Alexa Irene Canady: First Black Woman Neurosurgeon in U.S. Page 2
California Agencies Say They Want More Black Californians to Access Jobs, Training
Black Mental Health, Part 4
CEO of Oakland A’s Addresses Community Concerns
“Spearitwurx,” a Healing Leader in the Black Community Page 9
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Oakland Post “Where there is no vision, the people perish...” Proverbs 29:18
postnewsgroup.com
58th Year, No. 46
Weekly Edition. Edition. May 4-10, 2022
Faith Leaders Call for Accountability Over Negligence, Deaths at Santa Rita Jail
The Oakland A’s released renderings of their proposed new ballpark at Howard Terminal near Jack London Square in Oakland (Courtesy of Bjarke Ingels Group).
Report: A’s Could Get to Use Howard Terminal for Stadium By Keith Burbank Bay City News
A key Bay Area commission may reverse a setback dealt to the Oakland A’s plans to build a new waterfront ballpark. Staff for the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission said in a report released Monday that the land where the A’s propose to build the ballpark is not needed by the Port of Oakland. That announcement could reverse a setback in March when the commission’s Seaport Planning Advisory Committee recommended the land be maintained for maritime use. The report released Monday is a preliminary recommendation on the land known as Charles P. Howard Terminal. The commission is expected to decide June 30 whether to accept the recommendation. Monday’s “report is great news for Oakland and our region,” Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf said in a statement. “The best use of a dormant Howard Terminal is to convert it into a thriving waterfront ballpark neighborhood.” Port of Oakland officials also agreed with the recommendation. “This is an important step that will allow the Port of Oakland, City of Oakland and the A’s to continue making progress on the proposed project’s
economic and community benefits potential to transform the Oakland waterfront,” port officials said in a statement Tuesday. “The Port Commissioners will be able to move forward with planning efforts at the Howard property and the integration of Jack London Square into the project,” port officials added. An affirmative vote by the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission next month would be a key step toward a new A’s ballpark in Oakland. Such a vote would remove Continued on Page 10
Alameda County’s Santa Rita jail, run by Sheriff Gregory Ahern, has been the target of multiple lawsuits over jail conditions and has had the most in-custody deaths in Northern California: at least 58 in-custody deaths since 2014, including 19 suicides. We lift up the names of the two most recent to die in Santa Rita - Marcos Garibay and Larry Roberson. Their families are among many who have been given conflicting and incomplete information about their deaths by the sheriff. A demonstration is planned for Tuesday May 24 at 11:30 a.m. at the Board of Supervisors
Opinion
on Oak and 12th streets in Oakland to protest a culture of death at the jail and this dysfunctional incarceration system. Join us in our call for accountability. The U.S. Justice Department recently found our county jail violates Constitutional rights and subjects the 40% of persons in custody who need mental health services to “unlawful harm.” The sheriff has also evaded a county ban on collaboration of local law enforcement with ICE. Continued on Page 10
“Whose City? Our City!” – Teachers and Port Workers Strike to Stop Corporate Privatizers By Ken Epstein
In a show of growing strength, Oakland teachers and longshore workers held simultaneous one-day strikes and rallies together on April 29 to stop billionaires and corporations, backed by elected Democrats, who seek to gentrify the city by closing as many as half of Oakland’s public schools and giving away public funds and public land to build a $12-billion luxury real estate project and baseball stadium at the Port.
Fife: Emergency Homeless Intervention Could House 1,000 at Army Base Parcels
Special to The Post
At the May 3 special meeting of the Oakland City Council, members approved a resolution introduced by Councilmember Carroll Fife directing the City Administrator to study the feasibility of establishing an emergency homeless intervention site to house 1,000 individuals at the North Gateway Parcel located at the former Oakland Army Base. According to the resolution, the findings must be returned to the Council no later than the first Council meeting of June. Over 40 constituents emailed the City Council in support of the resolution. Many shared being appalled at the state of homelessness in the City and urged the City Administrator to treat it as the emergency crisis that it is. Several constituents called into the meeting including residents currently living near Custom Alloy Scrap Sales (CASS) and California Waste Solutions
Alameda County’s Santa Rita jail
Photo: iStock (www.theroot.com)
A Reflection on Motherhood Rev. Dr. Martha C. Taylor
M other ’s Day is a very special day in all communities. It’s that time of year when the sale of Hallmark cards quadruples, teleflorists spike the price of flowers and See’s Candies hires extra workers. Even with a reservation, restaurants make you wait in long lines. Mother’s Day is a time set aside to show the one you call ‘mother’ special appreciation with gestures of love. African Americans embrace motherhood in unique ways. There are biological mothers, stepmothers, foster mothers, and guardians. We have enduring terms for ‘mother’ such as Madea, Mama. The strength of
mothers come in all sizes. Big Mama can be short, 4’5” and is still be called Big Mama. Lil’ Mama can be 5’9”, and still be called Little Mama. It is not unusual, for grandmothers to be first responders and caregivers for their grandchildren. For the most part, mothers are brave, courageous, and will stand by their children through thick and thin, regardless of whether they are successful, or even those who have fallen by the wayside. Christian mothers have a strong belief in God –somehow, God will make a way out of no way. Even when going through trials and tribulations Christian mothers will be singing – “Troubles don’t last always.” Mother’s Day also brings a mixture of happy and hurt feelContinued on Page 10
Homegoing Celebration for Rev. Dr. Gillette O. James
Port workers, teachers and supporters march down Broadway from City Hall to school district headquarters to oppose school closures and Port of Oakland stadium privatization project, April 29, 2022. Photo by Ken Epstein.
At the heart of the protests were united actions of the Oakland Education Association (OEA) and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Local 10. The strikes, as well as rallies and a march, were proposed by a new coalition, Schools and Labor Against Privatization
(S.L.A.P.), composed of rankand-file educators, members and leaders of the ILWU and community members opposed to the privatization of public assets and the accelerated displacement of Oakland’s Black, Latino and working class resiContinued on Page 10
The Homegoing Celebration for Rev. Dr. Gillette O. James, Pastor Emeritus of Beth Eden Baptist Church in Oakland will be held Monday, May 16, 2022, at 11:00 a.m. at the church where he served, 1183 Tenth St. COVID-19 protocols will be enforced: all attendees are asked to wear masks. The final rites will be held at Chapel of the Chimes at 4499 Piedmont Ave. in Oakland. The interment will follow immediately at Mountain View Cemetery at 5000 Pied-
Rev. Dr. Gillette O. James
mont Ave. in Oakland. Expressions to the family may be sent to Beth Eden Baptist Church.
SBA and PayPal Conduct Workshops for Minority Businesses
Councilmember Carroll Fife
(CWS) who support the temporary use of the North Gateway Parcel until CASS and CWS is ready to begin development. The City Administration went on record for the first time saying that it has been reviewing CWS’s development plans and expects permits to be approved by the beginning of 2023. The City Administration has previously suggested an estimate of two to four years before development could realistically Continued on Page 10
1st Row - left to right: Tammy Halevy, Executive Director, ReImagine Main Street; SBA Administrator Isabella Castillas Guzman; Carolina Martinez, CEO, California Association for Micro Enterprise Opportunity; Kathryn Cahilll Thompson, CEO, Cahill Contractors LLC; 2nd Row - left to right: Liz Fairchild, Executive Director, Business Forward; Dr. Matthew Ajike, President, San Francisco African American Chamber of Commerce; Julie Clowes, District Director, Small Business Administration; Jim Magats, SVP of Payments and SMB Solutions, PayPal; Carl Davis, Jr., President & CEO, California African American Chamber of Commerce; Elmy Bermejo, Regional Administrator, Region IX, Small Business Administration; Adam Klappholz, Head of App-Powered Commerce, Venmo; Cathy Adams, President and CEO, OAACC; Jossiel Cruseta, Director, San Francisco Small Business Development Center. See story on page 10.