So much work has been done over the course of history, to bring us to this moment in LA County, the state of CA, the country, and even the world, where racial equity is on the hearts and minds of so many across all classes of people and sectors of business. Because of this, it is crucial that we are focused on creating a Los Angeles County where anti-Black racism doesn’t exist and uses equity as the bridge that leads people to live whole, free, healthy, and liberated lives. To achieve this, there is no room for the type of egregious behavior exhibited by Los Angeles City Councilmembers Nury Martinez, Gil Cedillo, Kevin De León, and the President of the LA County Federation of Labor, Ron Herrera.
As members of the Black Experience Action Team:
- We call for the immediate resignation of Gil Cedillo and Kevin De León from their posts without hesitation or question.
- We call for a thorough investigation. We must determine how pervasive their anti-Black, anti-Indigenous, anti-LGBTQIA+, and anti-solidarity views and biases have impacted our city under their governance.
- Together we must develop a solidarity agenda that centers Blackness at the core of the efforts to achieve racial equity. We, the Black Experience Action Team, have outlined fundamentals of this work in our report, “The Path to Justice Runs Through Equity: Ending Anti-Black Racism in Los Angeles,” and in solidarity, we welcome our allies to work with us to achieve its goals.
Let us be clear, attempts to achieve political power cannot be rooted in Black erasure. Alternatively, the path forward should center Black people as we create new policies, systems, and institutions in the pursuit of liberation for all. Centering Blackness exposes the intersections of multiple anti-Black systems in America. Solving the issues that impact Black people sets the stage for healing, helps to develop a stronger foundation for all people, and ultimately increases our collective capacity to create thriving communities that we can live in together. Centering Blackness is the pathway toward an inclusive, progressive worldview that actively seeks to dismantle racism and build a better world for all people of all races. So today and tomorrow, we stand together with our Black and Brown brothers and sisters, united in the fight against the systems and the individuals who try to separate us and affirming that accountability and compassion are essential at all levels.
#InSolidarity
– The Black Experience Action Team
About the Black Experience Action Team (BEAT)
The Committee for Greater LA’s Black Experience Action Team is a committed group of more than 35 cross-sectoral local Black leaders dedicated to advancing the Committee’s commitment to ending anti-Black racism in Los Angeles. Since January 2021, the BEAT has held intersectional deliberations about the state of Black communities, institutions, and systems across Los Angeles. In August 2021, the BEAT released The Path to Justice Runs Through Equity: Ending Anti-Black Racism in Los Angeles, a report intended to be a call to action for legislators, community leaders, and stakeholders with specific recommendations for addressing institutional racism. It includes a policy roadmap and recommendations for philanthropy, government, corporate, nonprofits, and advocates.
