Featured
A’s Beat Angels, Stay Alive in Wild Card Race
Oakland, CA – Call it a hoax but the Angels have not been successful in winning at O.co this season. The rally possum wasn’t needed tonight as the A’s dominated in the first by scoring six runs to seal their victory over the Halos 8-1. Jeff Samardzija was a gem on the mound once again and this time he had the runs to back him.
“It was good to see us take the walks, not try to be too aggressive, which maybe we’ve been too much recently, but made him work, throw a lot of pitches,” said Oakland’s manager Bob Melvin. “Next thing you know we put up a six-spot.”
The A’s got off to a rough start when Jonny Gomes misplayed leadoff hitter Kole Calhoun’s line drive to left field. Gomez error allowed Calhoun to advance to third. Mike Trout’s sacrifice fly scored in the Angels first run making it a 1-0 game. Oakland responded bottom of the inning after C.J. Wilson loaded the bases with one out.
Coco Crisp leadoff the frame with a single and Wilson walked both Josh Donaldson and Jonny Gomes. He then walked Derek Norris and tied the game 1-1. Bases still loaded, Wilson walked in another run. Oakland made it a 2-1 game. Geovany Soto grounded a single up the middle and drove in two runs to extend The A’s lead 4-1.
“You really can’t call a timeout in the middle of the game and go review the tapes,” Wilson said. “There’s no headset to the offense coordinator where you can call in a different viewpoint. Seeing it in slow motion, I was able to confirm what I was doing wrong.
He tossed 2/3 innings, allowed two hits, six runs (four earned) and walked four but was charged for six walks. Wilson pitched his second shortest start of his career and allowed a season-high six tying runs. The Halos couldn’t catch a break after that, David Freese threw Nick Punto’s ground ball down the right field line for a three-base error scoring in two more runs.
Mike Morin forced Crisp to ground out to first base to end the inning. After two scoreless innings pitched from the Angels bullpen, they loaded the bases again. Crisp hit a single and both Sam Fuld and Donaldson were issued a free pass. But Dunn flew out to center field to end the threat.
“We’ve been through a lot during this last month and a half, two months, so it’s good to see everything starting to come together, everything clicking, playing great defense, taking great at-bats and pitchers pitching,” said Samardzija. “That’s what you want and I think we’re doing it at the right time.”
The A’s got another opportunity in the seventh. After back-to-back walks to pinch-hitters Brandon Moss and Dunn, Jed Lowrie hit a single and Stephen Vogt followed with a two-run single extending the A’s lead 8-1. Soto has hit safely in each of his four games against the Angels this year.
“He’s a shark,” Soto said. “He’s coming at you. He’s coming for some blood.”
Samardzija’s night ended after seven frames. He allowed five hits, one run and struck out three. Evan Scribner came in and gave up a three-run homer to Albert Pujols trimming the lead in half. Samardzija is Oakland’s first starter with 7+ innings pitched and no error allowed in three straight starts since Trevor Cahill in 2010.
This is the second time this month Oakland has won back-to-back games. They haven’t won three straight since Aug 7-9. The A’s have a one game lead over the Royals for the top American League Wild Card spot. Winning three of their last four, Oakland can put themselves in a good position if they can take the series but it’s one day at a time.
“There’s not many options we have right now,” said Angels manager Mike Scioscia.
Activism
Oakland Post: Week of April 23 – 29, 2025
The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of April 23 – 29, 2025

To enlarge your view of this issue, use the slider, magnifying glass icon or full page icon in the lower right corner of the browser window.
#NNPA BlackPress
Chavis and Bryant Lead Charge as Target Boycott Grows
BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — Surrounded by civil rights leaders, economists, educators, and activists, Bryant declared the Black community’s power to hold corporations accountable for broken promises.

By Stacy M. Brown
BlackPressUSA.com Senior National Correspondent
Calling for continued economic action and community solidarity, Dr. Jamal H. Bryant launched the second phase of the national boycott against retail giant Target this week at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Atlanta. Surrounded by civil rights leaders, economists, educators, and activists, Bryant declared the Black community’s power to hold corporations accountable for broken promises. “They said they were going to invest in Black communities. They said it — not us,” Bryant told the packed sanctuary. “Now they want to break those promises quietly. That ends tonight.” The town hall marked the conclusion of Bryant’s 40-day “Target fast,” initiated on March 3 after Target pulled back its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) commitments. Among those was a public pledge to spend $2 billion with Black-owned businesses by 2025—a pledge Bryant said was made voluntarily in the wake of George Floyd’s murder in 2020.“No company would dare do to the Jewish or Asian communities what they’ve done to us,” Bryant said. “They think they can get away with it. But not this time.”
The evening featured voices from national movements, including civil rights icon and National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) President & CEO Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr., who reinforced the need for sustained consciousness and collective media engagement. The NNPA is the trade association of the 250 African American newspapers and media companies known as The Black Press of America. “On the front page of all of our papers this week will be the announcement that the boycott continues all over the United States,” said Chavis. “I would hope that everyone would subscribe to a Black newspaper, a Black-owned newspaper, subscribe to an economic development program — because the consciousness that we need has to be constantly fed.” Chavis warned against the bombardment of negativity and urged the community to stay engaged beyond single events. “You can come to an event and get that consciousness and then lose it tomorrow,” he said. “We’re bombarded with all of the disgust and hopelessness. But I believe that starting tonight, going forward, we should be more conscious about how we help one another.”
He added, “We can attain and gain a lot more ground even during this period if we turn to each other rather than turning on each other.” Other speakers included Tamika Mallory, Dr. David Johns, Dr. Rashad Richey, educator Dr. Karri Bryant, and U.S. Black Chambers President Ron Busby. Each speaker echoed Bryant’s demand that economic protests be paired with reinvestment in Black businesses and communities. “We are the moral consciousness of this country,” Bryant said. “When we move, the whole nation moves.” Sixteen-year-old William Moore Jr., the youngest attendee, captured the crowd with a challenge to reach younger generations through social media and direct engagement. “If we want to grow this movement, we have to push this narrative in a way that connects,” he said.
Dr. Johns stressed reclaiming cultural identity and resisting systems designed to keep communities uninformed and divided. “We don’t need validation from corporations. We need to teach our children who they are and support each other with love,” he said. Busby directed attendees to platforms like ByBlack.us, a digital directory of over 150,000 Black-owned businesses, encouraging them to shift their dollars from corporations like Target to Black enterprises. Bryant closed by urging the audience to register at targetfast.org, which will soon be renamed to reflect the expanding boycott movement. “They played on our sympathies in 2020. But now we know better,” Bryant said. “And now, we move.”
#NNPA BlackPress
The Department of Education is Collecting Delinquent Student Loan Debt
BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — the Department of Education will withhold money from tax refunds and Social Security benefits, garnish federal employee wages, and withhold federal pensions from people who have defaulted on their student loan debt.

By April Ryan
Trump Targets Wages for Forgiven Student Debt
The Department of Education, which the Trump administration is working to abolish, will now serve as the collection agency for delinquent student loan debt for 5.3 million people who the administration says are delinquent and owe at least a year’s worth of student loan payments. “It is a liability to taxpayers,” says White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt at Tuesday’s White House Press briefing. She also emphasized the student loan federal government portfolio is “worth nearly $1.6 trillion.” The Trump administration says borrowers must repay their loans, and those in “default will face involuntary collections.” Next month, the Department of Education will withhold money from tax refunds and Social Security benefits, garnish federal employee wages, and withhold federal pensions from people who have defaulted on their student loan debt. Leavitt says “we can not “kick the can down the road” any longer.”
Much of this delinquent debt is said to have resulted from the grace period the Biden administration gave for student loan repayment. The grace period initially was set for 12 months but extended into three years, ending September 30, 2024. The Trump administration will begin collecting the delinquent payments starting May 5. Dr. Walter M. Kimbrough, president of Talladega College, told Black Press USA, “We can have that conversation about people paying their loans as long as we talk about the broader income inequality. Put everything on the table, put it on the table, and we can have a conversation.” Kimbrough asserts, “The big picture is that Black people have a fraction of wealth of white so you’re… already starting with a gap and then when you look at higher education, for example, no one talks about Black G.I.’s that didn’t get the G.I. Bill. A lot of people go to school and build wealth for their family…Black people have a fraction of wealth, so you already start with a wide gap.”
According to the Education Data Initiative, https://educationdata.org/average-time-to-repay-student-loans It takes the average borrower 20 years to pay their student loan debt. It also highlights how some professional graduates take over 45 years to repay student loans. A high-profile example of the timeline of student loan repayment is the former president and former First Lady Barack and Michelle Obama, who paid off their student loans by 2005 while in their 40s. On a related note, then-president Joe Biden spent much time haggling with progressives and Democratic leaders like Senators Elizabeth Warren and Chuck Schumer on Capitol Hill about whether and how student loan forgiveness would even happen.
-
Activism3 weeks ago
Oakland Post Endorses Barbara Lee
-
Activism4 weeks ago
Oakland Post: Week of March 28 – April 1, 2025
-
Activism3 weeks ago
Oakland Post: Week of April 2 – 8, 2025
-
#NNPA BlackPress3 weeks ago
Trump Profits, Black America Pays the Price
-
Activism2 weeks ago
Oakland Post: Week of April 9 – 15, 2025
-
#NNPA BlackPress3 weeks ago
Harriet Tubman Scrubbed; DEI Dismantled
-
#NNPA BlackPress3 weeks ago
Lawmakers Greenlight Reparations Study for Descendants of Enslaved Marylanders
-
#NNPA BlackPress3 weeks ago
Trump Targets a Slavery Removal from the National Museum of African-American History and Culture