Events

Oakland Relay for Life, Standing Up Against Cancer

Published

10 years ago

July 28, 2014

The 6^th Annual Relay for Life was held July 19th & 20th in Oakland to stand up to cancer and honor those who have fought or are fighting cancer, sponsored by the American Cancer Society.

Each year, globally the event involves more than 4 million people in over 20 countries, and raises much needed funds for awareness to save lives from cancer. This year, through individual and team efforts the Oakland event raised over $26,000.

The theme this year at event, held at Oakland Technical High School, was “Fight Back,” inspiring relay participants to take action against a disease that has taken the lives of so many. Participants and survivors celebrated what they have overcome. Family members also had the opportunity to grieve, take action and remember.

“It feels good to be around people who understand,” said Gwendolyn Davis-Kyrimis, who created the team “Joy for Life” in honor of her sister Jacquelyn Inez Davis, who lost her battle to cervical cancer in February.

Standing beside her nephew Marcus Oliphant, Davis said doing the relay together as a family created healing as Oliphant grieves his mother and Kyrimis grieves her sister.

Jacquelyn Inez Davis fight with cancer inspired her family to join the Relay for Life Movement.

Davis was a transit worker in Reno, and at her memorial over 30 of her co-workers showed up to express love.

“This is an extension of that love we felt,” Oliphant said.

African Americans have the highest death rate and shortest survival rate of any racial and ethnic group in the U.S. for most cancers. Cancer is a group of diseases characterized by uncontrolled growth and spread of abnormal cells.

If the spread is not controlled, it can result in death. The disease is caused by external and internal factors. The causes are complex but definitely reflect inequities in work, wealth, income, education, housing and overall standard of living, as well as access to high quality cancer prevention, early detection, and treatment of services.

Although the overall racial disparity in cancer death rates is decreasing, in 2009, the death rate for all cancers combined continued to be 31 percent higher among African American men and 15 percent higher among Black women.

Cancer survivor Sanalli Phelps spoke about how her successful bout with cancer, changed her life forever. “Cancer lifted me up, freed me,” she said. “I learned to say no to others and yes to myself.

Phelps says her motto now is “Life is short, but it’s mine.”

Most cancers are treated with surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, hormone therapy, biologic therapy, targeted therapy or some combination of these. A substantial proportion of cancer cases and deaths could be prevented with testing, adoption of healthier lifestyles, such as avoiding tobacco products, maintaining a healthy body weight, wearing sunscreen and being physically active. Yes, Black people need sunscreen too.

For more info or to donate go to http://www.cancer.org/cancer/

Oakland Post

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Activism

Protesters Gather in Oakland, Other City Halls, to Halt Encampment Sweeps

The coordinated protests on Tuesday in San Francisco, Oakland, Vallejo, Fresno, Los Angeles and Seattle, were hosted by Poor Magazine and Wood Street Commons, calling on cities to halt the sweeps and focus instead on building more housing.

Published

1 day ago

December 24, 2024

Oakland Post

The California Poor People’s Campaign’s Victoria King erected encampments for unhoused Oaklanders. Victoria King and her committee erected these emergency tents to symbolize the needs of unhoused Oaklanders. Photos by Post Staff.

By Post Staff

Houseless rights advocates gathered in Oakland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and other city halls across California and Washington state this week protesting increased sweeps that followed a U.S. Supreme Court decision over the summer.

“What we’re dealing with right now is a way to criminalize people who are dealing with poverty, who are not able to afford rent,” said rights advocate Junebug Kealoh, outside San Francisco City Hall.

“When someone is constantly swept, they are just shuffled and things get taken — it’s hard to stay on top of anything,” said Kealoh.

Local houseless advocates include Victoria King, who is a member of the coordinating committee of the California Poor People’s Campaign. She and Dr. Monica Cross co-chair the Laney Poor People’s Campaign.

The demonstrations came after a June Supreme Court ruling expanded local governments’ authority to fine and jail people for sleeping outside, even if no shelter is available. Gov. Gavin Newsom in California followed up with an order directing state agencies to crack down on encampments and urging local governments to do the same.

Fresno, Berkeley and a host of other cities implemented new rules, making it easier for local governments to clear sidewalk camps. In other cities, such as San Francisco, officials more aggressively enforced anti-camping laws already on the books.

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Activism

U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries Speaks on Democracy at Commonwealth Club

Based on his first speech as House minority leader, “The ABCs of Democracy” by Grand Central Publishing is an illustrated children’s book for people of all ages. Each letter contrasts what democracy is and isn’t, as in: “American Values over Autocracy”, “Benevolence over Bigotry” and “The Constitution over the Cult.”

Published

3 days ago

December 22, 2024

Oakland Post

: House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries at the Commonwealth Club World Affairs Council on Dec. 2. Photo by Johnnie Burrell. Book cover: "The ABCs of Democracy" by Hakeem Jeffries.

By Linda Parker Pennington
Special to The Post

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries addressed an enthusiastic overflow audience on Monday at San Francisco’s Commonwealth Club, launching his first book, “The ABCs of Democracy.”

Based on his first speech as House minority leader, “The ABCs of Democracy” by Grand Central Publishing is an illustrated children’s book for people of all ages.

Each letter contrasts what democracy is and isn’t, as in: “American Values over Autocracy”, “Benevolence over Bigotry” and “The Constitution over the Cult.”

Less than a month after the election that will return Donald Trump to the White House, Rep. Jeffries also gave a sobering assessment of what the Democrats learned.

“Our message just wasn’t connecting with the real struggles of the American people,” Jeffries said. “The party in power is the one that will always pay the price.”

On dealing with Trump, Jeffries warned, “We can’t fall into the trap of being outraged every day at what Trump does. That’s just part of his strategy. Remaining calm in the face of turmoil is a choice.”

He pointed out that the razor-thin margin that Republicans now hold in the House is the lowest since the Civil War.

Asked what the public can do, Jeffries spoke about the importance of being “appropriately engaged. Democracy is not on autopilot. It takes a citizenry to hold politicians accountable and a new generation of young people to come forward and serve in public office.”

With a Republican-led White House, Senate, House and Supreme Court, Democrats must “work to find bi-partisan common ground and push back against far-right extremism.”

He also described how he is shaping his own leadership style while his mentor, Speaker-Emeritus Nancy Pelosi, continues to represent San Francisco in Congress. “She says she is not hanging around to be like the mother-in-law in the kitchen, saying ‘my son likes his spaghetti sauce this way, not that way.’”