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How I Accidentally Met (And Spoke With) Rep. Barbara Lee and Survived

When Lee arrived, I could only stand and stare. I’ve never seen her before, yet the moment my mentor, Mrs. Wanda, introduced me to her, that feeling of meeting a stranger faded away. She was so bright, smiling at everybody and cracking jokes. To be in the same room as her was being able to see and appreciate her charisma up close. I complimented her suit (I’ve never seen someone pull off a bright blue suit the way she did) and we took a couple pictures together.

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Former Congresswoman Barbara Lee with Oakland School for the Arts student Anka Lee, who is an intern at The Post. Photo by Kevin Hicks.
Former Congresswoman Barbara Lee with Oakland School for the Arts student Anka Lee, who is an intern at The Post. Photo by Kevin Hicks.

By Anka Lee
Post Intern

Last Wednesday, I was in no hurry to get anywhere. I had yet to readjust to waking up early and arriving at places on time after winter break. After school, I walked to the Post News Group building, ready to tune back into my ‘journalist’ mentality after a two-week hiatus from socializing. Little did I know, U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee would be visiting… to be interviewed.

When Lee arrived, I could only stand and stare. I’ve never seen her before, yet the moment my mentor, Mrs. Wanda, introduced me to her, that feeling of meeting a stranger faded away. She was so bright, smiling at everybody and cracking jokes. To be in the same room as her was being able to see and appreciate her charisma up close. I complimented her suit (I’ve never seen someone pull off a bright blue suit the way she did) and we took a couple pictures together.

We went upstairs to prepare for the interview about her mayoral campaign and what she strives to accomplish as mayor of Oakland. She and a couple other Post News Group members, as well as the interviewer and cameraman, sat around a long table. Mr. Cobb, the publisher of The Post, asked Mrs. Wanda and I to prepare questions for Lee before he headed inside. I was going to sit in on the interview and contribute to it. I would have never expected this in a million years.

They began the interview immediately, which I found incredibly productive but also insanely stressful. How was I going to interview Barbara Lee when I was barely accustomed to interviewing people on a regular basis? Mrs. Wanda saved me from a near meltdown when she helped me write down the questions. Once I wrote them down, she gently urged me to enter the room.

The first thing I noticed when entering the room was the formality in the air. It felt like too important of a moment for me to witness. Lee was answering the interviewer’s questions animatedly and with conviction to every word she spoke.

Each person chipped into the conversation, and it was near the end of the interview that Mr. Cobb made a gesture at me. All eyes suddenly turned to me and I tried my best not to seem as scared as I felt. I told myself to treat this as any other interview I’ve done.

I asked about the youth involved in her campaign. She said that already some young people are volunteering and helping, and she intends to bring a couple people in to get trained in campaigns and have meetings with young people about their policy agenda.

There are young people attending college while some are living in the streets, she observed. She wants the “input and involvement” of the youth to better understand how she can fix that situation the best she can.

The second question was about her plans to address racial and ethnic division in Oakland. She emphasized that although Oakland may be ahead in some ways compared to other cities, during a meeting with leaders among different communities she noticed “none of them had ever met each other.”

It was then that she realized unity is the key to creating a more diverse and equal city—to have discussions outside of the mayor’s office in order to empower people of all communities to work together, especially those in the Black community: “I’m going to make sure every single community has input, a seat at the table, and work together.”

Anka Lee is a student intern at The Post from the Oakland School for the Arts.

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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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