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Alameda County

Guns Don’t Kill People, But People Pull the Triggers

When I heard that the Oakland Post was publishing a notice of a rally for D.A. Pamela Price at the Alameda County Courthouse Sunday, April 23 at 4:00 p.m. I told the publisher that I would invite some members of our newly formed organization, “Formerly Incarcerated Giving Back,” to attend the rally to show that we want to help rebuild trust and repair some of the harm that we caused to crime victims.

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Some members of Formerly Incarcerated Giving Back (l-r): Lorenzo Dadisi Benton, Terry Samaki Benton, Crystal Makini Owens, Elmo Hamin Dill, Rafiki, Minister KingX, Richard Wembe Johnson, Sun Ra, and Paul Sangu Jones is seated. Photo by Jonathan ‘Fitness’ Jones.
Some members of Formerly Incarcerated Giving Back (l-r): Lorenzo Dadisi Benton, Terry Samaki Benton, Crystal Makini Owens, Elmo Hamin Dill, Rafiki, Minister KingX, Richard Wembe Johnson, Sun Ra, and Paul Sangu Jones is seated. Photo by Jonathan ‘Fitness’ Jones.

By Richard Johnson

When I heard that the Oakland Post was publishing a notice of a rally for D.A. Pamela Price at the Alameda County Courthouse Sunday, April 23 at 4:00 p.m. I told the publisher that I would invite some members of our newly formed organization, “Formerly Incarcerated Giving Back,” to attend the rally to show that we want to help rebuild trust and repair some of the harm that we caused to crime victims.

I plan to speak to as many people as possible that it is time for us to tell others, especially our youth, to lay down their guns and roll up their sleeves to work for positive change.

Given the recent upsurge in gun violence and random shootings, I have written this column for us to understand the dangers and costs associated with the proliferation of guns and why we must do something about it.

“Guns don’t kill people; people kill people,” is a slogan by the National Rifle Association. This statement seems self-serving for those who wish to pass the buck and not deal with reality: Guns are the tools that kill people, but it’s people who pull the triggers.

People kill for various reasons: mental health, hatred, gangs, drugs, or domestic violence, but when you remove the guns, the death toll drops significantly.

Furthermore, restricting gun access doesn’t eliminate the people’s Second Amendment constitutional right to keep and bear arms — on the contrary, what it can do is curb access to high-powered guns capable of mass murder, making it very hard for these guns to fall in the hands of people determined to kill people.

When you curb access, you minimize potential senseless killing by people with guns. Even though people have a right to arm and protect themselves, they also are expected to regulate their behavior and be responsible law-abiding citizens.

I firmly believe that those who stand in opposition to safer streets with fewer guns on them are catering to big business and politicians with ulterior motives.

The increased media attention is revealing to us that almost daily some people tend to snap, which often ends with some form of violence.

In the many countries where guns aren’t as easily obtained as they are here in the U.S. are not free of violence — it demonstrates that guns aren’t the main weapons used to inflict harm.

Our country has gunrunners importing and exporting weapons regularly. (I recently heard that a woman purchased more than 50 guns for a street gang she had ties to; chances are this isn’t an anomaly.)

Just like drugs, when you remove certain guns or make it harder to purchase deadly weapons, chances are fewer people will die by guns.

The proliferation of weapons capable of mass murder keeps our prisons, hospitals, graveyards, funeral homes, courts, probation, parole workloads, and much more filled to capacity.

When I saw that Ralph Yarl, a 16-year-old boy who went to the wrong address in Kansas City, Mo., to pick up his younger siblings and was shot for ringing a doorbell, I thought of my son and the children of mothers and fathers of all races who worry for their safety.

Let’s remember the messages of the singer Freda Payne “Bring the boys home, bring them back alive, it’s time to turn this ship (of state) around, lay your weapons down  ….Can’t you see them trying to get home?”

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Activism

Oakland Teachers Strike Continues Over Wages, ‘Common Good’ Demands for Needs of Parents, Students

The OEA’s common good proposals are based on outreach with thousands of OUSD parents and community members. California districts that have bargained common good demands with teacher unions include Los Angeles Unified, Natomas Unified, Montebello Unified, San Diego Unified, West Contra Costa Unified, and Jurupa Unified.

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Teachers show their determination on picket lines at schools across the city. Photo courtesy of OEA.
Teachers show their determination on picket lines at schools across the city. Photo courtesy of OEA.

By Ken Epstein

The strike of Oakland’s 3,000 teachers and other school staff is ending its first full week. Both sides are moving closer to a settlement, which could come soon, though observers close to the bargaining table say possibilities still exist for negotiations to break down.

Both sides appear to be near agreement on salary issues. The Oakland Unified School District is offering nearly $70 million in raises for teachers and other members of the Oakland Education Association, including nurses, social workers, psychologists, counselors, and substitutes.

A recent OUSD proposal offers an increase for first-year teacher salaries from $52,905 to about $63,000 and an increase for educators at the top of the salary scale from $98,980 to over $110,000.

A major sticking point has been the union’s “common good” demands, especially the demand for shared decision-making at community schools, which would mean that parents and teachers would have the right to vote on how money is spent at their schools.

In an interview with the Oakland Post, Ismael “Ish” Armendariz, OEA’s interim president, said, the district and some board members do not want to give up some of their authority to shared decision making. “They want to control,” he said.

“Under shared governance, people get to vote collectively on how the money at school sites is spent, not just advise the district, which is free to disregard the advice. That’s where the big disconnect is (in negotiations),” he said.

Other common good proposals include mental health services for students, support for unhoused students, implementation of OUSD’s Reparations for Black Students policy, limit or halt the closing of schools in flatland communities and protection and expansion of programs for students with disabilities.

Approved by the board in 2021, the Reparations for Black Students policy is designed to improve academic achievement and enrollment for Black students. The union’s proposal would give OEA the authority to select teacher members of the task force the resolution created.

The district has wanted to limit negotiations to traditional wage and hours issues. But the union says though wages are crucial to provide stability and a living wage for educators, these other issues also directly impact parents, students, and teachers.

“Our schools face safety concerns ranging from gun violence to asbestos and lead to mice and rat infestations to raw sewage to leaky roofs,” according to a union statement.

Teachers' union President Ismael “Ish” Armendariz speaks to press at school picket line. Photo courtesy of OEA.

Teachers’ union President Ismael “Ish” Armendariz speaks to press at school picket line. Photo courtesy of OEA.

The OEA’s common good proposals are based on outreach with thousands of OUSD parents and community members. California districts that have bargained common good demands with teacher unions include Los Angeles Unified, Natomas Unified, Montebello Unified, San Diego Unified, West Contra Costa Unified, and Jurupa Unified.

Speaking at an OUSD press conference Monday, Board President Mike Hutchinson opposed the common good proposals.

“While we agree on the principles of the (common good) proposals, they simply do not belong in the contract language,” he said.

Three school board members who are sympathetic to the union’s demands, VanCedric Williams, Valarie Bachelor and Jennifer Brouhard, held their own press conference Monday to clarify their position to the public and to push Hutchinson and Boardmembers Sam Davis and Dr. Clifford Thompson to negotiate on the union’s common good proposals.

Bachelor told the Oakland Post that the common good proposals have grown in importance since the pandemic.

“The pandemic has made it really clear about the inequities in the community and what happens when we don’t address them. The bread-and-butter issues are important, but I’m glad the OEA has brought these common good demands to the community attention, to the state’s attention,” she said.

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Alameda County

Master Mechanic Elex Stewart, 100

Elex Stewart, a retired Alameda County auto mechanic, passed away on Friday April 28. He was 100 years old. Stewart was born on Sept. 25, 1922, in Port Hudson, La., the second of the nine children his parents, Eddie and Mary Stewart, brought into the world. He received his high school education at Southern University Laboratory School in Baton Rouge, LA.

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Elex Stewart. Photo courtesy of the family.
Elex Stewart. Photo courtesy of the family.

Elex Stewart, a retired Alameda County auto mechanic, passed away on Friday April 28. He was 100 years old.

Stewart was born on Sept. 25, 1922, in Port Hudson, La., the second of the nine children his parents, Eddie and Mary Stewart, brought into the world. He received his high school education at Southern University Laboratory School in Baton Rouge, LA.

A veteran of the World War II, Stewart continued his education in Oakland, CA, at Heald Business School and Laney Trade School and became a master mechanic.

Employed by Alameda County for over 30 years, he also established his own auto repair business and was a successful property owner.

Stewart married the love of his life, Mary Joyce Stewart, in 1943. Together they raised four daughters, Yvonne, Joyce Ann, Linda, and Apryle.

Stewart was a man of faith and as a member of Allen Temple Baptist Church for over 60 years he contributed to the growth of the church and the community. Stewart was a beloved family man and friend and will be missed by many.

Stewart was preceded in death by his wife, three of his daughters, his grandson Charles, and five of his siblings. He is survived by his daughter Yvonne, seven grandchildren, 10 great-grandchildren, two sisters and a brother.

Stewart’s family arranged for a celebration of his life at 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday, May 10 at Allen Temple Baptist Church in Oakland.

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Activism

Hundreds Rally at Court House to Support DA Pamela Price and End Mass Incarceration

Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price shared her vision and determination to fulfill the goals of the historic civil rights movement, to work with the community to end violence, support victims of crime and end the institutionalized injustice that plagues criminal justice in Alameda County and this country.

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Several hundred people attended a rally last Sunday on the steps of the Alameda County Court House by Lake Merritt and live on social media to rally in support of newly elected Alameda County District Attorney Price.
Several hundred people attended a rally last Sunday on the steps of the Alameda County Court House by Lake Merritt and live on social media to rally in support of newly elected Alameda County District Attorney Price.

By Ken Epstein

Several hundred people attended a rally last Sunday on the steps of the Alameda County Court House by Lake Merritt and live on social media to rally in support of newly elected Alameda County District Attorney Price, who already faces blistering establishment attacks for carrying out her campaign pledge to end mass incarceration and to meet the desperate needs of both crime victims and victims of the criminal justice system.

District Attorney Price shared her vision and determination to fulfill the goals of the historic civil rights movement, to work with the community to end violence, support victims of crime and end the institutionalized injustice that plagues criminal justice in Alameda County and this country.

“I stand before you as the first non-appointed, non-anointed district attorney of Alameda County in over 100 years,” said Price, who began her remarks by underscoring her determination by singing one of the anthems of the Civil Rights Movement the 1950s and 1960s, “I Ain’t Going to Let Nobody Turn Me Around.”

Among the speakers were diverse Alameda County residents and leaders who support Price, including Berkeley resident Paola Laverde, a member of the Alameda County Democratic Central Committee, District 15.

“Like the 228,721 people who voted for her in November, I believe she is the right person to be Alameda County’s top prosecutor,” said Laverde, who has worked as a translator for the courts.

“I support Pamela Price because she’s a Black woman who had the audacity … to challenge and stand up against the status quo in Alameda County, where the district attorney has been handpicked by politicians and not by the people (for decades).

“For over 30 years she has fought for the victims of sexual assault and harassment, victims of retaliation, victims of discrimination, regular people like you and me, nurses, doctors, electricians, teachers, office workers, security guards and police officers, working class people, victims of unscrupulous employers and systems that depend on maintaining the status quo,” Laverde continued.

“She is a trailblazer (who) ran a people-powered campaign for district attorney,” she said. “She refused to take money from corporations – she returned the donation from the biggest landlord in Berkeley.”

Norman Birkenstock, who described himself as a senior leader in the Asian American and Philippine-American community, introduced Price.

“I stand beside our minister of justice, Pamela Price,” Birkenstock said. “We stand strong, resolute, unwavering, for social justice, and public safety for all Asian Americans, all African Americans, all Hispanic Americans, (and) for all white Americans.”

Ron Curtis, Oakland firefighter and paramedic for 19 years, focused on some of the attacks on Price.

“All the negative things that have been said about Pamela Price and the negative press have been a lot of lies, a lot of misinformation,” Curtis said. “We’re having a war on injustice, and they’re having a war on us. They’ve been having a war on us for how many past generations. And Pamela Price gets into office for four months, and they’ve already started.”

The rally was chaired by civil rights attorney Walter Riley, who has a long history of working for justice in Oakland.

“(Pamela Price) has the tenacity, the toughness and the experience to bring equity and justice to a badly broken system,” said Riley.

“She has the mandate to carry out the reforms she has been talking about (and campaigned on), and our community supports that,” he said. “Now, for the first time, we have someone right here (in the district attorney’s office) who we can support and fight for.”

Speaking to the crowd from the courthouse steps, DA Price said she had just returned from a civil rights tour of the South.

“I had the privilege of standing in places, like Montgomery, (Alabama) where the modern civil rights movement for this country was born in 1955. (Today,) there is triumph in Montgomery, just like there is triumph in Alameda County.”

Many Black people in those days died fighting for their rights, but they were not deterred because they understood he vote meant they could change who ran the country, she said. “Just like in November 2022, we knew that if we vote we can change who runs Alameda County.”

Less than a month after the historic March on Washington, where Dr. King spoke of his dream, racists blew up a bomb, murdering four Black children in Birmingham.

She said, there is a lesson in that: “When you show up for freedom and justice, you have to be ready for the backlash.”

She presented some statistics of racial injustice in Alameda County:

  • A Black person in Alameda County is 20 times more likely to be incarcerated than a white person;
  • 50% of the people on probation in the county are Black;
  • 66% of the people in Santa Rita County jail are Black;
  • 86% of juvenile arrests in Alameda are Black or Brown children;
  • Of those in the county sentenced to life without parole under the age of 21, over 82% are Black.

Price said that when she took over the DA’s office, she found “an organization in chaos.”

“There was no transition plan,” she said. “This is (former DA) Nancy O’Malley’s shame, leaving an organization totally unprepared for change. We entered an environment filled with employees either traumatized or toxic.”

In her first 75 days, Price has put many changes in place.

Her office started with improving victim services. Only 40% of the victims in this county receive services they are entitled to, she said.

Her office is rebuilding “collaborative courts,” providing mental health units. “We listened to the families of the seriously mentally ill for the first time,” she said.

She successfully found places for almost three dozen people with serious mental illnesses, “who were languishing in Santa Rita County jail,” she said.

She created a public accountability bureau with more lawyers, paralegals, and investigators to investigate in-custody deaths, “to enforce the constitutional rights of every resident of Alameda County.”

She seeks to reform “racialized justice mechanisms,” establishing new guidelines and procedures for charging, sentencing and plea disposition.

Her office is creating community-based commissions to advise on “how to transform this broken system,” a mental health commission, a re-entry commission, a victim-witness advocacy commission and a gun violence task force.

Concluding her remarks, District Attorney Price said, “I’m not fearing the backlash that they call a recall, because I believe in the engagement and the activism of this community. In Alameda County, we know what democracy looks like.”

For a copy of the report produced by her volunteer transition team, go to https://bit.ly/41II5ld

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