Bay Area

Opinion: The Veep Debate, Goodbye to the A’s and Shohei Ohtani (Our new Bruce Lee)

Due to publishing deadlines, I regret I won’t be commenting on Tuesday night’s vice-presidential debate. Why even bother watching? CBS, in an outright concession to the truth-challenged GOP, has announced moderators will not fact check the debaters in real time. That means that the night is sure to be full of lies.

Published

1 year ago

October 5, 2024

Oakland Post

The Oakland Coliseum. iStock

By Emil Guillermo

Due to publishing deadlines, I regret I won’t be commenting on Tuesday night’s vice-presidential debate.

Why even bother watching? CBS, in an outright concession to the truth-challenged GOP, has announced moderators will not fact check the debaters in real time. That means that the night is sure to be full of lies.

Last weekend, Trump called Vice President Kamala Harris “mentally impaired,” and “mentally disabled.” What kind of person who wants to be president makes those kinds of slanderous attacks?

And I had thought Trump couldn’t top his Haitians-eating-dogs-and-cats-in-Springfield-Ohio lie. That’s one that’s been thoroughly debunked, but that hasn’t stopped its spread by vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance and Trump.

It’s amazing that 120 years ago in St. Louis, the GOP had a different take on dog eating. In 1904, a White entrepreneur brought nearly 1,500 Filipinos to be part of the largest exhibit at the World’s Fair. It was essentially a human zoo, where Filipinos dressed in native dress, showed off their lifestyle, which included dog on the menu.

Back then, the GOP used it to justify America’s imperial desires in the Philippines and elsewhere. To show a Filipino eating dog appealed to some Americans and proved that the Filipinos must be civilized! For humanity’s sake.

Yesterday’s colonial embrace has become today’s negative xenophobic attack, an anti-immigration and racist smearing to gin up votes.

On the loss of the A’s

Born in San Francisco, I am the worst kind of Bay Area nativist. My parents didn’t own a car. I was stuck on the wrong side of the Bay and never got out of the Mission District. All I knew was San Francisco. Oakland was an exotic, foreign land. Until it got baseball.

I was a baseball fan in his prime: 12-years old. With the announcement that the A’s would be in Oakland, the Coliseum became my baseball mecca.

I loved everything about the A’s and their eccentric owner, Charley Finley. Their white shoes. The mechanical contraption that would pop up from behind homeplate to give a basket of baseballs to the umpire. And the players: Campy Campaneris. Sal Bando. Joe Rudi. They weren’t losers. In time, with Vida Blue and Reggie Jackson, they’d be world beaters.

Goodbye to the A’s. I will never forget the team that made me love Oakland.

Shohei Ohtani Is Our New Bruce Lee

So, the A’s are gone, but we can still root for the greatest baseball player EVER from afar. I’m talking about the great Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Yes, that last part is painful.

But there is no doubt now. The first player to hit 51 home runs and steal 51 bases? It has never been done before. Good thing he got that 51^st stolen base or Ohtani would be 51-50. (That would get him committed in California).

Keep in mind Babe Ruth may have had 51 home runs and 51 hot dogs. But Ohtani’s feat is remarkable in that it shows an unprecedented combination of speed and power.

And Asian-ness. But not his Asian American-ness, because he is an “Asian IN America.”

It’s a fine difference. Still, for AAPIs like myself, we are starved for heroes and role models who look like us. Ohtani is the new Bruce Lee. He’s Our guy.

About the Author

Emil Guillermo is a journalist and commentator. He does a micro talk show on YouTube.com/@emilamok1

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Oakland Post: Week of February 25 – March 3, 2026

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of – February 25 – March 3, 2026

Published

3 days ago

March 1, 2026

Oakland Post

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Chase Oakland Community Center Hosts Alley-Oop Accelerator Building Community and Opportunity for Bay Area Entrepreneurs

Over the past three years, the Alley-Oop Accelerator has helped more than 20 Bay Area businesses grow, connect, and gain meaningful exposure. The program combines hands-on training, mentorship, and community-building to help participants navigate the legal, financial, and marketing challenges of small business ownership.

Published

2 weeks ago

February 21, 2026

Oakland Post

Bay Area entrepreneurs attend the Alley-Oop Accelerator, a small business incubation program at Chase Oakland Community Center. Photo by Carla Thomas.

By Carla Thomas

The Golden State Warriors and Chase bank hosted the third annual Alley-Oop Accelerator this month, an empowering eight-week program designed to help Bay Area entrepreneurs bring their visions for business to life.

The initiative kicked off on Feb. 12 at Chase’s Oakland Community Center on Broadway Street, welcoming 15 small business owners who joined a growing network of local innovators working to strengthen the region’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.

At its core, the accelerator is designed to create an ecosystem of collaboration, where local entrepreneurs can learn from one another while accessing the resources of a global financial institution.

“This is our third year in a row working with the Golden State Warriors on the Alley-Oop Accelerator,” said Jaime Garcia, executive director of Chase’s Coaching for Impact team for the West Division. “We’ve already had 20-plus businesses graduate from the program, and we have 15 enrolled this year. The biggest thing about the program is really the community that’s built amongst the business owners — plus the exposure they’re able to get through Chase and the Golden State Warriors.”

According to Garcia, several graduates have gone on to receive vendor contracts with the Warriors and have gained broader recognition through collaborations with JPMorgan Chase.

“A lot of what Chase is trying to do,” Garcia added, “is bring businesses together because what they’ve asked for is an ecosystem, a network where they can connect, grow, and thrive organically.”

This year’s Alley-Oop Accelerator reflects that vision through its comprehensive curriculum and emphasis on practical learning. Participants explore the full spectrum of business essentials including financial management, marketing strategy, and legal compliance, while also preparing for real-world experiences such as pop-up market events.

Each entrepreneur benefits from one-on-one mentoring sessions through Chase’s Coaching for Impact program, which provides complimentary, personalized business consulting.

Garcia described the impact this hands-on approach has had on local small business owners. He recalled one candlemaker, who, after participating in the program, was invited to provide candles as gifts at Chase events.

“We were able to help give that business exposure,” he explained. “But then our team also worked with them on how to access capital to buy inventory and manage operations once those orders started coming in. It’s about preparation. When a hiccup happens, are you ready to handle it?”

The Coaching for Impact initiative, which launched in 2020 in just four cities, has since expanded to 46 nationwide.

“Every business is different,” Garcia said. “That’s why personal coaching matters so much. It’s life-changing.”

Participants in the 2026 program will each receive a $2,500 stipend, funding that Garcia said can make an outsized difference. “It’s amazing what some people can do with just $2,500,” he noted. “It sounds small, but it goes a long way when you have a plan for how to use it.”

For Chase and the Warriors, the Alley-Oop Accelerator represents more than an educational initiative, it’s a pathway to empowerment and economic inclusion. The program continues to foster lasting relationships among the entrepreneurs who, as Garcia put it, “build each other up” through shared growth and opportunity.

“Starting a business is never easy, but with the right support, it becomes possible, and even exhilarating,” said Oscar Lopez, the senior business consultant for Chase in Oakland.