Activism

Same Game Different Smokers Takes a Look at Tobacco Industry’s Footprint on Black Lives, Black Lungs

Published

6 years ago

November 21, 2019

The African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council and the San Francisco Public Library’s African American Center are presenting the exhibition “Same Game, Different Smokers” beginning Saturday Dec. 7, at the San Francisco Main Library.

Curated by Tracy Brown, AATCLC project manager and a renowned visual artist in her own right, “Same Game Different Smokers” is an exploration of the troubling relationship the tobacco industry has had with the Black community over the last 400-plus years. A collection of archival advertisements and images are brought together to answer some extremely important questions.

This exhibition seeks to illustrate the history of the tobacco industry’s targeting of the African American community with strategic advertisement placement, product distribution events, and divisive messaging. The majority of the images are pulled from the Tobacco Control Archives of vintage advertisements and artifacts.

Vintage ads of African Americans associated with tobacco products from the 1800s and 2007.

The exhibition begins with information about sacred tobacco and shows how tobacco strayed away from its spiritual roots, Brown said in a statement. It then shares the role that Europe’s demand for tobacco played in the creation of the Atlantic Slave Trade and how tobacco advertising evolved once the African American community became a target market.

Brown uses tobacco industry documents recovered from companies like Phillip Morris to show discussions between industry executives suggesting that menthol cigarettes be marketed to the Black community as well as stated planning to launch their now infamous aggressive marketing campaigns in publications like Ebony and Jet.

She also works to show that the tactics and narratives being used by e-cigarette companies like Juul are being taken directly from the nicotine addiction industry playbook.

To Brown, it is important that all people, especially those who are subject to constant targeting be shown what tactics are being used to influence the decisions they make.

Formed in 2008, the African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council (AATCLC) partners with community stakeholders, elected officials, and public health agencies to inform the national direction of tobacco control policy, practices, and priorities, as they affect the lives of Black American and African immigrant populations. The AATCLC has been at the forefront of elevating the regulation of mentholated and other flavored tobacco products on the national tobacco control agenda.

The opening event will feature presentations by Ohlone Sisters Desiree and Carla Marie Munoz, who are representatives of the Costanoan Rumsen Ohlone Tribe, the indigenous people of the Central California Coastal area. Awon Ohun Omnira (Voices of Freedom) will sing a litany of songs in the Yoruba language for the ancestors in homage to Black lives lost working in the tobacco fields during the slave era and to diseases caused by or exacerbated by smoking.

Naomi Jelks, director of the African American Center at the San Francisco Main Library, the AATCLC Squad including Dr. Phillip Gardiner, Carol McGruder and Dr. Val Yerger will be on hand.

A mobile mural by Aerosoul Arts with the theme “Emancipate yourself from menthol slavery” will be on view during the exhibition opening.

“It is my goal to ensure that the African American community is not left out of the conversation around how to address the use of flavored tobacco products to target children and other strategic populations,” Brown said. “(About) 45,000 African Americans die from tobacco-related illnesses every day. This exhibition allows me to use my talents as an artist and a curator to try to bring that number down to zero.”

“Same Game Different Smokers” runs from Dec. 7, 2019 – Feb. 6, 2020, at the San Francisco Public Library, from 2-3:00 p.m. in the foyer of the library.

Courtesy of California Black Media

Posts by Courtesy of California Black Media

Up Next

Hundreds March for Housing Now in Oakland

Don't Miss

Annual Thanksgiving Dinner and Coat Giveaway

Courtesy of California Black Media

Click to comment

Activism

Oakland Post: Week of February 25 – March 3, 2026

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of – February 25 – March 3, 2026

Published

2 days ago

March 1, 2026

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

Posts by Oakland Post

Activism

Chase Oakland Community Center Hosts Alley-Oop Accelerator Building Community and Opportunity for Bay Area Entrepreneurs

Over the past three years, the Alley-Oop Accelerator has helped more than 20 Bay Area businesses grow, connect, and gain meaningful exposure. The program combines hands-on training, mentorship, and community-building to help participants navigate the legal, financial, and marketing challenges of small business ownership.

Published

1 week ago

February 21, 2026

Oakland Post

Bay Area entrepreneurs attend the Alley-Oop Accelerator, a small business incubation program at Chase Oakland Community Center. Photo by Carla Thomas.

By Carla Thomas

The Golden State Warriors and Chase bank hosted the third annual Alley-Oop Accelerator this month, an empowering eight-week program designed to help Bay Area entrepreneurs bring their visions for business to life.

The initiative kicked off on Feb. 12 at Chase’s Oakland Community Center on Broadway Street, welcoming 15 small business owners who joined a growing network of local innovators working to strengthen the region’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.

At its core, the accelerator is designed to create an ecosystem of collaboration, where local entrepreneurs can learn from one another while accessing the resources of a global financial institution.

“This is our third year in a row working with the Golden State Warriors on the Alley-Oop Accelerator,” said Jaime Garcia, executive director of Chase’s Coaching for Impact team for the West Division. “We’ve already had 20-plus businesses graduate from the program, and we have 15 enrolled this year. The biggest thing about the program is really the community that’s built amongst the business owners — plus the exposure they’re able to get through Chase and the Golden State Warriors.”

According to Garcia, several graduates have gone on to receive vendor contracts with the Warriors and have gained broader recognition through collaborations with JPMorgan Chase.

“A lot of what Chase is trying to do,” Garcia added, “is bring businesses together because what they’ve asked for is an ecosystem, a network where they can connect, grow, and thrive organically.”

This year’s Alley-Oop Accelerator reflects that vision through its comprehensive curriculum and emphasis on practical learning. Participants explore the full spectrum of business essentials including financial management, marketing strategy, and legal compliance, while also preparing for real-world experiences such as pop-up market events.

Each entrepreneur benefits from one-on-one mentoring sessions through Chase’s Coaching for Impact program, which provides complimentary, personalized business consulting.

Garcia described the impact this hands-on approach has had on local small business owners. He recalled one candlemaker, who, after participating in the program, was invited to provide candles as gifts at Chase events.

“We were able to help give that business exposure,” he explained. “But then our team also worked with them on how to access capital to buy inventory and manage operations once those orders started coming in. It’s about preparation. When a hiccup happens, are you ready to handle it?”

The Coaching for Impact initiative, which launched in 2020 in just four cities, has since expanded to 46 nationwide.

“Every business is different,” Garcia said. “That’s why personal coaching matters so much. It’s life-changing.”

Participants in the 2026 program will each receive a $2,500 stipend, funding that Garcia said can make an outsized difference. “It’s amazing what some people can do with just $2,500,” he noted. “It sounds small, but it goes a long way when you have a plan for how to use it.”

For Chase and the Warriors, the Alley-Oop Accelerator represents more than an educational initiative, it’s a pathway to empowerment and economic inclusion. The program continues to foster lasting relationships among the entrepreneurs who, as Garcia put it, “build each other up” through shared growth and opportunity.

“Starting a business is never easy, but with the right support, it becomes possible, and even exhilarating,” said Oscar Lopez, the senior business consultant for Chase in Oakland.