Aaron Douglas: The Father of African American Art
Former Miss USA Cheslie Kryst, 30
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The New Supremes!
Biden to Nominate Black Woman to Supreme Court....see story on P8
Oakland Post “Where there is no vision, the people perish...” Proverbs 29:18 Weekly Edition: Feb. 2-8, 2022
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58th Year, No. 33
Derreck Johnson, an Oakland Entrepreneur, Community Leader Runs for Mayor of Oakland
Coalition of faith, civic and business leaders declare support for Johnson in bid to lead Oakland from COVID-19 pandemic, economic recovery, address rising crime and homelessness Freddie Hughes
Oakland Vocalist Freddie Hughes, 78 Protests Surge as District Moves to
Some Oakland schools facing closure this year are (From top, clockwise): Prescott, Horace Mann, Brookfield, Westlake, La Escuelita and Grass Valley. Photos courtesy of OUSD.
By Clifford L. Williams
Freddie Hughes, one of the most gifted vocalists and a great human being, passed away unexpectedly from leukemia and complications from COVID-19 on Jan. 18, 2022, according to drummer, songwriter and producer Paul Tillman Smith. He was 78 years old. Hughes was born on Aug. 20, 1943, in Berkeley to parents who moved West from Texas seeking the plentiful jobs during WWII. His father, Fred W. Hughes, was a longshoreman and pastor who helped found Oakland’s Good Samaritan Church of God in Christ, and his mother Lola Mae Anderson was a singer and missionary. “Freddie has been singing and recording since a young child and had a huge hit in 1968 with the recording of ‘Send My Baby Back,’ said Tillman Smith. “The song showcased Hughes for the public at a time when everyone in the music business in the Bay was trying to find a way to get through…to find their niche.” Hughes’ son Derick, a former lead vocalist with Tower of Power, has followed in his father’s footsteps, having recorded with Motown and Prince, and toured extensively with Roberta Flack. Freddie and Derick are featured performers on a new CD, sponsored by the Bay Area Jazz Society and the West Coast Blues Society called “The Sounds of Oakland” to be released this month throughout the nation. The CD celebrates the legacy of East Bay soul and R&B. “(Hughes) was the epitome of the likes of Johnny Mathis,” noted Tillman Smith. “That’s how impressive he was. Most people have no knowledge of his schooling or if he ever had a job, but they do remember his love for singing. Every time you saw Freddie, he Continued on Page 10
Close Black and Latino Schools
By Ken Epstein
More than 2,000 outraged teachers, parents and community members attended a Zoom school board meeting Monday evening to speak out against the closures, consolidations and mergers of 15 predominately
Black and Latino schools this year and next year. The meeting lasted until 3 a.m., with hardly a speaker supporting the closures, as hundreds of speakers opposed these draconian measures, demanding that school and community voices not be ignored.
The board majority, led by Board members Gary Yee and Shanthi Gonzales, may be hoping to avoid prolonged protests by rushing to a vote at a special board meeting next Tuesday, Feb. 8 to finalize the closing of the schools in June. Continued on Page 10
Who Is Really Responsible for Closing Oakland Schools? Commentary
Oakland knows that the school board has bypassed community engagement and standards of due process to rush to close Oakland schools in the next week. Communities are furious and organizing to fight back. But many are pointing out that there are others behind the school board demanding that the district implement the closures immediately, working in the interests of billionaire developers and charter school tycoons who want the school properties and the displacement of African American and Latino working class people. The agencies directly placing pressure on the district and the school board are L. Karen Monroe, superintendent of
Derreck Johnson
our businesses. But we cannot keep electing the same people with the same mindset and expect different results. Otherwise, Oakland will always be broken.” Born and raised by a single mother in the ACORN Housing Projects of West Oakland, and later educated at an HBCU, Johnson understands the plight of working families. And Oakland needs a tested fighter, like Johnson — not the Continued on Page 10
Educating Black Children: What Would Carter Woodson Say By Gregory Hodge
Dr. Kimberly Mayfield
Mona Trevino
the Alameda County Office of Education and the neo-liberal, state-funded Fiscal Crisis Management and Assistance Team (FCMAT). FCMAT has had veto power over Oakland school decisions since 2003 and has already forced the district to close 20 schools. Now, we have a letter from FCMAT, sent to the district on Jan. 4, 2022, which is the smoking gun, demonstrating their role in forcing closures and revealing FCMAT’s bosses at
Frankie Free Ramos
the state level. These officials know what is going on and are complicit with the orders to close neighborhood schools and displace Oakland communities on behalf of privatizers. Here is what FCMAT wrote on Jan. 4: FCMAT expects “affirmative board action to continue planning for, and timely implementation of a school and facility closure and consolidaContinued on Page 10
Cat Brooks Awarded Unrestricted $250,000 Grant for 3 Years
The Rosenberg Foundation announced that they have awarded $250,000 unrestricted grants to nine bold movement leaders who have been selected as Leading Edge fellows for the next three years. With support from the Leading Edge Fund, the fellows will work to end and replace the incarceration and criminalization of young people of color, build economic hubs led by and for transgender people, create alternatives to police response, end child poverty, and much more. Cat Brooks, activist, actress, playwright and poet said, “I do this work side by side with some of the most passionate, committed, fierce, smart and principled people on the
On Tuesday, Derreck Johnson announced his candidacy for mayor of Oakland. As an entrepreneur and community leader, Derreck has spent the last 30 years creating jobs and hiring from Oakland, including formerly incarcerated populations, while working shoulderto-shoulder with stakeholders to uplift marginalized communities. Johnson is running to bring a fresh and bold perspective to City Hall at a time when thousands of struggling families are being pushed out of the City due to the pandemic and rising rent costs while homicide and property crimes are at an alltime high. “Oakland faces a critical moment,” said Johnson. “For too long, our politicians have over-promised and under-delivered — from homelessness and illegal dumping to lack of affordable housing — while rising crime has cost so many innocent lives and crippled
Cat Brooks
planet: the Anti Police-Terror Project Team. While I am the recipient of this honor, it really belongs to them and more importantly to the families who
are survivors of state violence and channel their pain into fighting for justice. These funds will be used to build alternatives to public safety that don’t rely on the violence of the carceral state but rather invest in our humanity and prevention strategies that stop “crime” from happening in the first place, to develop art pieces that tell our stories for our eyes, ears and souls, to interrogate interrupting the daily trauma inflicted on our communities by white supremacy, lingering racism. I’m honContinued on Page 10
“For me, education means to inspire people to live more abundantly, to learn to begin with life as they find it and make it better.” Dr. Carter G. Woodson (1875-1950) There are times in the life of our community that require uncommon leadership. As demonstrated by the threats to HBCUs and the ongoing crisis in Oakland’s public schools, this moment is one of them. As we celebrate Black History Month, it’s important to reflect on where we have come from, where we are and where we are headed. We must take
Gregory Hodge
this opportunity to inspire our children to live more abundantly, to change the things that they cannot accept and to find ways to make our collective lives better. Continued on Page 10
‘Black History is American History!’
Celebrate Black History with First Presbyterian Church, Oakland Sundays at 10 a.m. Sign up for the newsletter to receive Zoom information: http://eepurl.com/gMlqR1 Sunday, Feb. 6 Preaching: Pastor Matt Prinz, First Presbyterian Church, Oakland Special Presentation: Elder Henry Gardner Music: Marilyn Reynolds, Soloist; Herman Waters, Accompanist Sunday, Feb. 13 Presentation: Elder David Alexander, Esq The Legal Struggle: “God Was There All the Time!” Three of the most powerful legal cases that have impacted Black History and American History: Dred Scott; Brown
vs. the Board of Education and Plessy vs. Ferguson Music: Heidi Hill, Soloist; Sandra Iglehart, Accompanist Sunday, Feb. 20 Joint Worship: Faith Presbyterian Church, Oakland and 1st Presbyterian Church, Oakland Preaching: Rev. Dr. Valerie Miles-Tribble, Faith Presbyterian Church Sunday, Feb. 27 Preaching: Rev. Joel Mackey, Parish Associate, First Presbyterian Church, Oakland Music: Marilyn Reynolds, Soloist; Herman Waters, Accompanist Special Bible Study: Wednesday, Feb. 23 at 7 p.m., featuring Darlene Flynn, Chief, Race & Equity Department, City of Oakland (Paid for by Gay Plair Cobb)