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Coalition of Schools and Port Workers Calls for Day of Action Against Privatization, April 29

“The billionaires are after our public resources here in the City of Oakland,” according to a Schools and Labor Against Privatization (S.L.A.P.) media statement. “The Oakland School Board has recently voted to close 11 public schools, despite overwhelming opposition from the community. School closures disproportionately harm communities of color. They are part of a long-term plan by corporations to destroy public education — selling them off to real estate developers or converting them into charter schools.”

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Teachers and Longshore workers of ILWU Local hold a rally at Oakland City Hall Feb. 17, kicking off the labor/community coalition to stop the A’s real estate deal to privatize the Port of Oakland and the closure and privatization of neighborhood public schools. Photo courtesy of Indybay, Leon Kunstenaar.
Teachers and Longshore workers of ILWU Local hold a rally at Oakland City Hall Feb. 17, kicking off the labor/community coalition to stop the A’s real estate deal to privatize the Port of Oakland and the closure and privatization of neighborhood public schools. Photo courtesy of Indybay, Leon Kunstenaar.

Coalition will hold Zoom forum April 30 to ask candidates where they stand on a school and port privatization

By Post Staff

Many Oakland teachers will be striking and joining with ILWU longshore workers on Friday, April 29 against privatization and closures of Oakland schools and the privatization and destruction of the Port of Oakland by the Mayor, the City Council and state Democrats. There will be a rally at 2 p.m. at Oscar Grant Plaza and march through Oakland.

Coming together as a new organization called Schools and Labor Against Privatization (S.L.A.P.), the coalition decided to hold a rally on International Workers Day (May 1). Because the holiday this year falls on a Sunday. The strikes and march will be held on Friday.

Following the day of action, S.L.A.P. will hold a forum on Zoom on Saturday, April 30 to interview candidates for mayor, Alameda County Board of Supervisors and Alameda County Supt. of Schools, to find out where they stand on the issue of school closings and Port privatization.

On the day of the action, ILWU Local 10 has informed the port that they will have a Port shutdown. A rally will be held at 2 p.m. at Oscar Grant Plaza at Oakland City Hall, with a march at 3 p.m. to Oakland Unified School District Headquarters at 1000 Broadway.

“The billionaires are after our public resources here in the City of Oakland,” according to a S.L.A.P. media statement.

“The Oakland School Board has recently voted to close 11 public schools, despite overwhelming opposition from the community. School closures disproportionately harm communities of color. They are part of a long-term plan by corporations to destroy public education — selling them off to real estate developers or converting them into charter schools.

“Meanwhile, the City of Oakland is planning to spend $855 million in taxpayer money to construct a new A’s stadium and condo complex at Howard Terminal, which is crucial to the Port of Oakland,” the statement continued. “These privatization schemes are part of the gentrification of Oakland — attacking working-class communities, destroying union jobs, and displacing low-income residents of the Bay Area.”

The Saturday Zoom candidate forum will be held from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. To register for the meeting, go to https://tinyurl.com/2wckehd7

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How the Crack Cocaine Epidemic Led to Mass Sex Exploitation of Black People PART 3: The Case Against SB357: Black, Vulnerable and Trafficked

Although California Senate Bill 357 was intended to alleviate arrests of willing sex workers under anti-loitering laws, it opened up a Pandora’s box loophole that hinders the ability of law enforcement to halt human trafficking, especially of young Black and Brown girls. This segment continues to explore the history that led to this latest form of exploitation in Oakland.

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Sable tied up.
Sable tied up.

By Tanya Dennis and Vanessa Russell
Although California Senate Bill 357 was intended to alleviate arrests of willing sex workers under anti-loitering laws, it opened up a Pandora’s box loophole that hinders the ability of law enforcement to halt human trafficking, especially of young Black and Brown girls. This segment continues to explore the history that led to this latest form of exploitation in Oakland.
It was 1980: The beginning of the end for the Black family and Black community as we knew it.
Crack cocaine was introduced to the United States that year and it rendered unparalleled devastation on Black folks. Crack is a solid smokable form of cocaine made by boiling baking soda, cocaine, and water into a rock that crackles when smoked.
The tremendous high — especially when first smoked — and the low cost brought temporary relief to the repeatedly and relentlessly traumatized members of the Black community.
What was unknown at the time was how highly addictive this form of cocaine would be and how harmful the ensuing impact on the Black family when the addicted Black mother was no longer a haven of safety for her children.
The form made it easy to mass produce and distribute, opening the market to anyone and everyone, including many Black men who viewed selling crack as their way out of poverty.
These two factors — addicted Black women and drug-dealing Black men — would lead to the street exploitation for sex as we know it today.
Encouraged to try it free initially, most poor, Black women in the 1980s used crack cocaine in a social setting with friends. When the free samples disappeared the drug dealer offered to supply the women crack in exchange for allowing him to sell their bodies to sex buyers.
The increase in the supply of women willing to exchange sex for crack — a.k.a. the “sex for crack barter system” — caused the price of sex to decrease and at the same time increased the demand for sex because more buyers could afford it.
The desperation of the women to get their hit of crack made them willing to endure any form of abuse and treatment from buyers during sex, including unprotected and violent sex.
It also pushed desperate Black women onto the street to pursue sex buyers, flagging down cars and willing to have sex anywhere actively and desperately. Street prostitution grew and buyers were able to buy oral sex for as little as $5.
This sex-for-crack barter system resulted in a dramatic increase in sexually transmitted diseases including HIV and AIDS, both of which are disproportionately represented among Black people.
It also resulted in unplanned pregnancies by unknown fathers, which then resulted in children born addicted to crack who were immediately placed in the foster care system where they were often abused and/or neglected.
For his part, the Black man who engaged in the mass production and distribution of crack was often killed by gun violence while fighting over drug territory or incarcerated for long periods of time as use and sales and distribution of crack carried longer sentences than powdered cocaine.
Crack unleashed an entire chain of new trauma upon the Black family which then all but collapsed under this latest social attack that had started with chattel slavery, followed by Jim Crow, redlining, school segregation, food deserts, et. al.
Exploitation was and is at the root of the crack cocaine epidemic. It is the latest weapon used to prey upon Black people since the beginning of our time in the United States.
The sex industry and legislation like SB357 have only increased harm to Black people who have been historically oppressed with racist laws and epidemics including crack. More must be done to restore the Black community.
Tanya Dennis serves on the Board of Oakland Frontline Healers (OFH) and series co-author Vanessa Russell of “Love Never Fails Us” and member of OFH.
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Tanya-Leblanc/publication/236121038_Behind_the_Eight_Ball_Sex_for_Crack_Cocaine_Exchange_and_Poor_Black_Women/links/0c9605162c8f362553000000/Behind-the-Eight-Ball-Sex-for-Crack-Cocaine-Exchange-and-Poor-Black-Women.pdf?origin=publication_detail

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Oakland Post: Week of March 22 – 28, 2023

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of March March 22 – 38, 2023

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The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of March 22 - 38, 2023

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Oakland Post: Week of March 15 – 21, 2023

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of March 15 – 21, 2023

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The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of March 15 - 21, 2023

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