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Local Students Win Gold Medals, Scholarships in NAACP Competition

Published

5 years ago

July 15, 2020

Two local high school students won gold medals and scholarships in the NAACP ACTSO competition, and will now represent Richmond in a national competition set to be held virtually this month due to COVID-19.

Charles Woodfork, 17, a junior at Salesian High School, and Joi Gonzalez, 16, a junior at Pinole Valley High School, were victorious in the competition held for the first time by the Richmond-Bay Area NAACP Youth Council.
ACTSO, an acronym for African American Cultural Technical and Science Olympics, is an academic competition that has been sponsored by the national NAACP for the past 40 years.

African American high school students from throughout the U.S. compete annually in up to three of 32 areas of competition, including Science, Humanities, Performing Arts, Entrepreneurship, Visual Arts and Culinary Arts.
Woodfork competed both in the “Original Essay” and the “Medical and Health” competitions. His original essay deals with the disparity in the application of “justice” in the majority and diverse communities and his science project addresses the issue of over-medicating children, particularly children of color, and the frequent misdiagnoses of Attention Deficit Disorder.

Gonzalez competed in the “Earth and Space” category. Her research paper demonstrates in meticulous detail the disparity in the water quality used in five distinctly diverse communities in the Bay Area.

The 2020 ACTSO Richmond competition is chaired by attorney Audrey D. Shields and co-chaired by Tajii M. Thomas, a recent Howard University graduate and current secretary of the Richmond Youth Council. ACT-SO committee chairs are Scottie Smith, judge and mentor coordinator; Cheryl Maier, Finance; Zelon Harrison, Student Recruitment; and Y’Anad Burrell, Publicity and Social Media.

Scholarships were made possible with generous contributions from the Ermestine Martin Charitable Foundation and the Carl Adams Family Foundation.

This year’s ACTSO coaches were Audrey Comeaux, Science; Michael Gonzalez, Humanities; Wesley Alexander, Entrepreneurship; and Choncey Nunn, Performing Arts.

Volunteer judges included Doris Lewis, Sonya Neely-Johnson, Noah Johnson, Annette Henry-Evans, Stephanie Phillips, Elizabeth Block, Marsha Williams, Dr. Cardenas Shackelford, LaShante Smith and William McGee.
Contra Costa Board of Education member Dr. Fatima S. Alleyne, who charted her own journey as an African American student overcoming obstacles and earning her PhD with degrees in chemistry and engineering, was among the speakers at the event.

The Richmond–Bay Area Youth Council is a newly activated branch of the National NAACP consisting of young people ages 14 to 24. It works to raise the consciousness of the community about civil and human rights and justice. Younger students who exhibit an interest in civil rights issues can join. For more information see @RichmondNAACPYouth on Instagram or call the Youth Council secretary Tajii Thomas at (510) 776-0091 or the Adult YC Advisor Zelon Harrison at (916) 236-8181.

Parents are strongly encouraged to be involved For information or questions about ACT-SO please contact Audrey Shields at 510-313-8888.

By Y’Anad Burrell

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Oakland Post: Week of June 4 – 10, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of June 4-10, 2025

Published

5 days ago

June 7, 2025

Oakland Post

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Remembering George Floyd

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing.

Published

2 weeks ago

June 2, 2025

Oakland Post

Mural showing the portrait of George Floyd in Mauerpark in Berlin. To the left of the portrait the lettering "I can't Breathe" was added, on the right side the three hashtags #GeorgeFloyd, #Icantbreathe and #Sayhisname. The mural was completed by Eme Street Art (facebook name) / Eme Free Thinker (signature) on 29 May 2020. (Wikimedia Commons)

By April Ryan
BlackPressUSA Newswire

“The president’s been very clear he has no intentions of pardoning Derek Chauvin, and it’s not a request that we’re looking at,” confirms a senior staffer at the Trump White House. That White House response results from public hope, including from a close Trump ally, Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. The timing of Greene’s hopes coincides with the Justice Department’s recent decision to end oversight of local police accused of abuse. It also falls on the fifth anniversary of the police-involved death of George Floyd on May 25th. The death sparked national and worldwide outrage and became a transitional moment politically and culturally, although the outcry for laws on police accountability failed.

The death forced then-Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden to focus on deadly police force and accountability. His efforts while president to pass the George Floyd Justice in policing act failed. The death of George Floyd also put a spotlight on the Black community, forcing then-candidate Biden to choose a Black woman running mate. Kamala Harris ultimately became vice president of the United States alongside Joe Biden. Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison prosecuted the cases against the officers involved in the death of Floyd. He remembers,” Trump was in office when George Floyd was killed, and I would blame Trump for creating a negative environment for police-community relations. Remember, it was him who said when the looting starts, the shooting starts, it was him who got rid of all the consent decrees that were in place by the Obama administration.”

In 2025, Police-involved civilian deaths are up by “about 100 to about 11 hundred,” according to Ellison. Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African-American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing. During those minutes on the ground, Floyd cried out for his late mother several times. Police subdued Floyd for an alleged counterfeit $20 bill.