Community

‘Not a day off.’ — Martin Luther King Jr. Day in Oakland

Published

8 years ago

January 30, 2019

Howard Dyckoff

Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday is a day off for many—but in Oakland, it’s a day on for service and activism.

A child marches as part of Monday’s Reclaim MLK event in downtown Oakland. Photo by Amir Saadiq

A Day of Activism
By Post Staff

Hundreds took to the streets on what would have been Martin Luther King, Jr.,’s 90th birthday—Monday, Jan. 21.

The Anti Police-Terror Project, a local activist group dedicated to fighting police brutality, organized the fifth annual march to “Reclaim the Radical Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.”

The event began with a sunrise ceremony, followed by a march through downtown Oakland. Those marching chanted against white supremacy and racism, tying together several issues facing Oaklanders—gentrification, racial profiling, and immigrants’ rights.
APTP held “people’s assemblies” outside City Hall at Frank Ogawa Plaza, occupying the plaza for 10 hours.

This Jan. 1 marked 10 years since the killing of Oscar Grant, a young Black man wrongfully shot by a BART police officer at Fruitvale BART station. His family, and the families of other police-slain young men called for justice.

After the march, Lead to Life, an organization that buys back guns and transforms them into shovels for planting trees, joined protesters at City Hall. They melted guns in the plaza ceremoniously, casting sparks into the air as dancers wielded the shovels—now tools of life—in celebration.

Lead to Life buys back guns “to transform that which ends life into that which sustains life – to facilitate an alchemical healing process that can physically transform both our weapons and our imaginations.”

Lead to Life, a local organization, melts gun metal outside the entrance to City Hall on MLK Day turning tools of death into tools of life (shovels for tree planting) on, Monday, Jan. 21. Photo by Saskia Hatvany

Dancers wield shovels created from repurposed gun metal in front of City Hall. Photo by Amir Saadiq

A Day of Service
By Howard Dyckoff

The MLK Day of Service and holiday were celebrated by cleanup and service projects all over Oakland—two in Deep East Oakland. Over 300 volunteers showed up at MLK Shoreline Park and more than 100 volunteers focused on restoring the quality of Arroyo Viejo Park, a stone’s throw from Eastmont Mall.

Over 2,400 volunteers participated at 35 parks and recreation sites throughout the City of Oakland.

Dwayne Atkins, the organizer of the cleanup at Arroyo Viejo and co-founder of We Lead Ours (WELO), has organized volunteer days here for the last several years. “It’s important for folks to come out and to participate because it really brings the community together. It’s great to see so many families and ethnicities here, and I know Brother Dr. Martin Luther King would be smiling today,” Atkins said.

The AST Sorority was among thousands of cleanup volunteers on MLK Day. Photo by Howard Dyckoff

The project at AV included tree planting, mulching, plant pruning, removing debris from the creek, and general cleanup around the park recreation center and park parking lots. Yoon Jae, mother of two daughters, said this event would teach children to improve the environment and also to give back to communities in need. The purpose, she said, is “helping communities and teaching kids to help build a better Oakland, It’s good for them to see with their own eyes the difference we can make.”

At the MLK Shoreline, (accessible from Oakport Drive, near the Coliseum) volunteer efforts were organized by the East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD), and Save the Bay, a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving San Francisco Bay.

Park Naturalist Michael Charnofsky spoke with small clusters of volunteers after they registered to explain the effort and the environmental factors behind it. Pollution of the Bay is a regional problem—trash from other cities winds up here on Oakland’s Bay shores.

“Every creek that goes into the Bay is a source of trash,” Charnofsky said. “Most of the trash in the Bay comes from the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers. We’ve had a lot of high tides with strong winds,” he said, “and that’s blown a lot of trash into the Bay.”

Charnofsky said EBRPD expected over 250 volunteers to attend the cleanup, including families with kids and also industry groups like Kaiser Permanente and Netapp. “Its a good turnout,” he said.

Two Crocker Highlands Elementary students pick up trash at Arroyo Viejo park. Photo by Howard Dyckoff

Back at Arroyo Viejo, Atkins explained his personal mission at the park. “This park is very special to me,” he said. “I grew up near this park, I used to come here to play as a child.

When I started my first non-profit, I did my first community day camp here.

“Being on the City Parks Commission, I want to be hands-on, participating in the park. I also want to make it safe for a child to come play…too many young people have lost their lives in this park, walking through at night time. So, I think it’s important for the community to come together on this.”

Congress designated the MLK Day federal holiday as a national day of service in 1994. The MLK Day of Service is intended to empower individuals, strengthen communities and move us closer to Dr. King’s vision of a “Beloved Community.” The day is part of President Obama’s national initiative, United We Serve, which is led by the Corporation for National and Community Service. The initiative was launched by first lady Michelle Obama in 2009 as a way of meeting community needs.

Howard Dyckoff

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Community

Four Candidates, Including Incumbent Barbara Lee, Qualify for Oakland Mayor’s Race

POST NEWS GROUP — Four candidates, including incumbent Mayor Barbara Lee, filed their papers to run for office by last Friday’s deadline, and the City Clerk issued a list this week of those who are qualified to run.

Published

23 hours ago

August 15, 2026

bpusa-syndication

View of downtown Oakland, California and City Hall. iStock photo.

By Post Staff

The four mayoral candidates who will appear on the Nov. 3 ballot are:

Brenda Grisham. A business owner in East Oakland and public safety advocate, Grisham led the successful recall campaign against Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price. As part of her platform, she pledges to work with local, state, and federal partners to secure stricter gun control measures and investments in community violence intervention programs.

Barbara Lee. A former congressional representative and state Assembly member, Lee was elected by voters in a special election last year for a two-year term. Now running for a four-year term, she points out that her administration achieved major successes in addressing some of the city’s major challenges, including balancing the city budget, dramatically reducing crime, and making significant inroads into homelessness and illegal dumping.

Mindy Pechenuk. An educator and activist, Pechenuk is a registered Republican and supporter of Lyndon LaRouche, who has been described by observers as a conspiracy theorist and cult leader. She ran unsuccessfully for mayor in last year’s special election and for the at-large council seat in 2024. She seeks to end Oakland’s police commission and MACRO and invest in more police while launching a new local war on drugs.

Julius Robinson. While little information is available so far about Robinson, he was quoted in a KTVU story about Thao’s recall, stating that people in Oakland want to come together as a community but lack infrastructure and leadership.

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Black History

Oakland Observes Black August with Block Parties, Film Showings, Workshops

POST NEWS GROUP — Beginning in 1979 in San Quentin State Prison, the Black Guerrilla Family called for the remembrance of political prisoner George Jackson and his brother Jonathan Jackson who were assassinated in the early 1970s. George Jackson was considered a political prisoner in that it was the anti-Black justice system that led to his incarceration for armed robbery with a sentence of one year-to-life in 1960.

Published

1 day ago

August 15, 2026

bpusa-syndication

George Jackson wrote two books: “Soledad Brother,” and “Blood in My Eye” before her was killed in an attempt to escape prison on Aug. 21, 1971.

By Jana Lang, Propel Youth Reporter

Study. Train. Fast. Fight.

These are the four tenets of Black August, a month dedicated to commemorating the sacrifices of political prisoners and Black revolutionaries in the struggle for Black liberation.

Observers are urged to study the history of the Black struggle for freedom, train their bodies for health and self-defense, fast to cleanse the mind, body, and spirit, and fight ongoing oppression alongside their communities and local political organizations.

Beginning in 1979 in San Quentin State Prison, the Black Guerrilla Family called for the remembrance of political prisoner George Jackson and his brother Jonathan Jackson who were assassinated in the early 1970s. George Jackson was considered a political prisoner in that it was the anti-Black justice system that led to his incarceration for armed robbery with a sentence of one year-to-life in 1960.

While in prison, George befriended fellow prisoner W.L. Nolen, who introduced him to the works of Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin, Mao Zedong, and Frantz Fanon. This radicalization coupled with his experiences of violence while imprisoned led to him writing and publishing two books, “Soledad Brother” (1970), and “Blood in my Eye” (1972). In January of 1970, George and two other prisoners were charged with murdering a corrections officer at Soledad State Prison in Monterey County.

On Aug. 7, 1970, Jonathan Jackson burst into a Marin County courtroom armed with a shotgun to demand the freedom of the Soledad Brothers. He, along with the inmates he freed, was shot and killed while driving away. This involved one of the Black Panther Party’s most notable associates, Angela Davis, because the shotgun was registered in her name. She was later acquitted of charges of conspiracy, kidnapping, and murder in 1972.

On Aug. 21, 1971, George Jackson was assassinated by a corrections officer after attempting to escape and free other inmates. As a result, there were uprisings and protests within prisons all over the country that year, calling forth resistance against racial oppression and mass incarceration.

Since its outset, Black August has evolved across the country, taking many forms to honor this history and embody the four tenets.

In Oakland, the upcoming Black August Experience, hosted by Youth Alive! and the East Oakland Boxing Association (EOBA), is a free, family-friendly event celebrating the legacy of Black August. Activities include free food and drinks, a kids’ activity zone, interactive workshops, live cooking and boxing demonstrations, and more.

Happening on Aug. 21 from 4-8 p.m. at the EOBA Patio, Carolyn Flynn, director of administration at EOBA, said the event, in its second year, will be an opportunity to engage with people in person through food, shared space, and education.

“We do regular classes in education, and those are ongoing programs that we offer, but we wanted to have [an opportunity] for our neighbors to utilize this space.” Combined with Youth Alive’s work in community violence prevention and youth leadership, this event surely aims to bring the Oakland community together to capture what Black August means today.

Here are additional Black August events happening in Oakland:

Forum and Community Discussion hosted by the Oakland Liberation Center, 1499 Fruitvale Ave., Aug. 14, 7 p.m.

“George Jackson/San Quentin” Screening hosted by Nostalgic for Nothing Cinema at Moments Co-Op, 410 13th St., Aug. 16, doors at 6 p.m., show at 6:30 p.m. (Masks required and scent-free)

Commemorating the Struggle, Building the Altar for Liberation: Black August at Bandung Books, 2269 International Blvd., Aug. 23rd, 1-5 p.m.

Building Opportunities for Self-Sufficiency (BOSS), will host “Black August: The Arc of Liberation” at Oakland City Hall on Sat. Aug. 29, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.