Dis
U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries & Rep. Lateefah Simon to Speak at Elihu Harris Lecture Series ... see page 2
NNPA Launches National Public Education and Selective Buying Campaign ... see page 2
OPINION: Politics, Football and Identity in Trump’s America.. see page 4
BOOK REVIEW: Fearless and Free: A Memoir... see page 7
Oakland Post “Where there is no vision, the people perish...” Proverbs 29:18
postnewsgroup.com
62nd Year, No. 7
Weekly Edition February 12 - 18, 2025
After Years of Working Remotely, Oakland Requires All City Employees to Return to Office by April 7
Actor, Philanthropist Blair Underwood Visits Bay Area, Kicks Off Literacy Program in ‘New Oakland’ Initiative
Councilmember Janani Ramachandran. Courtesy photo.
Oakland City Hall. File photo. By Post Staff
The City of Oakland is requiring all employees to return to the office, thereby ending the telecommuting policy established during the pandemic that has left some City Hall departments understaffed. City Administrator Jestin Johnson recently told city unions that he is ending Oakland’s telecommuting program. The new policy will require employees to come to work at least four days a
week. These new regulations go into effect on Feb. 18 for non-union department heads, assistant and deputy directors, managers, and supervisors. All other employees must be back at work by April 7. The administration may still grant the right to work remotely on a case-by-case basis. In his memo to city unions, Johnson said former President Joe Continued on page 10
Councilmembers Ramachandran, Kaplan, Unger Identify Funds to Save Oakland Fire Stations
By Janani Ramachandran
There is no greater concern to the people of Oakland today than public safety. Fire stations are the bread and butter of essential city services – and every day that we have stations shuttered, we imperil the lives of our community members. In response to widespread outcry over the current and
planned closure of stations, myself, along with Councilmembers Kaplan and Unger, have painstakingly worked to identify millions of dollars of new funding to save our stations. The legislation we introduced on Thursday Feb. 13th will amend our budget to prevent the closure of four fire stations that are currently on the chopping Continued on page 10
From East Palo Alto To Paris: Oakland Born Newscaster Celebrates 26 Years Leading Black Paris Tours
Blair Underwood (left) and Barbara Lee (right). Courtesy photo. By Paul Cobb
New Oakland Series
OPINION PART 3
The Post mentioned three
weeks ago that a number of our
local luminaries were coming together to support the “New Oakland” movement. As this
current national administration
continues to eliminate our legacy institutional policies and programs
left and right, most communities are finding themselves beyond frozen in fear. Well, esteemed actor and long-time Bay Area supporter and philanthropist, Blair Underwood returned to Oakland this week to speak with city leaders, community trust agents, students, the Oakland Post and local celebrities alike to continue his Continued on page 10
Ricki Stevenson’s Blacks in Paris Tours are an Eye-full
Bill Russell and Brian McGhee in McClymonds High School Gym, 2011. Photo courtesy of Brian McGhee.
McClymonds High Names School Gym for Star Graduate, Basketball Legend Bill Russell
Ricki Stevenson, Blacks in Paris. Courtesy photo. By Post Staff There were two things Oaklandborn, East Palo Alto-raised Ricki Stevenson always dreamed of: 1. Going to New York as a newscaster to tell the true story of Blacks in America. 2. Living and working in Paris one day. Her dreams of life in Paris began when she was three years old and her mother, a former professional dancer, took her to see Josephine Baker perform. She was 11 when her parents took her to the Stanford University campus to meet James Baldwin, who was speaking about his book, “The Fire Next Time.” Ricki says that’s when she knew she’d one day live in Paris, “the city of light!” But before that would ever happen, she had a tumultuous career as a newscaster across the country that was inspired by her family’s history.
Stevenson recalls marching with Cesar Chavez as he fought for labor rights for farm workers in California. “Are we Mexican too?” she asked her parents. “No, but we will fight for everyone’s human rights,” they responded to her. Ironically, Ricki’s paternal family roots went back to Greenwood, Oklahoma, infamous for the 1921 bombing of Black Wall Street. A time when Black people had oil wells, banks, and a thriving business community. This background would propel her into a 25-year journalism career that gave her the opportunity to interview greats like President Jimmy Carter, PLO leader Yassir Arafat, James Baldwin, Rev. Jesse Jackson, UN Ambassador Andrew Young, Miriam Makeba, and the leaders of South African liberation movements. A job offer from KCBS radio
By Ken Epstein
Ricki Stevenson, Blacks in Paris. Courtesy photo. brought her back to the Bay Area in the 1980s. Then came the switch to TV when she was hired as a Silicon Valley business reporter with KSTS TV, working at the first Black-owned television station in northern CA (created and owned by John Douglas). Along the way, Stevenson worked as an entertainment reporter with BET; coproduced, with her disc jockey brother Isaac, a Bay Area show called “Magic Number Video;” lived in Saudi Arabia; worked as an international travel reporter with News Travel Network; and worked at KRON TV a news anchor and talk show host.
In 1997, Stevenson realized her dream of living in Paris with her young daughter, Dedie. She started exploring the history of Africans in the city and would go on to teach others the same. Her business, which she named Black Paris Tours (BPT), received a significant boost when a family friend, Admiral Robert Toney put a chunk of money in her hand. He said, “Ricki, my wife and I have been coming to Paris for 20 years, but in just two days with you and Dedie, we’ve learned and seen more than we ever did before.” Years after BPT took off, Ricki Continued on page 10
West Oakland’s McClymonds High School, “the School of Champions,” this week named the school’s gymnasium in honor of one of its most famous graduates, basketball legend Bill Russell (class of ’52). William “Bill” Felton Russell was born on Feb. 12, 1934, and died on July 31, 2022. He achieved fame as a U.S. professional basketball player who played center for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1956 to 1969. He was the centerpiece of the Celtics dynasty that won 11 NBA championships during his 13-year career. Russell is widely known as one of the greatest basketball players of all time. In 2011, he
received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the country's highest civil honor, from President Barack Obama for Russell’s contributions to basketball and the Civil Rights Movement. The McClymonds’ naming ceremony was held on Wednesday, the same day as Russell’s birthday. Oakland leader Bill Patterson, a longtime friend of Russell’s, was scheduled to cut the ribbon at the reopening of the gym, which had been closed for several months for renovation. Russell’s daughter Karen was scheduled to attend the ribbon cutting. Russell’s name and signature are now printed on the gymnasium floor. Patterson was working at DeFremery Park when he met Continued on page 10