Tag: Oakland

In selecting Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., as its new chair, the Congressional Black Caucus chose one of its most progressive members who, days after Sept. 11, 2001, was the only person in Congress to vote against authorizing the use of force in Iraq.

“The tenants prevailed. There was no one from Oakland Community Housing appearing in court today to oppose the tenants’ needs or Judge Richard Keller’s ruling. This is a big victory for the people.”

We will begin to rewrite the story of this land, erasing the exclusion and isolation that waved at us mockingly as an estranged flag was tossed and tussled by torrential winds. Perhaps now those stripes and bright stars will symbolize a dream in which we all can stake a claim.

At a press conference in Oakland, Tandenico Jones, a member of LIFETIME, declared: "The governor and the Legislature need to come to agreement that doesn't just cut services to balance the budget. Our economy is so bad right now; costs for everything have gone up. If the services I depend on are cut, all the efforts I've made to move my family forward will slip away."

On a cloudy Saturday morning in August, the sidewalk outside Glenn E. Dyer Jail in Oakland seems an odd site for a voter registration drive – but organizers are targeting an atypical audience: inmates and those visiting them.

Oakland's California Hotel residents have organized and taken over management and maintenance since building was abandoned by property manager John Stewart Co.

Over the last year, there have been hundreds of stories in the local and national media accusing young men from Your Black Muslim Bakery of the murder of Oakland Post Editor Chauncey Bailey. Yet with all that coverage, we have not heard Yusuf Bey IV himself, successor to the Bakery's founder, address these accusations.

“The California Hotel is just the first building,” said Robbie Clark, an organizer with Just Cause Oakland, who led the chants and rallying cry with tenants and supporters Monday. “There will more than likely be others. We have to come together as a community and prevent the displacement of residents.”

He stressed the need for people to buy property collectively and develop plans that would work as safety nets when people can’t afford to pay their mortgages.