Bay Area

Community Celebrates Life of Sylvester Hodges, Education Leader, Parent Activist

A community celebration was held Saturday, July 8, commemorating the life of former Oakland Board of Education member, civil rights leader, and parent activist Sylvester Hodges. Many lifelong friends and loved ones came out to join the celebration of his life at the Cypress Mandela Training Center in East Oakland. Hodges, 78, died on May 21, 2020, but the event was postponed until this month due to the pandemic.

Published

3 years ago

July 19, 2023

Oakland Post

Attendees at the celebration of Sylvester Hodges’ life at the Mandela Training Center. Photo by Ken Epstein.

By Ken Epstein

A community celebration was held Saturday, July 8, commemorating the life of former Oakland Board of Education member, civil rights leader, and parent activist Sylvester Hodges.

Many lifelong friends and loved ones came out to join the celebration of his life at the Cypress Mandela Training Center in East Oakland. Hodges, 78, died on May 21, 2020, but the event was postponed until this month due to the pandemic.

Hodges’ son, LaRone Hodges, organized the event.

Alvin Moore Sr., who hosted the celebration, remembered Hodges as a man of courage who was unafraid to stand alone when he was fighting for what he knew was right.

One of Hodges’ lifelong friends, Ashlee Sherman, told stories of their experiences as young athletes at McClymonds High School and how, with encouragement from Hodges, he went on to San Francisco State, earned a bachelor’s degree and later a master’s degree.

Kitty Kelly Epstein, an education leader and community activist, said, “Sylvester did probably what was the most important action ever taken by an elected official in Oakland — he saved the school district from being taken over by the racist, elitist State of California for 15 years,” adding that Oakland was the only school district in the country that was able to halt an attempted state takeover.

Underscoring the strength and clarity of Hodges’ leadership, Epstein said, “People should live their lives like Sylvester did, with the amount of courage and principle that I have not seen often before in my life, and I learned so much from him.”

Despite repeated attempts, the state was never able to seize control of the Oakland Unified School District until Hodges retired from the board.

During those years of African American leadership on the school board, the district made some major changes to benefit Black and Brown students, including ending some of the worst forms of tracking, which prevented them from taking algebra and assigned them perpetually to remedial math classes.

The board also rejected a racist textbook that was pushed on schools by the state, and the first programs were created to bring more Black and Brown teachers into the schools.

At the time, many people did not understand the importance of maintaining local control and had hopes that state intervention would lead to improvements in the district’s financial condition and reduce unresponsive bureaucracy.

When eventually the state did take over, the results turned out to be the opposite of what people had hoped for: continual budget cuts and school closures, lack of transparency, more consultants and highly paid bureaucrats, and unending budget deficits.

Hodges was born on April 30, 1942, in Montrose, Arkansas, moving with his parents, Chester and Maggie Hodges, to Oakland in 1946. He attended Prescott Elementary, Lowell Middle School, and graduated from McClymonds High in 1960. He entered the U.S. Air Force, where he was on the wrestling team. In 1964, he met Lola Ingram, who he married in 1965.

Besides serving on school board for 12 years, Hodges served as chair of the Paul Robeson Centennial Committee, working successfully to rename the school district administration building in Robeson’s memory.

After he retired from the recreation department in San Mateo County, he went to work as an administrator for the Cypress Mandela Training Center, training countless Black and Latino young people to overcome barriers to enter positions in the construction trades.

He also served on the board of the Oakland Emiliano Zapata Street Academy, a school he loved because of its unique approach to young people’s education. He also remained a dedicated supporter of McClymonds High School.

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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.