Activism
Marin to Host Gun Buy-Back Event June 4
According to the Centers for Disease Control, there was an historic increase in gun deaths in 2020, the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Gun-related homicides have risen by 35% since 2019, the CDC reported on May 10. More than 45,000 Americans died from guns in 2020 and more than half of those were suicides.

DA’s Office, law enforcement, other stakeholders have eye on public safety
Courtesy of Marin County
Marin County’s effort to enhance safety in the community includes the goal of collecting and disposing of unwanted and unneeded firearms. On June 4, the Marin County District Attorney’s Office, the City of San Rafael, and local law enforcement agencies are conducting a gun buy-back event at the sheriff’s headquarters in San Rafael.
The collaborating agencies are working to help reduce gun violence, the risk of accidental discharges, domestic violence, suicide, and gun theft by encouraging people to voluntarily turn in or sell guns they no longer want in their homes. All guns collected will be destroyed.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, there was an historic increase in gun deaths in 2020, the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Gun-related homicides have risen by 35% since 2019, the CDC reported on May 10. More than 45,000 Americans died from guns in 2020 and more than half of those were suicides.
District Attorney Lori E. Frugoli noted that firearms are not only used impulsively for self-harm but can be used against gun owners in their own homes. About 25% of guns used in crimes are stolen, which is one of the reasons why free gun locks will be available at the San Rafael buy-back event. Also, the presence of firearms in a household can only increase the danger of domestic violence, especially against women. A woman is five times more likely to be killed at the hands of her batterer if there is a firearm in the household.
According to the California Department of Justice, 2,500 firearms were sold in Marin between 2019 and 2020. Between Jan. 1 and Nov. 30, 2021, 719 firearms were sold in Marin.
“Law enforcement statistics show that Marin is a safe place to live, and we want to keep it that way,” Frugoli said. “The gun buy-back program is an opportunity for those who wish to dispose of their firearms to ensure the weapons are out of our community. It is also a time to have a conversation with family and friends about gun safety and reflect upon whether they want guns in their homes and, if so, how to store them safely.”
The event will take place in the parking lot of the sheriff’s office at 1600 Los Gamos Drive in northern San Rafael, just off the Lucas Valley Road / Smith Ranch Road exit on Highway 101. The buy-back station will be behind the main building, or on its east side, closest to 101. Signage will be in placed along Los Gamos Drive on the day of the event.
From 9 a.m. until 1 p.m., organizers will offer $100 for functional handguns, rifles, and shotguns, and $200 for semi-automatic weapons. No questions will be asked and showing identification will not be necessary. The drive-up event is limited to three operable firearms per person. All weapons must be brought to the buy-back event in vehicle trunks. Boxed ammunition will be accepted as well.
Sean Stephens, Marin County Veterans Services Officer, said families of military veterans often don’t know what to do with firearms when a veteran dies.
“Often, gun buy-backs are painted as an effort to take guns away from people, when in reality they are a means to protect the guns from getting into the wrong hands,” he said. “This is especially important information when it comes to gun owners passing away. Gun buy-backs provide a safe, effective way to dispose of unwanted weapons.”
There are an estimated 100,000 firearms stored in Marin, raising concerns about the safety of law-abiding gun owners and their families. Not enough of the weapons and ammunition are locked up, leaving them vulnerable to the hands of young kids, people in emotional distress, or those intent on violence against others. All guns should be locked up with only an adult having access to the key or electronic access code, and ammunition should be locked up separately.
Call (415) 485-3070 with questions about the buy-back event or about obtaining gun locks.
Activism
How the Crack Cocaine Epidemic Led to Mass Sex Exploitation of Black People PART 3: The Case Against SB357: Black, Vulnerable and Trafficked
Although California Senate Bill 357 was intended to alleviate arrests of willing sex workers under anti-loitering laws, it opened up a Pandora’s box loophole that hinders the ability of law enforcement to halt human trafficking, especially of young Black and Brown girls. This segment continues to explore the history that led to this latest form of exploitation in Oakland.

By Tanya Dennis and Vanessa Russell
Although California Senate Bill 357 was intended to alleviate arrests of willing sex workers under anti-loitering laws, it opened up a Pandora’s box loophole that hinders the ability of law enforcement to halt human trafficking, especially of young Black and Brown girls. This segment continues to explore the history that led to this latest form of exploitation in Oakland.
It was 1980: The beginning of the end for the Black family and Black community as we knew it.
Crack cocaine was introduced to the United States that year and it rendered unparalleled devastation on Black folks. Crack is a solid smokable form of cocaine made by boiling baking soda, cocaine, and water into a rock that crackles when smoked.
The tremendous high — especially when first smoked — and the low cost brought temporary relief to the repeatedly and relentlessly traumatized members of the Black community.
What was unknown at the time was how highly addictive this form of cocaine would be and how harmful the ensuing impact on the Black family when the addicted Black mother was no longer a haven of safety for her children.
The form made it easy to mass produce and distribute, opening the market to anyone and everyone, including many Black men who viewed selling crack as their way out of poverty.
These two factors — addicted Black women and drug-dealing Black men — would lead to the street exploitation for sex as we know it today.
Encouraged to try it free initially, most poor, Black women in the 1980s used crack cocaine in a social setting with friends. When the free samples disappeared the drug dealer offered to supply the women crack in exchange for allowing him to sell their bodies to sex buyers.
The increase in the supply of women willing to exchange sex for crack — a.k.a. the “sex for crack barter system” — caused the price of sex to decrease and at the same time increased the demand for sex because more buyers could afford it.
The desperation of the women to get their hit of crack made them willing to endure any form of abuse and treatment from buyers during sex, including unprotected and violent sex.
It also pushed desperate Black women onto the street to pursue sex buyers, flagging down cars and willing to have sex anywhere actively and desperately. Street prostitution grew and buyers were able to buy oral sex for as little as $5.
This sex-for-crack barter system resulted in a dramatic increase in sexually transmitted diseases including HIV and AIDS, both of which are disproportionately represented among Black people.
It also resulted in unplanned pregnancies by unknown fathers, which then resulted in children born addicted to crack who were immediately placed in the foster care system where they were often abused and/or neglected.
For his part, the Black man who engaged in the mass production and distribution of crack was often killed by gun violence while fighting over drug territory or incarcerated for long periods of time as use and sales and distribution of crack carried longer sentences than powdered cocaine.
Crack unleashed an entire chain of new trauma upon the Black family which then all but collapsed under this latest social attack that had started with chattel slavery, followed by Jim Crow, redlining, school segregation, food deserts, et. al.
Exploitation was and is at the root of the crack cocaine epidemic. It is the latest weapon used to prey upon Black people since the beginning of our time in the United States.
The sex industry and legislation like SB357 have only increased harm to Black people who have been historically oppressed with racist laws and epidemics including crack. More must be done to restore the Black community.
Tanya Dennis serves on the Board of Oakland Frontline Healers (OFH) and series co-author Vanessa Russell of “Love Never Fails Us” and member of OFH.
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Tanya-Leblanc/publication/236121038_Behind_the_Eight_Ball_Sex_for_Crack_Cocaine_Exchange_and_Poor_Black_Women/links/0c9605162c8f362553000000/Behind-the-Eight-Ball-Sex-for-Crack-Cocaine-Exchange-and-Poor-Black-Women.pdf?origin=publication_detail
Activism
Oakland Post: Week of March 22 – 28, 2023
The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of March March 22 – 38, 2023

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Activism
Oakland Post: Week of March 15 – 21, 2023
The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of March 15 – 21, 2023

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