Activism

COMMENTARY: Do Rappers Know What Is Best For Us?

Kanye West is trying to do what a gang of white supremacists and anti-critical race theorists have wanted to do for years: cancel Black History Month. West’s mother was part of Jesse Jackson’s Operation P.U.S.H. and his father was a member of the Black Panther Party. West says his daughter would not have known that she is Black had it not been for a class that taught her about Martin Luther King Jr.

Published

4 years ago

March 1, 2022

Oakland Post

From left: J. Alfred Smith Sr., Kanye West, T-Pain and Dr. Cornell West Ph.D

By J. Alfred Smith, Sr.

Many more young people listen to rappers than preachers!

Rapper T-Pain says white people should stop celebrating Black History Month.

“You are separating us again,” he says or words to that effect. “We want to be part of history, not just one month.”

West has a rap lyric called “I Am Not Black, I’m Kanye.”

Dr. Cornell West, Ph.D, a Union Theological Seminary professor with strong ties to the Shiloh Baptist Church in Sacramento and who has a large inter-generational, multiracial and multicultural following, gave a truthful and loving response to Kanye.

Approaching Rapper Kanye West on what they shared in common, Brother Cornel gave him highest praise for the powerful lyrics on Jesus Walks:

“Order, huh.
Yo, we at war.
We at war with terrorism, racism.
But most of all, we at war with ourselves.
God show me the way because the devil tryna break me down.
Jesus walks with me, with me, with me”

Brother Cornel then defined the three-dimensional nature of history as past, present and future and suggested that instead of eliminating Black History Month we should rename February as Black Future Month.

Cornel West is challenging us to take the rich legacy bequeathed to us by our predecessors into the right now with a vision for a future for generations following!

Let us listen to each other and ask each other what needs to be done now to have an abundant future for today’s children, their children and grandchildren.

Could we minimize our differences and build operational unity with our diversity starting now?

Can rappers, preachers, parents, and politicians and each reader and all others who differ agree that yesterday is a cancelled check? Tomorrow is a promissory note?

That today is all the cash we have?

Brother Cornel West had built a relationship with Brother Kanye West before advising him to get rid of his ‘symbolic’crack pipe.

When we build relationships with people, we can speak the naked truth to each other in love which is better than backbiting and criticizing others behind their backs.

Maulana Karenga, chair of Africana Studies at California State University at Long Beach, says Malcolm X understood history as a necessary corrective for the diminished and distorted concept of our identity cultivated by the oppressor through the creation of an artificial entity called “Negro, a non-historical being who has no history and having no history has no culture” and thus separated from their roots understand themselves as a derivative and dependent part of their oppressor.

I ask the reader to ponder each perspective of Maulana Karenga as was given to the ethical and moral reflections of Cornel West.

This will require rereading and meditation in your quest for corrective action of personal character and collective social justice action to free the masses from oppression so they may live lives of dignity and decency in the eyes of God.

Last, but by no means least, we must challenge people to honor mothers, grandmothers, aunts and sisters, little girls and women in general by addressing derogatory word use and general disrespect of women.

Violent and misogynist lyrics are unacceptable.

J. Alfred Smith, Sr. is pastor emeritus of Oakland’s Allen Temple Baptist Church.

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Oakland Post: Week of February 25 – March 3, 2026

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of – February 25 – March 3, 2026

Published

1 week ago

March 1, 2026

Oakland Post

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Chase Oakland Community Center Hosts Alley-Oop Accelerator Building Community and Opportunity for Bay Area Entrepreneurs

Over the past three years, the Alley-Oop Accelerator has helped more than 20 Bay Area businesses grow, connect, and gain meaningful exposure. The program combines hands-on training, mentorship, and community-building to help participants navigate the legal, financial, and marketing challenges of small business ownership.

Published

2 weeks ago

February 21, 2026

Oakland Post

Bay Area entrepreneurs attend the Alley-Oop Accelerator, a small business incubation program at Chase Oakland Community Center. Photo by Carla Thomas.

By Carla Thomas

The Golden State Warriors and Chase bank hosted the third annual Alley-Oop Accelerator this month, an empowering eight-week program designed to help Bay Area entrepreneurs bring their visions for business to life.

The initiative kicked off on Feb. 12 at Chase’s Oakland Community Center on Broadway Street, welcoming 15 small business owners who joined a growing network of local innovators working to strengthen the region’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.

At its core, the accelerator is designed to create an ecosystem of collaboration, where local entrepreneurs can learn from one another while accessing the resources of a global financial institution.

“This is our third year in a row working with the Golden State Warriors on the Alley-Oop Accelerator,” said Jaime Garcia, executive director of Chase’s Coaching for Impact team for the West Division. “We’ve already had 20-plus businesses graduate from the program, and we have 15 enrolled this year. The biggest thing about the program is really the community that’s built amongst the business owners — plus the exposure they’re able to get through Chase and the Golden State Warriors.”

According to Garcia, several graduates have gone on to receive vendor contracts with the Warriors and have gained broader recognition through collaborations with JPMorgan Chase.

“A lot of what Chase is trying to do,” Garcia added, “is bring businesses together because what they’ve asked for is an ecosystem, a network where they can connect, grow, and thrive organically.”

This year’s Alley-Oop Accelerator reflects that vision through its comprehensive curriculum and emphasis on practical learning. Participants explore the full spectrum of business essentials including financial management, marketing strategy, and legal compliance, while also preparing for real-world experiences such as pop-up market events.

Each entrepreneur benefits from one-on-one mentoring sessions through Chase’s Coaching for Impact program, which provides complimentary, personalized business consulting.

Garcia described the impact this hands-on approach has had on local small business owners. He recalled one candlemaker, who, after participating in the program, was invited to provide candles as gifts at Chase events.

“We were able to help give that business exposure,” he explained. “But then our team also worked with them on how to access capital to buy inventory and manage operations once those orders started coming in. It’s about preparation. When a hiccup happens, are you ready to handle it?”

The Coaching for Impact initiative, which launched in 2020 in just four cities, has since expanded to 46 nationwide.

“Every business is different,” Garcia said. “That’s why personal coaching matters so much. It’s life-changing.”

Participants in the 2026 program will each receive a $2,500 stipend, funding that Garcia said can make an outsized difference. “It’s amazing what some people can do with just $2,500,” he noted. “It sounds small, but it goes a long way when you have a plan for how to use it.”

For Chase and the Warriors, the Alley-Oop Accelerator represents more than an educational initiative, it’s a pathway to empowerment and economic inclusion. The program continues to foster lasting relationships among the entrepreneurs who, as Garcia put it, “build each other up” through shared growth and opportunity.

“Starting a business is never easy, but with the right support, it becomes possible, and even exhilarating,” said Oscar Lopez, the senior business consultant for Chase in Oakland.