Government

Oakland Native and Business Owner Derreck Johnson Runs for City Council At-Large

Published

5 years ago

September 3, 2020

Derreck Johnson is a self-described serial entrepreneur. He is the owner of the Home of Chicken and Waffles in Oakland. 70% of his employees are formerly incarcerated folk and he wants to put hope back into the citizens of Oakland.

He notes that 47% of Black businesses in Oakland are failing as compared to 17% of white-owned businesses and he wants to help other business owners.

Pre-pandemic this year he decided to become a first-time candidate and run for the Oakland City Council at-large position against incumbent Rebecca Kaplan and Nancy Sidebotham.

Johnson, Black, single, and openly gay, is a third-generation Oaklander, born in 1964 at Kaiser Oakland. He attended an HBCU, Fisk University, and is a proud member of one of the Divine Nine, Kappa Alpha Psi.

His campaign slogan is “made for this moment” and his mission is to connect City Hall to the community.

His campaign website, JohnsonForOakland.com, lists Kamala Harris, U.S. Senator, and Democratic V.P. Nominee, 2020; Libby Schaaf, Mayor of Oakland; Betty Yee, California State Controller; Lateefah Simon, BART Board President; Malia Cohen, State Board of Equalization Chair; Don Perata, State Senate President Pro Tem (Retired); Ignacio De La Fuente, Council President (Retired); and many others as supporters.

As an entrepreneur and Oakland resident Johnson vows to put “Oakland First” with equity and justice. He wants to educate citizens about how their tax dollars are being used.

He is concerned about the homeless situation which he finds “deplorable and heartbreaking” especially because 80% of that population is Black and a large number are members of the LBGTQ community.

His business was forced to close on March 17, and he laid off employees reducing his staff from 42 to 9 as sales dropped and they were forced to convert to take out only.

Deeply spiritual, Johnson had faith and worked with his landlord to reduce the rent of the unused dining space. He is also thankful for World Central Kitchen supported by Steph and Ayesha Curry, which has given him the ability to hire back 60% of his staff.

He is concerned about the issues of affordability and folks being able to live in Oakland. He states he will bring his business and real-life experience to Oakland city politics.

He thinks the notion of defunding the police is tantamount to dismantling the police and is the wrong message.

Instead, he emphasizes the three R’s: 1. Reconstruct 2. Reform/Repurpose, and 3. Reimagine/Recruit Black and Brown officers.

Johnson adds that the police should “serve and protect, not brutally victimize” and calls for immediate accountability and safety.

He would like to see Midnight Basketball and other ways of engaging the community with the police.

He embraces former President Obama’s 8cantwait.org noting that Oakland needs to implement “banning chokeholds and strangleholds, requiring a warning before shooting, and restricting shooting at moving vehicles.”

On a personal note, Johnson has learned much from the discrimination faced by his best friend who is transgender. He uses those lessons to help guide him towards equity for all.

Michelle Snider

Associate Editor for The Post News Group. Writer, Photographer, Videographer, Copy Editor, and website editor documenting local events in the Oakland-Bay Area California area.

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Michelle Snider

Associate Editor for The Post News Group. Writer, Photographer, Videographer, Copy Editor, and website editor documenting local events in the Oakland-Bay Area California area.

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Activism

Oakland Post: Week of June 4 – 10, 2025

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

Published

6 days ago

June 7, 2025

Oakland Post

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Oakland Post

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Activism

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

2 weeks 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.