News

Texas power outages have exposed the vulnerabilities of our energy infrastructure. Parker reports the details.

George Floyd. Breonna Taylor. Ahmaud Arbery.

Names that have filled streets from Minneapolis, Minnesota to Sydney, Australia as demonstrators continue to protest police brutality.

Wanda Johnson has been fighting for change for more than 12 years after her son, Oscar Grant, was killed.

It was New Year’s Eve in 2009. Bart police officers Anthony Pirone and Johannes Mehserle were responding to reports of a fight. The officers removed an unarmed Oscar Grant from the train and a struggle broke out. Pirone kneeled on Grant’s neck as Mehserle drew his pistol and shot Grant in the back, killing him. The whole scene played out on a cellphone video.

“Until we begin to acknowledge that wrong is wrong we’ll still be right here 10 years from now talking about the same things,” says Johnson.

So, Johnson and her brother, known in the community as Uncle Bobby, started the “Love, not Blood Campaign.” It’s a nonprofit organization that seeks to connect families that have been impacted by police brutality.

“Even as we continue to see people that look like us get murdered in broad daylight, it’s a reminder that our work is too important to stop,” Uncle Bobby says about starting his nonprofit.

He says the organization has helped him get through Grant’s death, explaining, “When George Floyd was murdered. I am George Floyd. When Eric Garner was murdered. I am Eric Garner. And that same embrace of love that gave me the energy to have a voice to speak on behalf of Oscar is that same embrace that continues for me to speak on behalf of Eric Garner. Jacob Blake. George Floyd.”


Johnson has also found her own community, a close-knit group of mothers from around the country who have also lost their children to police violence. They’re using their collective traumas as a form of resiliency.

“Michael Brown’s mother. Eric Garner’s Mother. Trayvon Martin’s Mother. We encourage one another. Sometimes we cry together. Sometimes we laugh together. We all collaborate and talk about the different changes that need to take place.”

And while that road to change seems longer some days as Black Lives Matter demonstrations become more diverse and policing laws begin to change, the Grant family says they have hope of better days so they’ll continue to fight for racial justice with Oscar Grant leading that way.

Through tears, Oscar Grant’s mother remembers her son, “If I could say something to Oscar I would say ‘Boy you know. You’re supposed to be right by my side and we’re supposed to be working together hand in hand making a change but since he’s not here we’re still working together hand in hand making a change.”

It's now been more than a week since students starting camping out at People's Park. Lalee Ibssa has the latest on their efforts and how the city is responding.

Occupying People’s Park: Students and community members gathered at People’s Park all week long to protest the University’s plan to develop the space into housing. Amanda Ramirez reports.
Keep up with CalTV!
Twitter: @CalTV
Instagram: @CalTv
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CalTV/
Website: https://caltv.berkeley.edu/

Credits: Amanda Ramirez, CalTV News
Produced/Edited By Amanda Ramirez

The University ordered students to stay in their rooms for at least a week amid the COVID-19 outbreak in the dorms. Amanda Ramirez talks to sequestering students.
Keep up with CalTV!
Twitter: @CalTV
Instagram: @CalTV
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CalTV/
Website: https://caltv.berkeley.edu/

Credits: Amanda Ramirez, CalTV News
Produced/Edited By Amanda Ramirez

Kroeber Hall No More: UC Berkeley removed Alfred Kroeber’s name from the anthropology building. The university said his controversial history with Native Americans is unrepresentative of the their values. It is now temporarily called the Anthropology and Art Practice Building. Amanda Ramirez from CalTV News reports.
Keep up with CalTV!
Twitter: @CalTV
Instagram: @CalTv
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CalTV/
Website: https://caltv.berkeley.edu/

Credits: Amanda Ramirez
Produced/Edited By Amanda Ramireez

On December 8th, UC Berkeley Professor Dr. Jennifer Doudna was officially given her Nobel Prize Medal at her home by the Nobel Foundation. News Reporter Ambreen Singh sat down with Dr. Doudna over zoom to see how she felt after finding out she won the 2020 Nobel Prize in chemistry.

Keep up with CalTV!
Twitter: @CalTV
Instagram: @CalTV
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CalTV/
Website: https://caltv.berkeley.edu/

Credits:
Produced/Edited By Ambreen Singh (Instagram @ambreen.singh)

Scientists of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have opposed COVID-19 Testing recommendations from the Department of Health and Human Service. In today’s video, let’s take a look at the HHS, their credibility, and the gravity of COVID-19.

Keep up with CalTV!
Twitter: @CalTV
Instagram: @CalTV https://www.instagram.com/caltv
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CalTV/
Website: https://caltv.berkeley.edu/

Credits:
Reported by Daniele' Evans
Edited by Kennedy Cuello

Unemployment in the United States is currently an epidemic that continues to affect millions. Americans remain out of work because of the pandemic, and students are financially struggling. In this segment of CalTV News, reporter Amanda Ramirez speaks with UC Berkeley students and community members on the current crisis and their experiences with this unexpected job loss.

[DESCRIPTION]
Keep up with CalTV!
Twitter: @CalTV
Instagram: @CalTv
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CalTV/
Website: https://caltv.berkeley.edu/

Credits:
Produced/Edited By

Election day is 4 days away, but voters aren’t wasting any time getting to the polls.

According to the United States Elections Project, more than 6.6 million Americans have already cast their ballots. That’s ten times the number of voters that voted at this time during the 2016 Election.

Within the next several days, eligible voters will continue to show up to the polls to cast their ballots. But one group, in particular, is showing up in record numbers: younger voters.

“My observation is that younger voters are more actively involved than ever before,” explains UC Berkeley professor and former Secretary of Labor, Robert Reich.

The reason? A consequential election following a global pandemic and summer of civil unrest combined with the benefits of mail-in voting.

Reich laments that because younger, college voters are busy with school, face logistical challenges with voter registration, and don’t often want to wait in long lines which have contributed to lower turnout rates in previous elections.

However, with the addition of 2 drop boxes for mail-in ballots on campus and classes canceled on Election day, the barriers that were once there, are reduced.

But voting is just one step. Now it’s up to younger voters to hold politicians accountable.

Reich agrees, saying it’s important we remember that voting is just the start because, “even if you do get the people you want in office, you need to continue to organize and mobilize to make sure they do good things.”

With President Trump repeatedly declaring that a Covid-19 vaccine will be out before election day, some researchers are now concerned about its effectiveness and the lack of diversity in the trials. Ambreen Singh has the latest.

Keep up with CalTV!
Twitter: @CalTV
Instagram: @CalTv
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CalTV/
Website: https://caltv.berkeley.edu/

Credits
Reporter: Ambreen Singh (IG @ambreen.singh)
Produced/Edited By: Ambreen Singh