Uncategorized

The Roots of Toni Beckham’s PR Success

Published

13 years ago

February 15, 2013

Oakland Post

Toni Beckham

By Lee Hildebrand

Toni Beckham has been doing volunteer work most of her adult life. She contributed her time and English-language expertise to the Milpitas Library Adult Literacy Program while living in the South Bay and, after moving across the Altamont Pass to Mountain House five years ago, spearheaded Tracy African American Association drives to collect school supplies, backpacks and winter coats for children in need.
In 1999, while employed at a Silicon Valley electronics firm, she offered her services without charge to help promote a San Jose luncheon, at which economist Julianne Malveaux was to speak. Beckham’s press release caught the attention of newsman Tavis Smiley’s book publicist, who was so impressed that she hired Beckham to handle the Bay Area leg of a tour for his book “Doing What’s Right.”
It was the first paying assignment for Beckham’s company, PR, et Cetera, and she soon left her corporate job.
Smiley’s national book publicist, Beckham reflects while sitting in the kitchen of her elegantly furnished Mountain House home, “didn’t know I’d never been paid for anything before, so I had to make it sound like I knew what I was talking about.”
Beckham, who was born and raised on Chicago’s South Side, put together a mailing list of reporters she’d seen on TV, heard on radio and read in newspapers, none of whom she knew at the time.
“It worked beautifully,” she says. “We did 12 interviews. When I took him to the airport at the end of the evening, he told me it was the most productive day on his entire tour. He said, ‘My person gave you some real good contacts.’ I said, ‘No, I got all those myself.’”
Beckham worked for Smiley on two subsequent book tours, until he changed publishers. In 2011 ‘The Atlanta Post—a New York-based national news site targeting African-American business news and politics—listed Beckham among its selection of 10 of the nation’s top African American Public Relations agents.
The company handles Bay Area and some national publicity for many individuals and organizations, including actress Teri J. Vaughn’s Take Wings Foundation and playwright and motivation speaker Carl Ray, whose one-man play, ”The Power of Forgiveness.” recounts the 1962 murder in Alabama of his father by a racist in retaliation for then-18-year-old Carl having refused to address the white man as “sir.”
One of Beckham’s most successful campaigns was for Ken Carter, a Richmond High School basketball coach who locked players out of the gym until their grades improved. He had been doing speaking engagements without pay until she got him one at an Indiana University for $4,000.
“He thought I walked on water,” she says.
A local press conference led to a front-page story on Carter in the Los Angeles Times, and Beckham immediately began getting calls from the Disney Channel and Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo Productions, among others.
Carter was soon signed by the powerful William Morris Agency and stopped working with Beckham. He did, however, acknowledge her efforts in obtaining what he called “overwhelming media coverage,” which led to the making of the 2005 Paramount Pictures film “Coach Carter” starring Samuel L. Jackson.

Oakland Post

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

Published

7 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

11 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

12 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.