By Carla Thomas 

When Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee announced that she would proclaim Thursday, April 9, as “100 Black Men of the Bay Area Day,” the organization’s board chairman and owner of D. Monaghan’s on the Hill, Danny Lee Williams knew he wanted to mark the historic moment with fanfare his community could share.

Standing at the podium on the patio of his restaurant in the Oakland Hills, he welcomed about 150 members of the organization and the broader community who gathered to celebrate.

“This is a special day, and we are in the midst of our Economic Empowerment week,” he said. Williams also welcomed four vendors to sell their gifts and accessories during the event free of charge.

“Today, the 100th day of the year, I proclaim 100 Black Men Day,” said Mayor Barbara Lee standing with newly appointed Oakland Port Commissioner Derek Mohammad, a 100 Black Men member. “Whereas the 100 Black Men of the Bay Area has demonstrated decades of unwavering commitment to uplifting youth and strengthening families and advancing opportunity and access in Oakland and the greater Bay Area with their signature programs…the chapter has impacted thousands of young people and contributed thousands of hours of community service…”

Lee shared how as a single parent of two boys, she was grateful to have the organization’s support in mentoring her sons.

“Today, my adult son is a member in Illinois, and I thank the organization for supporting so many Black boys.”

The idea for the proclamation originated with Oakland City Councilmember Kevin Jenkins, who praised the organization for its leadership and contributions to Oakland and the greater Bay Area.

“This work that we do would not be possible without partnerships with organizations like the 100 Black Men,” said Jenkins. “We’re saving lives, restoring communities, and giving people hope and opportunities.”

“This is Oakland,” said Mayor Lee. “This is what we’re about. It’s about new ideas, thinking outside the box and being who we are. It’s about bringing joy. This is our holiday.”

The mayor also thanked the organization for volunteering during Oakland Cleanup days.

Councilmember Janani Ramachandran added that while many complain about problems in the city, “the 100” put in the work.

“It’s hard to be in the community and do the work, but that is exactly what the 100 Black Men does,” she said.

The organization’s economic chair and associate director of Diversity Equity and Inclusion at the University of California Berkeley’s Business School, Marco T. Lindsey, shared his enthusiasm for change.

“Today is the culmination of our work and something special is happening in our organization and our city,” he said.  “We have a special opportunity to show up for our community now in ways that we haven’t had in the past. We have a mayor that supports us and it’s important that each and every one of us do our part. We all need our fingerprints on whatever we want to see in our city.”

Lindsey also expressed that if underserved youth and their parents had access to the resources needed for success, “Our youth wouldn’t be breaking windows and joining gangs if they had a pathway to earn $75k to $100k a year.”

The 100 Black Men were hosts of an Economic Empowerment Forum at McClymonds High School on April 11 educating students on entrepreneurship and financial literacy. On Sat., April 18, they will hold their fifth annual Career Expo at Contra Costa College 2600 Mission Bell Drive (G225) in San Pablo from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. The 100 Black Men chapter of the Bay Area was established in 1988, one of the earliest in the nation.

For more information visit 100blackmenba.org

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By Edward Henderson

When Aurelle Garner stepped out of her car one summer evening and saw a group of youths marching down her street, her stomach dropped.

What had begun as slurs hurled at her and her transgender children at a local park had escalated to violent pounding on their front door. Garner said that, before that incident, local law enforcement had repeatedly minimized her reports of harassment.

It was not until she contacted the Legal Department at The LGBTQ Center Long Beach that her family finally found help.

“I don’t know where we’d be if it weren’t for their help,” Garner, who lives in Southern California, said. “They didn’t just give legal advice. They helped us navigate a system that had otherwise dismissed us.”

Aurelle Garner, who received services from The LGBTQ Center Long Beach (Sponsored by AAPI Equity Alliance) to aid her transgender children. (Courtesy of AAPI Equity Alliance)

That support exists because The LGBTQ Center Long Beach does not work in isolation.

The Center partners with the AAPI Equity Alliance under California’s Stop the Hate program, a statewide coalition aimed at preventing hate and supporting survivors.

As the Los Angeles County Regional Lead, AAPI Equity Alliance works with the Center and dozens of other community-based organizations to connect people to legal aid, mental health services, and support. The programs also work in tandem with CA vs Hate, the state’s anti-hate hotline and virtual reporting system that connects people across California with organizations like the LGBTQ Center Long Beach – that provide support services

Garner’s experience illustrates the kind of harm that often falls outside the narrow legal definition of a hate crime but still leaves families traumatized and unsafe. It also shows how AAPI Equity Alliance’s leadership in the Stop the Hate ecosystem translates state funding and policy into real, on-the-ground support.

Patricia Roque (Courtesy of AAPI Equity Alliance)

In May 2022, Patricia Roque said she and her parents were attacked after a late-night stop at a fast-food drive-thru in Southern California. After hitting their car, the other driver pulled alongside them and mocked them using a racist Asian accent. Then, he threatened to kill them. The situation escalated when the man returned while the family was waiting for police and assaulted Roque’s father, fracturing his rib and choking her mother before bystanders intervened.

“The police arrived long after it was over,” Roque told California Black Media (CBM). “By then, the damage was already done.”

The following day, Roque’s family was connected to the Filipino Migrant Center (FMC), a community-based organization that has received Stop the Hate funding and works within the broader AAPI Equity Alliance network. FMC provided immediate support — helping the family navigate legal options, organizing emergency financial assistance to cover medical bills and missed work, and offering emotional and community care while the criminal case unfolded.

“But the process is long and complicated. When you need help right away, that delay is a huge barrier. FMC was there immediately,”Rogue said.

The criminal case did not result in the accountability the family hoped for. But Roque said the support she received transformed her relationship to her community and to advocacy.

“Before this, I wasn’t involved in organizing at all,” she said. “Through this process, I realized my voice mattered. FMC helped turn something traumatic into a way to support others and push for change.”

Stories like Garner’s and Roque’s are part of a much larger reckoning that began at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, when Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders across the country experienced a surge in harassment, discrimination, and violence fueled by racist rhetoric.

Filipino Migrant Center stands in solidarity against Anti-Asian Violence (Courtesy of AAPI Equity Alliance)

In response, AAPI Equity Alliance partnered with San Francisco’s Chinese for Affirmative Action and the Asian American Studies Department at San Francisco State University to launch Stop AAPI Hate in March 2020. Since then, the project has collected more than 9,000 reports nationwide documenting incidents ranging from verbal harassment and workplace discrimination to physical assault and child bullying.

“People tend to think about hate only when it turns violent,” said Kiran Bhalla of AAPI Equity Alliance. “But there are everyday acts of discrimination that people endure constantly. Without some kind of recourse, that harm just keeps going.”

The data helped spur unprecedented action in California. In 2021, the State Legislature passed the $165.5 million Asian Pacific Islander Equity Budget, signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom. Of that total, $110 million was dedicated to victim services, education, and outreach. In August 2023, California invested an additional $40 million to expand California’s Stop the Hate program to serve a broader range of communities affected by hate and discrimination.

Today, the program supports roughly 100 nonprofit organizations statewide. As Los Angeles County Regional Lead, AAPI Equity Alliance coordinates grantees, facilitates cross-community collaboration, and helps ensure services reach those most impacted.

A recently released survey estimated that approximately 3.1 million Californians directly experienced hate, with Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islanders, Black or African Americans, and other communities of color, including Asian Americans, among those most likely to experience hate.

Black Californians, however, remain the most targeted group when it comes to reported hate crimes.

Nearly 48% of Asian American and Pacific Islander adults in California reported experiencing a hate incident in 2024, according to Stop AAPI Hate research. Most incidents were not criminal, leaving survivors with little recourse through the legal system.

That gap is precisely where AAPI Equity Alliance and its partners focus their work. The Stop the Hate framework prioritizes non-carceral responses, recognizing that policing alone often fails survivors and can further harm Black, brown, and immigrant communities.

Instead, the work centers on data and research, policy advocacy, community care, and public education. Through school-based programs, legal advocacy, emergency assistance, and survivor-centered services, the network aims to interrupt cycles of harm before they escalate.

For survivors like Garner and Roque, that support has made the difference between enduring trauma in silence and finding a path toward healing and collective power.

“When people experience hate, there’s often a profound sense of isolation,” Bhalla said. “This work helps people get back to school, back to work, back to their lives. It reminds them they’re not alone.”

Get Support After Hate:

California vs Hate is a non-emergency, multilingual hotline and online portal offering confidential support for hate crimes and incidents. Victims and witnesses can get help anonymously by calling 833-8-NO-HATE (833-866-4283), Monday to Friday, 9 a.m.–6 p.m. PT, or online at any time. Anonymous. Confidential. No Police. No ICE.This story was produced in partnership with CA vs Hate. Join them for the first-ever CA Civil Rights Summit on May 11, 2026. More information at www.cavshate.org/summit.

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