Jasmyne Cannick is an African-American on-air and in-print pop culture critic and race issues commentator who works in politics. She was selected as one of ESSENCE Magazine's 25 Women Shaping the World, KCET's Southern California Seven Women of Vision, one of the Most Influential African-Americans in Los Angeles Under 40, one of Los Angeles' Most Fascinating Angelenos by the L.A. Weekly and one of 40 People Under 40 by the Advocate.
Politics
Cannick has worked on numerous local, state and federal candidate and ballot measure campaigns in California. She previously worked in the House of Representatives and the California State Assembly as a press secretary. Cannick is known for her work behind the scenes in helping to shape public opinion in support of short-term projects and long-term institutional goals. She specializes in government, public service, non-profit and political campaigns. She also continues to make time to work towards the pursuit of social justice and the expansion of democratic values in America while advocating for underrepresented communities in the political arena.
Advocacy
Along with Compton rapper Eric "Eazy-E" Wright's son Lil E, Cannick is the co-founder of My Hood Votes, a grassroots voter registration initiative focused on Los Angeles County's roughest neighborhoods. She continues to support and make time for causes and organizations that focus on an array of social issues including community policing, LGBT issues and homelessness.
LGBT
Cannick is the co-founder and a retired board member of the National Black Justice Coalition. She is most outspoken about the divide between white gay people and black people, and how gay culture is dominated by white people, which is hard to deal with for black people because they do not feel part of the gay society and are overlooked. She provoked much controversy when she spoke out about why black people care less about gay marriage in the Los Angeles Times and other media venues.
Media commentator
Cannick has won awards for her work on the intersection of race, class, and politics and been a guest on CNN, FOX News, National Public Radio, and NewsOne Now with Roland Martin. She has also appeared on CBSThis Morning and the Today Show. As a social commentator and opinion writer, Cannick has been featured in the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Sun-Times, Los Angeles Daily News, and Ebony Magazine to name a few and her syndicated column appears in African-American newspapers from coast to coast. No stranger to radio, she is the past co-anchor of the evening news on Los Angeles Pacifica radio station 90.7FM KPFK and has served as a segment producer on KJLH-FM's Front Page show, Southern California's premiere news and current affairs show focused on the African-American community. She was quoted by the Chicago Sun-Times for her stance on the R. Kelly scandal. She frequently provides commentary on National Public Radio and is a regular contributor to the LA Progressive, an online social justice magazine. She is most outspoken about the divide between gays and blacks, and how gay culture is dominated by whites, which is hard to deal with for blacks because they do not feel part of the gay society and are overlooked. She provoked much controversy when she spoke out about why black people care less about gay marriage. Cannick made headline news when she was a guest on Fox News' "O'Reilly Factor" for a discussion of race in America. Her segment turned into a debate about the network itself when she said "many of the shows on this very network help perpetuate the racism that exists in America."
Through her blog and media appearances Cannick has been highly critical of the Los Angeles Police Department and its Chief Charlie Beck. She raised questions about LAPD's purchase of a $6,000 quarterhorse from Chief Charlie Beck's daughter, an LAPD officer, and about Beck's alleged soft treatment of a sergeant who reportedly was dating her. Cannick broke news that famed LAPD Det. Frank Lyga had been recorded telling a class of fellow law enforcement officers that when he looked back at his 1997 shooting of black cop Kevin Gaines, "I could have killed a whole truckload of them... and would have been happily doing it." Lyga was working undercover that fateful day nearly 20 years ago, and Gaines was off-duty, when the two men became entangled in a deadly road-rage incident in North Hollywood. Lyga's fatal shooting of Gaines was determined by LAPD to have been justified. But it pulled at an ugly thread that led to the department's darkest hour, the Rampart scandal. Lyga subsequently left the LAPD in disgrace. Later Cannick broke the story of how a former "shot caller" for the Mexican Mafia was the featured speaker at a book signing event in downtown Los Angeles that was arranged by the LAPD with taxpayer dollars for a private group of prominent business leaders and local law enforcement officials. She has cultivated both a following and bevy of sources within the LAPD that has allowed her to break numerous stories of rampant corruption within the LAPD. Currently several officers and a commander are suing the City of Los Angeles after being accused by the department's administration of being her source. While Cannick is critical of Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck and his leadership team, she is less critical of the rank-and-file whom she says are often only following the bad orders of their command staff. She is known for starting all of her blog posts regarding the LAPD with:
We're not against the police. We're not against the police department, but we are against police who commit misconduct.
The L.A. Weekly named her the LAPD's Critic-in-Chief.
Film and television
She produced Noah's Arc, a cable television dramedy about four black gay male friends living in Los Angeles which lasted two seasons. In 2007 she wrote, directed, and produced her first documentary film The Incredibly True Adventures of Sistas of the Canyon. She is a co-producer of the award-winning documentary "41st & Central: The Untold Story of the Southern California Chapter of the Black Panther Party." She is currently writing several scripts for film projects.
Cannick is a Southern California native having lived in Compton and Hermosa Beach. She spent her teen years in foster care before she was emancipated in 1995.
