Activism

Over 50 Protestors Attend Rally Against New Proposed Homelessness Management Policy

Published

4 years ago

October 15, 2020

Dayton Andrews gives a speech next to trash bags that protestors dumped outside of Oakland’s Department of Public Works building during a rally against a proposed new homelessness management policy. The dumping called attention to city inaction against businesses and housed residents dumping waste in communities where unhoused people live. Photo by Jungho Kim on Oct. 10, 2020.

Over 50 people attended a rally against new proposed legislation, called the Encampment Management Policy, outside of Oakland’s City Hall on Oct. 10 from 1:00 p.m. to around 4:00 p.m.

The rally started with speeches in the amphitheater in front of City Hall. Dayton Andrews of The United Front Against Displacement, the group who hosted the rally, spoke first.

“This Encampment Management Policy creates no pathways into housing,” he said. “it merely expands…police authority to [mess] with homeless people.”

Protestors included members of the United Front Against Displacement from the Bay Area, Boston and New York, members of local housing justice groups Bay Area TANC and The Village as well as unhoused Bay Area residents including those who live in the 37MLK community.

Andrews and other speakers stood in front of a boarded up City Hall entrance upon which an unknown source graffitied “OHLONE LAND” and “BLACK LIVES MATTER” last summer and behind two banners trapped across the amphitheater stairs which read “SERVE THE PEOPLE NOT THE RICH” and “THE UNITED FRONT AGAINST DISPLACEMENT” in large black and red letters.

In his speech, Andrews claimed the EMP “codifies and normalizes” the city’s recent and current practice of clearing people who experience homelessness out of an area while offering them no other safe place to live.

On March 27, the City Council unanimously passed a resolution requesting that the City Administration follow CDC guidelines during the COVID-19 pandemic and “only clear homeless encampments if individual housing units or alternative shelter is provided,” but the language used, as a request, has not required the city to do or not do anything.

Although the pace of clearances has slowed during the pandemic, they have still been happening. On Sept. 23, the City demolished structures that had sheltered 20 to 30 homeless people living under the BART rail on 85th Avenue and San Leandro Street in East Oakland and offered them no alternative shelter.

The new Encampment Management Policy, which City Administration formulated, does not provide new services to people experiencing homelessness in Oakland but defines areas that encompass most of Oakland as “high sensitive areas,” then states those areas will be subject to closure.

High sensitivity areas include those within 150 feet of schools, 50 feet or residences, businesses, parks, playgrounds, or sports courts. The City Administration plans to present the EMP to City Council on October 20 where council can approve, outright reject, or engage in a process of changing the policy.

Speakers at the rally did not address reforming the new policy, but some spoke broadly of what they felt all Oakland residents deserve in terms of housing.

“We want decent housing fit for the shelter of human beings,” said activist former Black Panther Frances Moore, widely known as Aunti Frances. She then suggested land and housing should be bought using government aid to be cooperatively owned by Black and oppressed communities who are experiencing homelessness.

Romalita, a resident of the homeless community 37MLK, spoke of how her homelessness is making it impossible for her to get needed surgery. She was critical of those in political positions of power at all levels and emphasized unity amongst activists.

“There’s no one up there who I like, or who’s doing anything for us,” she said. “If we can just stand hand-in-hand together, we can be the power. We are the power.”

After the speeches, protestors marched around City Hall and to the Dept. of Public Works Building, where they laid down a tarp and dumped bags full of trash, a tire, and a couch cushion gathered from a large homeless community in West Oakland.

Before the dumping, Andrews spoke of how homeless people get blamed for trashing areas but are not given consistent trash services by the City and that the places they live become dumping grounds for business and housed residents.

As they dumped trash, protestors chanted “All power to the people.” They picked up the trash before leaving the site.

Michelle Snider

Associate Editor for The Post News Group. Writer, Photographer, Videographer, Copy Editor, and website editor documenting local events in the Oakland-Bay Area California area.

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Associate Editor for The Post News Group. Writer, Photographer, Videographer, Copy Editor, and website editor documenting local events in the Oakland-Bay Area California area.

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Activism

Oakland Post: Week of April 17 – 23, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of April 17 – 23, 2024

Published

16 hours ago

April 19, 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.

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Activism

Oakland Schools Honor Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties

Every Jan. 30, OUSD commemorates the legacy of Fred Korematsu, an Oakland native, a Castlemont High School graduate, and a national symbol of resistance, resilience, and justice. His defiant stand against racial injustice and his unwavering commitment to civil rights continue to inspire the local community and the nation. Tuesday was “Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution” in the state of California and a growing number of states across the country.

Published

1 day ago

April 19, 2024

Oakland Post

Fred Korematsu. Courtesy of OUSD.

By Post Staff

Every Jan. 30, OUSD commemorates the legacy of Fred Korematsu, an Oakland native, a Castlemont High School graduate, and a national symbol of resistance, resilience, and justice.

His defiant stand against racial injustice and his unwavering commitment to civil rights continue to inspire the local community and the nation. Tuesday was “Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution” in the state of California and a growing number of states across the country.
One OUSD school is named in his honor: Fred T. Korematsu Discovery Academy (KDA) elementary in East Oakland.

Several years ago, founding KDA Principal Charles Wilson, in a video interview with anti-hate organization “Not In Our Town,” said, “We chose the name Fred Korematsu because we really felt like the attributes that he showed in his work are things that the children need to learn … that common people can stand up and make differences in a large number of people’s lives.”

Fred Korematsu was born in Oakland on Jan. 30, 1919. His parents ran a floral nursery business, and his upbringing in Oakland shaped his worldview. His belief in the importance of standing up for your rights and the rights of others, regardless of race or background, was the foundation for his activism against racial prejudice and for the rights of Japanese Americans during World War II.

At the start of the war, Korematsu was turned away from enlisting in the National Guard and the Coast Guard because of his race. He trained as a welder, working at the docks in Oakland, but was fired after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941. Fear and prejudice led to federal Executive Order 9066, which forced more than 120,000 Japanese Americans out of their homes and neighborhoods and into remote internment camps.

The 23-year-old Korematsu resisted the order. He underwent cosmetic surgery and assumed a false identity, choosing freedom over unjust imprisonment. His later arrest and conviction sparked a legal battle that would challenge the foundation of civil liberties in America.

Korematsu’s fight culminated in the Supreme Court’s initial ruling against him in 1944. He spent years in a Utah internment camp with his family, followed by time living in Salt Lake City where he was dogged by racism.

In 1976, President Gerald Ford overturned Executive Order 9066. Seven years later, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco vacated Korematsu’s conviction. He said in court, “I would like to see the government admit that they were wrong and do something about it so this will never happen again to any American citizen of any race, creed, or color.”

Korematsu’s dedication and determination established him as a national icon of civil rights and social justice. He advocated for justice with Rosa Parks. In 1998, President Bill Clinton gave him the Presidential Medal of Freedom saying, “In the long history of our country’s constant search for justice, some names of ordinary citizens stand for millions of souls … To that distinguished list, today we add the name of Fred Korematsu.”

After Sept. 11, 2001, Korematsu spoke out against hatred and discrimination, saying what happened to Japanese Americans should not happen to people of Middle Eastern descent.
Korematsu’s roots in Oakland and his education in OUSD are a source of great pride for the city, according to the school district. His most famous quote, which is on the Korematsu elementary school mural, is as relevant now as ever, “If you have the feeling that something is wrong, don’t be afraid to speak up.”

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Activism

WOMEN IMPACTING THE CHURCH AND COMMUNITY

Published

2 days ago

April 17, 2024

Oakland Post

Juanita Matthews

Sister Juanita Matthews

55 Years with Oakland Public School District

The Teacher, Mother, Community Outreach Champion, And Child of God

Juanita Matthews, better known as “Sister Teacher,” is a walking Bible scholar. She moved to California from the great state of Arkansas in 1971. Sister Teacher has a passion for teaching. She has been a member of Bible Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church since 1971. She followed her passion for teaching, and in 1977 became the lead teacher for Adult Class #6. Her motto still today is “Once My Student, Always My Student”.

Beyond her remarkable love for the Lord, Sister Teacher has showcased her love for teaching by working for the Oakland Unified School District for 55 years, all but four of those years spent at Emerson Elementary and Child Development School. She truly cares about her students, making sure they have the tools/supplies needed to learn either at OUSD or Bible Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church.

She’s also had a “Clothes Closet Ministry” for 51 years, making sure her students have sufficient clothing for school. The Clothes Closet Ministry extends past her students, she has been clothing the community for over 50 years as well. She loves the Lord and is a servant on a mission. She is a loving mother to two beautiful children, Sandra and Andre. This is the impact this woman of God has on her church and the community.