Activism

We Will Not Incarcerate Our Way Out of This

Housing is a human right. We can use public resources to ensure everyone has a safe place to live and effective mental health and substance use treatment. Instead, we’ve gutted our social programs to the point where they don’t function and assume this lack of functionality means there’s no solution.

Published

3 years ago

September 29, 2022

Oakland Post

As we’ve overfunded police and underfunded housing, treatment, and other essential services, we’ve seen more policing but less safety.

Last week, California Highway Patrol (CHP) and CalTrans violently evicted the Wood Street community, the largest encampment in the Bay Area.

People Are Liberating Public Spaces to Fight the Criminalization of Poverty

By Cat Brooks

How many times have you walked by an unhoused neighbor and told yourself it’s their fault, that they made the wrong life choices?

But the truth is that our unhoused crisis is the result of decades-long policies that criminalize poverty, addiction and mental health disabilities and treat human beings like garbage to be swept away with Friday’s trash while ignoring root causes.

Every city in the U.S. responds to visible poverty with fences, fines, cops, courts, and cages. These shortsighted responses make great photo ops, and let politicians pontificate, but all only accomplish terrorizing the most vulnerable, who move into new neighborhoods and reestablish their right to exist.

No matter how many arrests or evictions, the people will continue to be, and as part of that being — reclaim public spaces.

When San Francisco Supervisor Hillary Ronen called for the erection of fences around the 24th Street Bart Plaza, the community struck back and retook the plaza. @MissionDeFence_SF posted a statement in solidarity with other current public land struggles, including: People’s Park in Berkeley, Parker Elementary in Oakland, Echo Park in Los Angeles and Mystic Garden in Daly City.

These struggles are proof positive that the power lies with the people who will rise up, resist and reclaim the people’s space.

Last week, California Highway Patrol (CHP) and CalTrans violently evicted the Wood Street community, the largest encampment in the Bay Area. CHP (the 4th most murderous law enforcement agency in California) descended on the camp for phase one of an armed eviction that will cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Wood Street’s estimated 200-300 residents are being offered little relocation support or resources. Only a fraction has been given shelters or RV spots. Two were arrested for non-violent civil disobedience amidst an outpouring of community support.

Most of the Wood Street folks are Black, several are elders, many extremely vulnerable, and almost all are victims of gentrification and criminalization.

I was there to bear witness as the state demolished a tiny home, towed RVs, and destroyed lives. No effort was made to move their homes and belongings. Mayor Libby Schaaf doesn’t believe the city has any obligation to do so.

In an open letter to Schaaf, Governor Gavin Newsom, and others, residents offered concrete solutions and laid out their needs. They’ve been asking for sanitation services and fire safety for years. They’ve been ignored.

In their letter, they wrote, “The Wood Street community stands strong in our determination to keep our community together. We plan to continue organizing and fighting for long-term and permanent housing solutions.”

For now, they’ll be forced to move into residential areas where NIMBYS will call cops to protect their fragile senses from the brutality of visible poverty. Wash. Rinse. Repeat.

This story is playing out across California. Instead of meeting people’s basic needs, the state legislature does things like “CARE Courts” — to force unhoused people into court-ordered treatment that will cost millions and target Black and brown folks. The bill is Governor Newsom’s brainchild and a continuation of criminalizing the unhoused under the guise of “care” which he’s done since his days as mayor of San Francisco.

Poverty is a political choice. Oakland’s unhoused population increased 24% since 2019 (thank you Libby), yet the Town spends 10 times as much on police as it does on housing.

As we’ve overfunded police and underfunded housing, treatment, and other essential services, we’ve seen more policing but less safety. We are less safe when we build walls to keep unhoused neighbors out of public spaces. We are less safe when we respond to mental health crises with a badge and gun.

We are less safe when the treatment plan for substance use problems is a cage.

If seeing unhoused people makes us uncomfortable, then we should invest in housing for all. If public drug use offends us, then we should invest in safe injection facilities (a proven public health intervention that Newsom just vetoed).

If watching someone experience a mental health crisis is distressing, then we should invest in community-driven approaches to support individuals in crisis.

Until we do these things, no matter how much our elected officials try to sanitize the crises we face, the people will keep knocking down fences to liberate public spaces.

Cat Brooks is co-founder of the Anti Police-Terror Project, executive director of the Justice Teams Network and host of Law & Disorder on KPFA, a new show that exposes the cracks in our system and agitates for resistance.

Oakland Post

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Activism

As California Hits Aging Milestone, State Releases Its Fifth Master Plan for Aging

“California’s Master Plan for Aging started a powerful movement that is shaping the future of aging in our state for generations to come,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement, calling the initiative a “future-forward” model delivering real results for older adults, people with disabilities, and their families.

Published

23 hours ago

February 9, 2026

Oakland Post

iStock.

By Bo Tefu, California Black Media

On Jan. 27, California released its Fifth Master Plan for Aging Annual Report,titled “Focusing on What Matters Most,” outlining the state’s progress and priorities as its population rapidly grows older.

The report, issued by the California Health and Human Services Agency (CalHHS), provides updates on the Master Plan for Aging’s “Five Bold Goals”: housing, health, inclusion and equity, caregiving, and affordability.

The report comes as Californians aged 60 and older now outnumber those under 18 for the first time, a demographic shift expected to accelerate over the next decade.

Launched in 2021, the Master Plan for Aging takes a “whole-of- government” and “whole-of-society” approach, coordinating state agencies, local governments, community organizations, and private partners. The annual report highlights significant milestones, including more than 100 California communities joining AARP’s Age-Friendly Network and $4 million in state funding awarded to local organizations to develop aging and disability action plans in 30 communities statewide.

The report also underscores California’s leadership at the national level, noting that dozens of states have followed its example and that federal legislation inspired by the plan was reintroduced in the U.S. Senate in December 2025.

CalHHS Secretary Kim Johnson emphasized the plan’s focus on equity and resilience amid ongoing challenges.

“The Master Plan for Aging continues to provide a vision, a focus, and a platform for collaboration,” Johnson said. “Equity is at the center of all that we do.”

Looking ahead, the report notes that by 2030, one in four Californians will be age 60 or older, positioning the Master Plan for Aging as a central framework for meeting the state’s long-term social, economic, and health needs.

Oakland Post

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Activism

After Don Lemon’s Arrest, Black Officials Raise Concerns About Independent Black Media

Elected leaders joining the call included U.S. Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-CA-37), Los Angeles County Supervisor Holly Mitchell (2nd District), Assemblymembers Tina McKinnor (D-Inglewood), Mike Gipson (D-Carson), and Sade Elhawary (D-Los Angeles), and State Sen. Lola Smallwood-Cuevas (D-Los Angeles). While the meeting was prompted by Lemon’s arrest, the discussion quickly moved beyond him, turning to growing concerns about the vulnerability of Black journalists covering protests and dissent.

Published

23 hours ago

February 9, 2026

Oakland Post

Don Lemon. Shutterstock.

By Joe W. Bowers Jr., California Black Media

On Jan. 30, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass attended independent journalist Don Lemon’s federal court appearance at the Edward R. Roybal Federal Courthouse following his arrest in Los Angeles by federal authorities for conduct tied to his reporting on a protest nearly 2,000 miles away in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Shortly afterward, Bass convened a Zoom roundtable of Black elected leaders, city officials, and journalists to discuss what the case signaled — not just for Lemon, but for journalism more broadly.

While Lemon was being arrested, Georgia Fort, an award-winning Minneapolis journalist, was also arrested and charged in connection with her coverage of the protest inside the Cities Church in St. Paul reportedly targeted because a pastor worked as field director for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Both Fort and Lemon have said they were reporting.

However, prosecutors allege conspiracy and violations of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act — a federal law that prohibits force, threats, or obstruction at reproductive health facilities and places of worship.

In a public statement issued after the arrest, Bass said the case “is about the First Amendment and the right of journalists to do their jobs without fear of intimidation or retaliation,” adding that journalists “must be able to cover events of public concern without being treated as criminals.”

That framing set the tone for the Zoom discussion. Participants raised concerns that Lemon’s speech and presence were being used to transform journalistic activity into evidence of criminal intent. Several warned that such an approach places journalists working outside major institutions at heightened risk.

Kamlager-Dove said the arrests cut to the heart of democratic accountability.

“Journalists must be able to report on protests, government actions, and civil rights issues without fear of arrest or retaliation,” she said. “When reporters are targeted for doing their jobs, it threatens the public’s right to know and undermines our democracy.”

As the discussion continued, the roundtable’s participants also made clear why Fort’s arrest mattered. Unlike Lemon, she is not a national television figure, a distinction participants said shows how independent journalists without major institutional backing are often the most vulnerable.

McKinnor said that reality cannot be ignored. “Black journalists have long played a critical role in documenting what others overlook or avoid,” she said. “When reporters are arrested for covering protests, it sends a message that truth-telling itself is being criminalized.”

Participants noted that the Minnesota protest space was multiracial, yet Black journalists were among those arrested — a pattern several described as familiar when Black reporters cover protests, immigration enforcement, policing, or civil rights issues.

Smallwood-Cuevas called the arrests “deeply troubling” and warned that “when journalists are arrested for documenting protests, it sends a chilling message not just to the press, but to the public.”

Oakland Post

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“Victory” for Voting Rights: Weber and Bonta Hail Judge’s Decision on Huntington Beach I.D. Law

“Today’s victory makes one thing crystal clear: No city in our state, charter and non-charter alike, is above the law,” Bonta said. “All along, Secretary of State Weber and I have maintained that Huntington Beach’s voter ID policy is illegal, and now, the state’s highest court has weighed in and agreed with us. Measure A won’t be taking effect — ever.”

Published

23 hours ago

February 9, 2026

Oakland Post

iStock.

By Bo Tefu, California Black Media

California Attorney General Rob Bonta and Secretary of State Shirley N. Weber hailed a major legal victory for voting rights after the California Supreme Court declined to review a challenge brought by the City of Huntington Beach against the state, effectively ending the city’s attempt to impose voter identification requirements in municipal elections.

The high court’s action leaves intact a Fourth District Court of Appeal ruling that struck down Huntington Beach’s voter ID law, known as Measure A, finding it unlawful and preempted by state law. By rejecting the city’s petition for review, the Supreme Court has fully resolved the case in favor of the state, concluding litigation initiated by Bonta and Weber on April 15, 2024.

Measure A amended the Huntington Beach city charter to purportedly authorize voter identification requirements at polling places for municipal elections beginning in 2026. State officials argued the measure conflicted with California election law and was adopted without evidence of voter fraud in the city. Courts at every level agreed, rejecting the city’s claims that such requirements were necessary to protect election integrity.

Bonta also criticized city leaders for promoting unfounded concerns about election security. “Huntington Beach’s leaders have been parroting the Trump Administration’s talking points by questioning the integrity of our elections,” he said. “In court, the City’s allegations were resoundingly rejected. I remain fully committed to protecting the right to vote from baseless attacks.”

Weber emphasized the broader implications of the ruling for voters statewide.

“Today the California Supreme Court declined to review the Fourth District Court of Appeal’s decision prohibiting the City of Huntington Beach from implementing illegal voter identification requirements,”

Weber said. “As California Secretary of State, I have a responsibility to ensure that every eligible Californian can exercise their constitutional right to vote, and I take that duty seriously.”

Weber added that state law clearly supersedes local efforts to impose additional voting barriers.

“Attorney General Bonta and I have held steadfast that state law preempts the City’s attempts to impose illegal voting requirements on eligible voters and that Huntington Beach’s Measure A is unlawful,” she said. “This is another victory for California, for voters, and for democracy.”