Activism

Tenants Seek Landlord’s Commitment to Improve Conditions at Sojourner Truth Manor

At this week’s meeting with board members and the staff of HumanGood, the private property managers that operate the site, tenants invited local political leaders who have expressed concerns about conditions the senior citizens are experiencing.

Published

1 month ago

October 15, 2023

Oakland Post

Unrepaired damage to the floor of one Sojourner Truth Manor apartment that flooded in May 2023, creating extreme danger to an elderly resident. Photo by Ken Epstein.

By Ken Epstein

Tenants of Sojourner Truth Manor in North Oakland are scheduled to hold a meeting this Friday with the board and managers of the senior living complex where tenants will seek commitments from the landlord to resolve their concerns about the lack of building repairs and vermin infestation, as well as failure to communicate with residents and disregard and disrespect for tenants and their rights.

Tenants of the 85-unit housing complex at 6015 Martin Luther King Jr. Way have told the Oakland Post they are kept in the dark about what the management is planning or what repairs are underway.

They say management often does not respond to their complaints and concerns about needed repairs such as broken fixtures, flooding, and lack of heat or hot water in individual apartments or vermin and poorly functioning security and building elevators, while the complex’s community room has been out of operation for 11 years.

Of special concern are the lack of translation services for the many tenants who speak languages other than English, including Amharic and Tigrinya; and the failure to hire a new social services coordinator, a position that in the past offered community-building activities and provided information and support for residents.

Tenants also say they are experiencing elder abuse, including intimidation and retaliation for organizing and speaking out. Immediately after an article about their concerns was published in the Oakland Post they received a 22-page list of house rules and a new contract they were told they must sign, even though they already had recently signed an annual renewal of their contracts.

In a statement to the Oakland Post, HumanGood, the private management company, explained that they only took over responsibility for Sojourner Truth last year and have had to deal with conditions at the complex that had been deteriorating for years.

“Before we took over management last October, Sojourner Truth Manor was in need of serious repairs and rehabilitation, and we are committed to completing the important work needed within the community,” according to the HumanGood statement (printed in this week’s Oakland Post).

“We are focused on modernizing the community room, addressing needed repairs around the community, and we also expect to move forward with other construction projects around the campus,” the statement said.

An article in the Oakland Post in 2014 detailed the history of the community effort that created Sojourner Truth Manor in the 1970s.

Initiating the project were the National Black Business and Professional Women and the East Bay Area Club, which mentored youth and worked on career development for Black women, and even worked to get late Congressman RonDellums elected.

In 1971, realtor Ellen Winborn came up with the idea of housing for the elderly, pointing out that federal funding was available. The club embraced the idea and approached the U.S. Department of Urban Development three times before becoming the first corporation of Black women in the country to develop such a project, breaking ground in 1975.

Fifteen Black women became part of Sojourner Truth Housing Inc., a non-profit organization that received $1.8 million from HUD and the Mason McDuffie Investment Co.

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Oakland Post: Week of November 22 – 28, 2023

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of November 22 – 28, 2023

Published

4 days ago

November 24, 2023

Oakland Post

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of November 22 - 28, 2023

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Activism

Oakland Post: Week of November 15 – 21, 2023

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of November 15 – 21, 2023

Published

2 weeks ago

November 17, 2023

Oakland Post

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of November 15 - 21, 2023

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Activism

School Board President Shuts Down Meeting Trying to Silence Gaza Ceasefire Protesters

Since the executive board of the Oakland Education Association originally took a stand to oppose genocide and call for a ceasefire, the union has been under intense criticism both from mainstream media and an Oakland parents’ group, which has been encouraging teachers to quit the union.

Published

2 weeks ago

November 12, 2023

Oakland Post

By Ken Epstein

Several hundred people, including teachers, school staff, students, parents, and community activists, showed up at the Oakland Unified School District board meeting Wednesday night, most of them calling on the board to pass a resolution to support an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and end the killing of civilians, when school board President Mike Hutchinson refused to let them speak and abruptly shut down the meeting as they demanded to be heard.

At the start of the meeting, Hutchinson announced that a resolution proposed by Board member Valarie Bachelor, “Calling for a Ceasefire and Release of Hostages in Israel and Palestine,” would not be discussed that evening and that there was no place anywhere on the agenda where attendees would be allowed to speak on the issue.

However, there was a moment of confusion when the parliamentarian, speaking over Hutchinson’s objections, explained that there was one 30-minute period for people to discuss nonagenda items.

A chorus of boos filled the auditorium as Hutchinson attempted to move on. He quickly suspended the meeting, and he and several other board members left the room, though some board members remained.

One young woman shouted at Hutchinson. “You’re having a tantrum, and we’re talking about genocide.”

People crowded around a bullhorn at the front of the room, and attendees held their own meeting.

“You are on the right side of history – we’ll be back,” said a youth soccer coach, Maria Martinez.

A young woman named Lulwa said, ‘I believe we all deserve our land, we all deserve our freedom, and we all deserve not to have our children bombed. The media is lying to us, and social media is bringing us together.”

Lulwa explained that she has been living in the U.S. and Oakland since the age of 9. “I was taken in by the community in Oakland, and I was loved.”

Board member Bachelor was cheered as she spoke on the bullhorn, supporting the people of Palestine and the people of Israel.

“We have to stop killing children, we have to stop bombing hospitals, we have to stop killing UN workers; we have to stop the killing,” she said. “We are a global community. The fight continues.”

A woman who identified herself as a Jewish Oakland teacher said, “The school board does not speak for the teachers, Monday night, we (teachers) passed a very strong resolution demanding an end to the genocide in Gaza and an end to U.S. funding (for the war).

An Oakland man named Izzy said, “What did the school board do today? They walked out on our kids…. There’s nobody to blame but Mike Hutchinson.”

Jabari Shaw said that African Americans stand in solidarity with Palestine. “We know how it is to not be recognized as human beings,” he said.

However, on Monday evening, union delegates from the Oakland schools upheld a strong position, voting 66 to 31 in favor of a ceasefire.

Hutchinson and board member Sam Davis, joined by school board candidate Jorge Lerma, have been working with the parent group in opposition to the teachers’ union.

But another group of parents and community members supporting the teachers’ union’s stance just started a petition in the last couple of days and has already received over 300 signatures.

“As Oakland parents, caregivers, and community members, we are committed to the safety and well-being of all of our children,” the petition said. “We are writing to express our solidarity with the families of Palestine and to express support for district leaders and the OEA for standing in solidarity with the people of Palestine.”