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COMMENTARY: Highland Park Is a Tragedy, But So Is Akron, Ohio, And Jayland Walker.

The eight officers were placed on administrative leave. And last weekend hundreds protested in downtown Akron. We just didn’t see much coverage on it. It would have only reinforced what we know—that police violence, specifically toward the BIPOC community is real and keeps happening again and again.

Published

4 years ago

July 11, 2022

Oakland Post

Emil Guillermo is a journalist and commentator. He does a talk show on www.amok.com

Emil Guillermo is a veteran journalist and commentator. See his work on www.amok.com.

By Emil Guillermo

If you were celebrating on the Fourth of July, you have to be troubled on the fifth, sixth, seventh, and all the rest of our days.

This past weekend, some of our fellow Americans were flinching from gunpowder blasts. And it’s not from the fireworks.

It’s from guns. And it’s a reminder that our freedoms just don’t seem to be working right now for all of us in America.

We may have to think seriously about giving up some rights for the greater good.

It surely can’t go on much longer the way it is.

Not when seven are dead and more than 30 are injured when a gunman shot up a Fourth of July parade in Highland Park, Ill.

Not when the police chief of Akron, Ohio, finally released officers’ body camera videos of the killing of Jayland Walker on Sunday, nearly a week after Akron cops put more than 60 gunshot wounds into an unarmed Walker.

The Sunday release of the body-cam footage and the NAACP-led protest that occurred over the holiday in Akron would have led the national news most weekends.

But not when you have a live shooting at a Fourth of July parade in a Chicago suburb considered one of the safest places in America.

If you don’t know Highland Park (population 30,177), it’s to Chicago what the Lamorinda area is to Oakland. Affluent ($147,067 plus median income), 80-90% white. As a “white flight” suburb, mass shootings aren’t supposed to happen there.

So, when it does, the media get super-focused on Highland Park.

Meanwhile, Akron barely got mentioned in the news. You need both instances together to give you the rich, full picture of America’s gun problem.

It’s not the same for everyone.

For people of color, we have to fear the bad guys and the good guys.

Surely, minority communities know the Highland Park kind of gun violence perpetrated by an alienated male with an AR-15 type weapon. The Black community felt the pain at the Tops Supermarket shooting in Buffalo where 10 people died in May. The Hispanic community suffered in Uvalde when 21 people were killed last month.

But then you have the kind of shooting that took Jayland Walker’s life.

Reports say Walker had a handgun on a seat in his car. It wasn’t loaded. And he didn’t use it. Walker was stopped by the Akron police during a routine traffic stop. He had one traffic ticket and no criminal record. So why did it take eight officers to stop him, ending in a seven-minute pursuit that left Walker dead?

At one point, Walker stopped, exited his car wearing a ski mask, and fled on foot. Police used tasers at first, but when that didn’t stop Walker, the officers opened fire.

Akron Chief Stephen L. Mylett confirmed Walker was unarmed when confronted and told the lawyers for Walker that evidence he’d seen, indicated the officers were not threatened.

Who knows if Jayland Walker and his family will ever see justice? We only know for sure that Walker won’t be the last Black man who dies by police violence.

That’s why we need to keep shining a light on Walker’s case, so that in a year people won’t wonder, “Jayland Who?”

Emil Guillermo is a veteran journalist and commentator. See his work on www.amok.com

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Oakland Post: Week of March 4 – 10, 2026

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of March 4 – 10, 2026

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4 days ago

March 7, 2026

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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

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1 week ago

March 1, 2026

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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.