On November 14, 2012, the Young Professionals engaged the community in a discussion of the election results and what they mean for our communities. This blog aims to touch on and build off of the comments and questions during this forum.
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| Participants engaged in a discussion on state and local measures. |
Huddled in a large circle, participants of the
GSUL YP Pizza and Politics Discussion tackled the “what now?” and “how did we
get here?” questions to determine the meaning of election
outcomes for our community. And by our
community, I mean underrepresented middle, working class and poor families of color in
Sacramento.
State
Budget and Financing
The crowd was relieved with the passing of Prop
30; the Governor’s measure to increase income and sales taxes to thwart cuts to
education, yet were concerned that the funding may not reach the schools. In addition, participants wondered whether we
should be content with extra funding or focus on demanding better
outcomes. There was even tit for tat
going back and forth about the blame for budget cuts between democrats and
republicans. However, a number of
participants stressed the need of bi-partisan solutions and a need to focus on
the impact of the Capitol’s decisions on our local communities.
Criminal
Justice
It has been a long time coming for 3 Strikes
reform. Prop 36, was hailed as a first attempt to address the disparate impact
of incarceration of African American males. However, participants highlighted the need to take action before
sentencing and prosecution, and address the underlying factors of
poverty and violence in our communities.
One participant discussed how the failure to meet the mental health
needs of black victims of crime continues to perpetuate the cycle. We also discussed the challenges of
ex-offenders struggling to integrate back into society with a felony on their
record. “Having a felony is a stigma on
your record for life” said GSUL President David Deluz, “We need to work on
getting the ‘Employment Exclusion’ for felonies changed. We need to advocate for the restoration of
their full rights, such as housing, being certified in a profession, and
voting.”
Dear
President Obama, What have you done for us lately?
During the discussion of the national election
results, participants expressed that President Obama needs to deliver for the
key constituency that got him elected in 2008 and 2012 – The Black
Community. “Obama has done some great
things for people in the middle class across the spectrum, but he needs to do something
deliberate for African Americans” said commenter Flojuane Griffin. “He can go
on air and support gay marriage and Latino issues but he can’t support specific
black issues. Now is the time. What are you going to do for us??” This lead to the major question of just “What
is the Black agenda?” And while the
President did not create policies to directly impact African Americans, some
participants argued that his overall efforts to help the poor, working and middle
class Americans of all races helps blacks at the same time.
Advocating
for the Black Agenda
Participants argued that the Black community,
unlike other groups, does not advocate for itself. One participant noted how the gay rights
movement is organized; they have an agenda, bills, and fundraise for their
cause, as do Latinos. Another comment
was that the Latino and the gay rights movement are fighting for 1st generation
Civil Rights whereas African Americans are fighting for 2nd and 3rd generation
Civil Rights. We are fighting for equity, fairness and meritocracy. Our issues are not tangible; that’s
especially why we need to organize. It
was also highlighted in the discussion that we need to use our $1.1 trillion
dollar spending power to financially support groups that will advocate for our
communities. We have to pay for our
voice.
YP Sound
off-What are your thoughts?
We discussed a lot, we did not always see eye to
eye, but the one thing the majority of us agreed on was the need for a Black
Agenda.
But just what is going to be on the Black Agenda
for Sacramento communities and nationally?
How can we mobilize to make sure our voices are
heard in local and state government?
What
actions can we take in the community to make a difference?
YP Sound Off!
Stay tuned
for our upcoming Pizza and Politics Discussions in the New Year.
-Written Breanna Myres and Danielle Williams
Thank you for organizing an insightful event and the follow-up. I pray that you continue doing the good work you're doing. God Willing/Insha'Allah.
ReplyDeleteI'd love for our national agenda to include: (in this order)
ReplyDelete1) Community Transformation Grants in areas where black graduation rates are less than 70%. The money should be used for parental and community infrastructure building, direct support to ensure achievement of K-3 benchmarks, and teacher recruitment and training. Rationale: to help improve the number of black children who graduate from HS (because this has an impact on lifetime earnings, longevity, health, community stability)
2) Financial literacy should be a mandatory seminar taught to all 9-12 grade students. Rationale: we know that Black Americans are notorious for not understanding money and mismanaging it. By democratically teaching principles of financial management in high schools we offer an opportunity to help reverse these trends among black communities.
3) Combatting mandatory incarceration laws and harsh sentences (especially for first time offenders). Rationale: Reserving incarceration for violent and serious offenses lessens the prison resource burden federally and at the state level and helps prevents more young black men from being excluded from economic and educational opportunities due to prior incarceration.
It would be great if we could start this conversation with other organizations and see if we can develop a firm national and local agenda.