Sacramento Black Chamber of Commerce CEO Azizza Davis-Goines denounces local acts of vandalism. (By Russell Stiger, Jr.)
SACRAMENTO – The Sacramento Black Chamber of Commerce (SBCC) was joined by a host of local Black leadership groups denouncing the vandalism and threats at the home of Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg last week.
During a press conference featuring administrators from the Sierra Health Foundation, Greater Sacramento Urban League, Sacramento Branch of the NAACP, Roberts Family Development Center, Genesis Church, and the South Sacramento Christian Center leaders discussed the issue of “peaceful protests” versus the “violence and vandalism” that has taken place over the last few months.
In addition, Liberate Blackness, ASCRIBE Educational Consulting and the Sacramento City Police Department voiced their concerns of what they perceived as “violent protests” and in unison are looking for ways to take safety and precaution into consideration to protect the city’s elected officials.
“We deeply regret the actions that took place at the home of Mayor Steinberg and his family on Saturday,” said SBCC president Azizza Davis-Goines.
“Whether we agree with policy by him or any of our elected representatives, nobody deserves to have their personal space and property destroyed and threats of bodily harm to him and members of his family because of a difference in policy beliefs,” Ms. Davis-Goines added.
Chet Hewitt, President and CEO of the Sierra Health Foundation, further stated that there need to be clear lines of delineation when talking about the “sentiment” of Black Lives Matter and the “agency” of Black Lives Matter.
Black Lives Matter is freely used through chants and paint whenever these protests seem to arise and Black Lives Matter organizers are typically nowhere in the mix, Hewitt said of his observation of protests around the city.
“If they were involved” stated Hewitt “We know that the response would be very different in the approach to disband them, and the media would likely be much more involved.”
“Those of us before you now do not always agree on the path and strategy some of us take to make the change we want to see,” said Derrell Roberts of the Roberts Family Development Center, “but we can look past that and know that our issues and end game are bigger than any one of us. We are clear that our end game is solid and the same and that is securing and providing equity and parity in social and environmental justice issues in our communities just as they are in other communities.”
By Antonio R. Harvey | OBSERVER Staff Writer