Community
Student Volunteers Visit Ferguson For Spring Break to Help Rebuild Community
College students from all over the country are using their Spring Breaks to help rebuild the community and promote civic engagement in Ferguson. Students are coming from cities as far away as New York, Atlanta, and Los Angeles.
Most of them are a part of an organized initiative called Ferguson Alternative Spring Break (FASB), which is a five-week program that invites students from across the nation to help rebuild the city by addressing unmet social needs. The program, created by civic leaders and activists from Ferguson, started on March 7th and will end on April 11th.
According to USA Today, the program requires the student volunteers to spend at least 33 hours each week helping out with various community service projects. Such projects include: voter education and registration, community beautification projects, food collection/distribution, and homework help and tutoring with local schools. They are also assisting local businesses whose storefronts were damaged in the riots.
The founders of the program say the support has been overwhelming, and that as soon as their web site went live, they immediately received nearly 800 inquiries from interested volunteers.
Patricia Byrnes, co-founder of the project, says that the goal of the program was not to recruit protesters, but rather to get community volunteers to actually help rebuild the community.
She comments, “I thought the program would be a great way to show the community that there are people, especially students, from all over the country who want to help empower them because the people in Ferguson do matter.”
The city of Ferguson, although just a small town in Missouri, has been making national headlines for the past few months because of a highly publicized incident whereas a white police officer killed an unarmed Black teenager, Michael Brown.
Since then, the Justice Department has found tons of evidence proving the local police department guilty of police brutality, racial profiling, and more.
For more details about the Ferguson Alternative Spring Break (FASB) program, visit http://fergusonalternativespringbreak.tumblr.com
Also, watch the YouTube video at: www.youtube.com/watch?v=4znz3YXb5nA
Courtesy of www.blacknews.com
Activism
Oakland Post: Week of April 24 – 30, 2024
The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of April 24 – 30, 2024
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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.
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.
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.
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.
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