Community

Local Educators Announce Initiatives For Black Lives Matter At School’s Week Of Action

THE SEATTLE MEDIUM — The Black Lives Matter At Schools Movement’s momentum is growing as its impact on the community has been fruitful.

Published

6 years ago

January 31, 2019

Oakland Post

By The Seattle Medium

On Monday, education leaders in Seattle held a press conference at the Rainier Beach Community Center to announce their new initiatives for the Black Lives Matter At School’s upcoming week of action to take place Feb. 4 – 8.

Black Lives Matter At Schools, in partnership with Seattle Public Schools, the Center for Racial Equity, the NAACP and N.Y.C (NAACP Youth Coalition) and parents of the community, is building on the nationally recognized work they began last year in bringing racism awareness and racial equity in schools around the region and nation.

During the “Week Of Action” program Black Lives At School will reintroduce their Demands as well as introduce a new curriculum, a book entitled Teaching For Black Lives for educators, students and parents about teaching ethnic and racial sensitivity, followed by a Black Lives Matters At School rally and student talent showcase.

In addition to pushing school districts to provide ethnic studies as part of their curriculum, the organization is also asking school’s administrators to recognize the need to educate and train both student and educators in “zero tolerance”, discipline and implement restorative justice in how they treat racism and systematic racism within education.

“Including Black Lives Matter At School Movement curricula in classrooms across the nation is an affirmation of the importance and power of ethnic studies,” says Tracy Castro-Gill, Ethnic Studies Program Manager for the Seattle Public Schools.

“Educators across our district have shared how their experience last year in teaching the Black Lives Matter lessons changed how they thought about Ethnic Studies and moved many educators to rethink their content and practices,” added Castro-Gill.

The organization is also promoting the hiring of more Black teachers and a “counselors not cops program” which aims to provide students of color a more positive and productive means of crisis control other than the justice system and the “pipeline to prison” as a solution through meaningful counseling.

According to Jesse Hagopian, an ethnic studies teacher at Garfield High School, racism and systematic racism has been on the rise in the Pacific Northwest in response to the present leadership in Washington D.C. and the nation’s educators are taking notice and action to combat this and provide children a leg up through learning, introducing them to the diversity in people.

“With racist hate crimes on the rise and the president who makes openly racist comments about Africa and Haiti, it is vital that we transform our education to be about uplifting Black lives undoing racism,” says Hagopian.

The Black Lives Matter At Schools Movement’s momentum is growing as its impact on the community has been fruitful.

The NAACP’s NAACP Youth Coalition has produced a growing number of young students who are taking on leadership roles as they work to bring about a more compassionate, inclusive and productive learning environment.

Israel Presley a Rainier Beach student and member of the N.Y.C believes, “this [Black Lives Matter At School Movement] is out of the need for change, Seattle struggles with making changes happen or even actually listening.”

“What I’ve noticed is a lot of times we put our voices out there, we try to say what we want, but they don’t pick up,” said Presley. “They don’t pick it up at all and I think with the Black Lives Matter At School it is a wakeup call saying ‘hey we are here, it’s time to listen, it’s time to wake up.’”

There are several events that will take place during the Week Of Action. On Mon., Feb. 4 BLM At School will gather at the University of Washington’s Kane Hall at 7:00 p.m. to introduce their new book “Teaching For Black Lives.” Weds., Feb. 6 at 4:45pm at the John Stanford Center for Educational Excellence BLM At School will roll out their agenda and demands and Fri., Feb. 8 at 6:00 p.m. at Cleveland High School the students will take the lead with a rally and talent showcase.

This article originally appeared in The Seattle Medium.

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Oakland Post: Week of December 25 – 31, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of December 25 – 31, 2024

Published

4 hours ago

December 26, 2024

Oakland Post

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Bay Area

Glydways Breaking Ground on 14-Acre Demonstration Facility at Hilltop Mall

Glydways has been testing its technology at CCTA’s GoMentum Station in Concord for several years. The company plans to install an ambitious 28-mile Autonomous Transit Network in East Contra Costa County. The new Richmond facility will be strategically positioned near that project, according to Glydways.

Published

2 days ago

December 24, 2024

Oakland Post

Image of planned Richmond facility courtesy of Glydways.

The Richmond Standard

Glydways, developer of microtransit systems using autonomous, small-scale vehicles, is breaking ground on a 14-acre Development and Demonstration Facility at the former Hilltop Mall property in Richmond, the Contra Costa Transportation Authority (CCTA) reported on social media.

Glydways, which released a statement announcing the project Monday, is using the site while the mall property undergoes a larger redevelopment.

“In the interim, Glydways will use a portion of the property to showcase its technology and conduct safety and reliability testing,” the company said.

The new Richmond development hub will include “over a mile of dedicated test track, enabling Glydways to refine its solutions in a controlled environment while simulating real-world conditions,” the company said.

Visitors to the facility will be able to experience on-demand travel, explore the control center and visit a showroom featuring virtual reality demonstrations of Glydways projects worldwide.

The hub will also house a 13,000-square-foot maintenance and storage facility to service the growing fleet of Glydcars.

“With this new facility [at the former Hilltop Mall property], we’re giving the public a glimpse of the future, where people can experience ultra-quiet, on-demand transit—just like hailing a rideshare, but with the reliability and affordability of public transit,” said Tim Haile, executive director of CCTA.

Janet Galvez, vice president and investment officer at Prologis, owner of the Hilltop Mall property, said her company is “thrilled” to provide space for Glydways and is continuing to work with the city on future redevelopment plans for the broader mall property.

Richmond City Manager Shasa Curl added that Glydways’ presence “will not only help test new transit solutions but also activate the former Mall site while preparation and finalization of the Hilltop Horizon Specific Plan is underway.

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Alameda County

Last City Council Meeting of the Year Ends on Sour Note with Big Budget Cuts

In a five to one vote, with Councilmembers Carroll Fife and Janani Ramachandran excused, the council passed a plan aimed at balancing the $130 million deficit the city is facing. Noel Gallo voted against the plan, previously citing concerns over public safety cuts, while Nikki Fortunato-Bas, Treva Reid, Rebecca Kaplan, Kevin Jenkins, and Dan Kalb voted in agreement with the plan.

Published

2 days ago

December 24, 2024

Oakland Post

Oakland City Council voted on a plan to balance the $130 million deficit at their last regular meeting of 2024. The plan reduces police spending by $25 million, temporarily closes two fire stations, and guts the cultural arts programs. iStock photo.

By Magaly Muñoz

In the last lengthy Tuesday meeting of the Oakland City Council for 2024, residents expressed strong opposition to the much needed budget cuts before a change in leadership was finalized with the certification of election results.

Oakland police and fire departments, the ambassador program, and city arts and culture will all see significant cuts over the course of two phases.

Phase 1 will eliminate two police academies, brown out two fire stations, eliminate the ambassador program, and reduce police overtime by nearly $25 million. These, with several other cuts across departments, aim to save the city $60 million. In addition, the council simultaneously approved to transfer restricted funds into its general purpose fund, amounting to over $40 million.

Phase 2 includes additional fire station brownouts and the elimination of 91 jobs, aiming to recover almost $16 million in order to balance the rest of the budget.

Several organizations and residents spoke out at the meeting in hopes of swaying the council to not make cuts to their programs.

East Oakland Senior Center volunteers and members, and homeless advocates, filled the plaza just outside of City Hall with rallies to show their disapproval of the new budget plan. Senior residents told the council to “remember that you’ll get old too” and that disturbing their resources will only bring problems for an already struggling community.

While city staff announced that there would not be complete cuts to senior center facilities, there would be significant reductions to staff and possibly inter-program services down the line.

Exiting council member and interim mayor Bas told the public that she is still hopeful that the one-time $125 million Coliseum sale deal will proceed in the near future so that the city would not have to continue with drastic cuts. The deal was intended to save the city for fiscal year 2024-25, but a hold up at the county level has paused any progress and therefore millions of dollars in funds Oakland desperately needs.

The Coliseum sale has been a contentious one. Residents and city leaders were originally against using the deal as a way to balance the budget, citing doubts about the sellers, the African American Sports and Entertainment Group’s (AASEG), ability to complete the deal. Council members Reid, Ramachandran, and Gallo have called several emergency meetings to understand where the first installments of the sale are, with little to no answers.

Bas added that as the new Alameda County Supervisor for D5, a position she starts in a few weeks, she will do everything in her power to push the Coliseum sale along.

The city is also considering a sales tax measure to put on the special election ballot on April 15, 2025, which will also serve as an election to fill the now vacant D2 and mayor positions. The tax increase would raise approximately $29 million annually for Oakland, allowing the city to gain much-needed revenue for the next two-year budget.

The council will discuss the possible sales tax measure on January 9.