Ceiling
State Offers New Rape Assault Protections For Health Care Workers
Oakland Native, Hall of Fame Second Baseman Joe Morgan Dies at 77
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Ofentse Pitse: Shattering Music Glass
Alameda City Council Candidate Amos White Brings His Message to Voters Page 11
Oakland Post “Where there is no vision, the people perish...” Proverbs 29:18
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Post Endorses Candidates Who Fight to Save Schools, End Austerity Regime in District
Teens Could Vote in OUSD School Board Elections If Measure QQ Passes
By Ken Epstein
Keith Brown Oakland (BCN)
Youth 16 and 17 years old will be eligible to vote in Oakland Unified School District school board elections if Measure QQ passes this November. Passage of the measure would allow the Oakland City Council to adopt an ordinance allowing the two groups of teens to vote for school board members. This election, there are about 261,000 registered voters in Oakland, all of whom can vote in school district elections. Currently, about 4,800 teens also could vote if the measure had already passed. The teens make up less than 2 percent of the total number of voters, but students and advocates say they deserve representation. “Decisions that are made at the school board impact their education” and their futures, said Keith Brown, president of the Oakland Education Association, which represents teachers and staff in the school district and is supporting the measure. Brown is a social studies teacher and has stressed the importance of voting. “As educators we want to prepare our students to take part in a democratic society, politics and civic engagement,” Brown said. No one submitted an argument against Measure QQ and all of the City Council members have expressed support for the idea, said Jessica Ramos, a 17-year-old senior at Skyline High School Continued on Page 16
57th Year, No. 17
Weekly Edition. Edition. Oct. 14-20, 2020
Ray Bobbitt (left), pictured with Raiders superfan Violator, is in a group lobbying for a team in Oakland. (Photo provided by Ray Bobbitt).
Oakland Businesses Propose $92 Million to Create First Black-owned NFL Team By. Ken Epstein
A group of African American entrepreneurs and businesspeople have put together a history making proposal to purchase the Oakland Coliseum for $92 million to create the first NFL Black-owned team. This is more than just about football, says Ray Bobbitt, Oakland business owners and member of the African Ameri-
can Sports and Entertainment Group (ASSEG), which developed the proposal. “Historic design, having it be the first African-American owned football team in the NFL,” he said. Seventy percent of the players in the National Football League are Black, and the NFL made about $16 billion in national revenue in 2019. Yet there has never been a Black owned team In the history of
the league. A lifelong Raider fan who grew up in Oakland, he views the proposal as much more than about sports: it is a way to enrich and empower the community. “We would add an educational component to the facility,” Bobbitt said. “We want to add a Bay Area sports and entertainment museum, utilize funds to help inContinued on Page 16
Bounce TV’s Ryan Glover, Killer Mike and Andrew Young Establish Black-Owned Digital Bank By Matthew Allen for the Grio
Greenwood, a digital bank targeting minorities, draws its name from the former Black Wall Street district in Tulsa, Oklahoma Rapper Killer Mike and Bounce TV founder and President Ryan Glover have joined forces to launch Greenwood, a new digital bank tailored to the Black and Latinx communities. Greenwood is a banking service that operates exclusively online, offering mobile deposits for checking and savings accounts, that seeks to support minority-owned businesses, CNN reports. The company is branded as “modern banking for the culture” on its website.
A committee of local educators created by the Oakland Post Editorial Board has endorsed candidates for the Oakland Board of Education in all four open races this year, supporting outspoken community leaders who oppose austerity and continued domination of district policies by state agencies and who unequivocally oppose closing neighborhood schools. The Post endorsed: District 1 – Stacy Thomas and Sam Davis; District 3 – Cherisse Gash and VanCedric Williams; District 5 – Mike Hutchinson: and District 7 – Kristina Molina and Ben “Coach” Tapscott. Participants in the Post’s committee were teacher Shalonda Tillman, Post editor and educator Ken Epstein, parent Mona Treviño, educator Henry Hitz, retired teacher Eleanore Stovall and educator Nirali Jani. The committee made recommendations and Post publishers Paul Cobb and Gay Plair Cobb made final decisions. The Post did not endorse candidates who support closing more Oakland schools, take money from privatizers or pro-charter school billionaires or would like the district to continue the kind for draconian cuts that have become common in recent years. The Post-endorsed candidates are: District 7
Ben “Coach” Kristina Greenwood founders Killer Mike (left), former Atlanta Tapscott Molina Mayor Andrew Young (center) and Bounce TV President Post-endorsed candidate Ryan Glover (right). Ryan Glover from Oakland, CaliforChristina Molina in District nia is the son of the late Educator and entrepreneur Rudy 7 describes herself as as a Glover. (Photo Credit: Greenwood)
The endeavor also provides peer-to-peer transfers, global ATMs and other financial services with a focus on Black and Latinx entrepreneurs. The Greenwood name is derived from the Greenwood district of Tulsa, Oklahoma, that a cen-
tury ago was home to what was known as Black Wall Street. Glover said that the bank was created to provide loans and financial aid for Black-owned businesses who have had diffi-
glected for more than 50 years. At that point I proposed an alternative plan to garner maximum support from the Black community and the elected officials. I explained how the A’s had opportunity to champion significant Black participation and ownership that no other American city has achieved thus far. I proposed that the A’s promote their Black Vice President Taj Tashombe and put him atop the A’s development corporate entity that could function as a co-development with a Black Developer to complete the commercial and housing complex within the coliseum com-
plex zone. I also told Kaval that I had not consulted with Taj, but I was just recommending a major move to help establish credibility since Taj had grown and played in the shadow of the coliseum. I further recommended that he set aside an equity stake for Taj, Black investors and former Black A’s stars who had helped to bring championships to Oakland. They could jointventure with a group of Black investors who are also seeking to own the Coliseum. The A’s could make a major statement about race and equity modeling by building half of the planned 4,000 housing units in the first phase, be-
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product of OUSD, having “attended Melrose Elementary School, Calvin Simmons Junior High School, and John C Fremont High School.” “Oakland public education needs less obscurity and more transparency. Families, teachers, students, and community
stakeholders need to know how schools are spending and investing funds. School site parent-run organizations need to be provided with their school budget to see how the administration has expended every dollar of their child’s education,” she said. The Post also endorsed Ben “Coach” Tapscott for District 7 school board. When the state took over the school district in 2003, the district was about $50 million in debt, he said. When the state receiver left, the district was $100 million in debt, an amount that still is not paid off. “If they generated that debt, they should pay for it,” Tapscott said. “When they cut, they cut at the school sites, (but) we’re top heavy with upper and middle management. “I think there is a lot of waste going on,” he said “I think there is a conspiracy, you have more privatization, keeping us in debt. The state controller, what is that person doing to monitor the money?” District 1
Stacy Thomas
Sam Davis
Stacy Thomas wants to give leadership on the school board that puts the students, families and schools first. “I want the school board to be really fiercely protective of our resources and our public schools,” she said. Thomas, who owns a bookkeeping business, wants to bring her background in accounting to the budgeting process and focus on improving the district’s financial mismanagement. She said OUSD should take more control over its budgeting and hold district staff accountable for ensuring the budget is balanced without harmful cuts. If elected, Thomas said she will push back against recommendations from the Financial Continued on Page 16
The Oakland Coliseum Should be Developed by and with Blacks By Paul Cobb
When I heard the sad news of the death of former Oakland A’s player Joe Morgan it reminded me of last week’s talk with Dave Kaval, President of the Oakland A’s last week about his team’s views on the Future of the A’s franchise in Oakland. I was particularly impressed with his upbeat attitude toward the economic inclusion. Of the Black community in the team’s development vision for the Coliseum area and the
Howard Terminal Port of Oakland site. He reiterated his commitments to include the West Oakland community in their plans to provide extensive economic, environmental and employment benefits. He was confident that the Port and the City, led by the Mayor, would be supportive of their efforts to build near the estuary. I asked him why the A’s needed to purchase the Coliseum if they preferred to go the Howard terminal site. He said he felt a sense of commitment and responsibility to help with the development of the East Oakland site that had been ne-
fore the market rate units, as truly affordable for very, very low-income displaced Black residents. The homes could be dedicated for the first right of refusal for those who are now dwelling in tents and makeshift shelters in East Oakland. The development could be a joint effort with several non-profits and faith-based housing de-
velopment groups. He said he thought it was an “interesting idea” but wondered aloud if the state, county or city would approve. I told him he should go for it and the community would thank him for recognizing the “Black straws that stirred the A’s drinks” for many years.
Wells Fargo Fires More Than 100
Wells Fargo & Co has fired knowledge of the situation, more than 100 employees sus- published in Bloomberg news. pected of improperly collectAccording to the article by ing coronavirus relief funds, Continued on Page 16 according to a person with