By Kyndelle Johnson

Unidentified Earl Lewis Junior High School students during a trip to Boston Redevelopment Authority Washington Park site office, 105 Crawford Street, by Joseph Runci (1965)

There will be a teach-in taking place online, via Zoom on February 28th, 2022 at 6pm. Richmond LAND presents Black LAND, Power, and Futures will feature local historical experts and community leaders. There will be opportunities for in-depth discussion. 

Since 2000, the Black population in our city has decreased nearly 40%. The amount of rich wisdom, history, cultural strength, and diversity has plummeted with the mass displacement of our community members. This phenomenon is not happening without a great deal of historical disinvestment and exclusion as context. Our organization’s goal is to build power toward community-controlled development in Richmond. To understand how we can best protect our Black neighbors, and build sustainable and empowering housing for our community, we must be grounded in our city’s history.

By Jovanka Beckles

Art obtained from the official San Francisco Bay View Newspaper Facebook Page.

The Bayview continues to be a beacon of light in the media blackout of relevant Black issues that are largely ignored by mainstream media. As we celebrate Black history month in February—fully aware that every day is a Black history day and always has been in this country—The Activist acknowledges one of the oldest and longest running radical Black newspapers.

By Dani Zacky

The Listening Project Team has been hard at work over the last month.  As always, our main objective has been to listen to our community and those most harmed by the climate crisis and impacts of Chevron in Richmond.

Richmond’s Reimagining Public Safety Community Task Force (Task Force) held a Community Conversation on Community Crisis Response on Dec. 15, 2021. The video can be found here.

By Diana Wear and Daniel Barth

Streets Team leader Tshombe Perkins, with Buddy Bennett, Cyntha Simpson, and  Deborah Young cleaning along S Collins in Parchester Village, by Maurice Tierney

Our unhoused neighbors don’t have sturdy structures to protect them from the elements and the colder-than-usual climate has been hard. The city and its local organizations are pressed to address this crisis. In our county, 2 of 5 unhoused people are Black/African American, four times the county’s black population. In Richmond, African Americans are 54% of the homeless population.

By Amy Spencer

Wisdom Lap, by Tiffany Conway

Art of the African Diaspora, in partnership with Richmond Art Center (RAC), supports artists of African descent in the Bay Area through representation, professional development, and building a creative community.

I knew Mike Parker when I was a student at the University of Chicago in the early 1960s. Mike was a brilliant advocate for workers and unions then, and he remained so for the rest of his life.  Mike fought tirelessly for human solidarity and a more just and humane world.  His life's work and dedication should serve as an example for all of us.
         -Bernie Sanders

By Ken Paff and Martha Gruelle

Martha, Ken, Margaret, and Mike

I lost my best friend of over 50 years last Saturday evening. 

Mike was my guide and sometimes my patient critic, as he has been to so many other activists. He followed the work of the Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU), the insurgent reform movement of Teamsters), and was always ready with generous solidarity and helpful ideas for me and other TDU leaders.

Thank you for listening to the Listening Project Podcast.

By Marilyn Langlois

“He left us at night on January 15, perhaps as the volcanic tsunami from Tonga was still moving in and out of our San Francisco Bay, just feet from his home. Mike’s influence was and is as strong as that and it is up to us to keep it moving.”

–Tarnel Abbott, RPA co-founder

Mike Parker made us all better activists. He could motivate RPA members to dig deeper and do more.  We did so gladly, knowing he respected, appreciated and listened to us. Above all, he set a good example of incisive analysis, hard work and fidelity to our collective efforts.

Whenever my caller ID announced an incoming phone call from Mike, for a split second I would hesitate to answer, thinking he was going to ask me to do something or challenge me on a political question. Yet I was always drawn to conversations with him, each time coming away the wiser for talking with him.