Berkeley

Opinion – Black Berkeleyans Demand a Response to the Adeline Corridor Plan

Published

4 years ago

October 15, 2020

This statement was made to the Berkeley Planning Commission’s special meeting on the Adeline Corridor Plan on Sept. 16, 2020, represented as a “long-range…blueprint for the future,” which many “black” Berkeleyans are suspicious of.

Since Mr. Lee believes that the dangerous mythology of “race,” which has no basis in science, is the root of the even more dangerous reality of racism, he has enclosed all “racial” terms in quotes so as not to legitimize either.

Good evening.

Malcolm X said: If you stick a knife in my back nine inches and pull it out six inches, that’s not progress. If you pull it all the way out, that’s not progress — because it won’t heal the wound that the blow made.

I’m not only speaking for myself, but I’m also presuming to speak for my fellow native “Black” Berkeleyans who aren’t joining this meeting because they don’t have the proper technology; because they’re intelligent enough to have lost faith in Berkeley’s pro-developer, gentrifier-friendly city government; or because, like most of us, they’ve been displaced and exiled against their will to Godforsaken cultural wastelands like Antioch and Pittsburg.

White Power and Us

The presence of “Black” and other non-“white” people in Berkeley had everything to do with the machinations of White Power and nothing whatever to do with the wishes of those of us who were herded into South and West Berkeley by redlining and restricted to these districts by the Berkeley Police Dept.

Likewise, the progressive disappearance of “Black” and other non-“white” people from Berkeley is mostly due to the insidiousness of White Power and has very little to do with our preferences.

Thus, our existence in this city is defined by our being pushed around by White Power, which obligates me to do my best to speak truth to this power.

The Lasting Wound

Despite the best efforts of “Black” community leaders to avoid our community being ravaged like majority-“Black” districts in Oakland were when BART was built in Berkeley in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the Ashby Station drove right through the vital beating heart of the city’s northern non-“white” commercial and cultural district, which was known as South Berkeley Square

It ran down Grove Street, now Martin Luther King, Jr. Way, from Woolsey to Ashby.

This was tantamount to slicing thru our jugular vein. “Black” and other non-“white” businesses bled out to Sacramento Street and to East Oakland.

“Black” Berkeley, in particular, never recovered from the destruction wrought by creating a convenience for “white” people at the expense of a non-“white” district.

Berkeley Community Flea Market

Ironically, the Berkeley Community Flea Market occupies the very spot of this devastating economic, cultural and social violation.

Quite appropriately, the market faithfully mirrors and sustains the rich ethnic diversity, innovative entrepreneurial spirit and strong sense of community kinship that made historic non-“white” Berkeley such a unique and beloved home for people like myself, which managed to thrive in the face of the historic racism of the rest of this supposedly “progressive” city, which fought tooth and nail to integrate its schools and didn’t do so until 1969.

Who Deserves Help?

When I was in high school, I taught beginners’ swimming to elementary school students. Whenever I had to choose between extending a helping hand to a child with a flotation device and one without one, I naturally reached for the latter.

That’s what “white” privilege in Berkeley and throughout the country does for “white” people — it sustains them and keeps their heads above water.

Not only do “Black” people lack this protection, but they’re also pulled to the bottom by the weight of the ongoing operations and legacy of “white” supremacy, which is currently experiencing a resurgence, including in Berkeley, where outsiders and newcomers presume to dictate to its historic “Black” residents, even though, relatively speaking, most of them arrived here only yesterday afternoon.

Two Demands

So it adds insult to injury that we have to come before this body to ask for — no, to demand — the simple justice of the right of return for exiled “Black” Berkeleyans and the re-establishment of non-white,” and particularly “Black,” businesses and cultural institutions, including the protection and promotion of the flea market.

The city and BART must understand that those of us who are exiled from our home remain vitally interested in and committed to it. We not only want to come home, but we deserve to.

However, as the Portland, Ore., plan proved, the right of return is meaningless if people are offered homes that they can’t afford.

Therefore, any housing built at the Ashby BART station — which, I should emphasize, is not what the “Black” community wants — must be 100% affordable for those of us who were forced out of our community because of the harm that was inflicted by BART and the city.

Similarly, the flea market must not be shunted off to the side, where it will eventually die a quiet, unceremonious death. Instead, just as it’s the beating heart of what’s left of non-“white” Berkeley, it should also be the seed of this special community’s economic and cultural rebirth.

If the Adeline Corridor Plan does not do these two things, it’s not worth the paper that it’s printed on.

Confirmation?

Indeed, it will be read by “Black” and other non-“white” Berkeleyans, both those who’ve managed to remain and those who were forced out, as yet another in a long train of racist subterfuges — merely sealing the destruction, displacement and disempowerment that began with the building of the Ashby BART station.

Moreover, failing to do these two things would also confirm our worse experiences of and fears about Berkeley’s endemic, systemic racism and make us question if we have a future in a city that’s mostly led by politicians who say all the right things and do all the wrong things and, through their actions, are consigning us to the fate of the Ohlone, whose land this truly is.

Thank you for your kind consideration.

Paul Lee, Exiled South Berkeleyan

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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Related Topics:Adeline Corridor Plan Berkeley

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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

A Student-Run Group Provides Critical Support Services to Underserved Residents

Those visiting The Suitcase Clinic can get legal advice, sign up for food assistance, receive housing resources, get medical help, or enjoy a hot, fresh meal. They can also get haircuts and foot washes from the student volunteers. Nilo Golchini, executive director of the clinic, said one of the goals for most of the students working there is helping bridge the gap of trust that exists between many unhoused people and the healthcare and social welfare systems.

Published

6 hours ago

December 18, 2024

Oakland Post

UC Berkeley Law Students help a clinic visitor with legal advice at their Tuesday night services. The Clinic offers a variety of resources, including medical, to those in the community who have little access to these services. Photo by Magaly Muñoz

Part One

By Magaly Muñoz

Every Tuesday evening, the dining hall of First Presbyterian Church fills up with dozens of people eating, laughing and moving from table to table, receiving much-needed services from UC Berkeley students – just a few blocks away from the university’s campus.

Individuals seeking support services can be found in this multi-stationed room on the south end of the church talking to law students, student case managers, or receiving medical attention in a corner by healthcare professionals.

This weekly event is hosted by Cal students through a volunteer-run program called The Suitcase Clinic.

The clinic, founded in 1989, was intended to offer free resources to underserved communities in Berkeley and surrounding cities. The majority of the clinic’s clientele are unhoused or low-income people looking for extra support.

Those visiting the clinic can get legal advice, sign up for food assistance, receive housing resources, get medical help, or enjoy a hot, fresh meal. They can also get haircuts and foot washes from the student volunteers.

Nilo Golchini, executive director of the clinic, said one of the goals for most of the students working there is helping bridge the gap of trust that exists between many unhoused people and the healthcare and social welfare systems.

During their tenure in the program, many of the students say they become strong advocates for homelessness rights.

Visitors of the Suitcase Clinic can receive haircuts and foot washing by student volunteers every Tuesday evening. Photo by Magaly Muñoz.

“We’re also standing in solidarity with them. So, it’s not saying, ‘I’m going to help you, but I’m also going to stand with you,’” Golchini said.

Student volunteers get extensive training prior to working directly with clients. Those interested have to take a semester-long class to become versed in areas such as outreach, intersectionality, how to interact with unhoused people, how to sign people up for social services. and more.

Volunteers then get to pick from three different clinics: General, Women’s, or Youth and LGBTQ+.

The General Clinic is the most popular among visiting residents, while Women’s and Youth/LQBTQ+ have more specialized services for attendees.

The Women’s Clinic has many of the similar services to General, but also includes nail painting, childcare, and massages.

The Youth and LGBTQ+ Clinic offers a safe space for young people navigating living on the streets, with services that include housing referrals, wellness and recreation classes and employment resources.

Golchini explained that it’s important for them to keep these clinics separate because the different demographics experience poverty and homelessness differently than those who visit the General Clinic.

Suitcase Clinic student workers posing for a photo with a frequent clinic attendee. The Clinic is open to Berkeley unhoused and low-income residents who need medical or legal service, or a hot meal. Photo by Magaly Muñoz.

“We’re able to provide spaces where people can come in and feel safe and not feel like they’re constantly worried that something’s going to happen to them,” she said.

An outreach team also visits encampments every other Saturday in the Berkeley area to provide hygiene kits and encourage people to visit the in-person clinic, if possible.

However, Golchini said engagement has been low for some time now due to a recent decision by the U.S. Supreme Court that allows cities to ban and cite people for sleeping on the streets.

She said a lot of their clientele got displaced to other cities over time, making it difficult to stay in contact with the services the Clinic was providing for them.

But that hasn’t slowed down the students at the Clinic, if anything, it has pushed them to do more for the community they serve.

Oakland Post

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Arts and Culture

Promise Marks Performs Songs of Etta James in One-Woman Show, “A Sunday Kind of Love” at the Black Repertory Theater in Berkeley

“The (show) is a fictional story about a character named Etta, aka Lady Peaches,” said Marks. “She falls in love with Johnny Rhythm, leader of the Rhythm Players Band and headliners of Madam G’s Glitta Lounge.” Marks channeled the essence of Etta James, singing favorites such as “Sugar on the Floor” and “At Last.”

Published

6 hours ago

December 18, 2024

Oakland Post

Photo Courtesy Of Promise Marks.

Special to the Post

It was “A Sunday Kind of Love” at the Black Repertory Group Theater in Berkeley on Saturday night, Dec. 7. The one-woman musical based on the music of Etta James featured the multi-talented singer Promise Marks

Marks, who wrote and directed the musical, also owns PM Productions.

Marks channeled the essence of Etta James, singing favorites such as “Sugar on the Floor” and “At Last.”

In between her soulful songs, Marks narrated impactful moments of the love story and journey of blues and forgiveness.

Marks sultry voice carried the audience back to an era that echoed with the power of Black music and a time of great change.

Marks said James shared love for the Black community by singing at gatherings during the Civil Rights Movement uplifting the people.

“She spoke to the movement, spoke to the people, and let her music speak for itself,” Marks said.

Backing the musical’s monologues, images and videos of Etta James are projected for the audience to view. While the production is fictional, Marks infused script with the unfairness and heartbreak James experienced while performing.

Marks performed gospel artist Donnie McClurkin’s “We Fall Down” as she narrated acts of reconciliation and forgiveness among the characters at Johnny Rhythm’s deathbed.

Marks, who regularly sings for the Miss America Pageant, was asked to perform as Etta James last year. “(At the event) a lady yelled out to me: ‘You’re Etta James!’ And then the audience went crazy. I said to myself, ‘I may have something here,’” she said.

Within 12 months, Marks created the musical production, which featured a dozen songs honoring “the great legacy of Etta James,” she said.

Marks says she was saddened to see how Etta James was often judged by the struggles in her life and wanted to offer attendees a more layered view.

“Etta’s life was so big. I want people to know that she was more than her drug addiction,” said Marks. “We can’t make that her legacy. Her catalog is too amazing. You can’t just be that and have the catalog that she (created). I don’t want the addiction to be the focus: I want her music, her element, her sassiness, and what she brought to be the focus – her woman-ness, that she was strong, and I wanted to honor that.”

Set Designer Nora Burnette says she created the set segments to mirror James’ life story. A set designer for BRG since 2016, she explained that her process of researching the scenario and the character serve as her inspiration for her design.

“I try to design a set as close to real life as possible so that the actress can deliver the performance sincerely,” said Burnette. “By creating the right setting, it helps the actors release the true essence of a character.”

The set brought the story to life and absolutely floored Marks. “Once Promise (Marks) saw the actual set, she understood my vision: ‘Wow, you get me. You get it,'” Marks told the designer.

Born Jamesetta Hawkins, Etta James, began her career in 1954 and gained fame with hits such “At Last” and “I’d Rather Go Blind.” She faced a number of personal problems, before making a musical comeback in the late 1980s with the album “Seven Year Itch.”

Co-producer and BRG Development Director, Sean Vaughn Scott, works with Overseer Production. According to producer Pamela Spikes, “Marks talent truly does Etta’s life story justice.”

Pam Jacobs of Hercules, a friend of Marks’ mom, Jackie Smith, said, Marks “was fabulous and sang all of those songs flawlessly.”

“I’m so proud of my daughter,” said Smith.

Marks, who has served as an instructor for BRG, will return on Feb. 21- 23 for an encore run of the musical.

“It’s an honor to be a part of the BRG (Black Repertory Group) family and continue our executive director Dr. Mona Vaughn Scott’s vision for the Black Repertory Group theater,” said Marks.

The Black Repertory Group Theatre is located at 3201 Adeline St., Berkeley, CA 94703. For information, visit: BlackRepertoryGroup.com

Oakland Post

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Activism

BWOPA Honors Black Leadership and Legacy at 2024 Ella Hill Hutch Awards Dinner

On Dec. 5, BWOPA held its Annual Ella Hill Hutch Awards Ceremony, at the Fairmont Claremont Hotel in the Oakland/Berkeley Hills. At the event, the group comprised of Black women from various professional backgrounds, honored distinguished local and state leaders whose contributions have shaped civic engagement and advanced critical social issues impacting Black communities.

Published

6 hours ago

December 18, 2024

Oakland Post

L-R: BWOPA State Executive Director LaNiece Jones; State Asm. Mia Bonta; BWOPA 2024 Man of The Year/Urban League SFBA CEO Ken Maxey; BWOPA State President Hon. Dezie Woods-Jones; State Senator Lola Smallwood-Cuevas; Rowena Brown, Oakland Councilmember At-Large, Elect; BWOPA State Regional Director Vashone Huff. Courtesy photo.

By Oakland Post Staff

Black Women Organized for Political Action (BWOPA) is a statewide non-profit advocacy and membership organization committed to solving problems affecting Black Californians.

On Dec. 5, BWOPA held its Annual Ella Hill Hutch Awards Ceremony, at the Fairmont Claremont Hotel in the Oakland/Berkeley Hills.

At the event, the group comprised of Black women from various professional backgrounds, honored distinguished local and state leaders whose contributions have shaped civic engagement and advanced critical social issues impacting Black communities.

The evening was hosted by Dr. Shawna Charles, founder of The Charles Communications Group (CCG) headquartered in Los Angeles. Charles served as mistress of ceremonies.

With a track record of elevating voices and empowering communities, Charles’ leadership and insight brought a certain dynamism to the celebration.

“Each year, this event not only celebrates the enduring legacy of our beloved BWOPA founding member, Ella Hill Hutch, but also reaffirms and amplifies our unwavering commitment to building and sustaining Black political power across California,” said Dezie Woods-Jones, BWOPA founding member and State president.

“Ella Hill Hutch’s trailblazing leadership continues to inspire us as we forge ahead, empowering Black women to lead, advocate, and shape a more equitable future for all,” added Woods-Jones.

This year’s event introduced the DWJ Rising Star Award, honoring young leaders like Solano County Board Supervisors-elect Cassandra James, Danielle Motley-Lewis, Naomi Waters and newly elected State Assemblymember elect Rhodesia Ransom (D-Stockton).

According to organizers, the awardees all exemplify “the next generation of changemakers.”

Other awardees included:

Lifetime Achievement Awardees: Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA-12) and Alameda County Supervisor Keith Carson
Man of the Year: Kenneth Maxey, CEO of the Greater SF Bay Area Urban League
President’s Corporate Award: Yvette Radford, Kaiser Permanente
In the Spirit of Ella State and Chapter Awards: Dr. Carolyn Greene, Dr. Marcella K. Smith, Dr. Carolyn Drake, Tinisch Hollins, Jackie Jones, Gloria Burgess Johnson, Tamika L’Ecluse, Ellen Nash, Betty Reid Soskin, and Ay’Anna Moody.

BWOPA also celebrated local champions across its chapters, including leaders in voter education, healthcare, criminal justice reform, and community advocacy.

In a statement, BWOPA said, “Honoring Ella Hill Hutch’s legacy, BWOPA recognizes her pioneering efforts as the first Black woman elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Her tireless work amplifying underrepresented voices continues to inspire BWOPA’s mission to build Black political power across California.”

“We extend our heartfelt thanks to our members, partners and allies who believe in BWOPA’s vision to invest in building power for Black women’s leadership,” said LaNiece Jones, BWOPA State executive director. “Your support ensures that Black women have a voice at decision-making tables locally, regionally, statewide, and nationally, advancing diversity and equity in leadership spaces.”