{"id":9366,"date":"2025-10-17T08:29:06","date_gmt":"2025-10-17T08:29:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/9366\/"},"modified":"2025-10-17T08:29:06","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T08:29:06","slug":"the-state-of-black-la-advocates-for-solidarity-in-black-and-brown-communities-annenberg-media","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/9366\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cThe State of Black LA\u201d advocates for solidarity in Black and Brown communities \u2013 Annenberg Media"},"content":{"rendered":"

Amid increasing political tension in Los Angeles, widespread immigration raids<\/a> and the deployment<\/a> of the California National Guard, Black and Brown communities in Los Angeles are emphasizing the importance of togetherness.<\/p>\n

Finding space in the University of Southern California\u2019s Town and Gown Ballroom<\/a> on October 16, the third annual \u201cThe State of Black Los Angeles\u201d forum welcomed different companies and community advocates. <\/p>\n

The all-day symposium was organized by the Los Angeles Urban League, an organization that aims to help African Americans, among others, achieve \u201ctheir highest true social parity, economic self-reliance, power and civil rights,\u201d according to the event program. <\/p>\n

This year\u2019s theme centered on \u201cSolidarity in Action: Black and Brown L.A.\u201d and intended to unite two communities for \u201ca better Los Angeles.\u201d<\/p>\n

First-time attendee Shenell Glover says the theme means being \u201cpowerful in any circumstance\u201d and how events like \u201cThe State of Black LA\u201d show how L.A. has a \u201cstrong togetherness.\u201d<\/p>\n

The event brought back returning attendees, like Sharon Evans, a USC alum and board member of the California African American Chamber, who has taken part in this event for three years. <\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t believe empathy is a feeling. It\u2019s an action. It\u2019s reaching out to say, now we recognize your challenges, and we can act to help you, to stand with you and move forward,\u201d Evans said. <\/p>\n

\u201cAllyship is important \u2014 It\u2019s critical,\u201d she said. \u201cJust as our Latino brothers and sisters are facing challenges, as we\u2019re dealing with this immigration attack, we face those challenges.\u201d<\/p>\n

After a welcome from emcee and NBC4 Meteorologist Melissa Magee, the program had a saxophonic performance by Mike Phillips of \u201cLift Every Voice And Sing.\u201d <\/p>\n

David Huerta, President of Service Employees International Union of California and United Service Workers West, spoke at the third panel that was slated for the afternoon, \u201cImmigration: Building Cross-community Solidarity.\u201d <\/p>\n

Huerta spoke about his experience being detained. \u201cPeople are not meant to be incarcerated. \u2026 The challenge leaving the detention center was knowing that I left some really good people behind me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf our government does not care about our collective human condition, what does that say for us in our future?\u201d Huerta asked. \u201cMy experience in there, like I said, I met some honorable men up there \u2014 I met some good people, and for whatever reason they\u2019re there \u2026. there was more honor there than there was in the White House.\u201d<\/p>\n

The immigration panel captivated audiences. Martha Ar\u00e9valo, Executive Director of the Central American Resource Center of Los Angeles, spoke about the disparity of immigrant resources. <\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s be clear, there\u2019s never enough resources for anyone, but I think as an immigrant rights movement, we have to make sure that we\u2019re out there advocating for resources and that we\u2019re fighting for all immigrants, whether we\u2019re Brown or Black.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis [Presidential] administration, no surprise to anyone, has lied to us that immigrants are bad for this country, and that is not true,\u201d Ar\u00e9valo said. \u201cI think it\u2019s important to note that for a city like Los Angeles, and many other cities throughout the country, the immigrant community, whether Black or Brown, are critical to the economies and to the stability of those cities in the states.\u201d<\/p>\n

The other panels, \u201cHealth: Increasing Access and Life Expectancy\u201d and \u201cEconomic Empowerment and Entrepreneurship: Building Pathways to Prosperity,\u201d provided information on the intersections Black and Brown communities have within different professional spheres. <\/p>\n

Individual speeches filled the space between panels with words from the President and CEO National Urban League, Cynthia Mitchell-Heard, Calif. Health and Human Service Agency Honorable Secretary Kim Johnson and USC Interim President Beong-Soo Kim. <\/p>\n

First-time attendee Jazz Keyes noted the college and high school students at this year\u2019s event. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think that sometimes Black and Brown communities don\u2019t get to see enough of themselves in leaders,\u201d Keyes said. \u201cOur education system is really slim when it comes to Black and Brown educators, and so I think to see people in leadership that look like them and look like us is aspirational.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think as a young student, seeing leaders that give you an idea of where you could go and to see people welcome you with warmth \u2026 I think that\u2019s the impact,\u201d Keyes said. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Amid increasing political tension in Los Angeles, widespread immigration raids and the deployment of the California National Guard,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9367,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[8994,2871,14,48,52,51,47,50,49,8996,1009,8995],"class_list":["post-9366","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-black-and-brown","tag-ice","tag-immigration","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-raids","tag-southern-california","tag-the-state-of-black-la"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9366","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9366"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9366\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9367"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9366"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9366"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9366"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}