C e l e b r a t i n g 2 8 Ye a r s o f Service in Inglewood, Airport area Communities
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March 31 - April 6, 2022 VOL. 37, No. 13
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Two Hopefuls in Race to Replace Former Asm. Burke Have Black Caucus Ties
Nonprofit director and businesswoman Tina Simone McKinnor Antonio Ray Harvey | California Black Media
The two Black candidates running in the April 5 special primary election to replace former Assemblymember Autumn Burke in the 62nd Assembly District have ties to the California Legislative Black Caucus (CLBC). Gov. Gavin Newsom proclaimed the special election for the Los Angeles
County legislative district to be held on June 7. Nonprofit director and businesswoman Tina Simone McKinnor, 58, and Lawndale Mayor Robert Pullen-Miles, 55, have both served as staffers, surrogates and organizers for African American state legislators.
Lawndale Mayor Robert Pullen-Miles
If elected, one of them will become the 11th member of the CLBC, succeeding Burke who resigned in January. Burke said she left the legislature to spend more time with her family. For seven years, she represented the district which includes Inglewood, El Segundo, Gardena, Hawthorne,
Lawndale, Lennox, Los Angeles, Venice, Westchester, Marina del Rey, West Athens, and Westmont. “Our campaign is picking up momentum. As we have the opportunity to discuss our values, people are joining this campaign to make bold Continued on page 8
California Assembly Approves Constitutional Amendment Abolishing “Involuntary Servitude” Antonio Ray Harvey | California Black Media
Assembly Constitutional Amendment (ACA) 3, the California Abolition Act, has one more hurdle to clear before voters can approve or reject it in the General Election in November. The state Assembly voted 59-0 to approve the legislation on March 21, which would amend the Constitution of California to end involuntary servitude in the state. Should the Senate vote in favor of ACA 3 before the end of June of this year, it will go to the voters for a final decision. Article 1, Section 6 of the California Constitution currently allows the practice of involuntary servitude as a means of punishing crime. Sen. Sydney Kamlager (D-Los
Angeles), who authored ACA 3 in 2020 while serving in the Assembly, says involuntary servitude is a euphemism for forced labor, a practice she says is much more nefarious and is comparable to slavery. Kamlager formally announced the bill on the grounds of the State Capitol in March 2021. “In our great state of California -- often touted as one of the most progressive states in the country -- this cannot stand,” said Kamlager. “By removing this language from our constitution, we are moving our state into the 21st century and taking steps to ensure that no Californian is ever put in a position of involuntary servitude again. Dissolving these remnants of slavery and racial inequality is more important than ever
before.” The 13th Amendment of the United States Constitution was ratified in 1865. It prohibited slavery and involuntary servitude with one exception: if involuntary servitude was imposed as punishment for a crime. After the U.S. Civil War and continuing through the early 1940s, incarcerated individuals were “leased out” to plantation owners and manufacturers as cheap labor. This system, called “convict leasing,” was later replaced by “chain gangs.” Article I, section 6, of the California Constitution, contains the same prohibitions on slavery and involuntary servitude and the same exception for involuntary servitude as punishment for crime.
California’s incarcerated people have no practical ability to refuse to work. Samual Nathaniel Brown, for example, who contributed to writing ACA 3, was incarcerated at California State Prison, Los Angeles County. Brown says he was forced to sanitize the cells of other incarcerated people infected with COVID-19 while wearing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) that was inadequate. Brown told California Black Media if he had refused that assignment, he would have been written up for insubordination by prison guards, which would have jeopardized his chances of an early release. Continued on page 7
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