postnewsgroup.com THE POST, May 28 - June 3, 2025 Page 7 grew, education beyond a few
years of elementary school was
“rare” for Black Americans. By
then, says Brown, Black women
had stepped up to do the work, be-
coming teachers, bookkeepers, ex-
perts in strategy, fundraisers, staff-
ers. managers, and marketers —
sometimes, all at once.
Blending personal observa -
tions and experiences with good
backgrounding, Brown tells this
story in a conversational tone that
invites readers to peek down the
halls of HBCU history and into
classrooms. She writes to readers,
rather than at them, which helps to
open minds for what’s inside “The
Battle for the Black Mind.”
You may not need to be remind-
ed about racism in Black Ameri -
can education, but the secrets she
shares and the lines she draws are
highlighted to seem like new infor-
mation. Here, readers can see more
clearly the connections between
the early twentieth century and
now, and how Project 2025 could
change the trajectory. Fortunately,
Brown also offers advice and ideas
for taking action and ensuring that
upcoming generations can win the
next “battle.”
“The Battle for the Black Mind”
is a lively book that you can read
for information, history, or just be-
cause. But beware: it might make
you want to get up, contact your
Representative or Congressper -
son, and act. It’s the kind of book
that’ll make you think.
Book Review:
The Battle for the
Black Mind ...
Continued from page 2
By Emil Guillermo
Jemele Hill is an African
American writer and broadcaster
I respect, so I take great umbrage
at a Right-wing writer’s descrip -
tion of her as a “race hustler.”
MAGA media loves to call any
truth teller a “race hustler.”
It’s a despicable slur.
But that’s a reminder to reject
the idea that diversity and identity
politics is dead.
Identity politics is very much
alive.
Yes, the landscape is bleak with
the attacks and roll backs on DEI
in public and corporate settings.
And, yes, on the 5th anniversa-
ry of George Floyd’s death, we are
watching rollbacks of police re -
form initiatives at the Department
of Justice level, where a conser -
vative Asian American, Harmeet
Dhillon of the Bay Area, is play -
ing a major role in all the undoing.
What lives matter in 2025?
Few dare to be so specific during
Trump 2.0.
But not Trump. All this time 47
is playing MAGA identity politics
just the same.
Who was spreading lies about
a “South African Genocide” that
doesn’t exist? It was Trump from
the Oval Office last week spew -
ing propaganda about genocidal
murders in South Africa. The of -
ficial stats say the actual numbers
of deaths in South African farms
is in single digits. That does not a
genocide make.
And yet claims of genocide are
being used to justify refugee sta -
tus for White Afrikaners.
Maybe he should put them on
that bribe plane he got from Qatar
and send them all back to South
Africa?
Meanwhile, Trump is deport -
ing legitimate refugees like the
Asian Americans he’s cruelly re-
located to Sudan. Then there’s
the more than 9,000 Afghans who
worked with U.S. forces in Af -
ghanistan. Department of Home -
land Security terminated their
temporary protected status this
month.
That’s a far cry from Trump’s
treatment of the 54 Afrikaners
who are welcomed with open
arms.
With the White population
numbers dropping, Trump’s got
to get those White numbers up.
He’s embarked on an unprece -
dented identity politics strategy
— the importing of White racists
to America.
THE CENSUS
And therein lies the value
of the importance of the Cen -
sus. Numbers matter. We need
to make sure the country main -
tains the trend in the 2020 Census
— where Hispanics, Blacks, and
Asians are growing at an unprec-
edented pace.
And while this is not the big
Census year, it is the year for the
American Community Survey
(ACS).
So even the ACS is important.
It’s also the law. You must fill it
out.
The form is nosier than I re -
called. It’s not anonymous, and it
asks for your name, your address,
your employer, their address.
If I were undocumented (I am
not), I’d hesitate for sure.
I never reacted that way in the
past.
Under Trump, will the Census-
taker be an ICE person in Depart-
ment of Commerce drag?
WHAT TO DO?
We all need to be counted.
And who knows what forms
will be discarded by the counters.
I’d rather we flood them with the
truth — despite all the lies from
the Trump administration on ev -
erything from Kilmar Abrego
Garcia to South African genocide.
About the Author
Emil Guillermo is a veteran
Bay Area journalist, commenta -
tor, and stage monologist. See
him at the Marsh SF/1062 Va -
lencia St., June 2, 7pm, per -
forming an excerpt from his lat -
est “Amok Monologue.” https://
ci.ovationtix.com/36078/produc -
tion/1225946
Watch his microtalk show on
YouTube.com/@emilamok1
By Kevin Yoder
Special to California Black
Media Partners
Neither snow nor rain nor heat
nor gloom of night can stop the
U.S. Postal Service, but the mis -
management of former Postmaster
General Louis DeJoy might. Al -
though DeJoy resigned this spring,
the U.S. Postal Service continues
to follow his failed “Delivering for
America” plan.
DeJoy’s 2021 Delivering for
America plan has been a disas -
ter. It kicked off stamp and post -
age rate increases twice per-year
at amounts far above the inflation
rate — something that had nev -
er been done throughout the Post-
al Service’s 250-year history. Still
following DeJoy’s foolish plan,
the Postal Service is plotting yet
another price hike this July.
Postal officials are making mail
prohibitively expensive for con -
sumers and businesses alike, but
they are also making mail servic-
es increasingly slow and unreli -
able. As a result, the Postal Service
is hemorrhaging customers — and
we’re not even halfway through
DeJoy’s 10-year plan.
Congress stepped up in 2022
with a series of bipartisan reforms,
including removing a requirement
for the Postal Service to pre-fund
its retiree health benefits 75 years
in advance. That reform alone has
saved the Postal Service billions
of dollars. And although it was in-
tended to preserve service and pre-
vent the need for massive postage
hikes, DeJoy still plowed ahead as
if the reform law never existed.
Fortunately, Congress is taking
action with new legislation to keep
the Postal Service delivering like it
should. Called the “USPS Servic-
es Enhancement and Regulatory
Viability Expansion and Sustain-
ability for the U.S. Act” (or USPS
SERVES US Act), the bill would
give the Postal Regulatory Com -
mission — the agency that regu -
lates the USPS — the power to
stop onerous stamp hikes and de-
lays. The bill, introduced by Con-
gressman Sam Graves (R-Mo.),
would also limit price increases to
once per-year, and institute other
reforms aimed at accountability,
efficiency and success.
While there are many issues in
today’s tumultuous world that de-
serve attention, there is no doubt
that the mail is essential and needs
help. If Congress doesn’t enact the
USPS SERVES US Act, the price
of a stamp could be $1.19 by 2030.
By then the Postal Service could
even be defunct — destroying our
ability to send and receive mail and
putting its 8 million employees out
of a job.
Remember that for millions of
Americans, mail isn’t just a con -
venience; it’s a lifeline. The Postal
Service is the only courier that de-
livers to every address in the U.S.,
no matter how rural or remote.
No private company could — or
would — deliver to our country’s
most remote locations because
profits are the first priority for any
private enterprise. And that’s ex -
actly why the U.S. Postal Service
should be reformed, not privatized.
Like our country, the Post -
al Service was established by the
people, for the people — and we
must take action to keep it that
way. If you would like to help save
the mail, please ask your member
of Congress to support the USPS
SERVES US Act.
Now is the time to raise our
voices and save the mail before it
self-destructs.
About the Author
Kevin Yoder is a former Re -
publican congressman from Kan-
sas and executive director of Keep
Us Posted — a nonprofit advoca-
cy group. To learn more and eas-
ily ask your member of Congress
to support the USPS SERVES US
Act, visit www.KeepUSPosted.org
to take action.
OPINION:
Race Hustler? That
Would Be Donald
Trump, of Course
OPINION:
Let’s Urge
Congress
to Pass
Legislation to
Save the U.S.
Postal Service
$20 Billion Water Battle: Delta
Lawmakers and Tribes Push Back
on Newsom’s Tunnel Project
Sen. Rosilice Ochoa Bogh Praises
U.S. Senate for Voting to End
Taxes on Service Workers’ Tips
iStock.
Kevin Yoder.
At the podium, Assemblymember Lori Wilson (D-Suisun City), flanked by members of the Delta Caucus, speaks at a press conference organized to push back on Gov. Newsom’ s planned upgrades to the State Water Project. CBM screenshot.
Sen. Rosilice Ochoa Bogh (R- Redlands)
By Tanu T. Henry
California Black Media
“I want to be crystal clear. Fast-
tracking the Delta Conveyance
Project (DCP) is a direct attack on
our region’s environmental integ-
rity, economic stability and pub -
lic trust,” Assemblymember Lori
Wilson (D-Suisun City) warned
Gov. Newsom.
Wilson, a member of the Cali-
fornia Legislative Black Caucus
(CLBC), was speaking at a press
conference on May 20 at the State
Capitol organized to push back
against the Governor’s plans to
speed up $20 billion worth of im-
provements to the State Water
Project (SWP), a tunnel that deliv-
ers water from Northern California
to areas in the south of the state.
Wilson, who is also co-chair of
the legislative Delta Caucus, was
joined at the press conference by
Sen. Jerry McNerney, the other co-
chair of the caucus, and Assembly-
member Rhodesia Ranson (D-Tra-
cy), also a member of the CLBC.
Other Delta Caucus members
— a bipartisan group of lawmak-
ers representing counties in the
Sacramento-San Joaquin River
Delta, where the tunnel begins —
also attended, along with officials
from the Delta Coalition of Coun-
ties, regional environmental lead-
ers and tribal leaders from the Del-
ta.
Almost a week before, on May
14, when Gov. Newsom present -
ed his May revision of the state’s
2025-26 budget, he announced his
plans to make improvements to
the water supply infrastructure he
called “critical.”
Planned upgrades include a 45-
mile tunnel with intakes to draw
water from the Sacramento Riv -
er; a connection to the California
Aqueduct via the Bethany Reser-
voir; new earthquake-resistant fea-
tures; a pumping plant, and other
improvements.
“For too long, attempts to mod-
ernize our critical water infrastruc-
ture have stalled in endless red
tape, burdened with unnecessary
delay,” said Newsom, referring to
opposition to the project by envi-
ronmental leaders and others.
“We’re done with barriers —
our state needs to complete this
project as soon as possible, so that
we can better store and manage
water to prepare for a hotter, dri -
er future. Let’s get this built,” the
Governor added.
Newsom is urging the State
Legislature to create policy that
will simplify the process to obtain
construction permits and expedite
the time judicial reviews take.
Wilson said the construction
on the tunnel will damage the San
Joaquin Valley ecosystem.
“Shifting water from one farm-
ing region to benefit another farm-
ing region does not solve our wa-
ter problem,” she said. Wilson also
pointed out that the project will be-
come a cost burden for utility rate-
payers.
According to the Governor’s
office, California is expected to
lose 10% of its water supply and
the reliability of the existing tunnel
to deliver water could reduce by
23%. The project, expected to be-
gin in 2029, is designed to respond
to that eventuality by making key
improvements to the tunnel that
“captures, moves and stores wa -
ter used by 27 million people and
750,000 acres of farmland.”
Ransom said the project would
“steal water” from the Delta.
“I’m disappointed to see this
proposal to override legal protec-
tions and statutes to violate both
water and property rights. Let’s be
real- this is a $20 billion water grab
that shifts wealth from the San Joa-
quin Delta to wealthy Southern
California interests,” said Ransom.
By Tanu Henry
California Black Media
In a unanimous vote on May 20,
the U.S. Senate voted to eliminate
federal taxes on tips for service
workers.
California State Sen. Rosilicie
Ochoa Bogh (R-Redlands) praised
the U.S. Senate for passing the bill,
which was introduced by U.S. Sen.
Ted Cruz (R-TX)
“I applaud the U.S. Senate for
putting service workers first and
providing much-needed tax relief.
Now it’s California’s turn,” said
Ochoa Bogh, who has authored
similar legislation in California,
Senate Bill (SB) 17.
The U.S. Senate bill, which
codifies into federal law a cam -
paign promise made by Presi -
dent Trump, establishes a tax de-
duction of up to $25,000 for tips
for employees who earn less than
$160,000. The deduction is limit-
ed to cash tips workers earn and re-
port to employers for withholding
on their paychecks.
“Tipped workers are taxed
on inconsistent and unpredict -
able income causing instability in
their families already struggling
to make ends meet,” said Ochoa
Bogh.
However, on May 23, the Sen-
ate Appropriations Committee
voted to send Ochoa Bogh’s no-
state-tax-on-service-workers bill
– along with hundreds of others –
to the “suspense file,” where bills
are sent for further consideration
of costs to the state.
NOTICE AND DIGEST
ORDINANCE ESTABLISHING THE WILDFIRE
PREVENTION COMMISSION, PROVIDING FOR
THE APPOINTMENT OF MEMBERS THEREOF, AND
DEFINING THE DUTIES AND FUNCTIONS OF SAID
COMMISSION
This Ordinance establishes the Wildfire Prevention
Commission in accordance with the requirements of
Oakland City Charter section 601, which provides that
the City Council shall create all advisory boards and
commissions by Ordinance and that the Mayor shall
appoint all board members subject to confirmation
by the City Council. This ordinance establishes the
jurisdiction, duties, and powers of the Commission as
delineated by Measure MM.
Notice of Publication
This Ordinance was introduced at the Special City
Council meeting, Tuesday afternoon May 20, 2025,
and passed to print 8 Ayes. Final adoption has been
scheduled for the City Council meeting Tuesday
evening June 3, 2025, 3:30 P .M., at One Frank H.
Ogawa Plaza, Council Chamber, 3rd floor, Oakland,
California, and via Teleconference.
Three full copies are available for use and examination by the public in the Office of the City Clerk at One
Frank H. Ogawa Plaza, 1st floor, Oakland, California.
ASHA REED, City Clerk
Publication Date: Friday, May 30, 2025.
(One Time)