Featured

Assassinated Twice: Sacramento DA Schubert Murders Stephon Clark’s Character

Published

7 years ago

March 14, 2019

Mark T. Harris Esq., Special to California Black Media Partners

Last week, we, the freedom-believing and fair-minded residents of Sacramento, California, were disappointed to our cores. Our worst fears became reality.

The Sacramento African-American community had been holding its collective breath, our fingers crossed, hanging on to the unlikely hope that either Ann Marie Schubert, our county district attorney, or Xavier Becera, our state’s attorney general, would do the right thing and bring charges against the officers who shot and killed Stephon Clark.

Unfortunately, Sacramento has developed a shameful legacy relative to the killing of unarmed African-American men. Once again, our justice system has reinforced that reputation.

First, in April of 2016, Sacramento police offices shot and killed Daizon Flenaugh, a mentally ill Black man who cops said was exhibiting “strange behavior” and ranting incoherently before they took away his life. Flenaugh was found to be unarmed at the time of his death.

Then in July of that same year, Joseph Mann was shot several times by Sacramento police after he “appeared agitated” and threw a plastic water bottle at them before attempting to flee. Unlike the circumstances surrounding Flenaugh’s killing, there were several video and audio transmissions that bolstered arguments that police were acting with actual malice toward Mann.

Finally, in March of last year, Mr. Stephon Clark, who was clearly unarmed at the time of his death, became the latest and most widely-known victim of the Sacramento Police Department.

None of the officers involved in the three shootings described above were required to face criminal charges.

Most distressing to us is this: District Attorney Schubert in her lengthy recent press conference—and Attorney General Becera in his shortly after—unconscionably and deliberately implied that Stephon Clark sought his own “death by police officers.”

Our top legal officials, who we entrust with the judgment and wisdom to stand up for our rights and protection, justified their decision with the irrelevant evidence that Clark “researched ways to commit suicide” days before police officers tragically killed him.

This heartless attempt to assassinate Mr. Clark twice; once physically and once relative to his character, must not be tolerated!

Reasonable people might differ over many of the sad facts pertaining to the death of Stephon Clark. However, what is beyond dispute are the following.

First, at worst, Clark was accused of vandalizing automobiles. Second, he was unarmed.
Third, he was trying to enter his grandmother’s home at the time of his death and not fleeing a contrived police chase leveled up to the pursuit of someone suspected of domestic terrorism.

Fourth, he was shot several times in the back or side of his body which would lend strong support to the theory that he was not approaching officers at the time of his death as claimed—unless, of course, he was doing so running backwards.

The best forum for the consideration of the four factors above, relative to any law enforcement culpability in the death of Clark, would have been in the legal sanctum of a courtroom. There, under the watchful eyes and ruling of a judge, the entire range of evidence pertinent to his death could be presented before a jury in a criminal trial.
A civil suit on behalf of Clark’s children and family will proceed.

However, that is not close to the best vehicle for answering one of the key questions left unanswered by Schubert and Becera’s exoneration of the Sacramento police officers responsible for shooting Clark. The move by Schubert and Becerra literally slams the door on justice for the Clark family. Their decisions are now solely dispositive as they relate to an impartial, evidence-based inquiry into the Clark’s death. Neither Schubert nor Becera should be executing the responsibilities of a judge or jury. Their conclusions here, though, serve to cast them in those roles.

Let’s pretend for a minute that either Schubert or Becera had instead made the proper decision to bring charges against the officers. Those officers would have had the right to legal counsel and to have their actions considered by a jury in a legal process following the Constitution and the rules of criminal procedure and evidence.

In other words, they, and Clark’s family, would have had their full “day in court” where all of the facts pertaining to Clark’s death could be considered.

Isn’t that the criminal justice process each of us is told over and over we must have confidence in? We are reminded time and again, that justice is both fair and impartial, theoretically favoring no one.

I guess Schubert and Becera don’t want to take any chances with the fate of the officers who took Clark’s life. After all, an independent “jury of their peers” may have found them to be criminally culpable.

I would hope that we can take Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg at his word when he made the statement that the city of Sacramento is in need of substantial police reform.

Further, I would hope that he and the entire city are not just now waking up to that realization. After all, those who live in certain neighborhoods within our city, or are economically disadvantaged or Black, have been telling city leaders the same for a very long time.

Mark T. Harris Esq. is a Sacramento-based attorney continuing lecturer and director, pre-law studies UC Merced and the co-founder Law Enforcement Accountability Directive (“L.E.A.D.”) a community based organization in Sacramento.

Mark T. Harris Esq., Special to California Black Media Partners

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Activism

At the event, 16 entities signed the EIP pledge, vowing to take steps to increase public contracting opportunities in their spheres for small and historically underutilized businesses. The pledge signees included Hub International, the Port of San Francisco, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, California High-Speed Rail Authority, the Port of Oakland, Robert Graham of Webcor Builders, Holder Construction, the Weitz Company, Sky Blue Builders, Hornblower, Swinerton, Luster National, Talson Solutions, Center for Community Wealth Building, and the Construction Contractors Alliance.

Published

1 week ago

June 24, 2026

Oakland Post

Toks Omishakin, secretary of the California State Transportation Agency, was one of the speakers at the event. Photo by Shellee Fisher Photography and Design.

By Calvin Naito, Special to The Post

On June 4, a national nonprofit named the Equity in Infrastructure Project (EIP) – which aims to increase public construction contracting opportunities for small and historically underutilized businesses – held a day-long event in downtown San Francisco to rally supporters and build momentum to its cause.

It was attended by more than 100 individuals from public agencies, private firms, and other organizations committed to increasing contracting opportunities with governmental agencies, thereby creating more competition and lowering public costs.

The EIP event was held the Hyatt Regency San Francisco in conjunction with BuildIT, which aims to increase contracting opportunities for LGBT-owned businesses.

At the event, 16 entities signed the EIP pledge, vowing to take steps to increase public contracting opportunities in their spheres for small and historically underutilized businesses.

The pledge signees included Hub International, the Port of San Francisco, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, California High-Speed Rail Authority, the Port of Oakland, Robert Graham of Webcor Builders, Holder Construction, the Weitz Company, Sky Blue Builders, Hornblower, Swinerton, Luster National, Talson Solutions, Center for Community Wealth Building, and the Construction Contractors Alliance.

Following the workshop, BuildIT hosted a VIP evening reception honoring EIP, whose principals – Phil Washington, John Procari, and Rick Jacobs – accepted the award.

The event also set in motion the coalition’s efforts to implement recommendations from EIP’s “Procurement for Prosperity: A Playbook.”

The Playbook is a practical guide for public agency leaders and procurement and contracting practitioners to grow the capacity of small and first-time contractors, strengthen competition, and deliver better value for taxpayers.

Toks Omishakin, Secretary of the California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA), a long-time EIP supporter, also told attendees, “This is about commitment. This has been a life’s work. This is a tailwind moment.”

The event’s presenting sponsor was Hub International, one of the largest insurance brokerages in the nation, which was joined by partners Travelers Insurance and the State Compensation Insurance Fund.

After the pledge-signing ceremony, attendees participated in a workshop in which they examined the policies, practices, and programs needed to meet EIP goals, learned from practitioners, and identified next steps toward utilizing the Playbook.

Ingrid Meriwether, formerly of Merriwether & Williams Insurance Services (MWIS) and current president of Hub International’s Aligned Risk Management, MWIS, described the hard-fought lessons she and her MWIS team have learned over the last three decades administering contractor development programs (CDPs) for the City and County of San Francisco, Alameda County, City of Los Angeles, LA Metro, and other municipalities.

The CDPs help small and local construction firms win public infrastructure contracts with these government agencies. The program provides bonding assistance, contract financing, technical support, training, and other services to underrepresented businesses funded by public agencies who seek greater contracting participation with these firms.

Merriwether said programs like these “break down systemic barriers, create greater fairness, and save taxpayers money by enabling more competition. The contractor development programs have, cumulatively, over two decades, helped contractors access over $1 billion in bonding, supporting over $380 million in awarded contracts, and maintaining a loss ratio 250 times lower than the industry average – while saving participating municipalities more than $27 million in contracting costs as a result of enabling more competition.”

Rick Jacobs, EIP co-founder and co-chair urged attendees make plans to meet again in the near future “to continue building on this work, share progress on organizational commitments, and discuss how we can collectively advance the goals of the EIP pledge.”

For more information on the EIP and to access a copy of the Playbook, go online to https://equityininfrastructure.org/

Calvin Naito is communications manager for Equity in Infrastructure Project.

Oakland Post

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Activism

Oakland Museum Presents Landmark Retrospective Celebrating Beloved Bay Area Artist Mildred Howard

“Poetics of Memory” coincides with a year of major recognition for Howard. In 2026, she received the California Arts Council’s 50th Anniversary Award, honoring artists whose work has shaped California’s cultural and civic life, as well as the Museum of the African Diaspora’s Artist Impact Award. In 2025, she was awarded a prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship in recognition of her transformative contributions to American cultural life.

Published

1 week ago

June 24, 2026

Oakland Post

Mildred Howard. Photo by Christine Cueto for the Oakland Museum of California, 2025.

Special to The Post

The Oakland Museum of California (OMCA) opened “Mildred Howard: Poetics of Memory,” the first major museum survey of Bay Area artist Mildred Howard, on June 12.

The exhibition spans five decades of Howard’s influential work, bringing together immersive installations, found-object sculptures, archival materials, and new commissions that explore memory, identity, and power in American life.

Howard was born in San Francisco in 1945 and raised in the East Bay, where she went on to study Afro-Haitian dance, make and sell clothing, and experiment with collage and sculpture.

Her multimedia art practice emerged from these experiences, later becoming associated with West Coast conceptual art, San Francisco funk, and a vibrant community of artists like Oliver Jackson, Betye Saar, and Raymond Saunders. Since the 1970s, she has used found materials and family stories to explore memory—both individual and collective.

At OMCA, visitors enter “Poetics of Memory” through a series of intimate galleries featuring Howard’s early mixed-media pieces and sculptures, along with a large video projection of a number of her public artworks.

Together, they emphasize Howard’s interest in everyday objects as powerful carriers of individual and shared stories. Highlights include collages that remix images of the artist herself; found-object sculptures like The History of the United States with a few Parts Missing (2007) that address omissions in dominant narratives; and public works like “Locks and Keys for Harry Bridges” (2001) that transform urban space into a meditation on access and labor.

This culminates in a richly detailed “studio” environment, where works in progress, archival exhibition flyers, historic photographs of Howard and her community, postcards from fellow artists, and other materials offer insight into her creative process and daily life.

The exhibition then opens into a high-ceilinged, dramatically lit space that brings together Howard’s signature immersive installations. On one end, “Crossings” (1997/2026) – a field of hundreds of ceramic eggs leading to an ornate mirror – suggests cycles of birth, motherhood, and transition, while drawing on the emotional echoes of the Middle Passage. On the other end, “Blackbird in a Red Sky” (a.k.a. “Fall of the Blood House”) (2002) – a red glass shack bordered by a pond – also uses reflection and transparency to draw viewers into the work and prompt consideration of themes of identity and home.

Howard’s newest video installation, “Moving Stills” (2026), repurposes never-before-seen family footage she took as a teenager on a train trip to the American South. Projected onto cascading layers of translucent fabric that stretch across an entire gallery wall, the piece immerses viewers in a layered meditation on memory, migration, and time.

The “Mildred Howard: Poetics of Memory” exhibit will be on display through Oct. 11 at the Oakland Museum of California, 1000 Oak St., Oakland, CA 94612. Museum hours are Wednesday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., with extended hours on Fridays to 9 p.m.

This story is sourced from the Oakland Museum of California press office.

Oakland Post

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Alameda County

Ferry Fares to Increase July 1 as Ridership Hits Record Highs

The Oakland and Alameda routes will increase from $4.90 to $5.10, the South San Francisco route will go up from $7.40 to $7.60, and the Vallejo route will increase from $9.90 to $10.

Published

1 week ago

June 24, 2026

Oakland Post

Courtesy photo.

By Mike Aldax, The Richmond Standard

Starting July 1, the standard adult fare for the San Francisco Bay Ferry route between Richmond and San Francisco will increase to $5.20, up from the current $4.90.

Discounted fares for eligible passengers, including youth, seniors, people with disabilities, and Clipper START users, will rise to $2.60 from the current $2.40. Children under 5 will continue to ride for free.

The Oakland and Alameda routes will increase from $4.90 to $5.10, the South San Francisco route will go up from $7.40 to $7.60, and the Vallejo route will increase from $9.90 to $10.

The adjustments are part of a systemwide fare update approved by the agency’s Board of Directors, which is moving away from a flat 3% annual increase to route-specific pricing for the 2027 and 2028 fiscal years.

This fare update arrives as San Francisco Bay Ferry celebrates a historic May, transporting 301,270 passengers. The record-breaking figure represents an 8% increase over May 2025 and marks the third consecutive month of record-setting ridership.

Furthermore, it is the sixth month in a row that passenger numbers have exceeded pre-pandemic levels. Weekend travel has been a primary driver of this growth, with average weekend ridership seeing a 56% increase compared to pre-pandemic trends.

The agency states that the fare adjustments are necessary to ensure the long-term fiscal sustainability of public ferry services. By shifting to route-specific adjustments, the agency aims to offset rising operating costs while maintaining the high levels of service frequency and reliability.