Reported from Oklahoma City – Cheree Peoples tells her story, dating back to a legally horrific series of events that began in 2013, when then-California Attorney General Kamala Harris “had me arrested. It took me 2 years, total, to get out from under that situation – my time in jail before trial, then the time fighting to be able to work [part-time]. I had never faced anything like it.
“It took that much time to convince a judge about the truth. Shayla [Cheeree’s daughter] was born with Sickle Cell. Because of that and her stress, she had a stroke that effected her right side, her dominant side [she was right-handed]. She had to re-learn after her stroke, how to use her left hand. She can not do long-distance walking. Even going one block has been a challenge. Everything around her had to be modified for her disability.”
In an interview with CityNewsOKC, Cheree was palpably grateful for renewed attention to her story.
One of the news organizations paying attention is RealRealClearPolitics.
(https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2024/09/18/arrested_by_kamala_a_black_mothers_story.html)
A filmmaker names Joel Gilbert has told the Cheree Peoples story – and that of Shayla – for some time. New attention emerged after Gilbert circulated 13-minute video drawn from his work with Cheree and Shayla.
RealClearPolitics put it this way:
“As Attorney General of California, Harris led a crackdown on school attendance, making it a criminal misdemeanor – punishable by up to a year in jail – for parents whose children missed at least 10 percent of school days. … Peoples tells the story of how she spent two years on trial for having a daughter in the hospital with sickle cell anemia. You can read more from the director here: Arrested by Kamala: A Black Mother’s Story.”
[Below is a transcription, from the documentary, which included historic excerpts from Harris press conferences and other events]:
CHEREE PEOPLES: If black lives matter to her, why didn’t I matter?
KAMALA HARRIS AS CALIFORNIA ATTORNEY GENERAL: Because of truancy, California public schools lose $1.4 billion per year in funding.
SHAYLA PEOPLES: I don’t agree with what Kamala Harris did to my mom.
KAMALA HARRIS: I decided I was going to start prosecuting parents for truancy.
SHAYLA PEOPLES: I spend the majority of my time here at the hospital.
CHEREE PEOPLES: When Kamala Harris was the California Attorney General, she had me arrested and prosecuted because my handicapped daughter was sick, in the hospital, and had missed some days of school.
SHAYLA PEOPLES: I have sickle-cell anemia, a hereditary disease that is very, very painful.
CHEREE PEOPLES: In 2012, like all parents, I received a threatening letter from California Attorney General Kamala Harris saying I’ll go to jail for a year if our kids missed 10% of school days. Little did I know, there was a warrant out for my arrest. All of a sudden the police are outside my house, banging on the door. They told me I was under arrest for my child missing school. I was shocked.
I said, “But my baby is sick, the school knows that!” And they said, “Go talk to Kamala Harris, place your hands behind your back.”
SHAYLA PEOPLES: My mom did nothing wrong, we did everything we were supposed to. I was always bringing doctor’s notes and calling the school to let them know that I was in the hospital.
CHEREE PEOPLES: But my hell was just beginning. They gave me two charges. I spent the next two years in court fighting these charges. Kamala assigned her nastiest prosecutors to my case.
KAMALA HARRIS: My homicide prosecutors, my gang prosecutors, and I said, “When you go over there, look really mean.” Ha!
CHEREE PEOPLES: All the time I had to spend going to court, I was struggling to care for my child.
I lost my job and couldn’t pay rent, and we got evicted. I became homeless, we had to move into a motel.
SHAYLA PEOPLES: And I ended up being in the hospital a lot during her trial. And that hospital stay was when I had my stroke.
CHEREE PEOPLES: Look, I am not a political person, but I want people to know what Kamala Harris did to me. if she did it to me, she will abuse anyone if you give her the power. My message to all Americans, especially black Americans: do not trust Kamala Harris.
Joel Gilbert’s story behind the story (with some of the same links as above) can be accessed at his September 2024 online story for American Thinker.
(https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2024/09/arrested_by_kamala_a_black_mother_s_story.html)
Learning about Cheree & Shayla – Their story of surviving shocking government power abuse
I first learned about Cheree’s story a couple of weeks ago, when a friend in Washington, D.C. sent me a remarkable 19 minute and 35 second post. On YouTube, Pink Book Lessons posted the video linked below. That was abut four weeks ago. It includes narrative/comments by a hostess at that portal:
(https://www.youtube.com/@pinkbooklessons/search?query=Cheree%20Peoples)
One word of caution: “Pink Book” is spicy and colorful, as reflected in the commentary interwoven into their version of the Peoples story. To get a sense for the Pink Book style, preview the page by going here online:
(https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWZF_uk1dIBR9b322G4ZINA)
As for my own interview with Cheree, conducted on October 17, preparing for my first question I told her “I get the sense that things have ‘heated back up’ as far as reactions from people – some you know, some you don’t — to the legal matters you faced for trying to assure a good education for your daughter. … Please update me on the recent renewal of interest in that case from 11 years ago.”
Cheree said, “Yes, that is accurate. It has been heating back up, a lot. Even before I was arrested under her policies, I had all the documentation of my daughter Shayla’s Sickle Cell. How was I supposed to protect the child and advocate for her with school officials, doctors and other officials? They claimed my daughter was ‘truant’ when she missed school? He absences were always understood to her teachers and others as a result of doctor’s appointments, hospital stays and related matters.
“But Kamala Harris had me arrested. It took me 2 ½ years, total, to get out from under that situation – my time in jail before trial, then the time fighting to be able to work [part-time]. I had never faced anything like it.
“It took that much time to convince a judge about the truth. Shayla was born with Sickle Cell. Because of that and her stress, she had a stroke that effected her right side, her dominant side [she was right-handed]. She had to re-learn after her stroke, how to use her left hand. She can not do long-distance walking. Even going one block has been a challenge. Everything around her had to be modified for her disability.”
Near the end of our exchange that evening, I asked Cheree to give a “snapshot in time” about Shayla. I asked how she was at that moment literally, shortly after she got home from her latest hospital stay.
She told me: “Her hemoglobin is low. That is her blood oxygen level. She may have to have a new transfusion soon. She knows and I tell her she has to drink lots of water.”
Cheree has a gofundme page. To assist her and Shayla in a direct, practical way, search for this page:
“Donate to help Ms. Peoples and Shayla Journey, organized by Cheree Peoples”. The direct link will take you to a summary of the story, and Cheree’s views. Here it is:
(https://www.gofundme.com/f/stand-with-cheree-peoples-overcoming-injustice)
There’s more to the story than even all of the foregoing, and CityNewsOKC.com will seek to share it.
