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Henry “Champ” Winston, 84, Fought the Good Fights, Kept the Faith

Published

10 years ago

December 4, 2015

By Barbara Fluhrer

From humble beginnings in Memphis, Tennessee, Henry Calvin Winston fought his way to the top of the world of sports and entertainment promotion.

During his storied career, he championed many causes, but he also worked with and promoted boxing and entertainment icons, including: James Brown, Jackson Five, Larry Holmes, Muhammad Ali, Sonny Liston, Archie Moore, George Forman, Smokin’ Joe Frazier, Mike Tyson, The Ed- win Hawkins Singers and Don King.

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He was born in Memphis on Dec. 11, 1931 to John and Rose Ella Winston, who had five other children including: John Jr., Charles, Herbert, Peggy and Joyce.

In 1944, his family moved to California to join his uncle, Mr. Louis C. King, who owned the Kings Hotel at 1208 7th St. in West Oakland.

“When we moved to California, it was paradise for me, after my experiences in Memphis with racism and prejudice. I wasn’t a top student, but I knew what to do with money. My sisters and brothers got good educations and somehow or other I got left at the train station. My uncle wanted me to go to school and said he would set me up in business,” said Winston in a 2008 Post interview.

Winston was an avid churchgoer his entire life.

“In Memphis we went to Gospel Temple Baptist Church and my mom sang in the choir. My mother was a graduate of Jackson State University in Education and a psychology. She always knew when I was lying and she punished me for it as well.”

“My mother’s brothers owned King’s Hotel and a night club in Berkeley on Adeline, past Alcatraz, around the corner from DG Gibson’s home and Bryon Rumford’s Pharmacy on Sacramento, next to Tom Berkley’s newspaper building. As a kid I used to talk to them.”

“I attended Beth Eden while Rev. Dones was pastor, and Johnny Cochran was a church member there. I left Beth Eden to go to Evergreen and left there after Rev. J. L. Richard died and started going to Pastor Loggi’s Interdenominational Gospel Chapel before I joined the Market Street Seventh-day Adventist Church.”

He attended McClymonds High School, but “I refused to graduate with the class, because I thought I was too big-time. I opened the pool hall on 7th Street in the building my uncle owned, and we had a soda fountain.”

“Roosevelt Cobb, a regular customer, was a pretty good pool player for an old man; he never beat me, though; I was very good at pool. Cobb always wore a longshoreman’s coat with big pockets and a stevedore hook. The hustlers would try to hustle him, and he would always end up with their money. Ron Dellums’ uncle used to come to my pool hall for a shoe shine from Post publisher Paul Cobb,” said Winston.

Paul Cobb said Winston protected him and helped him establish a movable shoeshine stand, while selling out-of- town newspapers and Black magazines on Seventh Street in front of the historic nightclubs that Cobb was too young to enter.

“My love for newspapers grew from national papers given to me by the Pullman Porters that Henry introduced to our family,” said Cobb.

In the early 50s, Winston joined the Navy and was stationed in Hawaii.

He married Georgia “Tiger” Burkhardt and had four children; Lenet, Lamonte, Pamela and Kevin.

He made sure his children valued their education. His children are Lenet, who lives in Baltimore with two boys; Pamela, a lawyer who lives in Fairfield, specializing in Intellectual Properties Law, with two children; Lamonte is Director of Player Personnel for the Kansas City Chiefs, with two children.

Winston’s accomplishments as a businessman started with his restaurant named The Rosa Lenet. He also expanded the Winston East Bay Ambulance Company to five locations.

Henry “The Champ” championed many causes, but his love and passion for boxing took him to unbelievable heights, travelling around the world and working with boxing icons like Sonny Liston, Archie Moore, Muhammed Ali, George Foreman, Smokin’ Joe Frazier, Mike Tyson and Don King – just to name a few. He traveled Europe with The Edwin Hawkins Singers to launch their “O Happy Day” debut album.

Winston fought diabetes for more than 10 years. The City of Oakland will proclaim Dec. 5 as Henry Winston Day.

His funeral will be held at 11 a.m. on Friday, Dec. 4, at the Market Street SDA Church, 900 34th St., Oakland. His internment will be at 9:30 a.m., Monday, Dec. 7 at the Sacramento Valley National Cemetery, Dixon, California.

Oakland Post

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Uncategorized

Oakland Housing and Community Development Department Awards $80.5 Million to Affordable Housing Developments

Published

6 months ago

June 17, 2025

Oakland Post

Special to The Post

The City of Oakland’s Housing and Community Development Department (Oakland HCD) announced its awardees for the 2024-2025 New Construction of Multifamily Affordable Housing Notice of Funding Availability (New Construction NOFA) today Five permanently affordable housing developments received awards out of 24 applications received by the Department, with award amounts ranging from $7 million to $28 million.

In a statement released on Jan. 16, Oakland’s HCD stated, “Five New Construction Multifamily Affordable Housing Development projects awarded a total of $80.5 million to develop 583 affordable rental homes throughout Oakland. Awardees will leverage the City’s investments to apply for funding from the state and private entities.”

In December, the office of Rebecca Kaplan, interim District 2 City Councilmember, worked with HCD to allocate an additional $10 Million from Measure U to the funding pool. The legislation also readopted various capital improvement projects including street paving and upgrades to public facilities.

The following Oakland affordable housing developments have been awarded in the current round:

Mandela Station Affordable

238 Affordable Units including 60 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $15 million + previously awarded $18 million
Developer: Mandela Station LP (Pacific West Communities, Inc. and Strategic Urban Development Alliance, LLC)
City Council District: 3
Address: 1451 7th St.

Liberation Park Residences

118 Affordable Units including 30 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $28 million
Developer: Eden Housing and Black Cultural Zone
City Council District: 6
Address: 7101 Foothill Blvd.

34th & San Pablo

59 Affordable Units including 30 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $7 million
Developer: 34SP Development LP (EBALDC)
City Council District: 3
Address: 3419-3431 San Pablo Ave.

The Eliza

96 Affordable Units including 20 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $20 million
Developer: Mercy Housing California
City Council District: 3
Address: 2125 Telegraph Ave.

3135 San Pablo

72 Affordable Units including 36 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $10.5 million
Developer: SAHA and St. Mary’s Center
City Council District: 3
Address: 3515 San Pablo Ave.

The source of this story is the media reltations office of District 2 City Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan.

Oakland Post

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Activism

Oakland Housing and Community Development Department Awards $80.5 Million to Affordable Housing Developments

Published

10 months ago

January 30, 2025

Oakland Post

Rebecca Kaplan, interim District 2 city councilmember. File photo.

Special to The Post

The following Oakland affordable housing developments have been awarded in the current round:

Mandela Station Affordable

238 Affordable Units including 60 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $15 million + previously awarded $18 million
Developer: Mandela Station LP (Pacific West Communities, Inc. and Strategic Urban Development Alliance, LLC)
City Council District: 3
Address: 1451 7th St.

Liberation Park Residences

118 Affordable Units including 30 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $28 million
Developer: Eden Housing and Black Cultural Zone
City Council District: 6
Address: 7101 Foothill Blvd.

34th & San Pablo

59 Affordable Units including 30 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $7 million
Developer: 34SP Development LP (EBALDC)
City Council District: 3
Address: 3419-3431 San Pablo Ave.

The Eliza

96 Affordable Units, including 20 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $20 million
Developer: Mercy Housing California
City Council District: 3
Address: 2125 Telegraph Ave.

3135 San Pablo

72 Affordable Units including 36 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $10.5 million
Developer: SAHA and St. Mary’s Center
City Council District: 3
Address: 3515 San Pablo Ave.

The source of this story is media reltations office of District 2 City Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan.

Oakland Post

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Alameda County

Oakland Acquisition Company’s Acquisition of County’s Interest in Coliseum Property on the Verge of Completion

The Board of Supervisors is committed to closing the deal expeditiously, and County staff have worked tirelessly to move the deal forward on mutually agreeable terms. The parties are down to the final details and, with the cooperation of OAC and Coliseum Way Partners, LLC, the Board will take a public vote at an upcoming meeting to seal this transaction.

Published

11 months ago

January 11, 2025

Oakland Post

Alameda County Board of Supervisors Chairman David Haubert. Official photo.

Special to The Post

The County of Alameda announced this week that a deal allowing the Oakland Acquisition Company, LLC, (“OAC”) to acquire the County’s 50% undivided interest in the Oakland- Alameda County Coliseum complex is in the final stages of completion.

Oakland has already finalized a purchase and sale agreement with OAC for its interest in the property. OAC’s acquisition of the County’s property interest will achieve two longstanding goals of the County:

The Oakland-Alameda Coliseum complex will finally be under the control of a sole owner with capacity to make unilateral decisions regarding the property; and
The County will be out of the sports and entertainment business, free to focus and rededicate resources to its core safety net

In an October 2024 press release from the City of Oakland, the former Oakland mayor described the sale of its 50% interest in the property as an “historic achievement” stating that the transaction will “continue to pay dividends for generations to come.”

The Board of Supervisors is pleased to facilitate single-entity ownership of this property uniquely centered in a corridor of East Oakland that has amazing potential.

“The County is committed to bringing its negotiations with OAC to a close,” said Board President David Haubert.