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Community Concern Grows Over Fate of Geoffrey’s and Black Arts District

At stake for many people in Oakland, who spoke with the Post about what this vote could mean for the city’s future, is whether the culture and heritage of Oakland’s Black community will be honored and maintained and whether Geoffrey’s club will be allowed to flourish in an economic environment that is hostile to small business and in which everything is subservient to gentrification and the interests of corporate market-rate real estate interests.

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By Ken Epstein

Many members of the Oakland community are expressing worry and anger in the wake of the Oakland City Council meeting last week, where council members came up with a tie vote on whether to protect Geoffrey’s Inner Circle, a longtime entertainment venue and cultural institution at 410 14th St., from the construction of a 27-story, high-end residential tower within inches of his building.

Now, the City Charter allows Mayor Sheng Thao to attend the next council meeting, Jan. 16, to break the tie vote, if she chooses to intervene.

At stake for many people in Oakland, who spoke with the Post about what this vote could mean for the city’s future, is whether the culture and heritage of Oakland’s Black community will be honored and maintained and whether Geoffrey’s club will be allowed to flourish in an economic environment that is hostile to small business and in which everything is subservient to gentrification and the interests of corporate market-rate real estate interests.

The conflict over Geoffrey’s and the Black Arts district only reached the Oakland City Council Dec. 17 after working its way through the city’s planning process for several years.

As a result of decisions of the city’s planning staff and Planning Commission, which according to many observers tilt heavily in favor of huge corporate developers, the planning commission had approved two alternative development proposals submitted for the same site by San Francisco-based developer Tidewater Corporation, one for an office tower and another for a residential tower.

At the Council, following hours of debate and many speakers, most of whom were strongly in favor of Geoffrey and opposed to Tidewater’s proposals, council members voted unanimously to uphold Geoffrey’s first challenge to the Office Tower and split their votes on whether to approve the second proposal for a residential development.

The city attorney’s office ruled that there was in effect a tie vote. Therefore, according to the attorney, Mayor Sheng Thao was eligible but not required to break the tie at the next council meeting.

Tina Muriel, speaking at the council meeting on behalf of Geoffrey’s, presented a series of flaws in Tidewater’s proposal for the development. She explained that Geoffrey’s is identified as a national historic resource, with a designation similar to Coit Tower and the Painted Ladies in San Francisco. The city is supposed to protect and preserve such historic resources, which Oakland has not done. She also demonstrated that part of Tidewater’s proposal would require making alterations to Geoffrey’s building, which he has not agreed to do. Further, dozens of studies indicate that residential development drives out entertainment venues, a problem for which other cities have instituted safeguards preventing residential development in close proximity to entertainment.

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Oakland Post: Week of June 4 – 10, 2025

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

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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.

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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)
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.

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Oakland Post: Week of May 28 – June 30, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of May 28 – June 3, 2025

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