Bay Area

Joe Fisher Makes 80th Birthday a Celebration for Richmond’s Coronado Neighborhood

Joe Fisher, Richmond’s hometown dean of community, neighborhood and civic involvement, celebrated his 80th birthday with his wife, Maxine Russell Fisher, and more than 350 friends, family and neighbors. He turned his birthday into a neighborhood expo event with face-painting for the children, jumpers and roller-skating, a mechanical bull, and artistic performance where kids could “picture themselves.”

Published

1 year ago

April 3, 2023

Oakland Post

Hands lifted in a gesture of victory Joe Fisher poses at his 80th birthday last weekend. Photo by Don Gosney.

By Post Staff

Joe Fisher, Richmond’s hometown dean of community, neighborhood and civic involvement, celebrated his 80^thbirthday with his wife, Maxine Russell Fisher, and more than 350 friends, family and neighbors.

He turned his birthday into a neighborhood expo event with face-painting for the children, jumpers and roller-skating, a mechanical bull, and artistic performance where kids could “picture themselves.”

Joe, the associate publisher of the Richmond Post for the last decade, is known for his iconic photos and promotions featuring individuals and community-based groups who work for and advocate community improvement.

As he celebrated his 80^th birthday from his home, with CJ’s Barbecue and Fish just a few blocks from the Coronado neighborhood’s Nystrom Elementary School, he told of how he attended Richmond High, Contra Costa College and then Moler Barber College.

Born in Jackson, Miss., in 1943, Joe has lived and raised his family in Richmond ever since his parents, Jesse Fisher, born in Lake Village, Ark., and Idell Scott Fisher, born in Lake Charles, La., moved to Richmond in 1944.

Joe credits the guidance of his parents for inspiring him to purchase his first home in the Coronado neighborhood at the tender age of 26. Through the years he has owned three barber shops on Macdonald Avenue. Umoja, his largest shop with 13 chairs, was the largest in the East Bay Area.

Joe Fisher, right, accepts a commendation from Harpreet Sandhu, who works in the office of Congressman John Garamendi. Photo by Don Gosney.

Joe also owned Les and Joe’s clothing store before he managed Smith’s Clothing at 14th and Broadway in downtown Oakland.

Always on the move as an eclectic entrepreneurial sales and marketing businessman he earned his real estate broker’s license and manages Fisher Realty, at 180 Broadway, just a few blocks from Richmond City Hall where he keeps a constant eye on the deliberations of the city officials.

“I am now actively serving the Southside Church of Christ and devoting my time showing our youth how to become first-time homebuyers.

“My wife, Maxine, and I have have been blessed with four children, 13 grandchildren and 18 great-grandchildren,” said Joe.

He is affectionately called Papa Joe by his grand- and great-grandchildren and he has to use all of his diplomatic and political skills to help them feel loved, especially when they ask him if they are his favorite in the presence of each other.

He says, “I just smile and hug them all, because I love them all the same.”

Joe can be reached at 180 Broadway Avenue Ave., Suite A, Rochmond, CA 94804. jlfisher180@yahoo.com, and 510-253-8712.

Oakland Post

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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

6 days ago

April 26, 2024

Oakland Post

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.

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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

1 week 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

2 weeks 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.”