AND THE INGLEWOOD TRIBUNE, CARSON BULLETIN, WILMINGTON BEACON, THE CALIFORNIAN, THE WEEKENDER & EL MONTE BULLETIN WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18, 2018
AN AMERICAN PRINT MEDIA PUBLICATION
Compton’s Critically Acclaimed Kendrick Lamar Awarded Pulitzer Prize By Mesfin Fekadu
NEW YORK—Compton native Kendrick Lamar won the Pulitzer Prize for music Monday, making history as the first non-classical or jazz artist to win the prestigious prize.
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he revered rapper is also the most commercially successful musician to receive the award, usually reserved for critically acclaimed classical acts who don't live on the pop charts. The 30-year-old won the prize for “DAMN.,” his raw and powerful Grammy-winning album. The Pulitzer board said Monday the album is “a virtuosic song collection unified by its vernacular authenticity and rhythmic dynamism that offers affecting vignettes capturing the complexity of modern African-American life.” He will win $15,000. Lamar has been lauded for his deep lyrical content, politically charged live performances, and his profound mix of hip-hop, spoken word, jazz, soul, funk, poetry and African sounds. Since emerging on the music scene with the 2011 album “Section.80,” he has achieved the perfect mix of commercial appeal and critical respect. The Pulitzer board has awarded special honors to Bob Dylan, Duke Ellington, George Gershwin, Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane and Hank Williams, but a popular figure like Lamar has never won the prize for music. In 1997, Wynton Marsalis became the first jazz act to win the Pulitzer Prize for music. That makes Lamar's win that much more important: His platinumselling major-label albums—“good kid, m.A.A.d city,” “To Pimp a n Kendrick Lamar, see page 9
CALDWELL BEING Poem and photo by Melina Cervantes
It cages you with wires An idea of danger The urgency to get to the other side a path, a structure That is what its physicality tells you it is But it is not just a path It houses the running feet the sliding on its rails the gossip of the women who walk their children to school Echoes! of all that passes through it He never sleeps, he is relentless his humble ways of giving his entire being to the city And at night he watches over Don’t be scared he watched you grow up Running as a child to get to the other side He knows you, and you are safe He birthed you a beautiful creature to their surprise But he is a creator just like any others He serves his purpose and now You are on the other side a grown adult with a childish urge to slide down his rails He chuckles when you furiously defend his home When you hear “developing city” It has always stood Not developing But there is no need to defend him He is secure, strong, rough Just like what he produces So laugh with him at their mere efforts to describe him They speak based on what they’ve heard, articles, the news Not even a day they gave it.
California to Join Guard Border Mission, But with Conditions By Kathleen Ronayne and Elliott Spagat SACRAMENTO—California Gov. Jerry Brown accepted President Donald Trump's call to send the National Guard to the Mexican border, but rejected the White House's portrait of a burgeoning border crisis and insisted that his troops will have nothing to do with immigration enforcement. The Democratic governor broke a week of silence last Wednesday by agreeing to contribute 400 troops, though not all will be on the border. Brown's commitment brought the pledges from four states that border Mexico to just shy of the low end of the president's target of 2,000 to 4,000 troops. Trump praised Brown on Twitter last Thursday, but did not address the governor's comments on immigration. The president said Brown was “doing the right thing and sending the National Guard to the Border. Thank you Jerry, good move for the safety of our Country!” Brown cast his decision as a welcome infusion of federal support to fight transnational criminal gangs and drug and firearms smugglers. “Combating these criminal threats are priorities for all Americans— Republicans and Democrats,” Brown wrote in a letter to Defense Secretary James Mattis and Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen. Federal law, notably the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, sharply limits military involvement in civilian law enforcement, creating a supporting role for the Guard. The Pentagon said last week that troops won't perform law enforcement functions or interact with people detained by border authorities without its approval. Brown released a proposed agreement with the federal government that emphasizes the widely shared understanding of the Guard's limited role but explicitly bans any support of immigration enforcement. It says troops
"I am confident Governor Brown will not use our National Guard to harass or tear apart immigrant families in California." State Sen Kevin de Leon cannot guard anyone in custody for immigration violations or participate in construction of border barriers. The White House praised Brown's decision without addressing his comments on immigration enforcement. “We're also glad to see California Gov. Jerry Brown work with the administration and send members of the National Guard to help secure the southern border,” White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said. Reaction in California was limited, with few of Brown's allies or opponents weighing in. State Sen. Kevin de Leon, a
Democratic U.S. Senate candidate and author of California's so-called sanctuary state law, said Guard deployment was unnecessary and not a good use of resources. But he said more can be done to combat border crime and that he appreciated Brown's design of “a clear and limited mission focused on real public safety threats.” “I am confident Governor Brown will not use our National Guard to harass or tear apart immigrant families in California,” he said in a statement. Rob Stutzman, who advised former Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, praised the decision on Twitter, calling Brown's decision to accept money for using the Guard to fight drugs and human trafficking “good government.” Immigration advocacy groups were critical, saying Brown's support was a boost for Trump's agenda. Lillian Serrano, chair of the San Diego Immigrant Rights Consortium, acknowledged the governor's proposed limits on the Guard's role but said his decision reflected “flawed logic that we need more boots on the ground.” Pedro Rios, director for the American Friends Service Committee's U.S.n Border Mission, see page 8