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New OC NAACP President Seeks More Black Teachers

PRECINCT REPORTER GROUP NEWS — In his new seat, he is ready to tackle some of the harder to reach places in higher education settings.

Published

7 years ago

February 28, 2019

Oakland Post

By Dianne Anderson

It may come as no surprise that the recently installed Orange County Branch NAACP President Dr. Fred C. Calhoun has his sights set on getting more African American representation of teachers into local school districts, colleges and universities.

In his new seat, he is ready to tackle some of the harder to reach places in higher education settings.

“I am excited and very fortunate to get the position, and that’s one of the things we want to be working on now,” he said.

Not long ago, Calhoun sent notices out to local community colleges and universities, explaining how the shrinking representation of Black educators and administrators is having a negative impact on Black students – and all students for that matter.

In attending functions at local high schools and colleges over the years, he said he still hardly ever comes in contact with Black staff or educators. It’s an ever-repeating pattern that he’s personally experienced throughout his own educational journey.

“I went all the way through the community college district and I never came in contact with a Black instructor until I went to UC Irvine,” he said. “I had no role models in these schools.”

This year, he has alerted one of the academic districts that they intend to march to protest if their isn’t a greater push to recruit more Black teachers. He said about 130 teachers or more retired in the North Orange County Community College District last year, which has opened up potential hiring opportunities.

Calhoun said the local branch NAACP would like to see stronger recruitment to get, and retain, African American teachers into some of those positions. To date, he’s not aware of an authentic effort on the part of colleges and universities.

“They might have it on paper, but I don’t think it’s actually happening,” he said.

Because Black teachers aren’t historically welcomed, they frequently leave for places where they can be supported, or promoted.

“They go to other districts that are a little more hospitable,” he said.

Since the late 1970s, Dr. Calhoun has served with the ACLU, the National Associaton for Equal Justice in America, and varying times on the NAACP-Orange County Branch board. He also led the fight to keep the Johnny Rebel confederate statute from being reinstalled that had stood tall in the quad area at Anaheim Savanna High School.

Calhoun also has a long history in education. He holds a doctorate in education from Nova University, and a master’s degree Community-Clinical Psychology from California State University, Long Beach. From the 1970’s, he served as Director, Student Educational Development Center/Extended Opportunity Programs and Services (SEDC/EOPS), and Dean of Student Services at Cypress College.

But much of his focus on education stems from his own upbringing.

He was born in Macon County, Georgia, where Martin Luther King Sr., was his mom’s Sunday School teacher.

Through his childhood, his great grandmother who cared for him had been a slave. He said his father figured prominently in the fight for equal education, having filed a school desegregation case in the 1950s that went all the way to the Supreme Court.

It was the first civil rights case for education desegregation filed in Atlanta.

Going forward, Calhoun is also looking to develop more partnerships to train prisoners and get them connected to education programs. He said he has met with representatives from UC Irvine that are doing similar types of outreach already.

In the past few weeks, membership has been growing significantly, and they’ve welcomed many people into the fold. Everyone is welcome to come in, attend, and join in the effort.

NAACP meetings are held the second Saturday of every month from 12:30-2:30 p.m. at Second Baptist Church, located at 4300 Westminster Avenue in Santa Ana.

The local branch NAACP is also ready to work with partners to address the need both inside the prison, and after they get out. He said they are in the process of reaching out to the employment office and talking about alliances with churches that are working within the prison system.

“I’m going to try to put together a conference so we can discuss this more,” he said.

The organization also hopes to reach younger students.

“We’re going to be working with youth, and offering scholarships for young kids in elementary school. We want to inspire them to go on in education,” he said.

For more information, or to join, see www.oc-naacp.com/

This article originally appeared in the Precinct Reporter Group News.

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Poll Shows Support for Policies That Help Families Afford Child Care

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — New national polling shows persistent voter concern about the affordability and availability of child care for working parents, alongside broad support across key demographic groups for federal child care policies that help families afford care.

Published

3 days ago

March 2, 2026

Oakland Post

By First Five Years Fund

New national polling shows persistent voter concern about the affordability and availability of child care for working parents, alongside broad support across key demographic groups for federal child care policies that help families afford care.

The national survey was conducted by UpOne Insight on behalf of the First Five Years Fund from January 13–18, 2026.

Key findings include:

• Parents need help: 80% of voters say the ability of working parents to find and afford child care is either in a state of crisis or a major problem.

• This is an affordability issue: 82% believe federal child care funding will help lower costs for working families — including 69% of Republicans, 84% of Independents, and 94% of Democrats.

• And there continues to be strong support (62%) for the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG), a federal program that makes it possible for hundreds of thousands of families to afford safe, quality care for their children while parents work or go to school, including a majority of Republicans, 63% of Independents and 72% of Democrats.

• Support for funding child care programs remains strong: 75% believe child care funding should be increased or kept at current levels — including 75% of Republicans, 85% of Independents, and 97% of Democrats.

• 74% say funding for child care is an important and good use of tax dollars, including a majority of Republicans, three-quarters of Independents, and nine in ten Democrats.

FFYF Executive Director Sarah Rittling said, “Voters across the country are sending a clear message: federal child care and early learning programs work. These investments help parents stay in the workforce, strengthen families, and support healthy child development. They have also long had strong bipartisan support in Congress. At a time when affordability is top of mind for families, continued federal funding is essential to ensure child care remains accessible and within reach.”

First Five Years Fund works to protect, prioritize, and build bipartisan support for quality child care and early learning programs at the federal level. Reliable, affordable, and high-quality early learning and child care can be transformative, not only enhancing a child’s prospects for a brighter future but also bolstering working parents and fostering economic stability nationwide.

We work with Congress and the Administration to identify federal solutions that work for families with young children, as well as states and communities. We work with policymakers to identify ways to increase access to affordable, high-quality child care and early learning programs for children. And we collaborate with advocacy groups to help align best practices with the best possible policies. http://www.ffyf.org

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Oakland Post: Week of February 25 – March 3, 2026

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of – February 25 – March 3, 2026

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4 days ago

March 1, 2026

Oakland Post

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Trump’s MAGA Allies are Creating Executive Order Plan to Steal the 2026 Midterms

NNPA NEWSWIRE — The document that could lead to an executive order proposes using the claim that China interfered with the 2020 elections as grounds to “declare a national emergency.” The move would be an unprecedented step that would grant Trump new authority over the voting systems in the U.S.

Published

6 days ago

February 27, 2026

Oakland Post

By Lauren Victoria Burke, NNPA Newswire Correspondent

A group of MAGA pro-Trump activists, who say they are working in coordination with the White House, are circulating a 17-page draft executive order that would claim without evidence that China interfered with the 2020 presidential election. Donald Trump lost the 2020 presidential to President Joe Biden by over 7 million votes. Since Trump lost to Biden in 2020, he has repeatedly claimed that the election was “stolen” without evidence. The report of a group of “Trump allies” preparing an executive order to give Trump power over elections was first reported by The Washington Post.

The lies around the right-wing campaign that pushed falsehoods that the 2020 election was stolen was trafficked through right-wing media, particularly Fox News. Fox News was then sued for defamation for the claims by Dominion Voting Systems. Fox lost the case and had to settle for the largest defamation amount on record of $787.5 million in April 2023.

The document that could lead to an executive order proposes using the claim that China interfered with the 2020 elections as grounds to “declare a national emergency.” The move would be an unprecedented step that would grant Trump new authority over the voting systems in the U.S.

The story in The Washington Post arrives as Trump increasingly signals that he may take actions that would alter the result of the 2026 midterms. The Republicans are widely expected to lose as their approval ratings plummet as a result of a failing economy under Trump. Over 50 members of Congress have announced they will retire this year and not return in 2027.

The Trump Department of Justice, which now has a large image of Trump on the side of it, “sued five new states Thursday [Feb. 26, 2026] demanding access to their unredacted voter rolls — escalating a campaign that has been rejected by multiple federal courts and faces resistance from Republican-led states as well,” according to Democracy Docket, a group that works to protect voting rights.

Trump claimed back in late 2020, the last year of his first term, that he had the authority to issue an executive order related to mail-in voting for the 2020 elections — which he would then lose. But the Constitution states that control of elections lies with the states. As the GOP works to place hurdles in front of voting, Democrats worked to make voting easier.

In March 2021, President Biden signed an executive order calling on federal agencies to expand voting access as part of the Biden Administration’s effort “to promote and defend the right to vote for all Americans who are legally entitled to participate in elections.”

Trump’s focus is clearly on altering the November 2026 midterm elections. Trump’s polling numbers and the elections and special elections that have taken place around the U.S. over the last year clearly indicate that Republicans are about to be hit by a blue wave of Democratic victories.

Lauren Victoria Burke is an independent investigative journalist and the founder of Black Virginia News. She is a political analyst who appears on #RolandMartinUnfiltered and hosts the show LAUREN LIVE on YouTube @LaurenVictoriaBurke. She can be contacted at LBurke007@gmail.com and on twitter at @LVBurke