Dis Asm. Isaac Bryan Wants Incarcerated Firefighters to Earn More on Assignment ... see page 2
OPINION: Let’s Challenge Musk’s Cruel and Senseless Downsizing of Federal Workforce ... see page 4
New Report Highlights Wage Gap for Black Women in Black Lawmakers and Educators Highlight Importance of California.. see page 4 AP African American Studies... see page 6
Oakland Post “Where there is no vision, the people perish...” Proverbs 29:18
62nd Year, No. 8
Weekly Edition February 19 - 25, 2025
postnewsgroup.com
Major Oakland Budget Cuts Jeopardize Nonprofits Providing Safety Net Services
Alameda Superior Court Judge Ursula Jones Dickson was sworn into the County District Attorney role at a Board of Supervisors meeting. She held a press conference before the ceremony to lay out her priorities for the department. Photo by Magaly Muñoz.
Ursula Jones Dickson Officially Sworn in as New Alameda County District Attorney
By Magaly Muñoz
Ursula Jones Dickson was officially sworn into office Tuesday afternoon after a months-long process to fill the vacant position following the recall of predecessor Pamela Price. Jones Dickson said in a press conference prior to her swearing-in ceremony at the Alameda Board of Supervisors meeting that “we need to get back to business” at the district attorney’s office. “This is a district attorney’s of-
fice, so we’ll do the work of the district attorney, and in addition to that, hopefully facilitate other good things in the community,” Jones Dickson said. Jones Dickson reiterated her priority for streamlining the process for attorneys to make quicker and more precise decisions, ensuring the department’s budget is balanced and addressing divisions in the office. She stated that starting on her Continued on page 8
Civil Rights Groups Sue Trump Administration Over Anti-Equity Executive Orders
Mac Muir was appointed executive director of Oakland’s Community Police Review Agency. Credit: Courtesy city of Oakland
Mac Muir, Head of Oakland Police Commission’s Investigative Arm, Leaving Post
By Post Staff
Hoping that his resignation will help the Oakland Police Commission’s investigative arm maintain key functions, Community Police Review Agency (CPRA) head Mac Muir has stepped down after nearly two years on the job. As Oakland faces a $130 million shortfall, CPRA’s current annual budget of $4 million was only half of the designated $8 million and going down to $2.4 million under a proposal by the Police
Commission. “I hope my leaving would lead to salary savings that would allow the department to retain my staff,” Muir told KTVU on Wednesday. The CPRA, which was formed in 2016 with a ballot measure, is a civilian organization charged with examining police misconduct and determining discipline. The City Charter says that CPRA must have at least one investigator per 100 police officers. Currently there only five investiContinued on page 8
iStock
Shutterstock. By Stacy M. Brown NNPA Newswire The Legal Defense Fund (LDF) and Lambda Legal filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday challenging three executive orders issued by President Donald Trump. According to the groups, the orders threaten civil rights and the ability of organizations to provide vital social and health services.
The lawsuit—National Urban League v. Trump—was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. It claims that the orders violate the First and Fifth Amendments by targeting diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility (DEIA) programs, and transgender rights. The lawsuit also argued that there are broader consequences of the administration’s actions. “BeContinued on page 8
African Americans Urged to Observe 24-Hour Spending Boycott to Protest Trump’s DEI Cuts
By Post Staff
The NAACP, National Action Network (NAN), faith leaders and more are calling for a boycott for 24 hours on Feb. 28 in response to President Trump’s executive order to halt programs in federal agencies that support diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) directives. Publicized as well by word-ofmouth and social media, boycott
Musician and Former Clothier Yancie Taylor Celebrates 101 Years
supporters are being asked to ‘turn it off’ from 12 a.m. to 11:59 p.m. on the last day of Black History Month. Buy nothing online Continued on page 8
Community groups and their supporters rallied Feb. 18, 2025 in Oakland to denounce budget cuts. The city is cutting $2.6 million in funding for over a dozen organizations, including the Parks and Rec Foundation, the Downtown Oakland Association, Roots Health, and Centro Legal de La Raza. Photo courtesy of CBS News. By Post Staff Oakland’s nonprofits, including those offering free meals to seniors, legal aid to immigrants, and violence reduction programs, are endangered after suddenly losing $2.6 million in city funding. This cancellation of city contacts to these nonprofits is among the drastic repercussions the city is experiencing as it works to dig itself out of a $130 million budget deficit, which also has led to layoffs of about 100 city workers. Other cuts have temporarily closed two fire stations and canceled police training academies. In a memo in January to the Mayor and City Council, City Administrator Jestin Johnson announced the funding cuts. He wrote that nonprofits would be paid for work already completed but not for any work going forward, even by nonprofits with signed contracts. “The City Administrator’s Office is … distributing notices to recipients of City grants, providing them with 30 days’ notice that their grant agreements are being terminated,” Johnson wrote in the memo. “This will affect an estimated
13 grant recipients in the first round of terminations, and the City’s expenditure savings are estimated to be $2.6 million,” according to Johnson. “This is a critical contribution building on the steps taken in December to close the projected … shortfall in the current fiscal year.” “We will pay grantees what we owe for work already performed,” he wrote. “The City’s notices to the grant recipients will advise them, ‘The City will pay or reimburse Grantees for work properly performed under the Agreement up to the Termination Date, in accordance with the terms of the Agreement. However, no additional work is authorized or requested that is not currently in progress.’” Among affected nonprofits are: Trybe; SOS Meals on Wheels; Centro Legal de la Raza; CURYJ; the Peralta Hacienda Historical Park center; and Adamika Village, which is a support group for victims of violence. Nonprofit leaders say the services they have been providing will decline or even disappear if the city does not restore at least some of the funding, which Continued on page 8
FACES AROUND THE BAY:
Madyson Reeves (Al Attles ACE Program Ambassador) Youth Joined Basketball Royalty as she Inspired Warrior Legends to Read at Middle Schools
Retiring conductor of Oakland’s Temple Hill Symphony Orchestra Jay Trottier (left) and incoming conductor Kirsten Bradford (right).
2025 Marks Grand Finale and By Yancie E. Taylor III Jazz Vibraphonist and band New Beginning for Oakland’s leader Yancie Taylor Jr. will be 101 years old on Monday, Feb. 24. Temple Hill Symphony
By Post Staff
longtime conductor Jay Trottier.
The Oakland Temple Hill Symphony Orchestra (THSO), a beloved Bay Area institution since 1985, is preparing for a momentous concert this March — one that will mark the final performance under
After leading the orchestra since 2012, Trottier will take his final bow as principal conductor, making way for incoming conductor Kirsten Bradford, who will guide Continued on page 8
Geoffrey’s Inner Circle will hold a celebration for him on Sunday, March 2 from 6-10 p.m. at Sunday Jazz, featuring the Yancie E. Taylor Jazztet. A veteran of World War II, Taylor served as a non-commissioned Continued on page 8
Charles Dudley, Clifford Ray, Rick Berry and her Godmother of Basketball WNBA legend Nancy Lieberman with Madyson Reeves.