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Opinion – COVID-19 and the Black Business Community

Published

6 years ago

May 7, 2020

We’ve heard it, perpetually-year after year, decade after decade, generation after generation—the African American community is the most maligned and underrepresented population per capita, in US history. Notwithstanding a legacy of accomplishment despite excessive personal attack; academic achievement despite underfunded institutions, freedom despite mass imprisonment, and human survival despite genocide: the African American business community must and will survive.

We are presently facing the direst human contagion of the last century; a novel corona virus, COVID-19, threatens to destroy the African American community. We have not faced a medical battle of this proportion–nearly 75,000 Americans have died in less than 100 days–since the 1918 Spanish Flu decimated the US population by some 200,000 fatalities. How did America become the greatest and wealthiest nation on the planet following that epic health crisis? The likely answer is on the backs of African Americans, Spanish Americans, Asian Americans and Native Americans—the collective peoples of color.

Where is the documented history of our survival and wealth building since that time, save the unthinkable assassinations wrought from Jim Crow and Civil Rights eras?

Despite the unthinkable assassinations that occurred during the Jim Crow and Civil Rights eras, and with some atrocities still occurring, we must and will survive. As we rise from this present-day annihilation, we further resolve [that] our economic vitality will not be held hostage nor lay in a perpetual state of weakened life support. As Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. declared in his 1963 March on Washington speech when he said, “we have come to our nation’s capital to cash a check…America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check which has come back marked ‘insufficient funds.’ But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt.”

And still today, the wealth inheritance for the African American community whether held back, denied, stolen or misappropriated is still past due.

Our survival is part of a continuum. The African American [Black Business] community will again create its own funding vehicles following the successful footsteps of many history-making and successful businesspersons such as Madame C.J. Walker – First female African American millionaire and inventor; Arthur George “A.G.” Gaston – Noted hotelier and entrepreneur; John H. Johnson – Founder and Publisher of Ebony Magazine; Sheila Johnson – Co-Founder of Black Entertainment Television Network, first African American female billionaire, hotelier and Oprah Winfrey – Billionaire media mogul and philanthropist.

We must and we will survive by following their examples of self help and mutual support.

Cathy Adams, President of the Oakland African American Chamber of Commerce (www.oaacc.org) states, “The African American business community will survive this health crisis but the degree of our recovery will be determined by the financial resources and healthcare services made available. Before we were staring COVID-19 in the face, the Black community was swimming upstream against a current of inequities and insufficient services to balance the quality of life across racial demographics. Nonetheless, we have pushed forward. The goal now is to recover, equally, during and on the other side of this debilitating economic and health crisis.”

Sandra Varner

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Oakland Post: Week of September 9 – 15, 2026

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of September 9 – 15, 2026

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The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of September 2 – 8, 2026

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Youth-Led Black August Event Brings Past to Present at East Oakland Boxing Association

The mission of Youth Alive! Is to “break the cycle of violence, heal trauma, and uplift a thriving community of leaders, to save lives in Oakland and beyond” by serving “as mentors, youth leaders, counselors, case managers, intervention specialists and violence interrupters,” working “to help violently wounded people heal themselves and their community.”

Published

2 weeks ago

August 29, 2026

Post News Group

Dawna Williams, EOBA executive director speaks to attendees at the Black August Eperience on Aug. 21. Photo courtesy of Carolyn Flynn of EOBA.

By Jana Lang Propel Youth Reporter

Youth-Led Black August Event Brings Past to Present at East Oakland Boxing Association

The East Oakland Boxing Association (EOBA) and Youth Alive! came together on Aug. 21 to share with their community all that Black August means to them.

Held on EOBA’s patio at 816 98th Ave. in Deep East Oakland, the two organizations hosted their second annual Black August Experience, featuring a food tasting, financial literacy and mindfulness workshops, and voter registration with the League of Women Voters Oakland (LWV).

Black August is known as a time to uphold the legacy of prisoners who protested their conditions by fasting, fighting, and educating themselves on the economic and political circumstances that contributed to their incarceration.

According to its website, “EOBA is a multi-service youth and community development hub that goes far beyond the ring. While rooted in the discipline of boxing, for nearly 40 years EOBA has also integrated robust programs in workforce development, food justice, afterschool enrichment, financial literacy, mentorship, and wellness.”.

The mission of Youth Alive! Is to “break the cycle of violence, heal trauma, and uplift a thriving community of leaders, to save lives in Oakland and beyond” by serving “as mentors, youth leaders, counselors, case managers, intervention specialists and violence interrupters,” working “to help violently wounded people heal themselves and their community.”

Through Coro California, another leadership organization serving young people across the state for 80 years, they gained a broader understanding of Black August.

EOBA Executive Director Dawna Williams spoke about how much she learned about Black August from the youth who created it. “I let them educate me,” she said. Instead of talking about prison reform and mass incarceration, Williams and youth interns found that Black August meant so much more. “We would have done a disservice if we had just focused on who the people were and what their situation was…We tried to take their message from back in the day and make it relevant to the young people today. What do they need to know?”

Youth interns created and placed posters around the patio to help participants understand how traditional Black foodways, civic engagement, financial literacy, and the power of education are relevant to Black resistance today.

An EOBA member described Black August with Youth ALIVE! as “a whole vibe. “This year we added the Fun Zone for the kids, because you really cannot go wrong with a Fun Zone. I also loved seeing everyone chillin’ in the outdoor lounge, catching some Vitamin D and just enjoying a Friday evening together.”

The food tasting, a popular event from last year, featured traditional Black foods such as black-eyed peas, johnny cakes, and fried chicken. Led by Williams, the tasting included a talk about how these traditional foods were made and why they are forms of Black resilience.

The “‘Plate of History’ was a favorite of the online writers. “Fun, educational, and did I mention delicious? Our Taste of History cook, Angela Southall, served up some good eats while connecting food to history and culture.”

The writer also commended the “League of Women Voters Oakland for their civic leadership and for getting our young people informed, ready, and registered to vote.”

Overall, it was a “good Friday event in East Oakland,” the writer said.

Upcoming Black August events: 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.

The websites for East Oakland Boxing Association, Youth Alive! and CORO are sources for this report.

Jana Lang is an Oakland resident, teacher, gardener and poet participating in the Propel News Initiative.