“There are too many stories of black families in Long Beach who have been victims of police brutality, harassment and disrespect,” said Melissa Morgan, city’s former human dignity officer. “Their voices aren’t heard widely.” Morgan is one of multiple Long Beach black leaders who gave interviews to the Press-Telegram this week amid the ongoing protests. And they generally agreed that while the famously progressive city has made improvements in race relations, to varying degrees, much more work needs to be done. And that includes talking to one another about the issues the city’s diverse communities face, in particular, the black community.

“It’s incredibly clear that things have not improved, and have gotten worse, with police/community relations in Long Beach and in our neighboring communities,” she said, “particularly when it comes to how police interact with the poor, with blacks, with people with mental illness and with our youth. “All of these issues are connected to bias and prejudice,” Morgan added. The solution, according to Morgan? “We need to all be willing to have uncomfortable, open, honest conversations with ourselves, our neighbors and our institutional leaders to repair all the harm that has been done to build a stronger Long Beach,” she said. “We need to learn to talk about race and address our challenged community.”

Communication is key to understanding one another, Morgan said. “This is a time for people to sit down and talk about how they feel about race and what their differences are and (about) their challenges,” she said. “We should continue to celebrate these types of months and continue to have dialogue about race and racism.”