Commentary

COMMENTARY: Actively Working For The future

CHARLESTON CHRONICLE — Set a goal, keep your eyes on the prize and work toward it. That’s what you have to do.

Published

7 years ago

March 27, 2019

Oakland Post

By Barney Blakeney

Set a goal, keep your eyes on the prize and work toward it. That’s what you have to do.

I was sittin’ here trying to figure out what the heck I’m gon write about this week. I had an idea in mind, but things didn’t go my way – one thing didn’t pan out and the other thing got bent in another direction. So here I am at the final hour trying to figure out what I’m gon do. But the goal is to write a column. I kept my eye on the objective and continued to work toward it. Then it happened! As the song says, “You gotta take what you got to get what you want sometimes, ya’ll. Gimme the bridge now, gimme the bridge now! I feel like bustin’ loose!”

I had on my mind writing about young people and activism. For the past lil while I’ve been thinking us old geezers really need to get a grip. The cycle of life dictates you get older and you die – no one lives forever. That’s the way it is, and perhaps, the way it should be. We talk about how much we love our children, but don’t plan for the future – the place and time in which they will live. We selfishly insure that our lives are comfortable, but don’t work toward their comfort.

Yeah, we give it a lot of lip service, talking about how much we do to make things better for our loved ones. And some of us actually fake the funk doing stuff that looks like we’re pushing the needle forward either knowing full well or deluding ourselves to think that we’re accomplishing something. Rev. Nelson Rivers said something recently that’s stuck with me – we must assess our work to insure we’re producing the desired result.

So I asked myself when it comes to activism, are we engaging our young people in ways that help them create the world they want to live in after we’re gone. I only can see so much. I looked at our civil rights organizations and asked if they are engaging young people so they continue what obviously is a perpetual struggle for equal rights and opportunities. Some do, some don’t. I looked at our businesses, asked the same question and got the same answer – some do and some don’t. Looked at our social organizations and asked that question getting the same answer, some do and some don’t.

So what do we get from that hit and miss strategy of inconsistency? The same thing we already have – inadequate civil rights, businesses and social opportunities.

I guess it’s hard teaching young people to become activists. Maybe that’s why our elders didn’t worry so much about it; they just did the darn thing. “Don’t do as I do. Do as I SAY!” they demanded. I talked to a young sister who thinks my generation didn’t always provide that kind of role model for them. They often didn’t see the kind of leadership in us that we saw in our elders, she said. We got too comfortable with stuff and thought that was the end game, she believes. We sought stuff and forgot about substance.

This week a local civil rights organization led a protest of public education at a Charleston school board meeting – classic direct action move. It’s been effective in the past and can be effective today. But I’m wondering if it will be. Racist oppressors have proven methods of getting around direct action. They either confront it with overwhelming force or wait for the passion to subside then develop alternatives that appease the discontented. In the end they pretty much maintain the status quo.

This publication and the daily newspaper publishers are working on a story about the effort to integrate public eating establishments in the 1960s. The millennials of that time conducted direct action sit-ins at segregated eating establishments, ultimately succeeding in integrating them. The lunch counters of today still are integrated, but most eating establishments still are very much segregated. And sadly, the few Blacks who are allowed to eat at those exclusive places feel so privileged, they ignore the segregation. Again, we place more value on stuff than substance.

My concern about the public education protests is that it may fail to produce the desired results. First of all, you can bet them folks are figuring how to end the disruptive activism of that direct action. If they have to put cops at the front door they’ll do that – it may not be legal, but they’ll do it! Or maybe they’ll go after the ring leaders. That usually shuts Black folks down!

We lost 50 years of civil rights activism because they cut off the heads of our two-headed snake – Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. Whatever they decide, those folks will come to shut down the protest. I’m concerned our leadership may not have a plan beyond knee-jerk reactions. What’s the plan B? And why do Black folks expect white folks to education their children anyway? That’s never happened. In fact, they made a law against educating Black children! In the history of America white folks never have educated Black kids! We always had our own schools.

Demanding a quality education for all children is the right thing to do. White folks need to get a clue because their kids don’t get a quality education either. We’re all paying taxes to give big business tax incentives to locate in our community – businesses which import their workforce from other communities. That ain’t Black or white. That’s business! And the white kids at segregated specialty schools are part of that business as well. They’re being kept just as dumb! They also are not getting the quality education that prepares them for the multicultural world of the future in which they will live.

Where do we go from here? We set a goal of producing the best possible world for our children and grandchildren, keep our eyes on that prize and work toward it. It’s hard, uncomfortable work, but they’re worth it.

This article originally appeared in the Charleston Chronicle.

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Oakland Observes Black August with Block Parties, Film Showings, Workshops

POST NEWS GROUP — Beginning in 1979 in San Quentin State Prison, the Black Guerrilla Family called for the remembrance of political prisoner George Jackson and his brother Jonathan Jackson who were assassinated in the early 1970s. George Jackson was considered a political prisoner in that it was the anti-Black justice system that led to his incarceration for armed robbery with a sentence of one year-to-life in 1960.

Published

17 hours ago

August 15, 2026

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George Jackson wrote two books: “Soledad Brother,” and “Blood in My Eye” before her was killed in an attempt to escape prison on Aug. 21, 1971.

By Jana Lang, Propel Youth Reporter

Study. Train. Fast. Fight.

These are the four tenets of Black August, a month dedicated to commemorating the sacrifices of political prisoners and Black revolutionaries in the struggle for Black liberation.

Observers are urged to study the history of the Black struggle for freedom, train their bodies for health and self-defense, fast to cleanse the mind, body, and spirit, and fight ongoing oppression alongside their communities and local political organizations.

Beginning in 1979 in San Quentin State Prison, the Black Guerrilla Family called for the remembrance of political prisoner George Jackson and his brother Jonathan Jackson who were assassinated in the early 1970s. George Jackson was considered a political prisoner in that it was the anti-Black justice system that led to his incarceration for armed robbery with a sentence of one year-to-life in 1960.

While in prison, George befriended fellow prisoner W.L. Nolen, who introduced him to the works of Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin, Mao Zedong, and Frantz Fanon. This radicalization coupled with his experiences of violence while imprisoned led to him writing and publishing two books, “Soledad Brother” (1970), and “Blood in my Eye” (1972). In January of 1970, George and two other prisoners were charged with murdering a corrections officer at Soledad State Prison in Monterey County.

On Aug. 7, 1970, Jonathan Jackson burst into a Marin County courtroom armed with a shotgun to demand the freedom of the Soledad Brothers. He, along with the inmates he freed, was shot and killed while driving away. This involved one of the Black Panther Party’s most notable associates, Angela Davis, because the shotgun was registered in her name. She was later acquitted of charges of conspiracy, kidnapping, and murder in 1972.

On Aug. 21, 1971, George Jackson was assassinated by a corrections officer after attempting to escape and free other inmates. As a result, there were uprisings and protests within prisons all over the country that year, calling forth resistance against racial oppression and mass incarceration.

Since its outset, Black August has evolved across the country, taking many forms to honor this history and embody the four tenets.

In Oakland, the upcoming Black August Experience, hosted by Youth Alive! and the East Oakland Boxing Association (EOBA), is a free, family-friendly event celebrating the legacy of Black August. Activities include free food and drinks, a kids’ activity zone, interactive workshops, live cooking and boxing demonstrations, and more.

Happening on Aug. 21 from 4-8 p.m. at the EOBA Patio, Carolyn Flynn, director of administration at EOBA, said the event, in its second year, will be an opportunity to engage with people in person through food, shared space, and education.

“We do regular classes in education, and those are ongoing programs that we offer, but we wanted to have [an opportunity] for our neighbors to utilize this space.” Combined with Youth Alive’s work in community violence prevention and youth leadership, this event surely aims to bring the Oakland community together to capture what Black August means today.

Here are additional Black August events happening in Oakland:

Forum and Community Discussion hosted by the Oakland Liberation Center, 1499 Fruitvale Ave., Aug. 14, 7 p.m.

“George Jackson/San Quentin” Screening hosted by Nostalgic for Nothing Cinema at Moments Co-Op, 410 13th St., Aug. 16, doors at 6 p.m., show at 6:30 p.m. (Masks required and scent-free)

Commemorating the Struggle, Building the Altar for Liberation: Black August at Bandung Books, 2269 International Blvd., Aug. 23rd, 1-5 p.m.

Building Opportunities for Self-Sufficiency (BOSS), will host “Black August: The Arc of Liberation” at Oakland City Hall on Sat. Aug. 29, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

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Activism

Oakland Post: Week of August 12 – 18, 2026

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of August 12 – 18, 2026

Published

18 hours ago

August 15, 2026

Oakland Post

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Commentary

COMMENTARY: Why Local School Tax Measure G1 Will Not Be on the November Ballot

POST NEWS GROUP — Measure G1 is the local tax measure that supports middle school teacher retention and the expansion of arts, music, and world language programs at both OUSD middle schools and charter middle schools. The current measure expires in 2029.

Published

18 hours ago

August 15, 2026

bpusa-syndication

By Jennifer Brouhard, Oakland School Board President

There has been considerable speculation recently about why Measure G1 will not appear on the November ballot and what that means for the Oakland Unified School District’s current budget.

I want to provide some clarity about what happened and, importantly, what did not happen.

Measure G1 is the local tax measure that supports middle school teacher retention and the expansion of arts, music, and world language programs at both OUSD middle schools and charter middle schools. The current measure expires in 2029.

Because these funds are important to our schools and to the continuity of these programs, the district initially intended to place a renewal initiative on the November ballot to provide greater early certainty about funding beyond the expiration of the current measure.

As part of that process, the Board scheduled a special meeting for the required public hearing on the ballot initiative. There has been some suggestion that this meeting was noticed only one day in advance. That is not accurate.

Public hearings of this nature are subject to specific notice requirements, and the meeting must be noticed at least two weeks before the hearing. In practice, the notice may appear even earlier depending on publication schedules. The notice for the Measure G1 public hearing was published in the Tribune on 7/24/2026 and 7/31/2026.

So, why wasn’t the Measure G1 paperwork ultimately filed?

After the Board approved placing the measure on the ballot, the next step required the Alameda County Superintendent of Schools to sign the necessary paperwork before it could be submitted to the Oakland City Clerk.

During that process, Alameda County Superintendent Alysse Castro raised concerns about potential litigation stemming from another court case unrelated to OUSD and about whether proceeding with the measure could expose the district or County to legal challenges. Superintendent Castro’s action is unprecedented and concerning.

It is important to distinguish between the Board’s decision to pursue Measure G1 and the subsequent procedural and legal issues that arose. The Board did approve moving forward with the measure. The measure did not fail because the Board chose not to support it, nor was the public hearing improperly noticed.

The decision not to proceed with the November ballot was made in light of the County’s concerns about potential litigation and the County’s required approval process.

We also need to be clear about what this does, and does not, mean for OUSD’s current budget. The existing Measure G1 funds remain available through the expiration of the current measure in 2029. The immediate issue is the longer-term continuity of funding beyond that date, not the elimination of these resources from the current year’s budget.

Our responsibility as a Board is to protect the educational programs and services our students depend on while ensuring that our decisions comply with the law and protect the district from unnecessary legal and financial risk.

We will continue working to understand the County’s concerns, explore our options, and advocate for the resources our students deserve. Our middle school students, teachers, and school communities deserve stability, and continued investment in arts, music, world languages, and teacher retention—and that work remains a priority for Oakland Unified.

Jennifer Brouhard is a retired OUSD educator and is the current OUSD School Board President representing District 2.