Community

Opinion: ‘Our Community, Our Voice, We Speak for Us!’

Published

4 years ago

October 31, 2019

Oakland has long been a diverse city, a melting pot of all ethnicities cohabiting together lifting each other up. A place where blacks felt at home. Over the past 15+ years, the landscape of our city has changed; West Oakland is no longer home to predominately Black residents with jazz and blues clubs. Downtown is filled with upscale condos with migrates from San Francisco and surrounding cities, North Oakland, the birth place of the Black Panthers, has priced Blacks out. The Black population has declined by more than 50 percent and risks further erosion without Blacks raising our collective voices to assert what we want as a community.

Black displacement, unemployment and homelessness, demand that we speak up and be heard. While we acknowledge and appreciate well-meaning people who sincerely care about issues facing Black folks in Oakland, there also are people who have their own agendas and use our pain for their gain. This is obviously the case when it comes to the debate over building a multi commodity terminal in West Oakland which includes coal as one of its many commodities.

Insight Terminal Solutions (ITS) is poised to build a state of the art multi commodity terminal at the old Oakland Army base. The proposed terminal will bring life, economy, and resources to Oakland for Oakland residents. ITS has addressed community concerns in the creation of its first of a kind handling of commodities and meets and exceeds material handling standards.

For decades other people were claiming to speak for us while advancing their own agenda and leaving blacks impoverished, poorly educated, under housed and dependent upon others. Our goal is to bring this to an end. The Sierra Club and other environmentalist, want to stop the building of the terminal and the many jobs and opportunities it brings to Oakland residents. Their claim is that “it will hurt black folks” (here they go speaking for us). This is not true.

Our research shows No adverse health risks and No safety risks. What our research does show is: job creation, job training, entrepreneurship opportunities, a strengthened economy, a vibrant West Oakland operation and employed Oakland residents. Some environmental groups may mean well, but the truth is that while they talk about world issues, our people suffer.

We are forging a broad-based coalition that will continuously speak to issues confronting our community. What we don’t need is others speaking for us! We think it is time for black people in Oakland to speak for ourselves. AND WE WILL!

L.J. Jennings is a pastor, non-profit leader and community organizer for affordable housing.

Rev. L.J. Jennings

Posts by Rev. L.J. Jennings

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Activism

Oakland Post: Week of April 24 – 30, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of April 24 – 30, 2024

Published

2 days ago

April 26, 2024

Oakland Post

To enlarge your view of this issue, use the slider, magnifying glass icon or full page icon in the lower right corner of the browser window.

Oakland Post

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Alameda County

DA Pamela Price Stands by Mom Who Lost Son to Gun Violence in Oakland

Last week, The Post published a photo showing Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price with Carol Jones, whose son, Patrick DeMarco Scott, was gunned down by an unknown assailant in 2018.

Published

6 days ago

April 22, 2024

Oakland Post

District Attorney Pamela Price with Carol Jones

Publisher’s note: Last week, The Post published a photo showing Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price with Carol Jones, whose son, Patrick DeMarco Scott, was gunned down by an unknown assailant in 2018. The photo was too small for readers to see where the women were and what they were doing. Here we show Price and Jones as they complete a walk in memory of Scott. For more information and to contribute, please contact Carol Jones at 510-978-5517 at morefoundation.help@gmail.com. Courtesy photo.

Oakland Post

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City Government

Vallejo Welcomes Interim City Manager Beverli Marshall

At Tuesday night’s Council meeting, the Vallejo City Council appointed Beverli Marshall as the interim city manager. Her tenure in the City Manager’s Office began today, Wednesday, April 10. Mayor Robert McConnell praised Marshall’s extensive background, noting her “wide breadth of experience in many areas that will assist the City and its citizens in understanding the complexity of the many issues that must be solved” in Vallejo.

Published

6 days ago

April 22, 2024

Oakland Post

Beverli Marshall began her first day with the City on April 10. ICMA image.

Special to The Post

At Tuesday night’s Council meeting, the Vallejo City Council appointed Beverli Marshall as the interim city manager. Her tenure in the City Manager’s Office began today, Wednesday, April 10.

Mayor Robert McConnell praised Marshall’s extensive background, noting her “wide breadth of experience in many areas that will assist the City and its citizens in understanding the complexity of the many issues that must be solved” in Vallejo.

Current City Manager Michael Malone, whose official departure is slated for April 18, expressed his well wishes. “I wish the City of Vallejo and Interim City Manager Marshall all the best in moving forward on the progress we’ve made to improve service to residents.” Malone expressed his hope that the staff and Council will work closely with ICM Marshall to “ensure success and prosperity for the City.”

According to the Vallejo Sun, Malone stepped into the role of interim city manager in 2021 and became permanent in 2022. Previously, Malone served as the city’s water director and decided to retire from city service e at the end of his contract which is April 18.

“I hope the excellent work of City staff will continue for years to come in Vallejo,” he said. “However, recent developments have led me to this decision to announce my retirement.”

When Malone was appointed, Vallejo was awash in scandals involving the housing division and the police department. A third of the city’s jobs went unfilled during most of his tenure, making for a rocky road for getting things done, the Vallejo Sun reported.

At last night’s council meeting, McConnell explained the selection process, highlighting the council’s confidence in achieving positive outcomes through a collaborative effort, and said this afternoon, “The Council is confident that by working closely together, positive results will be obtained.”

While the search for a permanent city manager is ongoing, an announcement is expected in the coming months.

On behalf of the City Council, Mayor McConnell extended gratitude to the staff, citizen groups, and recruitment firm.

“The Council wishes to thank the staff, the citizens’ group, and the recruitment firm for their diligent work and careful consideration for the selection of what is possibly the most important decision a Council can make on behalf of the betterment of our City,” McConnell said.

The Vallejo Sun contributed to this report.