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MLK Jr. Commemoration to Honor Contra Costa County’s Humanitarians of Year

A 1984 John F. Kennedy High School graduate, Brown may be most known for founding the Soulful Softball Sunday organization in 2015. In October 2023, the County Board of Supervisors honored Brown with a Ceremonial Resolution for his lifetime of service, citing his more than four decades as a professional barber, professional baseball scout, community advocate, journalist, award-winning author and Bay Area hip hop pioneer.

Published

5 months ago

January 11, 2025

Oakland Post

Rodney Alamo Brown. Courtesy photo.

The Richmond Standard

Local community advocate Rodney “Alamo” Brown, founder of the Soulful Softball Sunday organization, will be honored as Adult Humanitarian of the Year at the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors’ 47th Annual Commemoration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

The commemoration event will be held on Tuesday, Jan. 21, at 11 a.m. in the Board of Supervisors Chambers at 1025 Escobar St. in Martinez.

At the event, themed “Celebrating Our Shared Humanity,” Brown will be honored alongside Student Humanitarians of the Year Soha and Imran Sohail Guller of San Ramon Valley High School in Danville.

“No work is insignificant, and we are fortunate to honor a Humanitarian and two Student Humanitarians of the Year, who bring to life Dr. King’s vision through their service to our community,” said Board Chair Supervisor Candace Andersen.

The Jan. 21 MLK Jr. Commemoration will feature Mitchell Hopson as keynote speaker, performances from the Dougherty Valley High School Choir, and Stephen Sharpe, Poet Laureate for the City of Richmond. Rev. Dr. Carole McKindley-Alvarez will give an invocation.

The public can watch the ceremony by visiting www.contracostatv.org. The celebration will also be broadcast live on Contra Costa Television (CCTV) channels, Comcast Cable 27, ATT/U-Verse 99, and Astound 32 and 1027.

To learn more about the Dr. King Ceremony and past ceremonies, visit here.

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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

6 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.