A Mendocino High School athlete speaks out after he and his teammates wore 'I Can't Breathe' shirts during practice. A check in on search efforts 10 months after Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 disappeared. Plus, Luke Zamperini talks about filling in for his father, Louis, in the 2015 Rose Parade.
Ezell Ford family lawyer says witnesses contradict LAPD account of shooting
The autopsy report of Ezell Ford, the unarmed black man who was fatally shot by two LAPD officers in August, was released earlier this week.
According to the report, the officers shot Ford three times: once in the right side, once in the arm, and in the back at close range. LAPD officials say those shots came after Ford "tackled" one of the officers and tried to grab the officer's gun.
Ford's family has disputed that account of the incident, but so far no eyewitnesses have come forward to the police.
Attorney Federico Sayre, who is representing Ford's parents in a federal wrongful death civil lawsuit against the city and the officers, says he has "many" witnesses whose accounts differ from the officers' version of events.
Sayre says that at the time the officers pulled up, some of the witnesses "saw [Ford] raise his hands, as the police officers got out of the vehicle, and they saw the officer who was driving the vehicle tackle him and take him down."
Other witnesses, Sayre says, "saw Ezell Ford with the officer on top of him and Ezell Ford face down, which basically is terrifically in conflict with the reported testimony of the officers as expressed by Chief Beck."
Sayre says he will take depositions of witnesses "within the next few months."
Mendocino HS basketball player says youth have the right to express their views, wear "I Can't Breathe" shirts
Officer-involved deaths of African American men have stirred protest and debate throughout the United States, including in the Northern California region of Mendocino County.
Members of the Mendocino High School boys and girls basketball teams there have been caught up in a battle over their right to wear t-shirts bearing the words, "I Can't Breathe" during warm-ups at a local basketball tournament.
"I Can't Breathe" refers to the choke-hold death of Eric Garner at the hands of a New York Police Officer over the summer. The phrase has been emblazoned on shirts worn by many protestors across the country, including superstars Kobe Bryant and LeBron James, who wore them before nationally-televised NBA games.
Mendocino High School Junior Connor Woods is one member of the basketball team who pushed the tournament hosts -- the Fort Bragg School District -- to allow his schools' teams to wear the shirts before their games. He joined Take Two, along with his attorney Karen Boyd.
2014: A good year for trans issues, but much work lies ahead
The year 2014 saw transgender people in the spotlight with Netflix's "Orange is the New Black" and the Amazon series "Transparent."
Public figures like Janet Mock and Laverne Cox proudly and openly told their personal stories of life as trans women.
But positive representations of trans people in the media are fairly new. And despite these representations, trans people continue to endure unique daily challenges in their personal lives. They are still highly likely to deal with discrimination, bullying, and suicide. One terrible example of this is the recent death of transgender teen Leelah Alcorn in Ohio, who died of an apparent suicide after stepping in front of a semi truck.
For some, tragedies like this bring transgender progress into question.
Yet, despite the work ahead for trans activism, a look back at the history of the trans community shows there's much to celebrate in 2014.
Loni Shibuyama is an archivist at USC's ONE archives, one of the largest collections of LGBT materials in the world (view images from the archive in the slideshow above). She joined Take Two, along with Zackary Drucker, a trans woman, artist, and consultant on "Transparent," to highlight the issues trans people face, and the progress that has been made.
INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS
Why was 2014 a big year for trans issues?
LS: 2014 stands out in so many ways. The amount of stories that are out there now from transgender people representing themselves, but also the type of representation that’s out there. If you go back to the days of Maury Povich and Sally Jesse Raphael, you know, the only time you would see transgender people on TV, they would be on shows like that, and it would be very sensationalized representations, fetishized representations of trans experience.
I think 2014, we’re starting to see a major trend in showing transgender people telling their own stories, and talking about their authentic selves, and living their authentic lives openly.
ZD: I so appreciate what Loni said about talk shows of the 80s and 90s. I mean, that was my earliest exposure to gender non-conforming people, and it was a pretty destructive view.
I’m really sincerely hopeful that, with shows like “Transparent,” and public figures like Janet Mock, and Laverne Cox, and Laura Jane Grace, and this sort of flood of intelligent, self-actualized trans people, we’ll create a safer world for future generations.
Why is it important to preserve media depictions of transgender people?
LS: It shows that LGBT people didn’t just show up out of nowhere, they’ve been around for a really long time. And, the visibility we’re seeing now, especially in the transgender community, is the result of decades of activism, decades of building community networks that have gone largely under the radar for a long time.
ZD: There’s room for misperception that the trans experience is a new phenomenon. And being aware of one’s history sort of offsets the misperception that it could be a youth culture thing or that it’s new.
Being trans, there are so few representations. And if you don’t know that you exist, if you don’t know that there are people who came before you that sort of paved the path, then you feel like you’re sort of in a vacuum, or that you maybe don’t exist, or that you’re the only one. So, it’s sort of imperative, I think, that we have organizations and spaces that preserve a history that’s written in so few places.
Almost 10 months later, still no sign of Malaysia Flight 370
The recovery effort continues in the downed AirAsia's flight 8501. Meanwhile, the remains of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 are still missing after it disappeared eight months ago.
Bloomberg’s Justin Bachman talks about the ongoing search effort and why it's so hard to track planes.
Company puts finishing touches on floats for the Rose Parade
Flowers and floats and people, oh my! The Rose Parade is just a day away and decorators are in the final moments of preparation. A Martinez visits a bunch of the floats at the Phoenix Decoration Company, just down the street from KPCC's studios in Pasadena.
Louis Zamperini's son fills in for him as Rose Parade Grand Marshal
The story of Louis Zamperini is nothing short of extraordinary. The "Torrance Tornado" was an Olympian, a World War II hero and a prisoner of war survivor.
His story is now legend— told in the film "Unbroken" and Laura Hillenbrand's best-selling book of the same name. But to his son Luke, Louis Zamperni was more than a legend. He was the "world's greatest dad."
Luke Zamperini says his father was elated when he was named Grand Marshal for the 2015 Rose Parade back in May.
Now that Louis is no longer here to fulfill his duty (he passed away this July), Luke and his sister Cynthia will fill in for him.
"The family is very honored to be able to take his place," Zamperini says. "We're like the understudies for the Grand Marshal."
As he rides along the parade route, Zamperini says he'll honor his father by wearing his watch and ring.
"I'm wearing as much 'Louis bling' as I can to bring as much of him to the parade as possible."
Miss Crown City 1958 to ride lead float in 2015 Rose Parade
One inspiring person who will be riding in the 2015 Rose Parade is Joan Williams. She was originally set to participate in the parade back in 1958 as a representative of the city of Pasadena. But she was later denied a spot because of her race -- Ms. Williams is African American.
“I went through all the promotion for it, and they had me pose for a portrait, and I actually had a crown placed on my head,” she said. “Then when Pasadena’s local daily paper, the Pasadena Daily Independent, came to my home to interview me in that setting, they met my family, and they met my brown-skinned husband. And after that, everything went downhill.”
Williams said she was shocked.
“I couldn’t image a city with the prestige of Pasadena even doing such a thing. But it was 1958, and Pasadena is still a conservative city, but at that point, they were a very conservative city, and it was very disappointing.”
Williams suspects that pressure from the community lead to her appearance in this year’s parade. But perhaps the timing is appropriate for Williams' Rose Parade ride is appropriate, considering the recent racial tensions that have taken the nation's spotlight.
“Actually, I think it’s probably more important today that they are doing it than it would have been in 1958,” she said. “In 1958, I would have just been a queen sitting on a float. In this era, it is more meaningful because it shows that, I think, in some areas, people are becoming better informed about racial differences, and that we all really are the same. We’re human beings who need to be treated fairly.”
Sports roundup: college football playoffs, top Superbowl picks, King James turns 30
College football's new playoff system kicks into high gear. Who will come out on top? And, speaking of football, we pick favorites for the 2015 Superbowl. Also, with Lebron James turning 30, has one of the all-time greats peaked in his performance?
It's time for sports with
.
Ube halaya: the holiday purple yam dessert from the Philippines
It’s New Year's Eve, which means there's still time for the rush of holiday food dishes. And we’re talking about more than just that traditional fruitcake and glass of eggnog.
Take, for instance, the traditional Filipino dessert called ube halaya. The purple yam, or ube, is the basis for a variety of dishes in the Philippines, both sweet and savory. The thick, coconut-flavored ube halaya, is a favorite during the holidays for Filipino families. It's right up there with crispy pork lechon and boisterous karaoke singing.
This version of the holiday dish comes from guest chef, Corazon Collera, and Take Two's Dorian Merina.
Corazon's Holiday Ube Halaya Recipe
Ingredients:
5-6 medium sized ube (purple yam)
4 C of fresh or canned coconut milk
2 C of sweetened condensed milk
2-3 tsp of anise seeds
Steps:
1. Peel the ube and boil until soft, but not mushy. Let cool, then finely grate into a large mixing bowl. Set aside.
2. Over low flame in a large wok, stir in the coconut milk and sweetened condensed milk. Stir constantly.
3. Add the anise seeds to taste.
4. Stir in the grated ube. Continue stirring until mixture is thick and begins to cling to side of pan. Remove from heat before it begins to clump.
5. Transfer to pie tin or serving dish. Enjoy while still warm or allow to cool. Either way, it's masarap (delicious)!
*Can also add more coconut milk and less condensed milk for a more savory version.