Featured

Five Steps To Ensure Your End of Life Wishes Are Honored

Published

9 years ago

October 13, 2017

Radiant Scoggins, LCSW, psychiatric social worker at Center for Elders’ Independence, a comprehensive health plan for East Bay seniors, counsels CEI participant Jessie Doublin to complete an Advance Healthcare Directive that reflects her values, what life means to her and how she wants to spend her last days.

Most of us avoid thinking about end of life decisions for as long as possible. Yet according to Radiant Scoggins, LCSW, Psychiatric Social Worker at Center for Elders’ Independence, “planning ahead, whether for ourselves or our loved ones, gives us the comfort of knowing that our voice is being heard and our wishes honored.” She recommends five key planning steps:

Have a life care planning conversation with your family. This discussion supports you in deciding how you want to approach the end of your life, and helps your family know and understand your decisions. “Who will speak for you?” “What medical interventions do you or do not want?” and “How would you like your assets to be distributed?” are just a few questions to consider.
Choose your representatives. Deciding who you trust to carry out your wishes in healthcare and financial matters is a key step in this process. As you go through life, circumstances may change (marriage, divorce, children) and your choice of who will represent you may also change.
Document your decisions. It is essential to complete the necessary legal documents while you are competent to do so. Without signed directives to provide guidance, your next of kin will be in the uncomfortable position of guessing your true preferences, or the medical and legal systems may take over and make decisions for you. Documents to complete include: a Durable Power of Attorney for Finances that enables your representative to manage financial affairs on your behalf, and an Advance Healthcare Directive which gives your designee authority to make healthcare decisions when you can no longer do so and provides instructions about the care you want to receive. Both of these documents are available online for no charge at various sites including The East Bay Conversation Project (eastbayacp.org), which offers Advance Healthcare Directive and Physician Orders for Life Sustaining Treatment (POLST) forms. It is advisable to consult a qualified attorney to safeguard your interests and ensure that the forms are executed properly. In addition, a POLST form is used for elderly patients and people with a terminal illness, specifying interventions they want in an emergency medical situation. The POLST is completed by the patient with their physician according to the patient’s wishes.\
Protect your assets with a will or living trust. In the absence of a legal document, the state determines how assets are distributed to survivors. A living trust creates a legal entity that holds and distributes assets based on your instructions, so the estate does not have to go through probate. Consult a qualified attorney to determine if a will or a trust is best for you.
Plan funeral arrangements. To ease the burden on your family during a time of loss and grief, and ensure your final wishes are fulfilled, it is helpful to plan the type of service you want and prepare to cover your costs ahead of time. Final arrangements are often more expensive if no advance preparations have been made.

“Planning ahead for the end of your life is an extremely valuable gift to yourself and your loved ones. Today is a good time to begin,” Scoggins added.

For referrals to qualified elder law attorneys, contact California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform (CANHR.org) 415-974-5171. For more information on Center for Elders’ Independence, visit cei.elders.org.

This is Part 1 of a 2 part series.

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Four Candidates, Including Incumbent Barbara Lee, Qualify for Oakland Mayor’s Race

POST NEWS GROUP — Four candidates, including incumbent Mayor Barbara Lee, filed their papers to run for office by last Friday’s deadline, and the City Clerk issued a list this week of those who are qualified to run.

Published

3 days ago

August 15, 2026

bpusa-syndication

View of downtown Oakland, California and City Hall. iStock photo.

By Post Staff

The four mayoral candidates who will appear on the Nov. 3 ballot are:

Brenda Grisham. A business owner in East Oakland and public safety advocate, Grisham led the successful recall campaign against Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price. As part of her platform, she pledges to work with local, state, and federal partners to secure stricter gun control measures and investments in community violence intervention programs.

Barbara Lee. A former congressional representative and state Assembly member, Lee was elected by voters in a special election last year for a two-year term. Now running for a four-year term, she points out that her administration achieved major successes in addressing some of the city’s major challenges, including balancing the city budget, dramatically reducing crime, and making significant inroads into homelessness and illegal dumping.

Mindy Pechenuk. An educator and activist, Pechenuk is a registered Republican and supporter of Lyndon LaRouche, who has been described by observers as a conspiracy theorist and cult leader. She ran unsuccessfully for mayor in last year’s special election and for the at-large council seat in 2024. She seeks to end Oakland’s police commission and MACRO and invest in more police while launching a new local war on drugs.

Julius Robinson. While little information is available so far about Robinson, he was quoted in a KTVU story about Thao’s recall, stating that people in Oakland want to come together as a community but lack infrastructure and leadership.

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Black History

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

3 days 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.