On this week’s “In Focus SoCal,” host Tanya McRae had a one-on-one conversation with state Sen. Steven Bradford, who represents the 35th District.
Bradford opened up about representing the community he grew up in. He shared about what it was like being the first Black family on his street and then growing up to be the first African American elected to the Gardena City Council. He said he reminds himself to stay grounded in his roots, even now.
“Staying true to yourself and definitely listening, being engaged in the community,” he said. “Far too often, you see elected officials get elected but aren’t in the community. I still live in the street that I grew up on.”
The senator is a member of California’s Task Force to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans. California is the first state government in the country to establish a task force for this sole purpose. According to Bradford, it’s crucial that California take the initiative to try and right some of the terrible wrongs committed against the African American community.
“We’ve provided reparations for our Japanese brothers and sisters who were interned during World War II. We’ve provided forms of reparations for our Native American brothers and sisters. So, I hope by California doing what we’re doing, we can show these other states that truly were engaged in slaves, ownership and the brutality that, yes, they can atone and make right.”
McRae and Bradford also discussed critical legislation that the senator has co-authored, which includes Senate Bill 2, the Kenneth Ross Jr. Police Decertification Act of 2021. The bill was written in the aftermath of of Kenneth Ross Jr.’s death at the hands of a Gardena police officer.
For Bradford, this tragedy was personal as it happened in the community he represents and calls home. He has taken a staunch stance in ensuring that police officers are held accountable when they commit serious acts of misconduct.
“When you allow these officers to transfer from one department, they’re not gonna change your stripes. They bring those behaviors and habits to these new departments. So this is a way of decertifying these officers to make sure they never wear that uniform and wear that badge again. So it’s about making our community safe and building that trust in law enforcement that we all want to have.”
Click the arrow above to learn more about Bradford by watching the rest of his conversation with McRae on “In Focus SoCal.”
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