Activism

Community Celebrates Lifetime Achievements of Ex-Berkeley Mayor Gus Newport

Newport, who is now in his mid-80s, was born in Rochester, New York. While living there, he was leader of the Monroe County Nonpartisan Political League, where he worked with Malcolm X to defend nine Black Muslims who were attacked and arrested during a worship service.

Published

3 years ago

April 21, 2022

Ken Epstein

Gus Newport meets friends and well-wishers at a celebration of his lifetime of commitment to social justice, organized by the Middle East Children's Alliance, Monday night at the Freight & Salvage in Berkeley. Photo by Ken Epstein.

By Ken Epstein

A large crowd turned out Monday evening, March 28, to pay tribute to Eugene “Gus” Newport, former Berkeley mayor and a grassroots leader with a long history of activism in the Civil Rights Movement and the struggle for human rights in the U.S. and globally that has continued up to the present.

Newport’s friend and fellow activist, actor Danny Glover, hosted the event.

Some of the speakers were in-person while others appeared live on a large monitor behind the stage at the Freight and Salvage. Among those who honored Newport were Angela Davis, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders and singer Holly Near. Newport’s son, who was present, and his daughter who livestreamed from Atlanta, spoke lovingly of their father. His wife, Katherine Kasch, was also there. The event was a fundraiser for the Middle East Children’s Alliance (MECA).

Newport was a founding member of the alliance and served for years as chair of MECA’s board. MECA founder Barbara Lubin also spoke at the celebration.

Moving to New York, he was mentored by Harlem Congressman Adam Clayton Powell and Malcolm X, helping him found the Organization of African American Unity.

Newport served as mayor of Berkeley from 1979 to 1986. He was one of the first U.S. mayors to ride in a Gay Freedom Day Parade in 1979. Under his leadership, Berkeley became the first city to divest from companies that supported apartheid in South Africa.

More recently, he traveled around the country to support Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign.

Newport has supported human rights around the world and within the U.S. He:

Traveled to war zones in solidarity with the people of El Salvador;
Worked for Palestinian liberation;
Headed the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative in Boston, creating a national model for a neighborhood run “by and for the people;”
Helped oversee the rebuilding of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina;
Mentored young activists;
Served on the faculty of UC Berkeley, MIT and Yale;
Serves on the National Council of Elders, an organization of key social justice activists over 65;
Received the 2019 Khalil Gibran Spirit of Humanity Award from the Arab American Institute Foundation.

Ken Epstein

Posts by Ken Epstein | Website

Up Next

4-21-22 Conversations With Al McFarlane

Don't Miss

2021 Mercedes Benz AMG GT Roadster/Convertible and POV Test Drive

Ken Epstein

Click to comment

Activism

Oakland Post: Week of June 4 – 10, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of June 4-10, 2025

Published

5 days ago

June 7, 2025

Oakland Post

To enlarge your view of this issue, use the slider, magnifying glass icon or full page icon in the lower right corner of the browser window.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Activism

Remembering George Floyd

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing.

Published

2 weeks ago

June 2, 2025

Oakland Post

Mural showing the portrait of George Floyd in Mauerpark in Berlin. To the left of the portrait the lettering "I can't Breathe" was added, on the right side the three hashtags #GeorgeFloyd, #Icantbreathe and #Sayhisname. The mural was completed by Eme Street Art (facebook name) / Eme Free Thinker (signature) on 29 May 2020. (Wikimedia Commons)

By April Ryan
BlackPressUSA Newswire

“The president’s been very clear he has no intentions of pardoning Derek Chauvin, and it’s not a request that we’re looking at,” confirms a senior staffer at the Trump White House. That White House response results from public hope, including from a close Trump ally, Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. The timing of Greene’s hopes coincides with the Justice Department’s recent decision to end oversight of local police accused of abuse. It also falls on the fifth anniversary of the police-involved death of George Floyd on May 25th. The death sparked national and worldwide outrage and became a transitional moment politically and culturally, although the outcry for laws on police accountability failed.

The death forced then-Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden to focus on deadly police force and accountability. His efforts while president to pass the George Floyd Justice in policing act failed. The death of George Floyd also put a spotlight on the Black community, forcing then-candidate Biden to choose a Black woman running mate. Kamala Harris ultimately became vice president of the United States alongside Joe Biden. Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison prosecuted the cases against the officers involved in the death of Floyd. He remembers,” Trump was in office when George Floyd was killed, and I would blame Trump for creating a negative environment for police-community relations. Remember, it was him who said when the looting starts, the shooting starts, it was him who got rid of all the consent decrees that were in place by the Obama administration.”

In 2025, Police-involved civilian deaths are up by “about 100 to about 11 hundred,” according to Ellison. Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African-American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing. During those minutes on the ground, Floyd cried out for his late mother several times. Police subdued Floyd for an alleged counterfeit $20 bill.