Activism
Oakland Activist and Organizer Denise A. Gums, 66
Denise Adele Gums, an innovative organizer and activist around all things related to the African Diaspora, immigrant rights and the rights of indigenous people everywhere, passed away suddenly in Oakland on July 22, 2020. She was 66.
Gums was born in Oakland on Oct. 26, 1953, and attended local schools, graduating from Bishop O’Dowd High School in 1971 and later attending Holy Names College.
A woman who knew how to have fun while working for systemic change, Gums always knew where the pulse was on any issue.
Her work, grounded in Christ or God consciousness, and honored ancestors, aimed for African Diaspora unity. Gums saw the church as a sanctuary and its role as one of liberation theology.
Her career in community organizing began in the 1970s, according to Melvin Phillips, a neighbor and former classmate. In her role as community liaison for Clergy United of Oakland and the Bay Area Interdenominational Ministry Alliances, Phillips recalls that Gums worked closely with the late Father Jay Matthews, rector of Cathedral of Christ the Light; the late Father Edgar Haasl of St. Louis Bertrand Catholic Church; Rev. Dr. J. Alfred Smith, pastor emeritus of Allen Temple Baptist Church, other Pentecostal clergy and the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense.
Gums helped out at Black Panther Party Co-Founder Bobby Seale’s campaign for Oakland Mayor and went to jail often while protesting for housing rights, making “Good Trouble.”
She supported immigrant rights and African entrepreneurship. She loved film and volunteered at the Oakland International Film Festival. She worked at the American Red Cross training disaster relief volunteers. More recently she worked as a special education teacher; she loved children, especially those children she taught at Oakland Public Schools and worried about the effects of distance education and the digital divide in the community.
Gerald Lenoir, now a strategy analyst with Othering and Belonging Institute at UC Berkeley, said Gums was a big asset when he founded the Bay Area Alliance for Just Immigration in 2006. A founding member herself, Gums was a bridge between the church and the community bringing her cultural work to bear.
She was so well known in that bridge-building role that tributes from five Oakland churches were read at her homegoing: St. Columba Catholic Church, St. Patrick’s Catholic Church, St. Benedict’s Catholic Church, Imani Community Church and her church home, Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church.
‘Oaktown’ to the core, she always wore colorful wraps, baubles on her wrists and hoops dangling from her ears, even before it was common and fashionable. She was one of the first to model African-centered face masks as the pandemic unfolded, riding the bus to Berkeley to support an African woman-owned business. She was a ‘Race Woman,’ in the spirit of the Hon. Marcus Mosiah Garvey.
She was involved in political outreach for Africans from the Congo and Nigeria, Ethiopia, Eritrea and the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa in 1980s and 1990s. She was always advocating for the rights of people of African descent in the U.S. and Haiti.
She is survived by her mother, Mrs. Thelma Gums; sisters, Deborah and Karen Gums; aunts and uncle; cousins and too many friends to count. She was preceded in death by her father, Louis Gums and brother Kevan Gums.
Gums is interred at Chapel of the Chimes in Oakland. A public ceremony and celebration of her life was held on Saturday, Aug. 15, 2020, where a City of Oakland resolution declaring it Denise Gums Day was read by Oakland City Councilwoman Lynette Gibson McElhaney.
One of her last acts was to support the people driving and riding in a caravan of vehicles decked out with Black Lives Matter signs in a COVID-19-safe protest that circled Lake Merritt in Oakland. The demonstrations began on June 2, 2020, and will run through Nov. 6, 2020, now in Gums’ honor as well. The meeting place is Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, 2808 Lakeshore Ave., from 12:00-1:00 p.m. on first and third Fridays. For more information, call 510-255-5579.
If anyone is interested in helping with burial costs, please contact Mr. Osagie A.D. Enabulele, a community leader at 510-393-6262.
Activism
Oakland Post: Week of April 24 – 30, 2024
The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of April 24 – 30, 2024
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Activism
Oakland Post: Week of April 17 – 23, 2024
The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of April 17 – 23, 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.
Activism
Oakland Schools Honor Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties
Every Jan. 30, OUSD commemorates the legacy of Fred Korematsu, an Oakland native, a Castlemont High School graduate, and a national symbol of resistance, resilience, and justice. His defiant stand against racial injustice and his unwavering commitment to civil rights continue to inspire the local community and the nation. Tuesday was “Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution” in the state of California and a growing number of states across the country.
By Post Staff
Every Jan. 30, OUSD commemorates the legacy of Fred Korematsu, an Oakland native, a Castlemont High School graduate, and a national symbol of resistance, resilience, and justice.
His defiant stand against racial injustice and his unwavering commitment to civil rights continue to inspire the local community and the nation. Tuesday was “Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution” in the state of California and a growing number of states across the country.
One OUSD school is named in his honor: Fred T. Korematsu Discovery Academy (KDA) elementary in East Oakland.
Several years ago, founding KDA Principal Charles Wilson, in a video interview with anti-hate organization “Not In Our Town,” said, “We chose the name Fred Korematsu because we really felt like the attributes that he showed in his work are things that the children need to learn … that common people can stand up and make differences in a large number of people’s lives.”
Fred Korematsu was born in Oakland on Jan. 30, 1919. His parents ran a floral nursery business, and his upbringing in Oakland shaped his worldview. His belief in the importance of standing up for your rights and the rights of others, regardless of race or background, was the foundation for his activism against racial prejudice and for the rights of Japanese Americans during World War II.
At the start of the war, Korematsu was turned away from enlisting in the National Guard and the Coast Guard because of his race. He trained as a welder, working at the docks in Oakland, but was fired after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941. Fear and prejudice led to federal Executive Order 9066, which forced more than 120,000 Japanese Americans out of their homes and neighborhoods and into remote internment camps.
The 23-year-old Korematsu resisted the order. He underwent cosmetic surgery and assumed a false identity, choosing freedom over unjust imprisonment. His later arrest and conviction sparked a legal battle that would challenge the foundation of civil liberties in America.
Korematsu’s fight culminated in the Supreme Court’s initial ruling against him in 1944. He spent years in a Utah internment camp with his family, followed by time living in Salt Lake City where he was dogged by racism.
In 1976, President Gerald Ford overturned Executive Order 9066. Seven years later, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco vacated Korematsu’s conviction. He said in court, “I would like to see the government admit that they were wrong and do something about it so this will never happen again to any American citizen of any race, creed, or color.”
Korematsu’s dedication and determination established him as a national icon of civil rights and social justice. He advocated for justice with Rosa Parks. In 1998, President Bill Clinton gave him the Presidential Medal of Freedom saying, “In the long history of our country’s constant search for justice, some names of ordinary citizens stand for millions of souls … To that distinguished list, today we add the name of Fred Korematsu.”
After Sept. 11, 2001, Korematsu spoke out against hatred and discrimination, saying what happened to Japanese Americans should not happen to people of Middle Eastern descent.
Korematsu’s roots in Oakland and his education in OUSD are a source of great pride for the city, according to the school district. His most famous quote, which is on the Korematsu elementary school mural, is as relevant now as ever, “If you have the feeling that something is wrong, don’t be afraid to speak up.”
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