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Berkeley

Henry “Box” Brown Mailed Himself to Freedom

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Learning Black History Year Round

There are many stories told about extraordinary slave escapes. Without maps or compasses, many depended on quilts, songs, and even the North Star. But Henry “Box” Brown, using a wooden crate, shipped himself as cargo from Richmond, Va., to Philadelphia, Pa., where slavery had been abolished.

His ingenious escape would later become one of the best-known slave narratives in American history.

Brown was born enslaved in Louisa County, Virginia in 1815. At age 15, he was sent to Richmond to work in a tobacco factory. His life would take a tragic turn when his pregnant wife and three children were sold away from him. Devastated, he was determined to gain his freedom.

Brown, an active member of a local church, enlisted fellow parishioner James Smith and a white contact, Samuel Smith, to aid him in his escape. The contact in Philadelphia was another abolitionist and member of the Philadelphia Anti-Slavery Society.

Brown was shipped by Adams Express Company on March 23, 1849, in a box measuring 3 feet long, 2 feet 8 inches deep, and 2 feet wide marked Dry Goods. It was lined with baize, a coarse woolen cloth, carrying with him a small amount of water and a few biscuits. There was a hole cut for air; it was nailed and tied with straps, and in large letters, This Side Up was written on the side.

During the 27-hour journey, Brown traveled by wagons, railroads, steamboats, ferries, and finally in a delivery wagon that brought the box to the Philadelphia Anti-Slavery Society. However, during the travels, the box was turned upside down on several occasions and handled roughly. Brown said he sometimes felt his eyes swelling as if they would burst from their sockets; the veins on his were distended with pressure from the blood running to his head. He was finally relieved by two men who needed to sit and threw the box down to sit on it.

“I had risen, as it were, from the dead,” Brown wrote.

Brown arrived safely and soon began appearing at public antislavery events. He again showed his creativity in late 1849 when he hired artists and others to begin work on one of the first moving panoramas about slavery. (The moving panorama was an innovation on panoramic painting in the mid-19th century that became a popular form of entertainment in Europe and the U.S.)

In April 1850, his moving panorama “Mirror of Slavery” opened in Boston and was exhibited throughout the summer.

With the passing of the Fugitive Slave Act on August 30, 1850, it was no longer safe for him to remain in the Northern Free States, as he could be captured and returned to Virginia. He sailed to England in October 1850; his show performed throughout the country for the next 25 years.

Brown married and started a family with an English woman and returned to the United States in 1875, where he continued to earn a living as a magician, speaker, and hypnotist until at least 1889.

The last decade of his life was spent in Toronto, where he died on June 15, 1897.

Tamara Shiloh

Tamara Shiloh


About Tamara Shiloh





Tamara Shiloh has published the first two books in her historical fiction chapter book series, Just Imagine…What If There Were No Black People in the World is about African American inventors, scientists and other notable Black people in history. The two books are Jaxon’s Magical Adventure with Black Inventors and Scientists and Jaxon and Kevin’s Black History Trip Downtown. Tamara Shiloh has also written a book a picture book for Scholastic, Cameron Teaches Black History, that will be available in June, 2022.

Tamara Shiloh’s other writing experiences include: writing the Black History column for the Post Newspaper in the Bay area, Creator and Instruction of the black History Class for Educators a professional development class for teachers and her non-profit offers a free Black History literacy/STEM/Podcast class for kids 3d – 8th grade which also includes the Let’s Go Learn Reading and Essence and tutorial program.   She is also the owner of the Multicultural Bookstore and Gifts, in Richmond, California,

Previously in her early life she was the /Editor-in-Chief of Desert Diamonds Magazine, highlighting the accomplishments of minority women in Nevada; assisting with the creation, design and writing of a Los Angeles-based, herbal magazine entitled Herbal Essence; editorial contribution to Homes of Color; Editor-in-Chief of Black Insight Magazine, the first digital, interactive magazine for African Americans; profile creations for sports figures on the now defunct PublicFigure.com; newsletters for various businesses and organizations; and her own Las Vegas community newsletter, Tween Time News, a monthly publication highlighting music entertainment in the various venues of Las Vegas.

She is a member of:

  • Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI)

  • Richmond Chamber of Commerce

  • Point Richmond Business Association

  • National Association of Professional Women (NAPW)

  • Independent Book Publishers Association (IPBA)

  • California Writers Club-Berkeley & Marin

  • Richmond CA Kiwanis

  • Richmond CA Rotary

  • Bay Area Girls Club


Tamara Shiloh, a native of Northern California, has two adult children, one grandson and four great-grand sons. She resides in Point Richmond, CA with her husband, Ernest.

www.multiculturalbookstore.com

About Tamara Shiloh

Tamara Shiloh has published the first two books in her historical fiction chapter book series, Just Imagine…What If There Were No Black People in the World is about African American inventors, scientists and other notable Black people in history. The two books are Jaxon’s Magical Adventure with Black Inventors and Scientists and Jaxon and Kevin’s Black History Trip Downtown. Tamara Shiloh has also written a book a picture book for Scholastic, Cameron Teaches Black History, that will be available in June, 2022. Tamara Shiloh’s other writing experiences include: writing the Black History column for the Post Newspaper in the Bay area, Creator and Instruction of the black History Class for Educators a professional development class for teachers and her non-profit offers a free Black History literacy/STEM/Podcast class for kids 3d – 8th grade which also includes the Let’s Go Learn Reading and Essence and tutorial program.   She is also the owner of the Multicultural Bookstore and Gifts, in Richmond, California, Previously in her early life she was the /Editor-in-Chief of Desert Diamonds Magazine, highlighting the accomplishments of minority women in Nevada; assisting with the creation, design and writing of a Los Angeles-based, herbal magazine entitled Herbal Essence; editorial contribution to Homes of Color; Editor-in-Chief of Black Insight Magazine, the first digital, interactive magazine for African Americans; profile creations for sports figures on the now defunct PublicFigure.com; newsletters for various businesses and organizations; and her own Las Vegas community newsletter, Tween Time News, a monthly publication highlighting music entertainment in the various venues of Las Vegas. She is a member of:
  • Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI)
  • Richmond Chamber of Commerce
  • Point Richmond Business Association
  • National Association of Professional Women (NAPW)
  • Independent Book Publishers Association (IPBA)
  • California Writers Club-Berkeley & Marin
  • Richmond CA Kiwanis
  • Richmond CA Rotary
  • Bay Area Girls Club
Tamara Shiloh, a native of Northern California, has two adult children, one grandson and four great-grand sons. She resides in Point Richmond, CA with her husband, Ernest. www.multiculturalbookstore.com

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Activism

Who are the Alameda County District 4 Supervisor Candidates’ Top Campaign Contributors?

Below, we’ve listed each candidate’s 10 highest campaign contributors. For Miley, two of his top campaign donors also bought their own advertisements to support him and/or oppose Esteen through independent expenditures. Such expenditures, though separate from campaign donations, are also public record, and we listed them. Additionally, the National Organization of Realtors has spent about $70,500 on their own independent expenditures to support Miley.

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Jennifer Esteen. (Campaign photo) and Supervisor Nate Miley. (Official photo).
Jennifer Esteen. (Campaign photo) and Supervisor Nate Miley. (Official photo).

By Zack Haber

Nate Miley, who has served on Alameda County’s Board of Supervisors since 2000, is running for reelection to the District 4 supervisor seat.

Jennifer Esteen, a nurse and activist, is seeking to unseat him and become one of the five members of the powerful board that sets the county’s budget, governs its unincorporated areas, and oversees the sheriff, Alameda Health System, and mental health system.

District 4 includes most of East Oakland’s hills and flatlands beyond Fruitvale, part of Pleasanton and unincorporated areas south of San Leandro like Ashland and Castro Valley.

Voting is open and will remain open until March 5.

In California, campaign donations of $100 or more are public record. The records show that Miley has received about $550,000 in total campaign donations since he won the previous District 4 election in March 2020. Esteen has raised about $255,000 in total campaign donations since she started collecting them last July. All figures are accurate through Feb. 20.

While Miley has raised more money, Esteen has received donations from more sources. Miley received donations of $100 or more from 439 different sources. Esteen received such donations from 507 different sources.

Below, we’ve listed each candidate’s 10 highest campaign contributors. For Miley, two of his top campaign donors also bought their own advertisements to support him and/or oppose Esteen through independent expenditures. Such expenditures, though separate from campaign donations, are also public record, and we listed them. Additionally, the National Organization of Realtors has spent about $70,500 on their own independent expenditures to support Miley.

Nate Miley’s top campaign contributors:

The California Apartment Association, a trade group representing landlords and investors in California’s rental housing business, has spent about $129,500 supporting Miley’s election bid through about $59,500 in ads against Esteen$55,000 in ads supporting Miley, and $15,000 in campaign donations.

The independent expenditure committee Preserve Agriculture in Alameda County has spent about $46,025 supporting Miley through about $27,200 in their own ads, and $18,825 in donations to his campaign. Preserve Agriculture has supported reelection efforts for former Alameda County DA Nancy O’Malley, and Sheriff Greg Ahern, a republican. It’s received funding from ChevronPG&E, and a the California Apartment Association.

Organizations associated with the Laborers’ International Union of North America, or LiUNA, have donated about $35,000 in total. Construction and General Laborers Local 304, a local chapter of the union representing which represents over 4,000 workers, donated $20,000.

Laborers Pacific Southwest Regional Organizing Coalition, which represents 70,000 LiUNA members in Arizona, California, Hawaii and New Mexico, donated $15,000.

William ‘Bill’ Crotinger and the East Oakland-based company Argent Materials have donated $26,000. Crotinger is the president and founder of Argent, a concrete and asphalt recycling yard. Argent’s website says it is an eco-friendly company that diverts materials from landfills. In 2018, Argent paid the EPA $27,000 under a settlement for committing Clean Water Act violations.

Michael Morgan of Hayward, owner of We Are Hemp, a marijuana dispensary in Ashland, has donated $21,500.

Alameda County District 1 Supervisor David Haubert has donated $21,250 from his 2024 reelection campaign. He’s running unopposed for the District 1 seat.

SEIU 1021which represents over 60,000 workers in local governments, non-profit agencies, healthcare programs, and schools in Northern California, has donated $20,000.

UA Local 342, which represents around 4,000 pipe trades industry workers in Contra Costa and Alameda counties, donated $20,000.

The union representing the county’s deputy sheriffs, Deputy Sheriff’s Association of Alameda County, has donated $17,000.

Becton Healthcare Resources and its managers have donated $14,625. Becton’s mission statement says it provides “behavioral health management services to organizations and groups that serve the serious and persistent mentally ill population.”

Jennifer Esteen’s top campaign contributors:

Mary Quinn Delaney of Piedmont, founder of Akonadi Foundation, has donated $20,000. Akonadi Foundation gives grants to nonprofit organizations, especially focusing on racial justice organizing,

Bridget Galli of Castro Valley has donated $7,000. Galli is a yoga instructor and a co-owner of Castro Valley Yoga.

Rachel Gelman of Oakland has donated $5,000. Gelman is an activist who has vowed to redistribute her inherited wealth to working class, Indigenous and Black communities.

California Worker Families Party has donated $5,000. The organization’s website describes itself as a “grassroots party for the multiracial working class.”

David Stern of Albany has donated $5,000. Stern is a retired UC Berkeley Professor of Education.

Oakland Rising Committee—a collaborative of racial, economic, and environmental justice organizations—has donated about $3,050.

Fredeke Von Bothmer-Goodyear, an unemployed resident of San Francisco, has donated $2,600.

Robert Britton of Castro Valley has donated $2,500. Britton is retired and worked in the labor movement for decades.

Progressive Era PAC has donated about $2,400. Its mission statement says it “exists to elect governing majorities of leaders in California committed to building a progressive era for people of color.”

East Bay Stonewall Democrats Club has donated $2,250. The club was founded in 1982 to give voice to the East Bay LGBTQIA+ communities.

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Berkeley

UC Berkeley Creates Its First Black History Tour

The self-guided Black history tour at UC Berkeley begins at Memorial Stadium, where student Walter Gordon was a star of the football team more than 100 years ago. It then weaves through campus, making stops at 13 more locations, each highlighting an important person or landmark related to Black history.

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Walter Gordon, who is discussed during the first stop of the Black history tour at Memorial Stadium, was one of the first two Black Americans named to the College All-American Football Team in 1918. He went on to become the first Black student to graduate from Berkeley Law and to work as a police officer for the city of Berkeley, among many other accomplishments. Illustration by Heaven Jones.
Walter Gordon, who is discussed during the first stop of the Black history tour at Memorial Stadium, was one of the first two Black Americans named to the College All-American Football Team in 1918. He went on to become the first Black student to graduate from Berkeley Law and to work as a police officer for the city of Berkeley, among many other accomplishments. Illustration by Heaven Jones.

By UC Berkeley News

The self-guided Black history tour at UC Berkeley begins at Memorial Stadium, where student Walter Gordon was a star of the football team more than 100 years ago. It then weaves through campus, making stops at 13 more locations, each highlighting an important person or landmark related to Black history.

There’s Ida Louise Jackson Graduate House, named in honor of the first African American woman to teach in Oakland public schools. Next is Barbara Christian Hall, named for the first Black woman to be granted tenure at Berkeley. Other stops include Wheeler Hall and Sproul Plaza, where Black visionaries, like James Baldwin and Martin Luther King Jr., gave famous speeches.

“Just knowing this history, walking around campus and knowing it, you really feel like you belong,” said student Daniella Lake, who’s on the Black Lives at Cal team that created the tour. “Black people have been here for the past 100 years, and if they were doing all these amazing things then, I can surely do it now.”

You can find the self-guided Black history tour on Black Lives at Cal’s website. And soon, on the site, you’ll also be able to sign up for upcoming in-person walking tours.

Read a portion of the transcript of Berkeley Voices episode, “Take the first Black history tour at UC Berkeley”

Anne Brice: This is Berkeley Voices. I’m Anne Brice.

The self-guided Black history tour at UC Berkeley begins at Memorial Stadium, where student Walter Gordon was a star of the football team more than 100 years ago.

Daniella Lake: Walter Gordon, especially, is one of my favorites because he was the first all-American football athlete in the history of the University of California.

Anne Brice: Daniella Lake is a fourth-year Berkeley student in media studies. As an audio producer of the tour, she voiced many of its stops.

Daniella Lake: He was also the city of Berkeley’s first Black policeman. And, like I mentioned, the first Black student to graduate from the law school and then a federal judge and then the governor of the Virgin Islands.

And he just did it all and was so multitalented. And I just love that so much because it also shows that you can have multiple interests and you can succeed at different things. So I just love, love hearing his story.

Anne Brice: The Black history tour was created by Black Lives at Cal, an African Thriving Initiative that publicizes, celebrates and defends the legacy of Black people on Berkeley’s campus. The multi-year initiative is a collaboration between the African American Student Development Office and the Institute for the Study of Societal Issues.

The tour weaves through campus, making stops at 14 different locations, each highlighting an important person or landmark related to Black history.

Among the stops are Ida Louise Jackson Graduate House, Barbara Christian Hall, the Campanile, Sproul Plaza and the law school. Berkeley student Heaven Jones created original artwork for each stop.

Daniella Lake: I feel like it has helped me feel welcome on campus. I know a lot of students, especially students of color, Black students, feel a lot of imposter syndrome. And I feel like with this tour, just learning the history really helps combat that.

Because when I look at all these different parts of campus — when I look at Memorial Stadium, I see Walter Gordon and how accomplished he was and all the things he did. When I walk on Sproul Plaza, I hear MLK’s speech, and I think about how an undergraduate student suggested renaming the ASUC Student Union to the MLK Jr. Building.

So just knowing this history, walking around campus, and knowing it, you really feel like you belong. Black people have been here for the past 100 years and if they were doing all these amazing things then, I can surely do it now.

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Bay Area

Berkeley Considers New Law to Help Tenants Buy Where They Rent

Renée, a Berkeley resident, was dismayed last summer when she saw the final sale price of the four-plex where she and members of her family have lived for 20 years. It wasn’t because the amount was high – it is Berkeley, after all. She was shocked because she’d bid on the property and offered $44,000 more than the new owner paid for it. It just didn’t make sense. Then she found out why her landlord wouldn’t sell it to her. “I didn’t want to sell to you because of [your nephew], I don’t trust him,” the landlord said.

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Displacement in Berkeley’s African American community is rampant, caused by the steep decline of renters who make up two-thirds of Black households in the city.
Street sign in Berkeley. iStock photo by SimeonDonov.

By Chris Schildt
Friends of Adeline

Renée, a Berkeley resident, was dismayed last summer when she saw the final sale price of the four-plex where she and members of her family have lived for 20 years. It wasn’t because the amount was high – it is Berkeley, after all.

She was shocked because she’d bid on the property and offered $44,000 more than the new owner paid for it. It just didn’t make sense. Then she found out why her landlord wouldn’t sell it to her.

“I didn’t want to sell to you because of [your nephew], I don’t trust him,” the landlord said.

An African American small business owner for many years, Renée was hardly unfamiliar with racist dog whistles and the stereotyping of her family members — but this one hit hard.

When the new owner took over, she started making troubling changes that threatened Renée’s ability to operate her licensed in-home daycare. With the help of the Eviction Defense Center and the Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board, she and her fellow tenants have been able to halt efforts to increase the rent and other unlawful acts. But if her previous landlord had sold her the building, she never would have had to deal with this harassment.

“I have felt discriminated against and harassed by these intimidating practices on the basis of my age, gender, race, and economic status,” said Renée. “I feel this type of intimidation is an effort to frustrate me into leaving the place my family and I have lived in for decades.”

Displacement in Berkeley’s African American community is rampant, caused by the steep decline of renters who make up two-thirds of Black households in the city. Like Renée, many have lived in their homes for decades. But even with the city’s robust rent control laws and anti-eviction protections, many find it hard to stay because outside investors buy homes and push tenants out.

This is especially true in historically African American South Berkeley, where Renée lives and where one-bedroom apartment rents have skyrocketed to $2,000 a month or more.

The Berkeley City Council is considering legislation that would help prevent the kind of displacement pressures Renée and other tenants face.

The Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA) helps tenants to become first-time homeowners by giving them an opportunity to buy their homes when their landlord decides to sell. If the landlord decides not to take the tenant’s offer, TOPA gives tenants a chance to match any other offer the landlord receives. For Renée, this would have given her the chance to own her home – and for $44,000 less than she had originally offered.

Another South Berkeley resident, Jonathan (not his real name), an immigrant from Africa, has lived in his apartment for over 30 years. When the property went up for sale last year, he wasn’t concerned – he’s lived there through three different owners and has gotten along with all of them in the past. This time, however, the new owners made it clear that they wanted him gone.

He looked for other housing options in South Berkeley near his job but found nothing at the price he currently pays for his rent-controlled apartment. The Eviction Defense Center was able to help him negotiate to stay in his own apartment, but he no longer feels welcome at home and worries that his landlords might try to force him out again.

TOPA allows tenants to work with land trusts and nonprofits to help fund the purchases and designates the home as affordable housing if public subsidies are used to buy it. In San Francisco, a similar law has helped preserve over 200 units as affordable housing since it passed in 2019.

TOPA was first introduced as an ordinance in 2020 in Berkeley and was reintroduced this past fall when investor purchases and a surge in evictions renewed interest in this policy.

TOPA is supported by the Berkeley NAACP branch, Healthy Black Families, the Berkeley Black Ecumenical Ministers Alliance, the Friends of Adeline, and others. Advocates for fairness and affordable housing are urging community members to contact Berkeley City Council members and ask them to support TOPA.

For more information on TOPA and guidance on how to take action, please visit www.yes2topa.org. To get involved, please contact the Friends of Adeline at friendsofadeline@gmail.com.

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