Activism

NAACP Convention in L.A. Addresses Racial Scandal Consuming Host City

For the last two weeks, the Los Angeles City Council has been embroiled in a scandal centered around the release of a recorded conversation involving former City Council President Nury Martinez, City Councilmembers Kevin de León and Gil Cedillo and former L.A. County Federation of Labor President Ron Herrera in which disparaging comments were made about several groups including Blacks, Mexicans, LGPTQIA+, as well as several individuals, including Bonin, who is white, and his adopted son Jacob, who is Black.

Published

3 years ago

November 6, 2022

Oakland Post

California Hawaii NAACP President Rick Callender Esq. (left), California State University Los Angeles Dean of College of Ethnic Studies Dr. Julianne Malveaux, and Los Angeles City Councilmember Mike Bonin at a fireside chat event at the California Hawaii NAACP State Conference Convention on Oct. 22, 2022. Photo by Maxim Elramsisy.

By Maxim Elramsisy | California Black Media

The California Hawaii Conference of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) hosted elected officials, activists, organizers, faith leaders, and entertainers at its 35th Annual State Convention held in Los Angeles from Oct. 21-23, 2022.

Workshops and discussions were held that covered pressing issues confronting African American and other communities of color in California and Hawaii.

Activities included “Stop the Hate” and discrimination training, a health forum, a reparations town hall, an economic development panel discussion, workshops for youth and college-aged members, an environmental justice workshop and the Annual Gwen Moore Utilities Workshop.

The convention highlight was a fireside chat featuring Los Angeles City Councilmember Mike Bonin, NAACP California Hawaii President Rick Callender Esq., and the dean of the College of Ethnic Studies at California State University Los Angeles, Dr. Julianne Malveaux, on Saturday night.

“The attitude that they had of contempt and racism did not surprise me,” Bonin said. “This was about the three of them holding power…They said, because I voted with Marqueece [Harris-Dawson], Curren [Price Jr.] and my other colleagues, I was the fourth Black member…

“They went after the organization that Karen Bass founded, The Community Coalition, which is based on a Black-Brown coalition. They went after KIWA, the Korean Immigrant Worker Association, which is based on multiracial collaboration.

“They were against the idea of people working together, their whole thing was about division. Their whole thing was for them to win. Somebody else had to lose.”

Martinez and Herrera resigned within days after the meeting tape was leaked, but despite public outrage and pressure from across the political spectrum, including Pres. Joe Biden and California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Cedillo and De León are refusing to step down.

“One of the things that I think we should be actually calling for is the official censure of these offending Council members, and we need to take away their pay,” said Callender. “If they want to sit there, if they want to do something, they should do it without receiving any money… They refuse to resign, refuse to pay them… They took Mark Ridley-Thomas’ pay the exact same way.”

(Ridley-Thomas is a former state assemblyman and senator who served on the L.A. City Council representing the 10^th District from 2020 until his expulsion earlier this year after federal corruption charges were brought against him in 2021.)

“We’re literally looking at every possible thing,” said Bonin. “There is no one on the Council who wants them there.”

The President awards dinner honored the activism and achievements of high-performing members and NAACP branches. Honorees included D’Adrea Davie of Stockton, a real estate agent and advocate for building generational wealth, and Yusef Miller of San Diego, a leader of the Racial Justice Coalition.

Jeanette Ellis-Royston of Pomona, an appointee of the Los Angeles Human Relations Commission, was also honored for her volunteer work. The Butte County, Hayward and San Francisco NAACP branches were honored for their advocacy and programming.

Civil rights attorney Ben Crump gave the keynote address at a youth-focused dinner Friday night. Crump has a national reputation as an advocate for social justice and is known for his representation of clients like the families of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Daunte Wright and Jacob Blake who were all unjustly killed or seriously injured in encounters with law enforcement officers. The Rev. Al Sharpton calls him “Black America’s Attorney General.”

The NAACP was founded in 1909 in response to the ongoing violence against Black people around the country. The NAACP is the largest and most pre-eminent civil rights organization in the nation. There are over 2,200 units and branches across the nation with over 2 million activists.

Its mission is to secure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights in order to eliminate race-based discrimination and ensure the health and well-being of all persons.

More information about the NAACP California State Conference is available at www.CAHINAACP.org

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Activism

The Best Advice for Raising Children: Discipline That Makes Sense

In his book Developing Positive Self Images and Discipline in Black Children, Dr. Jawanza Kunjufu suggests that primary aims for socializing Black children should be: establishing goals related to God and the church; familiarizing children with religious texts like the Bible or Quran; educating them of Black culture like Khemetic (Egyptian) Civilization; enlightening them about Black leaders like Malcolm X and Sojourner Truth; and teaching them to strive to be employers, not employees.

Published

2 days ago

May 13, 2025

Oakland Post

Headshot of Dr. William A. Thomas. Photo courtesy of Dr. William A. Thomas.

By William A. Thomas, Ph.D.

In many African societies, the primary aim of socialization is to raise children to be socially responsible and eventually provide economic support to their parents and extended families. Ghanaian philosopher Kwame Gyekye taught that children are raised to be respectful of the wishes of their parents and extended adult family members.

In his book Developing Positive Self Images and Discipline in Black Children, Dr. Jawanza Kunjufu suggests that primary aims for socializing Black children should be: establishing goals related to God and the church; familiarizing children with religious texts like the Bible or Quran; educating them of Black culture like Khemetic (Egyptian) Civilization; enlightening them about Black leaders like Malcolm X and Sojourner Truth; and teaching them to strive to be employers, not employees.

Effective disciplinary strategies appropriate to a child’s age and development teach them to regulate their behavior; keep them from harm; enhance their cognitive, social, and emotional executive functioning skills; and reinforce the behavioral patterns taught by their parents and caregivers.

Below are some specific guidelines for disciplining children.

Listen to what children are talking about with interest and show them you understand their feelings. Remember, children mirror and learn about their emotional selves by hearing their feelings reflected back to them. Staying on target also means avoiding labels. When children fail to do what is expected, discussing it is helpful rather than saying how stubborn, lazy, dumb, or bad they are. By the same token, more positive labels can be helpful.

Dependability is another essential component of the discipline process. When parents are dependable, their children learn what to expect and are helped to feel secure. When parents are consistent, children learn to trust, that is, predict their parents’ behaviors with certainty. A child thinks, “When I spill something, I will always be asked to wipe it up.” A child thinks, “If I use foul language, I will always be corrected.” A child thinks, “If I take something that doesn’t belong to me, I will always have to give it back.” The ability to predict with certainty leads children to rely on their parents and the village/community in which they live. Children feel safe when they know what to expect.

Conclusions

It takes a village/community to raise the divine gift that is the Black child. Parents look to therapists for guidance concerning a variety of parenting issues, including discipline. Keep in mind that evidence suggests that corporal punishment is both ineffective in the long term and associated with cognitive and mental health disorders. When parents want guidance about the use of spanking, a child therapist can explore parental feelings, help them better define the goals of discipline, and offer specific behavior management strategies. In addition to providing appropriate education to families, the Bay Area Association of Black Psychologists (Bay ABPsi) can refer them to community resources, like parenting groups and classes.

About the Author

Dr. Thomas is a licensed clinical psychologist with a private practice in the SF/Oakland Bay Area and Beaumont. He is a member of Bay ABPsi, a healing resource committed to providing the Post Newspaper readership with monthly discussions about critical issues in Black Mental Health. Readers are welcome to join us at our monthly chapter meetings every 3^rd Saturday via Zoom and contact us at bayareaabpsi@gmail.com.