Oakland Post “Where there is no vision, the people perish...” Proverbs 29:18
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Weekly Edition: Dec. 29, 2021 - Jan. 4, 2022
58th Year, No. 28
Former Oakland School Board Member Greg Hodge Launches 2022 Mayoral Bid
Nancy Skinner
Skinner Introduces Bill for Children of COVID Victims By Keith Burbank, Bay City News
Low-income California children would get up to $5,000 if they lost a parent to COVID-19 under legislation that state Senator Nancy Skinner, (D-Berkeley) plans to introduce in January. The Hope for Children Act would create savings accounts with up to $3,000 for children as old as 9 and up to $5,000 for children 10 to 17 years old. Also, children ineligible for federal survivor benefits would receive survivor support through a program called CalHope, which would be established by Skinner’s legislation. Children would be eligible for a savings account, called a Hope Savings Account, if they lost a parent or a primary caregiver to COVID-19. Skinner’s bill would also require the state’s Health and Human Services Agency to report on the cost and the authority needed to provide similar savings accounts to children who are long-term wards of California’s foster care program and others disproportionately affected by poverty. “The Hope for Children Act will offer a more secure future to children who lost their parents to this deadly pandemic,” said Skinner, who is chair of the Senate Budget Committee, in a statement. “Children who are long-term wards of California’s foster care system and others disproportionately impacted by extreme povaerty also face uncertain futures, so the act creates the possibility of Hope Accounts for these children,” Skinner said. An estimated 20,000 children in California lost a parent or primary caregiver to COVID-19, according to Skinner’s office. Nationwide, that number may be more than 140,000 and 65% of those may be from racial and ethnic minority households, according to a study in the journal Pediatrics. Many who died were low-wage workers, according to the senator’s office. Savings accounts for children like the Hope Savings Account aim to promote social and economic well-being. According to Skinner’s office, they are a “hopeful new policy.” The CalHope program would provide state-funded monthly benefits to children who had a parent die without documenting enough federal work credits for federal survivor benefits. According to Skinner’s office, for several reasons parents and caregivers may not have logged enough work credits with the federal government for their children to be eligible for federal survivor benefits. To read the full story, go to postnewsgroup.com
With approximately 100 ardent supporters present, Greg Hodge launched his campaign for mayor on Dec. 18 at Oeste Restaurant, a woman-of-colorowned business in downtown Oakland. Hodge, an experienced advocate for children and a former OUSD board member, has embarked on a listening campaign to understand what voters believe to be important in crafting comprehensive solutions to reimagining safety, providing decent, affordable housing for its most vulnerable residents, and enhancing economic opportunities for all of Oakland’s residents. Hodge offers his considerable skills as a consensus builder, healing practitioner, community attorney, policy advocate and cultural artist to bring them to bear on the leadership challenges ahead. “I love Oakland. I believe in its people. I know that we can listen to our collective wisdom, lift up the best ideas and lead to get things done.”
Gail Berkley-Armstrong with husband Ray Armstrong
Legendary Journalist Gail Berkley Dies at 74
She Worked for Black Press for Over 48 Years
Greg Hodge. Photo by Bethanie Hines Photography.
“How we will bring ‘Hope and Healing’ to an anxious City will be our opening focus,” said Hodge during his remarks. “We will pay attention to the things that really matter to all Oaklanders. In a moment of an unprecedented uptick of
violence, homelessness and blight, and economic insecurity for many, the citizens of Oakland will have the opportunity to make leadership choices which can either transform Continued on Page 8
Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom Center Holds Life and Legacy Academy By Post Staff
This week, the Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom Center’s Life and Legacy Academy is being held in Aptos, California, at the Monte Toyon Camp and Conference Center. Sixty young people and adults are involved in an intensive week-long study of the contributions of Dr. King and their relationship to how we live our lives today. The focus of the week is on self-transformation and the responsibilities we each have for the important work ahead in 2022. Dr. King Life and Legacy Academy is one of the
Freedom Center’s leadership bootcamps. Participants study and practice the principles of self-transformation embodied by Dr. King’s nonviolence as a way of life. We study and practice get-
ting out of our comfort zone, changing ourselves, and developing the capacity to organize, inspire and motivate others for the difficult tasks of social and Continued on Page 8
Review by Planning Commission on Jan. 12 Gives Citizens Short Time to Review
Opinion
Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa Dies at 90
Often called the ‘conscience of South Africa,’ Archbishop Desmond Tutu died of complications from prostate cancer in Cape Town on Sunday morning. He was 90. His body will lie in state at St George’s Anglican Cathedral and the church bells will ring for 10 minutes for five days at midday in his honor. Tutu’s funeral Mass will be held on Jan. 1, 2022. The first Black archbishop of South Africa was a prominent leader in the anti-apartheid movement, awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 and named the head of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission by the late Nelson Mandela in 1994. He also lent his voice to other human rights issues, supporting LGBTQ rights and independence for Palestine.
Desmond Tutu. Facebook photo.
He was also known for supporting women and ordained many to serve in the church. Tutu was born into a poor family in Northwest South Africa, saying of his upbringing that they were not affluent, but “we were not destitute either.” He excelled in high Continued on Page 8
Let’s Talk Black Education
By Dr. Margaret Fortune, Port of Oakland area that would be turned into a stadium and luxury housing. Public domain image.
I’m one of the people who can’t read 3,500 pages in a couple of days. So, in this column I simply point out a very few of the issues raised by 400 Oakland residents who critiqued Fisher’s real
estate development on Port land and that are still not solved. [Find document link in the online version of this opinion at postnewsgroup.com.] Oaklanders said Continued on Page 8
HCW Serves Free Christmas Brunch to Over 200 By Cindy Williams
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Would Black Students Thrive With The Same Focus CA Gives English Learners?
By Kitty Kelly Epstein
Home of Chicken and Waffles (HCW) opened its doors on Christmas morning to serve more than 200 free meals in the restaurant and to-go meals for the food insecure community in Oakland. Oakland entrepreneur Derreck Johnson and HCW led the effort to partner with LGBTQ Center, Impact Oakland Now (ION), City Team, and City Eats to distribute meals to low-
Gail Cordelia Berkley-Armstrong, legendary awardingwinning Bay Area journalist and Sun-Reporter editor, has died after a lengthy illness. She was 74. She was born Jan. 5, 1947, in Berkeley, California. She attend-
ed Berkeley public schools and received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Los Angeles. She passed away peacefully in Oakland on Dec. 26, 2021, surrounded by family The veteran journalist was
By Post Staff
In Pre-Christmas Surprise, Oakland Mayor, City Staff Quietly Release 3,500 Page Report on Port Stadium Project
Six days before Christmas, Oakland City staff issued a 3,500page document on billionaire John Fisher’s luxury housing project at Howard Terminal and scheduled a vote on it by the Planning Commission three weeks after Christmas. Obviously, few of us can read 3,500 pages in that amount of time. So, the mayor and city staff who work for her have made it pretty clear that they don’t care whether the public has meaningful input.
By Evan Carlton Ward, San Francisco Sun-Reporter
A child (center) holds a toy received at the Home of Chicken and Waffles as Derreck Johnson (right) looks on. Photo courtesy of Derreck Johnson.
In a state known for its progressivism, you may find it shocking that Black Californians live under a mandate that nothing can be done for Black children in our public schools as a matter of law. This is true even though, according to the California Department of Education, 67% of Black students don’t read or write at grade level. In math, nearly 80% of Black children do not perform at grade level, and 86% are below grade level in science. That means that Black Californians are not being prepared to participate in the STEM economy for which our state has been the epicenter of innovation for the world. Californians have become notorious for our misplaced values. If you go to a restaurant in California, you can’t have a plastic straw because a fish in the ocean might choke on it. But if you are a Black child in California, where Demo-
Opinion
crats hold a super majority in the Legislature and the Governor’s office, the state will not protect you from receiving an inferior education, even though the evidence points to the fact that most Black children are being failed by the Golden State’s public schools. In 2020, as Californians packed the streets chanting “Black Lives Matter,” most California voters went to the polls to defeat a ballot initiative that would have cleared the way for the state to provide tarContinued on Page 8