Community
A Tribute to Education Pioneer, Dr. Ruth Love
By Troy Williams
Prominent members of the African-American community gathered at Lake Chalet in Oakland on Saturday, April 25 to honor the lifetime achievements, teachings, and friendship of Dr. Ruth B. Love.
Described as an eminent educator, Dr. Love has served at local, state and federal levels of education. She was superintendent of schools in both Oakland and Chicago and has worked in Europe, the Far East, Middle East, and Africa.
In 1981, Dr. Love became the first African-American and woman superintendent of the Chicago Public School District where she created the “Chicago Mastery Learning Program.”
The event, which was organized by Carol H. Williams and committee, was hosted by news anchor Belva Davis.
The room was filled with African-American educators, scholars, doctors, and business executives – all giving thanks for the success and courage that Dr. Love modeled.
Those who attended included Doug Love, Dr. Love’s nephew; Dr. Wade Nobles and wife Dr. Vera Lynn Winmilawe Nokwanda DeMoultrie; acclaimed pianist Jacqui Hairston; African drummer Kokomon Clottey; Dr. Dean Kenneth Monteiro of the College of Ethnic Studies at San Francisco State University; and Saundra Andrews, representing Congresswoman Barbara Lee.
Dr. Love received a congressional record from Congresswoman Barbara Lee that recognized her ability to transform a deep passion for reading into a career that has benefited people all over the world.
Mayor Libby Schaaf honored her with a proclamation of April 26, 2015 as Dr. Ruth Love Day in Oakland.
“It is my esteemed honor to recognize the personal and professional contribution Dr. Ruth Love has made to Oakland and students around the world,” said Mayor Schaaf. “In addition to her phenomenal lifetime of work, it is her extraordinary personal character that has made her such an enduring force for educational advancement and equity.”
Dr. Dean Kenneth Monteiro presented Dr. Love with a crystal that seemed to reflect the elegance through which she has embarked upon her career.
To students and colleagues, she is known as Dr. Love but those closest to her simply call her “Auntie.” Carol Williams recalled a time when “Auntie” invited her to take a trip to Africa.
“I didn’t really want to go. I complained about how long a flight to Africa would be,” Williams explained.
She then went on to detail Love’s response: “Well, your trip to Africa will be a lot more confortable than our ancestors had coming to America, so I expect you to be there.”
According to Williams, after spending two weeks in Africa, they had to send a search party out to find her because she did not want to leave.
The impact of Dr. Love’s work on the lives of those in attendance was palpable. Now entering the retirement phase, it was clear that her legacy would continue.
Her life and work is a model of success that every African-American boy and girl should be able to witness.
Activism
Oakland Post: Week of May 22 – 28, 2024
The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of May May 22 – 28, 2024
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Business
Banning Menthol Cigarettes: California-Based Advocacy Group Joins Suit Against Federal Govt.
A California based non-governmental organization, The African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council (AATCLC), has joined two other public health advocacy groups in a second lawsuit against the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the agency’s inaction on issuing a final rule banning menthol cigarettes.
By Edward Henderson, California Black Media
A California based non-governmental organization, The African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council (AATCLC), has joined two other public health advocacy groups in a second lawsuit against the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the agency’s inaction on issuing a final rule banning menthol cigarettes.
The suit, filed by Christopher Leung of Leung Law, PLLC on behalf of the AATCLC, Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) and the National Medical Association (NMA) comes more than seven months after the FDA’s established date for finalizing a new rule against menthol cigarettes.
“We are a group of Californians, although we have expanded now. We were formed in 2008 to inform and direct the activities of commercial tobacco control and prevention as they affect African Americans and African immigrants in this country,” said Carol McGruder, co-chair of the AATCLC.
McGruder was speaking during a press briefing April 2 organized to announce the lawsuit. with representatives from the ASH, NMA and other organizations.
“Menthol cigarettes have had a devastating and disproportionate impact on the health of Black Americans,” said Yolanda Lawson, President of the NMA. “Smoking related diseases are the number one cause of death in the Black community.”
The lawsuit also follows the FDA’s 15-year delay in creating national policy that would ban cigarettes made with compound menthol, a minty substance that cigarette makers infuse into their tobacco products, making them more addictive and harmful.
Despite significant reductions in overall smoking rates in the US, smoking among poor, less educated and marginalized groups remains high. Every year, 45,000 Black Americans prematurely die from tobacco-caused diseases. An estimated 85% of them smoked menthol cigarettes.
“This disproportionate use of menthol cigarettes among Black Americans is not a coincidence,” Dr. Yerger continued. “I was one of the first tobacco documents researchers out of UCSF who exposed the tobacco industry’s systematic, predatory marketing schemes to dump highly concentrated menthol cigarette marketing into urban inner-city areas.”
In 2011, the FDA’s own scientific advisory committee concluded that the “Removal of menthol cigarettes from the marketplace would benefit public health in the United States.”
If the sale of menthol-flavored cigarettes is indeed banned, the FDA projects a 15.1% drop in smoking within 40 years, which would help save between 324,000 to 654,000 lives.
As a result of the Plaintiffs’ first lawsuit, the FDA made the landmark determination to add menthol to the list of banned characterizing flavors in cigarettes.
On the contrary, tobacco-aligned groups in the past have argued that banning menthol cigarettes would be impact federal and state budgets with the loss of nearly $6.6 billion in cigarette sales taxes. Menthol cigarettes account for over one-third of the U.S. cigarette market.
Other arguments from tobacco-backed groups include unintended consequences of a ban such as increased policing in Black and Brown communities due to contraband cigarettes. However, health advocates have dismissed this claim stating the ban would apply to companies that make or sell menthol cigarettes, not individual smokers.
By law, the United States has two months to respond to the lawsuit. The feds can respond to it or file a motion to dismiss.
If the suit is successful, the FDA would have 90 days to make a final ruling.
Alameda County
District Attorney Pamela Price Will Face Recall Election on November General Election Ballot
The Alameda County Board of Supervisors scheduled the recall election against Alameda District Attorney Pamela Price for November 5, coinciding with the 2024 General Election. The decision comes after weeks of controversy and drawn-out discussions amongst county officials, recall proponents, and opponents, and legal advisors.
By Magaly Muñoz
The Alameda County Board of Supervisors scheduled the recall election against Alameda District Attorney Pamela Price for November 5, coinciding with the 2024 General Election.
The decision comes after weeks of controversy and drawn-out discussions amongst county officials, recall proponents, and opponents, and legal advisors.
Recall proponents submitted 123,374 signatures before the March 5 deadline, which resulted in 74,757 valid signatures counted by the Registrar of Voters (ROV).
The recall election will cost Alameda County $4 million and will require them to hire hundreds of new election workers to manage the demand of keeping up with the federal, state and local elections and measures.
Save Alameda For Everyone (SAFE), one of the two recall campaigns against Price, held a press conference minutes before the Board’s special meeting asking for the Supervisors to schedule the election in August instead of consolidating with the November election.
Supporters of the recall have said they were not concerned with the $20 million price tag the special election would’ve cost the county if they had put it on the ballot in the summer. Many have stated that the lives of their loved ones are worth more than that number.
“What is the cost of a life?” recall supporters have asked time and time again.
Opponents of the recall election have been vehemently against a special date to vote, stating it would cost taxpayers too much money that could be reinvested into social programs to help struggling residents.
A special election could’ve cost the county’s budget to exceed its current deficit of $68 million, which was a driving factor in the three supervisors who voted for a consolidated election.
“Bottom line is, I can’t in good conscience support a special election that is going to cost the county $20 million,” Board President Nate Miley said.
Many speakers asked Miley and Keith Carson to recuse themselves from the vote, claiming that they have had improper involvement with either the recall proponents or Price herself.
Both supervisors addressed the concerns stating that regardless of who they associate themselves with or what their political beliefs are, they have to do their jobs, no matter the outcome.
Carson noted that although he’s neither supporting nor opposing Price as district attorney, he believes that whoever is elected next to take that position should have a reasonable amount of time to adjust to the job before recalls are considered.
Reports of recall attempts started as soon as April 2023 when Price had only been in office three months.
Price and her campaign team Protect the Win have been adamant that the voters who elected her to office will not fall for the “undemocratic” practices from the recall campaign and they are prepared to put all efforts forward to guarantee she stays in office.
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