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Clergy Warn of Dangers of Coal

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Dozens of Bay Area faith leaders, including representatives of Baptist, Jewish, Roman Catholic and Episcopal communities, gathered at the steps of City Hall on Tuesday, rallying against the prospect of transporting millions of tons of coal through Oakland to be shipped out of the former Army Base.

 

On Tuesday, the Oakland City Council was scheduled to vote on the approval of a $208,000 contract with a private consulting firm to analyze the potential health and safety impacts that exporting coal would have on adjacent communities in West Oakland.

 

 

The item was eventually pulled from the agenda.

 

 

Speaking at a City Hall press conference, pastors, rabbis and environmental activists from various congregations and local organizations spoke of the wide ranging opposition to exporting the fossil fuel out of a city that already experiences abnormally high levels of environment-induced asthma and cancer.

 

 

According to a new poll released by the Sierra Club, 76 percent of Oakland voters say they oppose the shipment of coal through the city, including 57 percent who oppose it “strongly.”

 

 

Speakers at the rally included Rev. Chauncey Mathews of Corinthian Baptist Church, Rev. Laurie Manning of Skyline United Church of Christ, Rev. Curtis Robinson of Faith Baptist Church, Rabbi David Cooper of Kehilla Community Synagogue, Rev. Ben Daniel of Montclair Presbyterian Church, Rev. Daniel Buford of Allen Temple Baptist Church and Rev. Dr. Kwasi Thornell of St. Augustine’s Episcopal Church.

 

 

The faith leaders and their supporters were joined by the Sierra Club, Interfaith Power and Light and United Native Americans, Inc.

 

 

Expressing support for the No Coal in Oakland campaign at the council meeting at City Hall Tuesday evening were Bishop Frank Pinkard Jr. of Evergreen Missionary Baptist Church, Minister Keith Muhammad of the Nation of Islam, Theo Williams of the SambaFunk! drummers and Rev. Dr. Jim Hopkins of Lakeshore Baptist Church.

 

 

“There is a long history of poor urban communities being poisoned by environmental waste, and we’re not going to let that happen any longer,” said Rev. Buford of Allen Temple Baptist Church.

 

 

“Black people are usually the canaries in the mine shafts of institutional racism,” said Buford. “The things that kill us first will kill you next.”

 

 

Rev. Manning of Skyline United Church of Christ linked the potential health impacts of shipping coal through Oakland to the ongoing health crisis in Flint, Michigan, which has predominantly affected children of color and subsequently led to discoveries of hazardous levels of lead in many other city water supplies across the country.

 

 

Community members lined up at the City Council meeting to speak for and against the possibility of coal being one of the commodities to be shipped out of the former Army Base development.

 

 

A group of Black clergy members from the Ecumenical Economic Empowerment Council (EEEC) told the council that the project would create an important economic boost for the city and would specifically supply jobs to Oakland’s Black communities. The pastors came with a group of people from Men in Valor Academy, which helps formerly incarcerated men acquire job skills.

 

 

Members of EEEC were upset that the council had pulled the vote to outsource a health and safety analysis to the private consultant Environmental Science Associates because it would further delay the project from advancing.

 

 

“Why are we delaying?” said Pastor Kevin Barnes of the Abyssian Missionary Baptist Church. “Some of these young men really want to take care of their families if they had a good job, and this is the economic caboose that’s going to give it to our young men.”

 

 

Pastor Kevin Barnes

Pastor Kevin Barnes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“People are talking about how this issue is dividing the Black clergy. The Black clergy is not divided, we have different opinions about stuff,” said Barnes. “Some of us want people to get jobs, some of us could care less.”

 

 

In an interview with the Post, Bishop Pinkard of Evergreen Missionary Baptist Church said he is skeptical that these jobs would go to people in Oakland first or that jobs would be restricted to those most in need.

 

 

“What kind of safeguard do they have in place so that the already polluted environment will not become more polluted in Oakland, effecting the health of our children,” said Pinkard. “We have to think long term as related to the health of our people.”

 

 

According to Derrick Muhammad of the longshore workers’ union in Oakland, ILWU Local 10, the idea that the project would supply jobs to unemployed and formerly incarcerated people is “disingenuous.”

 

 

“Trade organizations in this area do not have a practice of recruiting in Black neighborhoods,” said Muhammad, who opposes the coal terminal along with the longshore union. “And if you are not already a member of a union, how then would you ever get a job on a project that is a union project?”

 

 

“You are not going to get these jobs, you’re not going to get employed. Period,” said Muhammad.

 

 

To the relief of many anticoal campaigners, the council item was pulled from the agenda at the request of Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan so that city staff might be able to consider additional suggestions and information.

 

 

The City Council is scheduled to return with an update on the coal issue in their first meeting in April.

 

 

Post publisher Paul Cobb recognizes that there are clergy on both sides of the issue and will offer to cover both sides of the issue when information is provided.

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Activism

IN MEMORIAM: Nate Holden, State Senator and Longtime Los Angeles Councilmember, Dies at 95

Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn described Holden as “a lion” in the State Senate and a force to be reckoned with on the Los Angeles City Council.” Hahn added that she learned a lot working with Holden when she was a new councilmember.

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Former Los Angeles Councilmember and California State Sen. Nate Holden. File photo.
Former Los Angeles Councilmember and California State Sen. Nate Holden. File photo.

By Bo Tefu, California Black Media

Former Los Angeles City Councilmember Nathaniel “Nate” Holden, a prominent figure in the city’s politics, passed away at the age of 95, his family confirmed on May 7.

Holden, who represented South Los Angeles for 16 years on the City Council and served one term in the California State Senate, was widely regarded as a forceful advocate for his community.

Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn described Holden as “a lion” in the State Senate and a force to be reckoned with on the Los Angeles City Council.”

Hahn added that she learned a lot working with Holden when she was a new councilmember.

Holden’s journey to political prominence began in the segregated South, where he was born in Macon, Georgia, in 1929. He often recalled the childhood moment when he first heard the governor of Georgia vowing to continue suppressing Black people.

“Doing the best you can for the people. Law and order. Make sure that people’s communities are safe. I did it all,” said Holden, reflecting on his legacy.

Holden is survived by his sons, including former California Assemblymember Chris Holden, who represented a district in Southern California that includes Pasadena and Altadena in Los Angeles County and cities in San Bernardino County.

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Activism

Oakland Hosts Town Hall Addressing Lead Hazards in City Housing

According to the city, there are 22,000 households in need of services for lead issues, most in predominantly low-income or Black and Latino neighborhoods, but only 550 to 600 homes are addressed every year. The city is hoping to use part of the multimillion-dollar settlement to increase the number of households served each year.

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iStock.
iStock.

By Magaly Muñoz

The City of Oakland’s Housing and Community Development Department hosted a town hall in the Fruitvale to discuss the efforts being undertaken to remove lead primarily found in housing in East and West Oakland.

In 2021, the city was awarded $14 million out of a $24 million legal settlement from a lawsuit against paint distributors for selling lead-based paint that has affected hundreds of families in Oakland and Alameda County. The funding is intended to be used for lead poisoning reduction and prevention services in paint only, not water or other sources as has been found recently in schools across the city.

The settlement can be used for developing or enhancing programs that abate lead-based paint, providing services to individuals, particularly exposed children, educating the public about hazards caused by lead paint, and covering attorney’s fees incurred in pursuing litigation.

According to the city, there are 22,000 households in need of services for lead issues, most in predominantly low-income or Black and Latino neighborhoods, but only 550 to 600 homes are addressed every year. The city is hoping to use part of the multimillion-dollar settlement to increase the number of households served each year.

Most of the homes affected were built prior to 1978, and 12,000 of these homes are considered to be at high risk for lead poisoning.

City councilmember Noel Gallo, who represents a few of the lead-affected Census tracts, said the majority of the poisoned kids and families are coming directly from neighborhoods like the Fruitvale.

“When you look at the [kids being admitted] at the children’s hospital, they’re coming from this community,” Gallo said at the town hall.

In order to eventually rid the highest impacted homes of lead poisoning, the city intends to create programs and activities such as lead-based paint inspections and assessments, full abatement designed to permanently eliminate lead-based paint, or partial abatement for repairs, painting, and specialized cleaning meant for temporary reduction of hazards.

In feedback for what the city could implement in their programming, residents in attendance of the event said they want more accessibility to resources, like blood testing, and information from officials about lead poisoning symptoms, hotlines for assistance, and updates on the reduction of lead in their communities.

Attendees also asked how they’d know where they are on the prioritization list and what would be done to address lead in the water found at several school sites in Oakland last year.

City staff said there will be a follow-up event to gather more community input for programming in August, with finalizations happening in the fall and a pilot launch in early 2026.

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Alameda County

Oakland Begins Month-Long Closure on Largest Homeless Encampment

At 8 a.m. sharp, city workers began piling up trash and dismantling makeshift homes along the nearly five-block encampment. City crews blocked off streets from 14th Ave to 17th Ave, between E. 12th and International Blvd, due to the Safe Work Zone Ordinance that was passed by the city council in 2022 to protect workers from harassment during cleanings, according to a city spokesperson.

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The City of Oakland began sweeping their largest homeless encampment on E 12th St. Monday morning. Advocates claim that the city has not done its due diligence with providing ample resources or outreach for residents at the encampment. Photo by Magaly Muñoz.
The City of Oakland began sweeping their largest homeless encampment on E 12th St. Monday morning. Advocates claim that the city has not done its due diligence with providing ample resources or outreach for residents at the encampment. Photo by Magaly Muñoz.

By Magaly Muñoz

The City of Oakland began a three-week-long breakdown of the largest homeless encampment in the city on E. 12th Street on Monday morning. Residents and advocates said they are devastated about the displacement of dozens of people.

At 8 a.m. sharp, city workers began piling up trash and dismantling makeshift homes along the nearly five-block encampment. City crews blocked off streets from 14th Ave to 17th Ave, between E. 12th and International Blvd, due to the Safe Work Zone Ordinance that was passed by the city council in 2022 to protect workers from harassment during cleanings, according to a city spokesperson.

Jaz Colibri, one of the many advocates at the closure, said the encampment sweeps were “intense and terrifying” to witness. They claimed that several residents, many of them non-English speakers, had not been aware that the sweep was happening that day because of a lack of proper communication and outreach from Oakland.

Colibri added that the city had done a Census “many months ago” and “had not bothered to count people since then”, meaning dozens of individuals have missed out on housing and resources in the last few weeks because the city doesn’t offer outreach in multiple languages.

“Basically, [Oakland] dropped the ball on actually getting to know everybody who lives here and then creating a housing solution that meets everyone’s needs,” Colibri said.

City spokesperson Jean Walsh told the Post that notices of the closure operation were posted in Spanish and Chinese prior to Monday, but did not clarify if outreach was done in those languages as well.

Nearly a dozen Oakland police vehicles, California Highway Patrol officers, and Oakland Public Works staff were gathered along E 12th waiting for residents to pack up their belongings and move away from the area.

Advocates said residents “felt unsafe” due to the hefty law enforcement presence.

One city worker, who was picking up debris near 16th Ave, said, “They’ve known we were coming for a long time now” in reference to resident confusion about the sweeping.

The state doubled down on its requirement to get cities and counties to deal with their homelessness crisis at a press conference Monday afternoon. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office released a “model ordinance” that is intended to provide a starting point that local municipalities can use to build from and adjust in creating their own policies on encampments, if they haven’t done so yet.

Newsom said “No more excuses, time to deliver” after the state has poured hundreds of millions of dollars into solving the issue.

Oakland was awarded a $7.2 million grant from the state in 2024 to close long-standing encampments in the city, including camps at Martin Luther King, Jr. and 23rd Street, and Mosswood Park.

Residents at these encampments were offered wraparound supportive services, temporary shelter, and eventually will be transitioned to permanent supportive housing, according to a city statement from last year.

Residents who accepted housing at these three encampments were moved into newly acquired property, formerly the Extended Stay America Hotel in West Oakland, which will first serve as interim housing for up to 150 individuals and couples in 105 units, and in the coming year, will be converted into 125 units of permanent housing.

Walsh said as of May 2, “32 residents of the recently closed Mosswood Park encampment moved into the Mandela House program” and as of May 12, “41 residents of the East 12th Street encampment have already accepted offers to move to the Mandela House.” The city will provide final numbers of how many accepted and moved into housing after the closure operation is over.

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