Bay Area
Martinez-Born NFL Rookie Joins Gov. Newsom’s Efforts Against Homelessness and Hunger
Harris has dedicated personal time and resources to address poverty, education, homelessness, and food insecurity. He has also collaborated with Oakland native and former Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch to address similar issues through fundraising initiatives and events.

Rookie Pittsburgh Steelers running back Najee Harris, who was born in Martinez and attended high school in Antioch, came home last week to join Gov. Gavin Newsom in Santa Clara as he announced his efforts to address the state’s ongoing homelessness crisis and a new COVID-19-related rental relief program.
Harris, who was picked in the first round of the NFL draft about a month ago, is using his celebrity and resources to support low-income families experiencing homelessness and hunger through his nonprofit Da’ Bigger Picture Foundation.
At the press conference with the governor, Harris shared his personal experience with homelessness and how that has inspired him to help others in similar situations.
“Me my family, we were all once homeless, moving around the Bay Area,” said Harris at the press conference. “San Francisco, Richmond. I lived in Pinole, Sacramento.
“We were evicted numerous times and had to stay in homeless shelters, friends’ houses, cars. But as a family, we stuck together and made it through these tough times,” he said.
“Now I’m in a position to help out people. But a problem with no answer is just a problem,” Harris said referring to the state’s homelessness crisis.
Harris has dedicated personal time and resources to address poverty, education, homelessness, and food insecurity. He has also collaborated with Oakland native and former Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch to address similar issues through fundraising initiatives and events.
The state created Project Homekey, a California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) grant program that funded programs and institutions in cities and counties to secure shelter for unhoused people.
It was a state initiative created to expand the scope of its programmatic predecessor, Project Roomkey. That effort was a temporary housing program implemented in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the state, it was created to comply with the state’s shelter-in-place orders, provide spaces for people affected by COVID-19 to recover and to serve as a first stop on a pathway to more permanent housing.
Through Roomkey, hotels and motels in California offered shelter for homeless people who were exposed to COVID-19 to recover and properly quarantine in an effort to minimize the strain on the healthcare system. Although Homekey provides interim housing, the state has secured over 6,000 additional housing units and bills that project as a pathway to permanent housing for homeless people.
Newsom said that the state acknowledges that homeless people are unable to live, “a good life in an unjust society.”
“You can sit there and point fingers or abdicate responsibility, but we have agency, we can shape the future decisions,” he said.
California Black Media’s coverage of COVID-19 is supported by the California Health Care Foundation.
Activism
Oakland Post: Week of November 22 – 28, 2023
The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of November 22 – 28, 2023

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

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Activism
School Board President Shuts Down Meeting Trying to Silence Gaza Ceasefire Protesters
Since the executive board of the Oakland Education Association originally took a stand to oppose genocide and call for a ceasefire, the union has been under intense criticism both from mainstream media and an Oakland parents’ group, which has been encouraging teachers to quit the union.

By Ken Epstein
Several hundred people, including teachers, school staff, students, parents, and community activists, showed up at the Oakland Unified School District board meeting Wednesday night, most of them calling on the board to pass a resolution to support an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and end the killing of civilians, when school board President Mike Hutchinson refused to let them speak and abruptly shut down the meeting as they demanded to be heard.
At the start of the meeting, Hutchinson announced that a resolution proposed by Board member Valarie Bachelor, “Calling for a Ceasefire and Release of Hostages in Israel and Palestine,” would not be discussed that evening and that there was no place anywhere on the agenda where attendees would be allowed to speak on the issue.
However, there was a moment of confusion when the parliamentarian, speaking over Hutchinson’s objections, explained that there was one 30-minute period for people to discuss nonagenda items.
A chorus of boos filled the auditorium as Hutchinson attempted to move on. He quickly suspended the meeting, and he and several other board members left the room, though some board members remained.
One young woman shouted at Hutchinson. “You’re having a tantrum, and we’re talking about genocide.”
People crowded around a bullhorn at the front of the room, and attendees held their own meeting.
“You are on the right side of history – we’ll be back,” said a youth soccer coach, Maria Martinez.
A young woman named Lulwa said, ‘I believe we all deserve our land, we all deserve our freedom, and we all deserve not to have our children bombed. The media is lying to us, and social media is bringing us together.”
Lulwa explained that she has been living in the U.S. and Oakland since the age of 9. “I was taken in by the community in Oakland, and I was loved.”
Board member Bachelor was cheered as she spoke on the bullhorn, supporting the people of Palestine and the people of Israel.
“We have to stop killing children, we have to stop bombing hospitals, we have to stop killing UN workers; we have to stop the killing,” she said. “We are a global community. The fight continues.”
A woman who identified herself as a Jewish Oakland teacher said, “The school board does not speak for the teachers, Monday night, we (teachers) passed a very strong resolution demanding an end to the genocide in Gaza and an end to U.S. funding (for the war).
An Oakland man named Izzy said, “What did the school board do today? They walked out on our kids…. There’s nobody to blame but Mike Hutchinson.”
Jabari Shaw said that African Americans stand in solidarity with Palestine. “We know how it is to not be recognized as human beings,” he said.
Since the executive board of the Oakland Education Association originally took a stand to oppose genocide and call for a ceasefire, the union has been under intense criticism both from mainstream media and an Oakland parents’ group, which has been encouraging teachers to quit the union.
However, on Monday evening, union delegates from the Oakland schools upheld a strong position, voting 66 to 31 in favor of a ceasefire.
Hutchinson and board member Sam Davis, joined by school board candidate Jorge Lerma, have been working with the parent group in opposition to the teachers’ union.
But another group of parents and community members supporting the teachers’ union’s stance just started a petition in the last couple of days and has already received over 300 signatures.
“As Oakland parents, caregivers, and community members, we are committed to the safety and well-being of all of our children,” the petition said. “We are writing to express our solidarity with the families of Palestine and to express support for district leaders and the OEA for standing in solidarity with the people of Palestine.”
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