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“Rebecca Kaplan Will Advocate for All the People,” Say Community Leaders

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Education leaders and local small business owners announced their support this week for Councilmember At-Large Rebecca Kaplan as their choice for Mayor of Oakland in the Nov. 4 election.

Kaplan, the frontrunner in Oakland’s mayoral election according to recent polls, has been dedicated herself to creating more jobs for Oaklanders, putting more Oakland residents on the police force and sponsoring city initiatives to strengthen the public school system.

< p>Community leaders, speaking at a press conference Wednesday, said they see Kaplan as an ideal candidate because she has a proven record working for housing rights, supporting local businesses and putting Oakland first.

“She has the courage and backbone to do it,” said Geoffrey Pete, owner of Geoffrey’s Inner Circle nightclub in Oakand. “Finally we can have a mayor who will advocate for all the people in Rebecca Kaplan.”

Dorothy King, owner of Everett & Jones BBQ restaurant in Jack London Square, said the city needs a mayor who will work to retain older businesses such as and attract new ones.

“I know she will not only work for small businesses, but she will work for people as far as retaining employment. She will provide help to retain housing and welcome new people to Oakland,” said King, whose business has been in Oakland for over 40 years.

Kaplan’s commitment to averting the displacement of Oakland residents resonated with educator and housing activist Lynette Neidhardt, a 30-year resident who almost lost her home during the recent foreclosure crisis.

“I want to vote for someone who was a previous housing rights attorney and knows the terrible ordeal this has put so many Oaklanders through,” said Neidhardt. “On the City Council, she’s fought to crack down on unjust foreclosures. And as mayor, she’ll expand affordable housing and fight displacement.”

Henry Hitz, executive director of Oakland Parents Together, added, “People are tired of being displaced; so many families are being pushed out of Oakland, and the school system is losing students all the time.”

Supporting Measure BB in her campaign, Kaplan also fought to include free bus passes for youth.

Chair of the Holy Names University Education Department Dr. Kimberly Mayfield-Lynch said Kaplan is the leader this community needs.

“What Rebecca knows about the parents of Oakland public schools is that they need to be gainfully employed,” she said, adding that Kaplan “is the only candidate willing to call for racial disparity studies so that she can directly address the underrepresentation of African Americans working in city-funded jobs.”

“Oakland doesn’t want to be San Francisco light,” said education and urban studies professor Dr. Kitty Kelly Epstein.

“We’re happy with who we are, our diversity and our accomplishments. We want to build on that. And that’s what I think Rebecca stands for.

Kaplan thanked the speakers for their support. “Do not underestimate the power of people speaking up about what it is that we need and what it is that we can do,” she said.

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Oakland Post: Week of June 4 – 10, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of June 4-10, 2025

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Remembering George Floyd

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing.

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Mural showing the portrait of George Floyd in Mauerpark in Berlin. To the left of the portrait the lettering "I can't Breathe" was added, on the right side the three hashtags #GeorgeFloyd, #Icantbreathe and #Sayhisname. The mural was completed by Eme Street Art (facebook name) / Eme Free Thinker (signature) on 29 May 2020. (Wikimedia Commons)
Mural showing the portrait of George Floyd in Mauerpark in Berlin. To the left of the portrait the lettering "I can't Breathe" was added, on the right side the three hashtags #GeorgeFloyd, #Icantbreathe and #Sayhisname. The mural was completed by Eme Street Art (facebook name) / Eme Free Thinker (signature) on 29 May 2020. (Wikimedia Commons)

By April Ryan
BlackPressUSA Newswire

“The president’s been very clear he has no intentions of pardoning Derek Chauvin, and it’s not a request that we’re looking at,” confirms a senior staffer at the Trump White House. That White House response results from public hope, including from a close Trump ally, Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. The timing of Greene’s hopes coincides with the Justice Department’s recent decision to end oversight of local police accused of abuse. It also falls on the fifth anniversary of the police-involved death of George Floyd on May 25th. The death sparked national and worldwide outrage and became a transitional moment politically and culturally, although the outcry for laws on police accountability failed.

The death forced then-Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden to focus on deadly police force and accountability. His efforts while president to pass the George Floyd Justice in policing act failed. The death of George Floyd also put a spotlight on the Black community, forcing then-candidate Biden to choose a Black woman running mate. Kamala Harris ultimately became vice president of the United States alongside Joe Biden. Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison prosecuted the cases against the officers involved in the death of Floyd. He remembers,” Trump was in office when George Floyd was killed, and I would blame Trump for creating a negative environment for police-community relations. Remember, it was him who said when the looting starts, the shooting starts, it was him who got rid of all the consent decrees that were in place by the Obama administration.”

In 2025, Police-involved civilian deaths are up by “about 100 to about 11 hundred,” according to Ellison. Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African-American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing. During those minutes on the ground, Floyd cried out for his late mother several times. Police subdued Floyd for an alleged counterfeit $20 bill.

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Oakland Post: Week of May 28 – June 30, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of May 28 – June 3, 2025

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