Uncategorized

Port Chicago’s 75th Anniversary Attended

Published

6 years ago

July 27, 2019

A group from Marin City attended the Port Chicago 75th Anniversary at the former Concord Naval Weapons Station in Concord, CA, on July 17, 2019, to commemorate the Port Chicago disaster. They included Felecia Gaston, Dévona Times, Federico Cortez, Kat Taylor, Renelle Cirera,, Juanita Edwards, Jade Sweeney, Jamese Brown, and Rev. Diana McDaniel, President Friends of Port Chicago.

The Port Chicago disaster occurred at 10:18 p.m. on July 17, 1944, when 5,000 tons of high explosive, bombs, and ammunition exploded while being loaded onto the S.S. E.A. Bryan.

The explosion killed 320 cargo handlers, crewmen and sailors who were working in the area, and injured 400. Among them were 202 young Black sailors who were ordered to load and unload explosives with no training and inadequate equipment.

The Bryan, the SS Quinault Victory and the pier were destroyed. The blast resulted in damaged windows in San Francisco 48 miles away, and registered as a 3.4 on the seismographs at UC Berkeley.

A month later, 258 Navy replacement sailors were asked to return to loading ammunition, but they refused to follow the order, and wanted Navy officials to change load procedures to enhance safety.

When the Navy refused to amend its procedures, the sailors refused to load the ships. Naval officials declared this a mutiny and arrested most of the men. Two hundred and eight of them were court-martialed, sentenced to bad conduct discharges and the forfeit of three months pay for disobeying orders.

Fifty of them were charged with outright mutiny, and were sentenced to eight to 15 years of hard labor. In January of 1946, all of the accused were given clemency, released from prison, allowed to complete their military service, and given honorable discharges. Only one was ever pardoned.

These revelations prompted Navy officials to start to work toward full desegregation of their personnel by 1945, three years before Pres. Harry Truman issued Executive Order 9981 which integrated the Armed Forces.

Thurgood Marshall, Chief Counsel for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, attended the trial and spoke with journalists about racial discrimination in the armed forces. He believed that the court martial unjustly charged the sailors with mutiny, and called for an investigation of the Navy’s practice of segregating support roles, as well as the unsafe conditions that the Black sailors worked in.

The Port Chicago 75th Anniversary remembers the 320 sailors who died and the 50 sailors who stood against discrimination and unsafe working conditions. Sailor Rafel Beason had a daughter born four months after his death. His daughter, Dr. Orville Ray Beason, who received a flag in honor of her father, remembers “There was no grave, no memorial, only pictures.”

“They should be remembered as heroes,” Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, wrote. “The charges of mutiny levied against these service members are wrong. These brave men should be honored, not only for their pivotal role in the World War II home front effort but also for their courage in the face of injustice.”

Godfrey Lee

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Uncategorized

Oakland Housing and Community Development Department Awards $80.5 Million to Affordable Housing Developments

Published

6 months ago

June 17, 2025

Oakland Post

Special to The Post

The City of Oakland’s Housing and Community Development Department (Oakland HCD) announced its awardees for the 2024-2025 New Construction of Multifamily Affordable Housing Notice of Funding Availability (New Construction NOFA) today Five permanently affordable housing developments received awards out of 24 applications received by the Department, with award amounts ranging from $7 million to $28 million.

In a statement released on Jan. 16, Oakland’s HCD stated, “Five New Construction Multifamily Affordable Housing Development projects awarded a total of $80.5 million to develop 583 affordable rental homes throughout Oakland. Awardees will leverage the City’s investments to apply for funding from the state and private entities.”

In December, the office of Rebecca Kaplan, interim District 2 City Councilmember, worked with HCD to allocate an additional $10 Million from Measure U to the funding pool. The legislation also readopted various capital improvement projects including street paving and upgrades to public facilities.

The following Oakland affordable housing developments have been awarded in the current round:

Mandela Station Affordable

238 Affordable Units including 60 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $15 million + previously awarded $18 million
Developer: Mandela Station LP (Pacific West Communities, Inc. and Strategic Urban Development Alliance, LLC)
City Council District: 3
Address: 1451 7th St.

Liberation Park Residences

118 Affordable Units including 30 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $28 million
Developer: Eden Housing and Black Cultural Zone
City Council District: 6
Address: 7101 Foothill Blvd.

34th & San Pablo

59 Affordable Units including 30 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $7 million
Developer: 34SP Development LP (EBALDC)
City Council District: 3
Address: 3419-3431 San Pablo Ave.

The Eliza

96 Affordable Units including 20 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $20 million
Developer: Mercy Housing California
City Council District: 3
Address: 2125 Telegraph Ave.

3135 San Pablo

72 Affordable Units including 36 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $10.5 million
Developer: SAHA and St. Mary’s Center
City Council District: 3
Address: 3515 San Pablo Ave.

The source of this story is the media reltations office of District 2 City Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Activism

Oakland Housing and Community Development Department Awards $80.5 Million to Affordable Housing Developments

Published

11 months ago

January 30, 2025

Oakland Post

Rebecca Kaplan, interim District 2 city councilmember. File photo.

Special to The Post

The following Oakland affordable housing developments have been awarded in the current round:

Mandela Station Affordable

238 Affordable Units including 60 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $15 million + previously awarded $18 million
Developer: Mandela Station LP (Pacific West Communities, Inc. and Strategic Urban Development Alliance, LLC)
City Council District: 3
Address: 1451 7th St.

Liberation Park Residences

118 Affordable Units including 30 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $28 million
Developer: Eden Housing and Black Cultural Zone
City Council District: 6
Address: 7101 Foothill Blvd.

34th & San Pablo

59 Affordable Units including 30 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $7 million
Developer: 34SP Development LP (EBALDC)
City Council District: 3
Address: 3419-3431 San Pablo Ave.

The Eliza

96 Affordable Units, including 20 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $20 million
Developer: Mercy Housing California
City Council District: 3
Address: 2125 Telegraph Ave.

3135 San Pablo

72 Affordable Units including 36 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $10.5 million
Developer: SAHA and St. Mary’s Center
City Council District: 3
Address: 3515 San Pablo Ave.

The source of this story is media reltations office of District 2 City Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Alameda County

Oakland Acquisition Company’s Acquisition of County’s Interest in Coliseum Property on the Verge of Completion

The Board of Supervisors is committed to closing the deal expeditiously, and County staff have worked tirelessly to move the deal forward on mutually agreeable terms. The parties are down to the final details and, with the cooperation of OAC and Coliseum Way Partners, LLC, the Board will take a public vote at an upcoming meeting to seal this transaction.

Published

11 months ago

January 11, 2025

Oakland Post

Alameda County Board of Supervisors Chairman David Haubert. Official photo.

Special to The Post

The County of Alameda announced this week that a deal allowing the Oakland Acquisition Company, LLC, (“OAC”) to acquire the County’s 50% undivided interest in the Oakland- Alameda County Coliseum complex is in the final stages of completion.

Oakland has already finalized a purchase and sale agreement with OAC for its interest in the property. OAC’s acquisition of the County’s property interest will achieve two longstanding goals of the County:

The Oakland-Alameda Coliseum complex will finally be under the control of a sole owner with capacity to make unilateral decisions regarding the property; and
The County will be out of the sports and entertainment business, free to focus and rededicate resources to its core safety net

In an October 2024 press release from the City of Oakland, the former Oakland mayor described the sale of its 50% interest in the property as an “historic achievement” stating that the transaction will “continue to pay dividends for generations to come.”

The Board of Supervisors is pleased to facilitate single-entity ownership of this property uniquely centered in a corridor of East Oakland that has amazing potential.

“The County is committed to bringing its negotiations with OAC to a close,” said Board President David Haubert.