Activism

Tenants’ Union Rebuffs Landlord’s Attempt at Eviction

Published

6 years ago

October 6, 2020

SMC Tenants Council member Katie Brown holds a Declaration of COVID-19 Related Distress form with the words “CANCEL RENT” written on it outside of landlord SMC East Bay’s leasing office in West Oakland. Photo on Oct 4 by Zack Haber

SMC East Bay Sent Residents Illegitimate Pay-Rent-or-Quit demands

Members and supporters of SMC Tenants Council formed a car and bike caravan rally on Sunday to protest their landlord, SMC East Bay, serving them Pay Rent or Quit notices.

The notices demanded that within 15 days tenants pay back rent or fill out and sign COVID-19 financially related distress forms. That same day, the SMC Tenant Council also e-mailed their landlord asking them to rescind the demand to pay or sign. On Monday, the following evening, their landlord relented, and no longer demanded tenants pay or sign the forms.

“SMC East Bay is just trying to squeeze out any rent that they can by scaring people,” said Katie Brown, just after receiving the demand to pay or sign. She lives in an SMC household, one of over a dozen who received the notices in Oakland.

Starting at 34th and Wood streets in West Oakland, 21 cars, 10 bikes, and about 40 people in total joined the rally. Protestors brought red signs that they attached to bikes and cars. Some of the signs read “Tenants Against Capitalism,” “Cancel Rent,” and “Únase a la unión de inquilinxs” which translates from the Spanish to “Join a tenants union.”

The action sprung from the organizing SMC tenants have done since late March when they unionized into a council and some households began withholding rent in an effort to make SMC East Bay negotiate with them for better conditions and COVID-19-based relief.

While the union is open to negotiations, which SMC East Bay has not yet formally responded to, their main current demand is rent cancellation during the pandemic.

At the rally, the protestors called the notices “illegal” and claimed that they don’t have to sign. Lawyers at the Oakland’s City Attorney’s Office agree that tenants are not required to sign anything to continue to be protected by Oakland’s Eviction Moratorium, which currently prevents tenants from being evicted for non-payment of rent. They are also protected because County of Alameda Courts are not currently serving unlawful detainers due to non-payment of rent.

While the recently passed California state law AB 3088 does not offer as expansive protections for tenants as Oakland’s Eviction Moratorium and requires that tenants sign a form documenting COVID-19 financially related distress for non-payment of rent, Oakland’s law supersedes state law in this instance.

AB 3088 prevents local municipalities from instituting their own new COVID-19 related eviction protections but does not affect any local tenant protection policies instituted before Aug. 19, 2020.

Since Oakland approved their Emergency Eviction Moratorium on March 27, and renewed it on July 21, Oaklanders are still covered until the city declares an end to the COVID-19 related Local State of Emergency and cannot be evicted for non-payment of rent.

Tenants and supporters rallied against the demand to sign or pay by forming a line of cars that continuously honked while driving through West Oakland and Downtown. They went to SMC East Bay’s lease collecting office in West Oakland and wrote the words “CANCEL RENT” on the forms their landlord demanded they fill out, then dropped them into the mail slot.

No one at the rally did any spray-painting, but the words “SLUMLORDS” and “RENT FORGIVENESS NOW” could plainly be read on the SMC East Bay leasing office building.

The protestors also went to City Hall, claiming the city government is not doing enough to protect tenants. At City Hall, they taped posters that read “Scene of a Wealth Crime” and highlighted friendly relations between SMC owner Neill Sullivan and Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf in a photo of them smiling together.

The poster demanded that the city work to cancel rent during the pandemic and reduce rent after the pandemic.

The SMC Tenants Council has been critical of Sullivan since its inception. Low-income tenants of buildings Sullivan owns complain of rat and mold infestations and deteriorating infrastructure that is not addressed.

They find the lack of action especially troublesome considering Sullivan’s wealth. They point to data from the Anti-Eviction Mapping project that shows he has spent over $68 million, which he obtained from hedge fund investments, buying up over 350 properties largely formerly owned by Black residents who lost them during and after the 2008 recession, then served about 350 eviction notices between 2010 and 2016.

“I got involved with SMC Tenant Council because I was having problems in my house and I was constantly in fear of getting evicted for many years,” said Rizzy, an SMC Tenants Council Member at the rally. They wore a t-shirt that read “All my homies hate Libby Schaaf.”

“When I joined the council I realized I wasn’t alone in this fear,” they said. “I think it’s really great that people are joining together to stand up and get Neill Sullivan to collectively bargain for our demands.”

As the rally occurred, SMC Tenants Council members not present at the rally sent an e-mail to SMC East Bay.

“By now, you are aware of the local eviction moratoria, which this notice violates,” read their e-mail. “We resent and reject your effort to create and exploit confusion in the middle of this pandemic emergency by serving us this notice based on irrelevant state law AB 3088. We know our rights.”

The e-mail later listed their own demand to the landlord.

“Within two weeks of receiving this letter, we ask that you reply in writing to rescind your 15 Day Notices,” the email read.

Around 6:00 p.m. the following day, SMC East Bay responded by e-mail.

“In light of your letter and in the spirit of compromise,” read the e-mail, “please let this letter serve as formal rescission of the 15-day notice previously served upon you.”

The SMC Tenants Council saw the response as a win both because SMC East Bay rescinded their demand to pay or sign and because it marked the first time that the large landlord corporation responded directly to the union.

“I’m proud to be a part of this community and this council because our members have been working diligently to make sure we and our neighbors are safe and have a voice,” said SMC Tenants Council member Serena Gafford, in response to the win. “I’m excited to continue organizing because this is just the beginning.”

SMC East Bay was e-mailed a list of specific questions on Sunday morning including ones about their history of evictions, their notices, and whether they recognized the union. In their response, they did not answer those questions directly but touted their work with faith-based organizations and also wrote, “We will continue to follow all state and local laws and never use scare tactics.”

Michelle Snider

Associate Editor for The Post News Group. Writer, Photographer, Videographer, Copy Editor, and website editor documenting local events in the Oakland-Bay Area California area.

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Associate Editor for The Post News Group. Writer, Photographer, Videographer, Copy Editor, and website editor documenting local events in the Oakland-Bay Area California area.

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Activism

The Ladies of Delta Sigma Theta Hold Day of Advocacy at the Capitol in Sacramento

A member of the “Divine Nine,” Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., was founded on Jan. 13, 1913, at Howard University in Washington, D.C. The organization was established by 22 women who sought to shift the group’s focus from social activities to public service, academic excellence, and social activism.

Published

4 days ago

May 17, 2026

Oakland Post

Sen. Laura Richardson (D-San Pedro) presents a Senate resolution to the Delta Theta Sigma Sorority Farwest Region at the State Capitol on May 4. Photo courtesy of the Senate Rules Committee.

By Antonio Ray Harvey, California Black Media

On May 4, members of the Farwest Region of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., convened at the California State Capitol for the organization’s 23rd annual Delta Days in Sacramento.

The two-day advocacy event brings together chapters from across California to engage directly in the legislative process, connect with lawmakers, and advocate for policies impacting Black communities.

Members of the sorority were honored on the Senate floor by Sen. Laura Richardson (D-San Pedro), who is also a member of Delta Sigma Theta.

Richardson welcomed the Farwest Region during the presentation of a Senate resolution recognizing outgoing Regional Director Kimberly Usher for her leadership and service.

“In addition to the Far West Region, we are led by a fearless leader, regional director Kimberly Usher. She has now served her full term of what’s allowed,” Richardson said. “We are going to be having our regional conference, but we wanted to give it to her here, officially recognizing her service.”

The resolution was co-authored by Richardson and fellow members of the California Legislative Black Caucus (CLBC) and Delta Sigma Theta, Sen. Akilah Weber Pierson (D-San Diego) and Assemblymember Rhodesia Ransom (D-Stockton).

Usher has served in the leadership role since 2022.

“We are founded on sisterhood that is deeply rooted in scholarship, service, and social action,” said Weber Pierson, a member of the Gamma Alpha chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority.

“Today, we continue a legacy of empowering communities and upholding the high cultural, intellectual, and moral standards established by our founders over a century ago,” she added.

Oakland Post

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Activism

Rep. Kamlager-Dove Introduces Bill to Protect Women in Custody After Reports Detailing Miscarriages and Neglect

The Pregnant Women in Custody Act would expand safeguards beyond the federal prison system to include women detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Office of Refugee Resettlement. The proposal follows reports of pregnant women being shackled, denied medical care and suffering miscarriages while in immigration detention.

Published

4 days ago

May 17, 2026

Oakland Post

iStock

By Bo Tefu, California Black Media

Congresswoman Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-CA-37) on May 7, reintroduced updated legislation aimed at strengthening protections and healthcare standards for pregnant and postpartum women held in federal custody, including in immigration detention facilities.

The Pregnant Women in Custody Act would expand safeguards beyond the federal prison system to include women detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Office of Refugee Resettlement. The proposal follows reports of pregnant women being shackled, denied medical care and suffering miscarriages while in immigration detention.

The legislation builds on a bipartisan version previously passed by the House during the 117th Congress. The updated bill includes new standards for healthcare access, mental health and substance use treatment, high-risk pregnancy care, family unity protections and increased federal oversight.

“Proper pregnancy care is a human right, regardless of your immigration or incarceration status,” Kamlager-Dove said in a statement. “It’s unacceptable that there are virtually no legal safeguards for pregnant women in federal custody.”

The bill would also limit the use of restraints and restrictive housing for pregnant women, improve data collection on maternal health in custody and require additional staff training and enforcement measures.

Supporters of the measure said the legislation is intended to address long-standing concerns about maternal healthcare and safety in detention settings, particularly for Black women and low-income women who are disproportionately impacted by incarceration and health disparities.

“Pregnant women in custody should never be subjected to dangerous and inhumane treatment that threatens their health, dignity, or the well-being of their babies,” said Patrice Willoughby, chief of policy and legislative affairs for the NAACP and a longtime public policy and government affairs strategist, in a statement.

A 2021 report estimated there are about 58,000 admissions of pregnant women into U.S. jails and prisons each year. Kamlager’s statement also cited a recent investigation by NBC News and Bloomberg Law that identified allegations of severe mistreatment or medical neglect involving at least 54 pregnant women or families in county jails between 2017 and 2024.

Federal policy under the Department of Homeland Security restricts the detention of pregnant, postpartum and nursing immigrants except in extreme cases. However, the agency reported that ICE deported 363 pregnant, postpartum or nursing women between January 2025 and February 2026, including 16 recorded miscarriages during that period.

The bill is cosponsored by several House Democrats and backed by organizations including the NAACP and the Vera Institute of Justice.

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Activism

OPINION: The Fire of Oakland’s Justin Jones

Jones made headlines three years ago when he was one of a pair of Justins. Along with fellow State Rep. Justin Pearson (D-Memphis), he fought their removal from the state house in Tennessee and won reinstatement. Now, Pearson is running for Congress and Jones is still fighting for all of us.

Published

4 days ago

May 17, 2026

Oakland Post

Tennessee State Rep. Justin Jones (D-Nashville). File photo.

By Emil Amok Guillermo

You may know Tennessee State Rep. Justin Jones (D-Nashville).

He grew up in Oakland and the East Bay. His mother is Filipino. You can tell by his full name Justin Shea Bautista Jones.

His father is African American.

He is fighting for all of us.

Now, Pearson is running for Congress and Jones is still fighting for all of us.

The recent 6-3 Supreme Court decision barring the use of race in drawing congressional districts marks a major turning point in U.S. history.

The decision took away the Voting Rights Act’s power to assure minority voices were both heard and represented.

“What we’re seeing now is this new Jim Crow system in which Black and Brown communities are without voice in our political process,” he told Fredricka Whitfield on CNN last weekend.

“That’s a canary in the coal mine for the rest of the nation. If they come for one of us, they’re coming for all of us, and some of my message to America is that the South is the front line of democracy,” Jones said. “They are dismantling multi-racial democracy here in the South, in states like Tennessee and Louisiana. But they aren’t going to stop here.”

That’s why Jones said we have to start paying attention to the South, and start helping them fight back there,” he said.

“I want to be clear that this terror, this type of system they’re enacting, are the same systems my grandparents told me about who grew up in Tennessee, a system where people like me couldn’t even be in political office. That’s the time they’re bringing us back to and I’m not sounding the alarm to be alarmist. But I am sounding it because we’ve seen this before in our history.”

Jones talked about Reconstruction and about what happened between the end of the 1800s and the beginning of the 1960s, when there was no Black political representation.

It’s a rebellion to keep our democracy going forward, he said.

“Stand with us and help us fight back against this extremist power grab — this racist power grab against our vision of a multi-racial democracy,” Jones added.

“While there is a litigation strategy, it’s important to maintain what he called a “movement strategy” that leads to the largest voter mobilization and registration that has ever been seen in the South,” he encouraged.

In 2026.

“Tennessee is an oppressed state,” Jones said. “It’s a state where one in five Black voters can’t vote because of felony disenfranchisement. It is where you can use a gun permit to vote, but you can’t use a student ID card to vote.

That’s the Asian American African American voice of Justin Jones.

Read his words for inspiration.

About the Author

Emil Guillermo is a veteran journalist, commentator, and comic stage monologist. His new show “69, Emil Amok: Anchorman—The News Made Me Do It,” is at the San Diego Fringe at New Destiny/Lincoln Park, 4931 Logan Ave. Ste. 102. May 14-23, at various times. Get tickets here.