On the south steps of the State Capitol on Tuesday afternoon, leaders representing Black, Latino, Asian Pacific Islander (API), Women’s and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) caucuses say social programs that predominately serve their communities cannot afford more cuts.

“We stand in solidarity,” said Assembly member Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens), chair of the Latino Caucus. “Collectively, we represent 56 percent of the state’s population, and we are gravely concerned about cuts to programs that have proven so effective at driving self-sufficiency in our communities.”

Data released from the Legislative Analyst Office (LAO) detailed the impact of the proposed cuts, highlighting three areas: Cal WORKS, child care, and Cal Grants. The proposed budget will reduce funding for Cal Works by approximately $880 million.

According to the LAO analysis, Blacks and Latinos are projected to account for 72 percent of all Cal WORKS cases, representing 424, 000 families across California. If the budget is adopted, about 76 percent of these families are likely to experience reduced assistances or discontinuation from the program.

“Thousands of families rely on Cal WORKS for cash assistance, job training and education,” said Assemblymember Holly Mitchell (D-Los Angeles), chair of the Budget Sub-Committee on Human Services and member of the California Legislative Black Caucus. “These Californians are struggling to make ends meet, and without vital assistance may be unable to care for their families.”

The proposed budget reduces funding for child care by $425 million and Cal Grant roughly around $291.7 million. The five caucuses want Gov. Brown and legislative budget committees to learn from the data by LAO and take it into serious consideration as talks move forward.

“Fundamentally, the state budget is a value statement,” said State Sen. Curren D. Price (D-Los Angeles), chair of the Black Caucus. “It is the state’s yearly opportunity to affirm what it values and, quite literally, put its money where its mouth is.”
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By Antonio Harvey
OBSERVER Staff Writer

This year the group will host a public forum focusing on “Health Disparities in the African American Community.”

Registration is free and lunch is provided.

The forum will be moderated by Tommy Ross, president and CEO of the Pinnacle Strategy Group with special guest panelists Dr. Bill Releford, founder of the Releford Foot and Ankle Institute; Robert Phillips, director of health programs at the Sierra Health Foundation; and, Lydia Bourne, lobbyist and policy consultant at the California Black Health Network in Sacramento.

Following the public forum on Health Disparities in the African American community, CBM will host a free luncheon honoring key leaders from throughout the state of California.

This year’s honorees include Justice Vance Raye, the Presiding Justice of the Third District Court Appeal of California and Dr. Releford, founder of the Black Barbershop Health Outreach.

Special recognition will be given to James Sweeney, principal of Sweeney and Associates. This year’s honorees are being recognized for their quality leadership and contributions to the state of California and the nation.

The event is sponsored by Pacific, Gas & Electric Company (PG&E). For more information and registration information, contact the California Black Media office at (951) 682-2664 or by emailing rsvp@bpcmediaworks.com.

In fact, deaths caused by third party homicide, infant sleep related deaths, child abuse and neglect homicides, perinatal conditions, and suicide contribute most to the wide disparity.

The Greater Sacramento Urban League asks that you come out tonight  to learn more about this serious issue, and how we can work together to put an end to disproportionate deaths of our children!

Who: YOU!

What: BLUE RIBBON COMMISSION ON DISPROPORTIONATE AFRICAN AMERICAN CHILD DEATHS

Where: Greater Sacramento Urban League 3725 Marysville Boulevard Sacramento, CA 95838

When: Tuesday, May 15, 2012 6:00 to 7:30 p.m.

Why: To get input from the community about what they

Hosted by Greater Sacramento Urban League and Sacramento County Supervisor Phil Serna. Call (916) 874-5485 for more information.

William Henderson Foote

WASHINGTON – William Henderson Foote was a badge-wearing black federal law enforcement official in America’s Deep South, responsible for collecting liquor tax revenue from wholesalers and retailers at a time of heightened racial tensions in post-Reconstruction Mississippi. He joined the military at the start of the Civil War and later was politically active, championing civil rights and serving in the state legislature.

But his name was largely lost to history after his 1883 murder in Mississippi by a white mob irate that he had protected a black man who was targeted for whipping.

Nearly 130 years later, federal authorities on Monday paid tribute to Foote by unveiling the addition of his name to a memorial wall at the headquarters of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The ATF says Foote, a deputy collector at one of the bureau’s legacy agencies, was the first black federal law enforcement official to die in the line of duty in the post-Reconstruction era.

Descendants of Foote attended the ceremony, as did the wife of U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder.

Foote was working at the time of his death in Yazoo City as a deputy collector for the Bureau of Internal Revenue, which was responsible for enforcing the nation’s liquor tax laws. He was fatally shot on Dec. 29, 1883 by a white mob that stormed a jailhouse where he and 10 other blacks were being held for their role in shielding a townsman from a whipping party, according to a biography prepared by ATF historian Barbara Ostreika. The 10 others were lynched.

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AP

The Episcopal cathedral formally installs the new sculpture this evening with a ceremony of evening prayer songs. The carving of Parks will join others on the cathedral’s Human Rights Porch that celebrates those who struggled to bring equality and social justice to all people. Other figures include former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt.

One of Parks’ nieces, Rhea McCauley, will join the ceremony, along with Elaine Eason Steele, co-founder of the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development.

Parks’ refusal to give up her Montgomery, Ala., bus seat to a white passenger in 1955 is considered a key moment in the movement against segregation.

Brookins, a Sacramento native, performed with the group Afterbach, which included his brother Michael, in the 1980s and also enjoyed a solo career with albums such as “In the Night” and “Let It Be Me.” He was also a writer, producer and musician. Brookins died of a heart attack in April 2009, he was 46 years old.

The Always Remembered event is set to begin at 7:00 p.m. at the Sacramento Red Lion Inn, Arden Village. Organizers have planned an evening of soul, funk, memories and love in support of the non-profit organization created in the recording artist’s name, the Robert Brookins Music Center.

Annually, the Robert Brookins Allstar Band brings a stellar cast of musicians who have collectively recorded, produced, toured and/or were influenced by the gifts from Brookins. Over the course of his career, Brookins worked with artists and groups such as Earth Wind and Fire, Bobby Brown, The Whispers, Janet Jackson, George Duke, Stanley Clark, Lionel Richie, The Jacksons, Karen White, Stephanie Mills, Con Funk Shun, Club Nouveau, Larry Carlton, Coolio, and Wayman Tisdale.

Beginning with an “Art & Agriculture VIP Meet and Greet Reception,” members of the Robert Brookins All Star Band  and special guests will assemble for a memorable tribute to start an amazing evening of celebration.

Confirmed participants include Dennis Auston, Anthony Young, Jimmy Morris, Selena Pryer, Alex Lopez, musicians and special guests Doug Lovelace, Mike Hart, Derek doa Allen, Dave Dman Rapace, Larry Dunn, Dave Agent, Ivan Johnson, Dennis Austin Jr., Odell Ross, Flip Kirby, Ron Moton, Joe Archy, J King, and Ricki Rick Latour.

Doors open at 7:00 p.m.  with the Art & Agriculture “VIP Meet & Greet Reception” scheduled to run 7:30- 8:30 p.m. The show is to run 9:00 – 11:00 p.m.  Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 on the day of the show.

Sponsorship opportunities are available. For more information, contact Michael Brookins at (916) 501-9327 or Patrick Brookins at (916) 308-6115.

Unfortunately, there is reason to believe that the destructive effects of the foreclosure crisis on communities of color have yet to be fully realized. They face another devastating blow caused by further discriminatory treatment towards homes and neighborhoods by the very lenders who initiated the foreclosures.

The civil rights problems that permeate the foreclosure crisis are unfolding in stages. First, lenders targeted communities of color with subprime and other risky loan products that led to foreclosure. Last year, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the largest residential fair lending settlement in history, in which Bank of America agreed to pay $335 million to settle allegations that Countrywide Financial discriminated against African-American and Latino borrowers during the housing boom. DOJ found that Countrywide loan officers and brokers charged higher fees and interest rates to 200,000 African-American and Latino borrowers than to white borrowers who posed the same credit risk. Countrywide also steered borrowers of color into costly subprime mortgages when white borrowers with similar credit profiles received prime loans. Countrywide was not an isolated example. Other research has found that African-American and Latino borrowers were much more likely to receive subprime loans than white borrowers, even after controlling for income level or credit risk.

Now, it turns out, lenders are failing to properly maintain or market the foreclosed properties they own, and leaving these properties in a state of disrepair. According to a recent investigation by fair housing organizations, this stage of the crisis is not affecting all communities equally. Due to the discriminatory maintenance and marketing of foreclosed properties, African-American and Latino communities and cities with high minority populations risk losing many billions more in wealth through reduced neighborhood property values and increased expenses incurred by local jurisdictions. Importantly, these practices affect not those families who already lost their homes, but their neighbors living next door or down the street from the vacant foreclosed property.

This month, the National Fair Housing Alliance (“NFHA”) and four of its member organizations released a report, entitled “The Banks Are Back, Our Neighborhoods Are Not: Discrimination in the Maintenance and Marketing of REO Properties,” which examines ongoing discrimination in the maintenance and marketing of bank-owned foreclosed properties known as real estate owned (REO) properties. The study evaluated over 1,000 REO properties in cities across the county. The findings are extremely troubling: banks have engaged in substandard maintenance and marketing of foreclosed properties in communities of color, while properly maintaining and marketing foreclosed properties in predominantly white communities. In other words, properties in white neighborhoods “were more likely to have neatly manicured lawns, securely locked doors and attractive ‘for sale’ signs out front,” while homes in communities of color “were more likely to have overgrown yards littered with trash, unsecured doors, broken windows and indications of marketing as a distressed sale.”

The fair housing groups evaluated the maintenance and marketing of REO properties on a 100-point scale, subtracting points for such deficits as broken windows, water damage and overgrown lawns. The evaluations took into account 39 different aspects of the maintenance and marketing of each property.

Overall, REO properties in communities of color were 42 percent more likely to have more than a dozen maintenance problems than properties in white neighborhoods. Other trends revealed by the investigation include:

• REO properties in communities of color were 82 percent more likely than REO properties in white communities to have broken or boarded windows;
• REO properties in white neighborhoods were 32 percent more likely to be marketed with the proper signage than African-American neighborhoods and 38 percent more likely than in Latino neighborhoods; and
• Newer homes generally scored higher than older homes, but racial and ethnic disparities persisted with non-structural factors such as curb appeal and signage.

Since releasing the report, NFHA and several of its member organizations have filed housing discrimination complaints with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) against Wells Fargo, et al. and U.S. Bank, et al.

The Fair Housing Act of 1968 requires banks, investors, servicers or any other responsible party to maintain and market properties that are for sale or rent without regard to the race or national origin of the residents of a neighborhood. It is illegal to treat a neighborhood differently because of the race or national origin of the residents, and banks are obligated to monitor the actions of the companies they hire to perform housing-related transactions to ensure that those third-party entities comply with fair housing laws.

The Fair Housing Act has two goals: to eliminate housing discrimination and to promote residential integration.HUD’s regulations interpreting the Fair Housing Act state:

It shall be unlawful because of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, familial status or disability to restrict or attempt to restrict the choices of a person by word or conduct in seeking, negotiating for, buying or renting a dwelling so as to perpetuate segregated housing patterns, or to discourage or obstruct choices in a community, neighborhood or development.

Differences in the maintenance of foreclosed properties based on the racial composition of neighborhoods can certainly violate the Fair Housing Act.

• HUD’s regulations clearly state that “failing or delaying maintenance or repairs of sale or rental dwellings because of race” is a prohibited action under the Fair Housing Act.
• Steering by real estate agents based on neighborhood racial composition is illegal and other behavior in the housing sale or rental market that operates to discourage potential buyers from purchasing or renting homes in neighborhoods of color, such as by failing adequately to maintain properties in minority neighborhoods, can also violate the Act.
• In addition, the Fair Housing Act makes it unlawful to “make unavailable or deny” housing to any person because of race.If the poor maintenance of a foreclosed property in a neighborhood of color makes it difficult for a potential purchaser to obtain a mortgage loan for the property, the poor maintenance has made the housing “unavailable” within the meaning of the Act.

To date, more than four million families have lost their homes to foreclosure, and nearly three times as many families are seriously delinquent on their mortgages and face a real threat of foreclosure.Efforts are underway to reform mortgage lending and servicing practices to prevent another foreclosure crisis. These are much needed and long overdue, but they are not enough to address the harm that has been done to minority borrowers and communities of color. More must be done to stabilize these communities and help these families rebuild their lost wealth. Establishing effective quality controls on foreclosed properties, and providing remedies to the African-American and Latino neighborhoods affected by the discriminatory maintenance and marketing of foreclosed homes are two crucial steps. Making sure they happen is an urgent civil rights issue facing our federal government, our nation’s financial institutions, and communities across the country.

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By Leslie Proll
Director of the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund’s Washington Office
Special to the NNPA from the American Constitutional Society for Law and Policy

-       Economic Vitality

-       Healthy, Sustainable Environment

-       Leisure, Cultural and Social Opportunities

-       Reliable Infrastructure and Effective Mobility

-       Safe Community

-       Youth Opportunities and Education

The budget exercise results will be presented to the City Council during budget hearings in May and June. The budget exercise can be found on the front page of the City’s website at: www.cityofsacramento.org.

The Fiscal Year 2012/13 Proposed Budget was released on April 26 and is balanced and addresses a projected $18 million shortfall for FY2012/13.  The Proposed Budget includes the elimination of approximately 286 Full-Time Equivalent positions.

Please visit www.cityofsacramento.org to view the Proposed Budget and for regular budget updates.

The group will convene at Shiloh Baptist Church at 7pm for training and head out to the “hot spot” areas of violence in Oak Park, with the mission of spreading hope and love, raising community morale. They will walk the streets greeting the community, sharing resources and being a presence to deter violent behaviors. Churches from South Sacramento and Del Paso Heights under the name “Lifelines of Hope”, already engaged in night walks for the past year and a half will lead the training and participate in the walk as a show of support.

The night walks are a major component of the Ceasefire strategy, which piloted in South Sacramento November of 2010 and has decreased homicides by 75% and non-fatal shootings by 100%. In South Sac, 4 nights a week several congregations walk the Mack Rd. corridor and have witnessed the positive changes to the community.

“We’ve been able to connect to the community, and watch the community morale go up. The night walks are having a major affect on reducing the violence in South Sac. We want to see this reduction city-wide and that’s why were coordinating a community forum to push city officials to make Ceasefire a priority in addressing violence across the city”, says Assistant Pastor Lesley Simmons of South Sac Christian Center and Lifelines of Hope member.

The Oak Park night walks will build momentum as Lifelines of Hope gear up for their community forum meeting May 30th to which they’ve invited the Mayor, Chief of Police and Sheriff, to push for the expansion of the Ceasefire strategy throughout the city. They will be asking public officials for commitments to continue the success of Ceasefire and invest in its expansion.

A local such committee, PAC15, created to support of a variety of area council and school board candidates, is hosting an evening discussion and fundraiser with nationally recognized TV commentator and journalist Roland Martin.

The event will be Monday, May 7, at the downtown Citizen Hotel. The fundraiser will begin with cocktails and hors d’oeuvres at 4:30 p.m., followed by its program. Martin will discuss the importance of the upcoming presidential election and the need for African Americans to participate in the political process.

Support levels for the fundraiser are listed at $50, $100, and $250. The Citizen Hotel is located at 926 J Street.

For more information, call (916) 668-9651 or visit info@pacfifteen.com.