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Barbara Lee Commemorates Anniversary of George Floyd’s Death

“Our fight for justice will carry on in Mr. Floyd’s honor, and it will not stop until all Black lives matter.

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Photo by Gayatri Malhotra

Congresswoman Barbara Lee (CA-13) commemorated the one-year anniversary of George Floyd’s death at an event Wednesday hosted by the NAACP Oakland Branch at Youth Uprising in East Oakland.

The event featured poetry and dance performances by Oakland youth, and other speakers including California Attorney General Rob Bonta, Mayor Libby Schaaf and Oakland NAACP President George Holland Sr.

Attendees  observed eight minutes of silence – the amount of time that a police officer knelt on Mr. Floyd’s neck one year ago.

In her speech, Congresswoman Lee said:

It has been one year since George Floyd’s life was taken from him by our broken and racist criminal justice system in America. He was murdered at the hands of police. His calls for help ignored by those who swear to protect and serve. Since that fateful day, hundreds of thousands of people demanding justice like all of you, took to the street to fight for systemic change in his honor, and the world began to pay attention.

 

Black and Brown communities are tired of living in fear, of living under oppression. We should not have to fear those who have taken an oath to protect and serve everyone. We cannot have a system of policing in which some communities feel safe and others feel targeted. Black and Brown communities cannot, and should not, continuously endure this trauma.

 

The public health and economic crisis of the last year has illustrated the presence of systemic racism and structural inequality in America even more clearly. There is much work to be done to root out the systems that keep Black and Brown communities fighting for their lives. But we are on our way.

 

Our fight for justice will carry on in Mr. Floyd’s honor, and it will not stop until all Black lives matter.

 

The conviction of George Floyd’s murder does not mean we have fixed the system. The Senate must pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act immediately and send it to the President’s desk for a signature. Creating a national standard of accountability, ending qualified immunity, improving police training. These are modest steps, and this is just the beginning! We must get this done.

 

You can also watch the speech at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Q_5l5zKGN8

 

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Oakland Post: Week of November 26 – December 2, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of November 26 – December 2, 2025

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Oakland Post: Week of November 19 – 25, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of November 19 – 25, 2025

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IN MEMORIAM: William ‘Bill’ Patterson, 94

Bill devoted his life to public service and education. In 1971, he became the founding director for the Peralta Community College Foundation, he also became an administrator for Oakland Parks and Recreation overseeing 23 recreation centers, the Oakland Zoo, Children’s Fairyland, Lake Merritt, and the Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center.

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William "Bill" Patterson, 94. Photo courtesy of the Patterson family.

William “Bill” Patterson, 94, of Little Rock, Arkansas, passed away peacefully on October 21, 2025, at his home in Oakland, CA. He was born on May 19, 1931, to Marie Childress Patterson and William Benjamin Patterson in Little Rock, Arkansas. He graduated from Dunbar High School and traveled to Oakland, California, in 1948. William Patterson graduated from San Francisco State University, earning both graduate and undergraduate degrees. He married Euradell “Dell” Patterson in 1961. Bill lovingly took care of his wife, Dell, until she died in 2020.

Bill devoted his life to public service and education. In 1971, he became the founding director for the Peralta Community College Foundation, he also became an administrator for Oakland Parks and Recreation overseeing 23 recreation centers, the Oakland Zoo, Children’s Fairyland, Lake Merritt, and the Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center.

He served on the boards of Oakland’s Urban Strategies Council, the Oakland Public Ethics Commission, and the Oakland Workforce Development Board.

He was a three-term president of the Oakland branch of the NAACP.

Bill was initiated in the Gamma Alpha chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity.

In 1997 Bill was appointed to the East Bay Utility District Board of Directors. William Patterson was the first African American Board President and served the board for 27 years.

Bill’s impact reached far beyond his various important and impactful positions.

Bill mentored politicians, athletes and young people. Among those he mentored and advised are legends Joe Morgan, Bill Russell, Frank Robinson, Curt Flood, and Lionel Wilson to name a few.

He is survived by his son, William David Patterson, and one sister, Sarah Ann Strickland, and a host of other family members and friends.

A celebration of life service will take place at Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center (Calvin Simmons Theater) on November 21, 2025, at 10 AM.

His services are being livestreamed at: https://www.facebook.com/events/1250167107131991/

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Euradell and William Patterson scholarship fund TBA.

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