Community
Black Women Wailing. Black Women Healing. Black Women Respond to the Violence in our City
On Sunday, Jan. 17, 2020, as part of Anti Police-Terror Project’s Reclaiming King’s Radical Weekend, Black women will engage in an online healing ceremony for Oakland.
On Sunday, Jan. 17, 2020, as part of Anti Police-Terror Project’s Reclaiming King’s Radical Weekend, Black women will engage in an online healing ceremony for Oakland.
We are Oakland’s mothers, daughters, sisters, aunties, grandmothers, spouses, partners and elders whose hearts are shattering. We are artists, advocates and organizers. We are Black women.
Every bullet that steals one of our own also steals a piece of our soul. For months, we have waited for a response from city leaders that has not come. Our collective grief has turned to collective rage and a collective determination to insist the violence stops today.
We grieve these tragedies and long for freedom from institutions and systems that perpetuate violence. Despite attempts to divide our movements, we remain firm that all violence is state violence.
Whether it be police or one of our own who steals a life; it is the state that creates the conditions that facilitate blood running through our streets. It is the state who benefits from our communities existing in perpetual chaos. It is the state that withholds the resources, supports and services from our communities that could stop the violence, heal the trauma and forge a pathway toward safe communities.
We are tired of waiting for the state.
We are a collective of women who lead, live and love within the Black community of Oakland, CA. This King weekend, we join the collective dreaming of Oaklanders for a city where humanity is held sacred, communities are free from violence and Black people can breathe.
Why We Wail
Oakland lost more than 100 people to gun violence in 2020. At the time we are writing this letter, two people have already been shot and killed. Our city’s response? A press release from the Oakland Police Dept. criminalizing our young people and a call for more money for a failed police agency that is failing us at every turn.
The 2018 Oakland Equity Indicators Report shows that Black youth ages 16-24 are out of work or out of school. The report demonstrates that African Americans in Oakland have the lowest median household income compared to other groups, at $37,500. They state, “African Americans were most likely to be living at or below the federal poverty level (26.1%), compared to 21.9% of Latinos, 15.0% of Asians, and 8.4% of whites.”
When you starve a community of the resources it needs to thrive; efforts to survive perpetuate violence.
While the City annually allocates almost 50% of our budget to the Oakland Police Dept., Black bodies and communities pay the price. Our budget model perpetuates violence on Black Oaklanders by failing to legislate for equitable access to housing, healthcare, education, public safety, economic sustainability; everything we need to create safe and healthy communities.
The carceral system then punishes individuals and families who fall through the cracks of broken systems, leading to a wide array of generational traumas.
All violence is state violence.
There can be no peace without access to healthy food. There can be no safety without housing. There can be no healing without trauma support. There can be no joy without whole family units. There can be no success without educational and economic opportunities.
We reject the notion and the practice of mass criminalization to safety. We refuse the idea that the city does not have the resources to REfund our communities with supports and services that have been stolen. We reject your morally bankrupt priorities.
We call into existence a healing balm for Oakland. We demand support services for families and communities traumatized by violence. We offer ourselves up as healers, counselors, spiritual advisors, sisters, friends and community members. We extend love, support and compassion to our young people. We see your humanity. We extend prayers and resources to the mothers who have lost children.
What We Demand: A Black New Deal
The new Oakland City Council must correct the social inequity that is the root of all state violence.
Whereas, the Oakland City Council has the power and responsibility to address the social inequities and consequences that stem from state violence through reinvestment in schools, housing, and mental health services,
Whereas, the people of Oakland require strong leadership from all city departments to configure a budget that reflects the value of human lives over profit by reinvesting funds from over policing to mental health and trauma support services,
Whereas, housing is a human right for all people regardless of their ability to obtain wealth,
Whereas, the City of Oakland must support all workers and residents during this pandemic with additional protections for employees, including paid sick days and other support for working families,
Whereas, Oaklanders demand access to clean environments that support sound physical and mental health including but not limited to: clean water, hygiene stations, free public transportation, rezoning of areas to protect family neighborhoods,
Whereas, COVID-19 has impacted all corners of our city, we demand our officials embody a public health perspective when addressing the short and long term consequences of this crisis,
Therefore be it resolved that this City Council commits itself to a Black New Deal that includes a complete transformation of how we do “public safety” in Oakland; fully funding good jobs, quality education, mental health supports, housing for all, quality education, healthy environments and equitable opportunities to thrive with a particular emphasis on repairing the damage done to Black Oaklanders through decades of neglect and racist policies and practices.
Closing
Our tears and grief wash clean the ill response of this city. Our love for our children ushers in a new day of peace. Black women have always, and will always, provide the healing balm to our communities. We cannot wait for the state to bring peace to our streets; not so long as it continues to benefit from our destruction.
Sunday’s event will livestream from the Anti Police-Terror Project Facebook Page from 1:00-3:00 p.m.
With deep love for our city and our people,
Pastor Cherri Murphy, Dr. Crystallee Crain, Cat Brooks, Ashara Ekundayo, Amara T. Smith, Tonya Marie Amos, Dr. Ayodele Nzinga, Mizan Alkebulan-Abakah, Clarissa Douthard, Carolyn Johnson, Chaney Turner, Falilah Bilal, Margo Hall, Nehanda Imara, Regina Evans, Tasion Kwamilele, Tonya Love, Jadyn Polk, Venus Morris
Activism
Oakland Post: Week of April 24 – 30, 2024
The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of April 24 – 30, 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.
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.
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.
City Government
Vallejo Welcomes Interim City Manager Beverli Marshall
At Tuesday night’s Council meeting, the Vallejo City Council appointed Beverli Marshall as the interim city manager. Her tenure in the City Manager’s Office began today, Wednesday, April 10. Mayor Robert McConnell praised Marshall’s extensive background, noting her “wide breadth of experience in many areas that will assist the City and its citizens in understanding the complexity of the many issues that must be solved” in Vallejo.
Special to The Post
At Tuesday night’s Council meeting, the Vallejo City Council appointed Beverli Marshall as the interim city manager. Her tenure in the City Manager’s Office began today, Wednesday, April 10.
Mayor Robert McConnell praised Marshall’s extensive background, noting her “wide breadth of experience in many areas that will assist the City and its citizens in understanding the complexity of the many issues that must be solved” in Vallejo.
Current City Manager Michael Malone, whose official departure is slated for April 18, expressed his well wishes. “I wish the City of Vallejo and Interim City Manager Marshall all the best in moving forward on the progress we’ve made to improve service to residents.” Malone expressed his hope that the staff and Council will work closely with ICM Marshall to “ensure success and prosperity for the City.”
According to the Vallejo Sun, Malone stepped into the role of interim city manager in 2021 and became permanent in 2022. Previously, Malone served as the city’s water director and decided to retire from city service e at the end of his contract which is April 18.
“I hope the excellent work of City staff will continue for years to come in Vallejo,” he said. “However, recent developments have led me to this decision to announce my retirement.”
When Malone was appointed, Vallejo was awash in scandals involving the housing division and the police department. A third of the city’s jobs went unfilled during most of his tenure, making for a rocky road for getting things done, the Vallejo Sun reported.
At last night’s council meeting, McConnell explained the selection process, highlighting the council’s confidence in achieving positive outcomes through a collaborative effort, and said this afternoon, “The Council is confident that by working closely together, positive results will be obtained.”
While the search for a permanent city manager is ongoing, an announcement is expected in the coming months.
On behalf of the City Council, Mayor McConnell extended gratitude to the staff, citizen groups, and recruitment firm.
“The Council wishes to thank the staff, the citizens’ group, and the recruitment firm for their diligent work and careful consideration for the selection of what is possibly the most important decision a Council can make on behalf of the betterment of our City,” McConnell said.
The Vallejo Sun contributed to this report.
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