Bay Area

Black Firefighters’ Long Struggle for Equality in Oakland

Published

5 years ago

November 7, 2019

They were young, brazen heroes who faced danger and death during their tenure as Oakland’s first Black firefighters. Nearly a century ago on January 1, 1920, the first Black firefighter joined the city’s Fire Department, with two others to follow a short time later.

“These three men worked in the same firehouse on Eighth and Alice streets as their white counterparts, but on separate shifts,” said Marco Frazier, library assistant and blogger at the African American Museum & Library at Oakland. “It wasn’t until 1925 that the first all-Black firehouse Engine #22 opened in West Oakland at 3230 Magnolia St.”

“After the hiring opened up, 25 other Blacks were brought in, which resulted in the need for additional firehouses to handle the overload. Two other firehouses, Engines #33 and #28 were later opened in the Oakland hills,” added Frazier.

Frazier further noted that “the working conditions for Black firefighters were not comparable with those of their white counterparts. Firefighters, along with the NAACP, challenged the status quo of the Oakland Fire Department (OFD) and sought changes in the working conditions. They began to fight back against racial, discriminatory and segregation practices.”

After the NAACP became involved, the OFD “integrated” on June 1, 1952. However, Samuel Golden, a Black firefighter termed this move as “token integration.” Mainly because in integrated firehouses, Black firefighters were not allowed to use the refrigerator, so their mates had to bring them meals while on shift. Additionally, the Black firefighters had to bring their own bedding because white firefighters would not let them use theirs.

According to Frazier, because the Black firefighters needed further support to confront discriminatory practices, Oakland labor leaders C.L. Dellums and Tarea Hall Pittman became instrumental in getting Oakland fire and police departments to integrate. Golden, insisting on more action, pressured the city manager for a change to eliminate discrimination practices. The city manager capitulated and had the department hire light-skinned firefighters to integrate an all-white station.

However, this form of integration still didn’t settle well with Dellums and the NAACP, who, in 1955, approached the Oakland city manager to voice their concerns. As a result, official integration took place on Aug. 5, 1955. After integration, whites and

Blacks worked fires as a team, but the attitudes of the white firefighters remained the same. These attitudes remained until younger, white firefighters replaced older retiring firefighters.

“Moving up the ranks was tough,” said Frazier. “The first Black firefighter promoted in the OFD was Royce Troyce. He was promoted to engineer in the early ’30s at Engine No.22. Pat Taylor was promoted to become the first Black lieutenant at the OFD and became captain in 1949, the highest ranking black in the OFD until 1973 when Sam Golden made battalion chief.

Previously, Golden had been promoted to the rank of engineer in 1958, lieutenant in 1961, captain in 1964 and battalion chief in 1973. In 1981, he became the first Black fire chief in Oakland.

For more information on early Black firefighters in the Oakland Fire Department, please review the archival interviews of Samuel Golden and Lamont Ewell at the AAMLO or visit the oaklandlibrary.org.

Clifford L. Williams

Posts by Clifford L. Williams

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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

2 days 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

4 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

4 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.