by Dianne Anderson

Black youth and police are the least likely candidates to be on the same wavelength, let alone sit at the same lunch table, play basketball together, engage in deep and meaningful talks, and sometimes shed a few tears.

Somehow, there is always that kind of breakthrough with the annual Riverside NAACP Breaking Bread program, which gets youth and cops in the mix, asking the real unfiltered questions.

Emotion is wrapped up in the process because the rift between Blacks and cops is not imaginary.

Hanna Jalifa said one big part of the communication is that statistically, Black and Brown communities are treated differently compared to white communities.

But in Riverside, she said the police department has a different sentiment, and their willingness to come out shows their concern.

“There is an open mind, but a lot of times if you’re a police officer and you hear anything negative about police officers, you shut down. It’s important to talk about it,” said Jalifa, Riverside NAACP youth event coordinator.

On April 22, the second dialogue meeting runs from 6-8:00 p.m. at Riverside Police Department at 10540 Magnolia Ave. On May 14, the Unity Basketball game will be held from 5-8:00 p.m. at Bordwell Park at 2008 Martin Luther King Blvd.

She said the events are not to recruit for the department, rather they are trying to open the lines of communication between law enforcement and youth.

“Our objective is to create a space where these dialogues can be held at a safe space, like a 16-year-old can ask a question that they might be scared to ask,” said Jalifa, who is also set to graduate as a history major from UCLA.

Last week, the annual discussion of 10 youth panelists and 10 officer panelists opened up tough questions. The community turned out to listen in and comment. The goal, she said, is to not feel intimidated with everyone mingled together to rise to some productive level of understanding.

Since 2022, she has chaired and coordinated Breaking Bread and the Unity Basketball Game, now running for ten years. She credits youth advisor Sharron Lewis Campbell for initially going to Riverside Police Chief Sergio Diaz to express her anxiety over the disproportionate incidents happening with police violence against Black youth.
Later, when Chief Larry Gonzalez took over the department, he decided to continue the effort.

All volunteers are high school and college students on the youth council, and she wants to inspire more youth to get involved because it is rewarding.

“The thing about community organizing is that the more you get involved, the more you want to do it, and the more you see that you can cause change in the community. That’s another huge part of why I participate,” she said.

Sharron Lewis Campbell said their DEI meeting was also held last week, focused on bringing the community together to talk about the fallout of anti-DEI, and its local impact on organizations.

One of the local branch’s major goals is to fight for Riverside County to keep DEI programs going. She said anti-DEI is pushing to eliminate scoring points or bid preferences for minority, women, and veteran-owned businesses (MWBEs), which are expected to give big corporations and businesses an unfair advantage in the competition.

“One of the things brought up by Pepe Jackson, who oversees the Black Chamber, is that he was concerned about the bids for some contracts. You have points if you’re a minority, we want to know what is the [county’s] stance on that,” said Lewis Campbell, First Vice President of the Riverside County NAACP Branch.

Also coming up, the branch intends to hold another meeting with Supervisor Jose Medina to press the conversation.

Lewis Campbell commended Jalifa for her diligence in coordinating events, including the upcoming April 22 dialogue, as well as the third event, the Unity Basketball Game.

There, youth and police will play off, not against each other, but as part of the team. Both groups will make up the blue and yellow teams, which are the colors of the NAACP. That annual event draws out the community, elected officials, the Mayor and City Council, and the police.

“It’s a popular game, just in fellowshipping together. I really like this event. The youth believe in making sure this happens because they feel this saves lives,” said Lewis Campbell, also Branch NAACP Advisor to the Youth Council.

At the last meeting, the hosting minister noticed how all the police were seated on one side, and youth on the other. He approached her to ask if they could all sit together with the youth. She said the first meeting was a success.

“We can make transformational change in the community. Although we may come from different perspectives, we can come together to work on concerns. When you’re in a circle, we can see each other,” she said. “We sit in a circle because it is the circle of life.”

For more information or to join, see https://naacpriversidebranch.org/