Close Menu
  • Home
  • News
    • Local
  • Opinion
  • Business
  • Health
  • Education
  • Sports
  • Podcast

Subscribe to Updates

Get the latest creative news from FooBar about art, design and business.

What's Hot

Trust in Mainstream Media at a New Low, But the Black Press Stands as the Trusted Voice

Pew Finds Just 6% of Journalists Are Black as Crisis Grows with Recent Firings

Republicans Shutdown Government

Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
  • Lifestyle
  • Podcast
  • Contact Us
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram Pinterest Vimeo
The Windy City Word
  • Home
  • News
    1. Local
    2. View All

    Youth curfew vote stalled in Chicago City Council’s public safety committee

    Organizers, CBA Coalition pushback on proposed luxury hotel near Obama Presidential Center

    New petition calls for state oversight and new leadership at Roseland Community Hospital

    UFC Gym to replace shuttered Esporta in Morgan Park

    Unbreakable: Black Women and Mental Health

    A Question of a Government Shutdown?

    Jackson State Dominates Southern on the Road, Wins Boombox Classic

    Conference Commissioners Discuss Name, Image, and Likeness in Washington

  • Opinion

    Capitalize on Slower Car Dealership Sales in 2025

    The High Cost Of Wealth Worship

    What Every Black Child Needs in the World

    Changing the Game: Westside Mom Shares Bally’s Job Experience with Son

    The Subtle Signs of Emotional Abuse: 10 Common Patterns

  • Business

    Illinois Department of Innovation & Technology supplier diversity office to host procurement webinar for vendors

    Crusader Publisher host Ukrainian Tech Businessmen eyeing Gary investment

    Sims applauds $220,000 in local Back to Business grants

    New Hire360 partnership to support diversity in local trades

    Taking your small business to the next level

  • Health

    Unbreakable: Black Women and Mental Health

    A Question of a Government Shutdown?

    Democrats Dig In: Healthcare at the Center of Looming Shutdown Fight

    Democrats Dig In: Healthcare at the Center of Looming Shutdown Fight

    COMMENTARY: Health Care is a Civil Rights Issue

  • Education

    Alabama’s CHOOSE Act: A Promise and a Responsibility

    After Plunge, Black Students Enroll in Harvard

    What Is Montessori Education?

    Nation’s Report Card Shows Drop in Reading, Math, and Science Scores

    The Lasting Impact of Bedtime Stories

  • Sports

    Jackson State Dominates Southern on the Road, Wins Boombox Classic

    Conference Commissioners Discuss Name, Image, and Likeness in Washington

    Week 4 HBCU Football Recap: DeSean Jackson’s Delaware State Wins Big

    Turning the Tide: Unity, History, and the Future of College Football in Mississippi

    Week Three HBCU Football Recap: Grambling Cornerback Tyrell Raby Continues to Shine

  • Podcast
The Windy City Word
Education

Local Black Leaders Break Silence on “Politicization” of Oakland NAACP Branch

staffBy staffUpdated:No Comments4 Mins Read
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Telegram LinkedIn Tumblr Email Reddit
Share
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest WhatsApp Email

Police accountability activist Cathy Leonard, left, and longtime NAACP members Doug Blacksher, and Walter Riley at the press conference on Tuesday. Photo by JonathanfitnessJones.

By Ken Epstein

Several lifelong NAACP members, including Black Business Round Table host Doug Blacksher and civil rights attorney Walter Riley, held a press conference this week criticizing the conduct of the Oakland NAACP chapter for its attacks on criminal justice reform and on reformer Black DA Pamela Price, the repetition of false narratives about crime and criminal justice, and the use of historic fear-mongering that props up the system of mass incarceration.

The speakers also said the Oakland NAACP has acted in alliance with Republican anti-Black and anti-democratic forces and served as a vehicle for the self-interest actions of failed candidates in opposition to the national NAACP’s promulgated policy and positions.

Oakland “NAACP leadership is reverting to lies, fear-mongering, and the ‘tough-on-crime’ rhetoric that has targeted African Americans throughout our entire history in this country, evoking stereotypical narratives of Black criminality that maintains the United States incarcerating more Black people than there were enslaved Africans,” said Blacksher, in a media release.

“We call upon the national NAACP to reign in the Oakland Chapter and demand that Branch 1051 align itself with the mandate of the national NAACP such as addressing policies that unfairly target or penalize Black people in the criminal justice system,” Blacksher said.

Speakers at the press conference, held Tuesday at the Dr. Huey P. Newton Center for Research & Action at 1427 Broadway in Oakland were: Blacksher and Riley, as well as Chaney Turner, Oakland-born entrepreneur and organizer; Desmond Jeffries, Oakland activist; and Cathy Leonard, longtime police accountability activist.

“Interestingly, when previous district attorneys were overcharging African Americans with excessive sentences and previous councils presided over unprecedented Black displacement and homelessness, the (Oakland) NAACP was silent. Now, they are taking positions and aligning themselves with those who wish a return to the unjust status quo,” said Leonard, an Oakland native.

Riley said the Oakland NAACP chapter is working against policies and positions that the national NAACP supports. “We seek to be in alignment with the national NAACP on topics of education, public safety, housing and economic justice, but our chapter constantly contradicts this aspiration,” he said.

In a letter to national NAACP President Derrick Johnson, the press conference organizers  accused current Oakland NAACP leaders of advocating conservative positions that align with the Republican Party, such as “singular support of charter school (Board of Education) candidates, efforts to recall the first Black female District Attorney in our county’s history, support (for) legislation that defunds public education in favor of tax breaks for the powerful real estate lobby over renters, and taking payouts from big tobacco and big pharmaceutical corporations.”

Letter signers included press conference speakers Blacksher, Riley, and Leonard, as well as Millie Cleveland, retired SEIU 1021 Field Representative; Ben “Coach” Tapscott, public education advocate; and Sheryl Walton, community activist and Oakland native.

The letter signers said that as NAACP members, they support formal positions taken by the East Bay Stonewall Democratic Club and the Alameda County Democratic Party denouncing the hateful accusations and homophobic statements made by Oakland NAACP leader Seneca Scott.

According to the letter, Oakland NAACP leaders are utilizing Republican talking points to attack “women of color who are currently serving in Oakland, creating stark divisions in the public discourse,” and seeking to “agitate people around a divisive, yet organizable conservative agenda.”

The letter said local NAACP leaders are seeking to misdirect people on the sources of crime and disorder in Oakland, instead blaming ‘wokeness,’ progressive policies, ‘liberal Democrats,’ and debunked claims that ‘defund the police’ are the sources of everything wrong in the city.”

Proposals for reform of the Oakland chapter include:

  • “Cease the spread of false information. Factcheck first.”
  • Remove any member, officer, or former elected official …who seeks to weaponize Oakland NAACP for personal gain.
  • Disentangle the Oakland NAACP from the political agenda of the Alameda County Republican Party.
  • “Reject all connections with Sam Singer,” a corporate public relations operative.
  • “Provide transparency on all financial contributions.”

The post Local Black Leaders Break Silence on “Politicization” of Oakland NAACP Branch first appeared on Post News Group. This article originally appeared in Post News Group.

The post Local Black Leaders Break Silence on “Politicization” of Oakland NAACP Branch first appeared on BlackPressUSA.

Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Reddit WhatsApp Telegram Email
Previous ArticleRacist Bomb Threat Forces Evacuation of North Oakland Elementary School
Next Article Richmond Promise Distributes Laptops to College-Bound Students
staff

Related Posts

Trust in Mainstream Media at a New Low, But the Black Press Stands as the Trusted Voice

Pew Finds Just 6% of Journalists Are Black as Crisis Grows with Recent Firings

Republicans Shutdown Government

Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

Video of the Week
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxFXtgzTu4U
Advertisement
Video of the Week
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjfvYnUXHuI
ABOUT US

 

The Windy City Word is a weekly newspaper that projects a positive image of the community it serves. It reflects life on the Greater West Side as seen by the people who live and work here.

OUR PICKS

Backlash for Snoop Dogg’s Performance is Getting Louder

Chevrolet Traverse Marketing

Disrupting the Cycle of Poverty for Single Mothers and their Children

MOST POPULAR

Unbreakable: Black Women and Mental Health

A Question of a Government Shutdown?

Democrats Dig In: Healthcare at the Center of Looming Shutdown Fight

© 2025 The Windy City Word. Site Designed by No Regret Medai.
  • Home
  • Lifestyle
  • Podcast
  • Contact Us

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.