Community

Black Solidarity Week at Lake Merritt in Oakland

Published

5 years ago

February 18, 2021

Kiki

Last year's event

Malcolm X and Black Panther Party Co-Founder Dr. Huey P. Newton would be proud.

Oakland’s fourth annual Black Solidarity Week (BSW), which begins on Newton’s birthday, February 17, and ends on February 21, the anniversary of the assassination of Malcolm X, honors principles of liberation for Black people that both men espoused.

Sponsored by the Community Ready Corps (CRC) and the Black Solidarity Group and supported by James Copes of Old School Copes, BSW marks a time to observe what organizers call the nine Components of Self Determination. Those components include: Self Defense & Safety; Family System & Stability; Traditions & Ways; Technology & Efficacy; Education & Competence; Art & Media; Politics & Governance; and Health & Well Being.

On Saturday, there’s an opportunity to engage in the ninth component, “Economics & Prosperity,” in one of the premier activities for BSW — a vendor marketing event held on Saturday, February 20, from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM at the El Embarcadero, between the Lakeside Library and the Pergola and Colonnade at the northeastern end of Lake Merritt.

“The power of Black solidarity is the impetus of strengthening the Black community to help it thrive and be successful, especially in the areas of economics and prosperity,” said Tur-Ha Ak, founder, and leader of the CRC.

This Black Solidary Market is an opportunity for Black vendors to showcase and sell their products to the public, which is one of the nine areas of self-determination and self-sufficiency that make up the CRC’s primary objectives since its concept in 2017, said Ak.

“Our prime objective is to build and/or contribute to self-determination in disenfranchised communities,” Ak continued. “We believe that, in order to be truly self-determined, community needs to be able to express power where power is being expressed. With this in mind, we work towards the empowerment of oppressed people and communities in what we call the nine Components of Self Determination.”

Operating under the theme of “Contribution and Commitment,” the Black Solidarity Group has partnered with James Copes of “Old School Copes” who spearheaded and has been the spokesperson for past vendor marketing activities that have taken place on the eastern shore of Lake Merritt last summer.

That original market has since shuttered, and as a result of a pilot program that began last fall near the El Embarcadero, this new Black Solidarity Market event was born.

Copes said he expects approximately 30 vendors and artisans to be selling an array of products at Saturday’s event, some of whom have already signed up. “This is the first event at the lake organized this year and we hope to accommodate up to 40 vendors if necessary. We anticipate serving a large population of attendees as we’ve not had the opportunity to experience an event such as this for some time,” Copes said.

Pop-up vendors will have available Oakland products, art, clothing, candles, jewelry, Black books, and T-shirts, among the many unique items that attendees can purchase. Additionally, there will be food vendors offering an array of meals for everyone’s appetite and desire. There will also be live music and fresh market produce will be given away to attendees, Copes said.

“CRC’s involvement with the BSW is a concept that we created, which was launched in 2017,” said AK. “This is part of our Black solidarity agenda and we feel it is vitally important to build self-sufficiency in all nine areas. This was already happening with what Copes was doing in the past, so we didn’t have to reinvent the wheel.

“We are providing resources and basically magnifying an event that has already been established. Together, we’re fulfilling the goal of creating economics and prosperity in our community,” Ak said.

“Our goal is to collaborate and partner with the City to keep this market going,” said Copes. “We’re looking forward to the support of City Councilmembers Carroll Fife and Nikki(Fortunato) Bas whose districts border the lake. We will continue to move forward and find resources to support vendors to build a strong economic base.”

“This first pop-up event of the year is encouraging,” Copes added. “The pandemic continues and has gotten worse, particularly for Black folks, who have been struggling to stay afloat. It is people of color who have been affected most by the pandemic because we are the ones who do the service jobs and are more susceptible to becoming infected by the virus.”

Event Coordinator Denmark Peoples said precautions are in place for this weekend event. “We will be following and adhering to all CDC guidelines for the protection and safety of all attendees,” said Peoples. “Temperatures will be checked at vendor stations and everyone will be required to wear masks as they stroll throughout the market.”

“This Fourth Annual Black Solidarity Week is an opportunity for the community to support Black vendors. This ties in the overall theme and Black agenda of CRC’s primary objectives,” Peoples said.

For vendors interested in participating in the pop-up, email at oldschoolcopes@gmail.com or call 510–205–7507 to sign up.

Kiki

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#NNPA BlackPress

Poll Shows Support for Policies That Help Families Afford Child Care

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — New national polling shows persistent voter concern about the affordability and availability of child care for working parents, alongside broad support across key demographic groups for federal child care policies that help families afford care.

Published

3 days ago

March 2, 2026

Oakland Post

By First Five Years Fund

New national polling shows persistent voter concern about the affordability and availability of child care for working parents, alongside broad support across key demographic groups for federal child care policies that help families afford care.

The national survey was conducted by UpOne Insight on behalf of the First Five Years Fund from January 13–18, 2026.

Key findings include:

• Parents need help: 80% of voters say the ability of working parents to find and afford child care is either in a state of crisis or a major problem.

• This is an affordability issue: 82% believe federal child care funding will help lower costs for working families — including 69% of Republicans, 84% of Independents, and 94% of Democrats.

• And there continues to be strong support (62%) for the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG), a federal program that makes it possible for hundreds of thousands of families to afford safe, quality care for their children while parents work or go to school, including a majority of Republicans, 63% of Independents and 72% of Democrats.

• Support for funding child care programs remains strong: 75% believe child care funding should be increased or kept at current levels — including 75% of Republicans, 85% of Independents, and 97% of Democrats.

• 74% say funding for child care is an important and good use of tax dollars, including a majority of Republicans, three-quarters of Independents, and nine in ten Democrats.

FFYF Executive Director Sarah Rittling said, “Voters across the country are sending a clear message: federal child care and early learning programs work. These investments help parents stay in the workforce, strengthen families, and support healthy child development. They have also long had strong bipartisan support in Congress. At a time when affordability is top of mind for families, continued federal funding is essential to ensure child care remains accessible and within reach.”

First Five Years Fund works to protect, prioritize, and build bipartisan support for quality child care and early learning programs at the federal level. Reliable, affordable, and high-quality early learning and child care can be transformative, not only enhancing a child’s prospects for a brighter future but also bolstering working parents and fostering economic stability nationwide.

We work with Congress and the Administration to identify federal solutions that work for families with young children, as well as states and communities. We work with policymakers to identify ways to increase access to affordable, high-quality child care and early learning programs for children. And we collaborate with advocacy groups to help align best practices with the best possible policies. http://www.ffyf.org

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Oakland Post: Week of February 25 – March 3, 2026

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of – February 25 – March 3, 2026

Published

4 days ago

March 1, 2026

Oakland Post

To enlarge your view of this issue, use the slider, magnifying glass icon or full page icon in the lower right corner of the browser window.

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Trump’s MAGA Allies are Creating Executive Order Plan to Steal the 2026 Midterms

NNPA NEWSWIRE — The document that could lead to an executive order proposes using the claim that China interfered with the 2020 elections as grounds to “declare a national emergency.” The move would be an unprecedented step that would grant Trump new authority over the voting systems in the U.S.

Published

5 days ago

February 27, 2026

Oakland Post

By Lauren Victoria Burke, NNPA Newswire Correspondent

A group of MAGA pro-Trump activists, who say they are working in coordination with the White House, are circulating a 17-page draft executive order that would claim without evidence that China interfered with the 2020 presidential election. Donald Trump lost the 2020 presidential to President Joe Biden by over 7 million votes. Since Trump lost to Biden in 2020, he has repeatedly claimed that the election was “stolen” without evidence. The report of a group of “Trump allies” preparing an executive order to give Trump power over elections was first reported by The Washington Post.

The lies around the right-wing campaign that pushed falsehoods that the 2020 election was stolen was trafficked through right-wing media, particularly Fox News. Fox News was then sued for defamation for the claims by Dominion Voting Systems. Fox lost the case and had to settle for the largest defamation amount on record of $787.5 million in April 2023.

The document that could lead to an executive order proposes using the claim that China interfered with the 2020 elections as grounds to “declare a national emergency.” The move would be an unprecedented step that would grant Trump new authority over the voting systems in the U.S.

The story in The Washington Post arrives as Trump increasingly signals that he may take actions that would alter the result of the 2026 midterms. The Republicans are widely expected to lose as their approval ratings plummet as a result of a failing economy under Trump. Over 50 members of Congress have announced they will retire this year and not return in 2027.

The Trump Department of Justice, which now has a large image of Trump on the side of it, “sued five new states Thursday [Feb. 26, 2026] demanding access to their unredacted voter rolls — escalating a campaign that has been rejected by multiple federal courts and faces resistance from Republican-led states as well,” according to Democracy Docket, a group that works to protect voting rights.

Trump claimed back in late 2020, the last year of his first term, that he had the authority to issue an executive order related to mail-in voting for the 2020 elections — which he would then lose. But the Constitution states that control of elections lies with the states. As the GOP works to place hurdles in front of voting, Democrats worked to make voting easier.

In March 2021, President Biden signed an executive order calling on federal agencies to expand voting access as part of the Biden Administration’s effort “to promote and defend the right to vote for all Americans who are legally entitled to participate in elections.”

Trump’s focus is clearly on altering the November 2026 midterm elections. Trump’s polling numbers and the elections and special elections that have taken place around the U.S. over the last year clearly indicate that Republicans are about to be hit by a blue wave of Democratic victories.

Lauren Victoria Burke is an independent investigative journalist and the founder of Black Virginia News. She is a political analyst who appears on #RolandMartinUnfiltered and hosts the show LAUREN LIVE on YouTube @LaurenVictoriaBurke. She can be contacted at LBurke007@gmail.com and on twitter at @LVBurke