Bay Area

Marin City Market Owner Nita Hayden Vasquez, 80

Nita Hayden Vasquez, who owned Hayden’s Market in Marin City, died Jan. 11, 2023, in Tampa, Fla., of natural causes. She was 80 years old. Vasquez made many friends when she lived in Marin City. The small market also allowed people to forge community bonds, reported the Marin IJ.

Published

1 year ago

March 15, 2023

Oakland Post

Nita Hayden Vasquez. Photo provided by Sheri Murphy for Marin IJ.

By Godfrey Lee

Nita Hayden Vasquez, who owned Hayden’s Market in Marin City, died Jan. 11, 2023, in Tampa, Fla., of natural causes.

She was 80 years old.

Vasquez made many friends when she lived in Marin City. The small market also allowed people to forge community bonds, reported the Marin IJ.

“Nita was the first Black businesswoman that I ever met and she inspired me to do law enforcement, be very independent, and not back down,” said Valanza Wilson-Parker, a cashier who worked in the market. “Everyone didn’t agree with her, and she didn’t care. She danced to her own beat.”

Royce McLemore, said that Vasquez “set herself apart from any Black woman in Marin City, and showed all her hard work from her store. She was business savvy.”

Felecia Gaston, executive director of Performing Stars, and founder of the Marin City Historical and Preservation Society, described Vasquez as a trailblazer, role model and business leader. “Nita Hayden Vasquez exemplified hard work, pride, and loyalty to help in keeping her parents’ business alive, which in turn contributed to the legacy of Marin City,” Gaston said.

Hayden’s Market was located at the intersection of Cole Drive and Drake Avenue. Locals used to gather outside the store in an area they called “The Front,” McLemore said

Vasquez’s father, Daniel Hayden, founded the Market in 1956. The familyhad moved to California from Louisiana during World War II in 1943 to seek work and a new life near the shipyards, said Bea Stephens, Vasquez’s sister.

After the war, Daniel Hayden settled in Marin City, and operated the store until he passed away in 1982. Vasquez took over until the mid-1990s when the land was sold to developers by its owner, the Tamalpais High School District.

It was the only commercial business in Marin City, a Black-owned business in a predominantly Black-owned town,” Wilson-Parker said to the SF Gate. “It had the first and only arcade and Pac-Man. The kids can come, have pizza and burritos, and actually sit there and have something to do.”

The late rapper Tupac Shakur, who grew up in Marin City, also visited the store, and told Vasquez: “I love how you keep your head up, Nita.” Shakur later returned to Marin City and said that Vasquez had inspired some of his lyrics.

Hayden’s Market was located across from the housing project since 1962, giving people in the community a place to meet and socialize. It was torn down when the (Gateway) Shopping Center was built in Marin City. The developers, which include the San Francisco-based Martin Group, insisted they had no obligation to provide space in the new shopping center to Hayden’s Market or other existing businesses.

Vasquez said that while it was time for Marin City to be developed, she was also treated unfairly by the developers, and was bitter that she was denied her livelihood when she did not become a part of the new center.

Ms. Hayden Vasquez is survived by her daughter Sheri Murphy and a granddaughter; sisters Bea Stephens and Flo Hamilton and brother Daniel Hayden Jr.

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Oakland Post: Week of April 24 – 30, 2024

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

Published

2 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

5 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.”