Bay Area

City Council Places Oakland Youth Vote Measure on November Ballot

Published

4 years ago

May 21, 2020

Council President Rebecca Kaplan and Policy Director Desmond Jeffries (top center) meet with student advocates to discuss Youth Vote ballot measure, prior to Shelter in Place in Place order. Photo courtesy of office of Rebecca Kaplan.

The Oakland City Council voted unanimously at its Tuesday meeting to place an Oakland Youth Vote measure on the November ballot, which would give 16 and 17-year-olds the right to vote in Board of Education elections.

If the measure is approved, Oakland would become the sixth city in the country to extend the voting age to 16. Berkeley passed a similar measure in 2016 and San Francisco is attempting to do the same in November.

“Allowing young adults to have a vote in elections directly impacting them helps improve the responsiveness of these governmental roles, and helps build empowered community members, with practical knowledge and skillset to make a change in their community through the democratic process,” said Council President Rebecca Kaplan, who introduced the ballot measure to add an amendment to the Charter of the City of Oakland.

“In this era, as we face down threats of voter suppression and other efforts to silence marginalized voices in our democracy, it is all the more important that we work to ensure our communities are included,” she said.

Kaplan emphasized that many youth organizations and others on the City Council have joined together to support the measure.

“The young people have been working on this for a long time and have done incredible work,” she said. “I was honored to bring this forward with them and then to be joined also by Councilmembers (Nikki) Bas, (Loren) Taylor, and (Sheng) Thao.”

Student leaders from Oakland Kids First, All City Council Student Union, and organizations from the Oakland Youth Vote Coalition launched Oakland Youth Vote to strengthen youth voices and expand their role in improving the education system. They spent months researching, engaging their school communities, and meeting with community leaders to enlist their support in the development of the legislation.

“Research has proven that younger, first-time voters are more likely to become life-long voters and make our parents more likely to vote as well. This will help us get more youth and young adults more civically engaged” said Denilson Garibo, Oakland school board student director.

“This is important to me because I’m a student in the Oakland Unified School District and anything that’s going to affect my school system, is going to affect me and my future,” said Ixchel Arista, a student organizer with Oakland Kids First.

Keith Brown, president of Oakland Education Association (OEA), is also backing the measure.

“The reality is that budget cuts and slashing critical student services hurt students, particularly low-income students of color,” he said. “Students led the fight to protect many of those services. They have a right to help choose School Board representatives who put students first.”

For more information and to see full list of supporters, go to: www.oaklandyouthvote.org

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Activism

Oakland Post: Week of April 24 – 30, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of April 24 – 30, 2024

Published

3 days ago

April 26, 2024

Oakland Post

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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.

Published

7 days ago

April 22, 2024

Oakland Post

District Attorney Pamela Price with Carol Jones

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.

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Bay Area

State Controller Malia Cohen Keynote Speaker at S.F. Wealth Conference

California State Controller Malia Cohen delivered the keynote speech to over 50 business women at the Black Wealth Brunch held on March 28 at the War Memorial and Performing Arts Center at 301 Van Ness Ave. in San Francisco. The Enterprising Women Networking SF Chapter of the American Business Women’s Association (ABWA) hosted the Green Room event to launch its platform designed to close the racial wealth gap in Black and Brown communities.

Published

1 week ago

April 20, 2024

Oakland Post

American Business Women’s Association Vice President Velma Landers, left, with California State Controller Malia Cohen (center), and ABWA President LaRonda Smith at the Enterprising Women Networking SF Chapter of the ABWA at the Black Wealth Brunch.

By Carla Thomas

The Enterprising Women Networking SF Chapter of the American Business Women’s Association (ABWA) hosted the Green Room event to launch its platform designed to close the racial wealth gap in Black and Brown communities.

“Our goal is to educate Black and Brown families in the masses about financial wellness, wealth building, and how to protect and preserve wealth,” said ABWA San Francisco Chapter President LaRonda Smith.

ABWA’s mission is to bring together businesswomen of diverse occupations and provide opportunities for them to help themselves and others grow personally and professionally through leadership, education, networking support, and national recognition.

“This day is about recognizing influential women, hearing from an accomplished woman as our keynote speaker and allowing women to come together as powerful people,” said ABWA SF Chapter Vice President Velma Landers.

More than 60 attendees dined on the culinary delights of Chef Sharon Lee of The Spot catering, which included a full soul food brunch of skewered shrimp, chicken, blackened salmon, and mac and cheese.

Cohen discussed the many economic disparities women and people of color face. From pay equity to financial literacy, Cohen shared not only statistics, but was excited about a new solution in motion which entailed partnering with Californians for Financial Education.

“I want everyone to reach their full potential,” she said. “Just a few weeks ago in Sacramento, I partnered with an organization, Californians for Financial Education.

“We gathered 990 signatures and submitted it to the [California] Secretary of State to get an initiative on the ballot that guarantees personal finance courses for every public school kid in the state of California.

“Every California student deserves an equal opportunity to learn about filing taxes, interest rates, budgets, and understanding the impact of credit scores. The way we begin to do that is to teach it,” Cohen said.

By equipping students with information, Cohen hopes to close the financial wealth gap, and give everyone an opportunity to reach their full financial potential. “They have to first be equipped with the information and education is the key. Then all we need are opportunities to step into spaces and places of power.”

Cohen went on to share that in her own upbringing, she was not guided on financial principles that could jump start her finances. “Communities of color don’t have the same information and I don’t know about you, but I did not grow up listening to my parents discussing their assets, their investments, and diversifying their portfolio. This is the kind of nomenclature and language we are trying to introduce to our future generations so we can pivot from a life of poverty so we can pivot away and never return to poverty.”

Cohen urged audience members to pass the initiative on the November 2024 ballot.

“When we come together as women, uplift women, and support women, we all win. By networking and learning together, we can continue to build generational wealth,” said Landers. “Passing a powerful initiative will ensure the next generation of California students will be empowered to make more informed financial decisions, decisions that will last them a lifetime.”