Activism

Third Opinion: How My Dad’s Terminal Diagnosis Taught Me the Importance of Self Advocacy

…there I was, sitting in the living room where I was raised, learning from my father that a CAT scan had revealed that the basilar artery that carried blood from his heart to his brain was completely blocked. The diagnosis was that he had mere weeks left to live. The timetable, he confided, seemed inaccurate. “I don’t feel like I’m dying,” he said, hefting my suitcase over his shoulder and walking it upstairs, an exertion that was absolutely against doctor’s orders.

Published

2 years ago

July 20, 2024

Oakland Post

Keenan Norris

By Keenan Norris, Special to California Black Media Partners

One moment, I was decompressing after my day at work in Oakland, the next I was being called home to Southern California to learn something too serious for telephone conversation. I remember playing the same song for the entire six-hour drive down south.

Then, there I was, sitting in the living room where I was raised, learning from my father that a CAT scan had revealed that the basilar artery that carried blood from his heart to his brain was completely blocked. The diagnosis was that he had mere weeks left to live. The timetable, he confided, seemed inaccurate. “I don’t feel like I’m dying,” he said, hefting my suitcase over his shoulder and walking it upstairs, an exertion that was absolutely against doctor’s orders.

The disconnect between my father’s lived experience and his diagnosis was just one rift that would arise between my family and the medical system. In the weeks that followed, he suffered a series of small strokes, obvious symptoms of occlusion. At the local hospitals we took him to, the staff all but told us he was a dead man.

Unwilling to accept this premature conclusion, my family took it upon ourselves to do what the medical establishment seemed unwilling to do. We fought for my father, pushing for referrals and further tests. And it was because of our family’s advocacy that the terminal diagnosis given to my father was not, in fact, the last word on his life.

Debra Law is a lecturer at The Valley Foundation School of Nursing at San Jose State. Formerly a medical-surgical nurse and adult kidney transplant coordinator at Stanford University Medical Center, Law, who is African American, explains that “Patient advocacy can come in many different forms, and it does not require medical knowledge, per se.”

“As a nurse, when we know that a patient has someone in the room that sends the message, ‘My loved one is important.’ If they put the call light on for their loved one, then they are the voice for their loved one,” she added.

Nurses, Law notes, can serve as a vitally important “last line of defense” for patients.

For my family, there was no such defense. Upon disclosing his condition to medical personnel, we were consistently told that the situation was hopeless. My mother, however, would not accept the resignation of the medical establishment and instead talked her way into a referral to a large public research and teaching hospital in the Los Angeles Area.

At that hospital, respected for its leading-edge research, we were informed that only four people on record had survived a complete occlusion of their basilar artery for any significant period. But there might be cause for hope: A subsequent CAT scan revealed that new blood vessels had emerged and were beginning to substitute for the blocked artery. We would have to monitor my father’s blood pressure all day and all night, the world-class neurologist told us, making sure it did not drop so low that blood flow to the brain would ebb irrecoverably, causing a deadly stroke. The home remedies to increase blood pressure suggested to us were primitive: Salt tablets, hot water, beer. If we could keep his blood pressure high enough for long enough, the new vessels might grow large enough to save his life.

We did our best, monitoring my father’s blood pressure 24/7, rejecting sleep and sanity. The constant care schedule exhausted us. The experience of those days and nights was so far beyond rationality, that it feels like another human body than my own lived through it. I am a writer, but I have no words for what we went through.

After days of that madness, somehow, he was still alive. The strokes began to dissipate.

We returned to the local hospital. The doctor who had originally diagnosed him with the death sentence ordered another CAT scan: The new blood vessels had long since grown strong enough to sustain my father’s brain, he determined.

Why hadn’t the world-class neurologist at the large research and teaching hospital seen what this local physician could see so clearly? Why had my father been dispatched to us in what amounted to a nightmarish outpatient procedure? It might be, the local physician told us, that his counterpart at the research hospital was more concerned with studying my father’s rare condition than with him as a patient. The obscene history of medical experimentation on Black people — from the Tuskegee syphilis experiment to the commandeering of Henrietta Lacks’s cells — was not as well known then as it is now.

The reality of poorer health outcomes for Black people across so many indices is proof of the persistence of racialized maltreatment in our healthcare system to this day.

We need to advocate for ourselves and our loved ones in the medical system. Law cites the Black Infant Health Program and the increase in doulas to address the disturbingly high rates both of Black infant and maternal mortality as examples of Black healthcare advocacy.

Hearing the doctor out, my dad just shrugged. Hadn’t we heard him when he said he didn’t feel like he was dying? He’d been advocating for himself all along.

We went home; my dad weeded the garden under the sweltering sun that afternoon and would go on to live for five more years. I let myself sleep, finally, for the first time in what felt like forever.

About the Author

Keenan Norris’s books include Chi Boy: Native Sons and Chicago Reckonings and The Confession of Copeland Cane. He had been the recipient of the Northern California Book Award and National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Award. He teaches at San Jose State University.

Third Opinion is a California Black Media (CBM) series of personal essays written by Black patients, advocates and medical providers in California that provide experience-based cues for health and wellbeing as well as insights into understanding and navigating the state’s health care delivery system. The articles produced are resources of CBM’s California Black Health Journalism Project.

This article is supported by the California Black Health Journalism Project, a program created by California Black Media, that addresses the top health challenges African Americans in California face. It relies on the input of community and practitioners; an awareness of historical factors, social contexts and root causes; and a strong focus on solutions as determined by policymakers, advocates and patients.

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EBMUD Enshrines the Legacy of its First Black Board Member William ‘Bill’ Patterson

Patterson, who died in 2025 at the age of 94, was remembered as a tireless advocate, mentor, and public servant whose influence shaped generations across the East Bay.

Published

31 minutes ago

May 15, 2026

Oakland Post

William “Bill” Patterson, Jr. Courtesy Peralta College District

By Carla Thomas

On Tuesday, May 12, Oakland honored a towering community figure, William “Bill” Patterson, with the unveiling of a bronze plaque and the renaming of the East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD) boardroom in downtown Oakland.

Board members, family, colleagues, and mentees gathered to reflect on Patterson’s enduring legacy at the meeting.

Patterson, who died in 2025 at the age of 94, was remembered as a tireless advocate, mentor, and public servant whose influence shaped generations across the East Bay.

“This is well deserved,” said Patterson’s cousin, Maria Simon. “He was such a big part of the Oakland community. It’s heartwarming to know he was known by so many people.

“So many credit him with helping them get their first job. It was especially meaningful when he held the Bible for Mayor Barbara Lee’s swearing-in. He truly believed in the goodness of people, in possibilities, and in the power to bring things to fruition.”

Oakland NAACP President Cynthia Adams described Patterson as a father figure. “He took me under his wing,” she said. “This recognition is a very special moment.”

Fellow NAACP member Robert “Bob” Harris echoed that sentiment, recalling Patterson as “a great member of the NAACP and a proud Kappa Alpha Psi man.”

Patterson’s son, William Patterson Jr., reflected on his father’s professional life.

“My father loved his community, and he loved working with EBMUD and spoke highly of his colleagues,” he said, standing alongside cousin Rise Jones Pichon, a former Santa Clara County Superior Court judge.

EBMUD Board President Luz Gómez praised Patterson’s resilience and dedication.

“As his health declined, he would spend half the day in the hospital and still come to our meetings,” she said. “There will never be another like him.”

Activist Cheryl Sudduth highlighted Patterson’s commitment to workforce development and youth empowerment. “He had the vision to bring water careers to students and the next generation,” she said, noting that participants in one of his initiatives received $2,000 stipends.

Sudduth also summed up one of Patterson’s guiding philosophies: “He told me it’s not enough to have a seat at the table. You need to have access to quality resources, the tools to build the table, and the skills to ensure everyone there can contribute. We should be more than a representation; we should reflect determination.”

EBMUD Board Member Andy Katz emphasized the importance of remembrance.

“When you die, you die twice, physically, and then when people stop saying your name,” he said. “By honoring him this way, his name will continue to be spoken for years to come.”

Others in attendance reflected on Patterson’s broad impact.

“It was a joy to watch him accomplish so much,” said EBMUD Board Member Marguerite Young.

Business leader, Delane Sims added that Patterson became a trusted advisor to multiple Oakland mayors.

“We need young people to learn about him so they can become leaders capable of creating meaningful change,” Sims said.

Following public comments, attendees witnessed the unveiling of the bronze plaque in the boardroom foyer, along with signage officially renaming the space in Patterson’s honor.

Born in 1931, Patterson devoted more than seven decades to public service in Oakland and the broader East Bay. Appointed to the EBMUD Board in 1997, he served for 27 years and became its first African American board president. His leadership extended beyond water governance into civil rights, education, and community development.

A three-term president of the Oakland NAACP, Patterson also advised Oakland’s first Black mayor, Lionel Wilson, and played a key role in advancing equity, public health, and environmental justice. He served on the Urban Strategies Council and the Oakland Public Ethics Commission, further shaping public policy.

In 1971, Patterson was a founding director of the Peralta Colleges Foundation, which provides financial assistance and support to students across Berkeley City College, College of Alameda, Laney College, and Merritt College.

In addition, Patterson mentored countless young people through Oakland’s recreation programs, helping guide future leaders and even professional athletes. Though slight in stature, Patterson will always be remembered as a giant of a man.

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Supreme Court Voting Rights Ruling Reverberates From the South to California

The Supreme Court’s recent ruling weakening the Voting Rights Act is reshaping political battles, particularly in the South. While California’s protections may offer a buffer, the decision raises national concerns about Black political representation and redistricting.

Published

50 minutes ago

May 15, 2026

Oakland Post

Researchers pointed out that the number amounts to 1 in every 50 adults, with 3 out of 4 disenfranchised living in their communities, having completed their sentences or remaining supervised while on probation or parole. (Photo: iStockphoto)

iStock.

By Brandon Patterson

A recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling weakening a key section of the federal Voting Rights Act is already reshaping political battles in parts of the South while raising broader questions about the future of Black political representation nationwide.

In Louisiana v. Callais, the Court’s conservative majority limited the use of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, the provision historically used to challenge electoral maps that dilute minority voting strength. Writing in dissent, Justice Elena Kagan warned that the ruling marked the “now-complete demolition of the Voting Rights Act.”

The immediate effects of the ruling are expected to be felt most sharply in Southern states, where litigation over majority-Black districts has shaped congressional maps for decades. Republican-led states including Louisiana, Alabama, and Texas have already moved to defend or revisit maps following the decision, according to reporting by Reuters and Politico.

California’s political landscape is different. The state uses an independent citizen’s commission to draw district lines and also has its own California Voting Rights Act, which in some cases provides broader protections than federal law. Because of those safeguards, the Supreme Court’s decision is not expected to immediately alter Black political representation in California.

Still, legal scholars and voting rights advocates say the ruling could shape future national debates over how race is considered in redistricting and voting rights enforcement.

“It changes the legal atmosphere around voting rights nationally,” UCLA law professor Rick Hasen told Axios. “Even states with stronger protections are paying attention to where the Court is headed.”

The decision also arrives amid renewed political fights over redistricting. In California, voters approved Proposition 50 in November 2025, a measure backed by Gov. Gavin Newsom that expanded the state’s ability to redraw congressional maps in response to mid-decade redistricting efforts in other states.

Supporters argued the measure was necessary to counter increasingly aggressive Republican-led redistricting nationally, while critics warned it could weaken California’s independent redistricting tradition.

For Black Californians, the ruling lands at a time when political representation remains significant even as demographic shifts have changed historically Black neighborhoods in cities like Oakland, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee criticized the Court’s decision in comments to The Oaklandside, calling the Voting Rights Act one of the nation’s foundational civil rights protections.

“This decision weakens one of the most important civil rights tools our communities have had,” Lee said. “We know voting rights were never given freely. People fought and died for them.”

Rep. Lateefah Simon warned against complacency.

“This is part of a larger effort to erase the gains of the civil rights movement,” Simon told Oaklandside. “Black political power matters, and representation matters.”

The Voting Rights Act, passed in 1965 during the height of the Civil Rights Movement, helped expand Black political representation nationwide, including in California, where coalition politics among Black, Latino and Asian American voters helped elect candidates of color at the local, state and federal levels.

For many observers, the latest ruling serves less as an immediate threat to California districts and more as a reminder that voting rights protections long viewed as settled remain politically and legally contested.

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The People’s Coalition to Stop Deed Theft Speaks at National Probate Reform Coalition Meeting

Evangeline Byars and Carmella Carrington lead the STOPDEEDTHEFT.org movement, fighting rising deed and title fraud, which disproportionately affects Black and Brown communities nationwide.

Published

1 hour ago

May 15, 2026

Oakland Post

Left to right: Evangeline Byars and Carmella Carrington are gaining nationwide attention with their STOPDEEDTHEFT.org movement.

Caption:

By Tanya Dennis

The National Probate Reform Coalition (NPRC) has learned that aside from rampant theft of properties occurring through probate court, deed theft extends even further with the support of banks, police, judges, attorneys and “the system” to steal Black and Brown properties.

Deed and title fraud are rising, with FBI data showing over 9,300 complaints and $173.6 million in losses in 2024 alone.

To that end, NPRC invited Evangeline Byars of The People’s Coalition to Stop Deed Theft as their keynote speaker on May 7.

Deed theft victims reach out to Byars because she has a reputation of getting things done. Introduced to community organizing at Medgar Evers College in 2011, Byars was mentored by Harry Belafonte and gained further movement training in 2012-13 through his “Gathering for Justice.” Byars also trained with the Youth Brigade 32BJ, Union in 2012 where she learned to map, target, and execute actions.

With that knowledge as an advocacy worker, Byars ran for president of TWU Local 100 for transit workers. During challenges of the union and political changes in New York when unions no longer had friends in government, they organized.

In 2025, deed theft victims approached Byars and told their stories. Byars investigated, and discovered rampant, unrelenting theft of properties, primarily from Black and brown families, got involved and helped them with their fight, teaching them how to sustain their fight at the grassroots level while remaining politically independent. This independence gave them the ability to move without co promise.

Deed theft is the taking of someone’s deed through fraudulent mortgages or a stranger that accesses property records, prepares paperwork and files for an owner’s property. New York is a’ first notice’ state, which means whoever appears first on record is the designated deed holder.

Deed theft escalated between 2013-23, the outcome of the subprime market, when people faced mass foreclosure and short sales. By 2014 people, primary Black and Brown, were fighting for their property.

In California, title theft (deed fraud) is a fast-growing threat often targeting high-equity homes, vacant land, and rentals. As of 2024, California leads the nation in real estate fraud with over 1,583 cases costing roughly $24.8 million in losses in a single year, reflecting the state’s prime position for scammers due to high property values, the FBI reports.

Byars says, “Deed theft affects Black and Brown people: it is by design, leading to the erasure of people of color homeownership that is happening nationwide. In every big city across the United States, towns and municipalities, we are witnessing a mass exodus of Black and brown people. This theft cannot occur without judges, notaries and law enforcement, it is a syndicate of players working together for the removal of people by illegal ejectment or eviction.

The People’s Coalition to Stop Deed Theft does court watch and constantly highlight the inequities in the court system.

Byars says, “This is a human rights crisis. Because of Wall Street and what New York signifies to the nation, know that no state is safe. Any person can come and create paper terrorism, slap forgery notes on homes; engage in illegal guardian procedures; initiate foreclosures; apply for fraudulent loan modifications; then there’s outright theft and forgery, just taking people’s homes. Believe me, it’s happening nationally and on the daily, These predators also target seniors over the age of 60 and women.”

The People’s Coalition to Stop Deed Theft take direct actions against perpetrators and are working with the New York District Attorney to create an office dedicated to gighting deed theft.

“Two ways to protect your deed is to keep a note, never satisfy your mortgage, because the bank is the biggest gangster, but if you’re making a payment, it keeps them in check. Or put your home in a living trust, once you have a trust, it hides the owner’s name and protects the person from predators.”