Tag: publisher of the San Francisco Bay View newspaper

Anthony Ratcliff died on July 23, 2016, after a valiant fight against throat and lung cancer. He was born in Oakland, California, on May 18, 1956, to mother Geneva Cleopatra Draper Ratcliff, a homemaker (now deceased), and father Dr. Willie Ratcliff, a contractor and publisher of the San Francisco Bay View newspaper. Anthony was greatly beloved and will be sorely missed. His homegoing service is Friday, July 29, 1 p.m., at Common Ground Covenant Church, Sacramento.

Black Media Appreciation Night is rolling around again. Here is our opportunity to return the love that so many Black journalists, artists and organizers have dished out to us over the years in the form of articles, broadcasts, songs and events. We are inviting and urging you to come out to support the people who care about reporting and making art so that your voice can be represented on the airwaves and screens across the planet. Come show your love to this year's award winners, led by Black Lives Matter founder Alicia Garza. Early bird tickets are only $25.

From the moment the doors opened on the evening of Sept. 13, it was apparent that the honoring of our global African media would begin its night of empowerment with the tradition of honoring one of the community’s foremost elders. We celebrated the 82 years of life and struggle of Dr. Willie Ratcliff and Dr. Ratcliff’s 22 years of Black media ownership of the San Francisco Bay View newspaper. Black Media Appreciation Night 2014 was filled with wisdom, communication and the exchange of knowledge, as well as people receiving awards for life changing, revolutionary work.

Black people have largely been locked out of construction work in San Francisco since 1998. That’s a shame, because construction work is a solution to many of the ills in the Black community. Construction wages are high, and when Black contractors have work, they are generally eager to train Black workers regardless of their school, police or prison records.