Featured
12 Year Old East Bay Child Seeks Bone Marrow Match to Save His Life
By Sally Douglass Arce
Justin is a 12-year-old African American boy living in the East Bay, who is in a fight for his life.
Last year in February, he was diagnosed with lymphoma. Justin obtained remission, but relapsed in January 2017.
He is now diagnosed with leukemia. In some cases, lymphoma is known to transform into leukemia.
Justin and thousands of people diagnosed with a blood cancer like leukemia and lymphoma, sickle cell, and other life-threatening diseases need a bone marrow transplant in order to live. First, a marrow match must be found. Then, the transplant takes place.
A matching donor will be someone of the same ethnic heritage. None of Justin’s family members are a match. So, an unrelated donor will be his only hope of a cure. He depends on someone like you. You have the power to help, the power to give hope!
“It’s so important for African Americans to join the registry because patients like Justin are waiting for an African American donor to save their life,” says Lakeshia Phillips-Marshall, Justin’s mother.
Commit to being a donor for Justin or other patients like him. Currently there are 14,000 people in need of a donor.
Registering is simple –complete a questionnaire and swab the inside of your cheek. African Americans ages 18-44 are urged to join the Be the Match® registry. To register online, click here.
Fifty percent of the registered donors, who are called to donate to a specific patient, say no. In the African American community, the percentage is worse.
“This means patients are dying unnecessarily,” says Carol Gillespie, executive director of the Asian American Donor Program. “It’s a numbers game. With more African Americans on the registry, there is a better chance to find a match. This is the only way to save lives.”
Justin is the middle child of three brothers. He is a Golden State Warriors fan and loves sports. Justin’s favorite musical artist is Speaker Knockerz. He likes dancing. At school, his favorite subjects are science and history. As for his dreams for his future, he’d like to play in the NBA or be a dancer.
“Justin is the peacemaker,” says Phillips-Marshall. “He’s very kind hearted and is loved by everybody. He doesn’t have a mean bone in his body. That’s what makes this so hard. The Justin that we know is fun loving, the popular kid. Everyone wants Justin at their party. They want Justin as their friend. With him in the hospital, it’s really hard.”
Because the markers used in matching are inherited, patients are more likely to match someone from their own race or ethnicity. Adding more bone marrow donors from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds to the Be The Match Registry® increases the likelihood that patients will find the match they need. Your heritage can make all the difference.
Only about 8 percent of the nation’s 12.5 million registered bone-marrow donors are African American, which makes Justin’s odds of finding a bone marrow match quite slim.
If you would like to register in Justin’s name, go online here.
To find a registration drive in the Bay Area, call 1-800-593-6667 or go to www.aadp.org/drive/
Activism
Oakland Post: Week of April 24 – 30, 2024
The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of April 24 – 30, 2024
To enlarge your view of this issue, use the slider, magnifying glass icon or full page icon in the lower right corner of the browser window.
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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