th because I feel Henry should be here, because he had a purpose helping others and working with youth. He was physically strong and had a plan, goals, and dreams. Henry had a smile that would light up the room. He is a wonderful son, brother, and uncle.”

“Instead of imploring you for information and help, I should be telling you about all the things he has achieved and all the people that he touched,” his mother said. “But instead, here I am praying for justice because a person who would take the shirt off his back for others was murdered.

“There is no word to describe this everyday pain for me. I expect him to text me at any moment because his favorite saying was “don’t say bye, say see you later.” It’s four years later and I can’t physically hold him,” his mother comcluded.

The Family Support Advocates join with Henry Texada’s grieving family and loved ones in their pursuit of justice. Anyone in the community with information about Henry’s murder is asked to contact the Homicide Section of the Oakland Police Department at (510) 238-3821 or the TIP LINE at (510) 238-7950. CrimeStoppers of Oakland is offering a reward for an arrest in this case. #JusticeforHenry.

FAMILY SUPPORT ADVOCACY TASK FORCE

The mission of the Family Support Advocacy Task Force, a committee of the Violence Prevention Coalition, is to advocate for local, state and federal policies and legislation to enhance and expand support to families and friends of those who experienced violence; for more compassionate and transparent communication between law enforcement, the district attorney with the family of homicide victims and to push for the elimination of all violence, but particularly gun violence and homicides.

Oakland Post

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Activism

Calif. Anti-Sex Trafficking Advocates Discuss Competing Bills, Strategies

Advocates from across California are challenging state officials and community leaders to support legislation that provides resources and services for survivors and victims of human trafficking, as well as assistance as they transition back into civil society.  Some of those advocates are also calling for more effective state policy to curtail trafficking, a crime that has an outsized impact on Black children, particularly girls.

Published

1 day ago

May 3, 2024

Oakland Post

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By Bo Tefu, California Black Media

Some of those advocates are also calling for more effective state policy to curtail trafficking, a crime that has an outsized impact on Black children, particularly girls.

According to the FBI, a report covering a two-year period found Black children accounted for 57% of all juvenile arrests for prostitution. In addition, 40% of sex trafficking victims were Black and 60% of those victims had been enrolled in the foster care system.

“It is time to hold the perpetrators who take advantage of our children accountable,” said the Rev. Shane Harris, a San Diego-based activist, former foster youth and founder of the Peoples Association of Justice Advocates, (PAJA), a national civil rights organization and policy think tank.

“It is time to send a thorough message that if you seek to buy a child for sex, you will pay the highest criminal penalties in this state,” added Harris who was speaking at a rally at the State Capitol earlier this month. Harris was speaking in support of Senate Bill 1414, authored by Sen. Shannon Grove (D-Bakersfield), which calls for people who buy sex from minors to be punished with a felony. The punishment includes a two-year prison sentence and a $25,000 fine.

Harris said the PAJA is the only civil rights organization in the state that supports SB 1414.

Harris urged other Black-led groups who favor anti-trafficking legislation more focused on criminal justice reforms (as opposed to stiffer penalties), to “join the movement.”

Many of those civil rights groups fear that SB 1414 could lead to the incarceration of more Black youth.

Those sentiments were echoed in a panel discussion organized by Black women advocates on April 26 to examine the cause and effects of human trafficking in California’s Black communities. The virtual event was hosted by the Forgotten Children, Inc, a faith-based nonprofit that advocates for survivors and victims of human trafficking through anti-trafficking campaigns and initiatives.

Panelists shared the psychological impact of sexual exploitation on youth and children in the long term.

Author and educator Dr. Stephany Powell shared statistics and information revealing that African American women and girls are the most trafficked nationwide.

Powell, who serves as the senior advisor on law enforcement and policy at the National Center on Sexual Exploitation said that national data indicates that sex trade survivors are disproportionately women of color. She stated that male survivors often go unnoticed because boys rarely report trafficked crimes.

Powell said that decriminalizing prostitution in California could increase human trafficking. She argued that Senate Bill 357, authored by Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), which was signed into law in 2022 and legalized loitering for prostitution, caused a surge in street-level prostitution.

Panelist and psychologist Dr. Gloria Morrow shared opposing views on decriminalizing prostitution. She said that decriminalizing prostitution could help survivors gain access to state resources and support.

Despite opposing views, Powell and Morrow agree that the Black community needs resources and educational programs to address human trafficking.