Commentary

Opinion: The Signs Say Black Lives Matter. Yet the Very People Who Are Supposed to Protect Us too Often, in too Many Places, Don’t Seem to Agree.

[George] Floyd’s murder sparked peaceful demonstrations in cities across the country, demonstrations that, in Minneapolis and a few other places, turned toward riots. Chauvin and his co-conspirators weren’t immediately arrested for the murder. Had Floyd, an African American, done this to a white person, he likely would have been jailed immediately, with a bond too high to reach.

Published

6 years ago

June 11, 2020

Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr.

May 29, Oakland. Photo by Saskia Hatvany.

The murder of George Floyd was a lynching in broad daylight.

Three police officers stood and watched as a fourth, Derek Chauvin, knelt on Floyd’s neck. They watched for 8 minutes and 46 seconds, with Floyd unresponsive for 2 minutes and 53 seconds of that, according to the criminal complaint against Chauvin. They did nothing to stop the murder.

Their silence was as much an act of violence as Chauvin’s knee. And if there were no video recording of the murder, they likely would have upheld the Code Blue loyalty, and lied about what happened.

Floyd’s murder sparked peaceful demonstrations in cities across the country, demonstrations that, in Minneapolis and a few other places, turned toward riots. Chauvin and his co-conspirators weren’t immediately arrested for the murder. Had Floyd, an African American, done this to a white person, he likely would have been jailed immediately, with a bond too high to reach.

For too long, for too often, African Americans have been brutalized without consequence. Floyd’s plea for mercy — “I can’t breathe” — was an echo of Eric Garner’s last words. Laquan McDonald, Tamir Rice, Trayvon Martin, too often the killers walk free. The signs say Black Lives Matter. Yet the very people who are supposed to protect us too often, in too many places, don’t seem to agree.

Instead of accountability, police have been given impunity. There were 17 complaints filed against Chauvin in his 19 years on the force. Only one resulted in even a reprimand.

Too few of the police live in the communities they patrol. Too many see themselves as enforcers, not protectors. There are only a few bad apples, we are told. But the Code Blue wall of silence protects the abusers, and too often rots the entire barrel. Young officers learn that if they want to advance, if they want better assignments, better pay, more security, they have to fit in. And the rot keeps spreading.

The demonstrations are necessary. The rioting understandable but regrettable. Already, the damage done to property, the exchanges with the police becomes the subject, not the agenda that is necessary to focus on the outbreaks of rage that are inevitable.

“In the final analysis, the riot is the language of the unheard,” Dr. King taught us, “What is it that America has failed to hear?”

In the last years of the Obama administration, peaceful Black Lives Matter demonstrations occurred in cities across the country. In a stunning display of discipline and self-control, demonstrators protested police brutality and murders peacefully, shutting down major thoroughfares.

The Obama administration began an effort to encourage police reform. The sentence disparities between crack and cocaine — the “black” drug and the “white drug” — were reduced. Transfers of military weaponry to police forces were restricted. The Obama Justice Department entered into a series of consent decrees with more than a dozen police departments to encourage them to change their practices — to become more a guardian than an occupier. The consent decrees couldn’t root out racism, or dismiss the sadistic or the disturbed, but they could encourage a change in tactics, and perhaps in attitudes.

When Trump was elected, he immediately torpedoed the reforms, and terminated the consent decrees. He reopened the spigot on military weaponry and encouraged the police directly to get tough with offenders.

Last October, Bob Kroll, the president of the Minneapolis Police Union, appeared at a Trump rally to celebrate the president for freeing the police from the mild reforms of the Obama years. “The Obama administration and the handcuffing and oppression of police was despicable,” he told the crowd. “The first thing President Trump did when he took office was turn that around, letting the cops do their job, put the handcuffs on the criminals instead of us.”

Those trumpeting law and order offer African Americans neither.

Those peaceful protests were met with harsh reaction. The voices were not heard. And now, Minneapolis is in flames and the streets of America’s cities are filled with protesters.

What America has failed to hear — decade after decade — is the demand for equal justice under the law, the demand for equal opportunity, the call for basic rights — not only for African Americans but for all — the rights to a livable wage, decent housing, health care, a safe environment, a protective, not a dangerous police force. The suffering is real; the gap documented over and over, most recently as poverty, hunger and illness makes African Americans disproportionately the victims of the coronavirus.

This isn’t complicated. The solutions are known. From the Kerner Commission in 1968 on, the analyses have been done; the needed reforms detailed — and shelved. There is money enough for top-end tax cuts, for bailing out banks and CEOs, for waging endless wars across the world. There is never enough money to fund the gap.

And so the anger and frustration build, kindling ready to ignite. And time after time, an act of outrageous police brutality sets the kindling aflame.

The demonstrators are showing courage. We’ve also seen, in a few cities, police leaders show real leadership and wisdom. I pray that all also show caution. We demonstrate not only against the threat of Code Blue, but in the time of COVID-19. Masks, social distancing, care for one another are vital so the demonstrations for life don’t end up sacrificing lives to the virus.

In the midst of a pandemic, some march in the hope that America will listen. Some march without hope but because silence is no longer acceptable. Yes, Minneapolis needs to charge, try and convict the murderer and his accomplices. Yes, the Minneapolis police force needs to cleanse itself, inside and out. America too needs to listen and to change. We will come together, or we will surely come apart.

Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr.

Posts by Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr.

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Activism

Why Peace on Earth Begins with Birth, a Q&A with Midwife Nikki Helms

In this Q&A with California Black Media, Helms reflects on what it would take to truly improve birthing services in the United States, why midwifery must be fully integrated into the healthcare system, and how trauma, safety and community shape birth experiences across a lifetime. Drawing on her clinical expertise and lived experience, Helms shares insights on building supportive birth environments, paying for care, and what every parent and baby deserves for a healthy start.

Published

2 weeks ago

January 11, 2026

Oakland Post

Nikki Helms is a midwife and full-spectrum birthing care advocate.

By Amanda Kim, California Black Media

Midwife and full-spectrum birthing care advocate Nikki Helms has spent nearly two decades supporting families through pregnancy, birth and the often-overlooked postpartum period in California.

A Certified Professional Midwife, lactation educator, and DONA-and CAPPA-trained labor and postpartum doula, Helms is known for her deeply personalized, in-home education, her community-centered workshops, and her unwavering belief that evidence-based care and informed consent are essential to healthy outcomes for parents and babies. As the founder of the San Diego Birth Center, she has helped create a welcoming, home-like alternative to hospital birth — one rooted in continuity of care, trDAt and deep listening.

What is the one thing we could do to improve birthing services in the U.S.?

We need to integrate well-trained, super-experienced, certified professional midwives fully into the healthcare system. Over the last century, the medical community has excluded, and in some states, banned midwifery, which has impacted Black parents and babies the most and limited safe choices. Today, the U.S. spends more money than any other developed nation on maternity care with some of the worst outcomes — for Black families especially. The integration of professional midwives is long overdue.

What does a midwife do?

There are several types. I’m a certified professional midwife and founder of a birth center. But there are also midwives who come to your home, educators, lactation consultants, doulas who provide support and advocacy, and monitrices, who have clinical training and can support the mother before and after the birth.

How are birth centers and midwifery services different from traditional care?

A lot of people feel more at home in a birth center. They are often colorful, inviting, simple, and calm. People also feel more at home because we’ve supported them from six weeks into their pregnancy to six weeks after the birth. That’s nearly a year, so we’ve gotten to know them and understand their lives. This wonderful continuity can help us identify subtle issues later on, especially postpartum. A team of three midwives will always pick up on cues.

As a midwife, what does this work mean to you?

This work just fills my soul. It empties me out completely and fills me. It’s the look on someone’s face after their baby has been born. They are filled with an amazing clarity and a look that says, “I did it.” And I can say, “Yes, you did, and I’m not surprised at all because I believe in you to the depths of my soul.”

After helping so many parents and babies, how has this work changed you?

I often think that peace on earth begins with birth. There are so many things wrong with the world that we can trace back directly to the birth experience. So, if we take care of mothers and babies and create a community around birth, then we are raising children who will know what it means to be emotionally mature, to have boundaries and to feel safe. People who feel safe don’t start wars or get into a lot of trouble.

How do parents pay for midwifery services?

Midwives and birth centers often accept cash, payment plans, credit cards, and certain insurances, like Medi-Cal. I tell expectant parents to, “Put out a shoebox at your baby shower and ask for $20 a head and use that money to pay for your postpartum doula. Help yourself along the way.” People can also create online fundraisers.

If you were to give every parent and baby a healthy birth bag, what would be in it?

Education, so you know what to expect physiologically and psychologically. Take out some of the surprises. For example, giving birth is generally bloodless, but not vomit-less.
Support without judgment. That can be a partner, a doula, your mother, a partner’s mother, a best friend, aAnd if you have to pay for it, then do, because it’s worth every dime.
Additional nutrition. We don’t want to take anything away from you, but we want to add the nutrition that will help you, your pregnancy and your baby.
External connection, a place to tell your stories and listen to other stories. That’s how we build community.
Two books: The Red Tent by Anita Diamant, which tells the stories of mothers in the Bible and how babies and the birth experience connect us all and The Happiest Baby on the Block by Dr. Harvey Karp, which combines science and wisdom.
A little bit of “woo,” because I definitely believe that babies are incredibly spiritual beings. And birthing people are a passage for these spiritual beings. So, a lot of education, a lot of support, a lot of nutrition, and just a little bit of woo sprinkled on at the end, should cover it.

Oakland Post

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Activism

Protecting California’s Black Moms and Babies: Policies and Programs Struggle to Fix Deep-Rooted Maternal Health Inequities

“Access to doula services means that any time in their trimesters, they can have eight sessions with their doula, whether virtual, Telehealth or in-person. The doulas are with them through their labor and delivery, and can help clients, partners, families, be prepared with a birth plan, education, and understanding labor stages,” said Los Angeles-based Sister Marquita of A Sister By Your Side doula services.

Published

2 weeks ago

January 11, 2026

Oakland Post

Gnae Dismuske and her children.

By Charlene Muhammad, California Black Media

Gnae Dismuke experienced a miscarriage at 11 weeks in 2017 and later gave birth to three children, now ages six, four, and one month.

Dismuke says she’s encouraged that programs exist to advocate for safer birth outcomes for Black women like her. However, when it comes to actual practices of medical facilities and doctors, she has a conflicted perspective – a point of view shaped by her three birth experiences: one in a hospital, one at home, and another in a hospital.

Dismuke, who lives in Los Angeles, addressed her birthing challenges with the help of Black Infant Health in partnership with the Long Beach Public Health and Human Services Department. They supplied doulas and nurses who visited her home during her last birth and advocated on her behalf.

“The nurse was able to move mountains quickly that I wasn’t able to move with the medical industry, with just advocating for me, asking for things like physical therapy,” she stated.

Statistics show that Black women in California are three to four times more likely than White women to die from pregnancy-related complications. Some birth equity advocates argue that expanding access to midwifery care and certified birth doulas could help reduce these disparities. Others emphasize the need for education, noting barriers such as high costs for preferred birthing options and managing high-risk factors like hypertension and stress related to systemic discrimination.

“Doctors don’t want to see you until almost the end of the first trimester. That’s 11 to 12 weeks in. Many things could go wrong,” Dismuke said, recalling experiencing spontaneous bleeding in the first trimester for all three of her births.

“Groups like M.O.R.E. Mothers, a nonprofit maternal health-focused community-based organization in Long Beach, are part of programmatic solutions. They provide classes and workshops,” she added.

To assist mothers like Dismuke, the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) added doula services to preventive services covered under Medi-Cal in 2023. Still, many mothers don’t know these benefits exist because Medi-Cal coverage is based on income, but those pregnant qualify at higher income levels than other adults.

“I thought [a doula] was for people who had money, who had private health insurance and stuff like that,” said a Medi-Cal beneficiary who asked not to be identified.

Under Assembly Bill (AB) 133, doula services were formally included as a “covered preventive service” under Medi-Cal in 2023. AB 133 was co-authored by former State Sen. Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley) and Sen. Akilah Weber (D-San Diego), a pediatrician. It built on the California “Momnibus” Act, passed in 2021, aimed at improving maternal and infant health outcomes among Medi-Cal members.

Doulas also help mothers understand their rights during labor and delivery, and Medi-Cal support extends postpartum care until the baby reaches one year of age.

The statistics are personal for Jade Ross, a member of Los Angeles County MotherBoard, an advisory collaborative of Black mothers working at the intersection of healing, advocacy, and sustainable systems change to create a more just and equitable world for Black mothers and babies.

“That’s why I do the work I do: so Black women can basically birth in joy without trauma,” stated Ross, while cuddling her 11-week-old infant, Kalea.

Organizers and participants of the 2025 California Black Birth Equity Summit close out the event with an uplifting a cappella performance.

“A lot of it has to do with education,” continued Ross, speaking at the 2025 California Black Birth Equity Summit in Sacramento. “I think a lot of people have certain ideas about what midwifery or holistic care looks like, or, on the other end, don’t trust the medical system.”

Held biannually, the Summit was founded by Mashariki Kudumu, a doula and public health advocate. This year, it was co-hosted by the California Coalition for Black Birth Justice and UCSF Center for Birth Justice. Themed “Rooted in Action,” the Summit brought over 500 clinicians, midwives, doulas, and policymakers together.

Sonya Young Aadam, CEO of the California Black Women’s Health Project, said, “I strongly believe that our advocacy in these spaces can make a difference. We go in and we demand the care that we need. But many of us are not even aware the disparities exist.”

Despite progress, disparities persist. According to the 2025 State of Black Birth Equity in California Report, the state continues to experience disproportionately poor outcomes, even with low maternal mortality and strong infant health outcomes.

Jennie Joseph, a British-trained midwife and summit panelist, said that Black women in the U.S.:

tend to have premature babies;
have low birth weight babies;
lose babies more frequently;
are less likely to breastfeed; and
often struggle to recover postpartum.

“This is all we’ve got. This is all we can expect. Is this the reason why Black women and families are suffering?’ No! The root causes are straightforward: racism, classism, gender discrimination. That’s it!” said Joseph.

She emphasized these outcomes are not physiological but result from systemic inequities.

“One solution is simply getting people into care straight away. We operate like the triage or the emergency room for pregnancy-related issues. We’ll get you in, we’ll sort you out, and then we’ll pass you on to whoever you want to go on to,” she said.

Assemblymember Mia Bonta (D-Alameda) noted at the Summit that California’s maternal health crisis includes the closure of more than 50 labor and delivery wards in the last decade, heavily impacting low-income, Black, Latina, and Indigenous communities.

Ongoing challenges include low Medi-Cal reimbursement, lack of investment in the birthing workforce, and federal attacks on healthcare infrastructure. Bonta’s AB 55, the Freedom to Birth Act, champions Alternative Birth Centers, which improve newborn birth rates, decrease cesarean births, promote successful breastfeeding, and reduce racial health disparities.

“Red tape should never stand in the way of proven solutions to deliver affordable and accessible healthcare for Californians. By signing AB 55, our state has taken a much-needed step to address the maternal health crisis,” Bonta said.

Doula Directory: Search a list of doulas in California enrolled as Medi-Cal providers.

California Black Doulas: Get a full list.

Oakland Post

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Activism

OP-ED: AB 1349 Puts Corporate Power Over Community

Since Ticketmaster and Live Nation merged in 2010, ticket prices have jumped more than 150 percent. Activities that once fit a family’s budget now take significant disposable income that most working families simply don’t have. The problem is compounded by a system that has tilted access toward the wealthy and white-collar workers. If you have a fancy credit card, you get “presale access,” and if you work in an office instead of a warehouse, you might be able to wait in an online queue to buy a ticket. Access now means privilege.

Published

2 weeks ago

January 9, 2026

Oakland Post

Bishop Joseph Simmons, Senior Pastor, Greater St. Paul Baptist Church, Oakland

By Bishop Joseph Simmons, Senior Pastor, Greater St. Paul Baptist Church, Oakland

As a pastor, I believe in the power that a sense of community can have on improving people’s lives. Live events are one of the few places where people from different backgrounds and ages can share the same space and experience – where construction workers sit next to lawyers at a concert, and teenagers enjoy a basketball game with their grandparents. Yet, over the past decade, I’ve witnessed these experiences – the concerts, games, and cultural events where we gather – become increasingly unaffordable, and it is a shame.

These moments of connection matter as they form part of the fabric that holds communities together. But that fabric is fraying because of Ticketmaster/Live Nation’s unchecked control over access to live events. Unfortunately, AB 1349 would only further entrench their corporate power over our spaces.

Power over live events is concentrated in a single corporate entity, and this regime operates without transparency or accountability – much like a dictator. Ticketmaster controls 80 percent of first-sale tickets and nearly a third of resale tickets, but they still want more. More power, more control for Ticketmaster means higher prices and less access for consumers. It’s the agenda they are pushing nationally, with the help of former Trump political operatives, who are quietly trying to undo the antitrust lawsuit launched against Ticketmaster/Live Nation under President Biden’s DOJ.

That’s why I’m deeply concerned about AB 1349 in its current form. Rather than reining in Ticketmaster’s power, the bill risks strengthening it, aligning with Trump. AB 1349 gives Ticketmaster the ability to control a consumer’s ticket forever by granting Ticketmaster’s regime new powers in state law to prevent consumers from reselling or giving away their tickets. It also creates new pathways for Ticketmaster to discriminate and retaliate against consumers who choose to shop around for the best service and fees on resale platforms that aren’t yet controlled by Ticketmaster. These provisions are anti-consumer and anti-democratic.

California has an opportunity to stand with consumers, to demand transparency, and to restore genuine competition in this industry. But that requires legislation developed with input from the community and faith leaders, not proposals backed by the very company causing the harm.

Will our laws reflect fairness, inclusion, and accountability? Or will we let corporate interests tighten their grip on spaces that should belong to everyone? I, for one, support the former and encourage the California Legislature to reject AB 1349 outright or amend it to remove any provisions that expand Ticketmaster’s control. I also urge community members to contact their representatives and advocate for accessible, inclusive live events for all Californians. Let’s work together to ensure these gathering spaces remain open and welcoming to everyone, regardless of income or background.