Antonio Ray Harvey
Sacramento: More Than 250 News Professionals Attend Ethnic Media Awards and Conference
More than 250 news professionals representing nearly 150 media outlets attended the annual Ethnic Media Conference, Expo, and Awards held at the Sheraton Grand Hotel in Sacramento on Aug. 27 and 28. Hosted by Ethnic Media Services (EMS) and California Black Media (CBM), the awards ceremony recognized journalists for their outstanding reporting in different topic areas, including health, politics and culture.

Antonio Ray Harvey, California Black Media
More than 250 news professionals representing nearly 150 media outlets attended the annual Ethnic Media Conference, Expo, and Awards held at the Sheraton Grand Hotel in Sacramento on Aug. 27 and 28.
Hosted by Ethnic Media Services (EMS) and California Black Media (CBM), the awards ceremony recognized journalists for their outstanding reporting in different topic areas, including health, politics and culture.
The conference sessions leading up to that event included panel discussions featuring state officials, government agencies, lobbying firms, advocacy organizations and more. It also provided networking opportunities for news media owners and professionals from the Black, Native American, Latino, Asian, Pacific Islander, Eastern European, North African, Caribbean and LGBTQ press.
“Last year, the inaugural convening in the state capital focused on ‘meeting the decision-makers,’” said Regina Wilson, Executive Director of CBM. “This year, the emphasis is on strengthening those connections. Key decision-makers have expressed their appreciation for our return, recognizing that at a time of deep budget cuts, our community ties and communication skills are more essential than ever for building new, more equitable messaging,” Wilson added.
State leaders who attended the event included Attorney General Rob Bonta, State Treasurer Fiona Ma, and Tony Thurmond, State Superintendent of Public Instruction.
In addition to state government officials, business leaders, communications firms, nonprofits, and philanthropic organizations also participated in the conference organized to highlight the crucial role ethnic media play in California’s diverse communities.
“California is home to the largest concentration of multilingual news outlets serving immigrant and ethnic communities in the U.S.,” said Sandy Close, Director of EMS. “This breakthrough public-private partnership to support local journalism brings welcome recognition of the ethnic media sector’s indispensable role in connecting these diverse communities to each other and to the wider public realm.”
Thurmond discussed the ethnic media’s role in reporting on education in the state and why articles from ethnic media outlets have an advantage in reaching targeted audiences in underserved communities.
Thurmond, who is running for the governor of California in 2026, spoke at the opening luncheon where CBM and EMS presented Communications Champion Awards to key stakeholders representing organizations across the state’s communications infrastructure.
“We can’t get the right information out about education without the ethnic media in our state,” Thurmond said. “We need to get people to understand that if a student is not reading at a third-grade level in the third grade we will lose them, and they could end up in the prison pipeline.”
This year’s conference coincided with the announcement of the historic $172 million public-private partnership in California aimed at supporting journalism. That agreement brings together state government and high-tech companies led by Google to support local newsrooms.
The deal, supporters say, serves as a national model for strengthening the traditional role of journalism in providing checks and balances in government and business affairs. At a reception held the first day of the conference, CBM and EMS honored Assemblymember Buffy Wicks (D-Oakland) with the “Legislator of the Year” award. The organizations also thanked Wicks for brokering the deal with Google and for her ongoing support for news media.
“We’ve worked long and hard to gain this recognition as a multilingual, multiracial, multimedia sector,” said Wilson. “We extend our deepest thanks to our sponsors, speakers, media partners, and all our attendees for supporting this collective effort.”
Activism
Comparing Histories: Black and Japanese American Advocates Talk Reparations and Justice
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.

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.
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.”
Antonio Ray Harvey
In Letter, Conservative Org Threatens Mayor Bass, Other Officials, With Imprisonment
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.

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.”
“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.
Antonio Ray Harvey
Black Caucus Members Appointed to Leadership Roles in State Legislature
On Jan. 3, McGuire announced that Laura Richardson (D-San Pedro) was named to the Democratic leadership as Assistant Majority Whip. Richardson will also serve as chair of the Senate Budget Subcommittee No. 5 on Corrections, Public Safety, Judiciary, Labor and Transportation. Akilah Weber-Pierson (D-San Diego) will serve as chair of Budget Subcommittee No. 3 on Health and Human Services.

By Antonio Ray Harvey,
California Black Media
All 12 members of the California Legislative Black Caucus (CLBC) have been assigned leadership roles in the State Senate and the State Assembly, according to separate statements issued by Senate President pro-Tempore Mike McGuire (D-Healdsburg) and Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas (D-Hollister).
On Jan. 3, McGuire announced that Laura Richardson (D-San Pedro) was named to the Democratic leadership as Assistant Majority Whip. Richardson will also chair the Senate Budget Subcommittee No. 5 on Corrections, Public Safety, Judiciary, Labor, and Transportation. Akilah Weber-Pierson (D-San Diego) will chair Budget Subcommittee No. 3 on Health and Human Services.
The Senate Labor, Public Employment, and Retirement Committee will be chaired by Lola Smallwood-Cuevas (D-Los Angeles).
On Dec. 27, Rivas announced his Assembly leadership team and the chairpersons of all Assembly committees, including CLBC members: CLBC Vice Chair Assemblymember Isaac Bryan (D-Ladera Heights), chair of the Natural Resources Committee; Lori Wilson (D-Suisun City), chair of the Transportation Committee; Corey Jackson (D-Moreno Valley), chair of the Budget Human Services Committee; Rhodesia Ransom (D-Tracy), chair of the Emergency Management Committee; Mia Bonta (D-Oakland), chair of the Health Committee; Tina McKinnor (D- Inglewood), chair of the Public Employment and Retirement Committee; Mike Gipson (D-Carson), chair of the Revenue and Taxation Committee; and LaShae Sharp-Collins (D-San Diego), assistant majority leader for Policy.
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