Activism

COMMENTARY: Georgia Is Ground Zero for Democracy

Black voters have the power to decide the election in Georgia, which will probably decide the future of our country in some ways we can predict and others we can’t. This is especially true for Black men, who still don’t vote in the high percentages Black women do. Black men in Georgia have to come out to the polls this year.

Published

3 years ago

October 29, 2022

Oakland Post

Black voters have the power to decide the election in Georgia, which will probably decide the future of our country in some ways we can predict and others we can’t. This is especially true for Black men, who still don’t vote in the high percentages Black women do. Black men in Georgia have to come out to the polls this year.

Ben Jealous serves as president of People For the American Way and Professor of the Practice at the University of Pennsylvania. A New York Times best-selling author, his next book "Never Forget Our People Were Always Free" will be published by Harper Collins in January 2023.

By Ben Jealous

Like so many of us right now, I’ve got Georgia on my mind.

As I write this, I’ve just gotten back from meeting with Black ministers who are working nonstop to get out the vote across the state. And with good reason, because there’s just no other way to say it — Georgia is ground zero for the future of our democracy in this midterm election.

Control of the Senate could hinge on whether Rev. Raphael Warnock can keep his Senate seat or is defeated by Herschel Walker, a familiar former athlete who has become a far-right extremist. Depending on who gains a Senate majority, the rest of the Biden-Harris administration agenda is either on track or dead on arrival in Congress.

The governor’s race features an incumbent MAGA diehard, Brian Kemp, versus Stacey Abrams. I have written about Abrams and our decades-long friendship before. No one is more committed to civil rights and greater opportunity for Georgians than Abrams. Reelecting Kemp would be a disaster: not just for Georgians, but for a country in which MAGA schemers are looking to capture as many states as possible to advance their reactionary agenda.

Kemp’s record is appalling. In a state with a large share of uninsured Black Americans, including high numbers of Black children, Kemp has refused to expand Medicaid so that more Georgians could have health care.

He signed a law making it easier for just about anybody, including dangerous white supremacists, to carry concealed weapons. His administration has cut state contracts with Black businesses and is responsible for denying unemployment claims for twice as many Black workers as white workers.

Kemp recently signed an anti-choice law so extreme that women who have miscarriages could be arrested. Women who terminate pregnancies could be charged with murder.

The MAGA folks in Georgia know the coalition of Black voters and young voters who made history in 2020 won’t vote for this agenda. Those voters changed the course of the nation when they went for Joe Biden and Senate candidates Rev. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff.

The MAGA Far Right went crazy, and they made Georgia the home of some of the worst voter-suppression laws in the country since the original Jim Crow. One of those even made it illegal to give snacks and water to voters waiting in long lines. All of that was for one reason: to stop people, mostly Black people, from voting in the next big election.

And that election is now.

We can’t stand by and let that happen. Black voters have the power to decide the election in Georgia, which will probably decide the future of our country in some ways we can predict and others we can’t. This is especially true for Black men, who still don’t vote in the high percentages Black women do. Black men in Georgia have to come out to the polls this year.

It doesn’t surprise me that once again, Georgia is so central to Black American history. It has been that way for as long as we’ve had a history. Every time I visit, I’m moved by it. That sense of a momentous past is everywhere, mixed with the New South energy that makes the state such a unique place. Meeting with Georgians this time, I could feel the deep commitment to moving the state forward instead of back. That fills me with hope.

The eyes of the country – and even the world – are on Georgia this fall, and I believe Georgia will make us proud.

Ben Jealous serves as president of People For the American Way and Professor of the Practice at the University of Pennsylvania. A New York Times best-selling author, his next book “Never Forget Our People Were Always Free” will be published by Harper Collins in January 2023.

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Activism

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

1 week 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.