Arts and Culture

What We Do for Art and Democracy

I’m in New York again for a return engagement of Oakland resident Ishmael Reed’s “The Conductor,” his new play on the current state of race in America. Reed’s twist is that Blacks are running an underground railroad to help South Asian minorities under siege by whites in the Bay Area. Based on the recent San Francisco Board of Education and district attorney recalls, Reed turns real life into a “what if” satire to expose the racism at play.

Published

2 years ago

October 10, 2023

Oakland Post

Emil Guillermo, left, takes a bow after the performance of a play by Oakland’s Ishmael Reed at the Theater for the New City in New York. Courtesy photo.

By Emil Guillermo

I’m in New York again for a return engagement of Oakland resident Ishmael Reed’s “The Conductor,” his new play on the current state of race in America.

Reed’s twist is that Blacks are running an underground railroad to help South Asian minorities under siege by whites in the Bay Area. Based on the recent San Francisco Board of Education and district attorney recalls, Reed turns real life into a “what if” satire to expose the racism at play. It’s funny, provocative, and an example of how white supremacy has suppressed our sense of history. You’ll marvel at all the facts in the play you didn’t know about.

I play a conservative Fox News-type commentator. I know, a stretch. It’s a paid acting gig, but more of an honor to be in the 11th play by Reed. His five decades of literary artistry in drama, novels, poetry, and essays in the name of diversity and inclusion makes him worthy of a Nobel laureate in literature.

The show isn’t streaming over the internet, but it’s worth it to be in New York to see what could be the final production of “The Conductor,” at the Theater for the New City, 155 First Ave, Thursday to Saturday @8pm, Sundays @3pm through Sept. 10. https://ci.ovationtix.com/35441/production/1149771

The Untold Filipino American Story

While here, I’m also doing my own one-man show, “Emil Amok, Lost NPR Host: A Phool’s Filipino American History.”

In the show, I talk about my relatives’ reaction to me being a broadcaster on television, coming out of the same box as their favorite TV stars when I was on NBC local in San Francisco. To them, that’s where I worked—inside that box. Seeing an Filipino American on TV in 1980 was akin to witnessing an astronomical event. Sort of like the recent Blue Moon.

When my relatives, all hard-working immigrants from the Philippines who came to the U.S. between 1928 and 1975, saw me, they were all amazed.

“So, Emil, you just get on the camera, and you talk?” my Auntie Pacing would ask me. She worked in service jobs in hotels, restaurants, and hospitals all her life. “And you don’t have to clean up or anything? You just talk? That’s work?”

It was a foreign notion to her that Filipinos who came to America mostly to work in the fields in the 1920s and 1930s for 10 cents an hour could wear a suit, speak, and afford to pay the rent.

I think on Labor Day about how lucky I am to have done what I’ve done as a journalist. Something that my relatives a generation away weren’t able to pursue.

I call this iteration, “A Phool’s History of Filipino America,” because “phool” is how they spelled it at the Lampoon when I competed to be a member freshman year at Harvard. I had to explain why it wasn’t spelled, “Philippino.” And then they made me carry a pineapple around Harvard Yard.

A Latina friend paid me a compliment saying my show was akin to John Leguizamo’s “Latin American History for Morons.” Flattered by the comparison, you don’t have to be a moron to see my show! Check it out for yourself.

Two performances only, Sept. 6 @7pm, and Sept. 14 @9:30pm (all times ET). https://www.frigid.nyc/event/6897:499/

This one you can livestream from Hawaii, Europe, Rockridge. Anywhere. It’s better in person, where we can exchange our humanness. But get a livestreamed ticket if you can’t be in New York’s Under St. Marks Theater in the East Village (94 St. Marks Place, NYC)

One Last Labor Worth Considering

So, there’s what we do for money and for love. What do we do for democracy?

And so, we must not forget the nitt- gritty work done by election workers everywhere. The unsung heroes. They don’t get paid all that much. But they do important work. How do voters get information? Translated materials? How do ballots get distributed, sorted, then counted?

If you ever doubted the value of election workers, just look at Ruby Freeman and her daughter Shaye Moss. You met them during their testimony at the Jan. 6 Committee hearings in Washington last year.

They were stand-ins for average Americans like you and me.

Freeman and Moss were accused by Rudy Giuliani of nefarious deeds aiding in the theft of an election against Trump.

The fals accusations wrecked Freeman’s life.

“I’ve lost my name, and I’ve lost my reputation,” Freeman testified. “I’ve lost my sense of security. All because a group of people, starting with No. 45, and his ally, Rudy Giuliani, decided to scapegoat me and my daughter, Shaye.”

Giuliani is one of 18 co-conspirators in the organized racketeering case in Georgia accused of attempting to subvert democracy.

In a separate case, Freeman has sued Giuliani for defamation, calling him out for spreading lies about her and her daughter.

Last week, Giuliani conceded the facts of the case, which means the court will only consider the damages at the next hearing.

And right now, Michael Gottlieb, the lawyer for Freeman and Moss, told CNN the damages could be “tens of millions of dollars.”

“You heard me correctly,” said Gottlieb to a CNN anchor. “It is our expectation that we’ll be able to prove tens of millions of dollars in compensatory damages before you get punitive damages in a case that we will present to the jury.”

When people like Giuliani defame and lie about election workers in a brazen attempt to steal an election, there must be a stiff price to pay.

When you find yourself ever confused by all the legal proceedings over the Trump indictments, just remember Freeman and Moss and what they endured to protect our democracy.

No one should doubt the heart of patriotism in our community.

# # #

NOTE: I will talk about this column and other matters on “Emil Amok’s Takeout,” my AAPI micro-talk show. Live @2p Pacific. Livestream on Facebook; my YouTube channel; and Twitter. Catch the recordings on www.amok.com.

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Essay: Intentional Self Care and Community Connections Can Improve Our Wellbeing

At the deepest and also most expansive level of reality, we are all part of the same being, our bodies made from the minerals of the earth, our spirits infused by the spiritual breath that animates the universe. Willingness to move more deeply into fear and pain is the first step toward moving into a larger consciousness. Willingness to move beyond the delusion of our separateness can show us new ways of working and living together.

Published

2 months ago

October 27, 2025

Oakland Post

Lorraine Bonner is a retired physician. She is also a sculptor who works in clay, exploring issues of trust, trustworthiness and exploitation, as well as visions of a better world.

By Dr. Lorraine Bonner, Special to California Black Media Partners

I went to a medical school that was steeped in the principles of classical Western medicine. However, I also learned mindfulness meditation during that time, which opened me to the multifaceted relationship between illnesses and the interconnecting environmental, mental and emotional realities that can impact an individual’s health.

Therefore, when I began to practice medicine, I also pursued training in hypnosis, relaxation techniques, meditation, and guided imagery, to bring a mind-body focus to my work in medical care and prevention.

The people I saw in my practice had a mix of problems, including high blood pressure, diabetes, and a variety of pain issues. I taught almost everyone relaxation breathing and made some general relaxation tapes. To anyone willing, I offered guided imagery.

“My work embraced an approach to wellness I call “Liberatory Health” — one that not only addresses the treatment and management of disease symptoms but also seeks to dismantle the conditions that make people sick in the first place.”

From my perspective, illness is only the outermost manifestation of our efforts to cope, often fueled by addictions such as sugar, tobacco, or alcohol, shackled by an individualistic cult belief that we have only ourselves to blame for our suffering.

To put these ideas into practical form, I would quote the immortal Mr. Rogers: “Find the helpers.” There are already people in every community working for liberation. Some of them are running for office, others are giving food to those who need it. Some are volunteering in schools, libraries or hospitals. Some are studying liberation movements, or are working in urban or community gardens, or learning to practice restorative and transformative justice, or creating liberation art, music, dance, theater or writing. Some are mentoring high schoolers or apprenticing young people in a trade. There are many places where compassionate humans are finding other humans and working together for a better world.

A more compassionate world is possible, one in which we will all enjoy better health. Creating it will make us healthier, too.

In community, we are strong. Recognizing denial and overcoming the fragmenting effects of spiritual disorder offer us a path to liberation and true health.

Good health and well-being are the collective rights of all people!

About the Author

Dr. Lorraine Bonner is a retired physician. She is also a sculptor who works in clay, exploring issues of trust, trustworthiness and exploitation, as well as visions of a better world.

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Activism

A Call to Save Liberty Hall: Oakland’s Beacon of Black Heritage Faces an Uncertain Future

For generations, Liberty Hall has been more than bricks and wood — it has been a spiritual and cultural sanctuary for Black Oakland. The building once served as a hub for Marcus Garvey’s Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), where Garvey’s call for economic independence and Pan-African unity resonated through the hearts of a people newly migrating to the West in search of freedom and dignity.

Published

2 months ago

October 27, 2025

Oakland Post

Liberty Hall at 1483-1485 8th St., in Oakland was built in 1877 as a store and residence. Wikimedia photo.

Special to The Post

On a quiet corner near the West Oakland BART Station stands a weathered but proud monument to African American history — the Universal Negro Improvement Association’s Liberty Hall, also known as the Marcus Garvey Building. Built in 1877, this two-story Italianate landmark has witnessed more than a century of struggle, self-determination, and community empowerment. Now, its survival hangs in the balance.

Local 188 of UNIA was the largest chapter in Northern California when the organization bought the building in 1925, but a fire burned the roof in 1931, and the chapter sold the building in 1933. The International Peace Movement, founded by Father Divine, used the building through the 1950s.

Since then, the building has been a meeting ground for civil rights organizers, artists, and educators like Overcomers With Hope who have carried that same flame of liberation through Oakland’s turbulent decades.

Today, local cultural organizer and artist Douglas “Pharoah” Stewart has stepped forward to lead the charge to save Liberty Hall. Stewart is already facing “Cultural Eviction” at the Oakland Cannery, and through his organization, Indigenous House, Stewart has rallied a coalition of artists, educators, historians, and community leaders to preserve and restore the site as a community-owned cooperative center — a place where arts, wellness, and economic empowerment can thrive for future generations.

“Liberty Hall is not just a building — it’s a living ancestor,” Stewart says. “This space gave birth to movements that shaped who we are as a people. If we lose this, we lose a piece of our soul.”

Stewart envisions transforming the historic landmark into a multi-purpose cooperative hub — complete with a cultural museum, community performance space, youth tech labs, and creative studios for local entrepreneurs. His vision echoes Garvey’s own: “A place where we can rise together, economically, spiritually, and culturally.”

But the fight is urgent. The aging building faces structural challenges, and time is running short to secure preservation funding. Stewart and his team are now calling on city officials, foundations, athletes, and celebrities to join forces with the community to raise the necessary capital for acquisition and restoration.

“We’re inviting everyone — from the Oakland A’s to local artists, from Golden State Warriors players to Black-owned businesses — to stand with us,” Stewart urges. “Let’s make Liberty Hall a model for what preservation can look like when the people lead.”

The Liberty Hall Project aligns with Oakland’s growing movement to protect historic Black cultural sites — places like Esther’s Orbit Room, Marcus Bookstore, and the California Hotel. For Stewart, Liberty Hall represents a chance to bridge the city’s past with its future, transforming preservation into a living, breathing act of justice.

“This is not nostalgia,” Stewart says. “This is nation-building. It’s about creating sustainable, community-owned spaces that honor our ancestors and empower our youth.”

As development pressures mount across West Oakland, Liberty Hall stands as a powerful reminder of resilience, resistance, and rebirth. The question now is whether the community — and those with the power to help — will answer the call.

For donations, partnerships, or information about the Liberty Hall Cooperative Development Project, contact Indigenous House at www.indigenoushouse.org Douglas Stewart dstewart.wealth@gmail.com

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MLK Way at 57th Street in Oakland Renamed Bobby Seale Way for Black Panther Co-Founder

In 1962, Bobby Seale and Virtual Murrell cofounded the first known Black student organization called the Soul Students Advisory Council at Oakland City College located at 57th and Grove streets, now MLK. Jr. Way.

Published

2 months ago

October 27, 2025

Oakland Post

Promotional flyer for the renaming event. Courtesy photo.

By Zac Unger

We are so proud to honor the legacy of the great Bobby Seale by commemoratively renaming 57^th Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Way to Bobby Seale Way in North Oakland. Seale, 88, has dedicated his life to advancing social justice, racial equality, and community self-determination. He played an essential part in the history of our country by co-founding the Black Panther Party for Self Defense in Oakland in 1966 with the late Huey Newton.

Our City has a tremendous history of activism, and it is a legacy we are proud of and strive to continue as our community and country face so many incredible challenges right now.

In 1962, Bobby Seale and Virtual Murrell cofounded the first known Black student organization called the Soul Students Advisory Council at Oakland City College, located at 57th and Grove streets, now MLK. Jr. Way.

Later, they cofounded the first Negro history class, which led to the establishment of the first Black Studies program in college curricula in the country. Murrell is scheduled to introduce Seale at the street dedication.

The author of “Seize the Time,” Seale ran for mayor of Oakland in 1973, coming in second in a field of nine. We are proud to memorialize his legacy by renaming this street so that we do not forget the legacy and change he has made.

Zac Unger is Oakland’s District 1 Councilmember