Juneteenth is more than a commemoration of delayed freedom. It is a warning about what
happens when people are denied timely access to truth, power, and the information they
need to act. Freedom delayed is freedom denied. In 2026, that lesson still applies. When our
communities are the last to know how decisions are made in Sacramento, Washington, or
City Hall, we remain locked out of full citizenship in the way that matters most: access to
information with context.
That is why the Legislature’s proposed 2026–27 California State Budget is so alarming. As
released, it excludes funding for the Propel Initiative and the California Local News
Fellowship two programs that have helped local and ethnic media at a time when journalism
is under extraordinary strain. This is not just a budget cut. It is a direct threat to the
information infrastructure that Black communities and other historically underserved
Californians rely on to understand policy, access resources, and participate fully in civic life.
One of the most fundamental rights of citizenship is the right to be informed not misled, not
buried under headlines, not left to sort through rumors and half-truths. People need trusted
news sources that can explain how a federal order, a state budget, or a city decision will
shape their everyday lives, from housing and health care to education and voting rights.
This is where the Black Press plays its unique role. Los Angeles is home to the largest
collective of Black owned media that have long served Black Los Angeles as civic institutions
that understand the history and political realities of Black communities in Southern
California. In Sacramento, The Sacramento Observer helps readers understand how
decisions at the state capitol affect Black families and businesses. In San Diego, the San
Diego Voice & Viewpoint anchors community understanding where local choices on
housing, policing, and education carry immediate consequences. These outlets explain not
just what happened, but why it matters, who it affects, and what is at stake context, not just
content.
That is why Propel matters. Through Propel, California invested in ethnic and community
media outlets that collectively serve more than 20 million hard-to-reach Californians not as
charity, but as strategy. The results are concrete: through our coalition, we have placed
more than 10 fellows in newsrooms and built capacity in over 16 newsrooms now being
infused with resources to keep reporting on what matters most to this community.
The California Local News Fellowship is equally important. As the nation’s largest publicly
funded journalism initiative, it develops the next generation of reporters who cover their
communities with depth, cultural competence, and accountability. These programs are not
extras. They are solutions. When disinformation spreads quickly and trust in institutions is fragile, California should be expanding its support for community news, not pulling the rug
out from under it.
That urgency is being voiced inside the Capitol. Defending the Fellowship during a budget
committee hearing, Sen. Catherine Blakespear noted that the proposed budget fails to fund
key local journalism programs. Community-based reporting, she argued, is vital to
democracy because it keeps residents informed about their own communities and
institutions. Programs like the California Local News Fellowship and the Civic Journalism
Program place early-career journalists in newsrooms across the state, helping counter
newsroom consolidation and the decline of local reporting and urged the Legislature and
Governor to restore it before the budget is finalized.
Let us be honest about what is at risk. When Black media is weakened, our communities
lose more than publications. We lose translators of public policy, watchdogs who ask hard
questions, and institutions that sound the alarm when government’s moral compass drifts
from justice. We cannot fight the injustices we cannot see and too often, Black communities
are expected to confront systems that have already moved against them before the full story
reaches the neighborhood.
On Juneteenth, California should not repeat the pattern of delay. The final budget has not
yet been enacted, and lawmakers should restore the full $15 million for the Propel Initiative
and the California Local News Fellowship before June 30. This is a practical investment in
civic participation and public accountability. It is also a moral one.
So, this Juneteenth, the message to legislative leaders must be direct: Don’t Juneteenth our
community by defunding these programs. Restore this funding, include it in the final
budget, and stand with the Black Press, ethnic and independent community media, and the
communities that deserve to see clearly what government is doing in their name.
