Activism

Book Review — In Open Contempt: Confronting White Supremacy in Art and Public Space

Readers who drive or walk past a monument to a historical figure every day will surely be spurred to regard it with fresh new eyes, after reading this book. You may never view artwork quite the same, either, because what you’ll learn inside “In Open Contempt” is monumental.

Published

1 year ago

January 3, 2025

Oakland Post

Book Cover of In Open Contempt: Confronting White Supremacy in Art and Public Space. Photo Courtesy of Viking.

By Terri Schlichenmeyer

Author: Irvin Weathersby Jr., c.2025, Viking, $30.00

The issue appears to be permanent.

It’s been happening for a long time. It doesn’t look like it’ll stop any time soon either. And although you’ve been able to work around it, you shouldn’t have to. Some say it might be better someday but you’re not holding your breath. As in the new book, “In Open Contempt” by Irvin Weathersby Jr., some things are too set in stone.

Cemeteries are filled with them.

So are parks, campuses, galleries, museums, and courtyards where, for centuries, humans have left their carved and constructed monuments and artwork celebrating and commemorating our heroes. Those works may be so familiar, in fact, that you might barely notice them, although many of the monuments have lauded White supremacists.

Says Weathersby, while some works have been removed in the recent past, many still stand, quietly, unobtrusively.

In his hometown of New Orleans, for instance, there was great controversy over the removal of statues honoring Civil War figures. The Ninth Ward street that Weathersby lived on as a child honored a slaveholder. Schools he attended nearby were named after men who established racist laws and ways of life.

He didn’t know to question those things when he was a child, or even as a young man. When he enrolled at Morehouse, an HBCU, though, he “began … unlearning …White supremacist culture.” Stories from his great-grandmother helped him see White supremacy clearer.

He found it in South Dakota, at Mt. Rushmore and at Wounded Knee, and he saw its effects at an Indigenous Writer’s Festival where he learned of the Dakota 38.

He sees it in art everywhere. He saw it once, when he was jailed overnight for a bike ticket he’d already dealt with. White supremacy is there when he thinks about the innocent people killed by police, and he thinks about how close he came to being a policeman himself.

“Look,” he says, “White supremacy everywhere.”

And, he says, if we have the courage to actually see it, to look hard and clear at it, “there exists a chance to heal and become empowered.”

You know how you can stare and stare at something, only to suddenly realize that there’s something about it that’s surprising, even shocking, right in front of you? That’s the sense you’ll get as you read “In Open Contempt,” that smack-your-forehead, duh feeling you get when your eyes are opened wide.

And yet, like many of the things he discovered and points out, Weathersby keeps a quiet presence in his book. His words are soft, but urgent. Gentle, but insistent. Firm, but prodding, leading, like having a presence sitting on your shoulder, whispering in your ear and urging you to see, to notice, demanding that you tell others, too.

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Activism

Chase Oakland Community Center Hosts Alley-Oop Accelerator Building Community and Opportunity for Bay Area Entrepreneurs

Over the past three years, the Alley-Oop Accelerator has helped more than 20 Bay Area businesses grow, connect, and gain meaningful exposure. The program combines hands-on training, mentorship, and community-building to help participants navigate the legal, financial, and marketing challenges of small business ownership.

Published

1 week ago

February 21, 2026

Oakland Post

Bay Area entrepreneurs attend the Alley-Oop Accelerator, a small business incubation program at Chase Oakland Community Center. Photo by Carla Thomas.

By Carla Thomas

The Golden State Warriors and Chase bank hosted the third annual Alley-Oop Accelerator this month, an empowering eight-week program designed to help Bay Area entrepreneurs bring their visions for business to life.

The initiative kicked off on Feb. 12 at Chase’s Oakland Community Center on Broadway Street, welcoming 15 small business owners who joined a growing network of local innovators working to strengthen the region’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.

At its core, the accelerator is designed to create an ecosystem of collaboration, where local entrepreneurs can learn from one another while accessing the resources of a global financial institution.

“This is our third year in a row working with the Golden State Warriors on the Alley-Oop Accelerator,” said Jaime Garcia, executive director of Chase’s Coaching for Impact team for the West Division. “We’ve already had 20-plus businesses graduate from the program, and we have 15 enrolled this year. The biggest thing about the program is really the community that’s built amongst the business owners — plus the exposure they’re able to get through Chase and the Golden State Warriors.”

According to Garcia, several graduates have gone on to receive vendor contracts with the Warriors and have gained broader recognition through collaborations with JPMorgan Chase.

“A lot of what Chase is trying to do,” Garcia added, “is bring businesses together because what they’ve asked for is an ecosystem, a network where they can connect, grow, and thrive organically.”

This year’s Alley-Oop Accelerator reflects that vision through its comprehensive curriculum and emphasis on practical learning. Participants explore the full spectrum of business essentials including financial management, marketing strategy, and legal compliance, while also preparing for real-world experiences such as pop-up market events.

Each entrepreneur benefits from one-on-one mentoring sessions through Chase’s Coaching for Impact program, which provides complimentary, personalized business consulting.

Garcia described the impact this hands-on approach has had on local small business owners. He recalled one candlemaker, who, after participating in the program, was invited to provide candles as gifts at Chase events.

“We were able to help give that business exposure,” he explained. “But then our team also worked with them on how to access capital to buy inventory and manage operations once those orders started coming in. It’s about preparation. When a hiccup happens, are you ready to handle it?”

The Coaching for Impact initiative, which launched in 2020 in just four cities, has since expanded to 46 nationwide.

“Every business is different,” Garcia said. “That’s why personal coaching matters so much. It’s life-changing.”

Participants in the 2026 program will each receive a $2,500 stipend, funding that Garcia said can make an outsized difference. “It’s amazing what some people can do with just $2,500,” he noted. “It sounds small, but it goes a long way when you have a plan for how to use it.”

For Chase and the Warriors, the Alley-Oop Accelerator represents more than an educational initiative, it’s a pathway to empowerment and economic inclusion. The program continues to foster lasting relationships among the entrepreneurs who, as Garcia put it, “build each other up” through shared growth and opportunity.

“Starting a business is never easy, but with the right support, it becomes possible, and even exhilarating,” said Oscar Lopez, the senior business consultant for Chase in Oakland.