Activism

Leaders Push Pardons, Payouts for “Port Chicago 50” Black Sailors U.S. Navy ‘Unjustly’ Punished

According to a 2009 California Senate Joint Resolution (SJR-21), authored by former state Sen. Roderick Wright (D-Inglewood), on the night of July 17, 1944, two transport vessels loading ammunition bound for the war in the Pacific at the Port Chicago naval base on the Sacramento River in California were suddenly engulfed in a gigantic explosion.

Published

4 years ago

December 6, 2021

Oakland Post

African American sailors of an ordnance battalion preparing 5-inch shells for packing at the Port Chicago Naval Magazine in 1943. The explosion occurred a year later. U.S. Navy photo.

By Antonio‌ ‌Ray‌ ‌Harvey‌ | California‌ ‌Black‌ ‌Media‌

A growing chorus of Black leaders and activists in California is calling on the federal government to pardon 50 Black sailors they allege the U.S. Navy wrongfully punished nearly 80 years ago.

Advocates are pushing for payments to the families of sailors who died in the 1944 explosion in Port Chicago that was the underlying cause for the Navy taking action against the servicemen.

They say the sailors’ families deserve more than an apology or posthumous pardon. They should get monetary compensation as well.

“The 50 African American sailors at Port Chicago who took a stand against discrimination should be remembered as heroes,” said Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA-13).

In July of 1944, Port Chicago Naval Magazine, a few miles from the city of Martinez, was the scene of the largest explosion on the mainland of the United States. The blast shook the San Francisco Bay Area and the disturbance was felt as far away as Nevada.

About 320 sailors were killed instantly in the explosion. More than 200 of the midshipmen and commissioned officers were young African Americans.

Another 390 military and civilian personnel were injured, including 226 African American enlisted men. Only Black sailors were assigned the dangerous job of loading ammunition with no prior training in weapons handling.

“The Port Chicago tragedy is another painful reminder of how our nation must confront its history of systemic racism,” Lee said.

The people killed or injured in the disaster were loading highly explosive bombs, anti-submarine weapons, torpedoes, shells, and naval mines totaling 4,606 tons of ammunition onto the merchant ships SS Quinault Victory and SS E.A. Bryant.

“What I am pushing for is that everything of public record where Black folks were wronged needs to be righted,” Rev. Amos Brown, vice-chair of California’s Task Force to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans, told California Black Media (CBM). Brown is the pastor of Third Baptist Church in San Francisco and president of the city’s NAACP branch.

“We must do our due diligence and get all the facts on this explosion. It’s definitely a case where Black folks had been wronged and injured. There was a culture of negligence here and was prevalent when it came to Black folks,” Brown added.

The exact cause of the Port Chicago explosion is still unknown.

People familiar with the explosion say incidents leading up to the disaster unfolded in a culture rife with negligence and racism.

A string of injustices followed it, as well. After the explosion, the Black sailors working at Port Chicago were ordered to continue loading ships under the supervision of an all-white crew of officers. Many of the surviving Black sailors felt that their commanders had not addressed the safety problems that triggered the blast but still asked them to continue loading ammunition.

Soon, the Black sailors, who had been trained for U.S Navy combat, decided to stage a protest. Afraid their lives were at risk, they stopped working. In September 1944, the Navy charged 50 of the Port Chicago sailors with disobeying orders and initiating a mutiny.

A court-martial was convened to try the men who staged what was called “the largest mutiny in the history of the Navy.” It was held for several weeks on Treasure Island outside of San Francisco.

The Black sailors were found guilty and sentenced to 15 years of hard labor in prison. Forty-seven of the 50 sailors were released in January 1946 while the remaining three served additional months in incarceration.

Only one member of the Port Chicago 50, Freddie Meeks, received a Presidential pardon from Bill Clinton in December 1999. Meeks, who was discharged in 1946, passed away in 2003 in Los Angeles.

“I knew we had a good president and I figured he would do the right thing, and he did the right thing with this pardon,” Meeks, 80, said in an Associated Press article published Dec. 24, 1999. “I’m not bitter because it’s something happened so long ago, you just outlive it, that’s all.”

Brown, 80, says the Port Chicago disaster was the result of carelessness, disregard for humans’ safety, and racism.

“All of the evidence is there,” Brown told CBM, speaking via phone from his San Francisco home.

People’s World, a publication that provides news and analysis of labor and democratic movements, reported that discrimination even played out in the compensation awarded to the families of those killed.

The Navy paid out $5,000 to white families but only $3,000 to Black families, the 2009 article reported.

Brown made the statement about the Port Chicago incident after learning that a group of Democratic lawmakers is attempting to revive an effort to pay the families of Black service members who fought on behalf of the nation during World War II for benefits they were denied or barred from receiving.

The federal legislative effort would compensate surviving spouses and all living descendants of Black WWII veterans whose families were denied the opportunity to build wealth with housing and educational benefits through the Government Issue (GI) Bill.

The site of the disaster is now called the Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial, dedicated in 1994 to recognize the sailors who perished in the deadly blast. The memorial, managed by the National Park Service, is located at the Concord Naval Weapons Station near Concord.

Last summer, in honor of the 77th anniversary of the Port Chicago Disaster, U.S. Representatives Barbara Lee (D-CA-13) and Mark DeSaulnier (CA-11-Walnut Creek) introduced a House Resolution, recognizing the victims of the explosion.

The resolution called for the exoneration of the 50 African American sailors they say were unjustly court-martialed by the Navy.

“By calling for the exoneration of the Port Chicago 50, our resolution would bring justice to these sailors and recognize their courage as well as honor the service and sacrifice of the victims of this disaster,” DeSaulnier said.

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Ann Lowe: The Quiet Genius of American Couture

Lowe was born in Clayton, Alabama, into a family of gifted seamstresses. Her mother and grandmother were well-known dressmakers who created exquisite gowns for women in the area. By the time Lowe was a young girl, she was already showing extraordinary talent — cutting, sewing, and decorating fabric with a skill that far exceeded her age. When her mother died unexpectedly, Lowe – only 16 years old then – took over her mother’s sewing business, completing all the orders herself.

Published

3 days ago

December 14, 2025

Oakland Post

Photo courtesy of National Archives.

By Tamara Shiloh

Ann Cole Lowe, born Dec.14, 1898, was a pioneering American fashion designer whose extraordinary talent shaped some of the most widely recognized and celebrated gowns in U.S. history.

Although she designed dresses for society’s wealthiest families and created masterpieces worn at historic events, Lowe spent much of her life in the shadows — uncredited, underpaid, yet unmatched in skill. Today, she is celebrated as one of the first nationally recognized African American fashion designers and a true visionary in American couture.

In 1917, Lowe moved to New York City to study at the S.T. Taylor Design School. Although she was segregated from White students and forced to work separately, she, of course, excelled, graduating earlier than expected. Her instructors quickly recognized that her abilities were far above the typical student, especially her skill in hand-sewing, applique, and intricate floral embellishment – techniques that would become her signature.

Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, she designed gowns for high-society women in Florida and New York, operating boutiques and working for prestigious department stores. Her reputation for craftsmanship, originality, and elegance grew increasingly. She was known for creating gowns that moved beautifully, featured delicate hand-made flowers, and looked sculpted rather than sewn. Many wealthy clients specifically requested “an Ann Lowe gown” for weddings, balls, and galas.

Her most famous creation came in 1953: the wedding gown worn by Jacqueline Bouvier when she married Massachusetts Sen. John F. Kennedy. The dress – crafted from ivory silk taffeta with dozens of tiny, pleated rosettes – became one of the most photographed bridal gowns in American history. Despite this achievement, Lowe received no public credit at the time. When a flood destroyed her completed gowns 10 days before the wedding, she and her seamstresses worked day and night to remake everything – at her own expense. Her dedication and perfectionism never wavered.

She eventually opened “Ann Lowe Originals,” her own salon on New York’s Madison Avenue. She served clients such as the Rockefellers, DuPonts, Vanderbilts, and actresses like Olivia de Havilland. Yet even with her wealthy clientele, she struggled financially, often undercharging because she wanted every dress to be perfect, even if it meant losing money.

Lowe’s contributions were finally recognized later in life. Today, her exquisite gowns are preserved in museums, including the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

In the last five years of her life, Lowe lived with her daughter Ruth in Queens, N.Y. She died at her daughter’s home on Feb. 25, 1981, at the age of 82, after an extended illness.

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2025 in Review: Seven Questions for Black Women’s Think Tank Founder Kellie Todd Griffin

As the president and CEO of the California Black Women’s Collective Empowerment Institute, Griffin is on a mission to shift the narrative and outcomes for Black women and girls. She founded the nation’s first Black Women’s Think Tank, securing $5 million in state funding to fuel policy change.

Published

3 days ago

December 14, 2025

Oakland Post

Kellie Todd Griffin. CBM file photo.

By Edward Henderson
California Black Media

With more than 25 years of experience spanning public affairs, community engagement, strategy, marketing, and communications, Kellie Todd Griffin is recognized across California as a leader who mobilizes people and policy around issues that matter.

Griffin spoke with California Black Media (CBM) about her successes and setbacks in 2025 and her hopes for 2026.

Looking back at 2025, what stands out to you as your most important achievement and why? 

Our greatest achievement in this year is we got an opportunity to honor the work of 35 Black women throughout California who are trailblazing the way for the next generation of leaders.

How did your leadership, efforts and investments as president and CEO California Black Women’s Collective Empowerment Institute contribute to improving the lives of Black Californians? 

We’re training the next leaders. We have been able to train 35 women over a two-year period, and we’re about to start a new cohort of another 30 women. We also have trained over 500 middle and high school girls in leadership, advocacy, and financial literacy.

What frustrated you the most over the last year?

Getting the question, “why.” Why advocate for Black women? Why invest in Black people, Black communities? It’s always constantly having to explain that, although we are aware that there are other populations that are in great need, the quality-of-life indices for Black Californians continue to decrease. Our life expectancies are decreasing. Our unhoused population is increasing. Our health outcomes remain the worst.

We’re not asking anyone to choose one group to prioritize. We are saying, though, in addition to your investments into our immigrant brothers and sisters – or our religious brothers and sisters – we are also asking you to uplift the needs of Black Californians. That way, all of us can move forward together.

What inspired you the most over the last year?

I’ve always been amazed by the joy of Black women in the midst of crisis.

That is really our secret sauce. We don’t let the current state of any issue take our joy from us. It may break us a little bit. We may get tired a little bit. But we find ways to express that – through the arts, through music, through poetry.

What is one lesson you learned in 2025 that will inform your decision-making next year?

Reset. It’s so important not to be sitting still. We have a new administration. We’re seeing data showing that Black women have the largest unemployment rate. We’ve lost so many jobs. We can have rest – we can be restful – but we have to continue the resistance.

In one word, what is the biggest challenge Black Californians faced in 2025?

Motivation.

I choose motivation because of the tiredness. What is going to motivate us to be involved in 2026?

What is the goal you want to achieve most in 2026?

I want to get Black Californians in spaces and places of power and influence – as well as opportunities to thrive economically, socially, and physically.

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BRIDGE Housing President and CEO Ken Lombard Scores Top Honors for Affordable Housing Leadership

The Development Company of the Year honor represents a milestone for BRIDGE Housing, which received the Gold award—its top designation—in a category that included both affordable and market-rate developers. The recognition caps what has been one of the strongest growth periods in the organization’s 42-year history.

Published

3 days ago

December 14, 2025

Oakland Post

BRIDGE Housing President and CEO Ken Lombard. Courtesy of BRIDGE Housing.

By the Oakland Post Staff

San Francisco-based BRIDGE Housing and its president and CEO, Ken Lombard, have been named among the nation’s housing industry standouts, earning two of the top prizes at the 2025 Multi-Housing News Excellence Awards.

BRIDGE Housing was named Development Company of the Year, while Lombard received Executive of the Year, recognition that places the nonprofit affordable housing provider alongside leading national developers of both affordable and market-rate housing.

The awards were announced in New York for the accomplishments achieved during 2024.

Multi-Housing News is one of the industry’s most respected publications. Award winners are selected by a panel of housing professionals, including multifamily developers, architects, and owners.

“BRIDGE Housing is deeply honored to be recognized by Multi-Housing News and our industry peers,” Lombard said. “These awards are a testament to the high-impact, mission-driven work by BRIDGE’s exceptional team to deliver quality affordable housing and support services that empower residents to improve their lives.”

In 2024, BRIDGE significantly expanded its footprint across California, Oregon, and Washington. That momentum continued into 2025, with portfolio growth of 9%, including the addition of nine new communities and 1,187 new or acquired affordable housing units. The nonprofit also added three new projects to its development pipeline as it nears a portfolio of 16,000 units.

The growth reflects a broader strategy aimed at accelerating both acquisitions and ground-up development, supported by partnerships with major financial institutions and innovative capital markets strategies. BRIDGE has also emphasized high-quality design and deep community engagement as central elements of its approach.

BRIDGE became the first affordable housing developer to issue tax-exempt construction bonds for one of the largest affordable housing projects in Portland, Ore., leveraging its strong credit rating.

Earlier this year, the nonprofit launched the BRIDGE Housing Impact Fund, with a goal of investing $1 billion to preserve and create affordable housing. It also closed on $175 million in taxable general-obligation bonds after increasing the offering in response to strong investor demand.

The company’s performance also underscores the role of Lombard, who has led BRIDGE since 2021 and was honored individually for his leadership.

Under Lombard’s tenure, BRIDGE has built a new leadership team with experience drawn from both the nonprofit and private sectors, with a particular focus on what the organization describes as efforts to “break the status quo,” especially in affordable housing finance. Those initiatives have helped reduce capital and construction costs, strengthen relationships with institutional investors, and expand resident support services.

Today, BRIDGE Housing serves more than 33,000 residents across 139 communities on the West Coast.

“Ken has dedicated his career to innovative real estate solutions that improve the quality of life in underserved neighborhoods,” said Kenneth Novack, chair of BRIDGE Housing’s board of directors. “His visionary leadership and the work of our incredible team have positioned BRIDGE for long-term growth that will extend our impact throughout the West Coast.”

Founded in 1983, BRIDGE Housing has helped create more than 23,000 affordable homes with a total development cost of $6 billion.