Uncategorized

Op-Ed: Honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s, Legacy

Published

10 years ago

January 18, 2016

By Anh Le

As we commemorate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s, birthday and honor his legacy, we are confronted with many pressing issues: war, poverty, homelessness, economic inequality, racism, shootings and killings of African American men by police.

In San Francisco, we pride ourselves on being “culturally diverse.” We speak of our city as if we were “enlightened,” and even immune from racism. We see racism as only happening “somewhere else,” not in our own backyard.

Yet last August, St. Paul Tabernacle Baptist Church, an African American church in San Francisco’s Bayview District, was vandalized and painted with racist graffiti in its sanctuary.

Few in the media reported on this hate crime.

In December, Mario Woods, an African American man, was shot and killed in the Bayview District by five San Francisco Police officers. Police claimed that he was a stabbing suspect, and had a knife on him. Videotape of him shows him backed against the wall, moving very slowly, and shot repeatedly at close range.

Police Chief Greg Suhr defended the officers’ shooting of Woods, claiming that he raised his arm and moved toward the officers. Mayor Ed Lee gave a timid public statement regarding the shooting.

KQED, an NPR radio station in San Francisco, conducted an independent analysis of the videotape of the shooting. It concluded that Woods’ arm moved only after he was shot and that he did not move toward the police officers prior to being shot.

The African American community is outraged at the killing of Woods. People see it as a cold-blooded execution, the shooting of an African American man by a “firing squad.”

It reminds people of police officers’ shooting of Kenneth Harding, Jr., in the Bayview District in 2011. Harding was chased and shot at by police after he got off a MUNI train platform for allegedly evading fare payment.

Although police claimed that the bullet that killed him came from his own pistol, he was left lying on the ground, writhing in pain and raising his head, police standing next to him without rendering emergency medical aid, with community members nearby screaming in horror and anguish.

When the vandalism at St. Paul Tabernacle occurred, it was swept under the rug. Except for a small group of San Franciscans who helped the church, there were no public condemnations from any elected officials.

Nor were there any condemnations from African American ministers and churches, the NAACP, clergypersons of various faiths. There were no protest marches organized by any church or house of worship.

This silence reminds us of Dr. King’s words, in his eulogy at the funerals of three of the four girls killed in the bombing of 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, ALA, in September 1963, “They have something to say to every minister of the Gospel who has remained silent behind the safe security of stained glass.”

The killing of Woods has prompted a call for reforms in the San Francisco Police Department.

Many say that this is not enough.

Many demand the firing of Police Chief Suhr. People in the African American community say that they are angry that African Americans continue to be killed at the hands of police, and demand that this culture of shooting and killing African Americans must stop.

Let us demand that the killing of Mario Woods be fully investigated by the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Attorney General.

As we honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s legacy, let us remember his call:

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere…Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”

“We must live together as brothers or perish together as fools.”

Let us carry on Dr. King’s dream in our lives. Let us renew our belief in the sanctity of human life.

As with every human life, “Black Lives Matter.”

Anh Le is a writer who lives in San Francisco.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

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Oakland Housing and Community Development Department Awards $80.5 Million to Affordable Housing Developments

Published

7 months ago

June 17, 2025

Oakland Post

Special to The Post

The City of Oakland’s Housing and Community Development Department (Oakland HCD) announced its awardees for the 2024-2025 New Construction of Multifamily Affordable Housing Notice of Funding Availability (New Construction NOFA) today Five permanently affordable housing developments received awards out of 24 applications received by the Department, with award amounts ranging from $7 million to $28 million.

In a statement released on Jan. 16, Oakland’s HCD stated, “Five New Construction Multifamily Affordable Housing Development projects awarded a total of $80.5 million to develop 583 affordable rental homes throughout Oakland. Awardees will leverage the City’s investments to apply for funding from the state and private entities.”

In December, the office of Rebecca Kaplan, interim District 2 City Councilmember, worked with HCD to allocate an additional $10 Million from Measure U to the funding pool. The legislation also readopted various capital improvement projects including street paving and upgrades to public facilities.

The following Oakland affordable housing developments have been awarded in the current round:

Mandela Station Affordable

238 Affordable Units including 60 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $15 million + previously awarded $18 million
Developer: Mandela Station LP (Pacific West Communities, Inc. and Strategic Urban Development Alliance, LLC)
City Council District: 3
Address: 1451 7th St.

Liberation Park Residences

118 Affordable Units including 30 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $28 million
Developer: Eden Housing and Black Cultural Zone
City Council District: 6
Address: 7101 Foothill Blvd.

34th & San Pablo

59 Affordable Units including 30 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $7 million
Developer: 34SP Development LP (EBALDC)
City Council District: 3
Address: 3419-3431 San Pablo Ave.

The Eliza

96 Affordable Units including 20 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $20 million
Developer: Mercy Housing California
City Council District: 3
Address: 2125 Telegraph Ave.

3135 San Pablo

72 Affordable Units including 36 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $10.5 million
Developer: SAHA and St. Mary’s Center
City Council District: 3
Address: 3515 San Pablo Ave.

The source of this story is the media reltations office of District 2 City Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Activism

Oakland Housing and Community Development Department Awards $80.5 Million to Affordable Housing Developments

Published

12 months ago

January 30, 2025

Oakland Post

Rebecca Kaplan, interim District 2 city councilmember. File photo.

Special to The Post

The following Oakland affordable housing developments have been awarded in the current round:

Mandela Station Affordable

238 Affordable Units including 60 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $15 million + previously awarded $18 million
Developer: Mandela Station LP (Pacific West Communities, Inc. and Strategic Urban Development Alliance, LLC)
City Council District: 3
Address: 1451 7th St.

Liberation Park Residences

118 Affordable Units including 30 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $28 million
Developer: Eden Housing and Black Cultural Zone
City Council District: 6
Address: 7101 Foothill Blvd.

34th & San Pablo

59 Affordable Units including 30 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $7 million
Developer: 34SP Development LP (EBALDC)
City Council District: 3
Address: 3419-3431 San Pablo Ave.

The Eliza

96 Affordable Units, including 20 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $20 million
Developer: Mercy Housing California
City Council District: 3
Address: 2125 Telegraph Ave.

3135 San Pablo

72 Affordable Units including 36 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $10.5 million
Developer: SAHA and St. Mary’s Center
City Council District: 3
Address: 3515 San Pablo Ave.

The source of this story is media reltations office of District 2 City Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Alameda County

Oakland Acquisition Company’s Acquisition of County’s Interest in Coliseum Property on the Verge of Completion

The Board of Supervisors is committed to closing the deal expeditiously, and County staff have worked tirelessly to move the deal forward on mutually agreeable terms. The parties are down to the final details and, with the cooperation of OAC and Coliseum Way Partners, LLC, the Board will take a public vote at an upcoming meeting to seal this transaction.

Published

1 year ago

January 11, 2025

Oakland Post

Alameda County Board of Supervisors Chairman David Haubert. Official photo.

Special to The Post

The County of Alameda announced this week that a deal allowing the Oakland Acquisition Company, LLC, (“OAC”) to acquire the County’s 50% undivided interest in the Oakland- Alameda County Coliseum complex is in the final stages of completion.

Oakland has already finalized a purchase and sale agreement with OAC for its interest in the property. OAC’s acquisition of the County’s property interest will achieve two longstanding goals of the County:

The Oakland-Alameda Coliseum complex will finally be under the control of a sole owner with capacity to make unilateral decisions regarding the property; and
The County will be out of the sports and entertainment business, free to focus and rededicate resources to its core safety net

In an October 2024 press release from the City of Oakland, the former Oakland mayor described the sale of its 50% interest in the property as an “historic achievement” stating that the transaction will “continue to pay dividends for generations to come.”

The Board of Supervisors is pleased to facilitate single-entity ownership of this property uniquely centered in a corridor of East Oakland that has amazing potential.

“The County is committed to bringing its negotiations with OAC to a close,” said Board President David Haubert.