Overview: Breanna Reeves of Black Voice News received first place in the category of Politics and Public Policy at the Ethnic Media Services – California Black Media Awards ceremony for her series on California’s marijuana reform and its impact on Black communities.
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Black Voice News reporter Breanna Reeves was awarded first place in the category of Politics and Public Policy that Foster Change at last week’s Ethnic Media Services – California Black Media Awards ceremony in Sacramento.
Reeves received the award for her series California’s Marijuana Reform: Progress Made, But Challenges Persist for Black Communities. The special report was supported by the Knight Lab’s Data-Driven Reporting Project funded by the Google News Initiative in partnership with Northwestern University, Medill.
“Thank you, Ethnic Media Awards, for this honor and recognition of my reporting,” said Breanna in response to the statewide recognition. She continued, “Thank you to my editor, Stephanie Williams, who challenges me and trusts me to take on such complex topics as cannabis reform.”
In 1964, California voters approved Proposition 64, which legalized the recreational use of marijuana in the state and also provided individuals the freedom to petition the court for the reduction or dismissal of qualifying marijuana convictions. After the petition process languished for nearly five years, in January 2019, AB 1793 passed that placed responsibility for facilitating the process of resentencing onto the shoulders of the California Department of Justice.
Local DOJ’s were charged with reviewing cases that might be eligible for cannabis resentencing and notifying prosecutors of individuals’ potential eligibility for resentencing. Three years later, in January 2022, nearly eight years after the passage of Proposition 64, cases languished in the process waiting to be cleared.
Blacks, the most impacted by America’s 50-year war on drugs, were also the ones most affected by delays in clearing or reducing eligible convictions. This special report tells the story of what went wrong and key learnings for future justice seeking initiatives.
Breanna also thanked other members of the Black Voice News team who contributed to the report including Mapping Black California for supporting the reporting with data visuals that grounded the narrative and the design team for its graphic visualizations.
“Most importantly, thank you to my sources who shared their experiences and expertise with me,” she acknowledged.
Congratulations, Breanna.