By Antonio‌ ‌Ray‌ ‌Harvey‌, California‌ ‌Black‌ ‌Media‌

Two former members of the California Task Force to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans shared some of their experiences developing a 1,075-page report that detailed injustices suffered by African Americans during and after chattel slavery.

Los Angeles-based clinical psychologist Dr. Cheryl Grills and Bay Area-based attorney Don Tamaki, who were part of the nine-member reparations panel, spoke at the “Justice Through Action: Black Reparations-Reparative Justice” event hosted by local chapters of the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) in Sacramento on Feb. 8.

The event was held at the California Museum.

“The first impact that the overall report had on me is that it gave me a panoramic view and it was a panoramic view of the elephant in the room,” Grills, who attended the event virtually, told the audience.

Grills said the report the task force compiled presented an undiluted version of the Black experience in America/

“You could see the totality of the elephant,” she said. “The report gives you the fullness and density of the elephant, which was, at the same time, validating, overwhelming, and painful.”

The JACL is the nation’s oldest and largest Asian American-Pacific Islander Civil Rights Organization.

The JACL presentation was hosted to observe the 83rd anniversary of Executive Order 9066, which led to the incarceration of 120,000 Japanese Americans during World War II.

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That panel was part of the Northern California Time of Remembrance (NCTOR) committee’s Annual Day of Remembrance program organized in partnership with the California Museum.

Tamaki, who is Japanese American and the only non-Black member of the task force, said the Black and Japanese experiences in America have some parallels but there are significant differences as well.

“When you look at reparations, and this was the eye opener to me, it’s actually a unifying concept,” Tamaki said. “There’s no equivalence between four years in a concentration camp that our community experienced and 400 years of oppression.”

Tamaki explained, “We do have some things in common. Japanese know something about mass incarceration and profiling and the consequences. In that respect, there is a reason for all of us, whatever our background, to start looking at (reparations). We have to cure the body and not just put a band-aid on it.”

Grills is a clinical psychologist whose work focuses on community psychology. A Professor of Psychology at Loyola Marymount University, she us also a past president of the Association of Black Psychologists.

Tamaki is a senior counsel at Minami Tamaki LLP.  He has spent decades working with AAPI legal services programs. In the 1980s, he participated in the Japanese American reparations movement and served on the pro bono legal team that reopened the landmark 1944 Supreme Court case of Fred Korematsu.

The case resulted in overturning Korematsu’s criminal conviction for violating the incarceration order that led to the imprisonment of 125,000 Japanese Americans after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Earnest Uwazie, a Sacramento State University criminal justice professor and director of the Center for African Peace and Conflict Resolution, was one of more than 100 persons who listened to the two-hour discussion.

“It’s always great to hear from the people involved in the study of reparations and it is good to get a comparative with the Japanese experience,” said Uwazie. “This was extremely informative.”

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By Antonio Ray Harvey, California Black Media 

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass is one of 249 officials across the country who have been warned that they could be imprisoned for not supporting federal government efforts to detain and deport people illegally living in the United States.

The conservative non-profit America First Legal sent letters to Bass, Attorney General Rob Bonta, Los Angeles Police Department Chief Jim McDonnell and other California elected officials that they deem could interfere with federal immigration activities after Donald Trump is sworn-in as president on Jan. 20.

America First Legal is run by Trump’s incoming deputy Chief of Staff for policy Stephen Miller. After the election in November, Miller confirmed that he will push for the declaration of a national emergency and use the military to carry out mass deportations of undocumented immigrants.

On Nov. 12, Bass said in a statement that the city of Los Angeles would take swift action to implement protections for immigrant communities.

“Especially in the face of growing threats to the immigrant communities here in Los Angeles, I stand with the people of this city,” Bass stated. “This moment demands urgency. Immigrant protections make our communities stronger and our city better.”

The America First Legal letter to McDonnell’s office by email was dated Dec. 23. It states that the nonprofit “identified Los Angeles as a sanctuary jurisdiction that is violating federal law.”

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“Federal law is clear: aliens unlawfully present in the United States are subject to removal from the country, and it is a crime to conceal, harbor, or shield them. It is also a crime to prevent federal officials from enforcing immigration laws. These laws were duly enacted by the people’s elected representatives,” the letter reads.

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By Antonio Ray Harvey, California Black Media

The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California granted a request by advocates for free expression and free enterprise on the Internet to halt a California’s internet surveillance law, Senate Bill (SB) 976, from going into effect on Jan. 1, 2025.

Supporters of the legislation say it protects youth from social media addiction.NetChoice, an advocacy group that promotes freedom of choice on the internet, filed the lawsuit with the District Court. The court issued a stay that now allows the case, NetChoice v. Bonta (2024), to head to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

“While we are disappointed that the District Court did not grant our entire preliminary injunction, we are glad it agreed to issue this temporary stay while we appeal,” said Paul Taske, NetChoice Associate Director of Litigation in a statement.

“We look forward to seeing California in the Ninth Circuit to yet again stop the state from creating an online censorship regime.”

Responding, California Attorney General Rob Bonta says he is pleased “the court understands the importance of giving California’s families choice.”

“California’s landmark law allows young people to intentionally develop the relationship they want with social media, rather than the relationship that is most profitable for companies using tricks and traps to glue young people’s eyes to their screens,” Bonta said in a Dec. 31 statement.

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