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Panelists search for solutions to gentrification

WAVE NEWSPAPERS — Developers are rapidly buying up properties along the Crenshaw corridor in anticipation of the completion of the Crenshaw LAX Rail Line that will carry up to 16,000 commuters a day and is costing approximately $1.3 billion to build. A number of luxury apartments are in the process of being completed that have residents in South Los Angeles concerned as to whether the high-priced rentals will price them out of their neighborhoods.

Published

6 years ago

October 14, 2019

Oakland Post

Southern Los Angeles Panel on Gentrification (Photo by: wavenewspapers.com)

By Shirley Hawkins

SOUTH LOS ANGELES — Developers are rapidly buying up properties along the Crenshaw corridor in anticipation of the completion of the Crenshaw LAX Rail Line that will carry up to 16,000 commuters a day and is costing approximately $1.3 billion to build.

A number of luxury apartments are in the process of being completed that have residents in South Los Angeles concerned as to whether the high-priced rentals will price them out of their neighborhoods.

Gentrification has become the hot topic and hundreds of people turned out Oct. 5 to attend a town hall meeting on the topic at the South Central Los Angeles Regional Center building on Western Avenue.^..

Four panels tackled the gentrification issue that included pastors, business and community leaders.

“The problem with gentrification is that there is inclusion that excludes us,” said Pastor Shep Crawford, who urged residents to collectively come together to voice their concerns to the City Council.

“We don’t want our people to be displaced,” Crawford said. “You just can’t come in here and kick us out. If we can all agree on some kind of movement to confront gentrification, then we can’t be stopped.”

Marc Morial, president and CEO of the National Urban League, said, “Each [proposed] development should have an inclusionary measure. If the city is going to greenlight a project, it needs to include units that are affordable.

“There’s got to be a political will to get behind it.

“The community needs to craft a comprehensive housing policy and there needs to be an increase in affordable units. The U.S. used to provide over one million affordable housing units a year and this has been reduced to 60,000.”

Pausing, he said, “There needs to be a moratorium. We need to stand up and say, ‘We’re not going to allow you to build any more luxury apartment buildings unless you include affordable housing. There needs to be a zoning policy here in the city of L.A.”

Morial said “New York City has rent control, which is controlled by a rent stabilization board. I would look at the New York City policy to see if it can be applicable to Los Angeles because they have cash and finance subsidies to build affordable units.”

Pastor Xavier Thompson of the Southern Baptist Church said that local churches need to come together and devise a comprehensive plan to tackle gentrification.

“We don’t just say ‘no’ to gentrification, we say ‘Hell, no!” Thompson declared. “When we are pushed out of our communities, we lose our voice and vote. We know that deals are being made in the backroom and the boardroom and we are being left out. If we are going to reimagine [our communities], you have to give us a seat at the table.”

Former NBA player and business owner Norm Nixon added, “From a political perspective, more tax dollars and rich people are moving into the neighborhood. You have to hold your politicians accountable in order to demand more affordable housing.”

Michael Lawson, president of the Los Angeles Urban League, said, “Developers are buying homes and businesses, but they have access to credit — and businesses are bought and sold on credit. Many of us don’t have that option, but we need to start buying property,” he said.

“There are projects in our community that are being greenlighted, but we are actively lobbying the politicians because we need their help,” he said.

“It’s important to know how even one dollar circulates in our community,” Lawson added. “A dollar in a Korean community circulates for 50 days, but a dollar spent in our community leaves in eight hours.”

Kevin Harbor, president of the UCLA Black Alumni Association who owns an information technology company, said, “My parents moved to Leimert Park in 1967 when I was 10 years old. As I grew up, the value of real estate in the area went up.

“When my children grew to house buying age, I found that they couldn’t even buy in the neighborhood I live in now. They were priced out. Our backs were against the wall.”

Pausing, he said, “Let’s get together and start buying stuff and passing it down. Then we don’t have to ask permission for anything.”

Brian Williams, vice president and chief operating officer for the Los Angeles Urban League, said that gentrification intersects with power, money, racism and classicism. “It is designed for us not to take advantage of the opportunities that surround us,” he said. “It is immoral to deny people housing. It’s a human right, but it’s bound up in a political issue of power.”

“I want everyone to Google opportunity zones and co-op opportunity zones,” said Beny Ashburn, who with her partner, Teo Hunter, owns Crowns & Hops, a brewery located in Inglewood.

“There are programs (to purchase property) that are not being introduced to us,” she said. “Developers are coming in and buying blocks of our community. They have bought up all of Century Boulevard.”

Michael Weinstein, president of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, whose organization sponsored the town hall, said “There’s a problem in California with the lack of transparency. Developers are giving council people a boatload of money to build these developments.”

The organization founded the Healthy Housing Foundation, which provides affordable housing to individuals living with HIV and AIDS and also provides housing for the homeless population.

“A lot of our clients and employees had to move out of the city to afford housing,” said Weinstein, who added that the organization has purchased five hotels and is actively seeking another hotel to purchase in South Los Angeles. The rent for clients is an affordable $400 dollars a month.

“I felt [gentrification] was a moral outrage — that same as what happened (to clients) during the AIDS epidemic in the ‘80s,” he said, adding that one of the foundation’s goals is to maintain and preserve communities.

“Overall, I would say that for a long time, the attitude was no development in South Los Angeles. But I think that’s changed in the last couple of years,” he said.

“People are moving back into the city and Crenshaw and Boyle Heights have become areas for prime investments. I attended an Urban League dinner a few months ago and I said, “If you don’t do something now, Crenshaw will be gone, and it looks like my words are coming true.”

“If the landlord wants to sell an apartment building, they should first ask the tenants if they want to put together their resources to buy the building,” said Tunua Thrash-Ntuk, a candidate for the Long Beach City Council.

“We have to start thinking, ‘How do I come together with my community in order to buy homes and commercial assets?’”

“If you have a self-directed [individual retirement account], you can spend money from that IRA to buy a business,” Harbour said.

“We’ve got to realize that this is a real fight between the haves and the have nots,” Harbour added. “There needs to be a paradigm shift so that we can work together. If we go in collectively and say, ‘You will do this,’ then they will do it. We need to figure out the solution and not ask for permission.”

The article first appeared in the Wave Newspapers.

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Poll Shows Support for Policies That Help Families Afford Child Care

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — New national polling shows persistent voter concern about the affordability and availability of child care for working parents, alongside broad support across key demographic groups for federal child care policies that help families afford care.

Published

3 days ago

March 2, 2026

Oakland Post

By First Five Years Fund

New national polling shows persistent voter concern about the affordability and availability of child care for working parents, alongside broad support across key demographic groups for federal child care policies that help families afford care.

The national survey was conducted by UpOne Insight on behalf of the First Five Years Fund from January 13–18, 2026.

Key findings include:

• Parents need help: 80% of voters say the ability of working parents to find and afford child care is either in a state of crisis or a major problem.

• This is an affordability issue: 82% believe federal child care funding will help lower costs for working families — including 69% of Republicans, 84% of Independents, and 94% of Democrats.

• And there continues to be strong support (62%) for the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG), a federal program that makes it possible for hundreds of thousands of families to afford safe, quality care for their children while parents work or go to school, including a majority of Republicans, 63% of Independents and 72% of Democrats.

• Support for funding child care programs remains strong: 75% believe child care funding should be increased or kept at current levels — including 75% of Republicans, 85% of Independents, and 97% of Democrats.

• 74% say funding for child care is an important and good use of tax dollars, including a majority of Republicans, three-quarters of Independents, and nine in ten Democrats.

FFYF Executive Director Sarah Rittling said, “Voters across the country are sending a clear message: federal child care and early learning programs work. These investments help parents stay in the workforce, strengthen families, and support healthy child development. They have also long had strong bipartisan support in Congress. At a time when affordability is top of mind for families, continued federal funding is essential to ensure child care remains accessible and within reach.”

First Five Years Fund works to protect, prioritize, and build bipartisan support for quality child care and early learning programs at the federal level. Reliable, affordable, and high-quality early learning and child care can be transformative, not only enhancing a child’s prospects for a brighter future but also bolstering working parents and fostering economic stability nationwide.

We work with Congress and the Administration to identify federal solutions that work for families with young children, as well as states and communities. We work with policymakers to identify ways to increase access to affordable, high-quality child care and early learning programs for children. And we collaborate with advocacy groups to help align best practices with the best possible policies. http://www.ffyf.org

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Trump’s MAGA Allies are Creating Executive Order Plan to Steal the 2026 Midterms

NNPA NEWSWIRE — The document that could lead to an executive order proposes using the claim that China interfered with the 2020 elections as grounds to “declare a national emergency.” The move would be an unprecedented step that would grant Trump new authority over the voting systems in the U.S.

Published

6 days ago

February 27, 2026

Oakland Post

By Lauren Victoria Burke, NNPA Newswire Correspondent

A group of MAGA pro-Trump activists, who say they are working in coordination with the White House, are circulating a 17-page draft executive order that would claim without evidence that China interfered with the 2020 presidential election. Donald Trump lost the 2020 presidential to President Joe Biden by over 7 million votes. Since Trump lost to Biden in 2020, he has repeatedly claimed that the election was “stolen” without evidence. The report of a group of “Trump allies” preparing an executive order to give Trump power over elections was first reported by The Washington Post.

The lies around the right-wing campaign that pushed falsehoods that the 2020 election was stolen was trafficked through right-wing media, particularly Fox News. Fox News was then sued for defamation for the claims by Dominion Voting Systems. Fox lost the case and had to settle for the largest defamation amount on record of $787.5 million in April 2023.

The document that could lead to an executive order proposes using the claim that China interfered with the 2020 elections as grounds to “declare a national emergency.” The move would be an unprecedented step that would grant Trump new authority over the voting systems in the U.S.

The story in The Washington Post arrives as Trump increasingly signals that he may take actions that would alter the result of the 2026 midterms. The Republicans are widely expected to lose as their approval ratings plummet as a result of a failing economy under Trump. Over 50 members of Congress have announced they will retire this year and not return in 2027.

The Trump Department of Justice, which now has a large image of Trump on the side of it, “sued five new states Thursday [Feb. 26, 2026] demanding access to their unredacted voter rolls — escalating a campaign that has been rejected by multiple federal courts and faces resistance from Republican-led states as well,” according to Democracy Docket, a group that works to protect voting rights.

Trump claimed back in late 2020, the last year of his first term, that he had the authority to issue an executive order related to mail-in voting for the 2020 elections — which he would then lose. But the Constitution states that control of elections lies with the states. As the GOP works to place hurdles in front of voting, Democrats worked to make voting easier.

In March 2021, President Biden signed an executive order calling on federal agencies to expand voting access as part of the Biden Administration’s effort “to promote and defend the right to vote for all Americans who are legally entitled to participate in elections.”

Trump’s focus is clearly on altering the November 2026 midterm elections. Trump’s polling numbers and the elections and special elections that have taken place around the U.S. over the last year clearly indicate that Republicans are about to be hit by a blue wave of Democratic victories.

Lauren Victoria Burke is an independent investigative journalist and the founder of Black Virginia News. She is a political analyst who appears on #RolandMartinUnfiltered and hosts the show LAUREN LIVE on YouTube @LaurenVictoriaBurke. She can be contacted at LBurke007@gmail.com and on twitter at @LVBurke

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PRESS ROOM: NBA Hall of Fame Nominee Terry Cummings Joins 100 Black Men of DeKalb County to Launch Victory & Values Initiative

NNPA NEWSWIRE — NBA Hall of Fame nominee and Basketball Legend Terry Cummings was administered the official member’s oath and ceremonially pinned during a special induction ceremony held on Friday, February 20th.

Published

6 days ago

February 27, 2026

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Cummings becomes an honorary member, joining other role model sports stars

NBA Hall of Fame nominee and Basketball Legend Terry Cummings has officially become an honorary member of the 100 Black Men of DeKalb County, marking a powerful new chapter for the 100 Black Men and youth development across the region.

Cummings was administered the official member’s oath and ceremonially pinned during a special induction ceremony held on Friday, February 20th. The moment signified more than membership — it marked the launch of the organization’s transformative new platform, the Victory & Values Initiative.

The Victory & Values Initiative is a groundbreaking youth development program designed to empower elementary and middle school students through a dynamic blend of sports, mentorship, and STEM exposure. The initiative focuses on building health, discipline, character, leadership, and access to opportunity — creating pathways for long-term academic and personal success.

“This is about more than sports,” said Cummings during the ceremony. “It’s about using the platform of athletics to teach life lessons, create access, and build the next generation of leaders.”

The induction ceremony also featured notable guests including NASCAR’s newest Star Driver, Lavar Scott and NASCAR Director of Athletic Performance, Phil Horton, who joined Cummings for a powerful Victory & Values Town Hall discussion. The Town Hall was moderated by renowned Sports Emcee John Hollins and focused on leadership, resilience, discipline, and the importance of mentorship in shaping young lives.

A “Day at NASCAR” for 75+ Youth

Cummings wasted no time getting to work. On his first full day as an honorary member, he joined his new brothers of the 100 Black Men of DeKalb County to host a “Day at NASCAR,” escorting more than 75 youth to a once-in-a-lifetime experience at EchoPark Motor Speedway (formerly Atlanta Motor Speedway).

The youth participants received behind-the-scenes access including: an exclusive tour of Pit Row, access to the Garage Area and exploration of the interactive Fan Zone.

The experience culminated with a surprise meet-and-greet and Q&A session with NASCAR Superstar Bubba Wallace, who shared insights on perseverance, preparation, and breaking barriers in professional sports.

The day served as a living example of the ‘Victory & Values’ Initiative in action — exposing youth to new industries, expanding their vision for the future, and connecting them directly with high- level mentors and role models.

Building Leaders Through Access and Mentorship

The 100 Black Men of DeKalb County – a chapter of the largest, national mentoring organization in the county – continues to expand its footprint with programs focused on academic excellence, economic empowerment, leadership development, and health & wellness.

The launch of ‘Victory & Values’ represents a strategic expansion of the organization’s impact

intentionally integrating athletics and STEM to engage youth at an early age while reinforcing core principles such as integrity, accountability, teamwork, and perseverance.

“Our mission has always been to mentor the next generation,” said Vaughn Irons, President-Elect of the 100 Black Men of DeKalb County. “With Terry Cummings joining the brotherhood, along with partners in NASCAR and professional sports, we are creating unprecedented access and exposure for our youth. Victory & Values is about turning inspiration into structured opportunity.”

By connecting elementary and middle school students to professional athletes, executives, STEM professionals, and community leaders, the initiative aims to:

Increase youth exposure to careers in sports business, engineering, and performance science
Strengthen mentorship pipelines
Promote physical wellness and mental resilience
Build character-driven leadership at an early age

Open Invitation to Youth and Families

All youth are invited to participate in the Victory & Values Initiative, along with the other countless, impactful programs offered by the 100 Black Men of DeKalb County.

Parents and guardians seeking mentorship, leadership development, academic enrichment, and transformative exposure opportunities for their children are encouraged to connect with the organization.

As NBA Legend Terry Cummings’ induction demonstrates, Victory & Values is more than a program — it is a movement designed to build champions in life, not just in sports.

For more information about the Victory & Values Initiative or to enroll a student, contact: 100 Black Men of DeKalb County at Phone at 404.241.1338, info@100bmod.org or Tee Foxx at 404.791.6525,