Community

Labor Leader Leroy King Turns 90

Published

13 years ago

September 16, 2013

Bay Area labor statesman Leroy King attended this year’s Labor Day festivities at the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Local 10 San Francisco union hall. King has a history in the Bay Area labor movement and the ILWU that stretches back to the end of World War II.

Born in Fresno in 1923, King came to San Francisco during war. “I was in San Francisco when I got out of the Army in 1945,” said King. “I was there, when they sent me to ILWU Local 6, the warehouse local, and that is when I started working for the ILWU.”

< p>< p>He worked for Local 6 for a few years, before he became Northern Regional Director of the ILWU. He led a coalition of members to stop the discrimination that only allowed whites to hold union office.

He also helped to spearhead the creation of the St. Francis Square Cooperative Housing Development in 1963, with the sponsorship of the ILWU, which built 299 units of apartment housing in Fillmore/Japan town area, where King still lives to this day.

“Labor has helped to change America for the better,” said King. “But today, there is to much division in labor. Unions are fighting each other, and they are not working together like they should. That needs to change.”

Aside from his work with the ILWU and his activism with various labor councils, King has served on the San Francisco Redevelopment Commission, appointed as a commissioner by six mayors starting with Dianne Feinstein, continuing to present Mayor Ed Lee.

“He has touched so many lives from a young Willie Brown, to Lefty Gordon to Will Bass,” said San Francisco School Board member Keith Jackson. He said that King’s impact can be witnessed in the many people he has helped in San Francisco and the development work that exists throughout the city .

“With his years on the Redevelopment Agency, he has contributed to building up San Francisco, from the Yerba Buena Center, to the Fillmore, to part of Van Ness Street to the mid Market area,” said Jackson.

Despite his age, King’s activism hasn’t dissipated. In his early 80s he was arrested for staging an act of civil disobedience as he in a strike of the hotel and restaurant workers union to improve working conditions.

He was appointed by Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi as an elector to the Presidential Electoral College. On Dec. 15, 2008, King cast an official vote for Barack Obama.

“Leroy King has been a strong pillar within the African American community, and he has taken a lot of young guys like myself, and he has guided them and provided them leadership,” said Jackson .

“With him turning 90, his we wanted to give him a celebration and bring everyone together for his contributions to San Francisco.”

King’s legacy and his 90th birthday will be celebrated Sept. 21 from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the ILWU Local 34 hiring hall at 4 Berry Street at 4th and King streets , directly behind AT&T Park .

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Four Candidates, Including Incumbent Barbara Lee, Qualify for Oakland Mayor’s Race

POST NEWS GROUP — Four candidates, including incumbent Mayor Barbara Lee, filed their papers to run for office by last Friday’s deadline, and the City Clerk issued a list this week of those who are qualified to run.

Published

22 hours ago

August 15, 2026

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View of downtown Oakland, California and City Hall. iStock photo.

By Post Staff

The four mayoral candidates who will appear on the Nov. 3 ballot are:

Brenda Grisham. A business owner in East Oakland and public safety advocate, Grisham led the successful recall campaign against Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price. As part of her platform, she pledges to work with local, state, and federal partners to secure stricter gun control measures and investments in community violence intervention programs.

Barbara Lee. A former congressional representative and state Assembly member, Lee was elected by voters in a special election last year for a two-year term. Now running for a four-year term, she points out that her administration achieved major successes in addressing some of the city’s major challenges, including balancing the city budget, dramatically reducing crime, and making significant inroads into homelessness and illegal dumping.

Mindy Pechenuk. An educator and activist, Pechenuk is a registered Republican and supporter of Lyndon LaRouche, who has been described by observers as a conspiracy theorist and cult leader. She ran unsuccessfully for mayor in last year’s special election and for the at-large council seat in 2024. She seeks to end Oakland’s police commission and MACRO and invest in more police while launching a new local war on drugs.

Julius Robinson. While little information is available so far about Robinson, he was quoted in a KTVU story about Thao’s recall, stating that people in Oakland want to come together as a community but lack infrastructure and leadership.

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Black History

Oakland Observes Black August with Block Parties, Film Showings, Workshops

POST NEWS GROUP — Beginning in 1979 in San Quentin State Prison, the Black Guerrilla Family called for the remembrance of political prisoner George Jackson and his brother Jonathan Jackson who were assassinated in the early 1970s. George Jackson was considered a political prisoner in that it was the anti-Black justice system that led to his incarceration for armed robbery with a sentence of one year-to-life in 1960.

Published

1 day ago

August 15, 2026

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George Jackson wrote two books: “Soledad Brother,” and “Blood in My Eye” before her was killed in an attempt to escape prison on Aug. 21, 1971.

By Jana Lang, Propel Youth Reporter

Study. Train. Fast. Fight.

These are the four tenets of Black August, a month dedicated to commemorating the sacrifices of political prisoners and Black revolutionaries in the struggle for Black liberation.

Observers are urged to study the history of the Black struggle for freedom, train their bodies for health and self-defense, fast to cleanse the mind, body, and spirit, and fight ongoing oppression alongside their communities and local political organizations.

Beginning in 1979 in San Quentin State Prison, the Black Guerrilla Family called for the remembrance of political prisoner George Jackson and his brother Jonathan Jackson who were assassinated in the early 1970s. George Jackson was considered a political prisoner in that it was the anti-Black justice system that led to his incarceration for armed robbery with a sentence of one year-to-life in 1960.

While in prison, George befriended fellow prisoner W.L. Nolen, who introduced him to the works of Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin, Mao Zedong, and Frantz Fanon. This radicalization coupled with his experiences of violence while imprisoned led to him writing and publishing two books, “Soledad Brother” (1970), and “Blood in my Eye” (1972). In January of 1970, George and two other prisoners were charged with murdering a corrections officer at Soledad State Prison in Monterey County.

On Aug. 7, 1970, Jonathan Jackson burst into a Marin County courtroom armed with a shotgun to demand the freedom of the Soledad Brothers. He, along with the inmates he freed, was shot and killed while driving away. This involved one of the Black Panther Party’s most notable associates, Angela Davis, because the shotgun was registered in her name. She was later acquitted of charges of conspiracy, kidnapping, and murder in 1972.

On Aug. 21, 1971, George Jackson was assassinated by a corrections officer after attempting to escape and free other inmates. As a result, there were uprisings and protests within prisons all over the country that year, calling forth resistance against racial oppression and mass incarceration.

Since its outset, Black August has evolved across the country, taking many forms to honor this history and embody the four tenets.

In Oakland, the upcoming Black August Experience, hosted by Youth Alive! and the East Oakland Boxing Association (EOBA), is a free, family-friendly event celebrating the legacy of Black August. Activities include free food and drinks, a kids’ activity zone, interactive workshops, live cooking and boxing demonstrations, and more.

Happening on Aug. 21 from 4-8 p.m. at the EOBA Patio, Carolyn Flynn, director of administration at EOBA, said the event, in its second year, will be an opportunity to engage with people in person through food, shared space, and education.

“We do regular classes in education, and those are ongoing programs that we offer, but we wanted to have [an opportunity] for our neighbors to utilize this space.” Combined with Youth Alive’s work in community violence prevention and youth leadership, this event surely aims to bring the Oakland community together to capture what Black August means today.

Here are additional Black August events happening in Oakland:

Forum and Community Discussion hosted by the Oakland Liberation Center, 1499 Fruitvale Ave., Aug. 14, 7 p.m.

“George Jackson/San Quentin” Screening hosted by Nostalgic for Nothing Cinema at Moments Co-Op, 410 13th St., Aug. 16, doors at 6 p.m., show at 6:30 p.m. (Masks required and scent-free)

Commemorating the Struggle, Building the Altar for Liberation: Black August at Bandung Books, 2269 International Blvd., Aug. 23rd, 1-5 p.m.

Building Opportunities for Self-Sufficiency (BOSS), will host “Black August: The Arc of Liberation” at Oakland City Hall on Sat. Aug. 29, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.