Activism
Bay Area Leaders Receive Prestigious 2022 James Irvine Foundation Leadership Awards
Each year, Irvine’s Leadership Awards recognize innovative leaders whose breakthrough solutions to critical state challenges improve lives, create opportunity, and contribute to a better California. In addition to spotlighting exemplary leaders whose work benefits the people of California, The James Irvine Foundation provides each recipient’s organization with a grant of $250,000 to support their work.
Oakland Roots Community Health Center’s Dr. Noha Aboelata and DeVone Boggan of Richmond’s Advance Peace are among six winners of this year’s James Irvine Foundation Leadership Awards.
Each year, Irvine’s Leadership Awards recognize innovative leaders whose breakthrough solutions to critical state challenges improve lives, create opportunity, and contribute to a better California.
In addition to spotlighting exemplary leaders whose work benefits the people of California, The James Irvine Foundation provides each recipient’s organization with a grant of $250,000 to support their work.
“These trailblazing leaders are an inspiration for what they have accomplished for the people of California already and what they can accomplish in the future,” said Don Howard, President and CEO of The James Irvine Foundation. “We are delighted to highlight the promise of their efforts and help others take note of their approaches.”
To learn more about the Leadership Awards, which were announced in San Francisco on February 7, please visit IrvineAwards.org
Founder and CEO of Roots, Dr. Aboelata received the award for addressing the root causes of health disparities and improving outcomes for people impacted by systemic inequities.
As a family practice physician and later Chief Medical Officer at Oakland’s Native American Health Center, Dr. Aboelata found the standard 15-minute patient visits insufficient to address the full range of her patients’ issues.
So, in 2008, she founded Roots Community Health Center (Roots) to provide whole health care to those who lacked safety net services and access to traditional support systems — primarily African American men, including those re-entering society from prison — to help facilitate their journey toward self-sufficiency.
Roots has since expanded to serve women and children and provides primary care, navigation services, and employment opportunities to individuals and families in Alameda and Santa Clara counties. Roots’ active clientele exceeds 10,000 — 89% African American, evenly split between men and women, and largely Medi-Cal recipients.
“It takes a lot more than a doctor and an exam room to bring health to our community,”Aboelata said.
DeVone Boggan, founder and CEO of Advance Peace, received the award for creating healthy, safe, and just communities by transforming the lives of individuals at the center of gun violence.
From 2015 to 2019, African American males aged 15-34 in California had a firearm homicide rate 16 times higher than white male firearm victims of the same age group.
In 2010, Boggan launched the “Peacemaker Fellowship” support group for African American males involved in gun violence but avoided imprisonment. The model is based on Boggan’s conviction that participants are products of their toxic environments and capable of changing their lives, a theory that is supported by outcome data.
Between 2012 and 2019, firearm assaults in Richmond dropped by 85% and homicides were down 65% compared to the eight years prior to launching the program.
In 2016, Boggan spun off the Peacemaker Fellowship® into a non-profit, Advance Peace, which has supported the model’s implementation in Richmond, Stockton, Sacramento, Fresno, Salinas, and Woodland.
“Every one of our Fellows on day one of their fellowship should be in jail. Not only are they active, but they have also been engaged as a habitual shooter,” Boggan said. “Advance Peace builds trust with each Fellow through goodwill, love, and engagement and helps them identify and achieve their goals.”
When Brandon Smith and Royal Ramey were released from prison, they couldn’t find firefighting jobs even though they had been trained at a fire camp while incarcerated.
As California’s fire seasons become longer and more intense, The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) reports that they need more firefighters.
But the men and women who were trained while incarcerated couldn’t get jobs.
Smith and Ramey pushed past the barriers most Fire Camp alumni face, which include stigma, parole limitations, childcare, access to transportation, financial limitations and a criminal record hindering their ability to obtain the emergency medical technician (EMT) license required for the job.
They enrolled in a fire academy to be retrained and became wildland firefighters nearly two years after their release. While on the job, Smith and Ramey encountered incarcerated firefighters who wanted to know how to gain similar success.
That inspired the two men to found The Forestry and Fire Recruitment Program in 2015 to help their peers navigate the complicated hiring process to become firefighters.
FFRP recruits incarcerated firefighters from fire camps and provides individuals — primarily formerly incarcerated men and women of color — with on-the-job training, re-entry support, and connections to firefighting careers. To date, Smith and Ramey have trained and provided career support to more than 3,000 currently and formerly incarcerated individuals.
“Our work prevents wildfires, diversifies the workforce, and creates positive opportunities for formerly incarcerated individuals to contribute to their communities.” Ramey said.
The James Irvine Foundation has honored more than 100 Californians with a Leadership Award since the program began in 2006. Award recipients are chosen by an independent selection committee of distinguished California leaders that reviews nominations based on the work’s significance, effectiveness, and innovation, among other criteria.
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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