Black History
Fillmore Black Community Calls for Donation of Heritage Center
The Fillmore District in San Francisco was known as the “Harlem of the West” during the San Francisco jazz era. The neighborhood was bustling with Black-owned businesses, restaurants and professionals serving thousands of Black customers. The nightclubs featured top-tier talent like Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong, Sammy Davis Jr., and Leona King, among many others.
SF native and activist Danny Glover, Black leaders say center should serve the Black community which was ousted from the area by racist programs and policy
By Post Staff
San Francisco native and actor/activist Danny Glover joined local Black leaders Monday to call for the City of San Francisco to donate the mostly vacant, city-owned Fillmore Heritage Center to a nonprofit that would serve the Black community as a form of reparations for the disruption of what used to be a Black, thriving neighborhood.
The Fillmore District in San Francisco was known as the “Harlem of the West” during the San Francisco jazz era. The neighborhood was bustling with Black-owned businesses, restaurants and professionals serving thousands of Black customers. The nightclubs featured top-tier talent like Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong, Sammy Davis Jr., and Leona King, among many others.
But by the 1960s, all but a few nightclubs had survived the city’s “urban renewal” initiatives.
“The Fillmore was the vibrant hub of San Francisco’s Black community before it was destroyed by inherently racist programs designed to remove Black families and culture,” Rev. Amos C. Brown, pastor of the Third Baptist Church and president of the San Francisco chapter of the NAACP, said at a Nov. 15 press conference. “Deeding the Fillmore Heritage Center back to the local Black community is an extremely important first step in righting that immense historic wrong.”
San Francisco Mayor London Breed has not yet responded to a request for comment by this publication, however ABC7 News has reported lukewarm responses from Breed, who said that the situation is complicated, and much is yet unknown about the prospect of donating the center. “I would like to see the venue become a huge success. I don’t want to continue to see the venue be a financial drain to the city,” Breed said of the site.
“San Francisco City leaders have a moral obligation to right the racist wrongs that destroyed that culture and that community and allow the Fillmore Heritage Center to live up to the full meaning of its name,” said Glover, a Hollywood star and Bay Area social justice fixture. He demands, with the support of the African American Reparations Advisory Committee, that the city deed the property and turn over its operation to a nonprofit group representing the array of Black business, cultural, spiritual and community interests in the city.
“My professional career in the performing arts began with mentoring by the kind of outstanding Black performers who made the Fillmore one of the most important cultural centers in the West,” Glover said.
Activism
Oakland Post: Week of June 12-18, 2024
The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of June 12-18, 2024
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Barbara Lee
Congresswoman Barbara Lee Statement on 80th Anniversary of D-Day
Representative Barbara Lee (CA-12) released the following statement on the 80th anniversary of D-Day. “80 years ago, one of the largest invasions in historical warfare—and the start to the end of World War II—took place. Today, we look back to the over 2,400 American lives lost on the beaches of Normandy, remember their stories, and honor their immense bravery.
Washington, D.C. – Representative Barbara Lee (CA-12) released the following statement on the 80th anniversary of D-Day.
“80 years ago, one of the largest invasions in historical warfare—and the start to the end of World War II—took place. Today, we look back to the over 2,400 American lives lost on the beaches of Normandy, remember their stories, and honor their immense bravery.
“My father, Lt. Col. Garvin A. Tutt, was a Buffalo soldier in the 92nd infantry, a racially segregated and Black-only division that was instrumental in the success of Normandy and the Allied advance. Today and every day, I think of him and all of the brave servicemembers who sacrificed for our country, even when our country didn’t love them back.
“D-Day will forever live on in history. May we honor their lives and all who have served by investing in veterans’ health care, economic security, and opportunity when they return home.”
Activism
U.S. Rep. Kamlager-Dove Leads Discussion on Improving Black Student Learning, Test Scores
Kamlager-Dove, who represents a district that covers parts of Los Angeles County, hopes that ideas shared at the event can be incorporated into models that can impact other regions across California, where Black students continue to fall behind their peers of other races and ethnicities.
By Lila Brown, California Black Media
On April 8, U.S. Congressmember Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-CA-37) moderated a roundtable focused on Los Angeles Unified School District’s (LAUSD) strategies to improve Black student performance in classrooms.
Kamlager-Dove, who represents a district that covers parts of Los Angeles County, hopes that ideas shared at the event can be incorporated into models that can impact other regions across California, where Black students continue to fall behind their peers of other races and ethnicities.
Discussions at the event centered on LAUSD’s Black Student Achievement Plan (BSAP) and other educational initiatives aimed at enhancing learning and boosting test scores.
“The Black Student Achievement Plan is unique in that it takes a community-centered approach to uplifting Black students,” said Kamlager-Dove during the event held at John Muir Middle School in Los Angeles.
“We must implement culturally responsive education in the classroom to challenge our students academically while giving them a sense of purpose,” she continued.
In 2023, nearly 70% of Black children in California fell below a passing mark on the state standardized English Language Arts exam, and only about 20% of those students were performing at grade level based on their scores on the math assessment test.
A variety of public education experts joined Kamlager on the panel, including Dr. Kortne Edogun-Ticey, Senior Advisor, U.S. Department of Education; Dr. Robert Whitman, Educational Transformation Officer at LAUSD; Dr. Pedro Noguera, Professor and Dean at the University of Southern California Rossier School of Education; and Keith Linton, founder of the non-profit Boys to Gentlemen.
Jonathan McGee, a student who sits on the BSAP Student Advisory Council, also spoke during the panel.
The BSAP was approved by the LAUSD Board of Education in February of the 2020-21 school year. Funds have been earmarked to address the longstanding disparities in educational outcomes between Black students and their non-Black peers. Dating back to the landmark case, Brown v. the Board of Education of Topeka, Kan., in which the U.S. Supreme Court declared that segregated schools were unconstitutional, positive outcomes for Black students continue to lag behind district and national averages for their non-Black counterparts.
Edogun-Ticey spoke about broader investments the federal government is making in education that directly impact Black students through The White House Initiative on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity for Black Americans.
‘This administration did not shy away from the idea that we need resources for support which means billions of dollars in investment for HBCUs,” she explained.
BSAP strategies include partnering with Black families and local community; supporting the implementation of culturally and linguistically responsive and anti-racist practices; offering wrap-around support structures; and highlighting experiences that uplift the contributions of the Black community as motivation and models to develop positive Black student identity. Additionally, the BSAP provides increased staffing to support Black students’ academic and social-emotional needs.
“School districts across the country must push back against attacks on marginalized students by implementing programs like the BSAP, which should serve as a model for future initiatives,” Kamlager said.
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