Dis Third Annual Black Women’s Roots Festival ... see page 8
Apology for Japanese Internment Prompts Equal Response to Injustices Against Black Californians ... see page 2
Rep. Barbara Lee Takes Lead in Democratic Convention Delegate Poll ... see page 4
Legislature Revisits Bill That Would Increase Voter Registration Options for Californians ... see page 7
Oakland Post “Where there is no vision, the people perish...” Proverbs 29:18
Weekly Edition. Edition. November 29 - December 5, 2023
postnewsgroup.com
60th Year, No. 46
Will Geoffrey’s Inner Circle Become Another Victim of Hi-Rise ‘Destruction?’
The Oakland Planning Commission has so far ignored a 2016 City Council resolution creating the downtown Black Arts Movement and District by allowing construction of the Marriott Hotel to impede business at Uncle Willie’s BBQ and Fish and is on the verge of approving a hi-rise that would overshadow Pete’s Inner Circle. Both businesses are on 14th street.
Oakland’s Planning Process Helps Wealthy Developers, Harms Black Alameda County Board of Supervisors OKs Businesses Like Geoffrey’s Inner Circle
Members of Save Alameda For Everyone (SAFE) rally outside the Alameda County Administration Building on Tuesday afternoon. Photo by Magaly Muñoz.
Measure to Change Recall Election Rules
By Magaly Muñoz Post Staff
The Alameda County Board of Supervisors voted to include a measure on the March 2024 ballot that, if passed, would align the county charter’s recall language with the state’s existing regulations. The proposal for the recall amendment was introduced in October after County Counsel Donna
Zieglar wrote a letter to the board stating that the current charter was outdated and should be updated to reflect California’s recall process. If approved by the voters in March, the new charter would read “California state law applicable to the recall of county officers shall govern the recall of County of Alameda elected officers.” An alternative version of the
amendment, which included the term “appointed officers,” was presented but did not pass in the board meeting held earlier this month, meaning that those who were appointed for their jobs in the county would not be subject to recalls. Many who showed up for public comment were opposed to the recommended charter change. They Continued on page 8
Oakland City Council Unanimously Votes to Support Worldwide Calls for Ceasefire in Gaza
Oakland citizens hold signs outside City Hall and inside City Council chambers during a special City Council meeting Monday. Photos by Magaly Muñoz. By Magaly Muñoz Post Staff In a special meeting held on Monday evening, the Oakland City Council unanimously voted to support global calls for a ceasefire in Gaza. The meeting was initiated by District 3 representative Carroll Fife, who said that constituents citywide
are eager to see an “end to the suffering we are witnessing” because of the recent conflicts between Israelis and Palestinians in Gaza. Oakland is the second Bay Area city to call for a ceasefire, following the Richmond City Council’s vote on Oct. 25. The intense conflict has escalated since Oct. 7 when Hamas military crossed the Israel-Gaza border and killed more than 1,200 Israelis and kidnapped over 200 individuals. Citizens from 40 different countries including the U.S., United Kingdom, France, Mexico, and Thailand were among those killed or reported missing as a result of the Hamas attack. In retaliation, Israel has reportedly killed over 13,000 Palestinians, with at least 5,300 being children. The resolution authored by Fife, in collaboration with Muslim and Jewish leaders, references Oakland’s “Love Life” motto and “calls on elected officials and residents alike to protect life and stand united against violence.” It also calls for unrestricted entry of humanitarian aid to Gaza, the restoration of food, water, and electricity, and a solution that safeguards the security of all innocent civilians. Sabria Hassan, an educator, shared that she’s proud that the city is showing support for a ceasefire since Oakland has a long-standing history of advocating for underserved communities. “There’s no two sides to genocide,” Hassan said in Continued on page 8
food banks have emerged to provide much-needed assistance to families in need. The U.S. Government of Accountability Office (GAO) reports that national food prices have increased 11% from 2021 to 2022, when the average yearly increase was previously 2%. The San FranThe pandemic prompted Homies Empowerment FREEdom Store Center cisco Bay Area saw a 12% increase from 2021 to 2022. at 7641 MacArthur Blvd. to shift focus from just books and reading Steve Morris, director of Natumaterial to offer a food supplies to the needy. Photo by Magaly Muñoz. ral Resources and Environment at GAO, explained that while the pandemic certainly had an effect on food increases, there is not one single factor for a rise in food prices. He said events like the By Magaly Muñoz U.S. has seen the largest increase Ukraine-Russian war, the avian influenza epidemic that raised the Post Staff in food prices since the 1980s. In price of eggs, and climate changes During the past three years, the response to this crisis, community Continued on page 8
More Alameda County Families Depended on Food Banks in 2023 as Inflation Spiked
By Kitty Epstein and Paul Cobb OPINION Tidewater Capital, a multimillion-dollar corporation, plans to build a 27-story building to house affluent people in the middle of the Black Arts Movement and Business District. It will harm one of Oakland’s most important Black businesses, Geoffrey’s Inner Circle, and will not serve Black Oaklanders in any way. The Oakland City Council should reject Tidewater’s proposal. It does not fit the Council’s 2016 Resolution setting up the Black Arts Movement and Business District. It proposes to construct something no one in Oakland needs — more offices or more non-affordable housing - and harm something everyone needs, a historic African American business led by the kindest of Oakland’s residents, someone who feeds the homeless at his own expense and entertains everyone with wonderful music at a reasonable price. This process has been discriminatory, inept, capricious, and perhaps illegal, boldly favoring wealthy developers over Black business. Supporters are asked to come to a special session at Oakland City Hall City Council chambers on Tuesday Dec. 19 at 4:00 p.m. where the issue will be on the agenda. The reasons the city council should reject this development are described below: 1. The Oakland Planning Department has gone rogue in its effort to develop downtown Oakland as high and as fast as possible. It will require the action of the City Council to restore some accountability and lawfulness to the process and to protect Oakland’s beautiful legacy: the connection between Oakland’s downtown, views of sunsets at Lake Merritt and the first and
only cultural district, the Black Arts Movement and Business District. 2. Any new development in this designated Black cultural district should contribute to that purpose. The Black Arts and Business district needs such things as a). parking for its clients, b). additional galleries, bookstores; and coffee shops amenable to Oakland’s dwindling Black population; c). beautiful signage commemorating the contributions of Black Oaklanders. Instead, this proposed development will remove the one remaining downtown parking lot and draw in additional gentrification. This is a violation of the resolution of the BAMBD. Further, the proposed development poses a direct threat to Geoffrey’s Inner Circle which is a treasured Oakland location destination point that holds live music productions such as jazz events. GIC also is a venue space for funerals, weddings and private partis. GIC has hosted community forums, political gatherings and has served the homeless and unhoused population years over. It is a designated national historic site that has never received any of the many subsidies, services and recognitions normally afforded to such a site and would be threatened by every aspect of the construction process. 3. In contrast, according to the city’s ‘Downtown Oakland Specific Plan, (DOSP)’ the entire district of Chinatown is off limits to any prospective development in downtown. There will be zero high-rises, proposals or permits or such approved for this district. The Black Arts Movement and Business District is Oakland’s
first and only cultural district. We are formally requesting that the entire BAMBD district be zoned out of projected development and experience a moratorium on any current and future development plans except those specifically contributing to its purposes and discussed in public meetings with the Black community. The city has proven it has the ability to enact this form of protection as it has done so before in Chinatown, which is not a registered cultural district such as BAMBD but treated, respected and protected as such. Please see the map of development from the DOSP. 4). The decision to allow this building was made by the Oakland Planning Commission which is composed entirely of people who make a living working with developers and are therefore naturally inclined toward their interests and point of view. 5). The Planning Department had multiple meetings with Tidewater but said that it was too busy to meet with Mr. Pete or his representatives. They never allowed Mr. Pete to meet to hear the harm to his building the development would cause. 6) Mr. Pete was required to pay several thousand dollars to appeal the Planning Commission’s decision. The date for the appeal was set at a Rules Committee by a Tidewater representative. It was not agendized and therefore Mr. Pete was not present to offer his preferred date. 7). Mr. Pete made a Public Records Request several weeks ago for communications between Tidewater. There has been no response. 8) The city apparently has some process for these appeals about Continued on page 8
By Rebecca Kaplan Oakland City Councilmember at-Large Rabbinical and Biblical Scholar
ty, and each faces threats to their survival, and then are saved. Two brothers. Can they unite? And - to understand the deeper meaning, Ishmael is considered to be the ancestor of Arabs, and Isaac is considered to be the ancestor of Jews. In the Torah, the text I am referring to is Genesis 21 & 22, Parashat Vayera. Torah: Children of Abraham Abraham’s sons, Ishmael and Isaac, each face the situation of almost being killed. The stories are told back-to-back. We are first given the story of how Ishmael almost died, but an angel of the Eternal called out and ensured that he lived. And then we are given the sto-
ry of how Isaac almost died, and, again it says an angel of the Eternal called out and ensured that he lived. We are taught: do not sacrifice Ishmael, and we are taught, do not sacrifice Isaac. The two stories are taught together, in the same weekly reading in the Jewish traditional schedule of reading the Books of Moses from the Jewish holy book, The Torah. (All of the books are read across the whole year, with a designated portion for each week). Children of Abraham. And so we learn, do not sacrifice Ishmael and do not sacrifice Isaac. The verses are repeated, and chanted back-to-back, together, to let them live.
Can Eternal Angels Ensure that Arabs and Jews Unite? Publisher’s Note: Oakland City Councilmember at-Large Rebecca Kaplan is also a sought-after rabbinical and biblical scholar who has spoken before many congregations of all faiths. The Post asked Kaplan, who is Jewish, to provide some historical and biblical insights from her faith tradition into the present Mideast war and the fate of all sides who are from the lineage of Abraham. This scripture is about two brothers described in the Bible, two sons of Abraham, Ishmael, and Isaac, who struggle to find uni-