Activism
Grassroots Groups Distribute About 11,000 Masks to Unhoused Residents Over Weekend
![](https://www.postnewsgroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Mask-Distribution-story-photo-1WEB.png)
Last weekend, as smoke continued to blow into Oakland from wildfires throughout California and Oregon, Mask Oakland, a queer- and trans-led community relief project that has responded to smoke crises in the Bay Area since 2017, collaborated with seven grassroots groups to distribute more than 11,000 K95 and N95 masks, mostly to people experiencing homelessness in Oakland.
The United Front Against Displacement (UFAD), a housing justice organization, and SMC Tenants Council, a tenants union, distributed around 1,200 of those masks.
“I definitely feel a sense of urgency when I see folks and know that they’re out there for an unlimited amount of time,” said Jazmine Lopez, who works with UFAD. “It’s heartbreaking because I want to do more.”
UFAD started their work on Sept. 11 when a small group of volunteers distributed masks at 37MLK, a small unhoused community at 37th Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard where mostly elders live. Then the group distributed masks to people living under several highway underpasses along MLK Boulevard and Telegraph Avenue. They ended the day’s work by distributing masks along and just west of Wood Street and between 18th and 26th streets in West Oakland.
On Saturday, about 20 people working with UFAD distributed masks again in the Wood Street area. The Saturday distribution was part of the organization’s weekly workdays, which alternate between Saturdays and Sundays each week.
In the past, they’ve built hand-washing stations, freshwater storage facilities, a shower, and done basic cleanup work on their workdays. In total, the group handed out about 800 masks.
While face masks are widely available throughout Oakland, most are useless to protect against smoke. K95 and N95 masks, which specifically protect against smoke have been entirely sold out in Oakland stores. So, UFAD has received help from Mask Oakland.
“We support groups led by and in direct solidarity with unhoused people,” said Quinn Jasmine Redwoods of Mask Oakland. “The UFAD is great at that, and we’ve given them hundreds of masks several times this year.”
Mask Oakland also gave masks to SMC Tenants Council, who handed them out on Sunday. The tenants union gave out most of their 400 masks along the Wood street area and worked with a crew of about 20 people.
“The reason that we were out there is the same reason why we’re organizing as tenants,” said Emily Stone of SMC Tenants Council. “Our leaders aren’t doing nearly enough to solve our problems and meet our very basic needs.”
Stone said SMC Tenants Council is fighting for more protections for tenants that are not yet available, like rent cancelation during the COVID-19 pandemic and added that “our unhoused neighbors are dealing with lack of action from [our local leaders] more severely.”
Stone pointed out that resources are available to shelter people in hotel rooms through emergency powers available to California Gov. Gavin Newsom, the Alameda Councty Board of Supervisors and Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf due to the declared state of emergency under COVID-19, but that hotel rooms still sit empty while people live on the street and are forced to inhale wildfire smoke.
While the state and Alameda County have set aside about 1,000 hotel rooms for unhoused people through Project Roomkey, their own current data shows about 25% of those rooms currently sit empty.
The City and the County have handed out masks to unhoused people, but far fewer than grassroots groups with no government funding.
Public Information Officer L. Autumn King said that the city has worked with the county and “provided over 6,500 masks within the last month.” Redwoods said Mask Oakland has handed our over 30,000 in the last month and is set to hand out about 54,000 after this upcoming weekend.
A Wood Street resident on Sunday who asked not to be named claimed all the masks he has received were from grassroots groups.
“Grassroots groups actually show up, whereas the city has not shown up,” he said.
Activism
U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Rep. Lateefah Simon to Speak at Elihu Harris Lecture Series
The popular lecture series is co-produced by the Oakland-based Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom Center and Peralta Community College District. Jeffries’ appearance marks the 32nd lecture of the Barbara Lee and Elihu Harris Lecture Series, which has provided thousands of individuals with accessible, free, high-quality information.
![U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (left) and Rep. Lateefah Simon (D-CA-12) (Right).](https://www.postnewsgroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/hakeem-jeffries-lateefah-simon-featured-web.jpg)
By Scott Horton
United States House of Representatives Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY-8) will be a speaker at the Barbara Lee and Elihu Harris Lecture Series on Friday, Feb. 21.
The event will be held at the Henry J. Kaiser Center for the Arts, 10 Tenth Street in Oakland, at 7 p.m.
The popular lecture series is co-produced by the Oakland-based Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom Center and Peralta Community College District. Jeffries’ appearance marks the 32nd lecture of the Barbara Lee and Elihu Harris Lecture Series, which has provided thousands of individuals with accessible, free, high-quality information.
The overarching goal of the lecture series is to provide speakers from diverse backgrounds a platform to offer their answers to Dr. King’s urgent question, which is also the title of Jeffries’ latest book: “Where do we go from here: Chaos or Community?”
In addition to Jeffries, Congresswoman Lateefah Simon (D-CA-12) will also speak.
“Certainly, now is a time for humanity, in general, and Americans in particular to honestly and genuinely answer Dr. King’s question,” said Dr. Roy D. Wilson, Executive Director of the Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom Center and Executive Producer of the lecture series.
“Dr. King teaches that time is neutral but not static. Like the water in a river, it arrives and then quickly moves on,” continued Wilson. “We must urgently create conditions for listening to many different answers to this vital question, and generate the development of unity of action among all those who struggle for a stronger democracy.”
In his book, Jeffries shares his experience of being unanimously elected by his colleagues as the first African American in history to ever hold the position of House Minority Leader.
In January 2023 in Washington, Jeffries made his first official speech as House Minority Leader. He affirmed Democratic values one letter of the alphabet at a time. His words and how he framed them as the alphabet caught the attention of Americans, and the speech was later turned into a book, The ABCs of Democracy, bringing Congressman Jeffries rousing speech to vivid, colorful life, including illustrations by Shaniya Carrington. The speech and book are inspiring and urgent as a timeless reminder of what it means to be a country with equal opportunities for all. Jeffries paints a road map for a brighter American future and warns of the perils of taking a different path.
Before his colleagues unanimously elected him Minority Leader in 2022, Jeffries previously served as Chair of the House Democratic Caucus and as an Impeachment Manager during the first Senate trial of the 45th President of the United States.
Jeffries was born in Brooklyn Hospital, raised in Crown Heights, grew up in the Cornerstone Baptist Church and he is a product of New York City’s public school system, graduating from Midwood High School. Jefferies went on to Binghamton University (BA), Georgetown University (master’s in public policy) and New York University (JD).
He served in the New York State Assembly from 2007 to 2012.
Admission is free for the Feb. 21 Barbara Lee and Elihu Harris Lecture Series featuring Congressman Jeffries. Please reserve seats by calling the Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom Center at (510) 434-3988.
Signed copies of his book will be available for purchase at the event.
Activism
Actor, Philanthropist Blair Underwood Visits Bay Area, Kicks Off Literacy Program in ‘New Oakland’ Initiative
These community activations were coordinated with the San Francisco-based non-profit program “Room to Read.” Ray said he is also donating his time to read and take pictures with students to encourage their engagement and to inspire them to read more. The inspirational book “Clifford Ray Saves the Day” highlights Clifford Ray’s true story of saving a dolphin.
![Blair Underwood (left) and Barbara Lee (right). Courtesy photo.](https://www.postnewsgroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/blair-underwood-featured-web.jpg)
By Paul Cobb
New Oakland Series
Opinion Part 3
The Post mentioned three weeks ago that a number of our local luminaries were coming together to support the “New Oakland” movement. As this current national administration continues to eliminate our “legacy” institutional policies and programs left and right, most communities find themselves beyond “frozen” in fear.
Well, esteemed actor, long-time Bay Area supporter, and philanthropist Blair Underwood returned to Oakland this week to speak with city leaders, community trust agents, students, the Oakland Post, and local celebrities alike to continue his “New Oakland” initiative.
This week, he kicked off his “Guess Who’s Coming to Read” literacy program in some of Oakland’s middle schools. Clifford Ray, who played the center position of the 1975 World Champion Golden State Warriors, donated close to 1,000 books. Ray’s fellow teammate Charles “The Hopper” Dudley also gave Converse sneakers to students.
These community activations were coordinated with the San Francisco-based non-profit program “Room to Read.” Ray said he is also donating his time to read and take pictures with students to encourage their engagement and to inspire them to read more. The inspirational book “Clifford Ray Saves the Day” highlights Clifford Ray’s true story of saving a dolphin.
Underwood also spent quality time with the Oakland Ballers ownership group and visited the amazing Raimondi Park West Oakland community revitalization site. In the 1996 TV film Soul of the Game, Underwood played the role of the legendary first Black Major League Baseball player Jackie Robinson and commended the Ballers owners.
“This group of sports enthusiasts/ philanthropists needs to be applauded for their human capital investment and their financial capital investment,” Underwood said. “Truly putting their money and passion to work,” Underwood said.
Underwood was also inspired by mayoral candidate Barbara Lee’s open-minded invitation to bring public-private partnership opportunities to Oakland.
Underwood said he wants to “reinforce the importance of ‘collaborative activism’ among those most marginalized by non-empathic leadership. We must ‘act out’ our discomfort with passionate intentions to create healthy change.”
Activism
McClymonds High Names School Gym for Star Graduate, Basketball Legend Bill Russell
William “Bill” Felton Russell was born on Feb. 12, 1934, and died on July 31, 2022. He achieved fame as a U.S. professional basketball player who played center for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1956 to 1969. He was the centerpiece of the Celtics dynasty that won 11 NBA championships during his 13-year career.
![Bill Russell and Brian McGhee in McClymonds High School Gym, 2011. Photo courtesy of Brian McGhee.](https://www.postnewsgroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/bill-russell-featured-web.jpg)
By Ken Epstein
West Oakland’s McClymonds High School, “the School of Champions,” this week named the school’s gymnasium in honor of one of its most famous graduates, basketball legend Bill Russell (class of ’52).
William “Bill” Felton Russell was born on Feb. 12, 1934, and died on July 31, 2022. He achieved fame as a U.S. professional basketball player who played center for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1956 to 1969. He was the centerpiece of the Celtics dynasty that won 11 NBA championships during his 13-year career.
Russell is widely known as one of the greatest basketball players of all time. In 2011, he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the country’s highest civil honor, from President Barack Obama for Russell’s contributions to basketball and the Civil Rights Movement.
The McClymonds’ naming ceremony was held on Wednesday, the same day as Russell’s birthday. Oakland leader Bill Patterson, a longtime friend of Russell’s, was scheduled to cut the ribbon at the reopening of the gym, which had been closed for several months for renovation. Russell’s daughter Karen was scheduled to attend the ribbon cutting.
Russell’s name and signature are now printed on the gymnasium floor.
Patterson was working at DeFremery Park when he met Russell. “I befriended him as a boy and during his years at University of San Francisco” said Patterson. “We stayed friends for the rest of his life.”
Said McClymonds Principal Darielle Davis, herself a McClymonds graduate, “We are excited to honor Bill Russell for his sports accolades and because he broke color barriers. He is part of our legacy, and legacy is really important at McClymonds.”
Brian McGhee, community schools manager at McClymonds and former football player at UC Berkeley, said that Russell meant a lot to him and others at the school. “He was a beacon of light and hope for West Oakland,” he said. “He did a lot for sports and for civil rights.”
Starting in 2018, Ben “Coach” Tapscott worked with Patterson and other McClymonds grads, community members, and former coaches to encourage the Oakland Board of Education to endorse the naming of the school gym, which finally happened recently.
“We worked hard to make this happen,” said Tapscott. “He’s an important part of McClymond’s history, along with a lot of other famous graduates,” he said.
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