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BLACK WOMEN TO THE RESCUE

Actress and comedians Kim Whitley and Yvette Nicole Brown support Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass in the midst of controversy and criticism around the Los Angeles wildfires. During a street interview, the two celebrities spoke in defense of Bass, calling out blame games and attacks on the public official.

Brown and Whitley spoke to the mayor’s leadership and pose during the crisis, stating “she’s got a spine of steel.” Both also suggested emphatically that the critique of Mayor Bass was due in part because she is a “Black woman in America,”—and they are “tired of it.”

“We’re tired for her … we’re mad for her,” both women told a reporter. 

“I’m happy you’re here because somebody needs to [sic] stand … behind her and support her.”

“She stays calm; but think about this. She has the city to take care of. She does not have time to hear from these reporters, asking these crazy …,” Whitley said. 

“She is also not mayor of every municipality in California.” Brown added. 

“There are people that are mad that she didn’t fix the fires in Malibu. She’s not the mayor of Malibu. What is she supposed to do in the city she’s not the mayor of?”

 

WHITE WOMEN BASHING 

Brown and Whitley’s defense of Mayor Karen Bass comes on the heels of L.A. fire chief Kristin Crowley’s comments which expressed that cuts to the fire department’s budget contributed to the department’s overall inability to fight fires effectively. 

“We are screaming to be properly funded, to make sure that our firefighters can do their jobs so that we can serve the community that we took an oath,” Crowley told KTTV

Crowley’s rant indirectly points blame at Bass for a $17 million budget cut on an $837 million fire department budget for 2024. 

In support of Crowley, Khloe Kardashian’s shared news clips and comments on her Instagram account that showed disrespectful shade toward Mayor Bass, calling her out directly, stating “Mayor Bass you are a joke!!!!”

 

SAME OLE HATE TRAIN

Historically, Black women politicians have endured public scrutiny on their appearance, approach, perspective and performance around sociopolitical issues. We’ve recently witnessed this during Vice President Kamala’s election campaign where she was flogged on everything from her racial identity to her sexuality. United States Congresswoman Ayana Presley was accused of being “modern grand wizards of the modern KKK” because she is fearless in confronting racialized politics, Atlanta’s Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, and New York State Attorney General Leticia James were both put through the ringer for their determination in prosecuting and holding accountable donald trump, a felonious and sex offending president-elect. Of course, the ire and outrage for Mayor Karen Bass’ would present no different.

The comedian’s comments and dispositions may be a response to white women bashing a Black woman in leadership. As Mayor Bass catches hell and unreasonable condemnation behind the Los Angeles wildfires, it’s refreshing to witness Black women speak up for her unapologetically.

“To see this happening in the city that she loves … take away how it feels for people to attack her. She’s heartbroken because this is happening in her city, a city that she loves,” Brown said. 

People don’t understand. They don’t understand how large it is because a lot of people are sitting in other parts of the city.  They’re not in it, they’re not in the fire, they’re not in the smoke,” Whitley said.

“They don’t see, they’re not there, they’re watching TV. They wanna blame someone. This is not the time to blame. It’s time to get some resources.”

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