Community

Maybelle Craig Broussard Celebrates a Century

Published

10 years ago

March 12, 2014

Born and raised in Oakland, Maybelle Craig Broussard will celebrate her 100th birthday on March 31.

She and her brother George were raised in West Oakland. They were among the few African Americans who attended Cole Elementary School because there were few Black families who lived in the area.

Her father Berry Craig, a former slave, was a self-educated man who taught her the few Spanish words she knew as a child and fostered her interest in languages.

Her aunt Dr. Nettie Craig Ashberry was a civil rights activist who founded the Tacoma, Washington Chapter of the NAACP and many other Pacific Northwest chapters.

Mabel Bohannon Craig, Maybelle Craig Broussard’s mother, was a graduate of Wilberforce College in Ohio, and taught home economics at Prairie View College in Texas.

Craig Broussard was one of a handful of African American students admitted to the UC Berkeley. With the assistance of a scholarship from Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, she graduated from the university in 1936, in the same class of the late Oakland Mayor Lionel Wilson.

She earned a B.A. degree in Spanish and a minor in social studies, at a time when few women of color and only 10 percent of Americans attended college. But only job she could get was in Sacramento working for the state as a junior clerk, earning $70 per month.

In 1940, she married Texas native Ernest Broussard. When they married, he was a cook on the railroad, making $65 per month.

Later, he began working at the Post Office as a mail carrier. Before his death in 1971, he was promoted to supervisor at Oakland’s main post office.

Thirty years after graduating from UC Berkeley, she returned to college to earn a teaching credential in Spanish with minors in French and social studies at California State University Hayward.

She then worked for the State of California as a bilingual employment counselor and later for the Oakland Unified School District, teaching English as a Second Language (ESL)

Craig Broussard and her husband had three children. The family moved to East Oakland in 1950. She now has four grandchildren and four great grandchildren

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Oakland Post: Week of April 24 – 30, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of April 24 – 30, 2024

Published

6 days ago

April 26, 2024

Oakland Post

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Alameda County

DA Pamela Price Stands by Mom Who Lost Son to Gun Violence in Oakland

Last week, The Post published a photo showing Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price with Carol Jones, whose son, Patrick DeMarco Scott, was gunned down by an unknown assailant in 2018.

Published

1 week ago

April 22, 2024

Oakland Post

District Attorney Pamela Price with Carol Jones

Publisher’s note: Last week, The Post published a photo showing Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price with Carol Jones, whose son, Patrick DeMarco Scott, was gunned down by an unknown assailant in 2018. The photo was too small for readers to see where the women were and what they were doing. Here we show Price and Jones as they complete a walk in memory of Scott. For more information and to contribute, please contact Carol Jones at 510-978-5517 at morefoundation.help@gmail.com. Courtesy photo.

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City Government

Vallejo Welcomes Interim City Manager Beverli Marshall

At Tuesday night’s Council meeting, the Vallejo City Council appointed Beverli Marshall as the interim city manager. Her tenure in the City Manager’s Office began today, Wednesday, April 10. Mayor Robert McConnell praised Marshall’s extensive background, noting her “wide breadth of experience in many areas that will assist the City and its citizens in understanding the complexity of the many issues that must be solved” in Vallejo.

Published

1 week ago

April 22, 2024

Oakland Post

Beverli Marshall began her first day with the City on April 10. ICMA image.

Special to The Post

At Tuesday night’s Council meeting, the Vallejo City Council appointed Beverli Marshall as the interim city manager. Her tenure in the City Manager’s Office began today, Wednesday, April 10.

Mayor Robert McConnell praised Marshall’s extensive background, noting her “wide breadth of experience in many areas that will assist the City and its citizens in understanding the complexity of the many issues that must be solved” in Vallejo.

Current City Manager Michael Malone, whose official departure is slated for April 18, expressed his well wishes. “I wish the City of Vallejo and Interim City Manager Marshall all the best in moving forward on the progress we’ve made to improve service to residents.” Malone expressed his hope that the staff and Council will work closely with ICM Marshall to “ensure success and prosperity for the City.”

According to the Vallejo Sun, Malone stepped into the role of interim city manager in 2021 and became permanent in 2022. Previously, Malone served as the city’s water director and decided to retire from city service e at the end of his contract which is April 18.

“I hope the excellent work of City staff will continue for years to come in Vallejo,” he said. “However, recent developments have led me to this decision to announce my retirement.”

When Malone was appointed, Vallejo was awash in scandals involving the housing division and the police department. A third of the city’s jobs went unfilled during most of his tenure, making for a rocky road for getting things done, the Vallejo Sun reported.

At last night’s council meeting, McConnell explained the selection process, highlighting the council’s confidence in achieving positive outcomes through a collaborative effort, and said this afternoon, “The Council is confident that by working closely together, positive results will be obtained.”

While the search for a permanent city manager is ongoing, an announcement is expected in the coming months.

On behalf of the City Council, Mayor McConnell extended gratitude to the staff, citizen groups, and recruitment firm.

“The Council wishes to thank the staff, the citizens’ group, and the recruitment firm for their diligent work and careful consideration for the selection of what is possibly the most important decision a Council can make on behalf of the betterment of our City,” McConnell said.

The Vallejo Sun contributed to this report.