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Select an Education Secretary Who Will Challenge Status Quo
Triple Dog Dare: An Open Letter to Governor Newsom
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Oakland Post “Where there is no vision, the people perish...” Proverbs 29:18
57th Year, No. 22
Weekly Edition. Edition. Nov. 18-24, 2020
postnewsgroup.com
Pressure Increases on Gov. Newsom to Appoint Rep. Bass or Rep. Lee to Replace Sen. Harris By Antonio Ray Harvey California Black Media
A loud chorus of voices from across California and around the country are putting pressure on California Gov. Gavin Newsom to appoint Rep. Karen Bass (D-CA-37) or Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA-13) to fill the state’s U.S. Senate seat that will be vacated by Vice President-elect Kamala Harris. A coalition of community groups and organizers from Southern California have created a petition at Change.org titled “Let’s Keep the Seat.” It asks for support to keep a Black woman in Harris’ position and points out why that decision is important. “Currently, Kamala Harris is the only African American woman in the entire United States Senate and when her seat becomes vacant there will be no African American women in the U.S. Senate,” the petition
From left to right: 2 Star Market volunteer Clinton Givans and SmOakRing Smoakhouse owners Carlos and LaTisha Hernandez.
Rep. Karen Bass (D-CA-37)
explains. The petition also highlights Bass’ and Lee’s experience. “Please sign the petition and join the movement to urge Gov. Gavin Newsom to replace Kamala Harris with either Congresswoman Karen Bass, Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus or Congress-
Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA-13)
woman Barbara Lee, both of whom are coalition builders with significant national and foreign policy experience,” it states. Democracy for America (DFA), a Left-leaning political action committee, also launched a grassroots effort last week calling on Newsom
to replace Harris with another progressive Black woman in the U.S. Senate. “In this year’s election, Black women helped make history by making Kamala Harris the first Black woman to be elected vice president. Today, Continued on Page 10
‘Smoakring Smoakhouse’ BBQ in Oakland’s Dimond District Will Offer Free Thanksgiving Dinners By Clifford L. Williams
Last year during the Thanksgiving holiday, 2 Star Market, located at 2020 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland, fed nearly 700 Bay Area residents during their 17th Annual Thanksgiving
Community Celebration. This year’s 18th annual Thanksgiving meal will be vastly different because the coronavirus pandemic has prevented large groups of people from gathering. SmOakRing Smokehouse, a barbeque eatContinued on Page 10
Kaiser Permanente Supports COVID-19 Prevention Efforts Moms 4 Housing March to Protest Housing Auction For People Experiencing Homelessness In Oakland A $150,000 grant to Roots Community Health Center will provide more medical treatment; increase access to COVID-19 testing By Kerri Leedy
Kaiser Permanente is supporting efforts to provide more COVID-19 testing to people experiencing homelessness in Oakland and raising awareness about how to prevent further spread of the virus in the community. A $150,000 grant to Roots Community Health Center – a full-service primary care clinic headquartered in East Oakland – will enhance the center’s Oakland Street Team Outreach Medical Program or STOMPTM. Oakland STOMP provides medical treatment and outreach services to people experiencing chronic homelessness who don’t otherwise have access to medical care.
Dr. Noha Aboelata, Roots’ chief executive officer.
The Kaiser Permanente funding will add one an additional person to the Oakland STOMP team, which will allow the medical team to reach more individuals. The team consists of a physician, medical assistant/phlebotomist and outreach worker. The grant
will help the team provide more COVID-19 testing, flu vaccinations and hand out more supplies such as masks and hand sanitizer to help prevent community spread of COVID-19. Founded in 2008, Roots Community Health Center serves about 6,000 individuals a year in Oakland and offers a variety of medical and wraparound services for people without other access to health care. “It’s critical that we have this additional support for people who are unsheltered because there is so much more of a need now among our homeless population,” said Dr. Noha Aboelata, Roots’ chief executive officer. “To have our team supported with more materials
and more staffing is crucial to helping us do more COVID-19 education and linkages to services during this time of need.” Aboelata said the COVID-19 positivity rate is already high in East Oakland and is currently on the rise. Some of the most serious COVID outbreaks occur within congregate living settings such as shelters, Aboelata said. She added that the Kaiser Permanente funding will help provide the information and resources needed to contain some of the spread of the virus. This is one of 14 grants Kaiser Permanente recently awarded to nonprofits and government agencies that serve Continued on Page 10
Mayor Announces Affordable Housing Pilot Program for 12 New Teachers
By Post Staff
Continuing their movement for affordable housing, Moms 4 Housing led a march in the rain Tuesday to protest the twice-weekly foreclosure auction on the steps of the René C. Davidson Courthouse in Oakland, marking the one-year anniversary of their bold seizure of a vacant, foreclosed property in West Oakland. No one showed up at the courthouse, meaning no homes were sold that day at the auction. Moms 4 Housing captured national headlines last year
when the four mothers occupied the West Oakland home. On January 14, Alameda County Sheriff’s dep- Carroll Fife uties carried out a militarized eviction. They used a battering ram to break into the house, arresting the four women. The district attorney decided not to press charges. Eventually, Wedgewood Properties, which owned the foreclosed home, agreed to sell it to the Continued on Page 10
Dr. Nicholas Moss Accepts Appointment as Alameda County Health Officer
Teachers’ union president says housing crisis demands Oakland go beyond “band aid” solutions
Dr. Nicholas Moss, Alameda County Health officer. By Jerri Applegate Randrup
OUSD Supt. Kyla Johnson-Trammel By Ken Epstein
Mayor Libby Schaaf and the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) this week announced a pilot program that will help pay for affordable housing so a few Oakland teachers-in-training will be able to afford to live in the
Keith Brown
city where they teach. I n an interview with the Oakland Post, Oakland Education Association Pres. Keith Brown said that while it is good to provide affordable housing for a handful of teachers, the crisis calls for more than “Band-Aid” solutions.
Paloma Apartments in the Laurel District.
The program currently serves 12 teachers and is not funded by public money. The pilot program was made possible by $150,000 in donations from the Community Development Finance nonprofit, Pritzker Foundation, Hellman Foundation, the California Endowment and
other philanthropic donors. While no funds are currently available to expand the program beyond the original handful of teachers, the goal is to raise money to expand the program to over 100 teachers in the next nine Continued on Page 10
Dr. Nicholas Moss, MD, MPH has accepted appointment as the County Health Officer. The appointment was approved by the Alameda County Board of Supervisors at Tuesday’s regular meeting. Moss has served as Interim Health Officer since July, when Gov. Gavin Newsom selected former Health Officer Dr. Erica Pan to serve at the state level. Moss has served as a leader in Alameda County’s COVID-19 response since January, overseeing many aspects from data reporting to
reopening policies. “Dr. Moss brings extensive knowledge in communicable disease and nearly 10 years of experience in leadership roles,” said Colleen Chawla, Alameda County Health Care Services Agency director. “His appointment provides deep knowledge of, and ongoing continuity in, our response to the COVID-19 pandemic.” Moss is an infectious disease medicine specialist and medical epidemiologist by training. He joined the agency in 2013 as the Public Health HIV STD Section director. He advanced Continued on Page 10