January 05, 2023

By Aldon Thomas Stiles

California Black Media  

Aaliyah Muhammad is a member of the civil rights group All of Us or None and a pillar of her community in Sacramento. She works tirelessly to help the homeless population along Market Street, a thoroughfare in the Sacramento County community of Walnut Grove.

She also is a mother to a son suffering from severe mental illness.  

Muhammad fears that she might be the one thing standing between her son and a life on the streets.

"He told them one day he didn't want their services anymore and so they stopped coming and that's when he started going downhill," Muhammad said of the social workers who were handling his case. "But I feel that they shouldn't have just quit. They should have tried to talk with him or find some other group that he might work with." 

For many Californians this is not an unfamiliar story. For a lot of families with homeless relatives – or loved ones on the verge of becoming unhoused – it is that one intervention or strategic assistance at the right time that prevented that person battling mental illness or other life challenges from losing their stable housing.

About 161,548 people in the state experience homelessness on any given day, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR) reports the number of homeless people in the state increased 42% from 2014 to 2020.

About 25% of the adult homeless population in Los Angeles County deal with severe mental health issues according to a report from the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority. 

According to a survey conducted by the California Health Care Foundation, 43% of the Black Californians interviewed reported that someone close to them has experienced homelessness – a rate much higher than any other racial group in the survey.

Experts attribute California’s homelessness crisis to a few key historical factors. 

La Tina Jackson, a licensed clinical social worker and a deputy with the L.A. County Department of Mental Health, explained that a person can become homeless due to struggles with severe mental illness and vice versa.

"A person with severe mental illness may experience delusions or hallucinations that might result in bizarre, irrational, impulsive, or disorganized behavior. In a minority of cases, even aggressive behavior," Jackson said.

Alex Visotyzky, Senior California Policy Fellow at the National Alliance to End Homelessness, claims that this crisis has been decades in the making. 

"We've seen the federal government slowly, over the last 50 years, disinvest from affordable housing in major ways," he said.

The Lanterman-Petris-Short (LPS) Act of 1967 was signed into law by Gov. Ronald Reagan to provide guidelines for handling involuntary civil commitment of individuals to mental health institutions in the State of California. Its intent was to move away from locked mental institutions in favor of more community-based treatment. 

LPS also implemented 72-hour holds to limit involuntary and indefinite institutionalization.

Jackson – who, much like Muhammad, is intimately familiar with the subject of mental illness in her own personal life –  claims that while the legislation was born from the best intentions, the LPS Act has not worked as well in practice. 

"I've yet to see someone who truly is having a psychotic break completely reconstituted 72 hours," she said. "They might be better because you get medication, but I've yet to see somebody completely reconstitute."

Visotyzky argues that the LPS Act led to a lack of adequate investments due to the lack of alternatives. The LPS Act resulted in many individuals being released from state hospitals to live in the community. 

In the 1980s, under Pres. Reagan there was a disinvestment from the health care systems most American families relied on to provide care  and shelter for mentally challenged relatives or those dealing with other behavioral issues.   It came in the form of the Mental Health Systems Act of 1980 (MHSA), according to Vonya Quarles, the Executive Director of Starting Over Inc.

"That shut down mental health facilities and led to the increase in the prison system." Quarles said.

In the last couple of years California announced a $3 billion investment to provide affordable housing options and services for those suffering from severe mental illness or substance abuse issues. 

This included funds for the Community Assistance, Recovery, and Empowerment (CARE) Act – or Senate Bill (SB) 1338 – which is designed to provide several points of intervention and alternatives before facing more severe outcomes. 

The CARE Act includes Care Court, which aims to divert homeless people with severe mental illness away from correctional facilities in favor of mandatory treatment. 

"CARE Court has the potential to change the lives of thousands of families across the state," said Harold Turner, Executive Director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Urban Los Angeles. "Organizations like NAMI urgently need this support so we can quickly begin helping our loved ones who are struggling with untreated mental and behavioral issues."

While Care Court has its fair share of criticisms, Muhammad believes that this program is exactly what her son needs.

Muhammad continues to work for those who are not as fortunate while her son is being treated through the Care program in the Napa State Hospital.

"We'll all go pick up dinners and take them to different encampments and pass them out," she said. "We hand them all out. We never come back with any dinner." 

 California Black Media’s coverage of Mental Health in California is supported by the California Health Care Foundation.

December 29, 2022

By Margrira

Contributing Writer

In choosing the perfect children's book to start off 2023, may I suggest the new book, “You So Black” by author Theresa tha S.O.N.G.B.I.R.D. and illustrator London Ladd.

This expansive picture book is a powerful new adaptation of Theresa’s viral spoken word poem, filled with gorgeous lyricism and imagery. No one will want to miss this tender celebration of joy, resilience, and Blackness. It will be available on 1/10/23! 

Here is what author/poet Theresa tha S.O.N.G.B.I.R.D. had to share about why she wrote “You So Black” published by Simon & Schuster Children Publishing.

If you don’t know the author/performer, please take this opportunity to watch her, on stage at the Bounce 2019 Trumpet Awards. Visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sspxz8mreww

L.A. Watts Times: What motivated you to turn your poetry into a book?

Theresa: I was moved to write this book because in our society blackness has been weaponized. And it has been weaponized against the very people who carry it. My goal in this book was to reclaim blackness as a gift, a birthright, an innate superpower. 

LAWT: How important is it, in your mind, for people of color to step to the plate and create books, like this?

Theresa:  It’s so important that people of color create books like these because they create lasting impactful memories on young minds. Some of the first books that I ever read had characters who looked like me and my family. Those books gave me a sense of belonging and a sense of courage in my creativity.

LAWT: Did you enjoy the collaborative nature of working with the illustrator?

Theresa:  It has been an absolute pleasure working with London Ladd. There was no need for guidance or micro-management. He literally took my words and allowed the inspiration to manifest itself with his beautiful artwork. Our relationship is one of serendipity. 

December 22, 2022

By Shelby Stephens

Contributing Writer

A true testament of Black excellence was displayed at the Southern California Alumni Association Lincoln University of Pennsylvania’s (SCAALU of PA) 3rd Annual Christmas Party. Lincoln University Alumni gathered for food and fellowship at Harold and Belle’s, in Los Angeles. Host and founding President of the chapter, Leslie Freeman, coordinated an enjoyable luncheon and highlighted fellow alumni, Anderson Pollard.

Founded in 1854, Lincoln University was the first degree granting Historically Black College/ University (HBCU) in the United States. Since their founding, Lincoln University has achieved more than 50 international and national “firsts” and is one of the top 50 schools nationwide for social mobility. Highly notable graduates of the university include Thurgood Marshall, Langston Hughes, and Roscoe Lee Browne.

The University’s current President, Dr. Brenda A. Allen is prioritizing academic quality and improving operational effectiveness through the curriculum, faculty support, expanding cocurricular opportunities, and reconstructing the administration team, to remain as one of the top liberal arts schools in the country.

The institutions core values of respect, responsibility, and results, still hold true through their rich history as an HBCU.

Freeman established Lincoln’s Southern California Alumni Chapter in 2017, and while describing her role in coordinating and managing the association, she said “continuous updates about the university and constant communication help. Our goals include sustainability and exposure.

We want to focus on invigorating and encouraging young people and young alumni. Even though there has been a lot of transitions through the ages, our chapter keeps growing.” Honorable alumni, Herb Wesson, described Freeman as the glue that keeps the association together.

The former President of the Los Angeles City Council and Speaker of the California State Assembly shared, “the University ingrained public service into us.

You come out of school giving back, serving the community, that’s what we did.

Most of the people that went to Lincoln, those of us of a certain age, we always give back because that’s in our nature. So, the values that are Lincoln values, are our values.”

As the celebration of Black excellence continued, the man of the hour, was recognized by the SCAALU and his fellow alumni.

Anderson Pollard was gifted a recognition award from Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc., for 75 years of brotherhood, social work, and public service. When asked about his alma mater, “our dear orange and blue”, Pollard reminisced about the comradery he found at Lincoln, and major life changes that happened during his time in Pennsylvania.

“The main thing I got from Lincoln were the friendships we made for life. We lived on the border of the Mason-Dixon Line, and I was reading about South Carolina how students helped break down the lunch counters.

Way back in 47 and 48 we were breaking down the lunch counters in Oxford at restaurants and movie houses.

Years later it went to the grand jury in Pennsylvania, and they finally desegregated [the university].”

Lincoln Alumni Dr. Dwight Lee added, “when I graduated from Lincoln, one third of all the Black doctors and dentists in the United States of America were undergraduates at Lincoln University.

During that time the medical schools were segregated, you had Howard University and Meharry Medical College. They would get most of their classes from Lincoln grads and Morehouse grads, and that was one of their formulas of success because they knew we didn’t play; we were there seriously to get degrees.

Affirmative action was also happening, and the white schools were opening up to us.

I was very fortunate because I got a full ride to the University of Pittsburgh, and I was able to stay an extra year to get a master’s degree in Public Health.”

In 2019 SCALLU’s Vice President, Fred Thomas Jr., directed and produced the film, Lincoln Legends.

The short video features honoree and military veteran Anderson Pollard, Ernest Levister Jr., MD, and Poland native Vic Cole.

Each legend was interviewed and recounted their experiences attending an HBCU in the 1950s.

As Lincoln continues to give their students the tools to learn, liberate, and lead, it’s clear the Dear Old Orange and Blue has added to the lifeline of Black History.