Events

41st Annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Celebration

Published

6 years ago

January 30, 2019

The Dream Starts With Me Celebration of the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., began with opening remarks by Supervisor and Board Chair, John M. Gioia. Entertainment was provided by the Contra Costa School of Performing Arts and the Los Medanos College Gospel Choir.

The keynote address was provided by Sheryl Lane, the director of Building Block for Kids.

Sheryl Lane, a native of Richmond, is the daughter of parents who were born and raised in the segregated South and moved to California in pursuit of greater opportunity.

Lane holds a Master’s of Science in Urban Policy and Management from the Milano Graduate School of Management and Urban Policy at the New School in New York City. She holds two BA’s, one in sociology and another in psychology and social behavior, both from UC Irvine. In 2017, Sheryl completed eight years of service as a member of the Richmond Planning Commission.

Contra Costa County is pleased to have Sheryl Lane share her thoughts in recognition of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Day.

Rev. Donnell R. Jones is the recipient of the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors’ 2019 Humanitarian of the Year Award. He was chosen for his leadership and service to the community spanning 27 years.

In his work in Contra Costa County and beyond, Jones cares deeply about advocating for peace, justice and violence prevention. He is the pastor of New Direction Ministries and the owner of New Soul Cafe, both in Richmond.

He has served as a community organizer and interim director of Contra Costa Interfaith Supporting Community Organization. He is currently working as a contractor with the Richmond Police Dept., collaborating with such entities as Crime Prevention, Immigration, Education, Economic Development, NAACP and Pastoral Alliances. Contra Costa County was pleased to present him with the 2019 Humanitarian of the Year Award.

Yassna Ahmadi, a senior at Pinole Valley High School, is the recipient of the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors 2019 Student Humanitarian Award. She was chosen for her passionate leadership and the impact she has already made durning her high school career. Ahmadi is an honors student and president of the student body. As the lead writer for the school newspaper, “Spartan Ink,” she has written over a dozen articles on topics addressing real world concerns from immigration to LGBTQ issues to women’s rights. She oranized and spoke at the school’s memorial ceremony after last year’s masssacre at the Parkland School in Florida. She is an activist who “has a great sense of respect toward her peers and adults,” notes her school principal. She is proud of her Muslim heritage, while including the African American Student Union among her many activities.

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Oakland Post: Week of October 30 – November 5, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of October 30 – November 5, 2024

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1 day ago

November 1, 2024

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Oakland Post: Week of October 23 – 29, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of October 23 – 29, 2024

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1 week ago

October 26, 2024

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Soaring Birds and Towering Waves Greet Attendees at 29th Annual Maafa Commemoration at Ocean Beach

The 29th Annual MAAFA Commemoration San Francisco Bay Area was held at Ocean Beach, Sunday, Oct. 13. Warm and cloudy with waves as high as tall buildings, we gathered to honor African ancestors who died by the millions over the centuries of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade.

Published

2 weeks ago

October 21, 2024

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Ayikwei H. Scott (drummer standing), Dr. Uzo Nwankpa (seated), Iya Nefertina Abrams (in background), unnamed participant to the left. Next frame: co-founder, Sister Wanda Sabir at mic. MAAFA winged chorus (center frame). We are singing the MAAFA song Brotha Clint composed. Chorus: Sister Wanda and Antwuanette Queen-Pope, Brother Desmond Iman, Baba Darinxoso Oyamasela. Minister Alisha Teasley (Lower right). Photo montage by Zochi.

By Wanda Sabir

Special to The Post

The 50 or so children and adults attending Maafa, Kiswahili word meaning ‘great disaster,’ came from as far as Monterey and Sacramento to just up the block. We all felt the ancestors’ ethereal embrace as Min. Imhotep and Min. Alicia of Wo’Se Community Church poured libations and invited us to call their names with our mouths, feet, and hands.

Birds on the beach lifted their wings in flight moving towards us and flying overhead the way legends say African ancestors flew away from plantation fields. Their collective Aṣé!

The theme for the 29^th Maafa event was accountability and as Zochi led us through Mu-i (pronounced moo-ee, a movement meditation) we embraced our power from our roots through our crown chakras. Dr. Uzo Nwankpa, a healer in residence at Freedom Community Clinic, taught us the Igbo war chant —“Eyinmba” which was also an embodied movement.

Our ancestral poet this year was Frances Ellen Watkins Harper (1825-1911), born in Baltimore to free parents. She was a poet, abolitionist, suffragist, educator, and freedom fighter who lived in Philadelphia.
“It’s time to be a grown person,” Wanda Sabir, Maafa CEO stated. “Own up, fess up, get righteous. Accountability means we don’t blame others for our poor choices and their consequences. We don’t blame the system, genetic weakness, structural racism, poverty of the soul, families of origin, peer pressure, ignorance….
“We are more than the worse thing we have suffered. We are more than what our ancestors survived.
“Our ancestors do not want us to be functional. Our ancestors want us to be free.”
The drummers were phenomenal, and the section of the program open to reflections was filled with song, poetry, dance and prayers. A special treat was “Amkara Music” by Karamo Susso and Amina Janta, who will perform at Bissap Baobab in San Francisco on Oct. 20.
Join us for a Zoom dialogue on adrienne maree brown’s article, “Murmations: Love Looks Like Accountability” (Yes! Magazine, 7/25/22): Sunday, Nov. 10, 2-4 pm PT. Register in advance: MaafaSFBayArea.com, 510-397-9705. Here is the MAAFA 2024 program (https://qr1.be/CPFI).