Oakland Post, week of March 15 - 21, 2023

Oakland High Wins State Title

By Carla Thomas

The Oakland High School varsity basketball team took the state championship on Friday, March 11 in Sacramento at Golden Arco 1 Center.

The team’s 59-43 victory over Buena High School of Ventura in the CIF Division 3 championship game was the highlight of a fivegame winning spree.

It is the first time in the Wildcats history that Oakland High’s team has had this victory.

“I am so proud of the team,” said Wildcats Head Coach Orlando Watkins. “They put in the work and worked together, and now they’ve made history.”

Watkins couldn’t be more proud of how the team’s accomplishment. Notable were teammates Money Williams scoring 22 points, Anthony Lacy scoring nine points and seven rebounds; Te’Shawn Gamble’s brought in

nine points, and Josh Clark had eight points,. When the team fell short of winning the OAL (Oakland Athletic League) title, Watkins said he could feel the team shift and build momentum toward success.

Many of the team members and coaches are still letting the win sink in.

“I don’t think it has really sunk in yet,” said Assistant Coach Eric Van Laeken. “Winning the state championship was amazing. I’ve been coaching middle and high schoolers since I graduated from college in 1996. This championship means a lot. It was our goal to win, and we actually pulled it off.”

Oakland High School’s Athletic Director Jonas Perez said the team’s work ethic was the key to their success. “I saw the hard work these individuals put in every day from the beginning. Some

Continued on page 12

Oakland Post

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

Weekly Edition. March 15 - 21, 2023

NOMBC Saved - Pastor Sylvester Rutledge Gives Thanks

distributing marketing materials offering the campus for sale.

Responding to Kaplan’s offer to collaborate with HNU to save the campus for educational purposes, Hawk replied, “At this point it is unclear to HNU how the City of Oakland can assist with the process of achieving the objectives of obtaining the highest and best use of the HNU property for public good.”.

“Nevertheless, if the city is aware of any interested acquirer or successor entity, please provide that information to Mike Taquino

Family and members gather outside North Oakland Missionary Baptist Church. Front row, from left to right: Timothy Rutledge Jr., grandson of Pastor Sylvester Rutledge; his daughter, J.M. Hale; First Lady Audrey Golden Rutledge, and Pastor Rutledge. Back row from left to right: church members Chavonne Robinson, Clarence Wells

By Carla Thomas

Dr. Sylvester Rutledge, pastor of North Oakland Missionary Baptist Church (NOMBC) expressed his thanks for the outpouring of support from his peers, pastors of different denominations and elected officials in the community.

“My family, my wife, and congregation are so grateful,” said Rutledge who has pastored the

church for over 40 years. “We understand the old saying that a closed mouth doesn’t get fed. If you need help, you need not be embarrassed.

“Thanks to the pastors and elected officials and churches who have gathered to help us. Now we’re able to continue on with our programming and partner with other churches. It’s also been amazing to have support sent from Congresswoman Barbara Lee and

Alameda County Supervisors

Nate Miley and Keith Carson.” Pastor Rutledge and NOMBC have been providing space free of charge to families unable to pay for funeral services and has often guided younger pastors in the city.

“It’s kind of like in life, if you do good for somebody, at some point somebody will do good for you and apparently it came around, it was my turn.”

By Ken Epstein

Leaving many students, faculty and Oakland residents feeling betrayed, Holy Names University’s leadership is aggressively moving ahead with plans to sell the 60acre campus in the Oakland hills for high-end private residences and have not been willing to work with city leaders and other universities that are reaching out to save

Oakland Teachers Ramp Up Strike Readiness

By Ken Epstein

In an escalation of labor pressure, hundreds of teachers boycotted district-organized Professional Development (PD) sessions, instead attending a mass, Oakland Education Association (OEA) rally this week at Lake Merritt to demand the Oakland Unified School District begin bargaining “in good

faith” for a new union contract.

The rally Wednesday afternoon was held at the Lake Merritt Amphitheater, across from the Oakland Museum.

Chairing the rally, OEA Vice President Kampala Taiz-Rancifer said the union has been trying to negotiate for months with the school district for a new contract

but has not received responses to its demands for “dignity, respect in the workplace … for a living wage (and)… for student supports and community schools.”

“Oakland has been bargaining with OUSD for safe and racially just community schools,” she said.

“We are here today to demand that OUSD bargain with us in good

faith.”

OEA Interim President Ismael Armendariz said, “Today, we took a step in having a labor action; we walked out on our [professional development]. That is an escalation.”

“OUSD has been bargaining with OEA since October,” he continued. “We have a 51-member

the site as a center for higher education.

In a reply to a recent letter to Vice Mayor Rebecca Kaplan, Jeanine Hawk, HNU’s vice president for finance and administration, wrote that HNU has already placed the property on the market through real estate broker, Mike Taquino at CBRE marketing, to market the property and is already

or to me,” she wrote. She added that HNU had sent letters to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) so see if they might be interested in establishing a campus on the West Coast.

The CBRE Group, Inc. is the world’s largest commercial real

Continued on page 12

bargaining team that spent hours crafting [21] bargaining proposals.

OUSD has come to the table with two unserious proposals and zero counter [proposals].”

Criticizing the district’s approach to bargaining in public, he said, “We cannot bargain on Facebook Live; we are going to bargain at the table.”

He accused the district of spreading “fear, uncertainty and

doubt to divide us as workers,” which is a “boss tactic,” adding that the district is talking about a budget crisis, even though it has received $66 million from the state to develop community schools.

“There is always a budget crisis when we’re bargaining,” Armendariz said.

OEA is getting ready to take a vote to see if members are prepared

Continued on page 12

Steven Borg, Chairperson, Holy Names University

of the Golden Light Ministries feeding program, and the pastor’s son Timothy Rutledge Sr. Photo by Carla Thomas.

The team’s entire Oakland High roster (*1st-team all-OAL; ** 2nd team) includes: Da’Sean Armstrong, Rohm Neal, Josh Clark**, Zaymani “Money” Williams*, Jordan Spencer, Jimon Campbell, Marcel Macon Bennett, Anthony Lacy, Te’Shawn Gamble*, Noah-Alan Ragasa, Will Tidwell, Zaymani Mitchell, Pierre Stevenson, Desmond West, James Fitzgerald, Ja’shaun Jackson, Erick Jackson, Couraji West, Dillan Cooper, Terrence Roquemore, Lorenzo Arroyo Garcia, Jaylon King. Coach: Orlando Watkins.

African American Vintners Showcased in Black Vines Event

By Carla Thomas

Black Vines: A Toast to Black Wineries, Black Art and Black Culture held their 12th anniversary event on Saturday, Feb. 25 at The Bridgeyard, near the Judge John Sutter Regional Shoreline in Oakland. It is the longest-running African American winemaker showcase.

Hundreds of guests gathered to celebrate and enjoy a live jazz band while sampling wines and

a featured option on flights with Alaska Airlines.

Winemakers and vintners at Black Vines included Free Range Flower Winery, Wachira Wines, She Wines, Vintnoir, P. Harrell, and Bass Note Sangria, among others.

“We see this event as an extension of their collective and independent outreach efforts to increase awareness, visibility and market demand for these labels.

Our core mission is to provide a

Cathay Williams — The Only Known Female Buffalo Soldier

1876, was pulled from an interview with the St. Louis Daily Times: “The regiment I joined wore the Zouave uniform and only two persons, a cousin and a particular friend, members of the regiment, knew that I was a woman. They never ‘blowed’ on me. They were partly the cause of my joining the army. Another reason was I wanted to make my own living and not be dependent on relations or friends.

vides grants and services via the McBride Sisters wine brand.

For Stroud, building economic pathways in the industry will strengthen the business of Black vintners, and ensure sustainability for their community.

“These strategic alliances further establish our desire to provide a consumer touchpoint for wineries to be introduced to a new consumer base. The future success of wineries, going forward, will be

By Tamara Shiloh

Cathay Williams knew that she couldn’t volunteer to serve as a regular soldier in the U.S. military. But knowing didn’t stop her. The young girl who had once labored as a house slave on the Johnson Plantation in Jefferson City, Missouri devised a plan to enlist in the U.S. Regular Army: she would register under the pseudonym William Cathay.

As contraband, or a captured slave, Williams served as an army cook and a washerwoman, traveling with the infantry all over the country while serving under General Philip Sheridan. This experience with the military didn’t sat-

isfy Williams; she wanted more. Military service held the lure of independence for a young, unmarried former slave.

On Nov. 15, 1866, the 17-yearold, born to an enslaved mother and a free father in Independence, Missouri in 1844, enlisted for a three-year engagement, passing herself off as a man.

At the time, the army did not require full medical examinations. After passing the physical tests, Williams was assigned to the 38th U.S. Infantry Regiment, one of four all-Black units newly formed that year. The regiment would later be known as the Buffalo Soldiers.

This excerpt, dated Jan. 2,

“Soon after I joined the army, I was taken with the smallpox and was sick at a hospital across the river from St. Louis, but as soon as I got well, I joined my company in New Mexico. I was as that paper says, I was never put in the guard house, no bayonet was ever put to my back. I carried my musket and did guard and other duties while in the army, but finally I got tired and wanted to get off. I played sick, complained of pains in my side, and rheumatism in my knees.

“The post surgeon found out I was a woman and I got my discharge. The men all wanted to get rid of me after they found out I was a woman. Some of them acted real bad to me.”

Williams was discharged honorably by her commanding officer, Captain Charles E. Clarke, on Oct. 14, 1868.

After leaving the army, Williams moved to Pueblo, Colorado, where she again worked as a cook and washerwoman. She was married for a short time and bore no children. There are no official records of her death, however, it is estimated that she passed away sometime around 1893.

buffets of gourmet bites throughout the venue.

The brainchild of founder Fern Stroud, the event is designed to both promote and support the Black wine experience along with good food and great music.

Stroud, a former Silicon Valley technology professional says, “Black Vines, is a way to bridge gaps and build lifelong ties between community, business and the arts while we celebrate Black excellence.”

Proceeds from the event supports the nonprofit think tank, BlackFemaleProject.org.

Stroud was also excited to announce a new partnership with Alaska Airlines. In the new “Wines Fly Free” program, guests were able to bring cases of wine on their flights back home for free. Also, the McBride Sisters wines are now

tasting experience unlike any other. There has been a steady loyalty factor born out of our Black Vines annual event.”

Additional Black Vine partners include Wine Direct, an industryleading direct-to-consumer platform; the NAACP x BeyGOOD Black-Owned Small Business Impact Fund for winery empowerment, and She Can, which pro-

heavily dependent upon the experiences created for new potential customers.”

For every event, Stroud, says spreading love is key. “With all that we do for Black Vines, love is at the heart of it, and we want our guests and patrons to feel every bit of that.”

For more information visit: www.BlackVines.net

‘Put Ur Play On’ Productions Showcases Local Talent at Laney College

By Carla Thomas

On Saturday, Feb. 26 at the Laney College Odell Johnson Theater, the Third Annual Black Centric Showcase celebrated Black History Month. The show depicted eras of Black history, while featuring talent showcases of monologues, skits, dance, rap and singing expressing the past, present and future.

“The showcase was designed to feature talented members of the community performing all eras of Black history: Where we are from, where we have been, and where are we going,” said Saleemah Jones, production company founder-producer of “Put Ur Play On” with assistant director Angel Galloway.

Pamela Terry performed a monologue spun from August Wilson’s “Fences.” Terry responded to a casting call ad for the role.

“Through my audition I learned about the production company, Saleemah Jones, and assistant director, Angel Galloway,” said Terry. “These two sisters are brilliant in their work to improve the quality of life in the community.” She said the experience was both inspiring and challenging.

AKIL of Oakland performed his original song “Gave Us 28,” referring to the number of days in February for Black History Month. “I like to produce positive rap,” said AKIL. “They gave us 28

but every day we make history.”

Other performances featured an original skit on love by Lauren Black and Erynne-Dnae of Cotati, California, and a poem by Oakland middle-schooler Talia Rochelle entitled “Go to the Back, Rosa Parks.” “Rosa Parks is an important, strong, brave woman in Black history,” she said.

Paris Jackson Jr. performed an original dance.

Gary Moore of San Francisco performed a monologue from August Wilson’s “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.” Shelly Broadnax performed an original poem entitled “MIBPOC,” about having to check the ‘other’ box when filling out surveys and applications.

IMAC FADICHI of Chicago performed an original rap, “The Good Show,” and Pierre Jones of Richmond performed an original monologue entitled, “Black Caesar.”

The second half of the show included the stage production “Unapologetically Black: Here to Facilitate Harm Reduction Services for Those in Need, Inc.,” written by Itoro Bassey, a Nigerian playwright.

“Itoro reached out to us, and we thought it was a great way to put this perspective on our platform to raise voices,” said Jones, play producer.

The production, satiric in nature, explored the seriousness of

Black and white race relations including white privilege and white insensitivity toward African Americans in everyday situations.

In one scene a white male doctor talks to a Black female patient in a dismissive manner. At the height of their disagreement, the two actors are frozen in time. A third actor enters, “Dr. Find You an Ally,” performed by Anthony Dixon, who narrates the situation and offers to serve as a white ally for the Black woman for 24 hours at the price of $59.99.

The actors unfreeze and the Black woman joins the narrator, as he explains his services including a bootcamp provided to retrain white perpetrators and transform their behavior into one of respect, understanding and empathy toward Black people.

Actors in the production included Tyler Mae, David Cesari, Shayna Howlett, Toni Rochelle, Ziare Whitelow, Christina Gluszaczak, Harley Ford and Cody Johnson.

“It’s been great to combine a showcase featuring some of the best in Bay Area talent with a stage play production written by a Nigerian sister,” said Jones. “The month may have 28 days, but we are 365 days a year, 24-7 making history,” said Galloway.

On Nov. 15, 1866, the 17-year-old, born to an enslaved mother and a free father in Independence, Missouri in 1844, enlisted for a three-year engagement, passing herself off as a man.

Actors in stage production “Unapologetically Black: Here to Facilitate Harm Reduction Services for Those in Need, Inc.” (l-r): Toni Rochelle, David Cesari, Ziare Whitelow, Christina Gluszaczak, Harley Ford, Cody Johnson, Shayna Howlett, Tyler Mae and Anthony Dixon. Photo by Carla Thomas.

Aaliyah Nitoto at the Black Vines: A Toast to Black Wineries, Black Art and Black Culture 12th anniversary event on Feb. 26. Photo by Carla Thomas

Paula Harrell, left, owner of P. Harrell Wines with staff at the Black Vines: A Toast to Black Wineries, Black Art and Black Culture 12th anniversary event. Photo by Carla Thomas

Wachira Wines staff pour samples of wine at the Black Vines: A Toast to Black Wineries, Black Art and Black Culture 12th anniversary event.

Women’s History Month: Assemblywoman McKinnor Joins Panel of Legislators at Sacramento Event

Ben Jealous

COMMENTARY: A Historic Vote and the Tools It Gave Us

By Antonio Ray Harvey California Black Media

Last week, Assemblymember

Tina McKinnor (D-Inglewood) joined a diverse panel of women legislators at the “Women in California’s Legislature: 2023 Speaker Series on California’s Future” luncheon to discuss the essential roles they play in shaping governmental policies benefiting Californians.

The event was hosted by the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) at the Sheraton Grand Hotel in Sacramento.

This year’s class of legislators includes the largest number of women in state history — 18 senators and 32 assemblymembers. Joining McKinnor on the panel were state Senators Janet Nguyen (R-Garden Grove), Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley) and Assemblymember Liz Ortega (D-San Leandro). McKinnor said she made the decision to get into politics after seeing the video of police officers beating motorist Rodney King in Los Angeles in 1992.

Over the years, McKinnor said, a major influence on her policy decisions are the lessons gleaned from raising a family.

“I think (women) bring diversity to the table because we are about taking care of our families,” McKinnor said. “So, the legislation that you see coming out of this (panel), I believe, will be around housing, jobs, equity and public safety. The women here are going to make a tremendous difference because we take care of our families differently.”

Before McKinnor was elected to the California State Assembly in June 2022, she served as civic

engagement director for the nonprofit LA Voice and previously served as operational director for the California Democratic Party and chief of staff to several members of the State Assembly. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree in accounting from California State University Dominguez Hills.

McKinnor is currently chair of the Public Employment and Retirement Committee. She serves on other policy committees, including the Business and Professions Committee, Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials Committee and the Governmental Organization Committee.

McKinnor’s legislative priorities include California’s continued COVID-19 recovery, increased funding for public education, expanded universal access to healthcare, the state’s housing and homelessness crisis and reforming the state’s criminal justice system.

“I never thought I’d be in politics in 1992. I thought I had better get off the sofa and pay attention to what’s going on,” McKinnor said. “After that, I didn’t sit down, and I got involved in the community.”

Black women are 7.7% of the total U.S. population and 15.3% of the total number of women in the country, according to the U.S. Census.

In the 2021 study, the State Innovation Exchange (SIE) — a group that advocates for representation in state legislatures — and the National Organization for Black Elected Legislative Women (NOBEL Women) took a deep dive into their analysis of women serving in government.

SIE and NOBEL Women reported that Black women fill just

By Ben Jealous

Vice President Kamala Harris

is sure to be remembered every March in Women’s History Month as the first woman and the first person of color to serve our nation in that position. As notable as those two facts are, she may grow to be known just as much for a single vote in the Senate that helped save the planet.

Last August, she broke the 5050 deadlock between Democrats and Republicans in the Senate to pass the Inflation Reduction Act.

That historic package, along with the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act that Harris had crisscrossed the country in 2021 to build support for, give us a oncein-a-generation chance to protect the climate and build a cleaner, fairer economy.

Both laws bear Harris’ mark. For example, the two packages provide billions to replace diesel school buses with electric ones and an additional tax credit for purchases that counties and cities make on their own. As a senator, Harris repeatedly sponsored bills

to electrify the nation’s school buses. Similarly, she championed proposals to help recovery in lowincome communities that bear a disproportionate burden of pollution and climate; the IRA includes $60 billion directed to help those places.

Harris’ role inside and outside Washington on environmental issues isn’t surprising. When she was elected San Francisco’s district attorney 20 years ago, she started one of the first environmental justice units in a prosecutor’s office. When she moved on to be California’s attorney general, she fought to protect the state from fossil fuel interests, winning tens of millions in civil settlements and a criminal indictment against the pipeline company responsible for an oil spill off Santa Barbara, as well as suing the federal government to block fracking off the coast. It’s a path others have been able to follow in the years since (Columbia University keeps a database of attorneys general’s environmental actions now).

It’s a concern that runs deep.

Like I did, Harris grew up in environmentally conscious northern California in a household deeply involved in the civil rights movement. She learned early that conservation was a good thing, so much so that she has joked she couldn’t understand as a youngster why people she knew said conservatives were bad.

semblymembers Lori D. Wilson (D-Suisun City), Mia Bonta (DAlameda), Akilah Weber (D-La Mesa) and Sen. Lola SmallwoodCuevas (D-Ladera Heights). They are also members of the California Legislature Black Caucus.

Smallwood-Cuevas is the lone Black woman among 40 state senators.

“I am the 20th Black woman to be elected to the (California) Legislature,” McKinnor said at the event held on International Women’s Day. “Sen. Lola Smallwood became the 21st Black woman. So, we still have a lot of work to do.”

The Biden-Harris administration has provided leadership. With Congress, they’ve given us the tools to clean up pollution, to boost communities’ resilience to climate related natural disasters like wildfires, and to create good jobs in clean manufacturing across the country in unprecedented ways. Through the infrastructure and inflation reduction packages, the United States can spend more than double protecting Earth than we spent putting astronauts on the moon.

“I think we all understand we have to be solutions driven. And the solutions are at hand,” Harris said at a climate summit earlier this month. “We need to make up for some lost time, no doubt. This is going to have an exponential impact on where we need to go.”

It’s time for the rest of us to pick up those tools and build. There are powerful interests that would be more than happy to let the inertia that allows people and places to be treated as disposable continue indefinitely. Our planet can’t afford that, and we have to marshal a movement to prevent it.

Ben Jealous is executive director of the Sierra Club. He is a professor of practice at the University of Pennsylvania and author of “Never Forget Our People Were Always Free,” published in January.

the Terner Center for Housing Innovation at University of California, Berkeley, and a senior executive consultant for Inclusion INC, provided the opening remarks.

All the women legislators who participated in the event are members of the California Legislative Women’s Caucus, a political body that represents and advocates on the behalf of the diverse interests of women, children, and families.

4.82% (356) of 7,383 state Legislature seats across the United States. That same year, eight state legislatures convened without a single Black woman in their ranks: Vermont, South Dakota, Hawaii, Arizona, Idaho, Nebraska, Mon-

tana, and North Dakota — all places with Black populations falling in a range from 2% to 6%, the study revealed.

Currently, there are five Black women in the California Legislature: McKinnor and As-

PPIC, the nonprofit that organized the event, bills itself as a nonpartisan think tank with a mission to inform and improve public policy in California through independent, objective, nonpartisan research. Former California Supreme Court Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye is PPIC’s president and chief executive officer.

Ophelia Basgal, an affiliate at

The panelists discussed gender diversity in state politics, how personal interests play out in politics, legislation they are currently working on, setting better policy for the state, and offered advice to women who are interested in running for office.

“In addition to the vision and experience, we bring that voice into the room that is often unheard and unseen,” said Ortega, a longtime labor leader and activist from

Read

Assemblymember Tina McKinnor (D-Inglewood) speaks at the Women in California’s Legislature event in Sacramento on March 8. The Women’s History Month event was hosted by the Public Policy Institute of California. CBM photo by Antonio Ray Harvey.

Left, Former Supreme Court Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye, PPIC’s president and chief executive officer, was the moderator of the event. Left to right, Assemblymember Tina McKinnor (D-Inglewood), District 61; state Sen. Janet Nguyen (R-Garden Grove), District 36; Assemblywoman Liz Ortega (D-San Leandro), District 20; and Sen. Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley) of District 9. The Women in California’s Legislature event was hosted by PPIC in Sacramento on March 8, 2023. CBM photo by Antonio Ray Harvey.

International Women’s Day: Civil Rights Icon Xernona

Clayton, Other ‘Herstory Sheroes’ Honored in Atlanta

her personal accomplishments, she was surprised that more Americans of all races did not know about her life story and legacy.

“Seeing the statue standing proudly in Xernona Clayton Plaza, facing downtown Atlanta, fills me with incredible pride and accomplishment,” Romero added.

“This project was important to us because Xernona Clayton has been a role model, she has dedicated her life to serving others and we have always admired her tenacity, grace, and vision.”

The Case Against SB357— Black, Vulnerable and Trafficked Part 2: Systems of Economic Oppression Continue Systems of Slavery and Exploitation

By Tanya Dennis and Vanessa Russell

SB357, a bill sponsored by state Senator Scott Wiener (DSan Francisco), the Safer Streets for All Act, repealed provisions of California law that criminalize loitering for the intent to engage in sex work.

Supporters of the bill state that SB357 got rid of a discriminatory “Jim Crow” bill that police used to unfairly target Black, Brown and transgender individuals for loitering when they were just hanging out.

Opponents say the law was not discriminatory and a necessary tool to enable police to approach people making financial transactions for sex, which sometimes included minors and victims of human trafficking.

SB357 legalized loitering for the purpose of prostitution on Jan. 1, 2023, without consideration for the many reasons that Black women are disproportionately represented in the sex industry in the first place.

They need stable housing, sustainable income, food and emotional support, not what can amount to a 21st century auction block where their bodies can be sold to the higher bidder. The historical oppression of Black women persists with SB357. Their voices need to be heard and prioritized.

When signing SB357, Gov. Gavin Newsom said, “Black adults accounted for 56% of the

loitering charges between 201719 despite being only 10% of the city’s population.” What Newsom didn’t add is that 60% of victims of human trafficking are Black and Brown women and girls.

Sex trafficking amounts to modern day slavery.

On Jan. 1, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, which declared that enslaved people in the United States “shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free.”

Despite this declaration, Jim Crow laws were established to continue to control Black people creating a continued system of oppression similar to slavery. Jim Crow promoted segregation until its end in 1948 and prevented Blacks from voting until 1965.

Economic oppression of Black people continued with redlining during President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal launched in the 1930s. Redlining made houses in Black neighborhoods, aka ‘D areas,’ the lowest value. ‘D area’ residents could not qualify for the New Deal home loan program. The inability to own homes kept Black people from building wealth. Redlining was legal until the Fair Housing Act of 1968 was signed into law.

These systems of oppression kept Black people from participating in policy making, land and home ownership, and sustainable employment.

These laws, heavily enforced in the South, caused many to flee

to Oakland on the promise of a better life and employment working on the railroad, in shipyards, ports and docks. These jobs were plentiful during World War II, increasing Oakland’s Black population to 35% by 1970. Sustainable employment dwindled after the war, forcing many Black families back into poverty.

Today, Black families continue to be disproportionately impoverished; 24.14% of Black people in Oakland are living in poverty. This is more than double the national average of 11.6% and the city of Oakland average of 13.5%. About 31.67% of Black women and 24.34% of Black men are unemployed.

Research has shown that creating stability and economic self-sufficiency among vulnerable populations makes them less likely to become victims of human trafficking or to experience revictimization if they have already been trafficked.

In its “Preventing Human Trafficking” brief, the American Psychological Association notes that “Traffickers tend to exploit the needs of potential victims, whether they are basic physical needs for housing and food or emotional needs, such as love and belongingness.”

Tanya Dennis serves on the Board of Oakland Frontline Healers (OFH) and series coauthor Vanessa Russell of “Love Never Fails Us” and member of OFH.

By Maxim Elramsisy California Black Media

Civil rights and media icon Xernona Clayton became the first woman to be enshrined with a statue in downtown Atlanta on March 8, 2023, International Women’s Day.

The eight-foot statue with its arms open, high on a pedestal, looks down on Xernona Clayton Plaza, making the petite icon a giant in the cradle city of the modern Civil Rights Movement.

World renowned sculptor Ed Dwight created the bronze statue despite challenges with his vision. With Dwight by her side, Clayton announced that it would be his final commissioned project. “As he was making this statue he lost vision in his good eye,” Clayton said at a private dinner before the unveiling. “But if he could do this without seeing, imagine what he could do if he had vision.”

More than 20 speakers, including representatives from the Bahamas and Ghana, praised Clayton at the unveiling ceremony, which was followed by “High Heels in High Places,” an event honoring distinguished women in business and journalism.

Among the “sheroes: honored at the dinner were California Black Media Executive Director Regina Brown Wilson and LA Focus Publisher Lisa Collins. Clayton also acknowledged the mothers of several local celebrities, including Silvia Dickens, mother of Atlanta mayor Andre Dickens, Trice Morgan, mother of rapper T.I., and Mary Tucker, mother of comedian Chris Tucker.

country.

Martin Luther King III reflected on his memories of Clayton growing up. “There is no greater honor than what is being done here today,” said King III.

At the unveiling, Clayton recalled arranging logistics for a

Romero partnered with philanthropist and Bank of AmericaMerrill executive Rick Baker to spearhead the campaign that made Clayton’s monument a reality.

Clayton became involved in the civil rights movement working for the National Urban League in Chicago. She went undercover to investigate employment discrimination against African Americans at Marshall Fields, a major Chicago department store.

She moved to Atlanta at the behest of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, where she organized events for SCLC and grew close with Dr. King and his wife, Coretta Scott King.

Clayton was instrumental in the desegregation of Atlanta’s hospitals by organizing the city’s Black doctors. In 1967, Clayton became the first Black female in the southern U.S. to host a weekly prime time talk show. The show eventually came to be known as “The Xernona Clayton Show.”

In 1968, Clayton’s impact in

By Daisha Williams Post News Group Intern

When Oakland School of the Arts students get a break from class, they frequently stop at their favorite hangouts for food and drinks in downtown Oakland, including three Black-owned spots, Dusk Coffee, Mama T’s, and Rare Blend Coffee.

Black-owned businesses tend to be hard to find because they are hard to keep around. However students at Oakland School for the Arts (OSA) help keep these busi-

nesses around by visiting so frequently.

A high schooler’s day is long, with eight hours of school, and for many, extracurricular activities after school. Caffeine is a muchneeded energy boost for many students, and coffee is an easy, delicious, way to get it.

Both Dusk Coffee and Rare Blend Coffee get a significant amount of business from OSA students.

Rare Blend is a small cafe that

A few of the speakers at the event claimed to be Clayton’s boyfriends, including Mayor Andre Dickens, who began working on the project as a city councilman, and Clayton’s close friend and fellow civil rights icon, Ambassador Andrew Young. Former CNN President, Tom Johnson spoke on behalf of Ted Turner, who was ill, lauding Clayton’s outstanding achievements and attesting to her contributions to broadcast media.

Clayton was also a consistent supporter of the Black press across the

meeting between Dr. King and supporters of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in the heart of Atlanta. “I pride myself in getting everything right before I start out, and I knew I had all my details in order for this special luncheon hosted by Dr. King, but everything went wrong,” Clayton said.

The motel which supposedly had an “open door policy,” expressly told Dr. King to leave. “I, Xernona Clayton was thrown out of a hotel. Now, you are standing backed by a street named Xernona Clayton Way.”

“The idea for a monument to Xernona Clayton was born from a 4 a.m. meeting with her in 2020. Our kids didn’t know who she was, and we felt that such an inspiring figure deserved recognition,” said Project Co-Founder Mariela Romero, a Latina journalist, originally from Venezuela, who co-presented the idea for the statue and has been one of the forces helping to make the monument a reality.

Romero said when she learned about Clayton’s contributions to the Civil Rights Movement and all

the fight against bigotry became clear when Calvin Craig, a Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan, denounced the Klan, crediting Clayton’s influence in the decision.

In 1988, Clayton was named Corporate Vice President for Urban Affairs with Turner Broadcasting System. In her role she served as liaison between Turner Broadcasting and civil rights groups, both in Atlanta and across the country.

As a broadcast executive, Clayton founded the Trumpet Foundation and, with Turner Broadcasting, established the prestigious Trumpet Awards in 1993 to highlight the achievements and contributions of African Americans.

With the unveiling of the Xernona Clayton statue, an influential Black woman is finally immortalized in Atlanta, a city that still holds several confederate monuments and countless stories and memories of its history in the segregated south.

This California Black Media article was supported in whole or in part by funding provided by the State of California, administered by the California State

Library.

Sable Horton – “Let me speak and you’ll know what I need.”

Xernona Clayton (center), Atlanta mayor Andre Dickens (right) and statue sculptor Ed Dwight as the statue of Xernona Clayton is unveiled in Downtown Atlanta, Georgia on Wednesday, March 8, 2023. Photo by Maxim Elramsisy, California Black Media.

Xernona Clayton (center) and Xernona Clayton Statue Project CoCreators Mariana Romero (Left) and Rich Baker (right) cross Xernona Clayton Way in Downtown Atlanta, Georgia toward the unveiling of the Xernona Clayton statue on Wednesday, March 8, 2023. Photo by Maxim Elramsisy, California Black Media.

A rose latte is one of the appealing drinks that Oakland School for the Arts students buy at Dusk Coffee.

Photo by Daisha Williams. Continued on page 8

Black Eateries...

Continued from page 5

sits on the corner in between the school and the parking lot on 19th street. There are tables and little booths inside, but students tend to prefer sitting outside in the alleyway in groups of six to eight, with a few at a time going inside to get drinks. In addition to coffee, Rare Blend offers small pastries and smoothies.

Dusk Coffee is a little farther away, on 16th street, but still incredibly easy for students to go to on their lunch break. There are

many tables and chairs outside their cafe, so students often eat lunch here as well. The cafe is decorated in neutral colors, contrasting with Rare Blend’s colorful aesthetic. In this sense, Dusk is a very traditional coffee shop. In other ways it is incredibly unique, one example being their inclusion of fun menu items like their rose latte.

OSA’s high school students are able to go off campus for lunch and a popular spot for them is Mama T’s, named after the owner. Unlike many local restaurants, Mama

T’s has been around for almost 15 years, so it has a long-standing reputation with OSA students.

While many small businesses shut down during 2020 and 2021 due to COVID-19 restrictions. Mama T’s was one of the few businesses that stayed open. When asked about the pandemic affecting her restaurant, Mama T said, “It definitely impacted me, not only not having the school, but also the City Hall workers and everyone else. The thing that saved me was that I got a contract to make lunches for

homeless people.”

Formerly known as Catered 2 U, after restrictions were lifted the restaurant rebranded to Mama T’s, named after the owner. Located less than a block from OSA’s main entrance, the business has no seating area, just a kitchen and a counter.

Still, kids don’t mind standing as they wait for their food before going elsewhere. When asked about the amount of business they get from OSA students, Mama T replied, “Enough so that I created the OSA menu. There are several

other schools in the area but I don’t do it for them because they come once every three or four months…

I get students from OSA every single day.”

The OSA menu has specific meals for the students, as well as discounts on normal menu items.

One menu item that is extremely popular with the students is their fries, which is featured on the OSA menu for only $3 a serving.

Robert O’Grady, a junior at OSA said, “Their fries were legendary…. There’s no word to describe it, their fries were on everybody’s

mind.”

Other popular menu items include their chicken nuggets and their “famous” fish sandwich.

William Truong, OSA’s student body president, called Mamma T’s “the place I go to treat myself to something good.”

If you’d like to visit, here are the addresses for all the places mentioned.

Mama T’s: 1711 Telegraph Ave

Rare Blend Cafe: 555 19th St Dusk Coffee: 1615 Broadway

COMMENTARY: What Asian American Oscar Victories Mean for All of Us

In Reed’s “The Conductor,” Blacks start a new underground railroad to help Indian Americans — not American Indians, but those from the continent of India — escape a wave of xenophobia that is forcing them to flee to Canada.

The main character, columnist Warren Chipp is Reed’s alter ego. When a conservative Indian seeks refuge and asks Chipp why the liberal Chipp is being so nice to him, Chipp reveals his grasp of irony.

“Minorities make alliances with us (Blacks) until their admission to the white club is accepted. This happened to the Jews, the Japanese, the Irish, the Italians and now you guys (Asian Indians).”

It’s just one of the provocative asides in the play, but the historical examples are there.

After rehearsals and the first four performances, the passages from the play haunt me.

Especially last Sunday. When the Asian Americans were preparing for their Oscar turn, I was offBroadway living Reed’s play.

Is the Model Minority now back to auditioning for whiteness again?

I hope not. I get what Reed’s saying in his play. But I see the Oscar victory as a win for not just Asian Americans but all BIPOC communities in all their unique narratives.

off-beat ingenuity and its creative weirdness.

I was having lunch in New York’s Chinatown with a lawyer friend of mine, a Chinese American immigrant and also a triple Harvard (College, Law School, and MBA) graduate. My friend surprised me when he said he couldn’t understand the hype about “Everything, Everywhere…”

He called it unwatchable. He liked the movie “Tar.”

has put everyone in the equation on notice. We have stories to tell that sell, and that people want to see.

Stories that win Oscars.

I see the phenomenon as a rising Asian American film lifts all boats. And with AAPI at just over 6% of the population, I don’t buy the “Afro-Pessimism” idea in his play.

By Emil Guillermo

After the Oscars, when Asian Americans were everywhere on the winners list, from actors, writers, directors, but also makeup artists, and not just in “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” but also in movies like “The Whale,” I turn to the Oakland playwright Ishmael Reed who must be wondering will Asian Americans now go for the Whiteness Prize?

(I consider Asian American to be a generic term, indicating people of Asian descent either living or working not necessarily indicative of their citizenship status.)

I’m in New York as an actor in “The Conductor,” the latest Reed production now offBroadway (get your in-person or

live-streamed tickets here: https:// theaterforthenewcity.net/shows/ the-conductor-2023/).

I play a brown-skinned Tucker Carlson-type on a faux Fox, and very conservative news network.

That’s how good an actor I am!

As an Asian American sometime-actor, I’m gratified to see Asian American creatives take their historic star turn at the Oscars. Asians have won the Academy Award for best supporting actor before, but never has there been a best actor/actress winner until the Malaysia-born, Hollywood-based Michelle Yeoh last weekend.

There’s something about being a “first.” A “never before.”

But what’s next?

And that’s where Reed’s play got me thinking.

Says Chipp/Reed: “These groups come running to us when the white man decides to sic mobs on them because of some geopolitical conflict or culture war. Begging us to hide them and save them. And then, when they get an ‘all-clear’ sign, they return to auditioning for whiteness again. Lining up and trampling over each other, asking white people to ‘choose me!’ Some of them even change their names to go Anglo.”

Reed says it’s the root of “AfroPessimism.”

What’s that?

It’s a term by Frank Wilderson, as Reed explains, that means Blacks can’t depend upon Blacks’ “junior allies.” Wilderson calls B.S. on intersectionality and says that Blacks “must go it alone.”

AAPI stories have a kind of heat now. An independent film about a family with a laundromat dealing with the IRS and the multiverse where people have hotdogs as fingers puts us in a whole new ballgame. We aren’t so weird after all. We’re of immigrant descent, sure. We’re different, yes. But we’re of the modern world and our stories deal in universal truths.

People flocked to “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” which gave it some cache as an indie project that was making money. Not like “Top Gun” money, but enough to satisfy Hollywood accountants. Once it caught the attention of the Academy looking for diversity, the film was simply recognized for its

I told him maybe it was generational. Just goes to show you that not everyone, not even Asian Americans are on board with “Everything, Everywhere…”

But the huge victory on Sunday makes the film like a Golden Spike in Hollywood. The track is finally connected and open for AAPI creatives bound for glory.

“Everything, Everywhere…”

We can’t go it alone. We don’t have the numbers. We need each other.

Like anything worthwhile, it’s going to have to be done together.

Emil Guillermo is a journalist and commentator. See his vlog on www.amok.com And see “The Conductor” in person or livestreamed tickets here: https://theaterforthenewcity.net/shows/theconductor-2023/

Realtor: Deborah Lynn Williams 510 847-2779 debbelyn96@yahoo.com BRE #01412100 Keller Williams Realty. Free 30 min consultation for all real estate transactions & Trust/Will planning. Referral services for 1st time home buyers & out of state relocation. Call or email me for details. Principals only.

Michelle Yeoh is the first Asian actress to win an Academy Award.

CITY OF SAN LEANDRO, STATE OF CALIFORNIA

ENGINEERING AND TRANSPORTATION DEPARTMENT

NOTICE TO BIDDERS FOR CURB RAMP UPGRADES FOR ANNUAL STREET SEAL 2021-23

PROJECT NO. 2022.0070

BID NO. 22-23.007

1. BID OPENING: The bidder shall complete the “Proposal to the City of San Leandro” form contained in the Contract Book. The proposal shall be submitted in its entirety. Incomplete proposals will be considered non-responsive. Sealed bids containing the completed Proposal Section subject to the conditions named herein and in the specifications for Curb Ramp Upgrades for Annual Street Seal 2021-23, Project No. 2022.0070 addressed to the City of San Leandro will be received at City Hall, 835 East 14th Street, 2nd Floor San Leandro at the office of the City Clerk up to: 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday, April 19, 2023 at which time they will be publicly opened and read.

2. WORK DESCRIPTION: The work to be done consists of demolition and replacement of concrete curb ramps, sidewalk, curb & gutter; asphalt concrete tie-ins, and relocation of pedestrian push buttons; and doing all appurtenant work in place and ready for use, all as shown on the plans and described in the specifications with the title indicated in Paragraph 1 above, and on file in the office of the City Engineer. Reference to said plans and specifications is hereby made for further particulars.

3. OBTAINING THE PROJECT PLANS AND CONTRACT BOOK: The complete project Contract Book may be obtained free of charge from the City’s website at: https://www.sanleandro.org/Bids.aspx.

Bidders who download the plans are encouraged to contact the City of San Leandro Engineering and Transportation Department at 510-577-3428 to be placed on the project planholder’s list to receive courtesy notifications of addenda and other project information. Project addenda, if any, will be posted on the website. A bidder who fails to address all project addenda in its proposal may be deemed non-responsive. Printed, hardcopies of the contract book can be purchased from East Bay Blue at: https://www.eastbayblueprint.com. Search the public projects planroom to find the subject project.

4. MANDATORY PRE-BID CONFERENCE: Attendance at a pre-bid conference is mandatory for bidding this project: A firm that didn’t attend one of the pre-bid conferences and is not documented on its attendance sheet isn’t qualified to bid on the project.

Pre-bid meetings will be held via zoom. Pre-bid conferences will be held for this project as follows:

• April 04 , 2023, at 10:00 a.m. This meeting will also be on Zoom: the virtual meeting can be accessed by internet as follows:

Zoom Meeting ID: 864 6237 7122

Passcode: 138574

Link:https://sanleandro org.zoom.us/j/86462377122?pwd=VE5aQ1g0bnR6aUZYTGN BbzdWbTJxdz09

• April 05 , 2023, at 3:00 p.m. This meeting will also be on Zoom: the virtual meeting can be accessed by internet as follows:

Zoom Meeting ID: 828 4309 1091

Password: 254290

Link:https://sanleandro- org.zoom.us/j/82843091091?pwd=elpUZlg0cEVtWWlVemdX YzdiZFRwUT09

The information presented at each of the conferences will be identical. Questions regarding the plans and specifications may be submitted in writing to the project engineer until 5:00 p.m. five (5) days before, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and Holidays, bids must be received by the City. The City will not respond to oral questions outside of the pre-bid conference. The response, if any, will be by written addendum only. Oral responses do not constitute a revision to these plans or specifications.

5. SAN LEANDRO BUSINESS PREFERENCE AND PARTICIPATION GOALS: The work performed under this contract is subject to Section 1-6-225 of the San Leandro Municipal Code regarding local business preference and participation.

6. SAN LEANDRO COMMUNITY WORKFORCE AGREEMENT: The work performed under this contract is subject to an amended Community Workforce Agreement adopted by City Council Resolution 2015-104. Contractors attention is directed to Section 10

Dated: 1/27/2023

COMMENTARY: Oakland’s Plan to Rehouse Wood Street Residents Can Only Fail a SelfReliant Community

Furthermore, the city expects to have 100 more beds available at other shelters in Oakland, which will effectively divide the community that the Wood Street residents have created for themselves.

But it is also the case that the amount of affordable housing that the city plans to build in this lot will not be enough to accommodate the people currently living there and what the city considers “affordable housing” is not affordable for many people.

Another hindrance for the community is the difficulty of qualifying for affordable housing.

Kelly B. Clancy City Clerk

By Daisha Williams Post News Group Intern

A large community of unhoused people have been living in an empty lot at 1707 Wood Street.

The city of Oakland would like to remove them as soon as possible so they can build 170 units of affordable housing there.

If you live in Oakland or spend any considerable amount of time here, then you have probably seen this encampment at least a few times. The West Oakland community is estimated to include 200-300 individuals. They support each other in accessing food, water, medicine, clothing and other basic living necessities.

In an interview with a city of Oakland official, a spokesperson for the community, John Janosko, described a bike ride that they all took to Sacramento last October.

“That bike ride was amazing for me. Everyone had a chance to bond,” he said. “The people in Sacramento were so welcoming and it was my birthday that morning and they had a cake at 1 o’clock in the morning when we finally rolled in.”

This bike ride was planned, organized and executed by people who have banded together to sur

to care if they live or die and made the best of those circumstances.

Before the city of Oakland can begin building affordable housing, they are required to provide shelter for the people currently living there. The initial plan was to simply provide cabins near the lot for the people to live in. On Feb.

3, the U.S. District Judge William Orick said that the city could move forward with disbanding this unit only for that ruling to be reversed a week later, on Feb. 10.

Oakland Assistant City Administrator LaTonda Simmons said that the delay was due to issues finalizing the contract for the cabins as well as “IT network challenges.”

The city hasn’t released a timeline detailing when they expect to begin moving people out. Simmons commented on the delay in a statement. “We believe this minor delay will result in an even more supportive cabin program for the Wood Street community.”

Current plans for shelter for the residents include cabins with 30 beds each, which are expected to accommodate 100 people. There will also be 29 parking spaces available for people living in RVs with electrical hookups and bath

One hurdle is that it is necessary to provide proof of income, which makes it even less accessible.

Another is that applicants must pass a criminal background screening. Since homelessness itself has been criminalized, many people currently living in the lot will not be able to pass that screening and qualify.

Many of the people now living at the Wood Street lot were residents of a neighboring encampment that was cleared out about a year ago. That they are back on the street can indicate that the city’s processes for quickly finding housing for people in dire need are ineffective.

This is summarized best by what James Vann, co-founder and advisor to the Oakland Homeless Advocacy Working Group, said in response to Judge Orwick’s decision.

“The calamity that will follow is another instance of the City’s failure to acknowledge the homelessness crisis as real and to implement timely actions to assure adequate accommodations and health and safety of the affected unhoused residents.”

Sources for this news article include the Mercury News, the City of Oakland and the Post News

9 *Trevor _ _ ah: South African comedian & author of "Born a Crime"

A camp for unhoused in Oakland. iStock photo by Alex B. Mount, June 2020.

THIS

WEEKEND! US PREMIERE William Kentridge’s SIBYL

With music composed and conceived by Nhlanhla Mahlangu and Kyle Shepherd William Kentridge, concept and director

Part 1: The Moment Has Gone Part 2: Waiting for the Sibyl

Myth, magic, music, movement, and mesmerizing imagery combine in revered South African visual artist William Kentridge’s newest production. Inspired by the Greek myth of the Cumaean Sibyl, Kentridge’s chamber opera wrestles with the human desire to know our future and our helplessness before powers and technologies that obscure that knowledge from us.

Mar 17–19

ZELLERBACH HALL

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater

Robert Battle, artistic director Matthew Rushing, associate artistic director

The breathtaking Ailey dancers return for three programs featuring eye-opening new company productions and a selection of Ailey classics—all honoring the timeless Ailey legacy of telling powerful and life-affirming stories through stunning dance.

Apr 11–16

ZELLERBACH HALL

New Alameda County Sheriff

History-Making Latina

By Carla

Yesenia Sanchez

tions come from the county and represent the diversity of the county. She was the only one that had the courage to go against Sheriff Ahern.”

The meet-and greet-event gave Sanchez an opportunity to discuss her new role and hear from the community on the changes they wish to see within the department internally, and externally throughout the community.

can now see what’s possible.”

In June 2022, then-Deputy Sheriff Yesenia Sanchez surprised many by her outright win in a three-way race against a wellentrenched incumbent to become Alameda County’s next sheriff.

Sanchez actually raced against her own boss and won. Risking her career and livelihood, Sanchez credits hard work, prayers, and God for such a victory.

proud stepmom of three daughters. She’s also proud to be a Latina with southern and Mexican roots. Sanchez says her mother moved from Texas to California and her father immigrated from Mexico.

“My family shaped my core values of integrity, respect, accountability, transparency and openness,” she said.

“She stepped up for all of us,” Hahn said. “She stepped up for Al-

ameda County. She stepped up for our values.”

Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguín, the first Latino mayor of Berkeley, said he was Sanchez’s first supporter and called her a change agent.

“Representation does matter,” said Arreguín. “It’s important that the people who hold these posi-

“I know the damaging effects that poverty and lack of access to resources and support systems can have on communities and how that impacts crime and safety,” Sanchez said. “I am committed to leading the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office with the utmost integrity, serving the community equitably and inclusively, and making sure the agency ensures safety in the community by investing in it.”

Sanchez plans to transform the system by implementing partnerships that can provide transportation, housing, and resources for the re-entry population. She also

plans to strengthen access to public health care and mental health resources within the jails.

“This is more than a job, it’s a mission,” said Sanchez who sees transformation for now and the future. “The younger generations

Holy Names Goes on the Market... NOMBC Saved...

Only a week ago NOMBC was in danger of being auctioned off on March 17 for $43,000 in back taxes. The church’s tax issue became complicated because a portion of the church property had been converted from housing to a parking lot, exempted of taxes. When the church was notified, it was in the form of a five-year tax bill from Alameda County.

“With the pandemic and government entities shut down, a lack of in-person services complicated the issue,” explained Rutledge.

Two weeks ago, Rutledge reached out for support and his call was answered in large numbers. Post News Group Publisher Paul Cobb assisted with rallying local pastors and Dr. Wayne E. Gaddis, president of the Missionary Baptist Church State Conference, flew in and stepped up to the plate to support. Several pastors delivered $1,000 donations to save the church.

To date, Rutledge says three pastors are helping set up a Rainy Day Fund, to support his church and others in the future.

“Pastor Gregory Payton of Greater St. John Missionary Baptist Church, Pastor Michael Wallace of Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church, and Pastor Ken Chambers of the Community Church are helping to set up a Rainy Day Fund.

Referencing First African Methodist Episcopal (FAME) church, which was recently destroyed by fire, Rutledge said their pastor “is considering hosting services at our church.”

Rutledge says that he’s learned lessons and is holding onto faith.

“In the Bible there’s a lot of talk on faith, hope, and love, but the greatest of these is love,” he said citing First Corinthians.

“Last Sunday, I preached on the Macedonian church. Paul had a vision. The vision said come on over to Macedonia and Paul taught us how to trust God, because waiting on God can be uncomfortable, but God is always on time.”

Rutledge said that God has been with him every step of the way. “Throughout the Bible it talks so much about the spirit,” said Rutledge.

While referencing biblical scriptures from the Book of Ezekiel and Genesis, Rutledge said it’s about strength and the spirit of the Lord.

“The spirit of the Lord is upon me and most importantly it’s about sharing the Word of God and knowing your purpose. I know my purpose is: for Christ I live and for Christ I die. Our churches are our foundation, but our children and families a lot of times have abandoned the church, they’ve gone AWOL (Abandoned Without Official Leave). God hasn’t given us permission to leave his church, God has given us permission to have goals, a purpose, and to leave a legacy. We have to love one another, support one another.”

Rutledge says he’s been teaching from the Bible’s Book of Acts on a healthy church.

“We have to continue to work together and support one another. Historically, churches were in people’s homes. Service went from house to house, so the church was in multiple places. To keep the church strong, the community depends on the church. We all stand on the shoulders of somebody.”

estate services and investment firm. The term “highest and best use” is used in the real estate industry as expression of seeking to sell a property for its highest possible value.

Hawk did not mention the universities that have expressed interest in collaborating with Holy Names nor the university’s lender, Preston Hollow, which has also offered to find solutions other than selling the campus to a real estate developer.

Campus leaders at Holy Names and members of the Oakland community were stunned by the announcement of HNU’s latest moves to dispose of the campus,

“It’s too bad I don’t believe my own rhetoric sometimes,” said activist and scholar, Kitty Kelly Epstein. “I’ve been saying for some months that it seemed like the chair of the Holy Names Board was actually trying to sell the campus to real estate developers, and that’s why he refused to meet with any of the elected officials and city leaders who have offered help in keeping Holy Names open as a college campus.

“So - guess what? Now the marketing materials are out to

sell the campus, while our trusting students, many from Oakland, are tossed out with hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt and no college degree. It’s more evil than even a suspicious person like me can wrap my mind around.”

“I’m shocked,” said a HNU faculty member when hearing the news about the real estate developer.

A Holy Names student leader said, “Students are furious. They are afraid that Holy Names will be sold to a private developer.”

Said Councilmember Carroll Fife, “As an alumnus of Holy Names University, I am deeply disappointed the administration refuses to work with city leaders to ensure the campus can continue to be an important resource for Oakland but insists on selling the campus for maximum profit. I’m most concerned for students and faculty. I hope Oakland residents will make it clear that preserving this campus for generations of future students is more important than enriching a developer.”

Resnick, who was originally declared the District 4 winner and served as a director briefly, resigned while facing a trial contesting his win due to Alameda County Registrar of Voters announcing its voting machines made an error counting votes.

Once Hutchinson vacates his District 5 seat and is sworn in as District 4 director -- which the Oakland’s City Clerk said is likely to happen sometime this week-state law dictates the board will have 60 days to order a special election or make a provisional appointment.

Once Sanchez took her oath on Jan. 3, she became the first Latina and woman to ever hold the office, making history.

Retiree Dawn Sullivan who worked as a detective under Sanchez said she was a great supervisor and Sanchez’s rise was no surprise to her.

“I’m so proud of her, she had the courage to run against her boss,” said Sullivan. “She’s already done a lot, but the changes she will make will be great for so many in the department and the community.”

Born in Hayward, and currently living in Livermore with her husband, Todd, Sanchez says she is a

By the age of 14, Sanchez’s parents had divorced, lost their home, and she her siblings worked to “help mom make ends meet.”

At the age of 18, Sanchez says she worked three jobs until she got an entry-level role of Sheriff’s Technician within the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office.

In the Sheriff’s Office, Sanchez rose through the ranks for over 20 years, serving as Deputy Sheriff, Sergeant, Lieutenant, and Captain at the (North County Jail), and the Glenn E. Dyer Detention Facility (GEDDF). Before her election, Sanchez’s most recent role included Division Commander, managing the Santa Rita Jail facility in Dublin.

Oakland High Wins State Title...

Continued from page 1

of them have been with us since freshman year. Having this championship here at Oakland High is a great feeling.”

For Zaymani Mitchell, winning was a dream come true. “It’s great to accomplish something we’ve wanted since the beginning of the season,” said Mitchell. “Coach Watkins and Coach Will (Lew) have really been there for us. And they’ve prepared us to be professional Black men for life after high school.”

Freshman Rohm Neal who plays shooting guard said, “This win means a lot. A lot of work was put in to reach our goals. Our coaches teach us a lot of lessons in basketball that apply to every day life.” Neal hopes to become an artist, a large scale oil painter.

Point Guard Erick Jackson reflected on the record the team broke. “It feels unreal and not an achievement anyone has done before us. A lot of energy from the team and mentoring from the coach and staff are how we made it.”

Power Forward and Center Jaylon King, who returned to the Bay Area from Stockton said, “I’m glad I could contribute to the

team’s legacy.”

For Guard Caruji West, a lot of team bonding contributed to the team’s success. “Our team worked well together, but I have mixed feelings. I’m glad we won, but I’m sad that the season is over,” he said.

Associate Head Coach Will Lew with Assistance Coaches Angel M Macedon, Frank Miller, Torrence Spencer, and Jeff Davis unboxed dozens of sneakers for the champion team, a gift from Oakland High alumni and NBA All-Star, Damian Lillard of the Portland Trailblazers in the school’s gym.

Prior to their state championship win, Lillard in a video, addressed and encouraged the team. He had also seen the team perform at a pre-season game in Portland and spoke of the team’s potential.

Lillard, a lon-time supporter of Oakland High, funded the team’s remodeled gym.

Surrounded by Assistant Coach Will Lew, Jeff, and Trainer Macedonia, the players tried on their brand-new kicks.

According to Watkins, Lillard is equally proud and will continue to reward the winning team.

By Zack Haber

The Oakland Unified School District Board has to decide between two methods of filling a soon-to-be vacated District 5 board director seat: appointing a director or holding a special election for District 5 voters.

The vacancy was caused when Mike Hutchinson, District 5 director and Board president, accepted the District 4 seat. Hutchinson had lived in District 5, but his residence ended up being located in District 4 after Oakland redrew its districts early last year.

Hutchinson then ran to be District 4 director, and eventually was declared the winner after Nick

The Oakland Post received comments from five of the six current board directors who will have the formal power of deciding how the new board director will be selected. Four of the directors said they saw benefits and drawbacks to both appointing a director and holding a special election and weren’t ready to declare a preference. District 7 Director Clifford Thompson did not respond to multiple emails requesting comments.

“There’s pros and cons with either option,” stated Hutchinson in a message to this reporter. “The board will be discussing this issue at the next meeting.”

The board’s next meeting is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, March 22.

In an email, District 1 Director Sam Davis wrote that he supports an election.

“I think with well over a year left on the term, it’s important for whoever fills the role to feel accountable to the voters of Oak-

By Annette Miller

Thomas Supporters celebrated the victory of new Alameda County Sheriff Yesenia Sanchez in the Berkeley Hills on Sunday, March 12, at the home of Berkeley City Councilmember Sophie Hahn.