Government

Post Office renamed in honor of Marvin Gaye

WAVE NEWSPAPERS — A local post office has been rededicated in honor of the late Grammy-winning soul singer Marvin Gaye. “Marvin Gaye’s music has transcended generations and gave the ‘70s and ‘80s a sound,” said U.S. Rep. Karen Bass, D-Los Angeles, who introduced House Resolution 1496 to name the post office at 3585 S. Vermont Ave., adjacent to USC, as the Marvin Gaye Post Office.

Published

6 years ago

June 29, 2019

Oakland Post

By Wave Wire Services

SOUTH LOS ANGELES — A local post office has been rededicated in honor of the late Grammy-winning soul singer Marvin Gaye.

“Marvin Gaye’s music has transcended generations and gave the ‘70s and ‘80s a sound,” said U.S. Rep. Karen Bass, D-Los Angeles, who introduced House Resolution 1496 to name the post office at 3585 S. Vermont Ave., adjacent to USC, as the Marvin Gaye Post Office.

Because of solo hits such as “How Sweet It Is,” “Ain’t That Peculiar,” “I Heard It Through the Grapevine,” “What’s Going On” and “Sexual Healing” and his duet singles with such singers as Mary Wells and Tammi Terrell, Gaye was dubbed “The Prince of Motown” and “The Prince of Soul.”

He won Grammys in 1983 for best male rhythm and blues vocal performance and best R&B instrumental performance for “Sexual Healing.”

Gaye — shot and killed by his father on April 1, 1984, one day before what would have been his 45th birthday — was posthumously elected to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1987 and received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1996. In 2016, he was inducted into the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame.

“His music was cathartic,” biographer David Ritz said. “His songs were prayers, meditations, strategies for survival.”

The U.S. Postal Service issued a stamp in honor of Gaye on April 2, which would have been Gaye’s 80th birthday, as part of its Music Icons series.

The post office had been known as the Dockweiler Post Office, named in honor of Isidore B. Dockweiler, a prominent lawyer in the first half of the 20th century who held numerous government positions and was once called by humorist Will Rogers “the Democratic Party of California.”

This article originally appeared in Wave Newspapers.

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Oakland Post Endorses Barbara Lee

Barbara Lee will be able to unify the city around Oakland’s critical budget and financial issues, since she will walk into the mayor’s office with the support of a super majority of seven city council members — enabling her to achieve much-needed consensus on moving Oakland into a successful future.

Published

1 day ago

April 2, 2025

Oakland Post

Congresswoman Barbara Lee. Courtesy photo, Office of Rep. Barbara Lee.

Former Congresswoman Barbara Lee. Courtesy photo.

As we end the celebration of Women’s History Month in Oakland, we endorse Barbara Lee, a woman of demonstrated historical significance. In our opinion, she has the best chance of uniting the city and achieving our needs for affordable housing, public safety, and fiscal accountability.

As a former small business owner, Barbara Lee understands how to apply tools needed to revitalize Oakland’s downtown, uptown, and neighborhood businesses.

It is notable that many of those who fought politically on both sides of the recent recall election battles have now laid down their weapons and become brothers and sisters in support of Barbara Lee. The Oakland Post is pleased to join them.

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Oakland Post: Week of March 28 – April 1, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of March 28 – April 1, 2025

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6 days ago

March 28, 2025

Oakland Post

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Sen. Lola Smallwood-Cuevas Honors California Women in Construction with State Proclamation, Policy Ideas

“Women play an important role in building our communities, yet they remain vastly underrepresented in the construction industry,” Smallwood-Cuevas stated. “This resolution not only recognizes their incredible contributions but also the need to break barriers — like gender discrimination.

Published

1 week ago

March 24, 2025

Oakland Post

Sen. Lola Smallwood-Cuevas (D-Los Angeles), center, is shown with other guest speakers at the Sacramento Chapter of the National Association of Women in Construction brunch held at the State Capitol on March 6, 2025. On the left is Jennifer Todd, LMS General Contractors Founder and President. To Todd’s right is Dr. Giovanna Brasfield, from Los Angeles-based Brasfield and Associates. CBM photo by Antonio Ray Harvey.

By Antonio‌ ‌Ray‌ ‌Harvey‌, California‌ ‌Black‌ ‌Media‌

To honor Women in Construction Week, Sen. Lola Smallwood-Cuevas (D-Los Angeles), a member of the California Legislative Black Caucus (CLBC), introduced Senate Concurrent Resolution (SCR) 30 in the State Legislature on March 6. This resolution pays tribute to women and highlights their contributions to the building industry.

The measure designates March 2, 2025, to March 8, 2025, as Women in Construction Week in California. It passed 34-0 on the Senate floor.

Authored by Assemblymember Liz Ortega (D-San Leandro), another bill, Assembly Concurrent Resolution (ACR) 28, also recognized women in the construction industry.

The resolution advanced out of the Assembly Committee on Rules with a 10-0 vote.

The weeklong event coincides with the National Association of Women In Construction (NAWIC) celebration that started in 1998 and has grown and expanded every year since.

The same week in front of the State Capitol, Smallwood, Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, Assemblymember Josh Hoover (R-Folsom), and Assemblymember Maggie Krell (D-Sacramento), attended a brunch organized by a local chapter of NAWIC.

Two of the guest speakers were Dr. Giovanna Brasfield, CEO of Los Angeles-based Brasfield and Associates, and Jennifer Todd, President and Founder of LMS General Contractors.

Todd is the youngest Black woman to receive a California’s Contractors State License Board (A) General Engineering license. An advocate for women of different backgrounds, Todd she said she has been a woman in construction for the last 16 years despite going through some trying times.

A graduate of Arizona State University’s’ Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, in 2009 Todd created an apprenticeship training program, A Greener Tomorrow, designed toward the advancement of unemployed and underemployed people of color.

“I always say, ‘I love an industry that doesn’t love me back,’” Todd said. “Being young, female and minority, I am often in spaces where people don’t look like me, they don’t reflect my values, they don’t reflect my experiences, and I so persevere in spite of it all.”

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, only 11.2% of the construction workforce across the country are female. Overall, 87.3% of the female construction workers are White, 35.1% are Latinas, 2.1% are Asians, and 6.5% are Black women, the report reveals.

The National Association of Home Builders reported that as of 2022, the states with the largest number of women working in construction were Texas (137,000), California (135,000) and Florida (119,000). The three states alone represent 30% of all women employed in the industry.

Sen. Susan Rubio (D-Baldwin Park) and the California Legislative Women’s Caucus supported Smallwood-Cuevas’ SCR 30 and requested that more energy be poured into bringing awareness to the severe gender gap in the construction field.

“The construction trade are a proven path to a solid career. and we have an ongoing shortage, and this is a time for us to do better breaking down the barriers to help the people get into this sector,” Rubio said.