Odetta Gordon, “Queen of American Folk music” Page 2
Democrats in Sacramento Take Steps to Make Voting Easier
Clarence Thomas, Retired ILWU Local 10 SecretaryTreasurer See Ad on Page 3
Many Black Renters, Hit Most By COVID-19, Remain in Dark, About Billions in Relief Funds...P 9
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Oakland Post “Where there is no vision, the people perish...” Proverbs 29:18
postnewsgroup.com
57th Year, No. 46
Weekly Edition. Edition. May 5-11, 2021
Women’s Cancer Resource Center Celebrates 35th Anniversary May 13 Courtesy of WCRC
of community even during the pandemic, transitioning its direct services to phone and Zoom.
The Bay Area is full of “bestkept secrets.” For the past 35 years The Women’s Cancer Resource Center (WCRC) has been one of them, annually serving more than 2,000 clients and their families. WCRC’s mission has been to improve quality of life for women with cancer and advance equity in cancer support, especially for low-income persons, people of color, and community. Nearly 80% of
West Oakland neighbors (l to r- Gay Plair Cobb, JilChristina Vest and Paul Cobb, adWCRC’s clients live below the mire the mural artwork on the Vest’s home which celebrates the relevance of historic federal poverty level, and 70% leadership and contributions of the Black Women who instituted educational, health of them identify as people of and political organization to the Black Panther Party.
The Story of The Mural Honoring the Women of the Black Panther Party Born and raised in Chicago, Jilchristina Vest moved to the Bay Area in 1986 when she was 19 years old. In 1995, after earning degrees in Black Studies, Women’s Studies, and Multicultural Education from San Francisco State University
and the University of San Francisco, she had a job working for OCCUR. There she learned about the rich history of African American success and activism in West Oakland and its connection to The Black Panther
Party. And because of that history, Vest began her search for a home in West Oakland. After two years of searching and with the help of her friends and community, Vest bought Continued on Page 10
color. Cancer often is not the greatest concern for low-income and marginalized individuals. Limited access to primary health care, inadequate health es, language and cultural barriers, racism, low literacy, fear, and mistrust of medical systems contribute to late diagnosis and earlier death, especially for African American, Latinx, and all other groups of low-
has made a huge difference is
Ms. Arenoso
income women diagnosed with cancer. WCRC provides a set of comprehensive free services, including psychotherapy, support groups, art and wellness classes, community-based cancer patient navigation and information and referral to community resources. But most of all, WCRC provides a place of refuge. Anyone who comes through the Center’s doors will feel safe, connected and seen. The Center was able to extend this feeling
used to maintain privacy). She couldn’t trust anyone. Having been on own since the age of sixteen, the trauma of her early life and homelessness made it hard for her to feel safe by trusting others. She learned that self-reliance isn’t always the answer. In 2019, she was diagnosed with cancer. After a few months of treatment, which affected her ability to think clearly, she realized that she needed to be around other people who had cancer, and she was referred to WCRC. She was able to start to relax and receive support. The WCRC staff tailored services to her needs. Her navigator and apply for emergency fundContinued on Page 10
Mothers of Martin Luther Unanswered Questions Over Costs of King, Jr., Malcolm X, and Proposed Howard Terminal Ballpark James Baldwin Shaped America
By Ken Epstein
president and general counsel There is growing public scruAssociation, an opponent of moving the A’s to Howard Terminal. “I think it’s hard to say what’s going on. They haven’t made it plain what they’re asking for and what they’re proposing,”
are offering to the city in a proposal, released the end of April, to “privately fund” the building of a $1 billion ballpark and a massive $12 billon real estate development, almost a city within a city, on the waterfront London Square in downtown sheet,” released on April 23 and available at www.mlb.com/ athletics/oakland-ballpark/ community-report, proposes a construction project that, in addition to a 35,000-seat waterfront ballpark, would feature 3,000 units of mostly market rate housing, a hotel, an indoor performance center and 1.5
The Oakland A’s are proposing construction of a new ballpark at the waterfront Howard Terminal site, part of a huge project that includes redevelopment of the Oakland Coliseum property.
and 270,000 square feet of retail space, as well as a gondola to transport fans over the I-880 freeway. Many of the details of the proposal are vague, and there
The A’s term sheet proposes a cost of $955 million for infrastructure and $450 million that will be utilized for community
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be paid by taxpayers, presumably with a bond, he said. “It is unclear whether (the funding) is underwritten by the bond, whether it is backed by general fund money and pretty unclear what the scope for the
timately see. Among those who raised
Continued on Page 10
are many unanswered questions about how much this project
Sen .Tim Scott Solves Asian Americans’ Model Minority Problem By Emil Guillermo
Asian Americans have long been hampered at times by the “Model Minority” stereotype. What’s that about? You know, how Asian Americans’ success has been used against them in that “look how good they are” way. It’s an excuse to ignore them. Here’s the thinking: as model minorities, we can all ignore them. They don’t need any action or any such handouts. They are model minorities, ergo, the subtext – Why can’t you all be like them! But not this year! Sen. Tim Scott (R-South Carolina) has made a gift to all Asian Americans. We aren’t the model minor-
Opinion
Sen. Tim Scott
ity anymore. He is. Speech to Congress last week, Scott offered up his childhood growing up with a single mother in a one-room apartment and then looked America
in the eye and said, unequivocally, “America is not a racist country.” He was taking away our crown of “model minority” and placing it on his own head. And tying it on with his own bootstraps. likes to brag: “I get called Uncle Tom and the N-word by progressives, liberals.” But honestly, to say America is not a racist country is possibly a bigger lie than “Trump won last November.” A Biden margin of victory of nearly 7 million voters debunks that lie. It would take just one chapter of Asian American history—just the Filipino part-- to refute Scott. In an historical context, taking away Asian Americans’ “model minority” burden is
Dropping the stereotype is important as America, after the begins to understand that we Asian Americans are beyond stereotypes. In total, Asian Americans are 23 million strong and diverse from more than 20 countries. And we’re growing, destined to overtake the Hispanic population as the No.1 ethnic minority by 2060, of Census data. This is especially important as the government looks to engage with all of its people in a new inclusive way. It is the New America many of us in the ethnic media have been talking about for the last 20 years. And that’s what Scott and Continued on Page 10
By Sandra Varner, Talk2SV
In her book, “The Three Mothers: How the Mothers of Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and James Baldwin Shaped a Nation,” author and academician Anna Malaika Tubbs takes us on an extraordinary exploration of three matriarchs: Alberta King (mother of Martin Luther King Jr), Louise
Anna Malaika Tubbs
Little (mother of Malcolm X), and Berdis Baldwin (mother of James Baldwin). While all of the subjects and their sons no longer live among us, their life lessons live on perpetually. “The Three Mothers,” an assessment of its subjects’ emotional, moral, physiological, psychological, and familial Continued on Page 10