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Pamela Price Rally... Page 3
Honoring Jack Chandra Naidu.. Page 10
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Sandré Swanson... Page 3
Nonprofit Marketing... Page 2
Oakland Post “Where there is no vision, the people perish...” Proverbs 29:18
60th Year, No. 16
Weekly Edition. Edition. April 19 - 25, 2023
postnewsgroup.com
City Blocks Holy Names Development Plan: Saying it Does Not Fit General Zoning
Photo by JonathanFitnessJones
Town Parade Celebrates Oakland High and Oakland Tech Basketball Champions Story inside on page 3
Aerial shot of Holy Names University campus. File photo. By Ken Epstein Prospects are looking better for saving the Holy Names University campus as a center for higher education in Oakland. At one point, it seemed highly likely that HNU’s leaders would sell the nearly 60-acre campus to a developer of high-end residential housing when the university closes in May. They clearly stated their goal was to earn top dollar for the
property.
The HNU Board of Trustees
told the public they had reached out to other post-secondary in-
stitutions but found no interest in coming to Oakland. They also
said that they were saddled with $50 million debt, and their creditor was aggressively forcing them into the sale.
Now, however, several edu-
cational institutions have come
forward with proposals to establish programs at the site; HNU’s creditor says it is committed to work with Oakland to help save the property as a home for higher education; and students, faculty, community, and city leaders are mobilizing to save the campus. Additionally, HNU’s plan for exclusive housing in the Oakland Hills has hit a roadblock with the Continued on page 10
Oakland Teachers Take Strike Vote, NAACP and LDS Church Working in Unity: “Together We Can Make a Difference” Accuse OUSD of Unfair Labor Practices
Oakland Education Association (OEA) bargaining team members at recent teacher rally. Photo by Ken Epstein. By Ken Epstein
Members of the Oakland Education Association (OEA) are voting this week whether they are ready to go on strike against the Oakland Unified School District for “illegal, bad-faith bargaining.” In a media release, the union announced that voting began on Monday: “Instead of negotiating a fair contract for the safe, stable, and racially-just schools
our students deserve, OUSD has bargained in bad faith and broken labor law,” the union said.
In a video statement on the
OEA Facebook page, OEA Interim President Ismael “Ish” Ar-
mendariz announced the strike
vote, which will be conducted for
a week. Results will be tallied next Monday evening.
Armendariz asked members to
es walkout “when it’s necessary.” “OUSD’s bargaining team has negotiated in bad faith,” he said. “They cancel sessions and give unserious proposals. Unfortunately, this behavior is continuing, and we can’t trust OUSD to come with serious proposals to settle a contract.” “Our members deserve a livable wage,” he continued. “Our
authorize the unfair labor practic-
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Pictured l-r: Cathy Adams President OAACC, Christian Dean Business Mgr., Dhaval Shah Business Banking Mgr, Megan Schoettmer Regional President Northern CA PNC, Chadwick Spell OAACC Chairman of the Board . For additional information visit: http://www.oaacc.org to sign up. Photo by Auintard Henderson
The Oakland African American Chamber of Commerce in alliance with Sponsor PNC bank hosted a workshop for the public on Safeguarding Your Business at the recently opened African American-owned lounge Kinfolz Coffee and Wine Bar located at 1951 Telegraph Ave. in downtown Oakland. PNC Bank’s Executive Management staff held a roundtable discussion and engaged in direct dialogue with the attendees. The PNC managers shared some of the finance industry’s best practices on how to increase one’s credit scores for loans applications. The roundtable forum was moderated by OAACC board member Chadwick Spell
OAACC and PNC Bank Give Keys to Acquiring Business Loans
The NAACP and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints together hosted a convening of San Francisco leaders in the Black community. Two dozen of these leaders spent two days, April 14 and 15, 2023, in a collaborative endeavor to begin to identify gaps in services available to the Black community and to identify both the resources that are available, and the additional resources needed. The theme was: Together We Can Make a Difference and the group looks forward to including additional community leaders in further collaboration. The invitation list and the agenda for the convening came from the San Francisco Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
(NAACP) and the Church provided logistics and financial support. The Filoli staff of the National Trust for Historic Preservation provided the meeting space on the Filoli grounds in Woodside, California. Attendees loved visiting the mansion and the extensive gardens. See www.filoli.org Facilitators for the work accomplished were Veronica Shepard and Dr. Jonathan Butler from the NAACP and Elder Ahmad S. Corbitt from the Church. Reverend Dr. Amos Brown pre-recorded his welcoming remarks and Elder Gerrit Gong of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles joined the group for dinner on Friday and spoke to the convening about each of us having a story in our family history and how each of us is writing our own story today as we build strong
and lasting bridges. Afterward, Elder Corbitt shared how much he appreciated meeting with this amazing group of leaders from San Francisco’s Black community. He was impressed with the spirit he felt and the commitment to future collaboration to address the trauma and challenges of Blacks in the area. “It is a joy to be working with dedicated and wise community leaders from the NAACP and the larger Black community in San Francisco. This is a very meaningful and lasting friendship.” Everyone agreed that the group made significant progress. More progress is needed. The NAACP, the Church, and the agencies represented at the convening look forward to the next steps of progress – Together We Can Make a Difference.
Some members of Formerly Incarcerated Giving Back (l-r): Lorenzo Dadisi Benton, Terry Samaki Benton, Crystal Makini Owens, Elmo Hamin Dill, Rafiki, Minister KingX, Richard Wembe Johnson, Sun Ra, and Paul Sangu Jones is seated. Photo by Jonathan ‘Fitness’ Jones.
Guns Don’t Kill People, But People Pull the Triggers
By Richard Johnson
When I heard that the Oakland Post was publishing a notice of a rally for D.A. Pamela Price at the Alameda County Courthouse Sunday, April 23 at 4:00 p.m. I told the publisher that I would invite some members of our newly formed organization, “Formerly Incarcerated Giving Back,” to attend the rally to show that we want to help rebuild trust and repair some of the harm that we caused
to crime victims. I plan to speak to as many people as possible that it is time for us to tell others, especially our youth, to lay down their guns and roll up their sleeves to work for positive change. Given the recent upsurge in gun violence and random shootings, I have written this column for us to understand the dangers and costs associated with the proliferation of guns and why we must do some-
thing about it. “Guns don’t kill people; people kill people,” is a slogan by the National Rifle Association. This statement seems self-serving for those who wish to pass the buck and not deal with reality: Guns are the tools that kill people, but it’s people who pull the triggers. People kill for various reasons: mental health, hatred, gangs, drugs, or domestic violence, but
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