City Government

Chief French to Cohost RCF Connect Fundraiser Gala Benefiting Black Women, and Girls

RCF Connects (formerly Richmond Community Foundation) will host a fundraiser gala on March 1 that will serve to support the nonprofit’s Equity for Black Women and Girls Initiative, which works to uplift and empower Black women and girls in the local community, including entrepreneurs and leaders.

Published

1 year ago

February 24, 2024

Oakland Post

Richmond Police Chief Bisa French. City of Richmond photo

The Richmond Standard

Richmond Police Chief Bisa French and Tanise Smith of the Equity for Black Women and Girls Task Force will serve as co-hosts for the event, which will take place from 7-10 p.m. at the Hilton in Concord.

Entrepreneur Jennifer Hammock will provide the keynote speech.

All of the contributions to the gala will support the program’s efforts.

The final day to purchase tickets and to sponsor the event is Feb. 23. Click here to do either or both or go to https://give.richmondcf.org/ge/ebwggala?fbclid=IwAR3dDkzRVtwxeui4_Dgk2MxY-1VcZYzkU5wRJ7NmqL9SD_xmgQJH27Fdq3s

RCF Connects is a long-running charitable foundation that works to uplift marginalized, impoverished, and disenfranchised members of the Richmond community.

The organization accomplishes this through a number of programs, including Housing First, the Electric Car program and through financial education via SparkPoint Contra Costa.

In 2020, RCF Connect launched Equity for Black Women and Girls because its members noticed that no local organization was focusing support for them in the community, according to Taylor Sims, director of the program. In fact, less than 1% of community dollars in Contra Costa go to black women and girls, a point the program wants to make known and to remedy.

As part of the Equity for Black Women and Girls, RCF Connects holds Sister Circle countywide, providing a safe space for women and girls to connect, have discussions and to learn to become trained facilitators, Sims said.

The program also operates Sistas SOAR (Success Opportunities Apprenticeship Resilience), an intensive, 24-week incubator program for Black women entrepreneurs in collaboration with Chase Minority Business and Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center, according to Sims. The program provides feedback on their business and also a Shark Tank-style pitch competition.

In its first year, 14 participants graduated from the program and received subgrants to uplift their businesses. This year, Equity for Black Women and Girls is also set to incorporate digital marketing/branding training courtesy of Christina Kenney, who operates out of CoBiz Richmond, the coworking and business incubator in downtown Richmond.

All program efforts aim to ensure a greater share of community dollars are used to fund and train Black women entrepreneurs and leaders to build generational wealth and financial freedom. For more information, visit RCF Connects’ website here: https://rcfconnects.org.

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Activism

LA to the Bay: Thousands Protest in Mission District Against Immigration Raids, Travel Bans

Activists and allies alike gathered outside of the 24th Street Mission BART Station and City Hall to denounce the increased immigration raids happening in L.A. and Donald Trump’s decision to send hundreds of National Guard members to control protesters.

Published

46 minutes ago

June 14, 2025

Oakland Post

Protestors walking the streets of San Francisco’s Mission District. Thousands of people walked in a protest against the increased immigration raids across the country and unrest in Los Angeles. Photo by Magaly Muñoz

By Magaly Muñoz

Thousands of people walked the streets of San Francisco’s Mission District Monday evening in protest of the recent ICE raids across California, and the escalating tensions brought by military intervention in Los Angeles over the last week.

San Francisco non-profit Mission Action announced the protest plan Sunday night and led the amped crowd in cheers against anti-immigrant hate.

“La gente unida, no será vencida!” and “Move ICE, get out the Bay” chants were heard for a mile from 24th Street to 16th Street Mission BART and back around towards Valencia Street.

District 9 Supervisor Jackie Fielder attended the evening protest and applauded the community for their resilience in the streets over the last two days.

Protestors holding a Mexican flag for a rally in San Francisco. Thousands of people gathered at 24th Street Mission BART Station to participate in a protest about the increased immigration raids across the country. Photo by Magaly Muñoz.

“It’s up to every single legislator [to stand up for the community], but first and foremost, the people, you all are gonna be the ones to make sure that Trump, ICE, and the military do not set foot in the Mission,” Fielder said to the crowd.

Fielder, along with two other Supervisors, also spoke at a press conference earlier in the day in front of City Hall with other officials and community leaders about the travel ban that went into effect last Wednesday and the immigration arrests from the week before. Speakers also denounced the more than 150 arrests made by local police during a protest Sunday night.

District 10 Supervisor Shamann Walton said it was the public’s moral obligation to disobey unjust laws.

A protester holding an upside-down American flag at an anti-ICE and travel ban press conference in front of San Francisco City Hall. Thousands of people marched through the Mission District to protest against the increase in immigration raids across the state. Photo by Magaly Muñoz.

“The systemic oppression that has taken place now in the U.S. to remove our constitutional rights to assemble, to protest, to fight against moral and unjust rules and policies is put in place to tear us apart and to promote fear in everyone,” Walton said.

Around 15 people were detained by ICE at the immigration court last week, and at least half a dozen more by the time this story was published, immigration lawyers reported.

A new travel ban has also barred people from 12 countries, mostly from Africa and the Middle East, because the Trump administration said they “pose a very high risk to the United States.”

Community leaders said this action is continued discrimination against Black and Middle Eastern immigrants who are seeking opportunities in America.

An immigration lawyer urged people at the press conference to stay calm and meet peacefully because federal officials were going to be looking for reasons to escalate the tensions and arrest residents for simply attending protests.

“We have to remind ourselves; we all have a history. Our families survived discrimination before,” she said. “We will survive this, too. So long as we don’t let them divide us. Let’s fight this together.”