Community
Alan Blueford Foundation Honors Community Champions
The Alan Blueford Foundation hosted their Champions of the Community Awards Ceremony and Banquet at Mingleton Temple Church of God in Christ in Oakland last Saturday. KTVU broadcaster Paul Chambers emceed the event, which featured keynote speaker Reverend Germaine Anderson of The Gathering People’s Missionary Baptist Church in Oakland.
Co-founded by Adam and Jeralynn Q.T. Blueford, the organization honored civic leaders, businesses, organizations and mothers taking the lead. Civic honorees included Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-13), Oakland City Council Member Desley Brooks (D-6) and Oakland Police Captain Bobby Hoofin. Community honorees included Dr. Doris Limbrick, Girl Talk, Inc.; Douglas Butler, Cypress Mandela; Geneva Ashley, of HER SHE Circle, Inc.; Pastor Stephanie Burrell-Hammer, Women With A Vision; Pastor Wanda Johnson, Oscar Grant Foundation and Pastor Mustafa Muhyee, BASIC Ministry. Co-founders of the Love Not Blood campaign, Cepheus X. Johnson and Beechie X. Keeton and Pastors Brandon and Maria Reems of Center of Hope Church were also honored.
In 2013, Jeralynn and Adam Blueford sought to create change after their 18-year-old son, Alan Dwayne Blueford, was murdered by a police officer. Through a variety of programs, workshops and outreach, the Blueford’s have turned their pain into purpose.
“We believe that we will enhance the quality of life in our communities, making it a better and a more productive place to live,” said Jeralynn Blueford. “Today we honor those whose purpose and commitment seeks to uplift the community.”
The event both memorialized the many lives lost to gun violence and those making a difference. Educators Dr. Darlene Willis, CEO of Concerned Parents Alliance; Rosia Horne, Patton Academy and Kelly Larkin-Watts, Studs Smart Insights were recognized. Business leaders included Tracy Bell-Borden, Exotic Link; Carl Vinson and Mollie Costello, Alan Blueford Center 4 Justice. Vanessa Russell was honored for her work combating human trafficking and Kishana Harley was recognized for her work with homeless.
Champion mothers who lost loved ones to violence were also honored, with special recognition to Dr. Jerry Brown-Bennett, the grandmother of Alan Blueford. Champion mothers included Brenda Grisham (Christopher L. Jones); Jasmine Hardison (David McDaniel, Jr.); Dinyal New (Lee Weathersby and Lamar Broussard); Venus Noble (Elliott Noble); Michelle Davenport (Ian Irby); Louri Valdez (Antonio Guzman Lopez; Angelique Paige (Vernon Eddings); Dionne Smith-Downs (James Rivera); Heydi Cherry (Kenneth Cherry, Jr.). Beechie Keeton performed a special tribute, “Blessed and Highly Favored.”
“This event was an amazing way to honor the memory of Alan Blueford and uplift the many people making a difference in our community,” said Dr. Doris Limbrick, CEO of Girl Talk, Inc. “When we turn tragedy into action we can rebuild and heal our communities.”
Arts and Culture
Richmond Preps for Full Weekend of Cinco de Mayo Festivities
Cinco de Mayo festivities in Richmond and San Pablo are some of the bests in Bay, and organizers say that tradition will be alive and well at this weekend’s annual parade and festival. The action kicks off Saturday, May 4, with the 16th Annual Cinco de Mayo Richmond/San Pablo Peace & Unity Parade. The parade of floats, performances, and community organizations starts at 10 a.m. at 24th Street and Barrett Avenue and Richmond and ends at 12:30 p.m. at St. Paul’s Church, 1845 Church Lane in San Pablo.
By Mike Kinney
The Richmond Standard
Cinco de Mayo festivities in Richmond and San Pablo are some of the bests in Bay, and organizers say that tradition will be alive and well at this weekend’s annual parade and festival.
The action kicks off Saturday, May 4, with the 16th Annual Cinco de Mayo Richmond/San Pablo Peace & Unity Parade. The parade of floats, performances, and community organizations starts at 10 a.m. at 24th Street and Barrett Avenue and Richmond and ends at 12:30 p.m. at St. Paul’s Church, 1845 Church Lane in San Pablo.
The parade’s Grand Marshall this year will be community organizer Diego Garcia, owner of Leftside Printing.
The festivities continue Sunday with the Cinco de Mayo Festival along 23rd Street, which last year drew over 100,000 people, according to the 23rd Street Merchants Association. This year’s festival will again run from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. between the intersections of Rheem Avenue and Clinton Avenue. It will feature two entertainment stages, one sponsored by La Raza 93.3 FM at 23rd and Rheem, and another sponsored by Radio Lazer FM at 23rd and Clinton.
Both events are important for the city and the region’s Latino community.
San Pablo Mayor Genoveva Calloway, who co-chairs the parade alongside John Marquez, president of the Contra Costa Community College District Board of Trustees, says Saturday’s festivities are about bringing the Richmond and San Pablo communities together in unity.
“This truly connects the spectators and people in the parade as one,” Calloway said. “The parade showcases the real communities of Richmond and San Pablo – our nonprofits, schools, horse riders, classic cars and trucks, our local businesses. All of these people represent the heartbeat of our community.”
Rigo Mendoza, vice president of the 23rd Street Merchants Association, said that at its heart, Richmond’s Cinco de Mayo Festival celebrates the date the Mexican army’s victory over France at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862.
But John Marquez started up the popular festival to bring the community together and also to exhibit the community’s businesses and culture to visitors, Mendoza said. The gathering was also a way to promote peace in the community.
Community
Salesian Coach Knew Angel Jackson Could Play in WNBA
Back in 2019, Salesian Girls Basketball Head Coach Stephen Pezzola made a bold prediction about one of his players, Angel Jackson. “If she keeps putting in the work like she did for us, she could be in the WNBA,” the coach said. That turned out to be very true. Last month, the Las Vegas Aces selected Jackson with the 36th overall pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft. She is the second player from an Historically Black College or University, or HCBU, to be selected in the draft in 20 years.
The Richmond Standard
Back in 2019, Salesian Girls Basketball Head Coach Stephen Pezzola made a bold prediction about one of his players, Angel Jackson.
“If she keeps putting in the work like she did for us, she could be in the WNBA,” the coach said.
That turned out to be very true. Last month, the Las Vegas Aces selected Jackson with the 36th overall pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft. She is the second player from an Historically Black College or University, or HCBU, to be selected in the draft in 20 years.
Jackson’s success came as little surprise to Pezzola, who last year led the Pride to their 8th North Coast Section championship since he took over the program in 2008-2009. In 2019, Pezzola commended Jackson as “a very coachable kid” from the time she arrived at Salesian.
Tomekia Reed, her coach at Jackson State, shared similar sentiments, noting Jackson worked “very hard” to reach this moment.
“She came into our program doing great things and never looked back,” Reed told the Clarion Ledger. “She has trusted our leadership as we were able to develop her into an amazing player. I have watched her improve tremendously over the years.”
The 6’-6” Jackson played three seasons at the University of Southern California before transferring to Jackson State. She was ranked 10th in the NCAA in blocked shots and averaged 10 points per game in her final college season.
She finished her collegiate career with 1,047 points and was twice named Southwestern Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year.
As the 36th pick, Jackson was the final pick in the 2024 NBA Draft. In a television interview, Jackson said she didn’t expect to be picked, and called the moment “surreal.”
“It made me feel so appreciative that HBCU is getting back on the map again,” she said.
All she could do in that moment was cry.
“I called my mom immediately, and she started crying,” Jackson said. “It was the best moment you can feel as a young lady.”
There’s no stopping Jackson now. “The sky is the limit,” she said.
Her high school coach agrees.
“I knew that Angel could do it,” Coach Pezzola told the Richmond Standard this week. “We are so proud of Angel and what she has accomplished. It was an honor and joy to coach Angel at Salesian.”
Bay Area
Faces Around the Bay: Sidney Carey
Sidney Carey was born in Dallas, Texas. He moved with his family to West Oakland as a baby. His sister is deceased; one brother lives in Oakland. Carey was the Choir Director at Trinity Missionary Baptist Church for 18 years.
By Barbara Fluhrer
Sidney Carey was born in Dallas, Texas. He moved with his family to West Oakland as a baby. His sister is deceased; one brother lives in Oakland.
Carey was the Choir Director at Trinity Missionary Baptist Church for 18 years.
He graduated from McClymonds High with a scholarship in cosmetology and was the first African American to complete a nine-month course at the first Black Beauty School in Oakland: Charm Beauty College.
He earned his License, and then attended U.C., earning a secondary teaching credential. With his Instructors License, he went on to teach at Laney College, San Mateo College, Skyline and Universal Beauty College in Pinole, among others.
Carey was the first African American hair stylist at Joseph and I. Magnin department store in Oakland and in San Francisco, where he managed the hair stylist department, Shear Heaven.
In 2009, he quit teaching and was diagnosed with Congestive Heart Failure. He was 60 and “too old for a heart transplant”. His doctors at California Pacific Medical Center (CPMC) went to court and fought successfully for his right to receive a transplant. One day, he received a call from CPMC, “Be here in one hour.” He underwent a transplant with a heart from a 25-year- old man in Vienna, Austria
Two years later, Carey resumed teaching at Laney College, finally retiring in 2012.
Now, he’s slowed down and comfortable in a Senior Residence in Berkeley, but still manages to fit his 6/4” frame in his 2002 Toyota and drive to family gatherings in Oakland and San Leandro and an occasional Four Seasons Arts concert.
He does his own shopping and cooking and uses Para Transit to keep constant doctor appointments while keeping up with anti-rejection meds. He often travels with doctors as a model of a successful heart-transplant plant recipient: 14 years.
Carey says, “I’m blessed” and, to the youth, “Don’t give up on your dreams!”
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