Community
Soccer Bridges Gap at Cal State East Bay

Caption: The nonprofit Soccer Without Borders helped Cal State East Bay student Ravis Mubiangata adjust to life in the United States after immigrating from the Democratic Republic of the Congo when he was 13. Photo courtesy of Cal State East Bay
The soccer fields of Cal State East Bay are a far cry from the red dirt fields of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where student Ravis Mubiangata got his start. There, in the streets of Kinshasa, the capital city of 11 million people, Mubiangata and his friends played the game barefoot, outlining a goal using rocks.
But Mabiangata’s worlds will soon collide at a May 11 event designed to bring together American students and faculty and recent immigrants and refugees, hosted by Cal State East Bay and the international nonprofit Soccer Without Borders.
The idea, spearheaded by Mubiangata and Matthew Atencio, associate professor in the kinesiology department and incoming co-director of the Cal State East Bay Center for Sport and Social Justice, is an effort to promote understanding and cooperation.
Like many students at Cal State East Bay, Mubiangata is an immigrant to the United States. The sophomore computer science major moved to Oakland with his family from war-ravaged Central Africa at age 13.
“There were no jobs and we weren’t safe in the Congo,” he says, adding that he likely wouldn’t have graduated high school in his native country, due to his family’s inability to pay the high tuition costs.
Instead, Mubiangata attended Oakland International High School and obtained a free public education. It’s also where he was introduced to Soccer Without Borders, which started in 2006 and uses soccer as a way to create change and inclusion for underserved youth 18 and under, including newly arrived immigrants and refugees.
At his first practice, Mubiangata was handed a pair of cleats and welcomed with open arms by the program’s coach and founder, Ben Gucciardi.
“He said, ‘Here, keep them.’ I said, ‘you’re kidding!’ I couldn’t believe it,” Mubiangata recalls.
“[Mubiangata] spoke no English as a new arrival, acclimated himself to his new surroundings, became the team captain, graduated high school and now attends a four-year college,” Gucciardi says.
“[Our organization] connected him with something he was familiar with — soccer. He was going through so many changes and he knew no one, so this became a very important new community for him. He was able to build relationships and make new friends.”
“Though we don’t speak the same language, we do speak soccer,” Mubiangata says with a smile.
While he has outgrown the Soccer Without Borders program, which supports children and teens, Mubiangata still plays with fellow students and professors on intramural teams at Cal State East Bay.
It was during one of those games Mubiangata and Atencio discussed how CSSJ — which wants to promote international student engagement on campus — and Soccer Without Border could come together for an event that would blend the goals of both groups.
The event, which is co-sponsored by CSSJ’s student club and the Pioneer Soccer Club, will include games featuring two Soccer Without Borders teams pitted against a Cal State East Bay student-faculty team, where both Atencio and Chair of Kinesiology Paul Carpenter will play.
There will first be a one-hour discussion and video presentation at the field house at Pioneer Stadium, followed by three 30-minute matches. The day will culminate in a friendly championship match, with prizes such as soccer jerseys, balls and backpacks. The participants will all be treated to pizza.
Atencio says he hopes the event will raise awareness of the Soccer Without Borders program and recruit future SWB members to become Pioneers at the university.
“[Mubiangata] is a prime example that these immigrants can make it through the transition in a strange country,” he says. “They can feel part of a network. We don’t want them to fall through the cracks.”
Activism
Oakland Post: Week of July 2- 8, 2025
The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of July 2 – 8, 2025

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Trump Set to Sign Largest Cut to Medicaid After a Marathon Protest Speech by Leader Jeffries
BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — The bill also represents the biggest cut in Medicare in history and is a threat to the health care coverage of over 15 million people. The spending in Trump’s signature legislation also opens the door to a second era of over-incarceration in the U.S.

By Lauren Burke
By a vote of 218 to 214, the GOP-controlled U.S. House passed President Trump’s massive budget and spending bill that will add $3.5 trillion to the national debt, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). The bill also represents the biggest cut in Medicare in history and is a threat to the health care coverage of over 15 million people. The spending in Trump’s signature legislation also opens the door to a second era of over-incarceration in the U.S. With $175 billion allocated in spending for immigration enforcement, the money for more police officers eclipsed the 2026 budget for the U.S. Marines, which is $57 billion. Almost all of the policy focus from the Trump Administration has focused on deporting immigrants of color from Mexico and Haiti.
The vote occurred as members were pressed to complete their work before the arbitrary deadline of the July 4 holiday set by President Trump. It also occurred after Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries took the House floor for over 8 hours in protest. Leader Jeffries broke the record in the U.S. House for the longest floor speech in history on the House floor. The Senate passed the bill days before and was tied at 50-50, with Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski saying that, “my hope is that the House is gonna look at this and recognize that we’re not there yet.” There were no changes made to the Senate bill by the House. A series of overnight phone calls to Republicans voting against, not changes, was what won over enough Republicans to pass the legislation, even though it adds trillions to the debt. The Trump spending bill also cuts money to Pell grants.
“The Big Ugly Bill steals food out of the hands of starving children, steals medicine from the cabinets of cancer patients, and equips ICE with more funding and more weapons of war than the United States Marine Corps. Is there any question of who those agents will be going to war for, or who they will be going to war against? Beyond these sadistic provisions, Republicans just voted nearly unanimously to close urban and rural hospitals, cripple the child tax credit, and to top it all off, add $3.3 trillion to the ticking time bomb that is the federal deficit – all from a party that embarrassingly pretends to stand for fiscal responsibility and lowering costs,” wrote Congressional Black Caucus Chairwoman Yvette Clarke (D-NY) in a statement on July 3.
“The Congressional Budget Office predicts that 17 million people will lose their health insurance, including over 322,000 Virginians. It will make college less affordable. Three million people will lose access to food assistance through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). And up to 16 million students could lose access to free school meals. The Republican bill does all of this to fund tax breaks for millionaires, billionaires, and corporations,” wrote Education and Workforce Committee ranking member Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA) in a statement. The bill’s passage has prompted Democrats to start thinking about 2026 and the next election cycle. With the margins of victory in the U.S. House and U.S. Senate being so narrow, many are convinced that the balance of power and the question of millions being able to enjoy health care come down to only several thousand votes in congressional elections. But currently, Republicans controlled by the MAGA movement control all three branches of government. That reality was never made more stark and more clear than the last seven days of activity in the U.S. House and U.S. Senate.

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