TCAL

Brittney M. Walker  |   OW Staff Writer
Sep 8 2011

Plea bargaining seen as disenfranchising element

PALMDALE, Calif.—The Community Action League, a civil rights organization native to the Antelope Valley, has been hard on the issue of Section 8 for the past year or so. Last week, the organization held a forum, helping outraged residents share stories of what they felt was discrimination in their publicly funded homes.

Since TCAL, along with the NAACP, filed a lawsuit against the cities of Lancaster and Palmdale, more people have come forward with stories that include police brutality and civil rights violations.

Brittney M. Walker  |   OW Staff Writer
Jun 9 2011

Tenants claim discrimination, harassment

LANCASTER, Calif.—It’s official. The cities of Lancaster and Palmdale are being sued by community members and Section 8 residents for alleged discrimination against Blacks and Latinos in public housing.

According to the complaint filed Tuesday by the Community Action League and the NAACP, as well as two private members of the community, the cities named have discriminated against Section 8 families by implementing policies that directly affect the living quality of Blacks and Latinos.

Brittney M. Walker  |   OW Staff Writer
Apr 28 2011

Section 8, arrests, expungements, other issues

LANCASTER, Calif.—The Community Action League (TCAL) will host the Community Justice Forum on Saturday, May 14, at the Palmdale Moose Lodge from 12-4 p.m.

The forum and civil rights seminar will educate citizens about their Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendment rights, as well as address police harassment and criminal records.

V. Jesse Smith, co-founder of the organization, says the AV is in need of this workshop, especially due to the high volume of complaints and issues individuals have shared with TCAL.

Brittney M. Walker  |   OW Staff Writer
Mar 24 2011

Aid for the disadvantaged

LANCASTER, Calif. —The Community Action League (TCAL) on March 18 unveiled its master plan to resolve issues involving low-income individuals in the Antelope Valley, as well as community ailments.

Made up of seven major programs and components, the master plan is designed to aid disadvantaged families and individuals throughout the Valley to become economically independent, educationally sound and stronger partners in community relations.

Brittney M. Walker  |   OW Staff Writer
Nov 18 2010

Section 8 residents targeted

LANCASTER, Calif.—A few weeks ago Mayor R. Rex Parris said something at a Lancaster City Council meeting that rubbed some residents the wrong way. He asked a representative of the Department of Housing, if there is or could be a law instituted that would revoke Section 8 vouchers from parents whose minor children are not attending school. From there the backlash began.

Across Black America

Here’s a look at African American people and issues making headlines throughout the country.
 

Alabama
Freeman A. Hrabowski, president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, will address the annual African American Business Council luncheon on June 28. Hrabowski, who is chairman of President Barack Obama’s Advisory Commission on Education Excellence for African Americans, has a national reputation for his work studying the performance of minority students in math and science. Hrabowski, named one of the 10 best college presidents in the country by Time magazine, was a child leader in the Civil Rights Movement in Birmingham in the 1960s.
 

Arkansas
The Liberty Counsel filed a motion and a brief in United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas seeking to intervene on behalf of a Concepts of Life crisis pregnancy center to defend against a suit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Reproductive Rights. The groups seek to impose a permanent injunction before the Human Heartbeat Protection Act goes into effect July 18. Liberty Counsel also filed a brief opposing the ACLU’s request for an injunction. The “Heartbeat” bill states that when a woman seeks an abortion at or after the 12th week, doctors must test for a fetal heartbeat before an abortion is performed and inform the pregnant mother that the child in her womb has a heartbeat. If a heartbeat is detected, a woman cannot have an abortion, except in cases of rape, incest, and if a mother’s life is in danger. “As we promised when the legislation was introduced, Liberty Counsel will defend this law without reservation for the people of Arkansas, born and pre-born,” said Matt Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel. “No right is more foundational than the right to life. Without life, all other rights are irrelevant,” concluded Staver.