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FBI Aims to Build Relationship with Los Angeles’ Black Community

LOS ANGELES SENTINEL — Members of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Los Angeles Division opened up a forum at Holman United Methodist Church March 26, to clergymen, activists and L.A. residents as part of a Faith Based Initiative, where they addressed concerns and provided insight into the role they play here.

Published

6 years ago

April 14, 2019

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By Jennifer Bihm

Members of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Los Angeles Division opened up a forum at Holman United Methodist Church March 26, to clergymen, activists and L.A. residents as part of a Faith Based Initiative, where they addressed concerns and provided insight into the role they play here. The meeting was meant to be an exercise in trust building between the FBI and the city’s Black community, a community whose members have had a shaky relationship with law enforcement at best. After introductions and a brief lesson in FBI history and purpose, attendees were allowed to raise concerns regarding physical and cyber security, law enforcement practices and youth recruitment efforts by the organization.

A notable question, had to do with the protection of black churches from possible attacks.

“I know there’s a lot of attention on synagogues and mosques right now,” began one attendee, “but there are a lot of threats in this climate of America on Black churches. And, one of the things that we need to understand is that there is money from the Federal Government, for homeland security… please find out about that,” he asked, “so that we can be a part of that money, particularly churches that are large and are speaking out on things.”

On March 16, 50 people were killed in an Islamaphobic attack on Christchurch Mosque in New Zealand.

“Is there any kind of ongoing [meetings like this one], whether it’s monthly or quarterly so that our communities can be proactive before things like [the mosque] happen,” another attendee wanted to know.

“Of course we don’t know when an attack will happen,” she said, “but I know our church, we worship in a synagogue and we had someone come in… and since then we’ve had armed security, which is a huge thing for us because we’re not a large church but we care about our people. So maybe we can have meetings where we can say, ‘hey, what’s happening in cyber security? What’s happening in counter terrorism?’”

“We have a number of avenues like community action programs that can further cement our ties with the community,” said Paul D. Delacourt, assistant director in charge of the Los Angeles field office.

“We have as needed programs in our communities related to cyber security [for instance] where we can talk about things like business email compromise, which can be severely damaging to a church with a small budget.”

“Why are you really here? Why are you [holding this meeting],” another attendee asked.

“We reach out to a variety of communities,” said Delacourt.

“It is something that we prioritize and is important for us to do so.

“We also have a program called cyberhood watch. It’s basically a neighborhood watch program for cyberspace. [In that] we have a variety of different neighborhoods, we have elections. We have airports. We have the banking sector.

“So what that means is that we have conference calls on a monthly basis in our neighborhoods and also they have a reporting mechanism. So, if we’re seeing something in Orange County, and in South Los Angeles and in Riverside… those are obviously trends that we would like to see.”

From 1956 to 1971, the FBI conducted a series of covert and sometimes illegal projects under the name COINTELPRO (or Counter Intelligence Program), to address groups they deemed subversive. Included in those groups were the Black Panther Party and the Nation of Islam, both focusing their efforts on bringing American Blacks out of poverty and degradation. Many believe these projects led to the killing and arrests of group members and the eventual dismantling of the BPP.

At the March 26 meeting, some said they were surprised that FBI members would be coming to their neighborhood and that people they knew expressed disapproval of the event in general. FBI members said they were here to dispel those sentiments and to let people know they are actually a friend to the community. “If you call, we will come,” was one of the major themes of the forum.

“We hope to make this more than a one time thing,” said Delacourt.

“We hope to put processes in place to make sure this is more robust and regular.”

According to their website, “The FBI’s Community Outreach Program supports the Bureau’s investigative mission by working to address multiple interrelated societal problems—including crime, drugs, gangs, terrorism, and violence. Linking community service, prevention, and law enforcement is a national trend spurred by grass roots efforts around the country, and FBI employees have joined this movement, volunteering in a wide variety of community-related efforts…”

This article originally appeared in the Los Angeles Sentinel.

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Fighting to Keep Blackness

BlackPressUSA NEWSWIRE — Trump supporters have introduced another bill to take down the bright yellow letters of Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington, D.C., in exchange for the name Liberty Plaza. D.C.

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1 week ago

March 7, 2025

Oakland Post

By April Ryan

As this nation observes the 60th anniversary of Bloody Sunday in Selma, Alabama, the words of President Trump reverberate. “This country will be WOKE no longer”, an emboldened Trump offered during his speech to a joint session of Congress Tuesday night. Since then, Alabama Congresswoman Terri Sewell posted on the social media platform formerly known as Twitter this morning that “Elon Musk and his DOGE bros have ordered GSA to sell off the site of the historic Freedom Riders Museum in Montgomery.” Her post of little words went on to say, “This is outrageous and we will not let it stand! I am demanding an immediate reversal. Our civil rights history is not for sale!” DOGE trying to sell Freedom Rider Museum

Also, in the news today, the Associated Press is reporting they have a file of names and descriptions of more than 26,000 military images flagged for removal because of connections to women, minorities, culture, or DEI. In more attempts to downplay Blackness, a word that is interchanged with woke, Trump supporters have introduced another bill to take down the bright yellow letters of Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington, D.C., in exchange for the name Liberty Plaza. D.C. Mayor Morial Bowser is allowing the name change to keep millions of federal dollars flowing there. Black Lives Matter Plaza was named in 2020 after a tense exchange between President Trump and George Floyd protesters in front of the White House. There are more reports about cuts to equity initiatives that impact HBCU students. Programs that recruited top HBCU students into the military and the pipeline for Department of Defense contracts have been canceled.

Meanwhile, Democrats are pushing back against this second-term Trump administration’s anti-DEI and Anti-woke message. In the wake of the 60th anniversary of Bloody Sunday in Selma, several Congressional Black Caucus leaders are reintroducing the Voting Rights Act. South Carolina Democratic Congressman James Clyburn and Alabama Congresswoman Terry Sewell are sponsoring H.R. 14, the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. Six decades ago, Lewis was hit with a billy club by police as he marched for the right to vote for African Americans. The right for Black people to vote became law with the 1965 Voting Rights Act that has since been gutted, leaving the nation to vote without the full protections of the Voting Rights Act. Reflecting on the late Congressman Lewis, March 1, 2020, a few months before his death, Lewis said, “We need more than ever in these times many more someones to make good trouble- to make their own dent in the wall of injustice.”

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Oakland Post: Week of March 5 – 11, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of March 5 – 11, 2025

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March 7, 2025

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Rep. Al Green is Censured by The U.S. House After Protesting Trump on Medicaid

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — His censure featured no hearing at the House Ethics Committee and his punishment was put on the floor for a vote by the Republican controlled House less than 72 hours after the infraction in question.

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1 week ago

March 6, 2025

Oakland Post

By Lauren Burke

In one of the quickest punishments of a member of the U.S. House of Representatives in the modern era, Congressman Al Green (D-TX) was censured by a 224-198 vote today in the House. His censure featured no hearing at the House Ethics Committee and his punishment was put on the floor for a vote by the Republican controlled House less than 72 hours after the infraction in question. Of the last three censures of members of the U.S. House, two have been members of the Congressional Black Caucus under GOP control. In 2023, Rep. Jamal Bowman was censured.

On the night of March 4, as President Trump delivered a Joint Address to Congress, Rep. Green interrupted him twice. Rep. Green shouted, “You don’t have a mandate to cut Medicare, and you need to raise the cap on social security,” to President Trump. In another rare event, Rep. Green was escorted off the House floor by security shortly after yelling at the President by order of GOP House Speaker Mike Johnson. Over the last four years, members of Congress have yelled at President Biden during the State of the Union. Georgia Republican Marjorie Taylor-Greene was joined by Republican Rep. Lauren Bobert (R-CO) in 2022 in yelling at President Biden. In 2023, Rep. Greene, Rep. Bob Good (R-VA), and Rep. Lisa McClain (R-MI) yelled at Biden, interrupting his speech. In 2024, wearing a red MAGA hat, a violation of the rules of the U.S. House, Greene interrupted Biden again. She was never censured for her behavior. Rep. Green voted “present” on his censure and was joined by freshman Democrat Congressman Shomari Figures of Alabama who also voted “present”.

All other members of the Congressional Black Caucus voted against censuring Green. Republicans hold a four-seat advantage in the U.S. House after the death of Texas Democrat and former Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner yesterday. Ten Democrats voted along with Republicans to censure Rep. Green, including Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticut, who is in the leadership as the senior Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee. “I respect them but, I would do it again,” and “it is a matter of conscience,” Rep. Green told Black Press USA’s April Ryan in an exclusive interview on March 5. After the vote, a group of Democrats sang “We Shall Overcome” in the well at the front of the House chamber. Several Republican members attempted to shout down the singing. House Speaker Mike Johnson gaveled the House out of session and into a recess. During the brief recess members moved back to their seats and out of the well of the House. Shortly after the vote to censor Rep. Green, Republican Congressman Andy Ogles of Tennessee quickly filed legislation to punish members who participated in the singing of “We Shall Overcome.” Earlier this year, Rep. Ogles filed legislation to allow President Donald Trump to serve a third term, which is currently unconstitutional. As the debate started, the stock market dove down over one-point hours from close. The jobs report will be made public tomorrow.