Sacramento, turn on a new light. Why The Bee must elevate more voices, and how we’ll do it

Editor’s note: This story is the first in what will be an ongoing series of journalism produced as part a collaboration between The Sacramento Bee, Sol Collective and other community organizations called the “Community to Newsroom Pipeline.” To learn more or to contribute, email us at voices@sacbee.com.

Sacramento has always wanted a spotlight – the shine of recognition for being more than the capital of the Golden State.

We are consistently lauded for our diversity. We have an undeniably talented community of artists, writers, designers, comedians, musicians and creatives of all forms. They fill our venues with life, our galleries with life, and our neighborhoods with beauty. Our food is top notch, our scenery is gorgeous and our downtown nightlife glitters with possibility.

Before 2018 if you left Sacramento, went to another state and mentioned where you were from, the reaction would be mixed. You’d get a few, “Oh that’s close to the Bay Area, right?” You’d get a few, “Oh yeah the Kings play there.” But the one you’d get the most? The one I’ve gotten the most in my travels was always: “Where?” The spotlight that we so desperately craved was nowhere to be found.

But it’s 2020 and times have changed. We are slowly being recognized for all the things mentioned above. Yet now when I mention where I’m from, the response I get most is:

“That’s where Stephon Clark was killed, right?”

Sacramento in the wrong light

Sacramento has the spotlight now, and for the last two years it has been shining brightly. Bright as the helicopter lights that illuminated Meadowview at 9:26 PM on March 18, 2018, as Terrence Mercadal and Jared Robinet fired 20 rounds at Stephon Alonzo Clark in his grandmother’s backyard. Bright as the light focused on Stephon’s family during its grieving. Bright as the lights that shined on the 84 people who were detained by police on the 53rd Street overpass a year later while protesting the killing, or the lights that shone in our eyes as we attempted to break the line of riot cops to get to the community activists, clergy and journalists trapped on that same overpass.

Since Clark was gunned down, multiple cracks in the system have been revealed. Not only in the use of force, body cam protocol, and general competence of the police force – but in the overall scarcity of resources provided for marginalized communities and neighborhoods of our city. For black and brown citizens of Sacramento, we are often viewed as statistics. You don’t hear about us unless a crime was committed, and you don’t hear about our neighborhoods unless developers are trying to convince you that the area is going through a “renaissance.”

Is it any wonder that when it comes to the concept of equity, our neighborhoods and communities are left behind? How do you make the needs of many understood when they are viewed through the cut and dry lens of a budget?

There is more than one answer to that question, but one of the key factors is telling our stories with our own voices – and in turn, having our voices amplified, rather than silenced. Storytelling has been used through the course of history to disseminate knowledge. To pass on wisdom, truths and to act as a blueprint for those looking to build off our foundations.

We are rapidly growing, for better or worse, and for that growth to sustain itself, it must be built on the right foundation. Our existing foundation had cracks and fissures, many of which were beyond repair. We must start from the ground up. For many, the building blocks of a “world-class city” appear to be here: the art, the music, the culture, the laughter, the natural beauty, the food and the festivities. On paper, that looks like more than enough to build from. There’s only one problem.

Sacramento, turn on a new light

The powers that be forgot to budget for the materials needed for the most important part of the build out – the cornerstone. The piece that holds everything together. Our collective communities, our neighborhoods and the people who bring life into those areas are that cornerstone. We want to be part of the build up, but our needs were never considered. We would love to be the glue that holds it all together, but we are unfairly viewed as inferior because of where we live or what we look like.

Stephon Clark will never get the chance to tell his story, so in the coming days, weeks, months and beyond, The Sacramento Bee is making a commitment to work every day to preserve his legacy by ensuring we elevate voices normally silenced in the media. The Sacramento Bee-produced “S.A.C.” documentary, available free to the public without a subscription, was just the beginning.

We will publish stories, videos and poems by emerging creatives from communities in the Sacramento area that are normally underserved by the media and other interest groups. We will strive to elevate those voices to the tens of thousands of people who read The Bee every day. We will seek to partner with community organizations who can help identify voices from neighborhoods underserved by the media. And writers will be paid for their contributions, funded by a grant The Bee was awarded from the Facebook Journalism Project Community Network Grant Program.

Yet it cannot be done alone. The Bee and its staff are ready to make this commitment, but are also practicing self awareness. They understand that trust must be built to make the community comfortable with sharing our words, without fear that our voices will be lost or used as photo opportunities and lip service. That is a valid fear. Our words must be followed up with consistent action. It must be followed up with constant transparency in the role that The Sacramento Bee has played in the inequity, and the role the media has played as a whole through the years.

American media must do better

In 1967, after race riots across the nation left dozens dead, President Lyndon B. Johnson created the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders, better known as the Kerner Commission. The Kerner Commission was tasked with studying the cause of the riots in order to understand how to prevent them from happening again. While the findings covered many issues, including the policing of marginalized communities and employment opportunities, an entire chapter of the report was dedicated to the role the media plays in our country’s unrest.

The media has long played a role in creating divisions between white and non-white communities, between Cisgender and LGBT+ communities, between affluent and impoverished communities. While the foundation of this has long been standing, it is up to us to step back and realize sometimes it’s okay to tear things up from the foundations, and build anew.

None of these problems began with Stephon Clark. His death happened 51 years after the Kerner Commission made their findings, and hundreds of years after the foundation of systemic racism had been set in place. Stephon had no say in the matter, much like many of us have no say in the matter in regards to the systems already put in place.

But Stephon was the beginning. The catalyst of what can only be described as a true awakening for so many. We didn’t have a say in what systems were built long before we got here, and that goes for all of us, including those of us who were born into these communities and those who were born understanding that no community is less valuable than others. While we cannot change the past, we do have the ability to affect the future.

One story at a time.

Do you have a story that needs to be told? Do you know someone else who might? Is your community facing a challenge that needs to be addressed? As the newly appointed Editor-at-large of the “Community to Newsroom Pipeline” project, you can reach out to me directly at thelivstyler@gmail.com or to voices@sacbee.com with pitches, tips, ideas, or just to ask questions.

We won’t let you down, SAC.

This story was originally published February 7, 2020 at 10:03 AM.