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Training Youth on How-2 End Hostilities

We believe the solution rests with past proven results; not merely wishful thinking that has proven to be quite ineffective in addressing the violence that is happening almost daily.

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Minister King X, founder of K.A.G.E. Universal/Executive Director of California Prison Focus, and Richard Johnson responding to the upsurge in street violence are seeking to involve the community in solutions to end hostilities. Photo by Jonathanfitnessjones.
Minister King X, founder of K.A.G.E. Universal/Executive Director of California Prison Focus, and Richard Johnson responding to the upsurge in street violence are seeking to involve the community in solutions to end hostilities. Photo by Jonathanfitnessjones.

By Richard Johnson

The idea of How-2 end violence has its origin in the bowels of prison.

The idea was the result of the principled thinking of those who have spent years and decades behind prison walls seeking ways to end the senseless wars and violence that amounted to the loss of life with seemingly no end in sight.

Thus, together these principled thinkers began a dialogue among themselves that led to a historical document implemented in 2012 called “The Agreement to End Hostilities” aka “AEH.”

Collectively, this document created a bridge between the ethnicities and gang-related groups to end hostilities within the prison population. For the most part, it worked within the penal system. Violence was tempered to such a degree that the administration got behind this document.

Since the success was so apparent, we, the Formerly Incarcerated Giving Back (FIBG) and other non-returning citizens have established a parallel society called “Artivist” ending hostilities in the communities we came from. It is called the agreement to come home, AEH Street Strategic Team © Youth Resource Center.

We believe the solution rests with past proven results; not merely wishful thinking that has proven to be quite ineffective in addressing the violence that is happening almost daily.

The California Prison Focus K.A.G.E. Universal and FIBG are working in concert to halt this violence by using a plan of action with proven positive results. All resources go to address and cease this destruction that confronts the very society that we live in.

Will solutions manifest when you apply proven programs that create a pathway for truly addressing the problems, not sugar-coating them? The FIGB, African American Sports and Entertainment Group, and the Oakland Post News Group are intersecting in solidarity to bring change instead of reshuffling the problem.

We have a plan for this change to stop the violence and restore justice. In the coming weeks, we will respond positively to the Oakland Post’s challenge to those seeking to get elected in our community to offer solutions to end the violence, find jobs and develop affordable housing our communities and provide health and mental services to there will be more information on AEH solutions reported in this column.

Activism

Oakland Post: Week of November 26 – December 2, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of November 26 – December 2, 2025

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Oakland Post: Week of November 19 – 25, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of November 19 – 25, 2025

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IN MEMORIAM: William ‘Bill’ Patterson, 94

Bill devoted his life to public service and education. In 1971, he became the founding director for the Peralta Community College Foundation, he also became an administrator for Oakland Parks and Recreation overseeing 23 recreation centers, the Oakland Zoo, Children’s Fairyland, Lake Merritt, and the Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center.

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William "Bill" Patterson, 94. Photo courtesy of the Patterson family.

William “Bill” Patterson, 94, of Little Rock, Arkansas, passed away peacefully on October 21, 2025, at his home in Oakland, CA. He was born on May 19, 1931, to Marie Childress Patterson and William Benjamin Patterson in Little Rock, Arkansas. He graduated from Dunbar High School and traveled to Oakland, California, in 1948. William Patterson graduated from San Francisco State University, earning both graduate and undergraduate degrees. He married Euradell “Dell” Patterson in 1961. Bill lovingly took care of his wife, Dell, until she died in 2020.

Bill devoted his life to public service and education. In 1971, he became the founding director for the Peralta Community College Foundation, he also became an administrator for Oakland Parks and Recreation overseeing 23 recreation centers, the Oakland Zoo, Children’s Fairyland, Lake Merritt, and the Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center.

He served on the boards of Oakland’s Urban Strategies Council, the Oakland Public Ethics Commission, and the Oakland Workforce Development Board.

He was a three-term president of the Oakland branch of the NAACP.

Bill was initiated in the Gamma Alpha chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity.

In 1997 Bill was appointed to the East Bay Utility District Board of Directors. William Patterson was the first African American Board President and served the board for 27 years.

Bill’s impact reached far beyond his various important and impactful positions.

Bill mentored politicians, athletes and young people. Among those he mentored and advised are legends Joe Morgan, Bill Russell, Frank Robinson, Curt Flood, and Lionel Wilson to name a few.

He is survived by his son, William David Patterson, and one sister, Sarah Ann Strickland, and a host of other family members and friends.

A celebration of life service will take place at Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center (Calvin Simmons Theater) on November 21, 2025, at 10 AM.

His services are being livestreamed at: https://www.facebook.com/events/1250167107131991/

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Euradell and William Patterson scholarship fund TBA.

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