Activism

Blair Underwood and Black Pearl Investments Support the ‘New Oakland’

Esteemed actor and philanthropist Blair Underwood said he is joining the “New Oakland” initiative to lend his celebrity and business acumen to assist the forthcoming Oakland leadership in building a healthier and safer community.

Published

4 months ago

January 23, 2025

Oakland Post

Blair Underwood. Courtesy Gary Reeves. Gary Reeves. File photo.

By Paul Cobb
Post Publisher

After last week’s column announcing how some entertainers and current or former athletes are following the example of Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry and his wife, Ayesha, others are responding to Oakland’s needy by investing their hard-earned wealth in projects that serve and build community, more are stepping up to the plate.

The help of these wealthy people is also significant during these challenging times when many community leaders are scrambling to address the potential shortfalls of DEI (Diversity Equity & Inclusion) measures and other means of community subsidies being eliminated by the current political establishment.

Underwood has been quietly very active and supportive of Bay Area non-profits and small businesses. He is also a big advocate for under-resourced students in the public school system.

Last September he was honored in Houston on World AIDS Day for his work with the AIDS Healthcare Foundation. Janet Jackson performed a special concert in his honor coordinated by AHF and Gary Reeves, Underwood’s business partner and social impact strategist.

(Reeves is an Emmy Award-winning television producer and a former Golden State Warriors spiritual advisor.)

Underwood feels Oakland is a city worthy of resources and leadership that can emotionally impact the overall community. So, he wants to continue to meet with “trust agents” and thought leaders from the community to understand the needs of its residents.

Reeves received a letter from Black Pearl Investments (BPI) indicating that their company, which was additionally inspired by the Post News Group’s New Oakland Series, would like to partner and expand the AASEG Coliseum development plan.

Reeves said the BPI impact funds could be used to partner with the Oakland Private Industry Council for social enterprise, generational wealth-building, family entertainment and socio-economic inclusion for local residents that includes workforce housing and economic development.

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Activism

Remembering George Floyd

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing.

Published

13 hours ago

June 2, 2025

Oakland Post

Mural showing the portrait of George Floyd in Mauerpark in Berlin. To the left of the portrait the lettering "I can't Breathe" was added, on the right side the three hashtags #GeorgeFloyd, #Icantbreathe and #Sayhisname. The mural was completed by Eme Street Art (facebook name) / Eme Free Thinker (signature) on 29 May 2020. (Wikimedia Commons)

By April Ryan
BlackPressUSA Newswire

“The president’s been very clear he has no intentions of pardoning Derek Chauvin, and it’s not a request that we’re looking at,” confirms a senior staffer at the Trump White House. That White House response results from public hope, including from a close Trump ally, Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. The timing of Greene’s hopes coincides with the Justice Department’s recent decision to end oversight of local police accused of abuse. It also falls on the fifth anniversary of the police-involved death of George Floyd on May 25th. The death sparked national and worldwide outrage and became a transitional moment politically and culturally, although the outcry for laws on police accountability failed.

The death forced then-Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden to focus on deadly police force and accountability. His efforts while president to pass the George Floyd Justice in policing act failed. The death of George Floyd also put a spotlight on the Black community, forcing then-candidate Biden to choose a Black woman running mate. Kamala Harris ultimately became vice president of the United States alongside Joe Biden. Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison prosecuted the cases against the officers involved in the death of Floyd. He remembers,” Trump was in office when George Floyd was killed, and I would blame Trump for creating a negative environment for police-community relations. Remember, it was him who said when the looting starts, the shooting starts, it was him who got rid of all the consent decrees that were in place by the Obama administration.”

In 2025, Police-involved civilian deaths are up by “about 100 to about 11 hundred,” according to Ellison. Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African-American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing. During those minutes on the ground, Floyd cried out for his late mother several times. Police subdued Floyd for an alleged counterfeit $20 bill.