POLICY & ADVOCACY

National Priority Policies

Wakiesha's Law — In-Custody Death Notification Act

Wakiesha Wilson was a 37-year-old Black mother who died in LAPD custody in 2016. Her family wasn't notified for days. Wakiesha's Law would require any facility to notify a family within 24 hours when someone in custody dies, is seriously injured, or becomes seriously ill. It is a basic standard of human decency that does not yet exist in federal law.

Locally: LA County has one of the highest in-custody death rates in the nation. We call on the LA County Sheriff's Department and the SCV Sheriff's Station to adopt immediate family notification as standard practice, right now, without waiting for federal law to require it.

Take action: Contact your U.S. Representative and Senators. Tell them to support Wakiesha's Law. We can help you find your reps and write your message.

End Qualified Immunity

Qualified immunity is a court-invented legal doctrine that shields police officers from lawsuits, even when they violate someone's constitutional rights. It doesn't appear in the Constitution. It was created by courts, and it can be ended by Congress. Without accountability, there is no deterrent. Without a deterrent, the harm continues.

Locally: SCV is served by the LA County Sheriff's Department, a department with a documented history of deputy gangs and excessive force with limited consequences. Ending qualified immunity would open a legal path for families harmed by law enforcement in our region to seek real justice.

Take action: Sign our petition. Support local candidates who commit to law enforcement accountability. Show up when oversight policy is on the agenda at the LA County Board of Supervisors , we'll tell you when.

Books Save Lives Act

Book banning is surging across the country. The titles being pulled from school libraries are overwhelmingly written by or about Black people, LGBTQ+ youth, and communities of color. The Books Save Lives Act would protect students' access to inclusive, honest literature and push back against coordinated censorship campaigns targeting our children's education.

Locally: SCV has not been spared. Moms for Liberty (M4L) , designated an extremist organization by the Southern Poverty Law Center, has actively targeted school board seats across California using the language of "parental rights" to restrict what students are allowed to read and learn. Their campaigns consistently target Black history, LGBTQ+ stories, and any curriculum that honestly addresses racism in America.

Black students in the Hart Union and Newhall school districts deserve to see their history and their lives reflected in what they read. We monitor book challenges in local schools, support candidates who protect inclusive education, and show up at school board meetings to make sure every student's story stays on the shelf.

Take action: Attend school board meetings. Speak during public comment. Know how your board members vote. If you've seen books restricted or curriculum narrowed in SCV schools, contact us.

Defending Our Schools

What Moms for Liberty actually does

M4L presents itself as a grassroots parent group. In reality it is a nationally funded political operation that recruits school board candidates, coordinates book removal campaigns, and uses the courts and school policy to restrict what students, especially Black and LGBTQ+ students , are allowed to learn. School board races often have turnout below 15 percent. M4L knows this and organizes accordingly. So do we.

The truth about "Critical Race Theory"

CRT is a graduate-level legal framework. It has never been part of any K–12 curriculum in California. When politicians call for banning CRT from schools, what they are actually targeting is honest teaching about slavery, Jim Crow, redlining, and the civil rights movement. We will say that plainly every time.

California's protections

California's AB 1078 prohibits school districts from banning books based on the race, ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation of characters or authors. Districts that violate it lose state funding. We monitor local districts for compliance and will report violations when they occur. California also now requires ethnic studies as a graduation requirement, we advocate for full, honest implementation in SCV schools, not a watered-down version that defeats the purpose.

What we're watching in SCV

Book challenge filings in Hart Union and Newhall districts
School board voting records on curriculum, libraries, and discipline
Candidate funding and endorsements in school board elections
Discipline data by race, Black students are suspended at higher rates across California, and SCV is not exempt

How We Engage

We attend city council and county board meetings. We speak during public comment. We run civic education programs so community members know how to engage their elected officials. We support voter registration with a focus on local elections, where our power is most direct. And we hold elected officials accountable publicly when they fail our community.

Take Action

Find your representatives — federal, state, county, and school board. We'll help you figure out who they are and what they control.

Come to a meeting — we'll walk you through public comment if it's your first time. No experience needed.

Stay informed — sign up for our newsletter for policy alerts, action calls, and meeting notices.

See something? Tell us — if you witness book removals, discriminatory discipline, or civil rights concerns in SCV schools or by law enforcement, document it and reach out. We want to know.

We organize locally and demand change nationally. BLM Grassroots SCV connects the political to the personal , because the policies passed in Sacramento and Washington land directly on Black families right here in Santa Clarita Valley.