Community
Commemorative Plaque Marking Site of Assassination of Oakland Post Editor-in-Chief Chauncey Bailey Installed
The plaque, initiated by former Oakland City Councilmember, Lynette Gibson McElhaney, in 2019 on the 12th anniversary of Bailey’s death and erected 14 years after his death, is installed on a building at 14th and Alice Street in Oakland where Bailey was shot to death on Aug. 2, 2007, while walking to work at the Oakland Post where he was the editor-in-chief.
The plaque, initiated by former Oakland City Councilmember, Lynette Gibson McElhaney, in 2019 on the 12th anniversary of Bailey’s death and erected 14 years after his death, is installed on a building at 14th and Alice Street in Oakland where Bailey was shot to death on Aug. 2, 2007, while walking to work at the Oakland Post where he was the editor-in-chief.
At the time, Bailey was working on a story about “Your Black Muslim Bakery.” Beneath the image of a smiling Bailey, the plaque inscription reads: “1949-2007 IN MEMORY OF CHAUNCEY BAILEY JR. WHO, WITH DIGNITY AND DEDICATION TO JOURNALISM, SERVED AS SOMEONE WHO PRIORITIZED THE VOICES OF THE BLACK COMMUNITY IN OAKLAND, CA.”
Thomas Peele, who was the lead investigative reporter on the Chauncey Bailey Project said in 2019, “Bailey needs to be fully recognized as the First Amendment martyr that he was.”
Devaughndre Brousard confessed to killing Bailey and was sentenced to 25 years in prison. Yusef Bey IV, owner of “Your Black Muslim Bakery” and Antoine Mackey were convicted of ordering Bailey’s murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Post Publisher Paul Cobb said he was walking to work from the opposite direction to meet Bailey to discuss his plans to visit Vietnam when Bailey was killed.
Inspired by the spirit and enthusiasm for coverage of issues affecting the Black community, Cobb said the Post is still publishing 8 papers and will continue to expand its coverage by recruiting and training more youth interested in media and journalism.
Cobb added: “We are grateful for the city’s recognition of Bailey’s contribution, and we hope that the city actualizes its honor by fulfilling the mission of the Department of Race and Equity by directing the city’s various departments and the Port of Oakland to maintain their support for local Black businesses with advertising and increased public notice publishing. If Chauncey were alive, he would be writing investigative reports about the city’s claims of support to Black Business while simultaneously not providing grants to the media, especially the Post News Group, which more than any other local media, has done more to communicate and educate the citizens of this city about the dangers and solutions to the COVID-19 Pandemic.”
Mercurynews.com and Facebook were sources for this report.
The Oakland Post’s coverage of local news in Alameda County is supported by the Ethnic Media Sustainability Initiative, a program created by California Black Media and Ethnic Media Services to support community newspapers across California.
