Event Description

Hosted by the California Legislative Black Caucus (CLBC) and the California Black Freedom Fund (CBFF), the State of Black California (SOBC) event series will bring together policymakers, grassroots advocates, local leaders, and the members of the community for an important conversation about the state of the Black community and how we secure the future all Black Californians deserve. SOBC San Diego is the first of six events that will be held across the state between June and October 2024.

Live Polling

Make your voice heard - in real time!

We will gather your concerns, thoughts, and lived experiences in real-time and share your opinion with the attendees to discuss during our live polling session. We will use this information to inform and shape future policy.

Connect with Community

Policy is most impactful when solutions are driven by people who are most proximate to injustice and inequality. The State of Black California is an opportunity for the community to meet lawmakers and stakeholders who shape policy and influence the laws that govern the lives of the people directly impacted by the decision-makers.

Get Answers to Policy Related Questions

During the live Q&A session, attendees will have an opportunity to engage members of the California Legislative Black Caucus (CLBC) on policies specific to Black Californians, as well as the historic 2024 Reparations Priority Bill Package, introduced by the CLBC earlier this year.

About California Legislative Black Caucus (CLBC)

The CLBC represents the legislative concerns and priorities of the African
American community in the California Legislature. The CLBC’s central mission is to advocate for the interests of Black Californians, remove roadblocks Black Americans face in every aspect of life, demand equity to eliminate disparities between racial groups and increase African American participation and representation in all levels of government. Today, there are 12 members of the CLBC.

About The California Black Freedom Fund (CBFF)

CBFF exists to ensure that Black powerbuilding and movement-based organizations in California have the sustained investments and resources they need to eradicate systemic and institutional racism. By creating and accelerating a new state-wide ecosystem of Black-led powerbuilding organizations confronting racism and anti-Blackness, CBFF aims to affect the culture, policy, and system changes necessary to realize equity and justice in California.

Speakers

Simone Akila Ruskamp

Simone Akila Ruskamp

Co-Founder and Executive Director, Community Coordination & Ethics of Care

Simone Akila, LGSW, Associate Therapist (she/her/her) is a Black woman who loves Black people. She is a co-founder of Juneteenth Santa Barbara as well as Healing Justice Santa Barbara. She has led successful campaigns to center de-escalation and affirmation of life in Santa Barbara police use of force policies, secure monies for mental health positions instead of additional funding for law enforcement, establish city and county institutional support for Black cultural events, and to designate sites of Black Santa Barbara history as historical landmarks to protect them from gentrification. She currently is one of the driving forces behind the forming police oversight commission in Santa Barbara, an organizing effort spanning over 4 years.

Simone Akila is a Masters of Social Work and received her degree from Howard University, a historically Black university in Washington DC. She studies Afrocentric approaches to healing and therapy; and was the Vice President of Howard University's School of Social Work Student Council Association.

As the parent of a young child, Simone Akila affirms the radical work of mothering and believes that all are needed to create the communities we deserve.
Profile photo of Assemblymember Corey A. Jackson

Dr. Corey Jackson

Assemblymember, District 60

Assemblymember Corey A. Jackson, DSW, MSW, was elected to the California State Assembly in November of 2022 to represent the 60th Assembly District. In 2023, he chaired the Human Services Committee and currently serves as the chair of Budget Subcommittee No. 2 on Human Services.

Assemblymember Jackson served on the Riverside County Board of Education in 2020 and represented portions of the cities of Riverside, Moreno Valley, Perris, and the unincorporated community of Mead Valley. He also served as the founder and Chief Executive Officer of SBX Youth and Family Services who’s mission is to break the cycle of poverty and violence through mentoring, education, and community organizing. The organization was instrumental in a historic settlement of a lawsuit against the unconstitutional Youth Accountability Team (YAT) program in Riverside County that treated thousands of youths — especially those of color — like criminals for minor adolescent misbehaviors, the county agreed to groundbreaking measures.

Dr. Jackson graduated from CSU San Bernardino, where he received his degree in political science and served as a member of the CSU Board of Trustees and Chair of the Santo Manuel Student Union Board of Directors. He is also a graduate of California Baptist University, where he received his Master of Social Work degree and a Doctor of Social Work degree.
Jordan Killebrew

Jordan Killebrew SCG Member

Co-founder & Executive Director, Juneteam

Profile photo of Dr. Kim Tabari

Dr. Kim Tabari

Organizational Development Director, USC Equity Research Institute

Dr. Kim Tabari has a passion for social justice and education. She holds a doctorate degree in Educational Leadership and has worked at a variety of institutions both public and private. Born in Guyana, South America, Kim has the lived experience of an immigrant who later became a U.S. citizen.

As the Organizational Development Director at the USC Equity Research Institute (ERI), Kim is part of the Executive Management Team and believes in the importance of maintaining relationships to bring about healing and transformation, especially during times of conflict. She leads the organizational development and racial justice work internally at ERI, works with external partners and faculty affiliates, and manages the ERI advisory committee. Prior to joining ERI, she facilitated conversations on racial, social, and healing justice topic areas. She is a trained facilitator working with both high school and college students in the past, and currently work with diverse stakeholders at USC and beyond. Kim presented at the Strength in Numbers: Uniting Immigration with Other Social Causes webinar hosted by The Immigrant Learning Center housed at George Mason University. Kim facilitated a successful USC Visions & Voices conversation with Daughters of the Movement in the middle of the pandemic and nation-wide racial justice uprisings. Dr. Tabari was an instrumental part of the USC REDI Taskforce led by Dr. Manuel Pastor and Felicia Washington in collaboration with over 50 dedicated students, staff and faculty.

Outside of working at USC, Kim’s most important role is being a mom to an amazing teenage boy, currently in High School. She is also very active in her local community, working primarily with the Long Beach school district to improve academic challenges of Black and other marginalized students.

Kim embodies healing justice and is a certified yoga instructor, facilitating over 50 online classes to her community on zoom during the 2021 pandemic year. She also has a regular Tai Chi practice, and other self-care modalities.

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