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Uproar Over Dividing Up Youth Jobs Money

Published

14 years ago

March 22, 2013

Oakland Post

Peter Roos, board chair of Spanish Speaking Citizens Foundation.

Henry Rosales, executive director of Spanish Speaking Citizens Foundation.

Marlon McWilson, member of the Alameda County Board of Education.

Gay Plair Cobb

Frank Tucker

By Ken A. Epstein

A proposed decision on how to divide up federal job money for youth for the next two years is stirring charges that nonprofits that provide services to Latinos and young people in West Oakland are excluded and that the decision favors the bigger, better-funded agencies.
“When do you show fairness?” asked Ron Muhammad, a West Oakland activist, who said his community has not received federal youth job money for the past two years.
“Year after year, you always deny us, a whole district. We can’t go on and not get anything,” and Latinos in the Fruitvale District are not getting anything, he said.
Based on an application and interviews conducted by a three-member panel of the Youth Council of the Oakland Workforce Investment Board (WIB), the Youth Council and the WIB Executive Committee approved a decision at their meetings on Wednesday to give money for 2013-2015 to five groups that provide year-round job training for youth:
Youth Radio, which is requesting $208,980; CivicCorps, asking for $275,000; Lao Family, $300,000; Youth Employment Partnership (YEP), $300,000; and Youth UpRising, $300,000.
The decision still must be voted upon by the full WIB board and the City Council. The actual amount that each organization will receive must still be negotiated and depends on the new federal budget. The services that the groups will deliver also remain to be negotiated.
Groups that were not funded were First Place for Youth, asking for $294,899; GRIP/Pivotal Point, $300,000, a small nonprofit that serves youth mostly in West Oakland; and Spanish Speaking Citizens Foundation, $299,997, which serves Latino and immigrant youth in the Fruitvale.
Several speakers said that neighborhood and turf differences mean that many young people will not travel between West and East Oakland to participate in a program.
“There are real lines and different cultures between West and East Oakland. If we have a (police) crime plan that addresses West Oakland, we should have a youth job plan that addresses West Oakland,” said Marlon McWilson, member of the Alameda County Board of Education.
The Latino population in East Oakland is large and growing, and it is not being served, he said.
Henry Rosales, executive director of Spanish Speaking Citizens Foundation, criticized the board for failing to reverse years of underserving Latino youth.
“Our organization has been in the Fruitvale for 40 years. I’ve been on the Youth Council for seven years now. It’s never been addressed in my opinion,” he said.
“I …hear we are sensitive, (but) it’s not good enough. This is a systemic problem. Speaking on behalf of the Latino community, it’s insulting that (this) continues to go on when this group has the power to do something about it.”
Peter Roos, attorney and board chair of the Foundation, said the decision on dividing the money could be open to legal challenge.
He said he had heard that all the interviewees and presenters were given the questions in advance, but the Speaking Speaking Citizen’s Foundation speaker never received the questions.
It was said during a Youth Council meeting, he said, that the same questions were asked in the interviews with each agency that was presenting. “Everybody was given the same questions, so there would be parity,” Roos said he had heard.
One of the questions was, “What language skills does your staff have?”
“Nobody ever asked us that question,” Roos said. “If that is true, Spanish Speaking had its feet shackled during (the) race,” he said.

Three agencies were denied funding, not because they were not qualified, but because of a lack of sufficient federal money to serve everyone, said Al Auletta, Development/Redevelopment program manager in the City Manager’s office.
“In the ideal world we would be able to touch every neighborhood and every target group. But in the real world we have very limited funds,” he said.
Questions were raised at the meetings about why funding was limited to five agencies, not all eight.
“We had a fixed target of five organizations” to fund, said Gay Plair Cobb, WIB board member and CEO of the Oakland Private Industry Council. “Is there any reason why five was the magic number?” she asked.
Auletta said the decision was based on how much federal money the city was likely to receive.
For many years, Cobb said, “Latino youth have been underserved in both year-round and summer programs.” In addition, some Latino youth speak indigenous languages, not Spanish. “Who’s gong to be interacting with them?” she asked.
Others asked why the five agencies receiving funding had not been required to partner with smaller agencies. Several WIB board members said that possibility would be considered. “Small agencies do not just need partners. They need the financial resources to do their work,” Cobb said.
Additionally, speakers complained that only 25 percent of the scoring on the application was based on the written application. Seventy-five percent was based on the oral presentation.
“I’m very uncomfortable (supporting the decision) when so much weight is put on the presentation and interview,” said Frank Tucker, WIB member and CEO of Tucker Technology, adding that the process put the “small guys … at a disadvantage.”
“Are the (funded) providers equipped to serve the Spanish speaking community?” Tucker asked. As the proposed decision stands, it “would alienate a major portion of the youth community we are attempting to serve,” he said.
Rosales of Spanish Speaking Citizens Foundation said he previously had seen indications that funding decisions would not take into account the needs of specific communities but would end up favoring larger, better-funded nonprofits.
“We’re seeing it play out here,” he said.

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Oakland NAACP, BWOPA Speak Out Against Alleged Harassment of Black Women Political Leaders

The Oakland NAACP and the Oakland/Berkeley chapter of Black Women Organized for Political Action have issued a joint statement condemning a pattern of harassment, intimidation, and discrimination directed at Black women in politics. Leadership from both organizations noted that these concerns reflect a rise in online hostility and political attacks against public servants. The allegations emerged amid a contentious race for the Oakland Unified School District Board of Education, prompting a public debate over accountability and political conduct. Read more to learn how the involved parties have responded.

Published

1 day ago

November 3, 2026

Post News Group

Danielle Motley-Lewis, president of BWOPA’s Oakland/Berkeley chapter.

By Antonio Ray Harvey, California Black Media

The Oakland branch of the NAACP and the Oakland/Berkeley chapter of Black Women Organized for Political Action (BWOPA) have issued a joint statement condemning what they describe as harassment, intimidation and discrimination targeting Black women in politics.

Founded in 1968, BWOPA is a California-based nonprofit advocacy and membership organization that is focused on increasing Black women’s participation and influence in the political process.

Danielle Motley-Lewis, president of BWOPA’s Oakland/Berkeley chapter, told California Black Media (CBM) that the statement reflects growing concerns about online hostility and political attacks directed at Black women candidates, elected officials and public servants.

“These allegations deserve serious attention and should not be dismissed as ordinary political disagreements,” the organizations said in their statement.

The concerns have surfaced amid a contentious race for the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) Board of Education’s District 6 seat, where candidate LeAna Powell has reported experiencing harassment during her campaign.

Powell is running against Alexandra Williams and incumbent Valarie Bachelor, the school board’s vice president. All three candidates are Black women.

Motley-Lewis said the organizations’ statement addresses concerns extending beyond the school board contest, although Powell’s experiences helped bring the issue into focus.

“I could only speak to what I witnessed on social media. There were various types of harassment online,” Motley-Lewis said of the back-and-forth about the candidates online.

“It was unnerving.”

Powell, a former aide to former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, previously filed an informal complaint with the Oakland Public Ethics Commission alleging that Thao, then a City Council member, pressured city employees to work on her mayoral campaign.

Thao was recalled in November 2024 and left office Dec. 17 of that year. She subsequently faced federal charges related to an alleged bribery scheme. The criminal proceedings are separate from the dispute involving Powell’s school board campaign.

Powell also filed a complaint with the NAACP concerning what she described as harassment during her campaign.

Among those publicly criticizing Powell is Brandon Harami, a former Oakland mayoral staffer and LGBTQ+ advocate who said he previously worked with Powell in Thao’s office.

In a Sept. 27 Facebook post, Harami questioned Powell’s qualifications, judgment and political associations.

“District 6 candidate for School Board LeAna Powell does not have the maturity nor spine required to be on the school board,” Harami wrote.

Motley-Lewis said the organizations had documented or witnessed conduct they considered troubling, although she emphasized that their concerns were not limited to Harami or Powell.

Harami has denied the allegations and accused the organizations of misrepresenting his conduct.

In an Oct. 11 Instagram post, he called the joint statement a political smear and demanded that BWOPA and the Oakland NAACP retract it.

He argued that the organizations’ characterization of his actions unfairly portrayed him as having a history of harassment and discrimination. He also contended that the allegations were being used to silence LGBTQ+ voices.

Motley-Lewis said she declined Harami’s request for a retraction because the statement addressed a broader pattern of conduct affecting Black women in politics.

“I was open to brokering that conversation. However, (Harami) was unwilling,” Motley-Lewis said. “He did reach out to BWOP to retract our statement, and I advised him that I would not be doing that. The statement that he was included in (addressed) a broader problem that is experienced by various women.”

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COMMENTARY: Valarie Bachelor and Jennfier Brouhard are Excellent School Board Members and Deserve to Be Reelected

The Oakland Unified School District recently achieved a major milestone by escaping 22 years of state control and opening the school year with a teacher in every classroom. Incumbents Jennifer Brouhard and Valarie Bachelor are seeking reelection to the school board after overseeing balanced budgets, averting labor strikes, and reversing previous decisions to close local elementary schools. While the board now focuses on student-centered programs and school-based health facilities, a new wave of opposition candidates backed by wealthy tech donors has emerged. Read more about the shifting dynamics in this local election.

Published

1 week ago

October 25, 2026

Post News Group

Valarie Bachelor and Jennfier Brouhard, File images.

By Dr. Kitty Kelly Epstein and Dr. Kimberly Mayfield, Special to The Post

The Oakland schools have excellent leadership right now. I know it’s hard to believe – because there is so much wrong with the national education picture. But sometimes good things do happen locally.

This school year:

The Oakland Unified School District escaped from state control after 22 years.
Every classroom had a teacher at the beginning of the year, unlike past years when many classes started the year with day-to-day substitute teachers.
Dr. Denise Saddler, an African American woman, is leading the district as superintendent now. She was an excellent choice with vast understanding of Oakland, of schools, and of educational systems locally and nationally.
The school board and teachers managed to avert a teachers’ strike by some strategizing, listening and compromising.
The school board does not plan to close more schools. For the first time in decades, those in charge of the district were not discussing closures.

The two women leading the school board are excellent educators themselves.

Board President Jennifer Brouhard (District 2) served as an Oakland teacher and was awarded a Fulbright Distinguished Award in Teaching and the U.C. Berkeley Social Science Project Teacher of the Year Award.

When Brouhard joined the board four years ago, she voted to reverse the decision of the previous board which had planned to close Brookfield, Carl B. Munck, Grass Valley, Fred T. Korematsu Discovery Academy and Horace Mann elementary. Half the students at Carl Munck and at least a third of the students at several others were African American.

In refusing to close schools, she pointed out that in Oakland and other districts it has been Black and Brown students who have been most affected and that closing schools does not save money.

Then, she focused funding on classrooms rather than paying outside consultants. For that, she and her colleagues have incurred the wrath of real estate developers and school privatizers who want to get their hands on public property.

Board Vice President Valerie Bachelor (District 6) has worked on important facilities projects. She helped to set up the first school-based dental project at Frick United Academy of Language, an Oakland middle school. She championed the Melrose Leadership Academy groundbreaking and the Skyline dining facilities.

Bachelor facilitated a balanced budget, which was pivotal in helping the district finally end state control. She also worked to direct funding toward student-centered programs like the Black Thriving Community Schools Program, instead of spending money on the never-ending. highly paid outside consultants.

The people financing the opposition candidates are Ryan Graciano, co-founder of Credit Karma, which made $ 2.7 billion last year; and Gagan Biyani, who says he became a millionaire at age 25.

The literature produced on behalf of the opposition supports closing schools, which harms students, and advocates expenditures that would put OUSD back under state control.

To read more, go to Education Week, “The Harm of School Closures Can Last a Lifetime, New Research Shows” (2024), www.edweek.org/leadership/the-harm-of-school-closures-can-last-a-lifetime-new-research-shows/2024/06

Dr. Kitty Kelly is a Professor of Education and Urban Studies. Dr. Kimberly Mayfield is Dean at Kalmanovitz School of Education, Saint Mary’s College of California.

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PRESS ROOM: Transformative Justice Coalition 2026 Voting Rights Champion Awards Reception ‘Yesterday Is Today: The Battle For Voting Rights

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE –

Published

3 weeks ago

October 13, 2026

Post News Group

Featuring a Special Fireside Chat with 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing Survivor Sarah Collins Rudolph

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Sixty-three years after the bombing of Birmingham’s Sixteenth Street Baptist

Church shocked the conscience of the nation, Sarah Collins Rudolph—known as the “Fifth Little Girl”—will join the Transformative Justice Coalition (TJC) for a special Fireside Chat examining the enduring connection between the civil rights struggle of 1963 and the battle for voting and civil rights in 2026.

The Fireside Chat, hosted in partnership with Attorney A. Scott Bolden of Reed Smith, LLP, will be a featured part of TJC’s 2026 Voting Rights Champion Awards Reception, held in commemoration of the September 15, 1963 bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama.

Collins Rudolph survived the bombing that killed four young girls, including her sister, Addie Mae Collins, and left her seriously injured. During this extraordinary conversation, she will share her firsthand experience of the bombing, its lifelong impact, and her continuing struggle for justice.

Her appearance comes at a consequential moment for voting and civil rights in America and offers a living reminder that the struggle against racial hatred, disenfranchisement, and injustice is not simply a chapter of history. Under the theme “Yesterday Is Today: The Battle for Voting and Civil Rights in 2026,” the evening will connect the sacrifices of the Civil Rights Movement with the continuing responsibility to protect voting rights and advance justice today.

WHAT: Transformative Justice Coalition 2026 Voting Rights Champion Awards Reception

“Yesterday Is Today: The Battle For Voting And Civil Rights In 2026”

Featuring a Special Fireside Chat with 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing Survivor Sarah Collins Rudolph

WHO: Barbara Arnwine, Esquire, Founder/President/Co-Leader, Transformative Justice Coalition

Daryl D. Jones, Esquire, Board Chair/Co-Leader, Transformative Justice Coalition

Sarah Collins Rudolph, Sixteenth Street Baptist Church Bombing Survivor

A. Scott Bolden, Esquire, Reed Smith, LLP; Sponsor of the Fireside Chat and Reception

WHEN: Wednesday, September 16, 2026, from 6:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. WHERE: Location will be emailed to registrants 48 hours before the event.

WHY: Attorney Barbara Arnwine, the President & Founder of the Transformative Justice Coalition (TJC), and Attorney Daryl Jones, Co-Leader and Board Chair of TJC, said of Mrs. Collins Rudolph’s appearance that “TJC believes that it is critically important that people hear from the sole survivor of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church bombing.” Arnwine and Jones further stated that “this event will provide people with an opportunity to hear, first-hand, the results of racial hatred through the eyes of Mrs. Collins Rudolph, who was in the church with the four little girls who were killed at the time of the bombing.”

Attorney A. Scott Bolden, the sponsor of the Fireside Chat and Reception to benefit the non-profit Transformative Justice Coalition, said, “I am proud to support the work of the Transformative Justice Coalition. This is an organization that is truly in the trenches fighting for social justice and voting rights in America.” Bolden continued, “I have been an advocate for social justice my entire life. I strongly encourage people to come hear Mrs. Collins Rudolph and support the work of the Transformative Justice Coalition.”

TJC will bestow its 2026 Voting Rights Champion Award upon Collins Rudolph in recognition of her courage, perseverance, and continuing struggle for justice.

Attorney Arnwine and Attorney Jones concluded that, “Mrs. Collins Rudolph’s determination, heart, and perseverance to survive is to be applauded. This is the reason why TJC is bestowing upon her the 2026 ‘Voting Rights Champion Award.’ The character that Ms. Collins Rudolph displayed in her struggle to survive exemplifies the depth of commitment we must have today to protect our voting rights and work toward building a more robust, multicultural, and inclusive society for the future.”

REGISTRATION & SUPPORT: Registration for the Fireside Chat and Reception is available through Eventbrite or TJC’s website. Donations are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law and are strongly encouraged. Proceeds will support the TJC John Lewis Make Good Trouble Vote Bus, which will travel across America to marginalized communities, register voters, and help take voters to the polls.

Founded in 2015 by Barbara Arnwine, president emeritus of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights, where she created the national election protection program. Ms. Arnwine serves as President and Founder of the Transformative Justice Coalition, which seeks to catalyze transformative institutional change that advances justice and equality in the United States and abroad. Learn more at tjcoalition.org.

This story originally appeared on Black Press USA as “PRESS ROOM: Transformative Justice Coalition 2026 Voting Rights Champion Awards Reception ‘Yesterday Is Today: The Battle For Voting Rights”. Auto-delivered via NNPA Newswire.