Uncategorized
Raiders Win It For Woodson
Oakland, CA – The final home game of the season took a detour from the rumors of the team leaving Oakland but instead said good-bye to one of the greatest defensive players in the league. After announcing his retirement last Monday, the adulation from the fans wasn’t enough without the victory to cap off an impressive season.
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Tonight’s game was dedicated to a man that embodies dedication, perfection and success. Charles Woodson’s final game became an emotional one for everybody. His teammates and coaches wanted to make the last home game special for the Safety. So he got the game ball after the Raiders came back to beat the San Diego Chargers 23-20 in overtime.
“Charles is one of the greatest players who ever put on a uniform,” said coach Jack Del Rio. “He’s a great Raider, and to be able to send him out the right way, to be able to cap a special evening like this, our last home game this year, our last chance in 2015 to make a mark here at home, I’m just really proud of the effort.”
A Chargers fumble late in the fourth led to Oakland getting the lead for the first time tonight. San Diego then tied the game forcing overtime where the Raiders prevailed with a field goal. Woodson addressed the crowd after the game, thanking them for their dedication as fans and to his 18-year career.
“It’s been a joy for me to come back and play here for a second time around,” Woodson told the sellout crowd after the game. “You guys welcomed me back with open arms as if I never left. You guys are under great leadership, and this team is going to get so much better really, really soon. Though this is my last game in the Coliseum, just know that I’ll never leave you. Go, Raiders.”
Derek Carr recovered quickly after turning the ball over on opening drive. His pass was batted away at the line of scrimmage and intercepted by Kendell Reyes. That play setup Donald Brown’s 1-yard touchdown up the middle for an early 7-0 lead. But the Raiders clapped back.
On the next drive, Carr threw five passes before Latavius Murray walked into the end zone with the 22-yard touchdown tying the game 7-7 in the first quarter. Philip Rivers then found Dontrelle Inman on a quick slant for the 7-yard touchdown to regain the lead to start the second.
A pair of field goals ended the half with Oakland trailing by a touchdown. After Sebastian Janikowski kicked a 50-yard field goal, he tied his NFL record of 52 field goals of at least 50 yards. Josh Lambo kicked a 47-yard field goal extending San Diego’s lead with 31 seconds left in the second.
Unfortunately, the penalties for the Raiders always seems to come at the wrong time. A team that had once led the league in penalties still can’t get away from them completely. An illegal formation caused a fake punt and the first down to be overturned for Oakland. Killing another opportunity for the offense.
Not much excitement by either team in the third. The Raiders started off the quarter with two ugly series failing to dominate against a struggling Chargers defense. The first sack of the night by Denico Autry led to a safety adding 2-points for Oakland late in the third cutting the lead to five.
“We just had to keep working,” said Autry. “We had been running games the whole game and one finally came through. It wasn’t set up for me. I just so happened to run into him.”
Another penalty by the Raiders proved costly, after Lambo kicked a 50-yard field goal to extend San Diego’s lead 20-12 in the fourth. But that play was nullified due to a penalty for holding. Automatic first down and Rivers went deep to find Ladarius Green for a 30-yard touchdown.
Del Rio challenged the call on the field and it was overturned because Green did not have full control of the ball, thus the touchdown was reversed. Lambo attempted another field goal this time from 48-yards and missed it wide left. 16 plays for 54 yards and no pints for the Chargers with 7:38 left in the fourth.
A huge break for Oakland came when David Johnson fumbled the ball after Malcolm Smith came up with the hit. The ball was recovered by Benson Mayowa and he ran it back for 41-yards. That setup Carr’s pass to Michael Crabtree for the 3-yard touchdown. The Raiders went for the two-point conversion to extend their lead 20-17 with 4 minutes left in the game.
“It’s part of our growth as a team, especially on the defensive side, to be resilient,” Smith said. “I think (Charles) has done a great job of setting that example all year long. It’s grown on us, and it’s rubbing off on us.”
“Obviously that’s a huge play with Malcolm able to poke that ball out,” said Del Rio. “You see (in practice) how many times we start with turnover (drills) and tackling. We’re emphasizing those things. It’s great to see it come to fruition in a big moment.”
Rivers wasn’t done yet. After unsuccessfully getting his team into the end zone, San Diego settled for 45-yard field goal to tie the game with 55 seconds left. Oakland brought the excitement in overtime, the penalties again got the best of the Raiders but the Chargers got in on the action to.
Oakland got lucky when Denzel Perryman hit Crabtree with the crown of his helmet causing a flag and an automatic first down. With great field position, Carr connected with Seth Roberts for 33 yards. Woodson was brought in on offense for a reverse play but no gain and a loss of 3 yards. That setup Janikowski’s 31-yard field goal making it a 23-20 game.
“I’m just ecstatic to be part of the C-Wood era,” Roberts said. “The little things he does, it makes me take my game farther. I’ll remember everything he did.”
The Raiders defense made stops when they needed to win the game. Rivers and his offense got frustrated and failed to convert anything on fourth down. The city of Oakland, Raiders fans and everyone who tuned into the game tonight saw a team that came together for a special moment. Whether this is the last time this team plays at O.co or not, it was a phenomenal ending to an impressive season.
Arts and Culture
Rise East Project: Part 3
Between 1990 and 2020, Oakland lost nearly half of its Black population due to economic and social forces. East Oakland, once a middle-class community, is now home to mostly Black families living in poverty.
The Black Cultural Zone’s Pivotal Role in Rebuilding Oakland’s Black Community
By Tanya Dennis
Between 1990 and 2020, Oakland lost nearly half of its Black population due to economic and social forces. East Oakland, once a middle-class community, is now home to mostly Black families living in poverty.
In 2021, 314 Oakland residents died from COVID-19. More than 100 of them, or about 33.8%, were Black, a high rate of death as Blacks constitute only 22.8% of Oakland’s population.
This troubling fact did not go unnoticed by City and County agencies, and the public-at-large, ultimately leading to the development of several community organizations determined to combat what many deemed an existential threat to Oakland’s African American residents.
Eastside Arts Alliance had already proposed that a Black Cultural Zone be established in Deep East Oakland in 2010, but 2020’s COVID-19 pandemic galvanized the community.
Demanding Black legacy preservation, the Black Cultural Zone (BCZ) called for East Oakland to be made an “unapologetically Black” business, commercial, economic development community.
Established initially as a welcoming space for Black art and culture, BCZ emerged into a a community development collective, and acquired the Eastmont police substation in Eastmont Town Center from the City of Oakland in 2020.
Once there, BCZ immediately began combating the COVID-19 pandemic with drive-thru PPE distribution and food giveaways. BCZ’s Akoma Market program allowed businesses to sell their products and wares safely in a COVID-compliant space during the COVID-19 shutdown.
Currently, Akoma Market is operated twice a month at 73rd and Foothill Boulevard and Akoma vendors ‘pop up’ throughout the state at festivals and community-centered events like health fairs.
“Before BCZ existed, East Oakland was a very depressing place to live,” said Ari Curry, BCZ’s chief experience officer and a resident of East Oakland. “There was a sense of hopelessness and not being seen. BCZ allows us to be seen by bringing in the best of our culture and positive change into some of our most depressed areas.”
The culture zone innovates, incubates, informs, and elevates the Black community and centers it in arts and culture, Curry went on.
“With the mission to center ourselves unapologetically in arts, culture, and economics, BCZ allows us to design, resource, and build on collective power within our community for transformation,” Curry concluded.
As a part of Oakland Thrives, another community collective, BCZ began working to secure $100 million to develop a ‘40 by 40’ block area that runs from Seminary Avenue to the Oakland-San Leandro border and from MacArthur Boulevard to the Bay.
The project would come to be known as Rise East.
Carolyn Johnson, CEO of BCZ says, “Our mission is to build a vibrant legacy where we thrive economically, anchored in Black art and commerce. The power to do this is being realized with the Rise East Project.
“With collective power, we are pushing for good health and self-determination, which is true freedom,” Johnson says. “BCZ’s purpose is to innovate, to change something already established; to incubate, optimizing growth and development, and boost businesses’ economic growth with our programs; we inform as we serve as a trusted source of information for resources to help people; and most important, we elevate, promoting and boosting Black folks up higher with the services we deliver with excellence.
“Rise East powers our work in economics, Black health, education, and power building. Rise East is the way to get people to focus on what BCZ has been doing. The funding for the 40 by 40 Rise East project is funding the Black Culture Zone,” Johnson said.
Alameda County
Help Protect D.A. Pamela Price’s Victory
Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price is asking supporters of the justice reform agenda that led her to victory last November to come to a Town Hall on public safety at Montclair Presbyterian Church on July 27.
By Post Staff
Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price is asking supporters of the justice reform agenda that led her to victory last November to come to a Town Hall on public safety at Montclair Presbyterian Church on July 27.
Price is facing a possible recall election just six months into her term by civic and business interests, some of whom will be at the in-person meeting from 6:00-9:00 p.m. at 5701 Thornhill Dr. in Oakland.
“We know that opponents of criminal justice reform plan to attend this meeting and use it as a forum against the policies that Alameda County voters mandated DA Price to deliver. We cannot let them succeed,” her campaign team’s email appeal said.
“That’s why I’m asking you to join us at the town hall,” the email continued. “We need to show up in force and make sure that our voices are heard.”
Price’s campaign is also seeking donations to fight the effort to have her recalled.
Her history-making election as the first African American woman to hold the office had been a surprise to insiders who had expected that Terry Wiley, who served as assistant district attorney under outgoing D.A. Nancy O’Malley, would win.
Price campaigned as a progressive, making it clear to voters that she wanted to curb both pretrial detention and life-without-parole sentences among other things. She won, taking 53% of the vote.
Almost immediately, Price was challenged by some media outlets as well as business and civic groups who alleged, as she began to fulfill those campaign promises, that she was soft on crime.
On July 11, the recall committee called Save Alameda for Everyone (S.A.F.E.) filed paperwork with the county elections office to begin raising money for the next step toward Price’s ouster: gathering signatures of at least 10% of the electorate.
S.A.F.E. has its work cut out for them, but Price needs to be prepared to fight them to keep her office.
In a separate sponsored letter to voters, Price supporters wrote:
“We know that you supported DA Price because you believe in her vision for a more just and equitable Alameda County. We hope you share our belief that our criminal justice system has to be fair to everyone, regardless of their race, gender, ethnicity, religion, or socioeconomic status.
“The Republican-endorsed effort is a blatant attempt to overturn the will of the voters and a waste of time and money. It is an attempt to silence the voices of those who want real justice. We cannot let these election deniers succeed.
“Will you make a donation today to help us protect the win?
“Please watch this video and share it with your friends and family. We need to stand up to the sore losers and protect the win. Together, we can continue to make Alameda County a more just, safe and equitable place for everyone.”
For more information, go to the website: pamelaprice4da.com
or send an e-mail to info@pamelaprice4da.com
Bay Area
Oakland Teachers Walk Out
After negotiating late into the night and months of fruitless bargaining with the Oakland Unified School District, Oakland teachers went out on strike Thursday morning. “Our (50-member) bargaining team has been working for seven months working, making meaningful proposals that will strengthen our schools for our students,” said Oakland Education Association (OEA) Interim President Ismael “Ish” Armendariz, speaking at press conference Monday afternoon.
OEA calls unfair labor practices strike after 7 months of negotiations.
By Ken Epstein
After negotiating late into the night and months of fruitless bargaining with the Oakland Unified School District, Oakland teachers went out on strike Thursday morning.
“Our (50-member) bargaining team has been working for seven months working, making meaningful proposals that will strengthen our schools for our students,” said Oakland Education Association (OEA) Interim President Ismael “Ish” Armendariz, speaking at press conference Monday afternoon.
“OUSD has repeatedly canceled bargaining sessions, has failed to offer meaningful proposals or counterproposals at a majority of the bargaining sessions and has repeatedly failed to discuss certain items,” Armendariz said.
“The days (of bargaining) have been long, and after hours of waiting, the superintendent finally showed up on Sunday night at 11:00 p.m.to meet with our team (for the first time),” he said. “(But) the district continues to come to the table unprepared, and this is unacceptable.”
“This is illegal, and OEA has filed an Unfair Labor Practice charge with the state Public Employment Relations Board (PERB). Under California law, OEA has a right to strike over unfair labor practices,” he said.
OEA represents 3,000 teachers, counselors, psychologists, speech pathologists, early childhood educators, nurses, adult education instructors and substitute teachers, serving 35,000 Oakland public school students. Other labor groups representing school employees include SEIU 1021 and construction unions.
In a press statement released on Tuesday, OUSD said it has been trying to avert a strike.
“The district will remain ready to meet with the teachers’ union at any time and looks forward to continuing our efforts to reach an agreement with OEA … We will continue to do everything possible to avoid a work stoppage.”
“Our children’s education does not need to be interrupted by negotiations with our union, especially given the major offer the District made on Monday,” other district press statements said. “We are committed to continuing to work with our labor leaders to discuss their salaries and support services for our students without the need for a strike.”
OUSD’s latest salary proposal, released this week, includes a 10% raise retroactive to Nov. 1, 2022, and a $5,000, one-time payment to all members.
OEA’s recent salary proposal asked for a 10% retroactive raise to all members, a one-time $10,000 payment to members who return for the 2023-2024 school year, and increases from $7,500 to $10,000 to salaries, based on years of experience.
In addition to pay demands, OEA is making “common good” proposals that serve families and the community, including protecting and enhancing special education programs, putting the brakes on closing schools in flatland neighborhoods, shared school leadership, safety, and support for students.
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