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Years
Vol. 66 No. 2 | Thursday, January 8, 2026
www.sdvoice.info
Serving San Diego County’s African & African American Communities 66 Years
INSIDE
THIS WEEK'S ISSUE:
STATES SET THE RULES AS NEW LAWS
TAKE EFFECT NATIONWIDE IN 2026
OG SANDBOX TOY GIVEAWAY SEE PAGES 6-7
DR. CARROLL’S TOY DISTRIBUTION SEE PAGES 6-7
IMAGE: NNPA
By Stacy M. Brown NNPA NEWSWIRE SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT
costs, consumer privacy, and the use of artificial intelligence. The measures differ sharply by state, but together they point to a growing reality: in the absence of sweeping federal action, states are setting the rules that govern everyday life.
BLACK AMERICA’S CULTURAL GIANTS LOST IN 2025 WHO’S WATCHING THE WATCHERS? As 2026 approaches, states across the country are preparing to activate a wide range of new laws that will shape paychecks, housing conditions, health care
See NEW LAWS page 2
Continued FLOCK surveillance use approved by City Council on December 9th
IMAGE: NNPA
By Stacy M. Brown NNPA NEWSWIRE SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT The losses came steadily in 2025, not as a single rupture but as a quiet procession. Voices that once filled sanctuaries, arenas, studios, television screens, and living rooms went still. The year closed with Black America taking inventory not only of who died, but of what each life carried into the culture and what now remains behind. See LOST page 2
By Tihut Tamrat VOICE & VIEWPOINT STAFF WRITER Since the Transparent and Responsible Use of Surveillance Technology (TRUST) Ordinance was unanimously approved by San Diego City Council on August 2, 2022, surveillance tools such as Smart Streetlights have been subject to public Labor unions and community organizers at a press conference at the Civic Center plaza on oversight, transparency December 4, 2025. PHOTO: Tihut Tamrat requirements, and community input. As we remained deeply controversial, particularly reported in our previous coverage ALPR in Black and Brown communities already experiencing overpolicing. technology embedded in those streetlights, to capture images of vehicle license plates and track an individual’s whereabouts, has See FLOCK page 5
SAN DIEGO PROCLAIMS DECEMBER 26
AS ALWIN BENJAMIN HOLMAN DAY
By Voice & Viewpoint Staff
In honor of Alwin Benjamin Holman’s 100th birthday, the City of San Diego officially declared December 26 as Alwin Benjamin Holman Day. Alwin Benjamin Homan, center, receiving city's delcaration. IMAGE: Screengrab from @cityofsandiego Instagram post, December 26, 2025
Holman was the first Black San Diego firefighter to serve in a station other than Station
19 in the historically Black Southcrest neighborhood, instead joining an all-white San Diego fire station in 1951, breaking the SDFD color barrier. Holman served with the SDFD for 32 years, eventually becoming one of the first Black Battalion Fire Chiefs in California and the city’s first Black Deputy fire chief. See HOLMAN page 2
POLITICAL PLAYBACK: CALIFORNIA CAPITOL NEWS YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED By Bo Tefu CALIFORNIA BLACK MEDIA
Your Vote Could Help Decide New AI Rules for California California voters could soon decide on new rules governing artificial intelligence (AI) products, particularly those used by children. A new initiative called the Child Safety Requirements for Artificial Intelligence aims to regulate AI tools like chatbots and prohibit student use of personal smartphones in schools to
California Capitol. PHOTO: CBM
protect kids from potentially harmful technologies. See PLAYBACK page 2
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