A formal apology from the leader of the national police chiefs association, how fathers talk with their sons about respecting women, the little-known history of LA's Wrigley Field.
Head of police chiefs association apologizes for history of racial abuse
The head of one of the largest police organizations in the country on Monday offered a formal apology for what he said was the “historical mistreatment of communities of color.”
Terrence M. Cunningham, president of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, said the history of policing has had dark periods, including times when law enforcement officers “have been the face of oppression for too many of our fellow citizens.”
While Cunningham argued this is no longer the case and that policing is still a noble profession, he said officers in the past have been required by law to carry out “unpalatable tasks,” including ensuring legalized discrimination and denying citizens their basic rights.
That dark past has created a multi-generational distrust, and it will take efforts on both sides to bridge the gap between police and the communities they are assigned to protect, Cunningham said:
For our part, the first step in this process is for law enforcement and the IACP to acknowledge and apologize for the actions of the past and the role that our profession has played in society’s historical mistreatment of communities of color.
At the same time, those who denounce the police must also acknowledge that today’s officers are not to blame for the injustices of the past. If either side in this debate fails to acknowledge these fundamental truths, we will be unlikely to move past them.
You can listen to Cunningham’s full statement in the video at the top of this page.
The response has been mixed, as the Associated Press reports:
The reaction from leaders of the Black Lives Matter movement was mixed, saying words needed to be backed by actions, while the head of an officers’ union in Minnesota said there was no need to apologize.
…
Lt. Bob Kroll, head of the Police Officers Federation of Minneapolis, thought Cunningham’s statement went too far. In his city, two white officers fatally shot a black man last November.
“Our profession is under attack right now and what we don’t need is chiefs like him perpetuating that we are all bad guys in law enforcement,” Kroll said. “I think it’s an asinine statement. … We’ve got officers dying on almost a daily basis now because of this environment, and statements like that don’t help.”
Take Two hosted a roundtable discussion to hear the different perspectives on Cunningham’s speech. Guests:
- Delores Jones-Brown, professor at the John Jay College Center on Race, Crime and Justice
- Melina Abdullah, professor and chair of Pan-African Studies at Cal State L.A. and organizer with Black Lives Matter
- Brian Moriguchi, president of the president of the Professional Peace Officers Association representing over 8,600 law enforcement professionals in Los Angeles County.
Highlights
This organization, the IACP, has been around for more than a century and they hold a conference each year bringing together law enforcement from every level. What do you make of the fact that the president, Terrence Cunningham, chooses to issue a formal apology during his four-minute speech?
Dolores Jones-Brown: I think that is an attempt to give some credence to the feeling that folks in the African American and broader people of color community are feeling, but the apology — to my tastes — falls short, particularly when the president said that it's no longer the case that discriminatory policing takes place.
Just last week, San Francisco's police department was cited by the Department of Justice for violence against minorities, and they recommended 272 reforms. Part of the evidence against them was racist emails between members of the police department, so the notion that there is no modern day impact from the racialized history of policing is disingenuous.
Melina Abdullah, I'm curious what you're hearing from people responding to these remarks.
I just echo what Professor Jones just lifted up. 'In the past' and 'this is no longer the case' are the two most problematic pieces of what he said.
Of course, we want the apology for what's happened in the past, but more important than an apology is a change in behavior and a change in the way policing works.
We do want an acknowledgment of the history of policing. That it comes from a history of slave-catching that was meant to target and oppress especially black people.
Brian Moriguchi, I know for many officers, Cunningham's remarks seemed off-base in a completely different direction. How did you hear them?
There is a strong push by those in the civil rights community to try and spin the narrative that law enforcement today is similar to the law enforcement 50 years ago, and that's not true.
Comments like 'slave catching' — your previous guest mentioned — police are not out there slave-catching. That is to inspire a racial divide and anger amongst people and police officers. I don't think that's appropriate at all.
In his message, it's important to note, police work today is much better than 50 years ago. That doesn't mean that we don't have problems and that there aren't racist cops out there — we do. And we need to work together to weed those people out.
More highlights from the conversation:
How do we get beyond this?
: "We have to get past the finger pointing and...even our own biases"
— Take Two (@taketwo)
How do we get beyond this? @PPOAPresident: "We have to get past the finger pointing and...even our own biases"
— Take Two (@taketwo) October 18, 2016
.
"This is police abuse...you have to stop the abuse before seeking reconciliation...the police need to stop killing people."
— Take Two (@taketwo)
.@DocMellyMel "This is police abuse...you have to stop the abuse before seeking reconciliation...the police need to stop killing people."
— Take Two (@taketwo) October 18, 2016
Delores Jones-Brown: "I think we need to focus on what's being done right by the police officers who are not discharging their firearm."
— Take Two (@taketwo)
Delores Jones-Brown: "I think we need to focus on what's being done right by the police officers who are not discharging their firearm."
— Take Two (@taketwo) October 18, 2016
Press the blue play button above to hear the discussion in its entirety.
(Questions and answers have been edited for brevity and clarity.)
Inglewood has a police oversight commission, but some argue it lacks power
The city of Inglewood created a citizen police oversight commission in 2002, following controversial interactions with officers and residents, to monitor the police department and review the actions of officers. But many believe that it has not done much in the way of oversight, let alone reform.
LA Times reporter Angel Jennings published an article this week detailing the commission's diminished power, its infrequent meetings and limited jurisdiction. She spoke with A Martinez about the commission.
Click the blue audio player to hear the full interview.
How fathers talk with their sons about sexism and 'boy talk'
Last week it was "locker room talk." This week it's "boy talk."
That's how Melania Trump described an incredibly conversation recorded in 2005 between her husband, now the Republican presidential nominee, and then-Access Hollywood host Billy Bush.
The incident has left many parents wondering: "How do I make sure my son never talks about a woman that way?"
There are no easy answers, but some fathers are thinking through some solutions.
, a freelance writer and single dad based in Portland, Oregon, says the comments made him realize the importance of modeling good behavior for his 5-year-old son.
In a piece titled "Men: Misogyny Is About Your Sons, Not Your Wives and Daughters," Alfaro writes, "it does no good to communicate to our sons explicitly that treating girls and women this way is unacceptable, if our actions belie our words."
, an LA-based father of twin boys and author of the blog The Daddy Complex, says that in his family, it's less about sitting his sons down for "the talk" and more about an ongoing conversation that will happen over years.
When his son came home and told him he'd kissed a girl, Vienna says, that opened up an opportunity to talk about how that all unfolded and about "how men deal with women, and how he, as a young man, as a boy, can deal with girls."
It's also a conversation, Vienna says, that you want to start early. If you avoid a tough topic, your kids will still hear about it from somewhere: "You need to get ahead of it and just make sure that they know that they can talk to you."
To hear the full interview with Danilo Alfaro and David Vienna, click the blue player above.
True story: the original Wrigley Field was in Los Angeles
Die-hard Dodger fans might know every little bit of trivia about the boys in blue, but how much do they really know about the history of baseball in Los Angeles?
For example–can you name of the ballpark built here in 1925?
Wrigley Field.
That's right! The original Wrigley Field was NOT in Chicago, it was right here in Los Angeles. Architecture critic Christopher Hawthorne wrote about this for the Los Angeles Times. He joined A Martinez to talk about LA's short-lived Wrigley field and more baseball history.
To hear the full interview, click the blue play button above.
As banks in border towns shut down, residents and businesses left stranded
Local banks along the US-Mexico border are closing, leaving some businesses and residents scrambling to keep up, according to reporter David Garrick of the San Diego Union-Tribune.
"They're closing at a quick pace, it seems to be accelerating and there's a lot of concern," said Garrick, who notes that in some border towns, like San Ysidro, about half the bank branches have shut down.
The closures have prompted a team of federal officials from the Government Accountability Office to launch an investigation next month into the cause and the effect on the local economy.
Click the blue audio player to hear the full interview.
San Diego voters will consider 2 NFL stadium measures
A new football stadium is scheduled to open in Inglewood by the start of the 2019 NFL season.
As of now, its lone tenant will be the Los Angeles Rams, but the door is open for another NFL team to move in.
Depending how San Diego votes on two local measures on November 8, the Chargers joining the Rams in Inglewood, making LA a two-team town once again.
To break down the differences between the two ballot measures, A Martinez spoke with Dan McSwain, business columnist for the San Diego Union-Tribune.
LA's poet laureate Luis Rodriguez on transforming a city through art, poetry
Since he was appointed to be LA's poet laureate, Luis Rodriguez has been a very busy man, visiting hundreds of spots throughout the city and reaching thousands of Angelenos with his powerful poetry.
"It's just the joy of being out there in the community," said Rodriguez. "But also drawing out the poetry that I think already exists [in] young people, elderly, adults – everyone's got poetry in them."
Rodriguez wraps up his two-year term as poet laureate this month, recently publishing a new chapbook of poetry, "Borrowed Bones."
To listen to Take Two's interview with Rodriguez, click on the blue player above.
New music from Jenni Rivera, Franco de Vita, Helado Negro and more
If you don't have the time to keep up with the latest in new music, we've got the perfect solution for you: Tuesday Reviewsday. Every week our music experts come in to talk about the best new tunes in one short segment. This week, Billboard's
and music journalist
If you'd like to subscribe to the Tuesday Reviewsday Podcast click here.
Justino Aguila
Artist: Jenni Rivera
Album: Paloma Negra Desde Monterrey (Live/Deluxe)
Songs: "La Mentada Contestada," "Paloma Negra"
Notes: Paloma Negra Desde Monterey (Live/Deluxe) is the last part of a trilogy of albums that highlight the last performance of regional Mexican star Jenni Rivera who died in a plane crash shortly after her Monterrey Arena show on Dec. 9, 2012. There are no major surprises on this banda themed album as there is no new material, but the 25 songs show Rivera in her element as the Diva of Banda. She easily performs dozens of songs at her shows that require some heavy lifting vocally and Rivera did that effortlessly. The songs are often about love gone awry and it is Rivera's passionate performances that moved women who she always aimed to empower through music. The album's "Paloma Negra" is soulful and bittersweet, while "La Mentada Contesteda" is about telling a lover what to do with his indiscretions.
Artist: Helado Negro
Album: Private Energy
Songs: "Lengua Larga," "Young Latin and Proud"
Notes: Helado Negro, also known as Roberto Carlos Lange, returns with his fifth album of music that highlights his soothing vocals; songs that are experimental and thoughtful as Lange creates music that's not necessarily a fit for one specific genre. It's a meditative experience that's anchored through a variety of musical elements from soft rock to electro pop in compositions that are accessible to English and Spanish language audiences alike. "Larga Lengua" is hypnotic, while "Young, Latin and Proud" is atmospheric and a song about identity and culture. Lange is Ecuadorian American and is currently on tour across the U.S."
Leila Cobo
Artist: Franco de Vita
Album: Libre
Songs: "Ya No Te Creo"
Notes: We have two Venezuelans today on my end. Two veterans with a young vibe. Singer songwriter Franco de Vita, whose new album Libre is out today, is back with a set of new songs. De Vita is known for his very melodic, Italian-tinged songs (he’s half Italian). His music is wonderful, and through the years, he’s been known for mentoring young acts and featuring them in his albums and shows. In Libre, he has a few really cool pairings, including this one with Edwin Luna and La Trakalosa de Monterrey, a regional Mexican band. It’s very up tempo, very Mexican but very Franco. I spoke with him recently and he said that he’s at a stage in his life where he wants to do, and say, whatever he pleases.
Artist: Yordano with Carlos Vives
Album: El Tren de los Regresos
Song: "Manatial"
Notes: Singer/songwriter Yordano is currently undergoing treatment for a blood disorder, but in the midst of his struggle, his friends got together to pay homage to him and his music. Yordano is not as well known here in the U.S., but his songs were huge hits especially in Venezuela and Colombia in the 1990s. Here, artists like Andres Cepeda, Kany Garcia, Ricardo Montaner, Franco de Vita were initially going to cover is songs. Then Yordano said, he wanted in too! The track, "Manantial," with Carlos Vives, is one of my favorites.