Activism

BWOPA Hosts Ella Hill Hutch Dinner and Awards Ceremony

In honor of trailblazing activist Ella Hill Hutch, the event brought the Bay Area community together to celebrate BWOPA chapter leaders of excellence throughout the state on Nov. 9. “In Ella’s name we’re honoring community leaders,” said BWOPA founding member and state leader, Dezie Woods-Jones.

Published

2 years ago

November 25, 2023

Oakland Post

San Francisco Commissioner Linda Fadeke Richardson, right, celebrates at BWOPA Ella Hill Hutch Awards Gala at the Sequoyah Country Club in the Oakland Hills. Photo by Carla Thomas.

By Carla Thomas

BWOPA (Black Women Organized for Political Action) hosted the Ella Hill Hutch Dinner and Awards Ceremony at the Sequoyah Country Club in the East Oakland hills.

Hutch rose to prominence when she was the first African American woman elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in San Francisco in 1977. She served with Supervisor Harvey Milk who was assassinated by fellow Supervisor Dan White in 1978 and was reelected in 1980. She represented District 4, and later citywide, focusing on government-financed housing and public transportation.

Hutch started her career with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union for 25 years, then became more politically active concerning policy and political issues within San Francisco.

She served on the Democratic County Central Committee in 1966, the Fillmore Tenants Council, the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) Board, and the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District.

Award recipients at the dinner included State Honoree Kelly Todd Griffin, Man of the Year Marc Philpart, and Special President’s Awardee Jotaka Eaddy.

Chapter honorees included Champagne Brown, Richmond-Contra Costa; Dr. Flojuane Cofer, Sacramento; Dr. Venice Curry, Fresno-San Joaquin; Deborah Dickson, Solano-Napa; and the Honorable Rita Duncan, Hayward-South County.

Darlene Futrel, Los Angeles Region; Dr. Kyla Johnson-Trammell, Oakland-Berkeley; Dr. Saidah Leatutufu-Burch, San Francisco Peninsula; and Olga Rodriguez, Stockton-Tracy were also recognized as distinguished chapter honorees.

Award recipients spoke of their ability to have meaningful work with the ability to act as role models for the next generation.

“I’m grateful to work in my purpose, on purpose,” said Leatutufu-Burch, director of the Dream Keepers Initiative, which advances prosperity in San Francisco’s Black communities through strategic planning, development, and partnerships.

For the Honorable Rita Duncan, the recognition was humbling. “It’s really special to be honored by your own community and I do this work that is often challenging, because my granddaughters say I’m their role model.”

Duncan is the first African American to serve on the Oro Loma Sanitary District’s board of directors in 105 years. She is the chair of the Solid Waste Committee and the California Association of Sanitary Agencies (CASA) Federal Legislative Committee.

For their outstanding contributions to the community, BWOPA also honored Bruce Ajid, Armand Carr, Donald Frazier, Kevin Jenkins, Joseph Jones, Pastor B.T. Lewis, II, Timothy Simon, and Sam Tadesse.

Dezi Woods-Jones discussed the organization’s history and commended the honorees. Woods-Jones also celebrated her 82nd birthday and the entire audience joined in singing the traditional “Happy Birthday” song and the version created by Stevie Wonder.

Guests also enjoyed a cocktail hour and a 10-course buffet dinner. The Honorable Bill Riley, the Honorable Nate Miley, businesswoman Linda Richardson, and San Francisco American Businesswomen’s Association President Velma Landers were among the attendees.

BWOPA was created to activate, motivate, promote, support, and educate African American women about the political process. The organization encourages political involvement and problem solving to transform the African American community’s health, education, and economic outcomes. BWOPA is also focused on criminal justice reform.

As a statewide non-profit advocacy and membership organization, BWOPA’s Training Institute for Leadership Enrichment (TILE) program, prepares Black women to become representatives in local and national decision-making arenas to increase the number of Black women and allies in public leadership.

Through BWOPA-PAC the organization provides financial support, guidance and the endorsement of candidates throughout the state of California and beyond.

BWOPA announced that it will begin a training and development program for youth and young adults in college. The program will start in January and serve a range of girls from the ninth grade through college-aged students.

For more information, visit BWOPAtileLeads.org

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Oakland Post: Week of June 4 – 10, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of June 4-10, 2025

Published

2 days ago

June 7, 2025

Oakland Post

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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

1 week 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.