City Government

Community Forum to Expunge Marijuana Convictions, April 12

Published

9 years ago

March 22, 2017

In order to help create opportunities for those directly impacted by the War on Drugs, Oakland Councilmember At-Large Rebecca Kaplan is hosting a community forum to inform local residents how to expunge marijuana convictions under Prop. 64.

This forum is co-sponsored by Council President Larry Reid and Alameda County Supervisor Nate Miley. Speakers will include attorneys and other experts in this area.

The Prop 64 Community Forum will take place Wednesday, April 12 from 5:30 p.m. -7:30 p.m. at the East Oakland Senior Center at 9255 Edes Ave, Oakland.

In November 2016, voters in California passed Proposition 64 (cannabis legalization), which includes an option for people who had past criminal records for marijuana offenses to have a method to clear their records.

Council member Rebecca Kaplan´s staffer Kevin Davenport is promoting the forum on how to expunge marijuana convictions.

As many reports have documented, including from the ACLU, enforcement of marijuana laws have disproportionately targeted African Americans.

This racially disparate unequal enforcement has left many people, primarily African Americans, with records that can follow them for the rest of their lives, causing denial of access to jobs, housing and student loans.

Marijuana expungement can be a significant step in removing barriers to those who have fallen victim to the War on Drugs, particularly important during a time of Oakland’s gentrification and severe displacement.

Though the state has acknowledged that it no longer considers adult marijuana use to be a crime, it is still necessary to make sure that people do not continue to be punished for that activity. .

Expungement can help individuals receive employment, further education, and access profit and ownership within the Cannabis industry as well as other businesses.

This forum aims to provide answers and understanding for the step-by-step procedure to successfully expunge marijuana offenses.

A panel with lawyers and others versed in the expungement process will participate in the event.

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Related Topics:Alameda County Board of Supervisors larry reid marijuana marijuana convictions Nate Miley Oakland City Council prop 64

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Oakland Post: Week of July 1 – 7, 2026

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of July 1 – 7, 2026

Published

5 days ago

July 5, 2026

Oakland Post

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Inaugural Juneteenth Awards Ceremony Celebrates the Fillmore’s Black History, Leadership and Resilience

Addressing more than 100 Black and Asian attendees, San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie stated “San Francisco is reliant on the Black community, and we must invest in this community.”

Published

2 weeks ago

June 26, 2026

Oakland Post

District 5 Supervisor Bilal Mahmood, Rev. Dr. Amos Brown, Pastor Emeritus of Third Baptist Church, SF Mayor Daniel Lurie. Photo by Linda Parker Pennington.

By Linda Parker Pennington

The Fillmore Community Ambassadors held its first annual Juneteenth Wesley Johnson White Horse Awards ceremony on June 19 inside the newly reopened Fillmore Heritage Center.

The event featured awards for former San Francisco mayors London Breed and Willie Brown, along with Third Baptist Church Pastor Emeritus, Rev. Dr. Amos Brown.

The Koret Heritage lobby at the newly reopened center at 1330 Fillmore St. held a standing-room-only, culturally diverse and multi-generational audience while the art gallery featured photos of Fillmore community members in action, red Japanese lanterns, art and calligraphy, and Chinese artwork, giving the space a multicultural feel.

Addressing more than 100 Black and Asian attendees, San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie stated “San Francisco is reliant on the Black community, and we must invest in this community.”

District 5 Supervisor Bilal Mahmood acknowledged that “the Fillmore community has had a difficult history. Thanks to Rev. Amos Brown’s continuous focus on accountability and resistance, you hold us accountable and continue to inspire us.”

Mahmoud is referring to the Fillmore’s Japanese residents who were forced from their homes and sent to concentration camps during World War II. Black people occupied those homes until the return of their Japanese neighbors and then gave them back, while homes that had been unoccupied were lost. The presence of the Asian community on Juneteenth is a testament to that shared history.

In receiving his honor, Amos Brown elicited a powerful spontaneous call-and-response, where members of San Francisco’s many Black churches proudly shouted out the names: “Bethel AME! Providence Baptist! Jones Memorial! Glide!”

Awards program Master of Ceremonies Shawn Richards of Brothers Against Guns warmly introduced Breed, highlighting her many accomplishments, particularly on “March 16, 2020, when she became the first mayor to shut down a major U.S. city due to COVID-19, saving thousands of lives.”

The audience was captivated by Breed’s emotional speech touching on past traumas, present conditions, and future hopes for the neighborhood where she grew up.

She recalled another trauma of the neighborhood during the City’s redevelopment era in the 1960s, where Black residents were forced to move with a promise of being able to return that was largely unfulfilled.

“We remember when this land was just a field because they bulldozed hundreds of Victorian homes that Black people owned. They built the Fillmore Center, where most Black people can’t afford to live or start their own business. But we are still here.”