National

Black Lives Still Matter to Grassroots and Black Media

Published

12 years ago

January 13, 2015

By Jazelle Hunt
NNPA Washington Correspondent

WASHINGTON (NNPA) – The last several months have seen an outpouring of activism, with slogans coming in waves: “Justice for Mike Brown,” “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot,” and “I Can’t Breathe.” But the phrase “Black Lives Matter” has emerged to bind each flashpoint into one cause.

The 2012 murder of Trayvon Martin and acquittal of George Zimmerman served as the first of these flashpoints, snowballing in August with the murder of Michael Brown.

“Ferguson is the birthplace of what’s happening right now. In many ways, Ferguson is like ground zero of these protests,” says DeRay McKesson, who has been protesting and organizing in Ferguson since August. He also co-produces a daily Ferguson newsletter with Johnetta Elzie.

“When I think of Black Lives Matter, that’s the way people talk about the work as it spreads. It’s easier to say, ‘Black lives matter,’ but I think the Ferguson Movement and Black Lives Matter are one in the same.”

Although McKesson is currently focused on ending police brutality and unaccountability, he believes in the importance of eventually dismantling all social and political oppression, particularly the types that target Black communities.

“If all lives mattered, we wouldn’t have to be here talking about Black lives matter,” he explained. “What we’re seeing is people confronting injustice. You see a collective confrontation against injustice…it’s a creating of a radical new space in Black politics.”

Black Lives Matter has also become an organization. Three activists, Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi co-founded the project in the wake of the Zimmerman’s acquittal in 2013. Initially, the partners set up BlackLivesMatter.tumblr.com and encouraged activists and organizations to share tactics and broadcast their efforts to uplift Black communities via the website.

“[The website] was an interactive project and a way to really promote the need for Black organizing in our communities,” said Tometi, who also serves as the executive director of the Black Alliance for Just Immigration, based in Brooklyn, N.Y. “Even if you’re not working on police brutality explicitly, there are many other issues that are impacting our communities.”

Today, there are approximately 15 chapters of Black Lives Matter across the nation and one in Canada that are focused on a range of concerns in Black communities, including housing, youth activism, and LGBTQ rights. Its other website, BlackLivesMatter.com, allows Black organizations to meet, network, and collaborate. The project has also adopted a list of demands, including the arrest of Darren Wilson, an end to supplying law enforcement with military weapons, and reinvestment in Black communities devastated by poverty.

“Our lives are being systematically attacked all across the board…it is not just at the hands of police,” Tometi says. “Black Lives Matter is a movement about bringing some of those issues and people who are on the margins to the center, and not forgetting about the Black undocumented immigrants, the Black trans person or Black queer person, or disabled people. All Black lives matter. It’s not just having a movement that’s solely about Black heterosexual men, but about all of us.”

For Chinyere Tutashinda, founding member of the Bay Area-based BlackOUT Collective, the movement is about love for Black people and a desire for justice.

“It [started] around dealing with deaths, dealing with the murders, because that’s right there in your face – a life has been taken, there’s a sense of urgency to that,” she said. “But it is beyond that as well. It’s also really about how are we ending the war on Black people, and ending the way Black people are oppressed in this country.”

On November 28, members of the Collective chained themselves to a BART train as part of a series of actions to disrupt Black Friday consumerism. The Black Lives Matter movement had declared a national day of protest and economic boycott, with some groups successfully causing the closure of shopping malls, Wal-Marts, and other retailers.

The news of these protests, and the Black Lives Matter movement in general, has primarily spread through social media and Black media instead of White-owned major mainstream outlets. Even when retailers saw an 11 percent drop in Black Friday sales, most mainstream media outlets did not include the movement’s efforts in their analyses of the profit loss.

“The media follows where the fire is. They have followed the fire really well… but I think that they’ve only done that because we made sure people were out on the streets,” Tutashinda explained. “The reason that Black media and Black journalism came to be was because we understood as a people and as a community that our stories weren’t being told. It’s ok [for Black journalists] to know that their role is to help this [movement] move forward.”

Black media has not only amplified the voices of those on the ground, but has also attempted to further conversations, most recently seen in Essence’s February 2015 issue.

The magazine dedicated its 45th anniversary issue to the Black Lives Matter movement, featuring 15 essays from luminaries such as Angela Davis, Melissa Harris-Perry, and Al Sharpton. It is the first time in the publication’s history that its cover did not feature an image, opting instead for bold words against an all-black cover.

“Black media has always brought attention to conversations that are happening throughout our community, and sometimes we’ve been the only source for some of the issues that are important. But what’s happening right now is that Black social media has not only been driving the conversation, but also the movement,” said Essence editor-in-chief Vanessa K. De Luca.

“A number of the people included in the package, they’re all saying that this isn’t just a movement emerging out of chaos. There really is a lot of organization and planning and thought around this whole movement,” she continues. “What I think is so important, especially for Black media, is that we can surface that information.”

In addition to the issue, the publication is launching a new Civil Rights Watch series to chronicle the movement’s developments, wins, and losses moving forward.

A few gains have already been made. The Justice Department is investigating police conduct in a few cities. Seven bills aimed at police regulation and accountability have been introduced in Congress. One was signed into law: the Death in Custody Reporting Act requires states receiving certain federal funds to record all citizen deaths in police custody, and for state Attorney Generals to analyze this information and develop a plan to reduce such deaths.

A handful of police indictments have also been attained, for the shootings of Rekia Boyd, Levar Jones, and recently Bernard Bailey, who was killed by a police officer four years ago in South Carolina.

“It’s great to see publications such as Essence magazine…have a special edition issue called Black Lives Matter. Media plays such a critical role in informing our people. And NNPA publications are so important for our communities especially in rural areas and big cities; this might be the only thing that they read about this movement for black lives,” Tometi says.

“[Media] thinks they have to do a balanced story… but in giving two sides equal platform it skews our understanding of how many people really agree with what. The way press culture operates provides a false sense of balance, when overwhelmingly, there’s support for the movement.”

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Mayor Barbara Lee Holds Special State of the City Address in Deep East Oakland

In partnership with Rise East and the 40×40 Council, Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee held a special 2026 State of the City East Oakland community conversation on Oct. 14. The purpose of bringing a State of the City address directly to the community was to celebrate East Oakland, highli

Published

5 days ago

October 19, 2026

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Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee, left. moderated a community chat with (l.to r.) Selena Wilson, CEO of the East Oakland Youth Development Center; Carolyn “CJ” Johnson, CEO of the Black Cultural Zone; Dr. Noha Aboelata, CEO of Roots Health Center and Greg Hodge, CEO of the Brotherhood of Elders.

By Special to The Post

In partnership with Rise East and the 40×40 Council, Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee held a special 2026 State of the City East Oakland community conversation on Oct. 14.

The purpose of bringing a State of the City address directly to the community was to celebrate East Oakland, highlight the work underway, and look ahead to what neighbors, local businesses, youth, funders, community organizations, and partners can accomplish together.

Held at the Roots Community Health/Parker Elementary School Campus at 7929 Ney Ave., the event was emceed by special guest Mark Curry, Oakland native, comedian, and actor.

Lee shared how Rise East and the 40×40 Council have brought together the knowledge, relationships, and resources of people and organizations committed to East Oakland.

Residents bring lived experience, community organizations bring trusted relationships and philanthropy, and businesses bring resources and opportunity, she said, then turned to the government’s role: public investment, services and policy.

But, Lee intoned, City Hall has a responsibility to help connect those efforts.

“I am committed to listening to residents, working across departments and sectors, and helping open doors to opportunity. We must connect neighborhood priorities to the decisions we make about housing, economic development, safety, health and our young people.

City Hall “must be accountable for the results,” Lee said. “The measure of success is what families experience: greater stability, more opportunity and a stronger sense that they belong and have a future here.

“Tonight is an opportunity to listen to the leaders doing this work, learn what is making a difference and identify where we can do more together,” the mayor said.

Lee went on to moderate a ‘fireside chat’ on the theme: Building Oakland’s Future Together — From Neighborhood Investment to Community Empowerment with:

Selena Wilson, CEO, East Oakland Youth Development Center
Greg Hodge, CEO, Brotherhood of Elders
Carolyn “CJ” Johnson, CEO, Black Cultural Zone
Dr. Noha Aboelata, CEO, Roots Health Center

Mayor Barbara Lee’s media relations department provided this report.

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Black History

Practitioners of African Traditional Spirituality Offer Ancestral Reverence Ritual Oct. 31

The Council for Global Ancestral Reverence will host “Ancestral Souls Rising” from Oct. 31 to Nov. 2, featuring a three-day gathering of prayer and discussion. Led by elders and priests across the African diaspora, the seventh annual ritual honors those lost without traditional rites while addressing current social challenges. This year’s event connects ancestral wisdom with contemporary issues, including a two-day conversation inspired by Afro-Beat music focused on Black community solidarity and the sacred importance of voting. Read more for details on the ritual schedule and participants.

Published

5 days ago

October 19, 2026

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Oakland native Nedra Williams writes sacred symbols on the ground in San Leandro. Courtesy photo.

By Special to The Post

The Council for Global Ancestral Reverence (C4GAR), a group of elders who practice African traditional spirituality, will lead a three-day gathering of prayer and discussion from Oct. 31-Nov. 2.

Called ‘Ancestral Souls Rising,’ the council members and 21 priests will lead the prayers from many parts of the African diaspora: Africa, Portugal, and across the U.S. from Maryland to the Bay Area.

Now in its seventh year, the annual ritual began during the 2020 pandemic when hundreds of thousands of people died alone and were buried in mass graves without rites and rituals according to loved ones’ traditions.

This prayer event was and is intended to give peace to the departed and comfort for the living who still mourn. Each year, we gather names of new ancestors from living elders to elevate them into the “Great Hall of the Titans.”

In ensuing years, C4GAR added themes to the prayer gathering that referenced current events. In 2024, before the consequential presidential election, C4GAR called on people to vote, invoking the memory of Civil Rights Movement heroes and heroines like John Lewis, who urged “Good Trouble,” and Fannie Lou Hamer, who famously declared that she was “sick and tired of being sick and tired.”

The day of global Prayer on Oct. 31 will be followed by a two-day conversation inspired by “The Blueprint,” an Afro-Beat song by UyiosaEl, to write our new blueprint that supports solidarity and action in the Black community.

“Our elders have, for many generations, known the power of prayer, ritual and breath,” the council said in a statement.

It was and is their intention, then, to use the cultural wisdom, the gift of prayer “and the most sacred thing we have, our breath, to send energy into the world that invokes and honors our ancestors,” the council statement continued.

“Doing this creates a vibration that protects us and employs their ancient wisdom for the well-being of our communities,” the elders said.

The councilmembers, all over the age of 60, recognize that what is now history for so many was once their lived experience. And that history, those joys and sorrows, are now in their bodies.

To them, the uttered prayer and the sacred breath are oaths to an unfolding future that people can still shape.

The council members are Dr. Iyabeji Cathy Royal, Iyalocha Jennifer Dillard, Manbo Charlene Desir (Florida), Nana Sula Spirit (Louisiana), Baba Obafemi Feyemi, Ohen Nedra T. Williams, and Iyalocha Wanda Ravernell-Stewart Emeritus (Oakland).

This year, they also encourage everyone within their reach to VOTE because it is not only a secular and political act, but a sacred one. Remember, the ancestors were denied that right and died for it.

For tickets, go to:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/council-for-global-ancestral-reverence-presents-ancestral-souls-rising-26-tickets-2003127345814?aff=oddtdtcreator

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Community

It’s Time to Lose Weight Before the Holidays

Licensed internist Dr. H. Geoffrey Watson has joined gastroenterologist Dr. Ralph Peterson at Oakland’s MacArthur GI to address the rising obesity epidemic. With U.S. obesity rates reaching 42.4%, the clinic offers supervised weight-loss programs and screenings for fatty liver disease. Treatments include dietary counseling and various medications, such as GLP-1 receptor agonists, which regulate digestion and appetite. As certain populations continue to be disproportionately affected by chronic health conditions, medical experts are highlighting new tools available to help patients reach their goals before the holiday season. Read more.

Published

5 days ago

October 19, 2026

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By Special to The Post

Dr. H. Geoffrey Watson, a licensed internist, has joined renowned gastroenterologist Dr. Ralph Peterson at MacArthur GI in Oakland to address obesity, provide supervised weight-loss programs including GLP-1 therapy, and screen for and treat fatty liver disease.

The Obesity Epidemic

Obesity is associated with numerous chronic health problems, including hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, sleep apnea, asthma, depression, joint disorders, fatty liver disease, and high cholesterol. Its causes include genetics, environment, stress, medication side effects, hormonal imbalances, and other factors.

Since 1999, the prevalence of obesity in the United States has risen from 30.5% to 42.4%. Childhood obesity rates are also climbing, with approximately 19.3% of children and adolescents now affected.

Measuring Obesity: Body Mass Index

Obesity is measured using a formula called the Body Mass Index (BMI). You can calculate your own BMI on most smartphones by searching “BMI calculator” and entering your height and weight. A BMI of 25 to 29.9 is classified as overweight, and a BMI of 30 or greater is classified as obese.

Populations Disproportionately Affected

Obesity affects certain populations at higher rates. Among U.S. adults, obesity prevalence is 49.9% in Black adults, 45.6% in Hispanic adults, 41.4% in White adults, and 16.1% in Asian adults.

Treatment Options

A variety of treatments are available for obesity, including dietary counseling, exercise programs, bariatric surgery, and anti-obesity medications.

Common oral medications include:

• Adipex (phentermine): A stimulant that works by suppressing appetite.

• Contrave (bupropion/naltrexone): A combination of an antidepressant and an anti-addiction medication that helps control appetite and cravings.

• Qsymia (phentermine/topiramate): A combination of a stimulant and an anti-seizure medication that reduces appetite and cravings.

GLP-1 Receptor Agonist Therapy

Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists were originally approved to treat type 2 diabetes. GLP-1 is a hormone produced naturally by the body that regulates digestion, blood sugar, and appetite by communicating with GLP-1 receptor cells throughout the digestive tract. These medications reduce cravings, appetite, and food intake by influencing the hunger hormones ghrelin, which stimulates hunger, and leptin, which signals fullness.

What We Offer

Drs. Peterson and Watson provide FDA-approved tirzepatide injections, a GLP-1 receptor agonist medication indicated for weight management. Each patient receives a comprehensive history and physical examination to ensure the safety and appropriateness of the medication as part of an overall weight-loss protocol. Dr. Peterson also offers ultrasound screening for fatty liver disease.

We look forward to helping you reach your weight-loss goals and feel your best this holiday season.

H. Geoffrey Watson, M.D., runs the MacArthur GI Clinic at 10520 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland, CA. He can be reached at (510) 562-7467.