Marcenia Lyle “Toni” Stone: A League of Her Own Page 2
Black Lawmkers From States Across the Country Meet This Week
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As State Fights Fraud, Unemployed Californians Get Caught in Middle..Page 5
Ultimate Gaming League Brings E-Sports to Oakland Youth...Page 6
Oakland Post “Where there is no vision, the people perish...” Proverbs 29:18
57th Year, No. 24
Weekly Edition. Edition. Dec. 2-8, 2020
postnewsgroup.com
Progressives Win in School Board Elections – Oakland and Richmond This time, big money did not call the shots, said Francisco Ortiz, Richmond teacher leader
By Ken Epstein
GirlTrek is Changing the Health of Black Women Through Walking By Kiki
I was first introduced to GirlTrek when founders Vanessa Garrison and T. Morgan Dixon hosted a live conversation with poet Nikki Giovanni and civil rights activist Angela Davis on FaceBook. It was extraordinary to say the least. Garrison and Dixon met in college and are now visiting professors in Harvard Kennedy School on Social Innovation at Harvard University. Founded in 2010, the premise of the organization is simple: they are a health organization for Black women and girls in the United States. With their motto -‘Take a Walk, Join a Movement’ – Garrison and Dixon encourage health through walking as the first step. Per their website, GirlTrek.org: “Walking is the single most powerful thing a woman can do for her health,” according to Dr. Michael Evans. Heart disease is reduced by 50%; diabetes by 58%; dementia by 50%; anxiety by 48%; and depression by 47%. They have reached their initial goal of having 1 milContinued on Page 10
The Oakland Unified School District recently grabbed headlines when, for the first time in years, progressives won three out of four open seats on the school board, giving a major voice to public school advocates who say teachers and families deserve to have a say whether their schools are allowed to stay open and how the schools are run. In Oakland, it was grassroots effort with teachers who worked through their union, parents, families and community members who helped elect the new school board members in Districts 1, 3 and 5. They faced down campaigns fueled by hundreds of thou-
Adewale Adeyemo. Photo courtesy AB-TC.com.
Francisco Ortiz
Consuelo Lara
sands of dollars in corporate and billionaire donations that flooded into the races. Occurring at the same time but with not so much publicity, progressive candidates made an astonishing clean sweep on November 3 in West Contra Costa school board elections, defeating candidates who had more money and were supported by real estate interests
Jamela Smith-Folds
Otheree Christian
and others. Winners in the West Contra Costa County Unified School District (WCCUSD), which includes Richmond, El Cerrito, Pinole and Hercules, were Jamela Smith-Folds (Area 1); Otheree Christian (Area 2); Demetrio Gonzalez-Hoy (Area 4); Lelie Reekler (Area 5); and Continued on Page 10
Tech For Good Initiative to Provide Free Laptops to Low-Income Residents BCN
The Alameda County Workforce Development Board is partnering with other organizations to provide free refurbished laptops to low-income families and individuals. The county’s Tech for Good initiative is a partnership between the ACWDB, Goodwill of the Greater East Bay, and Corporate eWaste Solutions to provide access to high-quality technology to low-income community members. The initiative consists of a laptop recycling program in which Goodwill will donate gently used laptops to CEWS, who will then refurbish the laptop and install updated operating systems and Microsoft Office Suite 2010. The ACWDB will then
distribute the laptops and laptop bags free of charge to eligible disadvantaged families and individuals in Alameda County through its career centers and other community partners. The aim of the program is to help job seekers with barriers to employment gain access to online training programs, career center workshops and services, and online job resources that facilitate career transitions or new employment opportunities. “We have seen a sharp rise in people who are completely locked out of the job market because they don’t have lap-
tops or reliable internet services to look for employment or upgrade their skills. We’re committed to partnering to remove barriers to successful training, employment, and retention outcomes.” Interim ACWDB Director Rhonda Boykin said. Applicants must reside in Alameda County and meet income requirements. Individuals interested in the Tech for Good Initiative can access the ACWDB website for service providers’ information to apply or call ACWDB at (510) 259-3836. Goodwill of the Greater East Bay is accepting donations of unwanted laptops and power cords from businesses and individuals for the Tech for Good initiative. To donate, people can contact norcalpickup@cewsb2b.com or (510) 998-2828.
State’s Top Doc Burke-Harris to Lead Advisory Team as African Americans Raise COVID-19 Vaccine Concerns By Quinci LeGardye California Black Media
Nine months into the COVID-19 pandemic, three vaccine trials have yielded promising results, and the first round of Americans could begin to receive shots as early as midDecember. Last week, the California Dept. of Public Health announced that California Surgeon General Dr. Nadine Burke-Harris will chair the state’s Community Vaccine Advisory Committee. The group Burke-Harris leads will help guide the state’s decisionmaking about vaccine distribution. “While the COVID-19 vaccine is new, we are not starting our planning process from scratch. This is an area of expertise we have strong partnerships in, building on lessons learned from previous vaccination campaigns, including
Dr. Nadine Burke-Harris California Surgeon General
H1N1 and the seasonal flu,” said Gov. Gavin Newsom. But as the anticipated end of the global pandemic finally comes into our line of sight, some Black activists are raising concerns shared and echoed by skeptical African Americans across the country.
Earlier this month, San Diego civil rights organization People’s Alliance for Justice (PAFJ) sent letters to the four companies developing COVID-19 vaccines, asking them to release data regarding the diversity of vaccine trial participants.
“We need a breakdown of race and ethnicity to analyze data regarding whether communities of color are overrepresented in these trials or underrepresented or equally represented and how our communities are responding to the call for volunteering,” said the letter written by PAFJ Pres. Shane Harris. According to Harris, Pfizer, the global pharmaceutical company, has responded to his inquiry. He shared the letter with California Black Media. “With regard to your data request, the demographic data collected to date shows that approximately 30% of trial participants in the United States have racially and ethnically diverse backgrounds,” the letter from the CEO of Pfizer reads. “More specifically, 10.1% of U.S. participants are Black, and 13.1% of U.S. participants are of HisContinued on Page 10
Cecilia Rouse. Photo courtesy Princeton.edu
Two African Americans Picked to Serve in Pres. Elect Joe Biden’s Administration By Post Staff
A week after U.S. Rep. Clyburn called out President-elect Joe Biden for having only one Black person in his administration so far, two African Americans were selected to serve on his economy team. In a press conference on Monday, Biden made history by selecting the first woman, Janet Yellen, to head the Dept. of Treasury. He nominated Adewale Adeyemo, a former member of the Obama administration, to serve as the first Black man as deputy treasury secretary. Cecilia Rouse, who also served under Obama, was picked to head his Economic Council. If confirmed, Rouse will
be the second Black person in Biden’s executive branch as it is a Cabinet position. Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, of course, is the first. \Deputy Treasury Secretary nominee Adewale ‘Wally’ Adeyemo was born in Nigeria in 1981and raised in Southern California, later attending U.C. Berkeley and going on to gain a Juris Doctor at Yale Law School. At the young age of 24, he served as director of African American Outreach for t John Kerry’s 2004 presidential campaign and was based in the San Francisco office. Although currently president of the Obama Founda-
Police Brutality Misdiagnosed By Richard Johnson, K-53293, 3.W.2. San Quentin, CA 94974
As I sit here in prison, in the pit of unfathomable misery, I contemplate the need to speak and write about what is and has been going on as the “routine business” of unfettered police brutality in the poverty-stricken communities of color. These actions are not based primarily on so-called law and order but rather are centered on the racial disparity and demeaning of certain people in those communities. Some claim that acts of brutality come from just a few bad apples within the police department. But I think it is more of a systemic problem within police forces. Some people claim that these abuses are minor, but I ask how one can minimize assaults. mental abuse, terror, mayhem and murder on a national level and label it a disease equivalent to a pandemic. This disease is not some abnormal bodily condition but rather is a mental disconnect that often results in improper police conduct. To be clear, not every police department is burdened with such improper conduct. And there are some exceptional departments doing the job as proscribed. It is time for us to accept the fact that police misbehavior is not irrelevant. We need to con-
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Opinion
Richard Johnson
tinue to highlight the importance of police reform nationally. We, as a society, must create a dialogue with police departments that addresses the need for real positive changes that respects communities of color. Pretending that no problem exists allows it to remain as “business as usual”, The police brutality pandemic is just as lethal and widespread as any other life- taking force. One does not need to be a doctor to see that the nation is ill in many ways: the difference is the cure is readily available right now. Unlike the necessary protocols required to approve vaccines for the COVID-19 plague, there is no need for experimental drug trials and antidote tests within the minds of the people at this time. The deaths of the many George Floyds, Jacob Blakes, Breonna Taylors, Sandra Blands and the countless others who have been victims of this chronic disease cannot be in vain. We should not seek revenge. We should seek corrections.