By Antonio‌ ‌Ray‌ ‌Harvey‌, California‌ ‌Black‌ ‌Media‌

Housing, energy, food and gas are four essential household expenses, and their rising costs are forcing residents—especially lower-income households—to make difficult trade-offs, Assemblymember Rhodesia Ransom (D-Stockton) said at a conference on affordability last week in Sacramento.

Ransom, a member of the California Legislative Black Caucus (CLBC), noted a shift in consumer behavior, stating, “Before people used to choose between things that they wanted and things that they needed.”

“Now, what we’re hearing from constituents is they are prioritizing their needs differently,” she said. “Because of the affordability crisis, it’s no longer about choosing between other needs. Our constituents are now saying ‘what needs to be prioritized?’ Gas and food are at the top of the list.”

Ransom made the comments about affordability at Capitol Weekly’s informational conference titled “Affordability: The Cost of Living in California,” which was held on April 30 at the University of California’s Student and Policy Center.

Co-hosted with the University of California Student and Policy Center, the political conversations focused on identifying policy solutions to the state’s extremely high prices for energy, food, and essentials.

The keynote speakers at the conference were former Assemblymember Lorena Gonzalez, president of the California Federation of Labor Unions, and Mike Madrid, a political strategist, author, and senior fellow at UC Irvine.

Conversations about affordability are taking on greater urgency as the election season kicks in, speakers said.

According to an April 2024 report by the Greenlining Institute, low-income Black Californians are struggling with affordability due to a combination of historical systemic barriers and modern economic pressures. The Greenlining Institute is a California-based policy, research, and advocacy nonprofit founded in 1993 to fight systemic racism and economic injustice.

Black households in California experience the highest levels of rent burden; approximately 65% of Black renters, according to the Greenlining report. Historical “redlining” and ongoing discrimination have restricted homeownership. Black families also pay 43% more for energy than White households, partly because they are more likely to live in older, less energy-efficient rentals.

In addition, roughly 1 in 3 Black adults (36.5%) reported household food insecurity in late 2025, more than double the rate for White adults. This is often exacerbated by “food deserts” in predominantly Black neighborhoods.

In March, Assembly Minority Leader Heath Flora (R-Ripon) expressed concerns about affordability in California, describing it as a crisis where families are being “pushed to the edge.”

“Californians should not have to choose between putting food on the table or filling up their car,” Flora stated. “We need to cut costs now. Not tomorrow, not next week, not next month. Now.”

Cuts to the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) funding are being driven by the Trump Administration’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act (H.R. 1), which is reducing federal spending by approximately $187 billion through 2034.

Those reductions are putting more pressure on the state to help, Ransom said. According to the AAA Gas Prices website, as of May 8, California’s gasoline prices averaged over $6 per gallon in some areas, with various locations experiencing spikes of $7 to $8 per gallon. In California, fuel prices are driven by refinery maintenance and market volatility, while high food prices are linked to rising transportation costs, experts say.

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“OPD employees shall not provide law enforcement assistance… to I.C.E. in any capacity,” according to OPD Lt. Dorham

By Ken Epstein

Elected leaders and organizations around the country are refusing to cooperate with President Trump’s mass roundups and deportations.  In the forefront are African American mayors of several major cities, including Brandon Johnson of Chicago and Newark Mayor Ras Jua Baraka.

“When 30,000 Ukrainians sought asylum here in the City of Chicago, nobody said a mumbling word. But all of a sudden (when) indigenous people who are trying to get to a land that was robbed from them through colonization, they want me, as a Black man, to be mad at them. You got to be out of your freaking mind,” said Mayor Johnson.

“Regardless of who is in the White House, Chicago is a city that opens its arms to people from around the globe,” he said. “We will continue to protect civil and human rights, and we welcome all individuals and families who want to work, live and thrive here in our beloved city. The Welcoming City Ordinance is a law, and it is the law of the land here in Chicago. We will uphold it, along with the complementary Illinois Trust Act to ensure that our immigrant communities are safe.”

Tom Holman, Trump’s hand-picked border czar, replied with threats.  “If your Chicago mayor doesn’t want to help, he can step aside. But if he impedes us — if he knowingly harbors or conceals an illegal alien — I will prosecute him.”

“Chicago is in trouble because your mayor sucks and your governor sucks,” Holman said.

In Newark, Mayor Baraka released a strong written statement following a n immigration raid in his city.

“(On Jan. 23), U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents raided a local establishment in the City of Newark, detaining undocumented residents as well as citizens without producing a warrant. One of the detainees is a U.S. military veteran who suffered the indignity of having the legitimacy of his military documentation questioned,” said Baraka.

“This egregious act is in plain violation of the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures. Newark will not stand by idly while people… are being unlawfully terrorized. I will be holding a press conference in alliance with partners ready and willing to defend and protect civil and human rights.”

In California, Attorney General Rob Bonta has issued guidelines to law enforcement agencies in the state describing their obligations under SB 54.

“While (President Trump) spouts xenophobic rhetoric and makes plans to implement his inhumane mass deportation agenda, California is focused on protecting our communities,” said Bonta.

“No matter who is in the White House, California will continue to lead with California values – and we will not divert vital public safety resources for federal immigration enforcement,” he said.

Under existing state law, SB 54, California law enforcement agencies:

• Are prohibited from investigating, interrogating, detaining, or arresting persons for immigration enforcement purposes;
• Are not allowed to honor transfer and notification requests or provide information regarding a person’s release date except in certain circumstances;
• Cannot allow officers to be supervised by federal agencies or deputized for immigration enforcement purposes.
• May not enter into new contracts with the federal government to house or detain noncitizens in a locked detention facility for purposes of immigration custody.
• Are prohibited from participating in joint law enforcement task forces where the primary purpose of the task force is immigration enforcement.

Locally, a statement issued by the office of U.S. Rep. Lateefah Simon said that Simon stands “firmly in solidarity with our immigrant families whose contributions through their skills, dreams, and resilience are woven in the fabric of America’s story.”

In a presentation to the Oakland Police Commission in January, OPD Lt. Gordon Dorham said, “The City of Oakland has a tradition of embracing diversity and respecting civil and human rights, regardless of immigration status. Oakland has been on record as a city of refuge since 1986 and reaffirmed its status as a sanctuary city in 2016.

Continuing, Lt. Dorham said the city’s cooperation agreement with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was terminated in 2017.

Under the Oakland Sanctuary City Ordinance. “OPD employees shall not provide law enforcement assistance, including traffic support to ICE, including any subdivision of ICE in any capacity except to respond to a public safety emergency related to an ICE action or where assistance is required by federal, state, statute, regulation, or court decision,” he said.

“In the event OPD assists in ICE investigation, detention, arrest, or any other operation, OPD shall explain the facts that gave rise to its action in a written report to the Public Safety Committee,” Lt. Dorham said.

“OPD shall not provide federal immigration agencies access to individuals solely for the purpose of immigration enforcement. Officers shall not inquire or request proof of.”

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By Brandon Patterson

The story of Emmet Till has made its way back into the news in recent weeks on the heels of a new TV miniseries and new developments at the federal level.

Earlier this month, the historical docuseries “Mothers of the Movement” premiered on ABC. And last week, the Senate passed a bipartisan bill to posthumously award Emmett Till and his mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, the Congressional Gold Medal.

Emmett Till’s story remains with us to this day, but lesser known is the role of the Black press in bringing his story to light — and in so doing, helping to catalyze the modern Civil Rights Movement.

One of the earliest news outlets to cover the Till story was the Chicago Defender, at the time one of the most influential Black weekly newspapers in the country, with two-thirds of its readership located outside the city, according to the Chicago Tribune.

The account of reporter Mattie Smith Colin, who covered the arrival of Till’s body at a local train station, captured the anguish of his mother as she received her son. Then, Jet Magazine became the first news outlet to publish the gruesome photos of Till’s body at his funeral, which his mother insisted be open casket.

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Reporter Simeon Booker and photographer David Jackson covered the story for Jet. Other Black news outlets, including the Defender, also later published the photos, though not a single mainstream white outlet did, according to the New York Times. The photos turned Till’s story into “the first great [national] media event of the civil rights movement,” according to historian David Halberstam, who chronicles the murder in his book “The Fifties.”

Later, Booker’s coverage of the Till murder trial for Jet helped bring the trial to a Black and national audience. Other significant Black newspapers that covered the Till story included the Amsterdam News in New York City, which, by the 1960s, was the largest weekly community newspaper in the nation, the Pittsburgh Courier, and the Atlanta Constitution.

Coverage of Till’s story was notably different in Black news outlets compared to mainstream white papers. In the South, coverage was often sympathetic to Till’s murderers, notes researcher Michael Oby in a 2007 paper on the Till case.

Black papers, however, framed the story as an obvious and horrid injustice. At the same time, they began encouraging their Black readers to get involved in civil rights organizing, and to donate to the NAACP, which was central to the Till case.

Booker, who worked for Jet for nearly five decades, went on to receive an award from the National Press Club for his lifelong coverage of civil rights in America in the 1980s. At the award ceremony, according to the Chicago Tribune, he said of his work: “I wanted to fight segregation on the front lines. I wanted to dedicate my writing skills to the cause. Segregation was beating down my people. I volunteered for every assignment and suggested more. I stayed on the road, covering civil rights day and night. The names, the places and the events became history.”

Because of his work and other Black journalists and news outlets, we know the story of Emmet Till, and so many other critical stories.

This story was written using reporting from the Chicago Tribune, the New York Times, and academic research by Michael Oby at Georgia State University.

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