President’s Message by Amy Cherness: Keep our children safe from guns

February 14, 2018, Valentine’s Day, a day meant for love, not hate, a 19 year old student, Nikolas Cruz, shot and killed 17 people and wounded many others at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland Florida.

It is a heartbreaking tragedy that we have experienced another school shoot­ing. Cruz, a nineteen-year-old with a record of threats and violence, should not have been able to buy a gun, but in Florida he was able to buy one legally.

Students have organized a rally in Washington D.C. on March 24 called March For Our Lives to try demand safer gun laws. Far too many of our children have been killed and maimed by guns in school shootings, as the Re­publican Party refuses to act in the face of this carnage. I hope that the students can teach their parents to vote against the NRA and their hand-picked elected officials.

What can be done to prevent gun vi­olence in our schools? Here are a few suggestions:

(1) Schools need to do a more compre­hensive job of reaching out to mentally ill young people and provide them with treatment, both on and off campus.

(2) There needs to be more security guards on campus to stop violence be­fore it occurs.

(3) Gun background checks need to be strengthened to go beyond simply de­nying guns to convicted criminals and to people who have been adjudicated mentally incompetent.

(4) We need to deny guns to people who have made threats of gun violence when those threats can be confirmed.

(5) All schools should have anonymous hot lines where students can report plans or other conversations by other students related to gun violence.

(6) Parents and guardians should be held accountable for keeping loaded and unlocked firearms in their homes where children can use those firearms to perpetrate acts of violence.

(7) Get Culver City students involved in campaigning for an end to gun vio­lence in our schools.

I want my daughter and all children to be safe in school. The time has come to address the critical problem of gun violence in our schools. There will be a March For Our Lives rally on March 24 at 10:00 a.m. at Pershing Square in Los Angeles. My family will be there, and I hope that every member of our Club will join us. Please spread the word!

Jewel of Culver City: Mayme A. Clayton Library & Museum

The Mayme A. Clayton Library and Museum is a jewel of Culver City. The building at 4130 Overland Avenue, across from where the Culver City Democratic Club meets, houses an extensive collection of artifacts of African American history, everyone's history. They have rooms of books, film, photographs and much more. Contact the museum and get onto their email list to learn about their wide range of programs: info@claytonmuseum.org

Below is Shannon Theus' moving experience visiting the Clayton.

Untapped treasure lies in plain view on the busy street of Overland in Culver City. A former courthouse has been renovated into a Mayme A. Clayton library & museum (of profound history) African American history. Director Lloyd Clayton gives Culver City’s Democratic Club’s Second Vice President, Craig Scott and me, Recording Secretary -- Shannon Theus, a personal tour and interview. He tells us about the indomitable will of his mother Mayme A. Clayton, and her passion to uncover the truth and grandeur of Black history in order to empower with the world with it. 

The museum’s rare national treasures includes a 1773 edition of Phyllis Wheatley’s book of poems signed by Wheatley herself. She is one of America’s first acclaimed poet, who was kidnapped from her village and forced into slavery. Her poetry, so beautiful, freed her of slavery and made her a highly esteem guest of George Washington, and was written about by Thomas Jefferson. Fellow Black poet Langston Hughes has also left a signed noted in his book of poems.

The halls of the museum tell a history through sound, pairing albums to rare photos and texts. Nina Simone’s jazz recording “Mississippi Goddamn” lies near photos of the domestic terrorism being afflicted upon Blacks. Next to Lena Horne’s “Strange fruit” album, hangs the actual photo of the lynching that inspired the poem by Abel Meeropol -- who wrote the song that Lena Horne sang.

These jewels of the past has not been ignored. The collection has been empowering Americans to their own history for years. Alex Haley consulted Mayme and her library to find out about his own family’s history, which led to the epic saga Roots. Alex Haley thanks Mayme in his signed copy of the book, which is part of the museum’s collection along with a signed letter from Martin Luther King Jr.

I personally found myself staring face-to-face with my own history, as I surprisingly fell upon a signed picture from my deceased father, Jazz drummer and member of Sun Ra’s Arkestra: Sonship Theus (he died 7 years ago).  In fact, the museum had a file on my family The Theus, which included my cousin: former NBA player & Coach Reggie Theus along with esteemed Theus of the military. Astonished, I couldn't stop crying.

“Amazing” is the only word I can use to describe the effect of the library & museum, which is a storehouse of incredible pieces of history. A view into the vault, and one would see table sized inventory of slaves, letters from renowned members of the Black community that spans from before the birth of the nation, posters of rare Black cinema like that of Porgy & Bess performed by Dorothy Dandridge and Sidney Portier. The museum owns one of the few copies left in existence and showcases rare cinema like this each month. It also has constant events like jazz concerts, readings, retirement workshops and is an active member of Culver City’s political community.

Walking in I had no idea how transformed I would be upon walking out.

The most valuable untapped treasure lies within this museum’s ability to transform your understanding of self by teaching you (regardless of your background) America’s history, Black history, your history.

Come hear Culver City’s City Council Candidates, February 14

Culver City residents will be voting April 10, 2018 for new city council members and on a marijuana tax. Come meet the Democratic Candidates for Culver City's City Council. The Club will be holding a forum. Come out and hear what the candidates have to say about the issues facing Culver City and their ideas on how to move the city forward. Maybe ask a succinct question or two. Bring a friend, bring a neighbor. Free and open to the public.

As always we meet on the second Wednesday of the month, February 14, 7-9 pm at Culver City’s Veterans Memorial Center, 4117 Overland Ave, Culver City.

Invited Candidates include: Daniel Lee, Harden Alexander "Alex" Fisch, Albert P. Vera. Members in good standing will vote on endorsements.

City Council Election is April 10, 2018.

President’s Message by Amy Cherness, February 2018

Culver City is about to have another City Council election this April. It is vitally important that every voter turns out and votes. Turnout from past elections has been poor and that reflects on how people feel about city politics. People have to remember that when you vote for City Council, you are voting for people that will take charge of your community. This has a lot more impact on your daily life than national politics – street repair, parks, lights, sewers, construction are some of the things City Council members are in charge of every day.

This February 14, our club is having a City Council endorsement meeting. Three of the four candidates running are Democrats, and members of our club.

If you are not a registered voter, go get a form from any post of office or library, or the Democratic club. We can get you registered at our meeting. There is no excuse for not voting. You can vote by mail or at the ballot box.

My husband Darryl and I have taken our daughter Isabell with us to vote at every election since she was six months old. She understands the value and importance of voting. Every adult should feel the same way.

Let’s get out and vote this April, and make Culver City a great place to live because of the people we elect to our City Council. Over the years our Club has been instrumental in helping to elect good Democrats to our City Council. This year let’s continue this great tradition.