Events

Afro-Redemption Day at the California Hotel

Published

7 years ago

August 17, 2019

Kokavulu Lumukanda, Senior Resident Leader WORCL

The West Oakland Residential Community Leaders will commemorate the first day of our arrival from Africa by slaveship in 1619 till today, when the country is debating Reparations.

We will commemorate the “Afro-Redemption Day”, which represents the 400 year time span since the 1619 “importation” of the North American Negro at Jamestown Landing, Virginia, as America’s most important “cargo”.

The participants and speakers: Barrister Leo Bazile, Keynote Speaker; Babas Sidney Coulter, Ben Tucker, Loove Moore, Love-at-the-Lake, Zeff Amen, Mazee, and many others.

This year, 2019, is the span of an era that could possibly lead to a happy resolution of centuries-old political and social contradictions. And this observance is not only beneficial to African Americans, but to all American.

According to the old Negro Spiritual “Trouble Don’t Last Always,” the time for the recovery of our lost value is now at hand.

Historically and politically, a celebration at this time would be premature. Our situation is analogous to Dr. Martin Luther King’s “Mountaintop” metaphor, of seeing the promised land and of knowing that we are almost there.

We must have an internal transformation and a spirit of atonement for this commemoration to be “Redemptive” for all Americans. So let us resolve right now, that before we touch that “Black Reparations Benefits Card”, that first we knock off the dirt from the “Ages of our Adversities.”

References: “The Jamestown Landing and the First Twenty and odd Negroes;.” “Isabell and Antoney and their childe baptized;” “The Kingdom of Ndongo (Angola) and from whence Nzinga was Queen”; “The Jamestown Landing was as James C. Ballagh said, the result of a deliberate commercial design;” “Important as the Jamestown Landing was, it was only an episode in a larger drama that continued for almost 400 years and cost the lives of some 40 million Africans.”

This event will be held Sat., Aug. 24, 2019, at the California Hotel, 3501 San Pablo Ave., Oakland, Ca., 12 noon to 4:30 p.m. For more information call (510)350-6210.

Kokavulu Lumukanda, Senior Resident Leader WORCL

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Oakland Post: Week of May 6 – 12, 2026

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of may 6 – 12, 2026

Published

3 days ago

May 10, 2026

Oakland Post

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Oakland Post: Week of April 22 – 28, 2026

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of April 22 – 28, 2026

Published

3 weeks ago

April 25, 2026

Oakland Post

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Mayor Barbara Lee Proclaims April 9 as ‘100 Black Men of the Bay Area Day’

“Today, the 100th day of the year, I proclaim 100 Black Men Day,” said Mayor Barbara Lee standing with newly appointed Oakland Port Commissioner Derek Mohammad, a 100 Black Men member. “Whereas the 100 Black Men of the Bay Area has demonstrated decades of unwavering commitment to uplifting youth and strengthening families and advancing opportunity and access in Oakland and the greater Bay Area with their signature programs…the chapter has impacted thousands of young people and contributed thousands of hours of community service…”

Published

3 weeks ago

April 19, 2026

Oakland Post

At D. Monaghan’s on the Hill, a resolution declaring April 9 ‘100 Black Men of the Bay Area Day’ was witnessed by (l.-r.) 100 Black Men leaders Maurice Harold, Marco T. Lindsey, Danny Lee Williams, Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee, Oakland City Council President Kevin Jenkins, Port of Oakland Commissioner Derek Mohammad, and Oakland Councilmember Janani Ramachandran. Photo by Carla Thomas.

By Carla Thomas

When Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee announced that she would proclaim Thursday, April 9, as “100 Black Men of the Bay Area Day,” the organization’s board chairman and owner of D. Monaghan’s on the Hill, Danny Lee Williams knew he wanted to mark the historic moment with fanfare his community could share.

Standing at the podium on the patio of his restaurant in the Oakland Hills, he welcomed about 150 members of the organization and the broader community who gathered to celebrate.

“This is a special day, and we are in the midst of our Economic Empowerment week,” he said. Williams also welcomed four vendors to sell their gifts and accessories during the event free of charge.

Lee shared how as a single parent of two boys, she was grateful to have the organization’s support in mentoring her sons.

“Today, my adult son is a member in Illinois, and I thank the organization for supporting so many Black boys.”

The idea for the proclamation originated with Oakland City Councilmember Kevin Jenkins, who praised the organization for its leadership and contributions to Oakland and the greater Bay Area.

“This work that we do would not be possible without partnerships with organizations like the 100 Black Men,” said Jenkins. “We’re saving lives, restoring communities, and giving people hope and opportunities.”

“This is Oakland,” said Mayor Lee. “This is what we’re about. It’s about new ideas, thinking outside the box and being who we are. It’s about bringing joy. This is our holiday.”

The mayor also thanked the organization for volunteering during Oakland Cleanup days.

Councilmember Janani Ramachandran added that while many complain about problems in the city, “the 100” put in the work.

“It’s hard to be in the community and do the work, but that is exactly what the 100 Black Men does,” she said.

The organization’s economic chair and associate director of Diversity Equity and Inclusion at the University of California Berkeley’s Business School, Marco T. Lindsey, shared his enthusiasm for change.

“Today is the culmination of our work and something special is happening in our organization and our city,” he said. “We have a special opportunity to show up for our community now in ways that we haven’t had in the past. We have a mayor that supports us and it’s important that each and every one of us do our part. We all need our fingerprints on whatever we want to see in our city.”

Lindsey also expressed that if underserved youth and their parents had access to the resources needed for success, “Our youth wouldn’t be breaking windows and joining gangs if they had a pathway to earn $75k to $100k a year.”

The 100 Black Men were hosts of an Economic Empowerment Forum at McClymonds High School on April 11 educating students on entrepreneurship and financial literacy. On Sat., April 18, they will hold their fifth annual Career Expo at Contra Costa College 2600 Mission Bell Drive (G225) in San Pablo from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. The 100 Black Men chapter of the Bay Area was established in 1988, one of the earliest in the nation.

For more information visit 100blackmenba.org