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Oakland Post, week of November 23 -29, 2022

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No Charges to be Filed in Death of Supervisor Wilma Chan...Page 2

March Against Feat: When “Black Power“ Became Mainstream...Page 2

First Baptist Church Becomes Oakland’s First Official Resiliancy Hub Page 5

Sheriff’s Office: Phone Scammers Threaten Arrest to Get Money...Page 8

Oakland Post “Where there is no vision, the people perish...” Proverbs 29:18

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59th Year, No. 23

Weekly Edition. Edition. November 23 - 29, 2022

COMMENTARY: Will Progressive Victories Mean a More Democratic, Inclusive Oakland? By Ken Epstein The sweep of progressive-leaning local candidates in November’s elections potentially means a seismic shift toward democratic and egalitarian policies in Oakland as the city seeks to grapple with ballooning homelessness, garbagefilled streets, violent crime, a police department still unable to emerge from federal court oversight, and lack of commitment to building housing that most Oaklanders can afford. At the same time, the results were a significant defeat for the moderate, pro-big-business regime of outgoing Mayor Libby Schaaf, her corporate backers and the candidates she groomed and promoted as her legacy. In part, the failure of Schaafbacked candidates may have had a lot to do with the starkness of that legacy. While failing to address city needs, Schaaf served as a promi-

Mayor-Elect Karen Bass addressing supporters on election night, Nov. 8, 2022. Maxim Elramsisy | California Black Media

Rep. Karen Bass Makes History as L.A.’s First Black Woman Mayor By Maxim Elramsisy California Black Media

Newly elected local leaders, pictured from left: Sheng Thao, Mayor of Oakland; Nikki Fortunato Bas, District 2 Oakland City Councilmember; Janani Ramachandran, District 4, Oakland City Councilmember; Kevin Jenkins, District 6, Oakland City Councilmember; Valarie Bachelor, District 6 Oakland Board of Education; Pamela Price, Alameda County District Attorney.

nent cheerleader for Oakland A’s owner John Fisher’s exclusive residential development at Howard Terminal alongside a new baseball stadium. In opposition to many residents, she also backed the closing of many more neighborhood schools, the growth of charter schools, and blocked efforts for greater racial equity in construction in the awarding of city contracts.

Schaaf did not intervene to help stop the closure of Mills College, the historic Oakland-based women’s institution, which would have benefitted from some of the energy she spent leading the charge for the A’s real estate project. The national political showdown between Republicans and Democrats may also have impacted the results, as progressives and mainstream Democrats across

the country joined forces to slow down the so-called Red Wave to a trickle. While this national energy likely helped fuel Oakland’s progressive tide, the results for city races and the closely watched Alameda County District Attorney’s race may count as among the most important local progressive victories in the country.

A Federal Grant For a New Waterfront Ballpark Would Help the A’s Far More Than Oakland

mayor has no role in that process and so far, the City Council has yet to see a development agreement or receive the independent financial analysis it requested early this year.

Kitty Kelly Epstein

A federal inf r a st r uct u re grant for the A’s stadium project will not help ease congestion at the Port of Oakland. Once in a generation — if we’re lucky — we see huge federal investment in infrastructure. Thanks to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Mega Grant program, communities across the country have been asked to identify their highest-priority projects in the first round of long-needed transportation investment funding to help make U.S. transit safer, more efficient and resilient to future challenges. But not all projects hit that mark. Here in the Bay Area, several major transformative projects have applied for Mega Grant funding and are worthy of this kind of in-

A federal infrastructure grant for the A’s stadium project will not help ease congestion at the Port of Oakland. / Paul Kuroda/ Special to The Chronicle 2021

vestment. Contra Costa County’s 680 Forward project, for example, would improve mobility along Interstate 680, the backbone corridor for the region’s supply chain and commuters, linking airports, business centers and seaports. Then, there’s Oakland: Mayor Libby Schaaf’s administration applied for a $182 million Mega Grant to help fund what it describes as a “waterfront mobility hub” at Howard Terminal in Jack London Square. In reality, though,

the grant would help billionaire Oakland A’s owner John Fisher develop his $12 billion proposal for luxury condos and a stadium far more than it would the public. The Mega Grant program, which is currently reviewing initial proposals, should reject the proposal. The problems with such an application are obvious and numerous. First, even if the city got a Mega Grant, Oakland’s City Council would need to approve its use. The

The council has, however, received an update from city staff that there is nowhere near enough money to finance the project. According to a September informational memo from Assistant City Administrator Elizabeth Lake, the cost to the public would, “significantly exceed the A’s previous estimate.” How much that cost will increase and how the city plans to pay for it is unclear. Moreover, if a proposal with actual terms is ever presented, it will be after Mayor Schaaf and several current council members are out of office. It is possible — perhaps even likely — given the financial uncertainties, that the new City Council will not approve the project, and if it does, there are mul-

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“This is my home, and with my whole heart, I’m ready to serve, and my pledge to you is that we will hit the ground running on Day One,” Los Angeles Mayor-elect, Rep. Karen Bass announced Nov. 16 after the Associated Press (AP) declared her the projected winner in a tight race for the top job in California’s largest city. Bass, who has represented the 37th Congressional District of California for 11 years, will be the first woman to lead Los Angeles when she is sworn in on Dec. 12, 2022. She will also be the second Black Angelino to

hold the office in a city where 8.8% of residents are Black, according to the U.S. Census. Before Bass was elected to Congress in 2010, she previously served as a member of the California State Assembly representing the 47th district from 2004 to 2010. From 2008 to 2010 she was the first Black woman to be State Assembly speaker. In the U.S Congress, Bass represented West Los Angeles and from 2019 to 2021 served as Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus. Her opponent, businessman Continued on Page 10

California ended affirmative action policies in 1996 with the passage of Proposition 209.

Panel Discusses Supreme Court Case Threatening End of Affirmative Action

By Antonio Ray Harvey California Black Media

A webinar hosted by ChangeLawyers, the American Constitution Society (ACS) Bay Area, and Equal Justice Society was held Nov. 15 to discuss the possible outcomes of the pending decision by the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) in the case of Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) v. Harvard. The online event titled, “The End of Affirmative Action:

How SCOTUS Is Coming After BIPOC Students” delved into the impact of banning the consideration of race as a factor during the college admissions process. Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) students would be affected by such a ruling, said panelist Lisa Holder, an attorney and president of Equal Justice Society (EJS). EJS is an Oakland-based nonprofit and civil rights organization that does work geared toContinued on Page 10

Tiny Homes Offer Hope for the Holidays and Beyond

By Dr. Maritony A. Yamot and Rev. Ken Lackey

Holidays are the season when we stop and begin to think about “How can I give back this year and different ways to help out?” fortunately, there are plenty of ways to help out during the holidays that don’t cost a thing. Our year-long Tiny Homes project with Rev. Ken Lackey has to-

increase its workload and we wanted to remind our community that everybody matters to God. We are grateful for the partnership of support that the Oakland Post, as our media partner has helped us with gathering community leaders and faithbased leaders to help solve our increasing homeless problem

in the Bay Area and across the state of California. We can no longer ignore homelessness in Oakland which is now a humanitarian crisis. We want to launch an intensive month-long generosity campaign to help the increasing homeless issues in our neighborhood.

We invite you to join us as we partner with some of Oakland’s fabulous nonprofit organizations to meet critical needs in our communities. Whether through donation or action, there are plenty of opportunities to give. We are accepting applications for volunteers and accepting do-

nations that we can use to build Tiny Homes. You might have things in your house or garage you haven’t used or extra construction tools, a bag of studs nails, used doors, windows, roofing materials, lumber, metal, hardwood flooring sheetrock tape, paints, and anything that we can recycle to build and add to our Tiny Homes.

We are also looking for vehicle donations of trailers or any truck for hauling material and picking up volunteers and homeless that are helping build Tiny Homes. We build our homes with primarily donated and surplus materials which allows us to cut costs and provide a pleasant Continued on Page 10


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