News

San Francisco Says Final Goodbye to Mayor Ed Lee

Published

7 years ago

December 20, 2017

Clear blue skies and rays of sunshine poured down on San Francisco City Hall last Sunday, December 17 as family, friends, elected officials, and the city of San Francisco gathered to say their final goodbye to Mayor Edwin Mah Lee.

Dozens of media trucks surrounded the Civic Center Plaza between City Hall, the Asian Art Museum and the San Francisco Public Library. A super-sized American flag hung in mid air attached to the ladders of two fire trucks across from the front steps of City Hall, a final salute to the city’s first Asian-American mayor, a non-politician, a man among the people. A floral tribute at the steps of City Hall featured hundreds of bouquets, a few photos and handwritten expressions from everyday people.

An over flow of people were seated in adjacent rooms surrounding the Rotunda with a video feed. Those unable to enter City Hall were directed across the plaza to view the streaming video at the San Francisco Public Library and the Asian Art Museum. Celebrities, sports figures and other VIPs gathered to support one another as they continued to process the shock and grief around Lee’s untimely death.

During the services, Acting Mayor London Breed recalled a trip to China with Lee and the recognition he received was as if he were royalty.

“In China he was like a superstar or Beyonce’ with a mustache,” she said.

Mayor Lee’s daughters Tania Lee and Brianna Lee shared his fatherly side and spoke of the bad delivery of funny jokes and his bad jokes and or father’s memorial service.

“We will carry his memory with us for the rest of our lives and we hope that his spirit of selflessness, humor and dedication will continue on through all of us,” they noted.

Glide Ensemble provided the interlude and remarks were made by U.S. Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Senator Dianne Feinstein, Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom, the Honorable Willie Brown, Jr.

A postlude was provided by Preston Turner and Pure Ecstacy who sang “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands.” A version of Hammer’s “Too Legit to Quit” customized and dedicated to Mayor Lee was also played within a video presentation.

“He was an extraordinary man, a man of great character,” said Newsom.

“He was wonderful to with and I will really miss him,” said City Administrator Naomi Kelly.

Supervisor Malia Cohen expressed her initial sadness stating, “The City of Saint Francisco has lost a compassionate leader. I am heartbroken to lose a good friend. We will miss him dearly and will keep Anita and his family in our prayers.”

City Attorney Jeff Adachi and San Francisco Airport commissioner Linda Crayton also gave comments earlier in the week on just what an upstanding person Lee was.

As veteran media makers, Belva Davis and her husband Bill Moore exited the home going celebration; they paused and reflected on Lee’s service.

“Mayor Lee was the type of person you really couldn’t say anything bad about. He was such a kind person,” said Davis.

Anti-violence advocate, Mattie Scott of Healing 4 Our Families and Our Nation, said the mayor was a great man and always made time for meetings.

“Mayor Lee had a history of making progress in this city,” she said. Carletta Jackson-Lane, executive director of the Sojourner Truth Foster Agency considered Lee to be a compassionate person that cared about the homeless and mentally ill populations. “He was a good man that pushed for change.”

Gavin Newsom & Ed Lee

Lee was city administrator when he was appointed to serve the remainder of former Mayor Gavin Newsom’s term in 2011. Later that year, he was elected to the position, and he was re-elected in 2015. A wave of new jobs and money forever changed the trajectory of San Francisco as the multi cultural city and gave way to escalating rent and mortgage prices that left many displaced and homeless. Yet Lee fought to add affordable housing and programs to balance the landscape.

Former president of the Black Firefighters Association, Bob Demmons had similar sentiments. “Ed was a fighter in the beginning. He was a civil rights attorney when we fought for equality before he even became mayor,” he said.

Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, former Oakland Mayor Jean Quan, musician will.i.am, Warriors President Rick Welts, Warriors owner Joe Lacob, San Francisco Giants President Larry Baer, and Giants All-Star Barry Bonds were among the attendees.

Lee’s casket was not present, as it was laid in state in the rotunda of City Hall on Friday. San Francisco Chief of Protocol Charlotte Mailliard Shultz and Businessman Mark Benioff were also in attendance.

President of the San Francisco African American Chamber of Commerce, Fred Jordan planned to host a meeting with Mayor Lee and the president of Uzbekistan.

“I am grieved to hear about the passing of Mayor Lee, he was a friend and fellow civil rights fighter,” he said.

While Lee advocated for all cultures in the city, he was very proud to represent the Asian Community, advocate for Chinatown and relish in the annual Chinese New Year Parade.

Lee was born in 1952 in Seattle, Washington, the son of immigrants from the Taishan, Guangdong Province, China.His father fought in the Korean War, worked as a cook, and managed a restaurant in Seattle while his mother worked as a seamstress and waitress. Lee had five siblings and graduated summa cum laude in 1974 from Bowdoin College in Maine. He then graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law in 1978.

Prior to his employment with the city and county of San Francisco, Lee was the managing attorney for the San Francisco Asian Law Caucus, where he worked from 1979 to 1989. From 1989 to 1991, Lee worked as a whistleblower ordinance investigator and the Deputy Director of Employment Relations in San Francisco. Lee later worked from 1991 until 1996 as the director of the Human Rights Commission, serving in that capacity under Mayors Agnos, Frank Jordan and Willie Brown. Brown appointed him director of city purchasing, where, among other responsibilities, he ran the city’s first Minority/Women-Owned Business Enterprise program.

Afterwards, Lee became director of the City Purchasing Department in 1996 until his appointment to city administrator in 2000.

In 2000, he was appointed director of public works for the city, and in 2005 was appointed by Mayor Newsom to a five-year term as city administrator, to which he was reappointed in 2010. As city administrator, Lee oversaw the reduction of city government and implemented the city’s first ever ten-year capital plan.

Lee’s family has established a charitable fund in his name at the San Francisco Foundation to support nonprofits and social causes that were important to him. Contributions should be made payable to “The S.F. Foundation: Edwin M. Lee Community Fund,” and mailed to the foundation at 1 Embarcadero Center, Suite 1400, San Francisco, CA 94111.

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Activism

A Student-Run Group Provides Critical Support Services to Underserved Residents

Those visiting The Suitcase Clinic can get legal advice, sign up for food assistance, receive housing resources, get medical help, or enjoy a hot, fresh meal. They can also get haircuts and foot washes from the student volunteers. Nilo Golchini, executive director of the clinic, said one of the goals for most of the students working there is helping bridge the gap of trust that exists between many unhoused people and the healthcare and social welfare systems.

Published

41 minutes ago

December 18, 2024

Oakland Post

UC Berkeley Law Students help a clinic visitor with legal advice at their Tuesday night services. The Clinic offers a variety of resources, including medical, to those in the community who have little access to these services. Photo by Magaly Muñoz

Part One

By Magaly Muñoz

Every Tuesday evening, the dining hall of First Presbyterian Church fills up with dozens of people eating, laughing and moving from table to table, receiving much-needed services from UC Berkeley students – just a few blocks away from the university’s campus.

Individuals seeking support services can be found in this multi-stationed room on the south end of the church talking to law students, student case managers, or receiving medical attention in a corner by healthcare professionals.

This weekly event is hosted by Cal students through a volunteer-run program called The Suitcase Clinic.

The clinic, founded in 1989, was intended to offer free resources to underserved communities in Berkeley and surrounding cities. The majority of the clinic’s clientele are unhoused or low-income people looking for extra support.

Those visiting the clinic can get legal advice, sign up for food assistance, receive housing resources, get medical help, or enjoy a hot, fresh meal. They can also get haircuts and foot washes from the student volunteers.

Nilo Golchini, executive director of the clinic, said one of the goals for most of the students working there is helping bridge the gap of trust that exists between many unhoused people and the healthcare and social welfare systems.

During their tenure in the program, many of the students say they become strong advocates for homelessness rights.

Visitors of the Suitcase Clinic can receive haircuts and foot washing by student volunteers every Tuesday evening. Photo by Magaly Muñoz.

“We’re also standing in solidarity with them. So, it’s not saying, ‘I’m going to help you, but I’m also going to stand with you,’” Golchini said.

Student volunteers get extensive training prior to working directly with clients. Those interested have to take a semester-long class to become versed in areas such as outreach, intersectionality, how to interact with unhoused people, how to sign people up for social services. and more.

Volunteers then get to pick from three different clinics: General, Women’s, or Youth and LGBTQ+.

The General Clinic is the most popular among visiting residents, while Women’s and Youth/LQBTQ+ have more specialized services for attendees.

The Women’s Clinic has many of the similar services to General, but also includes nail painting, childcare, and massages.

The Youth and LGBTQ+ Clinic offers a safe space for young people navigating living on the streets, with services that include housing referrals, wellness and recreation classes and employment resources.

Golchini explained that it’s important for them to keep these clinics separate because the different demographics experience poverty and homelessness differently than those who visit the General Clinic.

Suitcase Clinic student workers posing for a photo with a frequent clinic attendee. The Clinic is open to Berkeley unhoused and low-income residents who need medical or legal service, or a hot meal. Photo by Magaly Muñoz.

“We’re able to provide spaces where people can come in and feel safe and not feel like they’re constantly worried that something’s going to happen to them,” she said.

An outreach team also visits encampments every other Saturday in the Berkeley area to provide hygiene kits and encourage people to visit the in-person clinic, if possible.

However, Golchini said engagement has been low for some time now due to a recent decision by the U.S. Supreme Court that allows cities to ban and cite people for sleeping on the streets.

She said a lot of their clientele got displaced to other cities over time, making it difficult to stay in contact with the services the Clinic was providing for them.

But that hasn’t slowed down the students at the Clinic, if anything, it has pushed them to do more for the community they serve.

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Arts and Culture

Promise Marks Performs Songs of Etta James in One-Woman Show, “A Sunday Kind of Love” at the Black Repertory Theater in Berkeley

“The (show) is a fictional story about a character named Etta, aka Lady Peaches,” said Marks. “She falls in love with Johnny Rhythm, leader of the Rhythm Players Band and headliners of Madam G’s Glitta Lounge.” Marks channeled the essence of Etta James, singing favorites such as “Sugar on the Floor” and “At Last.”

Published

53 minutes ago

December 18, 2024

Oakland Post

Photo Courtesy Of Promise Marks.

Special to the Post

It was “A Sunday Kind of Love” at the Black Repertory Group Theater in Berkeley on Saturday night, Dec. 7. The one-woman musical based on the music of Etta James featured the multi-talented singer Promise Marks

Marks, who wrote and directed the musical, also owns PM Productions.

Marks channeled the essence of Etta James, singing favorites such as “Sugar on the Floor” and “At Last.”

In between her soulful songs, Marks narrated impactful moments of the love story and journey of blues and forgiveness.

Marks sultry voice carried the audience back to an era that echoed with the power of Black music and a time of great change.

Marks said James shared love for the Black community by singing at gatherings during the Civil Rights Movement uplifting the people.

“She spoke to the movement, spoke to the people, and let her music speak for itself,” Marks said.

Backing the musical’s monologues, images and videos of Etta James are projected for the audience to view. While the production is fictional, Marks infused script with the unfairness and heartbreak James experienced while performing.

Marks performed gospel artist Donnie McClurkin’s “We Fall Down” as she narrated acts of reconciliation and forgiveness among the characters at Johnny Rhythm’s deathbed.

Marks, who regularly sings for the Miss America Pageant, was asked to perform as Etta James last year. “(At the event) a lady yelled out to me: ‘You’re Etta James!’ And then the audience went crazy. I said to myself, ‘I may have something here,’” she said.

Within 12 months, Marks created the musical production, which featured a dozen songs honoring “the great legacy of Etta James,” she said.

Marks says she was saddened to see how Etta James was often judged by the struggles in her life and wanted to offer attendees a more layered view.

“Etta’s life was so big. I want people to know that she was more than her drug addiction,” said Marks. “We can’t make that her legacy. Her catalog is too amazing. You can’t just be that and have the catalog that she (created). I don’t want the addiction to be the focus: I want her music, her element, her sassiness, and what she brought to be the focus – her woman-ness, that she was strong, and I wanted to honor that.”

Set Designer Nora Burnette says she created the set segments to mirror James’ life story. A set designer for BRG since 2016, she explained that her process of researching the scenario and the character serve as her inspiration for her design.

“I try to design a set as close to real life as possible so that the actress can deliver the performance sincerely,” said Burnette. “By creating the right setting, it helps the actors release the true essence of a character.”

The set brought the story to life and absolutely floored Marks. “Once Promise (Marks) saw the actual set, she understood my vision: ‘Wow, you get me. You get it,'” Marks told the designer.

Born Jamesetta Hawkins, Etta James, began her career in 1954 and gained fame with hits such “At Last” and “I’d Rather Go Blind.” She faced a number of personal problems, before making a musical comeback in the late 1980s with the album “Seven Year Itch.”

Co-producer and BRG Development Director, Sean Vaughn Scott, works with Overseer Production. According to producer Pamela Spikes, “Marks talent truly does Etta’s life story justice.”

Pam Jacobs of Hercules, a friend of Marks’ mom, Jackie Smith, said, Marks “was fabulous and sang all of those songs flawlessly.”

“I’m so proud of my daughter,” said Smith.

Marks, who has served as an instructor for BRG, will return on Feb. 21- 23 for an encore run of the musical.

“It’s an honor to be a part of the BRG (Black Repertory Group) family and continue our executive director Dr. Mona Vaughn Scott’s vision for the Black Repertory Group theater,” said Marks.

The Black Repertory Group Theatre is located at 3201 Adeline St., Berkeley, CA 94703. For information, visit: BlackRepertoryGroup.com

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Activism

BWOPA Honors Black Leadership and Legacy at 2024 Ella Hill Hutch Awards Dinner

On Dec. 5, BWOPA held its Annual Ella Hill Hutch Awards Ceremony, at the Fairmont Claremont Hotel in the Oakland/Berkeley Hills. At the event, the group comprised of Black women from various professional backgrounds, honored distinguished local and state leaders whose contributions have shaped civic engagement and advanced critical social issues impacting Black communities.

Published

1 hour ago

December 18, 2024

Oakland Post

L-R: BWOPA State Executive Director LaNiece Jones; State Asm. Mia Bonta; BWOPA 2024 Man of The Year/Urban League SFBA CEO Ken Maxey; BWOPA State President Hon. Dezie Woods-Jones; State Senator Lola Smallwood-Cuevas; Rowena Brown, Oakland Councilmember At-Large, Elect; BWOPA State Regional Director Vashone Huff. Courtesy photo.

By Oakland Post Staff

Black Women Organized for Political Action (BWOPA) is a statewide non-profit advocacy and membership organization committed to solving problems affecting Black Californians.

On Dec. 5, BWOPA held its Annual Ella Hill Hutch Awards Ceremony, at the Fairmont Claremont Hotel in the Oakland/Berkeley Hills.

At the event, the group comprised of Black women from various professional backgrounds, honored distinguished local and state leaders whose contributions have shaped civic engagement and advanced critical social issues impacting Black communities.

The evening was hosted by Dr. Shawna Charles, founder of The Charles Communications Group (CCG) headquartered in Los Angeles. Charles served as mistress of ceremonies.

With a track record of elevating voices and empowering communities, Charles’ leadership and insight brought a certain dynamism to the celebration.

“Each year, this event not only celebrates the enduring legacy of our beloved BWOPA founding member, Ella Hill Hutch, but also reaffirms and amplifies our unwavering commitment to building and sustaining Black political power across California,” said Dezie Woods-Jones, BWOPA founding member and State president.

“Ella Hill Hutch’s trailblazing leadership continues to inspire us as we forge ahead, empowering Black women to lead, advocate, and shape a more equitable future for all,” added Woods-Jones.

This year’s event introduced the DWJ Rising Star Award, honoring young leaders like Solano County Board Supervisors-elect Cassandra James, Danielle Motley-Lewis, Naomi Waters and newly elected State Assemblymember elect Rhodesia Ransom (D-Stockton).

According to organizers, the awardees all exemplify “the next generation of changemakers.”

Other awardees included:

Lifetime Achievement Awardees: Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA-12) and Alameda County Supervisor Keith Carson
Man of the Year: Kenneth Maxey, CEO of the Greater SF Bay Area Urban League
President’s Corporate Award: Yvette Radford, Kaiser Permanente
In the Spirit of Ella State and Chapter Awards: Dr. Carolyn Greene, Dr. Marcella K. Smith, Dr. Carolyn Drake, Tinisch Hollins, Jackie Jones, Gloria Burgess Johnson, Tamika L’Ecluse, Ellen Nash, Betty Reid Soskin, and Ay’Anna Moody.

BWOPA also celebrated local champions across its chapters, including leaders in voter education, healthcare, criminal justice reform, and community advocacy.

In a statement, BWOPA said, “Honoring Ella Hill Hutch’s legacy, BWOPA recognizes her pioneering efforts as the first Black woman elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Her tireless work amplifying underrepresented voices continues to inspire BWOPA’s mission to build Black political power across California.”

“We extend our heartfelt thanks to our members, partners and allies who believe in BWOPA’s vision to invest in building power for Black women’s leadership,” said LaNiece Jones, BWOPA State executive director. “Your support ensures that Black women have a voice at decision-making tables locally, regionally, statewide, and nationally, advancing diversity and equity in leadership spaces.”