Oakland

Cherished Oakland Teacher Margie Mayfield, 82

Published

7 years ago

July 7, 2017

Margie Mayfield, a beloved Oakland educator, died on June 26. She was 82.

Mrs. Mayfield started her 30-year Oakland teaching career at Markham Elementary School in 1967. She was there when the Black Panther Party started its free breakfast program and when Oakland had its first African American superintendent, Marcus Foster.

“Mrs. Mayfield” was a fixture in room 14, teaching two generations of first- and second-graders how to read, write, do math and become critical thinkers. Not only was her classroom a special place for her students, but also her friends. It was the place they came before school started, during lunchtime and sometimes after school for fellowship and to socialize. She served as the building representative for the Oakland Education Association.

Born on June 19, 1935, she spent her early years in Monroe, Louisiana. After graduating from Grambling in 1956, she taught first grade at George Washington Carver K-8 in Monroe. By 1965 she joined her husband in San Francisco. In 1966, they had their only child, Kimberly LaShawn Mayfield (Lynch). Kimberly grew up to graduate from UC Santa Barbara and teach in the Oakland schools, using much of her mother’s teaching wisdom to help her students.

She currently served as Education Department chair at Holy Names University.

Mrs. Mayfield enjoyed reading, talking on the phone and listening to the Blues. She was also a passionate sports fan who followed players’ careers from college to the pros. The most joyous time for Mrs. Mayfield and her husband, Aubrey, was spending time with their grandson Joshua Aubrey Zachariah Mayfield Lynch. They were the embodiment of proud grandparents.

Margie Mayfield was known for her charisma, warmth, quick wit and sense of humor. She leaves to cherish her memory her husband of 58 years, Aubrey Mayfield; daughter, Kimberly Mayfield Lynch; son-in -law Joseph Lynch; grandson, Joshua Lynch; sister, Brenda Gary; sister-in-law, Avenal Gary, and many nieces, nephews, and close friends.

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Activism

Oakland Post: Week of October 30 – November 5, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of October 30 – November 5, 2024

Published

22 hours ago

November 1, 2024

Oakland Post

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Activism

Minister King X, Civil Rights Group Sue California Prisons Over Right to Protest

Oakland – Minister King X, a prison ‘artivist,’ and a civil rights group will hold a press conference at 11:30 a.m. on Sept. 27 at the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) headquarters at 1515 S St. in Sacramento, CA. Sept. 20, 2024, Minister King, a community organizer with California Prison Focus, and the group All of Us Or None (AOUON) filed a lawsuit against the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) and top state government officials.

Published

4 days ago

October 29, 2024

Oakland Post

Minister King X

Special to The Post

Sept. 20, 2024, Minister King, a community organizer with California Prison Focus, and the group All of Us Or None (AOUON) filed a lawsuit against the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) and top state government officials.

The lawsuit challenges Minister King’s unlawful arrest on Aug. 9, 2021, during “Black August,” for allegedly violating Penal Code section 4571, which criminalizes people with felony convictions standing near prison facilities.

Minister King was arrested and imprisoned by plainclothes CDCR officers after a July 2021 protest calling for the release of political prisoner Ruchell “Cinque” Magee.

The charges were dropped without a hearing, but Minister King and AOUON allege in their complaint that the arrest was retaliation for his activism and a violation of his First Amendment rights.

According to Medium, Minister King X Pyeface of Kage Universal is a rapper, producer, and ‘artivist’ from Oakland who spent six years in federal prison and 18 years in California State Prison, where he was the youngest new African organizer during the 2011 to 2013 California Prisoners Hunger Strike.

CDCR’s report for Minister King’s arrest describes King, and many other activists, public figures, and organizations, as “Black Identity Extremists” and “Black Supremacist Extremists.”

These racist terms were used to label organizations such as Black Lives Matter as terrorist organizations and their use was abandoned by the FBI in 2019.

The lawsuit seeks to prevent CDCR from using Penal Code 4571 to target formerly incarcerated individuals for exercising their rights.

The press conference on Friday will discuss the constitutional issues associated with PC 4571, which prohibits an individual who has previously been convicted of a felony and incarcerated in a California state prison from being present on the grounds of carceral facilities or anywhere adjacent to those grounds without the consent of the warden or sheriff.

Additionally, 4571 prohibits these individuals from being anywhere other individuals in state custody may be, and anywhere adjacent to those in custody individuals without consent.

King and AOUON have alleged in their complaint that the statute violates the First Amendment rights of formerly incarcerated individuals and is overly broad and vague.

“In the depths of Pelican Bay State Prison, and other correctional facilities across the United States, a forgotten population of elderly incarcerated individuals awaits redemption. They are not the ‘worst of the worst,’ violent predators or Black Identity Extremists,” says Minister King X. “Rather, they are a unique class of individuals who possess the wisdom, experience, and desire to promote peace and reconciliation. I am advocating for and on behalf of these elders and the rights of all other prisoners.”

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Arts and Culture

Faces Around the Bay: Blanche Richardson

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson came to the Sydney Goldstein Theatre on Sept. 10 to participate in an event hosted by City Arts and Lectures and Marcus Books to celebrate the publication of her memoir, Lovely One.

Published

4 days ago

October 29, 2024

Oakland Post