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OPINION – Black Communities Hit by Housing Affordability, COVID Economy Should Vote ‘Yes’ on Prop. 21

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Cynthia Davis is chair of the Board of Directors of AIDS Healthcare Foundation and one of the five citizen proponents of Prop. 21.

It’s no secret there is a housing affordability crisis in California. And a homelessness crisis of epic proportion. Both deeply and disproportionately affect Black communities across the state.

Black people are not only being pushed out of our major cities into the suburbs and exurbs of California but often entirely out of the state to places with more affordable housing. Many were pushed out by gentrification and escalating costs, be it a mortgage, rent, or other unaffordable living costs. 

As California’s population grew from 29 million to 39 million over the past 30 years, the Black population in California dwindled to just 5.8% of the general population.  

Of those African Americans who remain in the Golden State, two-thirds (65.6%) are now renters. At the same time, homeownership rates for Black Americans nationwide have been falling.

What can the African American community do to combat California’s runaway rents and rising housing costs?

Learn about and vote ‘Yes!’ on Prop. 21, the Rental Affordability Act, this election.

Prop. 21 will limit unfair rent increases and preserve affordable housing, especially in historically Black and minority communities that are particularly vulnerable to displacement due to high rents and stagnant wages. 

The law returns the decision-making process on whether to allow or enact rent control measures to local jurisdictions, communities, and local elected officials.  It will not mandate or require rent control anywhere in California. The measure simply allows local communities to decide what’s best for them.

Currently, the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act, a one-size, fits-all state law restricts rent control throughout California, while freezing rent control laws that had already been enacted by the time the law passed.

Prop. 21 modernizes rent control by allowing local governments to limit rent increases on buildings older than 15 years, protecting millions of renters while incentivizing new housing construction.

Prop. 21 is endorsed by California Congresswomen Karen BassMaxine Waters, and Barbara Leethe California Democratic Partyactor/activist Danny Glover, Rev. Al Sharpton and his National Action NetworkLos Angeles City Councilman Herb Wesson, SEIU CaliforniaACLU of Southern California, the Los Angeles Urban League, the Brotherhood Crusade and Reed for Hope Foundation. 

The Los Angeles Times endorsed Prop. 21 and the Sierra Club and a dozen or so unions and labor organizations are also backing Prop. 21 including SEIU California, California Federation of Teachers, AFSCME California PEOPLE, United Auto Workers (UAW) Region 8, UAW Local 2865 and many others that have thrown their full support behind Prop 21.

Also endorsing: the California Nurses Association (CNA), representing over 100,000 nurses who have been on the frontlines of the coronavirus pandemic, bearing witness firsthand to the tremendous medical, humanitarian and economic damage the virus has caused—much of it to Black and brown families.

For Black people in California, these facts remain unchanged: systemic racism and displacement has caused a disproportionate number of Black people to become homeless.

In L.A. County, where 8% of the overall population is Black, Black people represent 34% of those experiencing homelessness. And eviction rates in Black communities are far higher than in white communities. In L.A. County, 30% of all renters facing eviction are African American. 

California remains the epicenter of homelessness in America, with fully 27% of the country’s homeless living in The Golden State. California has the highest poverty rate as measured by the cost of living, and many renters pay half their income or more in monthly rent. 

This means that as a very first step, we need to work now to protect the growing number of African American renters from facing evictions, displacement, and homelessness.

Prop. 21 can be that step.

Prop. 21 gives cities and counties the power to implement and expand rent control policies that limit how much rents can increase each year. It would allow local communities to:

  • Expand rent control to more buildings while exempting newly constructed buildings.
  • Exempt single-family homeowners who own up to two homes.
  • Allow limits on rent increases when a new renter moves in.

 Prop. 21 is one way to help to preserve the social and economic fabric of our state. 

Vote ‘Yes’ on Prop. 21 this election and help keep families — particularly Black families — in their homes. 

Cynthia Davis is chair of the Board of Directors of AIDS Healthcare Foundation and one of the five citizen proponents of Prop. 21.

 

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.

Activism

Port of Oakland to Host January Meeting for Interfaith Council of Alameda County

State, county, and city officials have been invited to join ICAC board members and the community to explore effective strategies for addressing these interconnected challenges across Alameda County, including ICAC’s Safe Car Park program expansion and efforts to convert trailers into shelter for the unhoused.

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The Port of Oakland. Courtesy photo.
The Port of Oakland. Courtesy photo.

Special to The Post

The Interfaith Council of Alameda County (ICAC) will hold its first meeting of 2025 on Thursday, Jan. 9, at the Port of Oakland, located at 530 Water St. Hosted by the president of the Port of Oakland, the meeting will run from 1-2:30 p.m. and will focus on pressing community issues including environmental justice, housing solutions, and crime and safety.

State, county, and city officials have been invited to join ICAC board members and the community to explore effective strategies for addressing these interconnected challenges across Alameda County, including ICAC’s Safe Car Park program expansion and efforts to convert trailers into shelter for the unhoused.

All are welcome and encouraged to attend and contribute to this important discussion. For more information, visit interfaithAC.org.

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Activism

Groundbreaking of Legacy Court to Bring Affordable Housing to North Richmond

A Dec. 16 ceremony marked the groundbreaking for the development, which will offer affordable housing to 42 low-income households earning between 30% to 60% of the area’s average income, as well as 13 units for “residents experiencing homelessness, those at risk of homelessness and individuals in need of mental health services,” the partners said in a statement. The development will be located at 1267 Fred Jackson Way in North Richmond.

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The groundbreaking ceremony was held indoors due to the rain. Photo courtesy of the City of Richmond.
The groundbreaking ceremony was held indoors due to the rain. Photo courtesy of the City of Richmond.

By Kathy Chouteau, The Richmond Standard

Community Housing Development Corporation (CHDC) and Eden Housing recently celebrated the groundbreaking of Legacy Court, a development that will bring affordable housing to North Richmond for low-income households and those experiencing homelessness.

A Dec. 16 ceremony marked the groundbreaking for the development, which will offer affordable housing to 42 low-income households earning between 30% to 60% of the area’s average income, as well as 13 units for “residents experiencing homelessness, those at risk of homelessness and individuals in need of mental health services,” the partners said in a statement. The development will be located at 1267 Fred Jackson Way in North Richmond.

Residents will have access to a variety of amenities such as a community room, community kitchen, laundry facilities, computer lab with high-speed internet and bike parking. Legacy Court will also be wholly electric with energy-efficient appliances and other green elements, with the aim of reducing the project’s carbon footprint.

Residents needing mental health services and related support will have access to Contra Costa Behavioral Health Services on-site.

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Activism

OPINION: Solutions to the Housing Crisis Exist, but Governments Waste Tax Dollars Instead

People who are homeless want real housing, not temporary shelters that are dangerous and crowded. The City of Oakland has been telling the public that the sweeps of encampments are an effective solution, but it just pushes people from block to block, wasting tax money on paying police officers overtime in a budget crisis. This is true at the state level too, where California spends $42,000 per person that is unhoused per year. The city and state could just help pay residents’ rent, rather than pay for police to harass people on the streets, many of whom have disabilities or are elders.  

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iStock
iStock.

By Kimberly King and Victoria King

In a powerful demonstration of grassroots organizing, activists joined forces in direct action that started on Dec. 17 to call for the establishment of sanctuary communities across the West Coast

The goal of the effort is to raise awareness about misleading narratives around homelessness and to present concrete solutions to a crisis that leaves over 35,000 people unsheltered each night in the Bay Area.

The action, led by members of Oakland’s Wood Street Commons and Homefullness/Poor Magazine, represents a direct response to the U.S. Supreme Court and Gov. Gavin Newsom’s approach to homelessness. At the core of the movement is a fundamental truth: housing is a human right, not a commodity to be bought and sold for profit.

People who are homeless want real housing, not temporary shelters that are dangerous and crowded. The City of Oakland has been telling the public that the sweeps of encampments are an effective solution, but it just pushes people from block to block, wasting tax money on paying police officers overtime in a budget crisis. This is true at the state level too, where California spends $42,000 per person that is unhoused per year. The city and state could just help pay residents’ rent, rather than pay for police to harass people on the streets, many of whom have disabilities or are elders.

The coalition of organizations, led by people with lived experience of homelessness, coordinated their efforts to show the unity behind this movement, including setting up sweeps-free sanctuary communities and resource centers and presenting solutions to city council. The message is clear: unhoused residents refuse to remain invisible in the face of policies that have resulted in 347 deaths for people experiencing homelessness in Alameda County just this year alone.

The coalition presented four key demands, each addressing different aspects of the housing crisis. First, they called for the establishment of sanctuary communities instead of sweeps, urging the redirection of encampment management funds toward positive solutions like encampment upgrades and permanent low to no-income housing.

The second demand focuses on utilizing public land for public good, specifically identifying vacant properties like the Hilton Hotel on Port of Oakland land. The coalition emphasized the immediate availability of these spaces to house hundreds of currently unhoused residents.

Prevention forms the third pillar of the coalition’s demands, with calls for strengthened renter’s rights, rent subsidies, and a permanent moratorium on rental evictions and foreclosures for non-payment.

Finally, the coalition demands the defunding of coercive “Care Courts,” advocating instead for non-carceral approaches to mental health care and harm reduction.

The Poor People’s Campaign’s motto, “When we lift from the bottom, no one gets left behind,” encapsulates the spirit of the action. Daily activities, including opening prayers for those who have died while homeless, served as powerful reminders of the human cost of failed housing policies that treat housing as a commodity rather than a fundamental right.

As this crisis continues to unfold, these activist groups have made it clear that the solution to homelessness must come from those most directly affected by it.

About the Authors

Kimberly King and Victoria King are Oakland Residents who advocate for the unhoused and propose solutions to end homelessness and housing insecurity.

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