Contributed by BWOPA Sacramento – http://www.bwopatileleads.org/
The Sacramento Black community is in pain. At Tuesday’s city council meeting, our trauma induced pain and frustration was on full display for our elected city leaders and the world to see. On Saturday, we learned that District Attorney Schubert was not pressing charges against the officers who, in our eyes, unjustly killed Stephon Clark. Tuesday, Attorney General Xavier Becerra gave us the same disheartening and unjust verdict: no charges would be filed against the officers who killed Stephon Clark. In response, there have been a series of actions, one organized by The Table Sacramento where faith leaders and peaceful protesters were harassed and injured by law enforcement for protesting in an affluent neighborhood in Sacramento.
As Black Women Organized for Political Action (BWOPA) Sacramento, our charge is to ensure Black women are in positions to influence the policies that affect their lives. Right now, the injustices caused by those who are sworn to “serve and protect” are wreaking havoc on our lives and our community. The key demands thus far from leaders in our community have been to 1. Fire police officers Terrence Mercadal & Jared Robinet (City Manager Howard Chan has jurisdiction over this action) & 2. Recall District Attorney Schubert & Sheriff Scott Jones (All of Sacramento County).
In the 2018 primary election, Noah Phillips lost to Ann Marie Schubert in every single city in the County and the unincorporated areas. He came closest to beating her in Iselton (lost by 1.76%); In Sacramento the second closest, he lost by 7%. High five to Iselton! Who would have known? This is the same story for Sheriff Scott Jones who won the most votes in every city including the unincorporated areas.
This means we, Black Sacramento and allies for criminal justice, need to focus our elections efforts not only in the City of Sacramento, but more importantly outside of it, specifically, Sacramento County. This is not easy as the County has increasingly been more steadfast in their support of law enforcement. And, as demonstrated by the firing of the Inspector General, less likely to question racist tactics.
We have elections of important County seats in 2020 (Supervisors) & 2022 (DA & Sheriff). This may seem far away, but they will be here before we know it. We need to be ready to elect people who care about Black people.
We need you to work with us as we organize and plan NOW. Let us work together to:
- Research open seats
- Put forward the best candidates for those seats
- Support early fundraising for and training and development of those candidates
We must work together to make inroads in the County and then Get Out the Damn Vote.
Systems change is not immediate or easy. BWOPA Sacramento is ready to work with Black leaders and allies to start and complete this political mapping! It will take all of our efforts to get this done. This mapping starts at our upcoming meeting on April 5th.
While we work on this broader, longer term strategy TOGETHER, BWOPA Sac will be sharing all of the actions and events that are taking place so that our sisters can be involved in making SacramentoCounty better for Black folks.
