City Government

Community Unites to Support San Pablo Fire Victims

Published

8 years ago

April 7, 2017

The West Oakland San Pablo Fire Relief and Advocacy Team, composed of local pastors and leaders of community-based organizations, is seeking unite the community to raise $100,000 to meet the needs of the families that have lost everything in the March 27 fire at 2551 San Pablo Ave. in Oakland.

“We have a mission: to bring strong advocacy and support on behalf of the survivors to provide for their unmet needs,” said Pastor Debra Avery of the First Presbyterian Church of Oakland, who co-chairs the advocacy team along with Bishop Joseph E. Simmons, Greater Saint Paul Missionary Baptist Church.

Pastor Debra Avery

The team has raised $2,700 in the past two days, utilizing social media and email, Avery said. “We’re depending on people to share the message with their friends and neighbors.”

The team meets weekly, and there will be weekly updates.

Bishop Joseph Simmons

While the city and county are supporting the fire survivors, there are other needs that are still falling through the cracks, she said. For example, a construction worker needs help to purchase the tools he lost in the fire so that he can return to work.

The outpouring of support from Oaklanders, particularly West Oakland residents, has been amazing, she said.

Another pressing need, said Bishop Simmons, is finding decent affordable housing for the displaced. Too many landlords are seeking to build or upgrade to market rate housing, rather than to serve the families in Oakland that in desperate need.

The city may not have the funds to create the housing, but it does have the legal clout to require landlords to change their practices, he said.

Councilmember-at-Large Rebecca Kaplan has lent her voice to garner support for those who were displaced by the fire.

“In this difficult time, it is important for us to support those adversely affected by the fire,” she wrote in an email to her constituents.

Mayor Libby Schaaf has also issued a statement backing the fire survivors advocacy team.

“Over this past week, our city staff has been focused on helping them recover and taking the steps to ensure the safety of this community. I hope you will join the effort to help the families and individuals who lost so much in this fire,” Mayor Schaaf wrote.

The organization has designated the First Presbyterian Church of Oakland as the fiscal agent for the San Pablo Fire Relief and Advocacy Team Advocacy fund. Checks can be made out to: FPCO and mailed to the church at 2619 Broadway, Oakland, CA 94612, or you can make a donation online.

Tax-deductible charitable contributions can be made to serve the unmet needs of fire victims

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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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June 7, 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.

Published

7 days 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.