Celebrate a historic moment on Sunday, June 8, as Oakland gathers for a community inauguration for Mayor Barbara Lee, the city’s first African American woman mayor. Join the community at Jack London Square for a ceremonial swearing-in and an afternoon of unity, culture, and celebration. Find all the event details here. ICYMI – Mayor Barbara Lee was sworn in last week as the city’s 52nd mayor. Watch more on KSFO.
“We really prioritized the funding towards business owners who face the largest barriers to accessing traditional capital. And oftentimes, that is business owners of color, and also women, and nonbinary business owners,” said Sabrina Wu, the senior program manager of East Bay Community Foundation (EBCF), in this piece with CBS News Bay Area. EBCF recently awarded $2.2 million in grants to 170 small businesses in Oakland, with amounts ranging from $5,000 to $25,000. “These businesses are here to stay. They’re committed, and as East Bay Community Foundation, we’re committed to supporting them to continue to be the core of the foundation of our local economy.” Read more here.
Urban Peace Movement (UPM) remains firmly opposed to Proposition 36, a referendum on Prop 47 that voters approved to reduce over-incarceration in 2014. Rather than increasing public safety, Prop 36 will expand mass incarceration, disproportionately harm Black and low-income communities, and fails to provide the treatment infrastructure needed for real public safety. According to UPM’s Decarceration Campaign Coordinator, Cynthia Nunes: “Prop 47 did exactly what it was supposed to do — it reduced incarceration, saved hundreds of millions of dollars, and gave people second chances. I would love to see a world where everyone feels safe — not just those in power or the wealthy. We all deserve that.” Read more in The Oaklandside.
As we previously shared on our blog, the Reparations, Power, and Healing Convening brought hundreds of Black leaders, students, and community members to Oakland earlier this month for three days of service, dialogue, and celebration. Organized by the Brotherhood of Elders Network’s Bese Saka Initiative and East Bay Community Foundation’s ASCEND: BLO, the event focused on building Black political, cultural, and economic power through healing justice. Panels explored reparations, entrepreneurship, and community wellness, while the Liberated Culture Concert closed the event with powerful performances and film screenings. Read more about the event in the Davis Vanguard.
Essie Justice Group, the California lead of the National Bail Out campaign, has worked to bail out Black Mamas ahead of Mother’s Day for eight years in a row. Since 2017, Essie has bailed out 21 Black mothers and caregivers, consistently showing how it fills the gaps when society fails to support Black women. In honor of this year’s action, Essie partnered with the National Black Women’s Justice Institute, to release The Hidden Heart of Reentry, a report analyzing the impact of eight years of Black Mama’s Bail Outs and published. The report highlights how:
- Essie members draw on their lived experiences supporting currently or formerly incarcerated loved ones, offering invaluable support to mamas throughout the bail out and reentry processes.
- The bail out process at Essie is a multi-step approach that involves securing financial resources, identifying potential Black mamas to bail out, conducting needs assessments, bailing out the mamas, and coordinating comprehensive reentry support.
- Essie members and staff provide support with transportation, reminders about schedules and court dates, court attire, emotional support in the courtroom, and write letters to judges to demonstrate that mamas have a supportive community during pretrial release.
Download and read the full report here and check out more coverage in Davis Vanguard.