Oakland

OUSD Honor Band Explains “Why We Kneel”

Published

7 years ago

October 11, 2017

By Elizabeth G. & Nathan N., members of OUSD Honor Band

On September 25, 2017, most members of the Oakland Unified School District Honor Band knelt in protest to play the National Anthem before an Oakland A’s game. It was the second time they did it. This is the explanation of their protest in the words of two student-musicians:

Beginning with the San Francisco 49ers former quarterback, Colin Kaepernick’s kneeling protest during the National Anthem last year, the Anthem has become highly politicized. Kaepernick’s silent protest evolved into a national movement drawing attention to marginalized people that have been cast aside by federal policies and fighting for people of color who have no voice, particularly those disproportionately killed by law enforcement. The movement has also become a conversation about freedom of speech.

Already this year, many players, coaches, and others in the National Football League and at least one player in Major League Baseball have joined the protest. On September 25th, most students in the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) Honor Band took a knee while playing the National Anthem at an Oakland A’s game.

The band kneeled to protest police brutality and the ending of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program or DACA, and to fight to exercise our right to free speech. This is the second time we in the OUSD Honor Band have expressed our frustration with the federal government. Last year, the majority of the band kneeled while playing the National Anthem before another A’s game.

After President Trump’s hostile and profane comments directed at NFL players who kneeled during the playing of the National Anthem, many other players have joined the protest. In defense of the movement, Eric Reid, one of Colin Kaepernick’s former teammates said, “What baffles me is that our protest is still being misconstrued as disrespectful to the country, flag and military personnel. We chose it because it’s exactly the opposite.”

We agree. We kneel not to disrespect our country, the flag or the armed forces. We are grateful and feel blessed to live in this amazing country. But no country is perfect. We kneel because America is supposed to be a place where all people can speak their minds, point out flaws, and create positive change. Those of us who are lucky enough to have a voice must use it to better the lives of everyone.

As students in public schools, we know how important education is. Five days a week all over Oakland, California more than 49,000 students of different races, religions, sexual orientations, genders, political viewpoints, and socioeconomic backgrounds come together with a common goal of learning. We can all agree the right to public education should not be taken away from anyone, and is part of what makes this country great.

That is why when the Trump administration decided to end DACA in six months and deny almost 800,000 people an education or chance to work, we could not stand by and do nothing.

People protected by DACA plan to be or are already part of our education system, our military, small and large businesses and many other institutions that benefit America. To deny them these opportunities is wrong.

They are just as American as we are, and benefit our nation just as much as we do. Deporting them will not improve our economy or lower the unemployment rate. It only splits up families and denies many an opportunity that should be available to everyone.

These people, who were all brought to this country as children without choice, work everyday through the struggle of being non-citizens in a unwelcoming American society. Many know America as their only home and English as their only language.

This is not about Republicans and Democrats. This is not about Obama or Trump. This is not about fake news or politics. This is not even about the laws of the United States of America.

This is simply a matter of human decency. To have access to an education or opportunity to work in the only country they know as home should be a human right.

This is why we kneel.

Oakland Post

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Oakland Awarded $28 Million Grant from Governor Newsom to Sustain Long-Term Solutions Addressing Homelessness

Governor Gavin Newsom announced the City of Oakland has won a$28,446,565.83 grant as part of the Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention (HHAP) grant program. This program provides flexible grant funding to help communities support people experiencing homelessness by creating permanent housing, rental and move-in assistance, case management services, and rental subsidies, among other eligible uses.

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Governor Gavin Newsom announced the City of Oakland has won a$28,446,565.83 grant as part of the Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention (HHAP) grant program.

This program provides flexible grant funding to help communities support people experiencing homelessness by creating permanent housing, rental and move-in assistance, case management services, and rental subsidies, among other eligible uses.

Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao and the Oakland City Administrator’s Office staff held a press conference today to discuss the grant and the City’s successful implementing of the Mayor’s Executive Order on the Encampment Management Policy.

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Pamela Price Appoints Deputy D.A. Jennifer Kassan as New Director of Community Support Bureau

On Monday, District Attorney Pamela Price announced Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Kassan as the new director of the Community Support Bureau. Kassan has over 25 years of experience as an attorney and advisor for mission-driven enterprises including benefit corporations, low-profit limited liability companies, nonprofits, cooperatives, hybrid organizations, investment funds, and purpose trusts.

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20 hours ago

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Oakland Post

Alameda County Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Kassan. Courtesy photo.

Special to The Post

On Monday, District Attorney Pamela Price announced Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Kassan as the new director of the Community Support Bureau.

Kassan has over 25 years of experience as an attorney and advisor for mission-driven enterprises including benefit corporations, low-profit limited liability companies, nonprofits, cooperatives, hybrid organizations, investment funds, and purpose trusts.

Working in the DA’s new administration since 2023, Kassan was most recently assigned to the Organized Retail Theft Prosecution team.

Kassan has a master’s degree in City Planning from the University of California, Berkeley. She received a National Science Foundation Fellowship from Yale Law School, and graduated from Yale Law School in 1995. She earned her B.A. in Psychology with a minor emphasis in Ethnic Studies from UC Berkeley.

Kassan’s education, extensive legal background, list of notable accomplishments and impressive resume includes helping to found and lead multiple organizations to support community wealth building including:

Community Ventures, a nonprofit organization that promotes locally-based community economic development,
the Sustainable Economies Law Center, a nonprofit that provides legal information, training, and representation to support sustainable economies
the Force for Good Fund, a nonprofit impact investment fund
Crowdfund Main Street, a licensed portal for regulation crowdfunding
Opportunity Main Street, a place-based ecosystem building organization that supports under-represented entrepreneurs and provides education about community-based investing.

In addition, Kassan served as an elected member of the City Council of Fremont, California from 2018 to 2024, and on the Securities and Exchange Commission Advisory Committee on Small and Emerging Companies.

In 2020 she was named to the list of World-Changing Women in Conscious Business by SOCAP Global.

“We are excited to see Jenny accept the role as the new leader for the Community Support Bureau,” said Price. “She brings a wealth of talent, experience, and a vision to expand our office’s engagement with community groups and residents, that will level-up our

outreach programs and partnerships with local organizations with the aim of promoting crime prevention.

“We thank Interim CSB Director Esther Lemus, who is now assigned to our office’s

Restitution Unit, for her hard work and a great job fostering positive relationships between the DAO and the community.”

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Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao’s Open Letter to Philip Dreyfuss, Recall Election’s Primary Funder

Oaklanders Defending Democracy, a group opposing the recall of Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, shared an open letter she wrote to Philip Dreyfuss of Farallon Capital, a coal hedge fund. According to Thao’s supporters, “Dreyfuss is the primary funder of the recall effort to remove her from office. He has not explained his motivations or answered one question about why he’s funding the recall or what his agenda is for Oakland.

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Publishers note: Oaklanders Defending Democracy, a group opposing the recall of Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, shared an open letter she wrote to Philip Dreyfuss of Farallon Capital, a coal hedge fund.

According to Thao’s supporters, “Dreyfuss is the primary funder of the recall effort to remove her from office. He has not explained his motivations or answered one question about why he’s funding the recall or what his agenda is for Oakland.

“All we know about him is his firm has invested over $2 billion in coal since 2022. Farallon Capital is a global hedge fund with $39 billion capital under management, headquartered in San Francisco, the supporters say.

The effort to recall Mayor Sheng Thao was built on top of an argument about a crime wave, pinning the blame for it on a newly elected Mayor. Now that crime has dropped massively, recall proponents are left with no compelling argument.

Oct. 30

Dear Philip Dreyfuss,

We haven’t met. As you know, I’m the Mayor of Oakland, elected in 2022 to serve and protect this city. Since stepping into office, I’ve tackled rising crime, homelessness, and budget challenges head-on, working tirelessly for Oakland’s future.

You are a hedge-fund manager and coal investor who doesn’t live in Oakland who is trying to buy our city government. But the people didn’t elect you, they elected me to protect them from people like you.

Shortly after my term began, you launched a campaign to remove me from office, pouring in nearly $500,000 of your own wealth. We’ll know the outcome of your campaign on Nov. 6, but let’s be clear about what’s at stake.

Since I took office, crime has dropped over 30%—we’re on track for less than 100 homicides for the first time since 2019, with 15,000 fewer crimes overall.

We’ve invested hundreds of millions into affordable housing, modernized our 911 system, streamlined construction permitting, and are fighting to make Oakland a safer and cleaner city.

If your recall succeeds, Oakland will see four mayors in just five years, another election for mayor the following year and a whopping $10 million cost to taxpayers. In other words, chaos. None of this will impact you because you don’t live here.

Oaklanders deserve to know who you are. I looked into your record and found that the hedge fund you help manage, Farallon Capital, has invested over $2 billion in coal since 2022.

For years, Oakland has stood tall against coal money threatening the health of West Oakland, Chinatown, Jack London and downtown.

Did you know that life expectancy in West Oakland is 7.5 years lower than the County average? Or that our children suffer from asthma at a rate twice as high as the rest of the County?

Philip, instead of trying to use your wealth to hijack our democracy and create chaos in our city you could have put your money where your mouth is.

Instead of investing in coal you could have invested in our young people—created scholarships for our college-bound kids, funded apprenticeships for those who want to learn a trade or helped rid our schools of lead.

Instead, you chose to divide us while you try to buy us. But I’m here to tell you, Philip, on behalf of the 450,000 residents of my city that Oakland is not for sale. NO to coal. NO to chaos. And NO to your selfish and self-serving recall.

Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, City Hall, Oakland