Weekly Email 5/8-5/15/2023

This Week’s BLMLA Actions/Events (5/1/23-5/8/23):

  • MONDAY, 5/8/2023 at 4:30PM – Demand Justice for #AnthonyMcClain at the Pasadena City Council Meeting on Zoom https://us02web.zoom.us/j/161482446 – Call in to the Pasadena City Council meeting and demand justice for #KendrecMcDade and demand the City Council fire the police officers who murdered #AnthonyMcClain. Please submit speaker cards prior to the public comment period at the link here. To participate by phone, call 1-669-900-6833, Meeting ID: 161 482 446.

  • TUESDAY, 5/9/2023 at 9:30AM – Los Angeles Police Commission Meeting IN PERSON at LAPD HQ 100 W. 1st St. – Come out IN PERSON and demand that the so-called oversight body of the LAPD actually hold killer cops accountable! Make your voice heard during public comment and demand Chief Michel Moore’s resignation and #DefundThePolice. Coalition talking points here. 

  • WEDNESDAY, 5/10/2023 at 9:30AM – Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Meeting IN PERSON at 500 W. Temple St., 1st Floor or BY PHONE  at (877) 336-4437, Participant code 1366786 during the live meeting (Press 1 then 0 to address the Board) 

  • Tell the Board of Supervisors that we want a CARE FIRST BUDGET; fully fund CFCI at $100 million. Defund systems of harm like the sheriffs, jails, and probation. Our people want CARE NOT COPS. More Talking points HERE. 

  • TUESDAY, WEDNESDAY & FRIDAY 5/9, 5/10 & 5/12/2023 at 10AM – City Council Meeting at 200 N. Main St. – Come out to LA City Council meetings to raise your voice during public comment, at City Hall every Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday morning. We demand Kevin de Léon RESIGN immediately for being an anti-Black racist. We also want City Council to schedule a People’s Budget LA presentation and adopt the People’s Budget priorities. *Proof of COVID vaccination and ID required to enter City Hall.

  • WEDNESDAY, 5/10/2023 at 4PM – #EndPoliceAssociations at 1313 W. 8th St. – This week we are HONORING BLACK MAMAS against police associations that exact pain, hurt, harm, and loss. Bring your voices, your energy, and your commitment to building a just and free world, where police associations no longer have control over public safety policy. Wear a mask! Snacks and water provided! Streamed live on Instagram at @blmlosangeles. Every Wednesday at 4pm!

  • SATURDAY, 5/12/2023 8-10AM – This Is Not a Drill! on KBLA Talk 1580AM or facebook.com/BLMLA – Topic and guests to come. This week’s show will be hosted by BLMLA Core Team member and Director of Students Deserve Joseph Williams.

Recap:

  • On Thursday, April 27th, #BlackLivesMatter and the #PeoplesBudgetLA Coalition were joined by Mayor Karen Bass for the presentation of our survey findings in front of a standing-room-only crowd at BLMLA’s Center for Black Power. Dr. Tabatha Jones Jolivet and Dr. David Turner presented the survey’s statistics and findings. 1,500 Angelenos completed the People’s Budget LA survey and shared that their highest spending priorities were mental health (94%) and housing (92%). Upwards of 74% of Angelenos want to #DefundThePolice. The presentation was hosted by KBLA’s own Dominique DiPrima, with a frame offered by Dr. Melina Abdullah and actor Kendrick Sampson, encouraging the mayor to be courageous and allocate funds to where we need them…not police. After hearing the presentation, Mayor Karen Bass responded that she supports reimagining public safety, but explained that she has to increase the LAPD budget because Sherman Oaks wants more cops. Much appreciation to Councilwoman Heather Hutt and Assemblyman Isaac Bryan for joining and especially to the PEOPLE for making it happen.

  • Last Saturday, United Nations human rights investigators visited the Los Angeles Community Action Network and heard testimonies on police brutality, mass incarceration, homelessness and Black Immigration. The families of #GrecharioMack, #KennethRossJr, and #TakarSmith all testified. The investigators were from the EMLER group, which stands for The International Independent Expert Mechanism to Advance Racial Justice and Equality in the context of Law Enforcement, and is a newly formed international human rights body organized to investigate racial justice and equality concerns in relation to law enforcement.

  • Last Wednesday’s “Fund Services, Not Police” rally to #EndPoliceAssociations honored International Workers Day and uplifted how the police are the enemy of the workers.

  • Last Thursday the People’s Budget survey findings were presented to LA City Council’s Budget and Finance Committee. Sister Verneen Mincey (sister of #JamesMincey), Baba Akili, and Dr. Melina Abdullah gave an abbreviated version of the full presentation, emphasizing that the two greatest spending priorities for Angelenos are housing and mental health and the only areas that Angelenos marked for divestment are police, prosecutions, and parking enforcement.

  • Last Saturday the People’s Budget continued as a theme, with our own Dr. Melina Abdullah hosting and Drs. Tabatha Jones Jolivet and David Turner as guests.  Our #MoreThanAHashtag conversation was with Ashley McKenzie Smith, mother of #JaylinMcKenzie, who was murdered by Memphis police in December at a traffic stop…just a month before #TyreNichols. Missed it? Watch here.

  • On Sunday, May 7th, BLMLA held its monthly organizing meeting at the Center for Black Power. We shared action steps required to move the people’s budget. Thank you Dr. Tabatha Jones Jolivet and Megan Castillo for outlining the process and what must be done. 

Upcoming and Ongoing:

  • Thursday, July 13, 2023 - Black Lives Matter Turns 10! We are planning something BIG as we mark this milestone! Save the date (and the entire weekend).

Megan Castillo