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Training Youth on How-2 End Hostilities

We believe the solution rests with past proven results; not merely wishful thinking that has proven to be quite ineffective in addressing the violence that is happening almost daily.

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Minister King X, founder of K.A.G.E. Universal/Executive Director of California Prison Focus, and Richard Johnson responding to the upsurge in street violence are seeking to involve the community in solutions to end hostilities. Photo by Jonathanfitnessjones.
Minister King X, founder of K.A.G.E. Universal/Executive Director of California Prison Focus, and Richard Johnson responding to the upsurge in street violence are seeking to involve the community in solutions to end hostilities. Photo by Jonathanfitnessjones.

By Richard Johnson

The idea of How-2 end violence has its origin in the bowels of prison.

The idea was the result of the principled thinking of those who have spent years and decades behind prison walls seeking ways to end the senseless wars and violence that amounted to the loss of life with seemingly no end in sight.

Thus, together these principled thinkers began a dialogue among themselves that led to a historical document implemented in 2012 called “The Agreement to End Hostilities” aka “AEH.”

Collectively, this document created a bridge between the ethnicities and gang-related groups to end hostilities within the prison population. For the most part, it worked within the penal system. Violence was tempered to such a degree that the administration got behind this document.

Since the success was so apparent, we, the Formerly Incarcerated Giving Back (FIBG) and other non-returning citizens have established a parallel society called “Artivist” ending hostilities in the communities we came from. It is called the agreement to come home, AEH Street Strategic Team © Youth Resource Center.

We believe the solution rests with past proven results; not merely wishful thinking that has proven to be quite ineffective in addressing the violence that is happening almost daily.

The California Prison Focus K.A.G.E. Universal and FIBG are working in concert to halt this violence by using a plan of action with proven positive results. All resources go to address and cease this destruction that confronts the very society that we live in.

Will solutions manifest when you apply proven programs that create a pathway for truly addressing the problems, not sugar-coating them? The FIGB, African American Sports and Entertainment Group, and the Oakland Post News Group are intersecting in solidarity to bring change instead of reshuffling the problem.

We have a plan for this change to stop the violence and restore justice. In the coming weeks, we will respond positively to the Oakland Post’s challenge to those seeking to get elected in our community to offer solutions to end the violence, find jobs and develop affordable housing our communities and provide health and mental services to there will be more information on AEH solutions reported in this column.

Activism

Oakland Post: Week of April 24 – 30, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of April 24 – 30, 2024

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Oakland Post: Week of April 17 – 23, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of April 17 – 23, 2024

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Oakland Schools Honor Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties

Every Jan. 30, OUSD commemorates the legacy of Fred Korematsu, an Oakland native, a Castlemont High School graduate, and a national symbol of resistance, resilience, and justice. His defiant stand against racial injustice and his unwavering commitment to civil rights continue to inspire the local community and the nation. Tuesday was “Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution” in the state of California and a growing number of states across the country.

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Fred Korematsu. Courtesy of OUSD.
Fred Korematsu. Courtesy of OUSD.

By Post Staff

Every Jan. 30, OUSD commemorates the legacy of Fred Korematsu, an Oakland native, a Castlemont High School graduate, and a national symbol of resistance, resilience, and justice.

His defiant stand against racial injustice and his unwavering commitment to civil rights continue to inspire the local community and the nation. Tuesday was “Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution” in the state of California and a growing number of states across the country.
One OUSD school is named in his honor: Fred T. Korematsu Discovery Academy (KDA) elementary in East Oakland.

Several years ago, founding KDA Principal Charles Wilson, in a video interview with anti-hate organization “Not In Our Town,” said, “We chose the name Fred Korematsu because we really felt like the attributes that he showed in his work are things that the children need to learn … that common people can stand up and make differences in a large number of people’s lives.”

Fred Korematsu was born in Oakland on Jan. 30, 1919. His parents ran a floral nursery business, and his upbringing in Oakland shaped his worldview. His belief in the importance of standing up for your rights and the rights of others, regardless of race or background, was the foundation for his activism against racial prejudice and for the rights of Japanese Americans during World War II.

At the start of the war, Korematsu was turned away from enlisting in the National Guard and the Coast Guard because of his race. He trained as a welder, working at the docks in Oakland, but was fired after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941. Fear and prejudice led to federal Executive Order 9066, which forced more than 120,000 Japanese Americans out of their homes and neighborhoods and into remote internment camps.

The 23-year-old Korematsu resisted the order. He underwent cosmetic surgery and assumed a false identity, choosing freedom over unjust imprisonment. His later arrest and conviction sparked a legal battle that would challenge the foundation of civil liberties in America.

Korematsu’s fight culminated in the Supreme Court’s initial ruling against him in 1944. He spent years in a Utah internment camp with his family, followed by time living in Salt Lake City where he was dogged by racism.

In 1976, President Gerald Ford overturned Executive Order 9066. Seven years later, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco vacated Korematsu’s conviction. He said in court, “I would like to see the government admit that they were wrong and do something about it so this will never happen again to any American citizen of any race, creed, or color.”

Korematsu’s dedication and determination established him as a national icon of civil rights and social justice. He advocated for justice with Rosa Parks. In 1998, President Bill Clinton gave him the Presidential Medal of Freedom saying, “In the long history of our country’s constant search for justice, some names of ordinary citizens stand for millions of souls … To that distinguished list, today we add the name of Fred Korematsu.”

After Sept. 11, 2001, Korematsu spoke out against hatred and discrimination, saying what happened to Japanese Americans should not happen to people of Middle Eastern descent.
Korematsu’s roots in Oakland and his education in OUSD are a source of great pride for the city, according to the school district. His most famous quote, which is on the Korematsu elementary school mural, is as relevant now as ever, “If you have the feeling that something is wrong, don’t be afraid to speak up.”

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