December 17, 2025 • 41 mins
Jasmyne Cannick is an award-winning Gen X journalist and a media and political strategist. On this podcast we take a look at the recent coverage of the passage of Wakiesha's Law - a bill carried by Assembly member Isaac Bryan and worked on for years by Black Lives Matter Grassroots/BLM Los Angeles. How do we spot media bias? And what do we do about it
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
La Talk fifteen eighty. Good morning, Good morning, and God
bless happy Monday. I'm Dominique Saprima.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
This show is called First Things First, and my very
first thing today and every day is giving, thanksgiving, praises
and asking for blessings from God, asking for the blessings
of the ancestors and the elders.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
And let's go. Let's do this. We got so much
to talk about. It is going to be a great week.
I'm naming it and claiming it. So what do we
do on a mindful Monday? We first get in our
mind and body. Let's start there. Our one, we look local.
Hour two we go national and international and beyond. Although
(00:40):
we start off the hour with Sahara Ali leading us
on affirmations, guided meditation and helping us get our minds
right for the week ahead. Our three today will be
joined by Isaac Hayes the third. He's a founder of
fan Base and he has got some very pertinent information
for us today. It's gonna be a great day. We're
(01:02):
starting out with my friend and colleague. She is an
award winning gen X journalist. She is a delegate for
the La County Democratic Central Committee and she's a strategist
and a contributor. You all know. I think by now
you're like an official KBLA contributor. Jazz mechanic.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
Good morning, Good morning, Dommie, Good morning, Miles, Good morning
everyone out there.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
You can tell I had my coffee. Yeah, coffee's right,
make up tight, and you you can join us at
up mine not so much byday. I'm here, look great,
Thank you, queen. Okay, so you can see us on
YouTube YouTube dot com KBLA fifteen eighty. We're streaming there
and we do have a lot to talk about. But
(01:50):
happy holidays, yeah, you know, it is a holiday. Yeah whatever.
Speaker 3 (01:57):
I'm in the same camp with everybody right now who's
just like pushing it through and doing the best we
can with what we have.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
I'm in that girl.
Speaker 3 (02:07):
I am not the holly jolly. I am the when
I walk in the door, have me some egg knog
with little sums in it, person right now?
Speaker 1 (02:16):
Okay, then does holly jolly come after that? It actually does. Yeah, Well,
happy holidays to those whatever it is you're celebrating. And
it seems like every year during the holidays we get
these crazy like people dying, A lot of people dying,
some crazy incidents like Rob Reiner is so sad him
(02:38):
and his wife guild in their Brentwood home.
Speaker 3 (02:41):
Yeah, and you know, for folks who are waking up
and don't know this, yes, so Rob Reiner, when Harry
met Sally, the Princess Bride, I mean, the list goes
on and on. The I say the Princess Bride because
that's one of my favorite favorite all time.
Speaker 1 (02:56):
Everyone loves the Princess Bride. I love spinal tap. This
is don Tap, which he directed.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
So he was him and his wife were found, I believe,
stabbed to death in their Brentwood home. And one of
the yesterday, uh, yesterday afternoon. And one of the things
I was thinking about this morning when I was getting
ready was that is the second, you know, group of
parents or parent in an LA County that I can
(03:24):
think of in the past week that has been allegedly
murdered by their child. Because we had the musician or the.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
Opera that's right, the opera singer.
Speaker 3 (03:36):
Man and I believe that was in Venice, that happened earlier.
And again the sun is a suspect and in that
one as well, And I was just thinking about that, like, wow, it's.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
Kind of scary. I mean, you don't know what's going on,
is people have mental health issues. There's all kinds of
you know, things that could be going on if you're
not in somebody's south. I think our tendency is to
decide that they have everything because they have money and
they've got great careers. But we don't know what's going
on with folks.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
No, no, we don't. And even though this stuff happens
all year long, particularly here in La County, it just
seems to be much more exasperated and sort of in
your face during the holiday season. But yeah, I was.
I was actually quite stunned when that alert came across
my phone.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
That's really sad. I mean just the ultimate scary situation
is for parents or grandparents be killed by their kids
or vice versa. That guy's name was Jubilant P. Sykes,
the opposit. I didn't know of him before the murder.
Speaker 3 (04:48):
I didn't either, but but yeah, so, yeah, two situations here,
I think within a week of each other. And that's
that's uh sad. We'll say that's that's it's just sad.
So and Carl Reiner, I mean sorry, that was his father.
Rob Runner was seventy eight and his wife was sixty
(05:10):
eight and both of them were dead.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
Yeah, but he you know, they they were also impactful
beyond That's how.
Speaker 3 (05:19):
I know him from when I worked in the legislature,
and he was very active, I want to say, with
the First five Commission and a couple of other ballot
measures and different i would say democratic issues and causes.
(05:40):
He you know, was a major donor, gave a lot
of money, did a lot of work, uh in that area.
And that is another way that I also just remember
him from my time working in the Assembly. But yeah,
it's just it's like, oh, no, is this going to
be how the week goes? Are we starting off here?
(06:00):
And it's just gonna get to be a crazy week
because that that news last night was very much a shock.
Speaker 1 (06:08):
Yeah. And to your point about his political donations and
his activism, his and his wife, you know, Barack Obama
is make put out a statement about Rob Reiner. Not
every actor would we know, would resonate that way, but
he definitely was I would say, a liberal maybe progressive,
you know, on the liberal progressive cusp there and really
(06:31):
concerned about saving our democracy, which is always a good thing. Yeah. Yeah,
So rest in peace, to Rob Reiner and his wife
and his wife Michelle. Yeah, yeah, well yeah, of course
her being less known his pictures on everything, but I'm.
Speaker 3 (06:49):
Sure you know, yeah, yeah, yeah, the woman sometimes always
gets sort of second mentioned. And yeah, well.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
Yeah, if anything, whenever anything happens to Oprah, she's the headline.
You know. If it was Oprah insteadman, he'd be there,
but it wouldn't be his picture. So I think this
is more about fame and fortune than the gender, perhaps,
but we could be wrong. Well, I'm glad Jasmine is here.
We do have a lot to talk about. It really
got me. Well, yeah, I know, yeah, it's like please anyway,
(07:23):
I love it when people come in, especially people that
are full of great things to say. And I'm always
talking about media literacy and the way that the press
covers different things, and I think it's one of the
most important things now that we can teach our kids
and ourselves because of AI, because of missing disinformation, just
the sophisticated way that things that are not factual are
(07:43):
being presented to us.
Speaker 3 (07:45):
Absolutely, it's as a media strategist that is a huge
issue of mine as well. It's can oftentimes be very
tricky on how to approach it and how to deal
with certain issues when dealing with the media. But sometimes
it's just, you know, the media bias is so blatant
(08:07):
and so you know, it's it's just so obvious that
I feel like we have a responsibility and a duty
to call it out, particularly in this time when things
are so bad with the mainstream media. And when I
say bad, I just mean, like you were saying, missing
disinformation and it we you know, they depend on us,
(08:31):
where their viewers, where their listeners. They have a responsibility
to us to tell the truth and to also be
factual in the truth, especially when the mission right, especially
when they like to call other folks out for for
not doing the same.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
So absolutely, yeah, so we have a case of we do.
We have one such call out. We'll share that with
you when we come forward. I'm KBLA Talk fifteen eighty.
So when you say media strategist jazz mechanic for the
not familiar, what does that really mean?
Speaker 3 (09:03):
I help, Uh, I helped David B.
Speaker 1 (09:07):
Goliath.
Speaker 3 (09:07):
So that's how I like to look at a lot
of the work that I do. Right, So, whether it's
on you know, campaigns or political candidates or nonprofit organizations
do a lot of work with law firms. That is
how these I mean, you you've been around long enough
to remember when they never talked about these types of
the cases that we see on the news now right right.
(09:28):
If they did, they were only reading the police department
or the district attorney's press release. It was never the
other side, right right. And so yeah, I do a
lot of work and trying to even the playing field
as it relates to the media. And I've been doing
that for a really, really long time, and I do
enjoy that work because I think it's it's important. I
(09:49):
think it's important that both sides have an opportunity to
speak to the public. Oftentimes, especially if you're going up
against a big government entity, you know that has a
whole department dedicated to communications and public relations, it can
(10:10):
be really hard for you know, the i'll just say
smaller entity to have the same impact. And I helped
give them that same impact.
Speaker 1 (10:22):
Right, I mean, I think the classic case of that
for me is ed Buck, where you know, it was
a small story. Of course you were part of the
story too because you were an activist in that case,
but you helped make sure it became a national story.
Speaker 3 (10:33):
Yeah, I kind of had to pull from all my
different hats from that, my political work, my media work,
my you know, my advocacy work. Like that was a
unique situation for me where I just pulled from all
these different corners of my life.
Speaker 1 (10:47):
But but yeah, absolutely, Like for those not familiar, that
was a political donor who was a Democratic political donor
experimenting on human beings. Yeah, who says, well, you say democratic,
but he started as a Republican.
Speaker 3 (11:03):
Story as a Republican. But he is known for being
a Democratic political donor. I mean the money which has
got was over a million dollars that he's given to
different candidates and stuff was given to most what was
given to Democrats. So he is a Democratic donor, that's
for sure.
Speaker 1 (11:19):
And some kind of serial murder, kind of serial killer
thing going on with his sex life and Jasmine, you
helped expose that and make sure he went behind bars
basically offing black men.
Speaker 3 (11:33):
Yeah, basically, yeah, I did, and there he sits and
hopefully he'll he'll that is where he will remain. But
you know, we still fight in that case, so we
will see.
Speaker 1 (11:45):
So yeah, so their cases you probably heard of read
about various stories in the media. So last week we
were both part of a press conference which was also
a signing ceremony.
Speaker 3 (11:57):
Yeah, okay, so it's so for folks who don't know, Yeah,
last week, I think it was on Thursday. We were
downtown Los Angeles. Another reference to my beloved Prince's Bride movie,
which I called the the Pitta Despair or the Bog
of Eternal Stench.
Speaker 1 (12:17):
But we were in downtown Los Angeles.
Speaker 3 (12:19):
I'm a friend of the lap LAPD Metropolitan Detention Center,
which is the LAPD jail right there on Los Angeles Street.
And it was a presser, a press conference with Black
Lives Matter Los Angeles Assembly Member Isaac Bryan, who had
carried Wakesha's law, and as well as Council Member Isabelle Herado,
(12:43):
who represents the fourteenth district of which Los Angeles Downtown
Los Angeles is a part of. So it was a
it was and it was a great from a media perspective.
Just about every channel was there.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
It was.
Speaker 3 (12:57):
It was very well covered, right, and the reason for
the press conference was because Black Lives Matter Los Angeles
helped get Jakeisha's law basically over the line and into law,
you know, for folks who don't know how laws work.
Some laws, yes, lawmakers come up with on their own.
(13:20):
Other laws are brought to them by a community activists,
community organizations, businesses, and in this case, Black Lives Matter
Los Angeles had worked very very closely with Jakisha Wilson's family,
including Miss Lisa Hines, her mother, and her aunt, Sheila Hines.
(13:43):
And so the press conference was one, in my opinion,
to one celebrate that, but also to just you know,
just show a good illustration of what can happen when
community gets together and works with an elected official to
get to pass a lot.
Speaker 1 (14:01):
This was a lot that had.
Speaker 3 (14:01):
To go up for a vote in Sacramento, so other
people had to weigh in on it, and then the
governor had to sign it in the law. And we
have seen the things that he does not sign into
a lot, right, I have seen the things that the
man vetos. But this one was signed into a lot
has been lost in September, and so.
Speaker 1 (14:19):
Yeah, it was a great you know you were there.
I thought it was a great press conference. It was
a great press conference. Thank you for getting all the
different news channels out there. I was happy for Lisa Hines.
The Jaukisha's Mama and Sheila Hines. They've been through a lot,
they've never given up. And Black Lives Matter Grassroots you know,
of course that's BLMLA is one of their fifty two chapters.
(14:41):
You know, really did play a role in it, absolutely.
Speaker 3 (14:44):
Lobbying Isaac Brian going to Sacramento. Look, this has been
talked about for quite some time, Waukeisha's Law, Jakeisha's Law,
and you know it's something that as any organization would
be proud of that work if they were able to
get a state law done behind something that they advocated for.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
Right, and it's the first state law named after a
black woman, and it's something that's gonna help a lot
of people because it requires law enforcement to notify you
within twenty four hours if your loved one is killed
while in prison or or hospitalized, which should.
Speaker 3 (15:26):
Not require a law, right, but it mus be very clear, right,
it should not require a law. But now it is
a law. And as you know Miss Lisa said at
the press conference, you know, she hopes no one ever
has to use it, but she's happy that that it
(15:48):
that that something was able to come of her daughter's death.
And so we have a clip for folks. So listen,
I think you're gonna hear Dominique. You're gonna hear miss
she's a low low because she moved her mouth away
from from from the mic at the press conference. But
you'll hear a few things.
Speaker 1 (16:08):
She moved her mic away to say thank you.
Speaker 3 (16:12):
Yeah and so uh yeah. So let's take a listen.
Speaker 1 (16:16):
What's it like to bring up Lisa Hines, who's the
mama of Wakisha Wilson.
Speaker 3 (16:21):
Thank you for speaking today the.
Speaker 1 (16:23):
Fight you know.
Speaker 4 (16:27):
Okay, First of all, I give up Sheila Bays. Black
Lives Matter, the whole.
Speaker 5 (16:40):
Commandity, and because of their advocacy, because of their consistency,
their willingness to come up to Sacramento to fight for
things that are bigger than themselves, no family will ever
have to go through that again. Wakeisha's Law was signed
by the governor this past September, and that was signed
with an urgency clause, which means that was passed with
two thirds a two thirds majority, meaning it went in
(17:02):
to effect immediately. Wakisha's Law has been the law in
California since September.
Speaker 6 (17:08):
I think all of the leaders behind you an assembly
member for passing this through because.
Speaker 3 (17:14):
This work is so important for my neighborhood.
Speaker 6 (17:16):
It's you're in c. Fourteenth and I'm grateful to Pastor
q kb LA and of course Black Lives Matter for
their advocacy, Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (17:25):
Yeah, yeah, noticed the What do we notice about those clips?
Aside from council Member Isava Hurravo, who I saw off
conferring with Wakisha's auntie saying they're working on Wakisha Wilson Square.
That's nice and she's you know, she's working diligently on that.
Aside from you know, Assembly Member Brian who obviously carried
(17:47):
that bill and got it across the finish line. What
am I looking for in those clips?
Speaker 3 (17:53):
You're listening to folks think Black Lives Matter, think BLML
black Lives Matter, grassroots for the work, for the advocacy,
And I think that that's really important as we go
into this discussion, so that folks understand, you know, what
the gripe is right when the media comes out to
(18:14):
cover our events and then turns around and reports on
it and excludes the very people who brought them the
event in the first place.
Speaker 1 (18:25):
Yeah, I mean that it seems completely outrageous, but it's
it's not uncommon.
Speaker 3 (18:31):
That's very common. Really, it is very common. What is
uncommon is saying anything about it because a lot of
organizations are scared that if they do speak up about
a story that is factually incorrect or biased, that they
will never get covered again, that they you know, that
(18:55):
they will be in trouble with that media entity. But again,
like I said earlier, I mean, in this day and age,
we have to speak up about these issues. And I
will also say, you know, I remember when we were
talking about doing this today and I was saying, yeah,
it's also just a reminder of why entities like KBLA
(19:16):
and other black media is so important, because we don't
we we don't erase ourselves out of our own victories.
Speaker 1 (19:26):
Yeah, we don't. Well, and that was, to be clear,
a huge victory for assemby remember Brian for Black Lives Matter,
Grassroots b l MLA for the family fighting ten years
ten years, right, It's a little yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 3 (19:40):
I mean many organizations spend hundreds of thousands of dollars
every year on lobbyists, consultants trying to get laws passed
in Sacramento and even traveling up there to go in
a lot back right and come up short. Aren't able
to get things over the finish line, and here you
(20:01):
have a situation where it went over the finish line
and it was signed into law by the governor. And
then I turned on ABC seven to watch the news,
and I was wondering if we were both at the
same press conference, because and I say that jokingly, but
I was standing right next to the photographer for ABC seven,
(20:25):
so obviously we both heard the same thing. But when
they decided to edit the story, they excluded Black Lives
Matter out of it completely and just whittled them down
to just some civil rights activists. And to me, that
is completely unacceptable because I also watched this same network
(20:45):
do stories about bike advocates, dog advocates, cat advocates, all
kinds of different groups, and they never not name the
group right.
Speaker 1 (20:58):
They don't just say Civil Rights Act to his cat
rights activity, right, the exact Peter or whatever, the exact
cat Ladies Justice or whatever organization exactly. And I'm just like,
what's up with that?
Speaker 3 (21:11):
Because especially when you have the mother of Wakeisha Wilson
thanking Black Lives Matter, you have the assembly member, the
council member, how do you do that, how do you
do that?
Speaker 1 (21:22):
How do you do that? We've got news, traffic and sports,
and then we'll look at that because it's a key
point in media literacy. What do they have to do
and what do they not have to do in reporting
on a story. Jasminchanic takes on Goliath as per usual.
KPLA Talk fifteen to eighty. Leo Stalworth has more on
Wakisha's Law, which requires families to be informed within twenty
(21:44):
four hours if a loved one is hospitalized or dies
in custody.
Speaker 7 (21:48):
Civil rights activists, family members, lawmakers honoring the memory of
thirty six year old Wakisha Wilson and celebrating the passage
of Wakisha's Law.
Speaker 5 (21:58):
It was nearly ten years ago where she lost life
in the LAPD holding cell, and it was several days
after that before her family found out what had happened.
Speaker 8 (22:06):
When I found out my baby had died, it was
the four longest days of my life.
Speaker 7 (22:12):
The law requires county, city and municipal jails to inform
families within twenty four hours if a loved one is
hospitalized due to a serious or critical medical condition or
dies while in custody. Wakeisha died while in La County
lock up March twenty seventh of twenty sixteen, her devastated
family not learning about her death for almost a week.
Speaker 8 (22:33):
I pray, well, I shouldn't even have to be praying
about it now because Wakeisha's Law has been passed, But
I was praying that no one endure the four longest
days of their life as I did.
Speaker 5 (22:49):
Wakisha's Law was signed by the governor this past September,
and it was signed with an urgency clause, which means
it was passed with two thirds a two thirds majority,
meaning it went into effect immediately.
Speaker 7 (23:00):
The La County Medical Examiner's Office ruling Markeisha's death suicide
by hanging a level of grief just too much to
endure for the woman's family, especially finding out this horrible
news days after she had passed away.
Speaker 9 (23:14):
I watched my sister not eating, I watched her lose weight.
We were devastated. We couldn't even go to the corner's office.
I'm so thankful for this law. It's in effect, but
(23:34):
I hope nobody has to use it.
Speaker 7 (23:37):
Leo Store with ABC seven Eyewitness News.
Speaker 1 (23:40):
Okay, so that's the story in question. Do you remember
seeing Liu there. I don't actually, all right, was he there? No, yeah,
I don't remember seeing him there, but his.
Speaker 3 (23:51):
Photographer was there. I was standing next to the right right.
Speaker 1 (23:54):
They had to because they got the footage. Yeah, so
it's almost like they went out of their way not
to mention Black Lives Matter, groots, the way the edits.
Speaker 3 (24:04):
Are done and everything, even to the point where they
didn't even use anyone from Black Lives Matter who spoke.
Speaker 1 (24:13):
Right, and they were standing up there the little time.
Speaker 3 (24:15):
Sheila Bates was not quoted, doctor Malina Abdullah was not quoted.
And I know this is probably in the weeds too
early in the morning, but I've had my coffee, y'all,
so work with me. This is a two minute piece
that is some serious real estate on television.
Speaker 1 (24:35):
Yeah that's long, Okay, So.
Speaker 3 (24:39):
You intentionally did that because this wasn't a thirty second
which is usually what stories that just have a photographer
a sign to it, and not necessarily a reporter. They'll
usually just get a voiceover by the anchors while showing
the b roll on the news. You might get thirty
to forty five seconds, maybe twenty seconds. This is two
(25:00):
minutes long, and you managed to not mention the one
organization that did the work.
Speaker 1 (25:10):
Do you think that new mainstream news organizations are afraid
to mention black lives matter?
Speaker 3 (25:16):
They are afraid of a lot of things. Let me
tell you it would not surprise me. I mean you,
we live in a city in a media market where
they will give one man organizations more press than an
organization that actually has a base, that actually gets things done.
(25:42):
I watched the news here and I am amazed at
the number of one man organizations. Okay, and don't nobody
text me or DM me talking about I should have
said one person. I am saying exactly what I want
to say. I'm saying one man organizations. We have quite
a few of these people running around the city representing us.
(26:05):
They are one man organizations, and the news is constantly
calling out their name, their organization's name, as if they
have some large membership, some large network, or any membership
at all aside from themselves. Right, And then I sit
here and I look at an organization that has done
(26:26):
this great work, and I know that if it were
a bike advocacy group, if it were a child advocacy group,
if it were any other group, the group would have
been named in the story, the group would have had
would not have been reduced down to just activists or
civil rights activists. And I think that that's a slight
(26:48):
against the organization. And I would love to know why
from ABC seven and Leo Stalworth.
Speaker 1 (26:54):
I really would you would because you wrote a letter
about I sure i'd.
Speaker 3 (26:57):
Make it public, but maybe I should make a public
But I did write a letter to Leo and I
asked him about that because as a journalist, even from
a journalistic point of view, that omission makes your story
factually incorrect. And also it's really clear because again, like
(27:18):
I said in my letter to Leo, I stid next
to you, a photographer. We both I'm pretty sure we
both heard the same things. We just played the clips
on the air earlier. So clearly, you know, Black Lives
Matter was given the credit for doing the work, forgetting.
Speaker 1 (27:31):
By the law, by the law makers, by the families.
Speaker 3 (27:34):
So what possible reason could ABC seven have for not
including the name of the organization.
Speaker 1 (27:42):
I mean, as a media strategist, it's kind of a
little gutsy of you to be criticizing the tist. Most
media strategists are just kiss the ring if anyone shows
up at all true.
Speaker 3 (27:55):
That is absolutely true. And we'll just see how this
works out for me. But you know, it's just not right.
Speaker 1 (28:01):
It's not right.
Speaker 3 (28:03):
It's not right. And I'm tired. Like that was like
short short side note. That was why Towanda was created.
I'm just tired of living in this world where the
bad people always win. It can't be that short of
a side note because not everyone knows who Tuanda isma.
Speaker 1 (28:23):
This morning bad.
Speaker 3 (28:24):
That is why I have an ai alter ego named Towanda,
because in that universe and Twanda universe, Twanda Verse, the
bad guys don't always win, like there is some balance
in the universe, right, And and so yeah, I did
send a letter to Leo. You read the letter. It
wasn't mean, it wasn't accusatory. It was like, yo, what's
(28:45):
what you know? What's going on here?
Speaker 1 (28:48):
You know? Yeah? And I mean, and to your point
about the one person organization, to me, it's actually a
contradiction in terms because definitionally it's not an organization if
you'll they have one person.
Speaker 3 (29:02):
And are you really a leader when you're not leading anyone?
Speaker 1 (29:07):
You can be a thought leader maybe, but but these
people are portrayed on the news as running like some
large organization and and the and we know that that
they don't. And so they're chosen by the mainstream media,
not chosen by the community. The absolutely as a community leader,
no one's following them, no one in the community acknowledges them.
(29:29):
So that means that the mainstream media feels they have
the right to anoint our black leaders, and.
Speaker 3 (29:35):
We continue to let them get away because you see,
they don't get that play in the black media. If
you notice these same people that we are talking about,
you don't see them all over the black media in
that way because because exactly, but yeah, so I yeah,
so hopefully ABC seven, hopefully Leo Stahl or someone, hopefully
someone responds to that. So far, no, I think that
(29:58):
it's it's worth having discussion about, particularly because we have
a lot of organizations in La County that do a
lot of great work. They don't all have comms directors
or folks who can help them get you know, in
the media. A lot of times you have an executive
director who's also accounts payable accounts receivable, who's also doing
(30:20):
the comms, who's also doing everything. You know, so they
you just don't and when you have organizations that use
the limited funds that they have make this effort to
try to strategically get you know, their messaging out because again,
you know, folks, it's all part of a bigger picture
a lot of comms. That's really important to a lot
(30:40):
of organizations because it also helps when you're trying to
get you know, funders interested in your group, where you're
trying to raise money and you're trying to do all
these things. You want to show the work that you've done.
Getting a state law passed is huge.
Speaker 1 (30:54):
It is huge.
Speaker 3 (30:55):
Not there are businesses, like I said earlier, that spend
one hundreds of thousands of dollars millions of dollars every
year and don't succeed in getting that done. So, yes,
you give credit to the assembly member, of course, but
you do not exclude the organization that was the genesis,
particularly when you have the mother of Jakeisha Wilson making
(31:18):
it very clear how we got from A to B.
Speaker 1 (31:22):
Yeah, it's a great point. And I also think that
they're quick to say black lives matter when they're talking
about a scandal which may or may not even be
the real black lives matter, right, They're quick to say,
to call out Black Lives Matter when they're trying to
say the movement is dead, or when they're trying to
call out some person who's you know, committed a crime
(31:43):
that they're not even connected with this chapter or any
chapter I mean, or yeah, you hear it all the time.
I see it so many times. They say Black Lives
Matter activists arrested for blah blahlah, and then you look
at it and the organization is you know, like you know,
brothers and sisters for garbage collection and it has nothing
to do with Black Lives Matter. They just label it
that when it's the actual BLM Grassroots, the crickets, that's
(32:07):
to me, it's more than lazy. It's it's it's a
deliberate erasure.
Speaker 3 (32:11):
And it absolutely is. And look, let's be really clear,
doctor Malina Abdullah, Sheila Bates, everyone associated with BLM Grassroots
and BLMLA, they don't have any problem speaking up for themselves.
I did it because, as someone who had organized, helped
organize that presser, had made, you know, reached out to
(32:33):
the media to get them there, and felt like somewhat
responsible for the the media coverage that came out of it.
I was just absolutely shocked when I saw that piece,
like I didn't even really want. I ended up posting
it on my own personal social media, but if you saw,
I gave it a title. I wrote a whole caption
because I had to clean it up for myself because
(32:56):
I just could not believe they just erased them out
out of the story like that. And that is what
we need to do as a community. We need to
stop letting the mainstream media get away with putting people
on the news claiming that they represent our community without
sending an email, making a call saying why do you
have that fool on their saying that he represents us.
(33:18):
We need to stop letting stories like what you heard
with Leo Stalworth air and then not reach out to
ABC seven and say, hey, yo, I know that Black
Lives Matter played a huge role in this. Why aren't
they mentioned. If we don't call them out, if we
don't ever say anything, why should their behavior ever change.
It's not going to change on vibes at all. Trust
(33:41):
and believe it's going to change because they're hearing from
their audience. They're hearing from the folks who they're trying
to hold on to. And when I say, trying to
hold on to everybody's trying to hold on to, particularly
in the mainstream media, because there's too much competition now,
there's too many other places for us to get our
news from.
Speaker 1 (33:57):
Yeah, I mean to me, the fact that you're probably
one of the bigger named black reporters in southern California
and you feel like you can go to a not
even go send your camera to a Black Lives Matter
organized in conjunction with the assembly member event and then
(34:19):
not even mention them like that is the ultimate I
think that's the ultimate illusion of inclusion that Paul Mooney
talked about. You're such a you're so outside of our
community that you can come to a press conference and
then you don't even go to it, and then you
report on it as if you were there, and you
(34:40):
cut out the organization Black Lives Matter. That's really pretty bold.
Speaker 3 (34:46):
It is bold, and I'm sure that perhaps when if
I post our get together this morning on the air,
I might include the scene from one of my favorite movies,
This Summer of sam.
Speaker 1 (34:59):
Where do It Do It?
Speaker 3 (35:01):
When Spike Lee was a reporter in Bedsty and he
got some comment from from the people in Bedsty when
he went down there to get their reaction to.
Speaker 1 (35:13):
It's not to say I'm killing because.
Speaker 3 (35:15):
This is what that reminds me of.
Speaker 1 (35:18):
Yeah, well, Molly Bell wants to know if it's legal,
and it is, they can they can write whatever they
want and they can omit whatever they want.
Speaker 3 (35:27):
Doesn't make it right. And again, you know, we're we're
no strangers to fighting and calling out things right. So
you know, if you know, if you feel like this
is wrong too, you should reach out to Leo Stalwarth.
You should reach out to ABC seven and say something
about that, because again, when it comes again, we have
(35:49):
all of these organizations who do such great work in
Los Angeles and it is not fair and it is
not right for an organization to be omitted from their
own story.
Speaker 1 (36:01):
Yeah, well, you're invited to call in if you want.
Eight hundred nine two oh fifteen eighty eight hundred and
nine too oh fifteen eighty. I remember from when I
worked at kr O NTV, one email or one letter
just had a huge impact because most people aren't going
to write. You know, one one letter or emails counted
heavier than a call. But a call is also good
(36:26):
because it lets them know people are paying attention and
they don't like what you're doing, and that that is
the kind of thing that actually changes things sometimes in
media organizations. Eight hundred nine two oh fifteen eighty. Jasminchanic
is here and you're listening to KBLA talk fifteen eighty. Yes,
Jasminchanic is my guest. She'll be back in here any minute.
(36:47):
Thinks she's over there talking to Miles. But look, this
is why I always talk about media literacy, because part
of it is just part of it is knowing how
to read between the headlines. Right, And so I mean, Jasmine,
you see this and you immediately say, what how did
they not credit?
Speaker 3 (37:06):
Now?
Speaker 1 (37:06):
How did they not mention Black Lives Matter? It's their event?
But these kinds of things get by people all the
time because we don't have the media savvy, like where
do you think we should start? I think it's something
so important.
Speaker 3 (37:20):
So I would not have expected, like the average viewer
to have known that Black Lives Matter had such an
integral part of that, right, because if you weren't there,
you if me at the press conference, right, It's so
the responsibility is on those of us who were there
to call.
Speaker 1 (37:35):
Out that that bias, to call.
Speaker 3 (37:37):
That out right. And so now that it's been called out,
folks who are concerned, they should reach out to ABC seven,
go to their website, go to their socials, DM them,
tag them and stuff on social media.
Speaker 1 (37:49):
Hit up Leo Stalworth like I did.
Speaker 3 (37:51):
I went to him directly with send an email to
him on Friday. I think maybe he hasn't checked his emails, but.
Speaker 1 (37:58):
I have a heard back from them.
Speaker 3 (38:00):
Yeah, but I'm just curious, like how you do that,
especially when I can go to ABC's website and point
to other stories that that same reporter is done where
he has named organizations right in his story. So I
think it's important. I think it's even important for BLM
grassroots to speak up. I mean again, I did it
(38:24):
just because I felt a little bit like, hey, I
was the one that you know, wrote the media advisory,
got the media out there, and I'm looking at going
over the press coverage that followed, and I'm like this
is whack. Like it's great, it's two minutes long. That's
like I said, some serious real estate in a newscast.
But I'm like, how do you just exclude I don't,
(38:45):
I don't get it, Like I just it had to
me it seemed very intentional.
Speaker 1 (38:50):
But I feel like it is partly intimidation. I mean,
you look at these news organizations are literally writing multimillion
dollar checks to the president. Yes, the President has already
put Black Lives Matter on his executive order to Antifa,
which is not an organization, and then and then Black
(39:10):
Lives Matter Grassroots, which is so you know, he's already
targeted them. So I'm wondering. I mean, maybe it's sort
of a lack of I don't know, a lack of understanding,
but I feel like there's an intimidation factor coming into
play too a little bit.
Speaker 3 (39:27):
Like I said earlier, I think there that this happens
more often than not. And one of the issues is that, again,
like I said, organizations don't like to call this behavior
out because they don't want to be blacklisted. They don't
want to not be covered the next time they're having
some sort of event that they invite the press to right,
(39:49):
and it shouldn't work like that. It absolutely shouldn't. And
regardless of that, I think we have a responsibility to
demand accurate coverage from the mainstream media here in Los
Angeles County. That news report was not right.
Speaker 1 (40:08):
It was actually incorrect. Now I see why BLM Grassroots
and some of these other organizations hold up big banners
behind you elected. So it's like that's maybe that's the
only way they can get insure proper credit.
Speaker 3 (40:21):
Yeah, and of course, you know, recording it yourself and
posting it on your own but and you know, and
I'm so happy that I had thought to record that
entire presser on my other phone, because it was really
I was like, let me go back, and I just
want to go back.
Speaker 1 (40:38):
Did I hear what I thought I heard? Let me
go back and make sure.
Speaker 3 (40:41):
Yeah, they think BLM yep, they think b LM.
Speaker 1 (40:44):
Yep, they did.
Speaker 3 (40:45):
Okay, Okay, it's not just me, you know, and I
think I know that BLM is BLM LA, BLM Grassroots
is planning on posting the graph, the uh videos.
Speaker 1 (40:58):
Yeah, what's wrong. No, we're way over time. Let's go okay, Yeah,
we got news trafficking sports Jasmine. Thank you so much. Problem,
You're amazing, KBLA Talk, fifteen eighty
La Talk fifteen eighty. Good morning, Good morning, and God
bless happy Monday. I'm Dominique Saprima.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
This show is called First Things First, and my very
first thing today and every day is giving, thanksgiving, praises
and asking for blessings from God, asking for the blessings
of the ancestors and the elders.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
And let's go. Let's do this. We got so much
to talk about. It is going to be a great week.
I'm naming it and claiming it. So what do we
do on a mindful Monday? We first get in our
mind and body. Let's start there. Our one, we look local.
Hour two we go national and international and beyond. Although
(00:40):
we start off the hour with Sahara Ali leading us
on affirmations, guided meditation and helping us get our minds
right for the week ahead. Our three today will be
joined by Isaac Hayes the third. He's a founder of
fan Base and he has got some very pertinent information
for us today. It's gonna be a great day. We're
(01:02):
starting out with my friend and colleague. She is an
award winning gen X journalist. She is a delegate for
the La County Democratic Central Committee and she's a strategist
and a contributor. You all know. I think by now
you're like an official KBLA contributor. Jazz mechanic.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
Good morning, Good morning, Dommie, Good morning, Miles, Good morning
everyone out there.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
You can tell I had my coffee. Yeah, coffee's right,
make up tight, and you you can join us at
up mine not so much byday. I'm here, look great,
Thank you, queen. Okay, so you can see us on
YouTube YouTube dot com KBLA fifteen eighty. We're streaming there
and we do have a lot to talk about. But
(01:50):
happy holidays, yeah, you know, it is a holiday. Yeah whatever.
Speaker 3 (01:57):
I'm in the same camp with everybody right now who's
just like pushing it through and doing the best we
can with what we have.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
I'm in that girl.
Speaker 3 (02:07):
I am not the holly jolly. I am the when
I walk in the door, have me some egg knog
with little sums in it, person right now?
Speaker 1 (02:16):
Okay, then does holly jolly come after that? It actually does. Yeah, Well,
happy holidays to those whatever it is you're celebrating. And
it seems like every year during the holidays we get
these crazy like people dying, A lot of people dying,
some crazy incidents like Rob Reiner is so sad him
(02:38):
and his wife guild in their Brentwood home.
Speaker 3 (02:41):
Yeah, and you know, for folks who are waking up
and don't know this, yes, so Rob Reiner, when Harry
met Sally, the Princess Bride, I mean, the list goes
on and on. The I say the Princess Bride because
that's one of my favorite favorite all time.
Speaker 1 (02:56):
Everyone loves the Princess Bride. I love spinal tap. This
is don Tap, which he directed.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
So he was him and his wife were found, I believe,
stabbed to death in their Brentwood home. And one of
the yesterday, uh, yesterday afternoon. And one of the things
I was thinking about this morning when I was getting
ready was that is the second, you know, group of
parents or parent in an LA County that I can
(03:24):
think of in the past week that has been allegedly
murdered by their child. Because we had the musician or the.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
Opera that's right, the opera singer.
Speaker 3 (03:36):
Man and I believe that was in Venice, that happened earlier.
And again the sun is a suspect and in that
one as well, And I was just thinking about that, like, wow, it's.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
Kind of scary. I mean, you don't know what's going on,
is people have mental health issues. There's all kinds of
you know, things that could be going on if you're
not in somebody's south. I think our tendency is to
decide that they have everything because they have money and
they've got great careers. But we don't know what's going
on with folks.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
No, no, we don't. And even though this stuff happens
all year long, particularly here in La County, it just
seems to be much more exasperated and sort of in
your face during the holiday season. But yeah, I was.
I was actually quite stunned when that alert came across
my phone.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
That's really sad. I mean just the ultimate scary situation
is for parents or grandparents be killed by their kids
or vice versa. That guy's name was Jubilant P. Sykes,
the opposit. I didn't know of him before the murder.
Speaker 3 (04:48):
I didn't either, but but yeah, so, yeah, two situations here,
I think within a week of each other. And that's
that's uh sad. We'll say that's that's it's just sad.
So and Carl Reiner, I mean sorry, that was his father.
Rob Runner was seventy eight and his wife was sixty
(05:10):
eight and both of them were dead.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
Yeah, but he you know, they they were also impactful
beyond That's how.
Speaker 3 (05:19):
I know him from when I worked in the legislature,
and he was very active, I want to say, with
the First five Commission and a couple of other ballot
measures and different i would say democratic issues and causes.
(05:40):
He you know, was a major donor, gave a lot
of money, did a lot of work, uh in that area.
And that is another way that I also just remember
him from my time working in the Assembly. But yeah,
it's just it's like, oh, no, is this going to
be how the week goes? Are we starting off here?
(06:00):
And it's just gonna get to be a crazy week
because that that news last night was very much a shock.
Speaker 1 (06:08):
Yeah. And to your point about his political donations and
his activism, his and his wife, you know, Barack Obama
is make put out a statement about Rob Reiner. Not
every actor would we know, would resonate that way, but
he definitely was I would say, a liberal maybe progressive,
you know, on the liberal progressive cusp there and really
(06:31):
concerned about saving our democracy, which is always a good thing. Yeah. Yeah,
So rest in peace, to Rob Reiner and his wife
and his wife Michelle. Yeah, yeah, well yeah, of course
her being less known his pictures on everything, but I'm.
Speaker 3 (06:49):
Sure you know, yeah, yeah, yeah, the woman sometimes always
gets sort of second mentioned. And yeah, well.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
Yeah, if anything, whenever anything happens to Oprah, she's the headline.
You know. If it was Oprah insteadman, he'd be there,
but it wouldn't be his picture. So I think this
is more about fame and fortune than the gender, perhaps,
but we could be wrong. Well, I'm glad Jasmine is here.
We do have a lot to talk about. It really
got me. Well, yeah, I know, yeah, it's like please anyway,
(07:23):
I love it when people come in, especially people that
are full of great things to say. And I'm always
talking about media literacy and the way that the press
covers different things, and I think it's one of the
most important things now that we can teach our kids
and ourselves because of AI, because of missing disinformation, just
the sophisticated way that things that are not factual are
(07:43):
being presented to us.
Speaker 3 (07:45):
Absolutely, it's as a media strategist that is a huge
issue of mine as well. It's can oftentimes be very
tricky on how to approach it and how to deal
with certain issues when dealing with the media. But sometimes
it's just, you know, the media bias is so blatant
(08:07):
and so you know, it's it's just so obvious that
I feel like we have a responsibility and a duty
to call it out, particularly in this time when things
are so bad with the mainstream media. And when I
say bad, I just mean, like you were saying, missing
disinformation and it we you know, they depend on us,
(08:31):
where their viewers, where their listeners. They have a responsibility
to us to tell the truth and to also be
factual in the truth, especially when the mission right, especially
when they like to call other folks out for for
not doing the same.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
So absolutely, yeah, so we have a case of we do.
We have one such call out. We'll share that with
you when we come forward. I'm KBLA Talk fifteen eighty.
So when you say media strategist jazz mechanic for the
not familiar, what does that really mean?
Speaker 3 (09:03):
I help, Uh, I helped David B.
Speaker 1 (09:07):
Goliath.
Speaker 3 (09:07):
So that's how I like to look at a lot
of the work that I do. Right, So, whether it's
on you know, campaigns or political candidates or nonprofit organizations
do a lot of work with law firms. That is
how these I mean, you you've been around long enough
to remember when they never talked about these types of
the cases that we see on the news now right right.
(09:28):
If they did, they were only reading the police department
or the district attorney's press release. It was never the
other side, right right. And so yeah, I do a
lot of work and trying to even the playing field
as it relates to the media. And I've been doing
that for a really, really long time, and I do
enjoy that work because I think it's it's important. I
(09:49):
think it's important that both sides have an opportunity to
speak to the public. Oftentimes, especially if you're going up
against a big government entity, you know that has a
whole department dedicated to communications and public relations, it can
(10:10):
be really hard for you know, the i'll just say
smaller entity to have the same impact. And I helped
give them that same impact.
Speaker 1 (10:22):
Right, I mean, I think the classic case of that
for me is ed Buck, where you know, it was
a small story. Of course you were part of the
story too because you were an activist in that case,
but you helped make sure it became a national story.
Speaker 3 (10:33):
Yeah, I kind of had to pull from all my
different hats from that, my political work, my media work,
my you know, my advocacy work. Like that was a
unique situation for me where I just pulled from all
these different corners of my life.
Speaker 1 (10:47):
But but yeah, absolutely, Like for those not familiar, that
was a political donor who was a Democratic political donor
experimenting on human beings. Yeah, who says, well, you say democratic,
but he started as a Republican.
Speaker 3 (11:03):
Story as a Republican. But he is known for being
a Democratic political donor. I mean the money which has
got was over a million dollars that he's given to
different candidates and stuff was given to most what was
given to Democrats. So he is a Democratic donor, that's
for sure.
Speaker 1 (11:19):
And some kind of serial murder, kind of serial killer
thing going on with his sex life and Jasmine, you
helped expose that and make sure he went behind bars
basically offing black men.
Speaker 3 (11:33):
Yeah, basically, yeah, I did, and there he sits and
hopefully he'll he'll that is where he will remain. But
you know, we still fight in that case, so we
will see.
Speaker 1 (11:45):
So yeah, so their cases you probably heard of read
about various stories in the media. So last week we
were both part of a press conference which was also
a signing ceremony.
Speaker 3 (11:57):
Yeah, okay, so it's so for folks who don't know, Yeah,
last week, I think it was on Thursday. We were
downtown Los Angeles. Another reference to my beloved Prince's Bride movie,
which I called the the Pitta Despair or the Bog
of Eternal Stench.
Speaker 1 (12:17):
But we were in downtown Los Angeles.
Speaker 3 (12:19):
I'm a friend of the lap LAPD Metropolitan Detention Center,
which is the LAPD jail right there on Los Angeles Street.
And it was a presser, a press conference with Black
Lives Matter Los Angeles Assembly Member Isaac Bryan, who had
carried Wakesha's law, and as well as Council Member Isabelle Herado,
(12:43):
who represents the fourteenth district of which Los Angeles Downtown
Los Angeles is a part of. So it was a
it was and it was a great from a media perspective.
Just about every channel was there.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
It was.
Speaker 3 (12:57):
It was very well covered, right, and the reason for
the press conference was because Black Lives Matter Los Angeles
helped get Jakeisha's law basically over the line and into law,
you know, for folks who don't know how laws work.
Some laws, yes, lawmakers come up with on their own.
(13:20):
Other laws are brought to them by a community activists,
community organizations, businesses, and in this case, Black Lives Matter
Los Angeles had worked very very closely with Jakisha Wilson's family,
including Miss Lisa Hines, her mother, and her aunt, Sheila Hines.
(13:43):
And so the press conference was one, in my opinion,
to one celebrate that, but also to just you know,
just show a good illustration of what can happen when
community gets together and works with an elected official to
get to pass a lot.
Speaker 1 (14:01):
This was a lot that had.
Speaker 3 (14:01):
To go up for a vote in Sacramento, so other
people had to weigh in on it, and then the
governor had to sign it in the law. And we
have seen the things that he does not sign into
a lot, right, I have seen the things that the
man vetos. But this one was signed into a lot
has been lost in September, and so.
Speaker 1 (14:19):
Yeah, it was a great you know you were there.
I thought it was a great press conference. It was
a great press conference. Thank you for getting all the
different news channels out there. I was happy for Lisa Hines.
The Jaukisha's Mama and Sheila Hines. They've been through a lot,
they've never given up. And Black Lives Matter Grassroots you know,
of course that's BLMLA is one of their fifty two chapters.
(14:41):
You know, really did play a role in it, absolutely.
Speaker 3 (14:44):
Lobbying Isaac Brian going to Sacramento. Look, this has been
talked about for quite some time, Waukeisha's Law, Jakeisha's Law,
and you know it's something that as any organization would
be proud of that work if they were able to
get a state law done behind something that they advocated for.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
Right, and it's the first state law named after a
black woman, and it's something that's gonna help a lot
of people because it requires law enforcement to notify you
within twenty four hours if your loved one is killed
while in prison or or hospitalized, which should.
Speaker 3 (15:26):
Not require a law, right, but it mus be very clear, right,
it should not require a law. But now it is
a law. And as you know Miss Lisa said at
the press conference, you know, she hopes no one ever
has to use it, but she's happy that that it
(15:48):
that that something was able to come of her daughter's death.
And so we have a clip for folks. So listen,
I think you're gonna hear Dominique. You're gonna hear miss
she's a low low because she moved her mouth away
from from from the mic at the press conference. But
you'll hear a few things.
Speaker 1 (16:08):
She moved her mic away to say thank you.
Speaker 3 (16:12):
Yeah and so uh yeah. So let's take a listen.
Speaker 1 (16:16):
What's it like to bring up Lisa Hines, who's the
mama of Wakisha Wilson.
Speaker 3 (16:21):
Thank you for speaking today the.
Speaker 1 (16:23):
Fight you know.
Speaker 4 (16:27):
Okay, First of all, I give up Sheila Bays. Black
Lives Matter, the whole.
Speaker 5 (16:40):
Commandity, and because of their advocacy, because of their consistency,
their willingness to come up to Sacramento to fight for
things that are bigger than themselves, no family will ever
have to go through that again. Wakeisha's Law was signed
by the governor this past September, and that was signed
with an urgency clause, which means that was passed with
two thirds a two thirds majority, meaning it went in
(17:02):
to effect immediately. Wakisha's Law has been the law in
California since September.
Speaker 6 (17:08):
I think all of the leaders behind you an assembly
member for passing this through because.
Speaker 3 (17:14):
This work is so important for my neighborhood.
Speaker 6 (17:16):
It's you're in c. Fourteenth and I'm grateful to Pastor
q kb LA and of course Black Lives Matter for
their advocacy, Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (17:25):
Yeah, yeah, noticed the What do we notice about those clips?
Aside from council Member Isava Hurravo, who I saw off
conferring with Wakisha's auntie saying they're working on Wakisha Wilson Square.
That's nice and she's you know, she's working diligently on that.
Aside from you know, Assembly Member Brian who obviously carried
(17:47):
that bill and got it across the finish line. What
am I looking for in those clips?
Speaker 3 (17:53):
You're listening to folks think Black Lives Matter, think BLML
black Lives Matter, grassroots for the work, for the advocacy,
And I think that that's really important as we go
into this discussion, so that folks understand, you know, what
the gripe is right when the media comes out to
(18:14):
cover our events and then turns around and reports on
it and excludes the very people who brought them the
event in the first place.
Speaker 1 (18:25):
Yeah, I mean that it seems completely outrageous, but it's
it's not uncommon.
Speaker 3 (18:31):
That's very common. Really, it is very common. What is
uncommon is saying anything about it because a lot of
organizations are scared that if they do speak up about
a story that is factually incorrect or biased, that they
will never get covered again, that they you know, that
(18:55):
they will be in trouble with that media entity. But again,
like I said earlier, I mean, in this day and age,
we have to speak up about these issues. And I
will also say, you know, I remember when we were
talking about doing this today and I was saying, yeah,
it's also just a reminder of why entities like KBLA
(19:16):
and other black media is so important, because we don't
we we don't erase ourselves out of our own victories.
Speaker 1 (19:26):
Yeah, we don't. Well, and that was, to be clear,
a huge victory for assemby remember Brian for Black Lives Matter,
Grassroots b l MLA for the family fighting ten years
ten years, right, It's a little yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 3 (19:40):
I mean many organizations spend hundreds of thousands of dollars
every year on lobbyists, consultants trying to get laws passed
in Sacramento and even traveling up there to go in
a lot back right and come up short. Aren't able
to get things over the finish line, and here you
(20:01):
have a situation where it went over the finish line
and it was signed into law by the governor. And
then I turned on ABC seven to watch the news,
and I was wondering if we were both at the
same press conference, because and I say that jokingly, but
I was standing right next to the photographer for ABC seven,
(20:25):
so obviously we both heard the same thing. But when
they decided to edit the story, they excluded Black Lives
Matter out of it completely and just whittled them down
to just some civil rights activists. And to me, that
is completely unacceptable because I also watched this same network
(20:45):
do stories about bike advocates, dog advocates, cat advocates, all
kinds of different groups, and they never not name the
group right.
Speaker 1 (20:58):
They don't just say Civil Rights Act to his cat
rights activity, right, the exact Peter or whatever, the exact
cat Ladies Justice or whatever organization exactly. And I'm just like,
what's up with that?
Speaker 3 (21:11):
Because especially when you have the mother of Wakeisha Wilson
thanking Black Lives Matter, you have the assembly member, the
council member, how do you do that, how do you
do that?
Speaker 1 (21:22):
How do you do that? We've got news, traffic and sports,
and then we'll look at that because it's a key
point in media literacy. What do they have to do
and what do they not have to do in reporting
on a story. Jasminchanic takes on Goliath as per usual.
KPLA Talk fifteen to eighty. Leo Stalworth has more on
Wakisha's Law, which requires families to be informed within twenty
(21:44):
four hours if a loved one is hospitalized or dies
in custody.
Speaker 7 (21:48):
Civil rights activists, family members, lawmakers honoring the memory of
thirty six year old Wakisha Wilson and celebrating the passage
of Wakisha's Law.
Speaker 5 (21:58):
It was nearly ten years ago where she lost life
in the LAPD holding cell, and it was several days
after that before her family found out what had happened.
Speaker 8 (22:06):
When I found out my baby had died, it was
the four longest days of my life.
Speaker 7 (22:12):
The law requires county, city and municipal jails to inform
families within twenty four hours if a loved one is
hospitalized due to a serious or critical medical condition or
dies while in custody. Wakeisha died while in La County
lock up March twenty seventh of twenty sixteen, her devastated
family not learning about her death for almost a week.
Speaker 8 (22:33):
I pray, well, I shouldn't even have to be praying
about it now because Wakeisha's Law has been passed, But
I was praying that no one endure the four longest
days of their life as I did.
Speaker 5 (22:49):
Wakisha's Law was signed by the governor this past September,
and it was signed with an urgency clause, which means
it was passed with two thirds a two thirds majority,
meaning it went into effect immediately.
Speaker 7 (23:00):
The La County Medical Examiner's Office ruling Markeisha's death suicide
by hanging a level of grief just too much to
endure for the woman's family, especially finding out this horrible
news days after she had passed away.
Speaker 9 (23:14):
I watched my sister not eating, I watched her lose weight.
We were devastated. We couldn't even go to the corner's office.
I'm so thankful for this law. It's in effect, but
(23:34):
I hope nobody has to use it.
Speaker 7 (23:37):
Leo Store with ABC seven Eyewitness News.
Speaker 1 (23:40):
Okay, so that's the story in question. Do you remember
seeing Liu there. I don't actually, all right, was he there? No, yeah,
I don't remember seeing him there, but his.
Speaker 3 (23:51):
Photographer was there. I was standing next to the right right.
Speaker 1 (23:54):
They had to because they got the footage. Yeah, so
it's almost like they went out of their way not
to mention Black Lives Matter, groots, the way the edits.
Speaker 3 (24:04):
Are done and everything, even to the point where they
didn't even use anyone from Black Lives Matter who spoke.
Speaker 1 (24:13):
Right, and they were standing up there the little time.
Speaker 3 (24:15):
Sheila Bates was not quoted, doctor Malina Abdullah was not quoted.
And I know this is probably in the weeds too
early in the morning, but I've had my coffee, y'all,
so work with me. This is a two minute piece
that is some serious real estate on television.
Speaker 1 (24:35):
Yeah that's long, Okay, So.
Speaker 3 (24:39):
You intentionally did that because this wasn't a thirty second
which is usually what stories that just have a photographer
a sign to it, and not necessarily a reporter. They'll
usually just get a voiceover by the anchors while showing
the b roll on the news. You might get thirty
to forty five seconds, maybe twenty seconds. This is two
(25:00):
minutes long, and you managed to not mention the one
organization that did the work.
Speaker 1 (25:10):
Do you think that new mainstream news organizations are afraid
to mention black lives matter?
Speaker 3 (25:16):
They are afraid of a lot of things. Let me
tell you it would not surprise me. I mean you,
we live in a city in a media market where
they will give one man organizations more press than an
organization that actually has a base, that actually gets things done.
(25:42):
I watched the news here and I am amazed at
the number of one man organizations. Okay, and don't nobody
text me or DM me talking about I should have
said one person. I am saying exactly what I want
to say. I'm saying one man organizations. We have quite
a few of these people running around the city representing us.
(26:05):
They are one man organizations, and the news is constantly
calling out their name, their organization's name, as if they
have some large membership, some large network, or any membership
at all aside from themselves. Right, And then I sit
here and I look at an organization that has done
(26:26):
this great work, and I know that if it were
a bike advocacy group, if it were a child advocacy group,
if it were any other group, the group would have
been named in the story, the group would have had
would not have been reduced down to just activists or
civil rights activists. And I think that that's a slight
(26:48):
against the organization. And I would love to know why
from ABC seven and Leo Stalworth.
Speaker 1 (26:54):
I really would you would because you wrote a letter
about I sure i'd.
Speaker 3 (26:57):
Make it public, but maybe I should make a public
But I did write a letter to Leo and I
asked him about that because as a journalist, even from
a journalistic point of view, that omission makes your story
factually incorrect. And also it's really clear because again, like
(27:18):
I said in my letter to Leo, I stid next
to you, a photographer. We both I'm pretty sure we
both heard the same things. We just played the clips
on the air earlier. So clearly, you know, Black Lives
Matter was given the credit for doing the work, forgetting.
Speaker 1 (27:31):
By the law, by the law makers, by the families.
Speaker 3 (27:34):
So what possible reason could ABC seven have for not
including the name of the organization.
Speaker 1 (27:42):
I mean, as a media strategist, it's kind of a
little gutsy of you to be criticizing the tist. Most
media strategists are just kiss the ring if anyone shows
up at all true.
Speaker 3 (27:55):
That is absolutely true. And we'll just see how this
works out for me. But you know, it's just not right.
Speaker 1 (28:01):
It's not right.
Speaker 3 (28:03):
It's not right. And I'm tired. Like that was like
short short side note. That was why Towanda was created.
I'm just tired of living in this world where the
bad people always win. It can't be that short of
a side note because not everyone knows who Tuanda isma.
Speaker 1 (28:23):
This morning bad.
Speaker 3 (28:24):
That is why I have an ai alter ego named Towanda,
because in that universe and Twanda universe, Twanda Verse, the
bad guys don't always win, like there is some balance
in the universe, right, And and so yeah, I did
send a letter to Leo. You read the letter. It
wasn't mean, it wasn't accusatory. It was like, yo, what's
(28:45):
what you know? What's going on here?
Speaker 1 (28:48):
You know? Yeah? And I mean, and to your point
about the one person organization, to me, it's actually a
contradiction in terms because definitionally it's not an organization if
you'll they have one person.
Speaker 3 (29:02):
And are you really a leader when you're not leading anyone?
Speaker 1 (29:07):
You can be a thought leader maybe, but but these
people are portrayed on the news as running like some
large organization and and the and we know that that
they don't. And so they're chosen by the mainstream media,
not chosen by the community. The absolutely as a community leader,
no one's following them, no one in the community acknowledges them.
(29:29):
So that means that the mainstream media feels they have
the right to anoint our black leaders, and.
Speaker 3 (29:35):
We continue to let them get away because you see,
they don't get that play in the black media. If
you notice these same people that we are talking about,
you don't see them all over the black media in
that way because because exactly, but yeah, so I yeah,
so hopefully ABC seven, hopefully Leo Stahl or someone, hopefully
someone responds to that. So far, no, I think that
(29:58):
it's it's worth having discussion about, particularly because we have
a lot of organizations in La County that do a
lot of great work. They don't all have comms directors
or folks who can help them get you know, in
the media. A lot of times you have an executive
director who's also accounts payable accounts receivable, who's also doing
(30:20):
the comms, who's also doing everything. You know, so they
you just don't and when you have organizations that use
the limited funds that they have make this effort to
try to strategically get you know, their messaging out because again,
you know, folks, it's all part of a bigger picture
a lot of comms. That's really important to a lot
(30:40):
of organizations because it also helps when you're trying to
get you know, funders interested in your group, where you're
trying to raise money and you're trying to do all
these things. You want to show the work that you've done.
Getting a state law passed is huge.
Speaker 1 (30:54):
It is huge.
Speaker 3 (30:55):
Not there are businesses, like I said earlier, that spend
one hundreds of thousands of dollars millions of dollars every
year and don't succeed in getting that done. So, yes,
you give credit to the assembly member, of course, but
you do not exclude the organization that was the genesis,
particularly when you have the mother of Jakeisha Wilson making
(31:18):
it very clear how we got from A to B.
Speaker 1 (31:22):
Yeah, it's a great point. And I also think that
they're quick to say black lives matter when they're talking
about a scandal which may or may not even be
the real black lives matter, right, They're quick to say,
to call out Black Lives Matter when they're trying to
say the movement is dead, or when they're trying to
call out some person who's you know, committed a crime
(31:43):
that they're not even connected with this chapter or any
chapter I mean, or yeah, you hear it all the time.
I see it so many times. They say Black Lives
Matter activists arrested for blah blahlah, and then you look
at it and the organization is you know, like you know,
brothers and sisters for garbage collection and it has nothing
to do with Black Lives Matter. They just label it
that when it's the actual BLM Grassroots, the crickets, that's
(32:07):
to me, it's more than lazy. It's it's it's a
deliberate erasure.
Speaker 3 (32:11):
And it absolutely is. And look, let's be really clear,
doctor Malina Abdullah, Sheila Bates, everyone associated with BLM Grassroots
and BLMLA, they don't have any problem speaking up for themselves.
I did it because, as someone who had organized, helped
organize that presser, had made, you know, reached out to
(32:33):
the media to get them there, and felt like somewhat
responsible for the the media coverage that came out of it.
I was just absolutely shocked when I saw that piece,
like I didn't even really want. I ended up posting
it on my own personal social media, but if you saw,
I gave it a title. I wrote a whole caption
because I had to clean it up for myself because
(32:56):
I just could not believe they just erased them out
out of the story like that. And that is what
we need to do as a community. We need to
stop letting the mainstream media get away with putting people
on the news claiming that they represent our community without
sending an email, making a call saying why do you
have that fool on their saying that he represents us.
(33:18):
We need to stop letting stories like what you heard
with Leo Stalworth air and then not reach out to
ABC seven and say, hey, yo, I know that Black
Lives Matter played a huge role in this. Why aren't
they mentioned. If we don't call them out, if we
don't ever say anything, why should their behavior ever change.
It's not going to change on vibes at all. Trust
(33:41):
and believe it's going to change because they're hearing from
their audience. They're hearing from the folks who they're trying
to hold on to. And when I say, trying to
hold on to everybody's trying to hold on to, particularly
in the mainstream media, because there's too much competition now,
there's too many other places for us to get our
news from.
Speaker 1 (33:57):
Yeah, I mean to me, the fact that you're probably
one of the bigger named black reporters in southern California
and you feel like you can go to a not
even go send your camera to a Black Lives Matter
organized in conjunction with the assembly member event and then
(34:19):
not even mention them like that is the ultimate I
think that's the ultimate illusion of inclusion that Paul Mooney
talked about. You're such a you're so outside of our
community that you can come to a press conference and
then you don't even go to it, and then you
report on it as if you were there, and you
(34:40):
cut out the organization Black Lives Matter. That's really pretty bold.
Speaker 3 (34:46):
It is bold, and I'm sure that perhaps when if
I post our get together this morning on the air,
I might include the scene from one of my favorite movies,
This Summer of sam.
Speaker 1 (34:59):
Where do It Do It?
Speaker 3 (35:01):
When Spike Lee was a reporter in Bedsty and he
got some comment from from the people in Bedsty when
he went down there to get their reaction to.
Speaker 1 (35:13):
It's not to say I'm killing because.
Speaker 3 (35:15):
This is what that reminds me of.
Speaker 1 (35:18):
Yeah, well, Molly Bell wants to know if it's legal,
and it is, they can they can write whatever they
want and they can omit whatever they want.
Speaker 3 (35:27):
Doesn't make it right. And again, you know, we're we're
no strangers to fighting and calling out things right. So
you know, if you know, if you feel like this
is wrong too, you should reach out to Leo Stalwarth.
You should reach out to ABC seven and say something
about that, because again, when it comes again, we have
(35:49):
all of these organizations who do such great work in
Los Angeles and it is not fair and it is
not right for an organization to be omitted from their
own story.
Speaker 1 (36:01):
Yeah, well, you're invited to call in if you want.
Eight hundred nine two oh fifteen eighty eight hundred and
nine too oh fifteen eighty. I remember from when I
worked at kr O NTV, one email or one letter
just had a huge impact because most people aren't going
to write. You know, one one letter or emails counted
heavier than a call. But a call is also good
(36:26):
because it lets them know people are paying attention and
they don't like what you're doing, and that that is
the kind of thing that actually changes things sometimes in
media organizations. Eight hundred nine two oh fifteen eighty. Jasminchanic
is here and you're listening to KBLA talk fifteen eighty. Yes,
Jasminchanic is my guest. She'll be back in here any minute.
(36:47):
Thinks she's over there talking to Miles. But look, this
is why I always talk about media literacy, because part
of it is just part of it is knowing how
to read between the headlines. Right, And so I mean, Jasmine,
you see this and you immediately say, what how did
they not credit?
Speaker 3 (37:06):
Now?
Speaker 1 (37:06):
How did they not mention Black Lives Matter? It's their event?
But these kinds of things get by people all the
time because we don't have the media savvy, like where
do you think we should start? I think it's something
so important.
Speaker 3 (37:20):
So I would not have expected, like the average viewer
to have known that Black Lives Matter had such an
integral part of that, right, because if you weren't there,
you if me at the press conference, right, It's so
the responsibility is on those of us who were there
to call.
Speaker 1 (37:35):
Out that that bias, to call.
Speaker 3 (37:37):
That out right. And so now that it's been called out,
folks who are concerned, they should reach out to ABC seven,
go to their website, go to their socials, DM them,
tag them and stuff on social media.
Speaker 1 (37:49):
Hit up Leo Stalworth like I did.
Speaker 3 (37:51):
I went to him directly with send an email to
him on Friday. I think maybe he hasn't checked his emails, but.
Speaker 1 (37:58):
I have a heard back from them.
Speaker 3 (38:00):
Yeah, but I'm just curious, like how you do that,
especially when I can go to ABC's website and point
to other stories that that same reporter is done where
he has named organizations right in his story. So I
think it's important. I think it's even important for BLM
grassroots to speak up. I mean again, I did it
(38:24):
just because I felt a little bit like, hey, I
was the one that you know, wrote the media advisory,
got the media out there, and I'm looking at going
over the press coverage that followed, and I'm like this
is whack. Like it's great, it's two minutes long. That's
like I said, some serious real estate in a newscast.
But I'm like, how do you just exclude I don't,
(38:45):
I don't get it, Like I just it had to
me it seemed very intentional.
Speaker 1 (38:50):
But I feel like it is partly intimidation. I mean,
you look at these news organizations are literally writing multimillion
dollar checks to the president. Yes, the President has already
put Black Lives Matter on his executive order to Antifa,
which is not an organization, and then and then Black
(39:10):
Lives Matter Grassroots, which is so you know, he's already
targeted them. So I'm wondering. I mean, maybe it's sort
of a lack of I don't know, a lack of understanding,
but I feel like there's an intimidation factor coming into
play too a little bit.
Speaker 3 (39:27):
Like I said earlier, I think there that this happens
more often than not. And one of the issues is that, again,
like I said, organizations don't like to call this behavior
out because they don't want to be blacklisted. They don't
want to not be covered the next time they're having
some sort of event that they invite the press to right,
(39:49):
and it shouldn't work like that. It absolutely shouldn't. And
regardless of that, I think we have a responsibility to
demand accurate coverage from the mainstream media here in Los
Angeles County. That news report was not right.
Speaker 1 (40:08):
It was actually incorrect. Now I see why BLM Grassroots
and some of these other organizations hold up big banners
behind you elected. So it's like that's maybe that's the
only way they can get insure proper credit.
Speaker 3 (40:21):
Yeah, and of course, you know, recording it yourself and
posting it on your own but and you know, and
I'm so happy that I had thought to record that
entire presser on my other phone, because it was really
I was like, let me go back, and I just
want to go back.
Speaker 1 (40:38):
Did I hear what I thought I heard? Let me
go back and make sure.
Speaker 3 (40:41):
Yeah, they think BLM yep, they think b LM.
Speaker 1 (40:44):
Yep, they did.
Speaker 3 (40:45):
Okay, Okay, it's not just me, you know, and I
think I know that BLM is BLM LA, BLM Grassroots
is planning on posting the graph, the uh videos.
Speaker 1 (40:58):
Yeah, what's wrong. No, we're way over time. Let's go okay, Yeah,
we got news trafficking sports Jasmine. Thank you so much. Problem,
You're amazing, KBLA Talk, fifteen eighty
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