Uncategorized

Religious Leaders Speak on Roe v. Wade 40th Anniversary

Published

13 years ago

January 25, 2013

Oakland Post

Dr. Alvin C. Bernstine

By Danielle
Savage

Richmond and other local religious leaders talked about their views on legalized abortion as the country this week marked the 40th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s historic Roe v. Wade decision.
On Jan. 22, 1973 in a 7-2 decfisionv, the court ruled that a woman could choose abortion in the early months of her pregnancy without any legal restraints. The justices declared laws prohibiting abortion violated a woman’s constitutional right to privacy. They also said states could regulate abortion procedures in the interest of a woman’s health or in protecting a potential human life starting at the end of the pregnancy’s first trimester.
To commemorate the date, the National Organization for Women held a candlelight vigil while opponents organized their annual March for Life.
Pastor Michael Calloway, Non-Denominational pastor and chief apostle of God’s Way Deliverance Temple in San Pablo, opposes Roe.
“Laws are made all the time and are changed all the time,” he said. “I believe in following the Word of God; and when you take a life, [a] life [that] belongs to God, it puts us in the category of being a murderer. The Bible says ‘no murderers shall have eternal life.’”
“In the African American community,” says Calloway, “We don’t need to be aborting anybody. Due to unfortunate circumstances, we need all [of] our kids – kids are our future. We need these young people to do their job as our fathers did their jobs.”
On the other side of the issue is Dr. Alvin C. Bernstine, pastor at Bethlehem Missionary Baptist Church in Richmond. “Christianity has been used as a religion to oppress,” he said. “A lot of times it’s old white men trying to tell our women what to do with their bodies. The oppressors interpretation is always different from the oppressed.”
However, Bernstine says that he doe not preach pro-choice or anti-abortion. “It’s ridiculous what people do to impose their opinions,” he said. “Legislating what people do with their bodies is kind of challenging for me. It’s going to require a different approach.”
Pastor Ambrose F. Carroll, American Baptist pastor of Church by the Side of the Road in Berkeley, emphasizes the difficulties women face when making a decision to have an abortion.
“African Americans, a lot of us land both sides of this spectrum,” he said. “Personally speaking, I have sat with many young ladies as they have made the decision to give birth or to abort. I have never envied being [in] a place to have to make such a life altering choice as a woman.”
According to the Guttmacher Institute, in 2011 and 2012, 135 laws were implemented and designed to limit access to abortion in various states across the country.
“I believe that freedom is very costly,” Carroll continued. “We spend millions of dollars fighting for the unborn, but at the same time [we] restrict millions of people to a life in poverty and attempt to bring them into a world where the quality of life does not seem important at all.”
In 1965, before the Supreme Court’s decision, almost one-fifth of all maternal deaths in the United States were caused by illegal and risky abortions, according to Planned Parenthood.

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Oakland Housing and Community Development Department Awards $80.5 Million to Affordable Housing Developments

Published

6 months ago

June 17, 2025

Oakland Post

Special to The Post

The City of Oakland’s Housing and Community Development Department (Oakland HCD) announced its awardees for the 2024-2025 New Construction of Multifamily Affordable Housing Notice of Funding Availability (New Construction NOFA) today Five permanently affordable housing developments received awards out of 24 applications received by the Department, with award amounts ranging from $7 million to $28 million.

In a statement released on Jan. 16, Oakland’s HCD stated, “Five New Construction Multifamily Affordable Housing Development projects awarded a total of $80.5 million to develop 583 affordable rental homes throughout Oakland. Awardees will leverage the City’s investments to apply for funding from the state and private entities.”

In December, the office of Rebecca Kaplan, interim District 2 City Councilmember, worked with HCD to allocate an additional $10 Million from Measure U to the funding pool. The legislation also readopted various capital improvement projects including street paving and upgrades to public facilities.

The following Oakland affordable housing developments have been awarded in the current round:

Mandela Station Affordable

238 Affordable Units including 60 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $15 million + previously awarded $18 million
Developer: Mandela Station LP (Pacific West Communities, Inc. and Strategic Urban Development Alliance, LLC)
City Council District: 3
Address: 1451 7th St.

Liberation Park Residences

118 Affordable Units including 30 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $28 million
Developer: Eden Housing and Black Cultural Zone
City Council District: 6
Address: 7101 Foothill Blvd.

34th & San Pablo

59 Affordable Units including 30 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $7 million
Developer: 34SP Development LP (EBALDC)
City Council District: 3
Address: 3419-3431 San Pablo Ave.

The Eliza

96 Affordable Units including 20 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $20 million
Developer: Mercy Housing California
City Council District: 3
Address: 2125 Telegraph Ave.

3135 San Pablo

72 Affordable Units including 36 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $10.5 million
Developer: SAHA and St. Mary’s Center
City Council District: 3
Address: 3515 San Pablo Ave.

The source of this story is the media reltations office of District 2 City Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan.

Oakland Post

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Activism

Oakland Housing and Community Development Department Awards $80.5 Million to Affordable Housing Developments

Published

10 months ago

January 30, 2025

Oakland Post

Rebecca Kaplan, interim District 2 city councilmember. File photo.

Special to The Post

The following Oakland affordable housing developments have been awarded in the current round:

Mandela Station Affordable

238 Affordable Units including 60 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $15 million + previously awarded $18 million
Developer: Mandela Station LP (Pacific West Communities, Inc. and Strategic Urban Development Alliance, LLC)
City Council District: 3
Address: 1451 7th St.

Liberation Park Residences

118 Affordable Units including 30 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $28 million
Developer: Eden Housing and Black Cultural Zone
City Council District: 6
Address: 7101 Foothill Blvd.

34th & San Pablo

59 Affordable Units including 30 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $7 million
Developer: 34SP Development LP (EBALDC)
City Council District: 3
Address: 3419-3431 San Pablo Ave.

The Eliza

96 Affordable Units, including 20 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $20 million
Developer: Mercy Housing California
City Council District: 3
Address: 2125 Telegraph Ave.

3135 San Pablo

72 Affordable Units including 36 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $10.5 million
Developer: SAHA and St. Mary’s Center
City Council District: 3
Address: 3515 San Pablo Ave.

The source of this story is media reltations office of District 2 City Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan.

Oakland Post

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Alameda County

Oakland Acquisition Company’s Acquisition of County’s Interest in Coliseum Property on the Verge of Completion

The Board of Supervisors is committed to closing the deal expeditiously, and County staff have worked tirelessly to move the deal forward on mutually agreeable terms. The parties are down to the final details and, with the cooperation of OAC and Coliseum Way Partners, LLC, the Board will take a public vote at an upcoming meeting to seal this transaction.

Published

11 months ago

January 11, 2025

Oakland Post

Alameda County Board of Supervisors Chairman David Haubert. Official photo.

Special to The Post

The County of Alameda announced this week that a deal allowing the Oakland Acquisition Company, LLC, (“OAC”) to acquire the County’s 50% undivided interest in the Oakland- Alameda County Coliseum complex is in the final stages of completion.

Oakland has already finalized a purchase and sale agreement with OAC for its interest in the property. OAC’s acquisition of the County’s property interest will achieve two longstanding goals of the County:

The Oakland-Alameda Coliseum complex will finally be under the control of a sole owner with capacity to make unilateral decisions regarding the property; and
The County will be out of the sports and entertainment business, free to focus and rededicate resources to its core safety net

In an October 2024 press release from the City of Oakland, the former Oakland mayor described the sale of its 50% interest in the property as an “historic achievement” stating that the transaction will “continue to pay dividends for generations to come.”

The Board of Supervisors is pleased to facilitate single-entity ownership of this property uniquely centered in a corridor of East Oakland that has amazing potential.

“The County is committed to bringing its negotiations with OAC to a close,” said Board President David Haubert.