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Gov. Newsom Signs Sen. Steve Bradford’s Ebony Alert Bill into Law

Black women and girls are at increased risk of being harmed and sex trafficked.  A recent report on human trafficking incidents across the country also found that 40% of sex trafficking victims were identified as Black women. The county of Los Angeles reported that 92% of girls in the juvenile justice system identified as victims of sex trafficking are Black, according to the Congressional Black Caucus. 

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Oakland District 7 City Councilmember Treva Reid and State Senator Steven Bradford (D-Inglewood). Photos courtesy California Black Media.
Oakland District 7 City Councilmember Treva Reid and State Senator Steven Bradford (D-Inglewood). Photos courtesy California Black Media.

By Antonio Ray Harvey | California Black Media

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the “Ebony Alert” bill to help locate missing Black youth and Black women in the state of California, on Oct. 8.

Senate Bill (SB) 673, authored by Sen. Steven Bradford (D-Inglewood), provides a notification system to address the often ignored or lack of attention given to Black children and young Black women who are missing in California.

“I am signing Senate Bill 673,” Newsom said in a statement. “I thank the Legislature for highlighting this important issue, addressing well-documented disproportionality in the number of children of color who go missing every year.”

SB 673 authorizes a law enforcement agency to request that an Ebony Alert be activated if that agency determines that it would be an effective tool in the investigation of a missing Black youth or a young Black woman between the ages of 12 and 25 years.

The U.S. population is 14% Black.  Black children are disproportionately classified as “runaways” in comparison to their white counterparts who are classified as “missing” and, therefore, many Black children do not receive the Amber Alert.

“It’s very important to have the Ebony Alert because far too often when Black women and children go missing there is little to no publicity which hinders the effort to find them,” said Kellie Todd Griffin, CA Black Women’s Collective Empowerment Institute.

“I applaud Senator Bradford for bringing this forward and the Governor for signing the Ebony Act into law. Now we have to be diligent to ensure it is implemented effectively into practice.”

According to the Black and Missing Foundation Inc. (BAMFI), 38% of children reported missing in the U.S. are Black. BAMFI is a non-profit organization whose mission is to bring awareness to missing persons of color. It provides resources and tools to missing persons’ families and friends and educates the minority community about personal safety.

AMBER – the moniker that stands for America’s Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response – was created as a legacy to 9-year-old Amber Hagerman, who was kidnapped and murdered while riding her bicycle in Arlington, Texas.

Similar to Amber Alert, California has an existing law that authorizes the issuance and coordination of a “Silver Alert” relating to a person who is 65 years of age or older, developmentally disabled, or cognitively impaired who is reported missing.

The “Feather Alert,” relating to an endangered Indigenous person who has been reported missing under unexplained or suspicious circumstances, is also on the books.

Newsom did note “broader concerns” he had with SB 673 and expressed them to Bradford. His administration questioned standards in the bill and stated that they “do not align with the criteria in existing alerts,” specifically the Amber Alert, Endangered Missing Advisory, Feather Alert, and Silver Alert.

“Our emergency alert system is dependent on people not being fatigued by it and thus ignoring it,” the Governor wrote. “Our challenge is to achieve balance between the imperative to notify the public quickly in cases of missing persons or dangerous situations, but to not desensitize that same public outcry by sending too many notifications.”

Black women and girls are at increased risk of being harmed and sex trafficked.  A recent report on human trafficking incidents across the country also found that 40% of sex trafficking victims were identified as Black women. The county of Los Angeles reported that 92% of girls in the juvenile justice system identified as victims of sex trafficking are Black, according to the Congressional Black Caucus.

‘“When someone who is missing is incorrectly listed as a runaway, they basically vanish a second time,” Bradford said in a statement after he introduced the bill on the Senate floor in March. “They vanish from the police detectives’ workload. They vanish from the headlines. In many ways, no one even knows they are missing. How can we find someone and bring them home safely when no one is really looking for them,” Bradford stated.

Earlier this year, community advocates in Oakland announced a “state of emergency” in response to 10 attempted abductions and kidnappings of Black girls and women.

Oakland City Councilmember Treva Reid of District 7, announced in May that of the 1,500 missing person cases reported in the city, 400 were Black women. In 2022 alone, 20% of missing cases went unsolved.

Reid supports SB 673. On May 30, the Oakland City Council unanimously voted in favor of her resolution endorsing the alert system statewide.

“A troubling number of our daughters, sisters, aunts, and mothers go missing throughout our community and they must be protected and safe in our city,” Reid stated. “It is critical that state and local jurisdictions have access to the best enforcement tools and resources to swiftly respond to the crisis of kidnappings and attempted abductions in Oakland and across California.”

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Remembering George Floyd

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing.

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Mural showing the portrait of George Floyd in Mauerpark in Berlin. To the left of the portrait the lettering "I can't Breathe" was added, on the right side the three hashtags #GeorgeFloyd, #Icantbreathe and #Sayhisname. The mural was completed by Eme Street Art (facebook name) / Eme Free Thinker (signature) on 29 May 2020. (Wikimedia Commons)
Mural showing the portrait of George Floyd in Mauerpark in Berlin. To the left of the portrait the lettering "I can't Breathe" was added, on the right side the three hashtags #GeorgeFloyd, #Icantbreathe and #Sayhisname. The mural was completed by Eme Street Art (facebook name) / Eme Free Thinker (signature) on 29 May 2020. (Wikimedia Commons)

By April Ryan
BlackPressUSA Newswire

“The president’s been very clear he has no intentions of pardoning Derek Chauvin, and it’s not a request that we’re looking at,” confirms a senior staffer at the Trump White House. That White House response results from public hope, including from a close Trump ally, Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. The timing of Greene’s hopes coincides with the Justice Department’s recent decision to end oversight of local police accused of abuse. It also falls on the fifth anniversary of the police-involved death of George Floyd on May 25th. The death sparked national and worldwide outrage and became a transitional moment politically and culturally, although the outcry for laws on police accountability failed.

The death forced then-Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden to focus on deadly police force and accountability. His efforts while president to pass the George Floyd Justice in policing act failed. The death of George Floyd also put a spotlight on the Black community, forcing then-candidate Biden to choose a Black woman running mate. Kamala Harris ultimately became vice president of the United States alongside Joe Biden. Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison prosecuted the cases against the officers involved in the death of Floyd. He remembers,” Trump was in office when George Floyd was killed, and I would blame Trump for creating a negative environment for police-community relations. Remember, it was him who said when the looting starts, the shooting starts, it was him who got rid of all the consent decrees that were in place by the Obama administration.”

In 2025, Police-involved civilian deaths are up by “about 100 to about 11 hundred,” according to Ellison. Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African-American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing. During those minutes on the ground, Floyd cried out for his late mother several times. Police subdued Floyd for an alleged counterfeit $20 bill.

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Oakland Post: Week of May 28 – June 30, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of May 28 – June 3, 2025

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Oakland Post: Week of May 21 – 27, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of May 21 – 27, 2025

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