Crime

Opinion: Send Cards to Incarcerated Moms for Mother’s Day

Published

9 years ago

May 3, 2017

By Simone Thelemaque, President – BWOPA Oakland/Berkeley Chapter

This past month has felt very heavy, as I found myself deeply triggered by the violent attacks on women from estranged lovers and spouses.

Say Her Name: Rashanda Franklin in Richmond and Karen Smith in San Bernardino. These are two of the women whose deaths left me wondering: “How?”

Following this strange wave of violence, the Huffington Post posted an article “Five Women Black Women Open Up About Being in Abusive Relationships” (Trigger Warning)

I learned that many women end up in jail for self-defense from an abuser. This should not have been a surprise to me, but for some reason, the reality has left a deep burning hole in my heart.

I thought of those women, their children, friends and family and how our system continues to participate in victim blaming.

Enough is enough.

Although I cannot change the entire world, what I can do, what we can do, is uplift those mothers behind bars.

We may not know how all of them arrived in that space, but many of them are mothers.

I would love to personally invite you to join me, and the women of Black Women Organized for Political Action in our efforts of distributing 400 cards by May 9.

What to include: messages of love, hope, unity, encouragement, and solidarity. We cannot live in this world of borders, walls and separation. Our sisters need us just as badly as we need them. We are doing this for our children, their children and our collective futures.

Who are we serving?

1. Elmwood Complex Women’s Facility in Santa Clara County, which is a 500-person institution, 300 of whom are mothers. There are two mothers in juvenile detention, who will also receive cards.
2. West County Detention Facility in Richmond. We are not sure the numbers at this time, but we are expecting at least 100.

In Oakland Simone Thelemaque is the contact person. The Oakland drop off location is AU Lounge, 2430 Broadway. You may come in and make cards anytime between 6:30 p.m.-8 p.m. and drop off ANYTIME between 6:30 p.m. and 2 a.m.

In Richmond Kathleen Sullivan, president of the Richmond BWOPA chapter, is the contact person. She can be reached at ksullivanwill2@gmail.com to arrange to drop off.

In the South Bay Shanta Franco-Clausen is your contact person. She can be reached at shanta.franco.clausen@gmail.com

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Oakland Post: Week of December 24 – 30, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of – December 24 – 30, 2025

Published

7 days ago

December 25, 2025

Oakland Post

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Alameda County

Oakland Council Expands Citywide Security Cameras Despite Major Opposition

In a 7-1 vote in favor of the contract, with only District 3 Councilmember Carroll Fife voting no, the Council agreed to maintain its existing network of 291 cameras and add 40 new “pan-tilt-zoom cameras.”

Published

2 weeks ago

December 21, 2025

Oakland Post

At the International Association of Chiefs of Police Conference, Flock Safety introduces new public safety technology – Amplified Intelligence, a suite of AI-powered tools designed to improve law enforcement investigations. Courtesy photo.

By Post Staff

The Oakland City Council this week approved a $2.25 million contract with Flock Safety for a mass surveillance network of hundreds of security cameras to track vehicles in the city.

In recent weeks hundreds of local residents have spoken against the camera system, raising concerns that data will be shared with immigration authorities and other federal agencies at a time when mass surveillance is growing across the country with little regard for individual rights.

The Flock network, supported by the Oakland Police Department, has the backing of residents and councilmembers who see it as an important tool to protect public safety.

“This system makes the Department more efficient as it allows for information related to disruptive/violent criminal activities to be captured … and allows for precise and focused enforcement,” OPD wrote in its proposal to City Council.

According to OPD, police made 232 arrests using data from Flock cameras between July 2024 and November of this year.

Based on the data, police say they recovered 68 guns, and utilizing the countywide system, they have found 1,100 stolen vehicles.

However, Flock’s cameras cast a wide net. The company’s cameras in Oakland last month captured license plate numbers and other information from about 1.4 million vehicles.

Speaking at Tuesday’s Council meeting, Fife was critical of her colleagues for signing a contract with a company that has been in the national spotlight for sharing data with federal agencies.

Flock’s cameras – which are automated license plate readers – have been used in tracking people who have had abortions, monitoring protesters, and aiding in deportation roundups.

“I don’t know how we get up and have several press conferences talking about how we are supportive of a sanctuary city status but then use a vendor that has been shown to have a direct relationship with (the U.S.) Border Control,” she said. “It doesn’t make sense to me.”

Several councilmembers who voted in favor of the contract said they supported the deal as long as some safeguards were written into the Council’s resolution.

“We’re not aiming for perfection,” said District 1 Councilmember Zac Unger. “This is not Orwellian facial recognition technology — that’s prohibited in Oakland. The road forward here is to add as many amendments as we can.”

Amendments passed by the Council prohibit OPD from sharing camera data with any other agencies for the purpose of “criminalizing reproductive or gender affirming healthcare” or for federal immigration enforcement. California state law also prohibits the sharing of license plate reader data with the federal government, and because Oakland’s sanctuary city status, OPD is not allowed to cooperate with immigration authorities.

A former member of Oakland’s Privacy Advisory Commission has sued OPD, alleging that it has violated its own rules around data sharing.

So far, OPD has shared Flock data with 50 other law enforcement agencies.