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Black Lives Matter Demonstrates Outside Hollywood Walgreens

WAVE NEWSPAPERS — Sherlyn Haynes’ only child, Christopher DeAndre Mitchell, was killed by a Torrance police officer weeks before Christmas.

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By Michael Livingston

HOLLYWOOD — Sherlyn Haynes’ only child, Christopher DeAndre Mitchell, was killed by a Torrance police officer weeks before Christmas.

On the evening of Dec. 23, Haynes held a poster with Mitchell’s picture at a rally with hundreds of protesters led by Black Lives Matter Los Angeles in Hollywood.

“It’s like I’m dying inside,” Haynes said about living without Mitchell, 23, who was killed Dec. 9 in a Ralph’s parking lot in East Torrance. “He was the light of my life.”

Haynes was one of around 20 people who spoke during the rally about the pain of losing a family member to police brutality — and the anger of no accountability for the officers involved.

“He was taken away, and I need justice,” Haynes said.

“No mother is alone. Not when you’re with us,” said Melina Abdullah, a co-founder of Black Lives Matter Los Angeles.

“We’re in pain. We’re sad everyday. … But we’re going to fight for every life that they took,” said Helen Jones, the mother of John Horton III, 22, who was found dead in a Los Angeles County jail cell in March 2009.

“It is sad that a black kid can’t walk down the street without us thinking, ‘is he or she going to make it?’” Jones said.

Haynes, Jones and dozens of family members spoke from inside the Walgreens on Vine Street, where protesters stormed the pharmacy.

Black Lives Matter Los Angeles led a rally to encourage supporters to boycott Walgreens and 24 Hour Fitness after the killings of Jonathan Hart, 21 and Albert Ramon Dorsey, 30 happened inside those businesses

The rally started at 3 p.m. at the CNN building on Sunset Boulevard. Abdullah criticized the network for failing to cover fatal shootings by police officers.

“Even if CNN won’t broadcast it, we’re going to broadcast it ourselves,” Abdullah said to the crowd’s cameras and cell phones.

The organization asked the family of victims of police brutality to lead the march near the 24 Hour Fitness on Sunset Boulevard to demand a boycott of the gym after the fatal shooting of Albert Ramon Dorsey, 30.

Dorsey was fatally shot by an Los Angeles Police Department officer in the locker room of the gym on Oct. 29.

“We’re not here to hold hands and sing ‘Kumbaya.’ We’re here to demand change, to demand justice,” activist Joseph Williams said.

Afterwards, the rally stormed into the Walgreens on Vine Street, the location where Jonathan Hart, 21, was fatally shot by an armed security guard on Dec. 2. The guard shot Hart in the neck after suspecting him of shoplifting.

Melanie Bryant was a friend of Hart and said that seeing so many people support her and his family and friends in the Walgreens helped comfort her.

“It means a lot,” she said. “It means that a lot of people love him.”

Inside the pharmacy, a “Boycott Walgreens” banner was unfurled as family members of victims of police brutality spoke about the pain of their loved ones not being here for Christmas — and their anger at law enforcement for their role in the deaths.

“Black lives, they matter here!” was yelled continuously as the crowd grew in size.

A dozen LAPD officers followed the crowd inside the Walgreens, watching as the rally disrupted business inside the store.

The demonstration never escalated into violence, as protesters spent almost two hours inside the Walgreens for their rally.

As the crowd thinned out, the protesters moved outside to collectively sitting outside the front doors to prevent any more guests from entering the pharmacy.

This article appeared originally in the Wave Newspapers

Michael Livingston Contributing Writer

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Oakland Post: Week of March 13 – 19, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of March 13 – 19, 2024

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Oakland Post: Week of March 6 – 12, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of March 6 – 12, 2024

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Who are the Alameda County District 4 Supervisor Candidates’ Top Campaign Contributors?

Below, we’ve listed each candidate’s 10 highest campaign contributors. For Miley, two of his top campaign donors also bought their own advertisements to support him and/or oppose Esteen through independent expenditures. Such expenditures, though separate from campaign donations, are also public record, and we listed them. Additionally, the National Organization of Realtors has spent about $70,500 on their own independent expenditures to support Miley.

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Jennifer Esteen. (Campaign photo) and Supervisor Nate Miley. (Official photo).
Jennifer Esteen. (Campaign photo) and Supervisor Nate Miley. (Official photo).

By Zack Haber

Nate Miley, who has served on Alameda County’s Board of Supervisors since 2000, is running for reelection to the District 4 supervisor seat.

Jennifer Esteen, a nurse and activist, is seeking to unseat him and become one of the five members of the powerful board that sets the county’s budget, governs its unincorporated areas, and oversees the sheriff, Alameda Health System, and mental health system.

District 4 includes most of East Oakland’s hills and flatlands beyond Fruitvale, part of Pleasanton and unincorporated areas south of San Leandro like Ashland and Castro Valley.

Voting is open and will remain open until March 5.

In California, campaign donations of $100 or more are public record. The records show that Miley has received about $550,000 in total campaign donations since he won the previous District 4 election in March 2020. Esteen has raised about $255,000 in total campaign donations since she started collecting them last July. All figures are accurate through Feb. 20.

While Miley has raised more money, Esteen has received donations from more sources. Miley received donations of $100 or more from 439 different sources. Esteen received such donations from 507 different sources.

Below, we’ve listed each candidate’s 10 highest campaign contributors. For Miley, two of his top campaign donors also bought their own advertisements to support him and/or oppose Esteen through independent expenditures. Such expenditures, though separate from campaign donations, are also public record, and we listed them. Additionally, the National Organization of Realtors has spent about $70,500 on their own independent expenditures to support Miley.

Nate Miley’s top campaign contributors:

The California Apartment Association, a trade group representing landlords and investors in California’s rental housing business, has spent about $129,500 supporting Miley’s election bid through about $59,500 in ads against Esteen$55,000 in ads supporting Miley, and $15,000 in campaign donations.

The independent expenditure committee Preserve Agriculture in Alameda County has spent about $46,025 supporting Miley through about $27,200 in their own ads, and $18,825 in donations to his campaign. Preserve Agriculture has supported reelection efforts for former Alameda County DA Nancy O’Malley, and Sheriff Greg Ahern, a republican. It’s received funding from ChevronPG&E, and a the California Apartment Association.

Organizations associated with the Laborers’ International Union of North America, or LiUNA, have donated about $35,000 in total. Construction and General Laborers Local 304, a local chapter of the union representing which represents over 4,000 workers, donated $20,000.

Laborers Pacific Southwest Regional Organizing Coalition, which represents 70,000 LiUNA members in Arizona, California, Hawaii and New Mexico, donated $15,000.

William ‘Bill’ Crotinger and the East Oakland-based company Argent Materials have donated $26,000. Crotinger is the president and founder of Argent, a concrete and asphalt recycling yard. Argent’s website says it is an eco-friendly company that diverts materials from landfills. In 2018, Argent paid the EPA $27,000 under a settlement for committing Clean Water Act violations.

Michael Morgan of Hayward, owner of We Are Hemp, a marijuana dispensary in Ashland, has donated $21,500.

Alameda County District 1 Supervisor David Haubert has donated $21,250 from his 2024 reelection campaign. He’s running unopposed for the District 1 seat.

SEIU 1021which represents over 60,000 workers in local governments, non-profit agencies, healthcare programs, and schools in Northern California, has donated $20,000.

UA Local 342, which represents around 4,000 pipe trades industry workers in Contra Costa and Alameda counties, donated $20,000.

The union representing the county’s deputy sheriffs, Deputy Sheriff’s Association of Alameda County, has donated $17,000.

Becton Healthcare Resources and its managers have donated $14,625. Becton’s mission statement says it provides “behavioral health management services to organizations and groups that serve the serious and persistent mentally ill population.”

Jennifer Esteen’s top campaign contributors:

Mary Quinn Delaney of Piedmont, founder of Akonadi Foundation, has donated $20,000. Akonadi Foundation gives grants to nonprofit organizations, especially focusing on racial justice organizing,

Bridget Galli of Castro Valley has donated $7,000. Galli is a yoga instructor and a co-owner of Castro Valley Yoga.

Rachel Gelman of Oakland has donated $5,000. Gelman is an activist who has vowed to redistribute her inherited wealth to working class, Indigenous and Black communities.

California Worker Families Party has donated $5,000. The organization’s website describes itself as a “grassroots party for the multiracial working class.”

David Stern of Albany has donated $5,000. Stern is a retired UC Berkeley Professor of Education.

Oakland Rising Committee—a collaborative of racial, economic, and environmental justice organizations—has donated about $3,050.

Fredeke Von Bothmer-Goodyear, an unemployed resident of San Francisco, has donated $2,600.

Robert Britton of Castro Valley has donated $2,500. Britton is retired and worked in the labor movement for decades.

Progressive Era PAC has donated about $2,400. Its mission statement says it “exists to elect governing majorities of leaders in California committed to building a progressive era for people of color.”

East Bay Stonewall Democrats Club has donated $2,250. The club was founded in 1982 to give voice to the East Bay LGBTQIA+ communities.

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