Producer host Julia Dudley Najieb reviews the latest statewide special election updates from the night of April 5
By ONME Newswire
News Too Real April 6, 2022: In episode 7 of season 4, producer host Julia Dudley Najieb reviews the California special elections from April 5.
California US House Primary District 22: Representing the Central Valley area, Connie Conway has advanced to a June runoff in a California special election to fill a U.S. House seat left vacant after Republican Rep. Devin Nunes resigned to lead former President Donald Trump's media company. Although the race for the second runoff spot is still too early to call, so far Lourin Hubbard is holding a steady second, advancing him to the run-off June 7.
•Connie Conway (Republican), former Minority Leader of the California State Assembly and small business owner
•Lourin Hubbard (Democratic), operations manager at the California Department of Water Resources
Other California State races
California State Assembly District 11:
A native Californian raised on the west side of Fresno, in Solano County, Lori D. Wilson captured 13,850 votes, 97.19% of the valid ballots that were counted. Write-in candidate and Republican Erik Elness of Brentwood earned 401 votes (2.81%). Only 15,963 registered voters participated, which is 10.68% of the 149,420 registered voters in the county.
Wilson replaces Jim Frazier as the 11th Assembly District representative. Frazier resigned in December. He had been an Assembly member since November 2012.
Wilson will also have to compete in the June 7 primary against a Vacaville resident and longtime legislative advocate, Jenny Callison, 37.
California State Assembly District 62:
Democrat Autumn Burke resigned abruptly in February of this year from her seat representing CA State District 62. She had been first elected in 2014. In 2020, she was reelected with 81% of the vote.
District 62 encompasses the northern South Bay region and the southern part of the Westside, extending from South Los Angeles to the Pacific Ocean. Heavily urban and ethnically diverse, the district is centered on Los Angeles International Airport.
Lawndale Mayor Robert Pullen-Miles will be in runoff against fellow Democrat Tina Simon McKinnor to fill the vacant 62nd Assembly District seat, according to unofficial results released by the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk on Tuesday night, April 5. The winner will serve until Dec. 4.
Pullen-Miles finished first in a four-candidate field, receiving 37.21% of the vote.
Pullen-Miles served three terms on the Lawndale City Council before being elected mayor in 2014. He also served as a district director under Burke.
McKinnor is the civic engagement director of L.A. Voice PICO, a multi-racial, multi-faith community-based organization; and is a former operational director for the California Democratic Party. She also has served as chief of staff to two Assembly members. She finished second in a four-candidate field with 35.38% of the vote.
California State Assembly District 80:
District 80: This district runs from the Mexico border to San Diego. Democrat Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher resigned in January. She was first elected in 2013. In 2020, she was reelected with 72% of the vote.
Thus far, there will be a runoff June 7 Primary Election for this seat; former City councilmember, David Alvarez (38.16%) is in a slim lead against another former councilmember, and fellow Democrat, Georgette Gomez (37.78%).
News Too Real Podcast 4-6-22 Headlines:
World
Some corners of social media are in an uproar over the U.S. Peace Corps guidance on handling racism in Ukraine.
Peace Corps positions in Ukraine are currently not open, but Black Peace Corps volunteers who applied were warned to be prepared to be called the N-word and face other racist behavior while in Ukraine, according guidance on the Peace Corps website that is currently being discussed on social media.
The warning, which includes personal accounts from volunteers, calls for having thick skin and an understanding that the racial discrimination comes from Ukrainians’ lack of exposure to Black people.
“It is not uncommon for Ukrainians to refer to African-Americans as “[N-Word]”. Volunteers of color may be called ‘a monkey’ or may see children’s games with Blackface,” one volunteer wrote.
“Being aware of the history of dehumanization for people of African descent may help inform where this comes from; it does not justify it. It will be at your discretion to determine the intent.”
The warning builds on the recent reports of discrimination against African students in Ukraine, choosing to study in the country for cheaper living and more accessible education.
National
Black Americans are at a higher risk of getting prostate cancer than white Americans. Survival rates are lower, too. The gap is narrowing, but Black people are still at risk for developing prostate cancer earlier in life and being diagnosed at a more advanced stage.
African American men are at higher risk of developing prostate cancer than white, Hispanic, or Asian men: Based on data from 2014 to 2018, the rate of prostate cancer among Black men was 172.6 per 100,000, compared to a rate of 99.9 per 100,000 white men.
According to statistics reported in 2022, over the last 5 years, Black men have been about twice as likely to die from prostate cancer compared to white men.
Black men develop prostate cancer at a younger age than white men, and the cancer is 44–75 percent more likely to metastasize before diagnosis.
Black men are more likely to die from cancer of any type because they’re more often diagnosed after the cancer has progressed to an advanced stage that’s difficult to treat.
California
In a 5-4 vote on Mar. 29, 2022, the California reparations task force decided to limit reparations to African Americans who can trace their lineage to slavery, stating that those parameters were most likely to survive legal challenges.
Free black people who came to the United States in the 19th century or earlier will also be eligible for reparations. The task force cited the trouble of tracing family history and the danger of being captured and enslaved as reasons for their inclusion.
The two-year reparations task force, the first state group in the country, was created in 2020 when Governor Gavin Newson signed legislation for the group to study slavery and its harms, and to educate the public. Almost all of the task force members can trace their lineage to enslaved people.
Black people who cannot trace their ancestry to slavery were considered for inclusion due to systemic racism, but were ultimately excluded. California is home to about 2.6 million African Americans.
While California is the only state to have taken up the issue of reparations, some cities are doing so. Evanston, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago made reparations available to African American residents in 2021. Providence, Rhode Island, announced a city commission in Feb. 2022, and Boston, Massachusetts is considering a commission.
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