We have the history, the wisdom, the knowledge, the best practices, the data, the studies, the reports. Long Beach residents have everything we need to solve the problems staring us in the face. Long Beach, it’s time to unlearn everything we thought we ever knew. We need to learn to talk about race, anti-Blackness, White privilege, even White supremacy, so we can address our challenged community. This must be a priority. This is the Time. Seize It!

Palacio Magazine’s Melissa Morgan sat down with three Leadership Long Beach alumni for a thirty minute discussion on a wide range of issues.

Guest Column By Melissa Morgan.

I find that the poem, “Still I Rise” by the distinguished Dr. Maya Angelou, holds a valuable message to communities targeted and affected by acts of hate and bias. The recent news of sightings of nooses in our city is a sad, and to some a painful reminder of a “history rooted in pain,” as Dr. Angelou calls it. Certainly, the City of Long Beach condemns such low acts of hate. To many, the noose is a terrifying symbol used by those who choose to intimidate and harass their fellow human beings.