By Austin Gage, California Black Media

California voters will decide in November whether Proposition (Prop) 38 should authorize substantial state funding for immunology and immunotherapy research.

The initiative would fund immunology and immunotherapy research aimed at harnessing the body’s immune system to develop new treatments, medical procedures and potential cures for diseases such as cancer, Alzheimer’s disease and heart disease.

More specifically, Prop 38, titled the Immunology and Immunotherapy Research Funding Initiative, is split into three main components that would go into effect if passed.

First, the initiative would authorize the state to issue $8.4 billion in general obligation bonds to support immunology and immunotherapy research. At least half of the bond proceeds, or $4.2 billion, would be dedicated exclusively to research.

Additionally, Prop 38 would make it mandatory for the state to enter into an agreement with a qualified nonprofit institute focused and dedicated to researching immunology and immunotherapy within 90 days of the initiative’s effective date. The research institute must be affiliated with the University of California. 

The third component mandates that the remaining bond revenue must be directed to California-based public and nonprofit medical institutions through a peer-reviewed grant process.  

“Yes on 38”, with the tagline “Californians for Life-Saving Immunology Research and Cures,” is leading the campaign for the support side of the proposition. 

Along with the campaign, organizations that have publicly supported the ballot initiative include the California Democratic Party, The ALS Association, Alzheimer’s treatment and advocacy organizations, California Black Health Network, Parkinson Association of Northern California and Reform California among others.

“California has an opportunity to accelerate lifesaving medical breakthroughs. Immunotherapies work differently than traditional treatments. Instead of attacking cells directly, they empower the body’s own immune system to recognize and stop disease. Today, these therapies are already treating certain cancers and chronic conditions — and researchers continue to expand what’s possible. This initiative invests in proven science so cures can move from the lab to patients faster,” said the campaign.

No on Proposition 38 is leading the campaign against the measure, with support from the League of Women Voters of California. Opponents argue that California cannot afford to assume $8.4 billion in debt for medical research that may not produce definitive results. They also object to directing more than half of the bond proceeds — $4.2 billion — to a single qualifying nonprofit research institute, arguing that funding decisions of this magnitude should be made through the state’s regular budget process.

“Medical research can save lives, but Prop 38 is the wrong way to fund it. It would authorize $8.4 billion in borrowing for immunology and immunotherapy research and require the state to make $500 million to $600 million in annual debt payments for about 20 years. Those payments would come from the General Fund, which also pays for schools, health care, and other public services,” the League of Women Voters of California said.

A “yes” vote would authorize $8.4 billion in state bonds to fund immunology and immunotherapy medical research.

A “no” vote would reject the proposed bond funding.

By Bo Tefu, California Black Media

A bill by California Assemblymember Isaac Bryan (D-Ladera Heights) that would prevent state and local police officers from taking second jobs with federal immigration enforcement agencies is headed to Gov. Gavin Newsom after clearing the Legislature.

AB 1537 would bar California peace officers from accepting secondary employment related to immigration enforcement, including work with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The measure also would require officers to report offers for immigration enforcement-related outside employment to their employing agencies.

The legislation comes as ICE ramps up efforts to recruit law enforcement personnel under the Trump administration. Bryan said the federal agency is offering financial incentives to attract officers, raising concerns about the impact on local law enforcement agencies and the communities they serve.

“They are trying to recruit our law enforcement personnel. They are offering these insane bonuses,” Bryan said.

Bryan said he is particularly concerned about efforts to recruit experienced law enforcement personnel while questions have been raised about ICE’s hiring standards.

“They want better skilled, better trained folks because their untrained and uneducated goons go through a very low threshold,” Bryan added.

The legislation would create consequences for California officers who violate its restrictions. Officers who fail to report offers of secondary employment related to immigration enforcement could face decertification as peace officers in California.

Bryan has framed the bill as a measure to establish boundaries between local law enforcement and federal immigration enforcement, particularly as immigration enforcement has become a major source of conflict between the Trump administration and California.

“This is a rogue agency that is harming the American people,” said Bryan. “It should be abolished, but in the meantime, we’ve got to do everything we can to put guardrails around our communities and protect our neighbors.”

AB 1537 previously received approval from the Assembly Public Safety Committee in March before advancing through the Legislature. The bill now awaits Newsom’s decision. The Governor can sign it into law, veto it or allow it to become law without his signature.

By Antonio Ray Harvey, California Black Media

A bill temporarily prohibiting law enforcement agencies from using electric shock gloves in California is awaiting action by Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Assembly Bill (AB) 2760, authored by Assemblymember LaShae Sharp-Collins (D-San Diego), passed the Senate 29-9 on Aug. 31. The Assembly concurred in Senate amendments the same day on a 55-16 vote.

The bill would prohibit state, local and federal law enforcement agencies from using wearable electroshock devices in California until Jan. 1, 2030. It would also bar agencies from using state funds to purchase the devices and require them to update their use-of-force policies accordingly.

Traditional handheld devices, including tasers and stun guns, are exempt.

Newsom has until Sept. 30 to sign or veto the bill. If he takes no action, it will become law without his signature.

Sharp-Collins introduced the measure after reviewing information indicating that the devices could cause serious injury or death if used without adequate safeguards and training.

“AB 2760 draws a line that public safety technology must be proven safe and accountable before it is employed. Not after someone is killed or injured,” said Sharp-Collins, a member of the California Legislative Black Caucus (CLBC).

“Our commitment is to protect our communities, especially the most vulnerable. That is what AB 2760 is about and that is what AB 2760 will do,” Sharp-Collins told her colleagues.

The device at the center of the debate is known as the G.L.O.V.E., an acronym for Generated Low Output Voltage Emitter. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement awarded a $16.7 million contract for 6,000 pairs of the gloves, which are designed to deliver an electric shock through an officer’s hand.

During the Assembly debate, Assemblymember Rhodesia Ransom (D-Stockton), also a CLBC member, thanked law enforcement representatives for helping negotiate amendments to the bill.

“This is something new to us (and) it’s something that absolutely should be studied,” Ransom said. “I appreciate law enforcement for agreeing to work with the legislature to figure out if this is an appropriate tool to be used.”

Neither the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department nor the Los Angeles Police Department has reported using electric shock gloves. However, the Santa Monica and El Monte police departments have obtained devices for testing.

The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office purchased 10 shock gloves as part of a $35,000 acquisition that also included 10 remotely activated shock bands. Sheriff’s officials had been developing training and policies for the devices before AB 2760 advanced.

State Sen. Tony Strickland (R-Huntington Beach) opposed the legislation, arguing that it would unnecessarily force agencies to change their use-of-force policies and could compromise public safety.

“I don’t disagree with the author that the electric shocks are not a great option, but at the end of the day, I think it’s important to understand that we need to give law enforcement the tools they need to keep themselves safe and the community safe,” Strickland said.

Supporters countered that wearable electroshock devices have not been sufficiently studied and could pose particular risks to immigrants, children, older adults and other vulnerable groups.

“People who are Black or Brown could be test subjects for these gloves of torment,” Mark González (D-Los Angeles) said. “I appreciate law enforcement for agreeing to work with the legislature.”

By Tamara Shiloh

Walter Francis White was one of the most important civil rights leaders of the first half of the 20th century. For more than three decades, he helped transform the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) into one of the nation’s most powerful organizations fighting racial discrimination, segregation, and violence against African Americans.

Walter White was born in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1893 and grew up in a middle-class African American family. His parents, George and Madeline White, had been born into slavery. Although Walter had blond hair, blue eyes, very light skin and could easily have passed as white, he firmly identified as Black. As a teenager, he witnessed the Atlanta Race Massacre of 1906, when white mobs attacked African Americans throughout the city. The experience strengthened his determination to fight racial hatred and injustice.

After graduating from Atlanta University in 1916, White worked in insurance and became active in the Atlanta branch of the NAACP. His abilities caught the attention of NAACP leader James Weldon Johnson, who recruited him to the organization’s national staff in 1918.

He soon became known for his extraordinarily dangerous investigations of lynchings. Because many white Southerners assumed he was white, he was able to enter communities where Black investigators would have faced immediate danger. He spoke with witnesses, law enforcement officials, and even members of lynch mobs, often pretending to share their racial attitudes so they would reveal information.

White personally investigated 41 lynchings and eight race riots. On several occasions, his identity was discovered, forcing him to flee for his life. The evidence he collected helped the NAACP expose the brutality of lynching to Americans and strengthen its campaign for federal anti-lynching legislation. His experiences also influenced his 1929 book, “Rope and Faggot: A Biography of Judge Lynch.”

By the early 1930s, Walter had risen to the NAACP’s top administrative position. As executive secretary, he helped build the organization into a major national political and legal force. Under his leadership, the NAACP challenged discrimination in voting, employment, education, transportation, the military, and other areas of American life.

White also recruited attorney Charles Hamilton Houston to lead the NAACP’s legal strategy. Houston and his protégé, Thurgood Marshall, developed the courtroom campaign that eventually helped produce the Supreme Court’s historic 1954 decision in Brown v. Board of Education, declaring racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional.

White used his relationships with national political leaders as another weapon against discrimination. He worked with First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and President Harry S. Truman. He supported efforts to end employment discrimination and encouraged Truman to establish the President’s Committee on Civil Rights.

Walter White remained an NAACP leader until his death in 1955. His courage, political skill, investigative work, and relentless commitment to equality helped establish the foundation upon which the modern Civil Rights Movement would build.

By Ken Epstein

A growing coalition, the Oakland People’s Arms Embargo, has gained broad support in the Bay Area as it organizes to demand to end FedEx shipments of military equipment to Israel through the Oakland International Airport (OAK).

Especially significant, according to the coalition, is the delivery of military hardware to Israel for the U.S. F-35 fighter jet, which has been used to drop 2,000-pound bombs on civilians in Gaza, Lebanon, and Iran.

In an interview with the Oakland Post, Rami Abdelkarim, a spokesperson for the Oakland People’s Arms Embargo and a member of the Bay Area chapter of the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM), discussed the goals and the organizing work of the coalition, which has expanded rapidly since it began in August 2025.

Besides, PYM, other groups involved in organizing the coalition are the Arab Resource and Organizing Center (AROC), and the U.S. Palestinian Community Network.

Backing the demand for an arms embargo are 150 local businesses and over 300 local organizations, including the faith community as well as more than 20 labor unions and the Alameda Labor Council, which unanimously endorsed the campaign.

Support for the demand has also come from Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee and U.S. Rep. Lateefah Simon, Port Commissioner Alvina Wong and Alameda County Supervisor Nikki Fortunato Bas.

Abdelkarim said the coalition has been tracking “how our roads, our airports, and our infrastructure are being used to facilitate the Israeli military’s genocidal campaign against the Palestinian people, and not just the Palestinian people, but also in Lebanon and Iran.”

“We were able to uncover what is Oakland’s complicity in this genocide, and what it looks like for our tax dollars to serve the Israeli military,” he said.

The coalition’s findings were published in a 15-page report on the website of the Oakland People’s Arms Embargo (armsembargonow.com), titled “Exposing Oakland Airport’s Military Cargo Shipments to Israel.”

“Since January 2025, at least 280 military cargo shipments to Israel have been identified departing from OAK, with Nevatim Airbase being the primary final destination,” the report said.

The shipments have occurred multiple times per week for nearly the whole year, “including F-35 fighter jet components used to carry and release munitions, guide weapons, power surveillance and targeting systems, and support critical flight operations—all essential to sustaining the combat readiness of Israel’s Air Force,” according to the report.

“The frequency of these shipments, particularly when compared to other U.S. airports, positions OAK as one of the few consistently active logistical nodes in the U.S. military supply chain to Nevatim Airbase (in Israel),” the report said.

According to the report, a sample of 500 shipments to Israel transported through FedEx’s Global Superhub in Memphis, Tennessee, between April and June 2025, OAK was the second-most frequent transit point nationwide, after Fort Worth, Texas.

Among the items that were shipped were “bomb release units, weapons bay adapters, surveillance sensors, and flight-critical electronics … “the mechanisms that enable the F-35 to fly its bombing missions and to identify, target, and strike with lethal accuracy.”

These components were supplied or contracted through Lockheed Martin and “have been used extensively by the Israeli Air Force in bombing campaigns in Gaza, including the airstrike on Al-Mawasi in July 2024, during which Israel dropped three 2,000-pound bombs on a designated humanitarian safe zone—killing at least 90 people.”

In a section of the report on the F‑35 Lightning II fighter jet, the airplane is described as “a highly advanced combat aircraft utilized in Israel’s bombardment of Palestinians in Gaza.”

“The F‑35 can carry up to 18,000 pounds of munitions—including 2,000-pound ‘bunker buster’ bombs—and uses advanced sensor systems to identify targets, guide bombs, and conduct precision attacks,” the report said.

“These shipments typically arrive at OAK’s FedEx cargo facility between Monday and Friday and are consolidated into outbound freight flights routed through hubs in other states. The flights identified in the report “used for these transfers are civilian-operated cargo planes, not military aircraft. While they do not carry passengers, these FedEx Express flights operate out of a commercial airport shared with public air traffic, serving the broader Bay Area.”

“This means that military cargo destined for the Israeli Air Force is routinely shipped through infrastructure embedded in densely populated civilian areas,” with data showing that “shipments departed OAK on multiple days every week.”

FedEx has strongly denied allegations that it transports military supplies.

A FedEx spokesperson stated, “FedEx is committed to complying with applicable laws and regulations. We do not ship weapons or ammunition internationally and have put in place strict screening procedures to prevent such shipments.”

International Amnesty International and European civil society groups have filed a criminal complaint against FedEx Belgium, alleging the unauthorized transit of F-35 fight jet parts without required regional licenses. Further, the Jewish anti-Zionist group France Action has filed a genocide claim against FedEx in France over cargo transporting through Paris.

In a statement released in February, Mayor Lee said, “As you know, for decades, I have been opposed to the use of public property to militarize arms shipments, federal immigration enforcement, and public safety, whether it is in Oakland or anywhere else,” she said. “Thus, I share your concerns about weapons and military cargo being shipped through the Oakland International Airport.”

Congresswoman Simon in September 2025, announced she is supporting a federal bill, the “Block the Bombs Act,” to withhold the transfer of offensive weapons to Israel and demanding Israel’s compliance with U.S. and international law.

“I come to Congress from a lineage of folks who know that war does not make us stronger, from a lineage of Ron Dellums and Barbara Lee, who were very clear that we as a nation cannot kill and slaughter our way to peace, that we cannot fund the machinery of death, and that safety is found in care – and not conquest.”

By Carla Thomas

Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee is mourning the death of her longtime friend Gloria Steinem, remembering the feminist icon as a devoted ally who understood that the struggles for racial justice and gender equality were inseparable.

Steinem died Sept. 2 in New York City at the age of 92. A pioneering journalist, author and political activist, she spent more than six decades advocating for women’s equality and reproductive choices. She also co-founded Ms. magazine and the National Women’s Political Caucus. 

“I called her recently and could hear the weakness in her voice,” Lee said. “She was also very fragile at my New York event, but she remained supportive.”

The friendship between Lee and Steinem grew from their connections to the late U.S. Rep. Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman elected to Congress and the first Black candidate to seek a major political party’s presidential nomination.

Chisholm was Lee’s mentor and inspired her to enter politics. Lee worked on Chisholm’s historic 1972 presidential campaign and served as one of her delegates at the Democratic National Convention.

According to Lee, Chisholm helped Steinem deepen her understanding of racial inclusion and recognize that the women’s movement could not succeed without addressing the experiences of Black women and other women of color.

“Gloria really understood what racial equity was about as a white woman and knew the value of building coalitions,” Lee said.

Steinem became one of the country’s most recognizable advocates for women’s rights, reproductive alternatives and political representation. Lee said one of the most persistent inequities confronting Black women was inadequate access to reproductive healthcare, an issue Lee addressed throughout her years in the California Legislature and Congress.

Lee considered Steinem a genuine ally who recognized the intersections of race, gender, healthcare and economic opportunity. Steinem also understood the importance of elevating women into leadership positions and encouraging them to claim their rightful places at decision-making tables.

Their relationship extended beyond politics and public advocacy. Lee recalled joining Steinem and her husband for dinner in Manhattan Beach with Lee’s son, Tony.

“It was beautiful to see how she could be a wonderful wife, feminine and be a strong woman,” Lee said.

Tony Lee also had a professional connection to Steinem through the rerelease of “The Road to Galveston,” the 1996 television film he wrote about the life of his grandmother, Mildred Parish Massey. The film starred Cicely Tyson.

“My son’s tribute to Gloria on Facebook is very touching,” Lee said.

Lee expressed profound heartbreak over losing her friend and gratitude for Steinem’s support throughout her political career, including during reelection campaigns. 

As Lee continues carrying forward the lessons of Chisholm and Steinem, she has also helped encourage a new generation of women leaders, including U.S. Reps. Lateefah Simon and Jasmine Crockett.