Activism

Marin Car Rally Supports Protestors

Published

6 years ago

June 11, 2020

Protestors displaying their signs in front of the Novato Police Department. Photo by Godfrey Lee.

SURJ Marin (Showing Up for Racial Justice) conducted a car caravan on June 5, 2020, to protest the death of George Floyd and police brutality.

Floyd died May 25, 2020, when a police officer in Minneapolis. Minnesota, kneeled on his neck while two others kneeled on his back and knees for nearly nine minutes.

According to their flyer, SURJ supports the following demands from The Movement for Black Lives, which were highlighted by the caravan. The demands are:

• An immediate end to the criminalization and dehumanization of Black youth

• An end to the mass surveillance of Black communities

• The demilitarization of law enforcement, including law enforcement in schools and on college campuses.

Around 100 cars met at the Novato Park & Ride Parking Lot around 4 p.m. The drivers taped protest signs to their cars and departed around 5 p.m. to Novato.

The first stop was the Novato Police Department at Machin and Grant avenues. The cars drove past the building, honking and waving to the protesters, most of whom were peacefully standing, sitting, kneeling and displaying their protest signs.

The officers were very supportive of the protesters and helped direct the traffic of the long caravan in front of the building.

The next stop was the Marin County Sheriff’s Department on Drake Avenue in Marin City. A rally, with around 100 people, was being held there. Many of the people from the caravan became a part of the rally.

SURJ says that “This action will be held as a ceremony in solidarity with The Movement for Black Lives Week of Action and demands to end the war on Black people. We will honor collective grief as well as invite all participants to strengthen our radical imaginations in service of collective healing and transformation.”

For more information on SURJMarin and their upcoming protests, go to surjmarin.org.

Photo by Godfrey Lee.

Godfrey Lee

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Oakland Post: Week of November 26 – December 2, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of November 26 – December 2, 2025

Published

2 weeks ago

November 28, 2025

Oakland Post

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Oakland Post: Week of November 19 – 25, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of November 19 – 25, 2025

Published

3 weeks ago

November 24, 2025

Oakland Post

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IN MEMORIAM: William ‘Bill’ Patterson, 94

Bill devoted his life to public service and education. In 1971, he became the founding director for the Peralta Community College Foundation, he also became an administrator for Oakland Parks and Recreation overseeing 23 recreation centers, the Oakland Zoo, Children’s Fairyland, Lake Merritt, and the Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center.

Published

3 weeks ago

November 20, 2025

Oakland Post

William "Bill" Patterson, 94. Photo courtesy of the Patterson family.

William “Bill” Patterson, 94, of Little Rock, Arkansas, passed away peacefully on October 21, 2025, at his home in Oakland, CA. He was born on May 19, 1931, to Marie Childress Patterson and William Benjamin Patterson in Little Rock, Arkansas. He graduated from Dunbar High School and traveled to Oakland, California, in 1948. William Patterson graduated from San Francisco State University, earning both graduate and undergraduate degrees. He married Euradell “Dell” Patterson in 1961. Bill lovingly took care of his wife, Dell, until she died in 2020.

He served on the boards of Oakland’s Urban Strategies Council, the Oakland Public Ethics Commission, and the Oakland Workforce Development Board.

He was a three-term president of the Oakland branch of the NAACP.

Bill was initiated in the Gamma Alpha chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity.

In 1997 Bill was appointed to the East Bay Utility District Board of Directors. William Patterson was the first African American Board President and served the board for 27 years.

Bill’s impact reached far beyond his various important and impactful positions.

Bill mentored politicians, athletes and young people. Among those he mentored and advised are legends Joe Morgan, Bill Russell, Frank Robinson, Curt Flood, and Lionel Wilson to name a few.

He is survived by his son, William David Patterson, and one sister, Sarah Ann Strickland, and a host of other family members and friends.

A celebration of life service will take place at Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center (Calvin Simmons Theater) on November 21, 2025, at 10 AM.

His services are being livestreamed at: https://www.facebook.com/events/1250167107131991/

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Euradell and William Patterson scholarship fund TBA.