Bay Area

Comedian and Writer W. Kamau Bell Visits OSA

W. Kamau Bell, a talented Black comedian, writer, and filmmaker, visited Oakland School for the Arts on Thursday April 27. His Q & A with students from various pathways was intended to inspire them as well as show them the many brave, innovative things they can achieve with their art.

Published

12 months ago

May 10, 2023

Oakland Post

W. Kamau Bell. Santa Clara University photo.

By Daisha Williams
Post News Group Intern

The host of the CNN show “United Shades of America,” was born in 1973 in Palo Alto, raised in Boston, and Chicago and attended the University of Pennsylvania before dropping out.

Returning to California, he established himself as a comedian, doing small shows in bars. He says that one of his biggest inspirations early on was Dick Gregory.

(Gregory was a popular comedian during the 1950s and ‘60s who later stopped comedy and pursued activism more heavily.)

Since then, he’s been very busy: It’s amazing how much Bell has achieved as a Black man in America.

Since his start, Bell has done countless things with his career, from comedy specials to a recent documentary about the lives of mixed-race kids in the Bay Area and even writing an autobiography in 2017 called “The Awkward Thoughts of W. Kamau Bell: Tales of a 6’4, African American, Heterosexual, Cisgender, Left-Leaning, Asthmatic, Black and Proud Blerd, Mama’s Boy, Dad, and Stand-Up Comedian.”

According to Wikipedia, he released his first album in 2007 and in 2012 the S.F. Weekly and the San Francisco Bay Guardian newspapers both named him San Francisco’s best comedian.

When asked by OSA students if he thinks it’d have been easier for him to get where he is today if he was a white man he responded, “America is set up for white men. I can’t say what that would’ve meant for my career. . . But certainly, there are examples of people around me where white men have gotten through the door where we were like “that guy’s not even that [funny].”

He talked about his show several times during the Q & A, including one particularly shocking and risky episode when he visited the Ku Klux Klan in 2016. He was able to do something that no one had done before, at least on television. But still, if he could go back, he definitely wouldn’t do it the same way.

He said he felt extremely unsafe in that situation, made worse by the fact that the majority of his staff was white. This experience is what led him to demand having more Black and Brown people on the staff: He would’ve left the show if that accommodation wasn’t made.

The episode with the KKK wasn’t the only circumstance of Bell talking to racists. When asked how he handles these situations he revealed a variety of methods. Bell says he resists the urge to argue, saying that sometimes in an interview the best thing you can do is to just let them talk.

It’s hard, he admits, and that sometimes he shuts down, can’t let himself take in what is being said. This is why he needs to have people on set with him who can firsthand experience the weight of what he is experiencing.

Some might wonder why Bell puts himself through this. However, the answer is simple, he wants to use art as a way to make the world more aware of the Black experience, of the trials and triumphs of a group of people that have been unsung.

Bell says that every time he begins a new project, he asks himself, “Is this the project that dismantles white supremacy?”

The answer is often no, but it’s an admirable thing to strive for.

Wikipedia contributed to this report.

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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

3 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

7 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.”