Two California moms sue a youth football league, one California lawmaker wants to ban Elon Musk's flamethrowers, what's in the State of the Union Address for California?
This DACA recipient was at the State of the Union. Here's what she thought
Denea Joseph is not like the DACA recipients you usually hear about. Her experience as a black undocumented woman who was brought from Belize to California illegally at the age of seven has led her to take a vocal stance against the White House plan for immigration reform.
Joseph attended the State of the Union last night as a guest of California Senator Kamala Harris. She spoke with Take Two Tuesday night following the president's remarks.
Being in the room where it happened
Joseph is a part of the national movement UndocuBlack, a network that works toward giving more visibility and resources to the undocumented black community. The opportunity to be in the room was not lost on her.
Joseph: "Being an UndocuBlack immigrant from Belize in Central America isn't a normal narrative or a typical narrative that you hear. So by virtue of being an invitee, I'm allowed a very privileged opportunity to be able to advocate on behalf of these issues with my community and have these conversations in a very real way. And put a face to the numbers of people that they often talk about."
Thank you so much for the invitation Senator Harris, it was an honor to be your guest. Continue to lead the nation in the way it should go. #SOTUsoBlack #SOTU #SOTU2018 https://t.co/ofgwKpAYcE
— Denae Joseph (@DenaeRandeen) January 31, 2018
"I think being present in that room," Joseph said, "is more so about our community than it is about the President's first State of the Union address."
Calling for unity
During the State of the Union, the president said he had worked to craft "a bipartisan approach to immigration reform." As Denea Joseph listened from her seat, she wanted to call for a different kind of unity. One among immigrants themselves.
Joseph: "Trying to use the 800,000 DACA recipients and the potential 1.8 million people who would receive the pathway to citizenship against the remainder of the immigrant community...seeking to create an us versus them mentality in which children, undocumented youth in particular, are being crafted in a narrative of, 'oh they came here at no fault of their own.' And everybody else who doesn't fit that mold, fit that picture, fit that time frame, is classified within his administration and within his proposed pathway to citizenship as being criminals."
Changes on the horizon
The President laid out a four-pillar immigration reform plan that he would like to see:
- The end of the visa lottery.
- The end of "chain migration" by eliminating an immigrant's option to sponsor extended family members for visas (though it should be noted, this can only be done once he or she becomes a U.S. citizen).
- Securing the border by building a wall and bringing on more border officers.
- Lastly, under this reform, a path to citizenship will be offered to "1.8 million illegal immigrants who were brought here by their parents at a young age."
Joseph: "What we need to do is create a path to citizenship that doesn't further separate our communities from one another. Some of the proposed measures that the president and his administration want to take is being able to move forward with a pathway to citizenship that eliminates the option of a family reunification program and that limits the number of diversity visa recipients."
Taking action
Altogether, the president spent about 15 minutes talking about immigration at Tuesday night's State of the Union. Joseph did not agree on a single point during those 15 minutes, though it did galvanize her.
Joseph: "It is motivation to me. And I will use the motivation that I have to continue to mobilize my community, to ensure that we get a clean dream act. Not come February 8th, not come March 5th, but now. That's what our presence, my presence and the remainder of the DACA recipients who were in that room had to do and had to say. It's the necessary step to ensure that we remain positive and optimistic moving forward for this fight."
To see President Trump's first State of the Union address, click here.
This LA Assemblyman is fighting Elon Musk's flamethrowers
Elon Musk's tunnel-digging venture The Boring Company has a new product that's taken the internet by storm. It isn't an electric shovel or a driverless motorcycle. No. It's a fire-breathing flamethrower.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BeeYW0NA1HU/
Musk told his internet followers to buy them, and they did in droves. More than 15,000 were pre-ordered in just a few days. But one California lawmaker doesn't think it's such a good idea to play with fire. Take Two checked in with Los Angeles Assemblyman Miguel Santiago about the danger flamethrowers pose to the public.
"There are reasonable uses flamethrowers. Firefighters use them to clear bush. Also, people use them in restaurants," Santiago said. "But when something is shaped like a toy gun, it invites people to point it at someone or something."
In an public statement, the Democratic lawmaker called the move to sell flamethrowers "incredibly insensitive" to the fire-ravaged state of California. He plans to introduce legislation to block the distribution of the devices before they end up in consumers’ hands.
"Over the years, I have grown a great level of respect for [Elon Musk] who's a genius. He has brought us some amazing technologies and has created a lot of jobs," Santiago said. "I am sure he doesn't intend for anybody to get hurt."
https://www.instagram.com/p/BeeUSFwgLrM/?hl=en&taken-by=elonmusk
No Place Like LA: Chelsea, who is un-pho-gettable
NO PLACE LIKE L.A. IS OUR SERIES THAT ASKS L.A. TRANSPLANTS AND IMMIGRANTS: "WHEN WAS THE MOMENT YOU FELT THAT LOS ANGELES WAS TRULY HOME?"
THIS IS THE STORY OF Chelsea Alcantara from Alhambra.
I'm originally from Dana Point.
When I moved to Alhambra, one of my good friends said she really wanted to live near somewhere where she'd be a local in a coffee shop, and I never considered that before. I never thought that was something that made you feel part of a community.
I lived in Orange County my whole life. It's almost exclusively chain restaurants, so it's very hard to find things that are unique. You know, I didn't walk into somewhere that someone was concerned if I didn't come one week.
But I found this local pho place [in Alhambra] that just became very comfortable to go to. I would go every Sunday. The owners were this really nice Vietnamese family – they all worked there, the whole family. Various generations.
They remembered me and my husband whenever we would go in. Anytime I would call and order over the phone, they knew what I wanted. They recognized my voice.
If we don't go in one week, the owner will ask us, "Is everything okay? What's going on?"
We just tell them, "We had ramen last week, I'm so sorry!"
I felt part of a community, I felt part of home. It really made me feel like I was an Angeleno for the first time.
TELL US YOUR OWN STORY, TOO. IF YOU'RE A TRANSPLANT OR IMMIGRANT, WHAT WAS THE MOMENT WHERE YOU THOUGHT TO YOURSELF, "L.A. FEELS LIKE HOME, NOW?"
The end of the Blake Griffin era
This week the Los Angeles Clippers announced a trade of the All-Star forward Blake Griffin to the Detroit Pistons. The move sent shockwaves around the NBA, but also to the legions of Clippers fans that have witnessed moments like this
Or these
And of course, this
Griffin won four high school state titles at Oklahoma Christian School and then played two seasons at the University of Oklahoma before entering the 2009 NBA draft. But the "Clipper curse" seemed to take effect when, during the final pre-season game of 2009, he broke his left kneecap, had surgery, and missed the entire 2009–10 season, forcing him to make his NBA debut the following season.
Take Two contributors
talked about Griffin's contributions to Los Angeles and the Clippers, and Brian started by looking back at that first official season.
Griffin began to generate an enormous amount of buzz, he averaged 22 points a game ... he made the All Star team that year, and that year it was played in Los Angeles ... And then the next year the Clippers were able to acquire Chris Paul ... and that gave the Clippers two legitimate superstars. They had this high-flying style of play with Griffin and DeAndre Jordan catching all these alley-oop passes from Chris Paul, and it was nicknamed Lob City.
Andy ended the conversation by talking about what Clippers fans may expect in the coming years.
It's difficult to rebuild by any measure ... but there is some speculation that the Clippers are trying to thread the needle by staying as competitive as possible while looking to rebuild, one foot in one foot out ... and that's very, very difficult to do.