By Emil Guillermo
We live in the Bay Area,
where the cost of living has
gone through the roof.
Yet Trump dismisses the af-
fordability crisis as a “Demo -
cratic con job.” Will he ever
come to Oakland and say that?
Maybe when PEN Oakland
gives him a fake peace prize
like the one FIFA’s World Cup
organizers handed out the oth-
er day?
No one is holding their
breath.
What people are thinking
about is community, diversi -
ty, and culture—values that
were very much on display at
the 36th annual PEN Oakland
awards, which I had the plea -
sure of co-hosting at the Black
Repertory Theater.
One of this year’s honor -
ees was an Oakland ice cream
parlor. Miharu Ice Cream re -
ceived an award for its diver -
sity and mix of flavors. The
parlor was nominated by the
late Oakland poet and PEN
Oakland board member Jack
Foley, who died last month.
Known for his long-running
KPFA radio shows, Foley be -
lieved diversity works in Oak-
land—at least at his favorite
ice cream shop.
That same spirit filled the
Black Rep Theater, located
in that part of Berkeley that
bumps up against Oakland
along Adeline. I was remind -
ed what a resource the space is
for the broader community: a
large stage, lighting, a mic, and
comfortable seating for sever-
al hundred people. It’s no sur-
prise the local NAACP chap -
ter, of which I am a member,
holds its meetings there.
It was the perfect venue for
PEN Oakland, the local chap -
ter of the international organi-
zation for poets, essayists, and
novelists. Founded by Oak -
land resident Ishmael Reed,
PEN Oakland is known as the
“working-class PEN.”
Several award recipients
stood out to me.
The first was Carvell Wal -
lace, honored for his mem -
oir “Another Word for Love.”
A longtime reporter covering
culture, music, sports, and the
arts, Wallace writes poignant-
ly about growing up poor with
a single mother. He describes
their survival as being like
“survivors of a shipwreck who
had washed ashore onto a de -
serted island. We had made it,
but for how long?” The book
postnewsgroup.comTHE POST, December 10 - 16, 2025 Page 6 Continued on page 7
NOTICE AND DIGEST
AN ORDINANCE AMENDING OAKLAND MUNICIPAL CODE CHAPTER 10.20 (SPEED
LIMITS) AND ADOPTING APPROPRIATE CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT FINDINGS TO REFLECT CHANGES IN OAKLAND’S STREET NETWORK AND TO
MODIFY SPEED LIMITS ON BROADWAY AND INTERNATIONAL BOULEVARD The ordinance amends Chapter 10.20 of the Oakland Municipal Code to update speed limits in alignment with recent changes to the city’s street network and California state law. It incorporates findings from Engineering & Traffic Surveys and provisions from Assembly Bill 43, which allow for speed limit reductions based on land use and roadside activity, including the designation of Business Activity Districts. These changes are supported by valid traffic surveys and are exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act under multiple qualifying provisions
Notice of Publication
This Ordinance was introduced at the City Council meeting, Tuesday evening, December 2, 2025, and passed to print 8 Ayes; Final adoption has been scheduled for the Special City Council meeting Tuesday afternoon December 16, 2025, 1:00 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
NOTICE AND DIGEST
AN ORDINANCE: (1) AMENDING SECTION 8.62.100 OF THE OAKLAND MUNICIPAL CODE (“O.M.C.”) FOR THE PURPOSE OF REMOVING THE LIMIT ON PUBLIC STREET CLOSURES FOR RESTAURANT, RETAIL, CAFÉ, PARKLET, AND OTHER BUSINESSES TO
CLOSE AND USE PUBLIC RIGHT-OF-WAYS TO ENCOURAGE PUBLIC SAFETY, BUSINESS
DEVELOPMENT, AND HEALTHY OUTDOOR USE AND ENJOYMENT OF PUBLIC SPACES UNTIL DECEMBER 31, 2026 UNLESS FURTHER EXTENDED BY CITY COUNCIL AND (2) ADOPTING APPROPRIATE CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT
FINDINGS
This Ordinance amends Section 8.62.100 of the Oakland Municipal Code (O.M.C.) to retain the portion of the Flex Streets Program facilitating public street closures for restaurant, retail, café, parklet, and other businesses to close and use public rights-of-way to encourage public safety, business development, and healthy outdoor use and enjoyment of public spaces with a new sunset date of December 31, 2026 unless further extended by City Council. This Ordinance further finds that reinstating this portion of the Flex Streets Program is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”)
Notice of Publication
This Ordinance was introduced at the City Council meeting, Tuesday evening, December 2, 2025, and passed to print 8 Ayes; Final adoption has been scheduled for the Special City Council meeting Tuesday afternoon December 16, 2025, 1:00 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
By Wanda Ravernell
Post Staff
From the fourth week of No-
vember to the first week in Jan-
uary, if you are of African de-
scent, but particularly African
American, certain violations
of cultural etiquette will get
your ‘Black card’ revoked.
From Thanksgiving to
Christmas to New Year’s Day,
whether it’s the dining room
table or the bid whist (Spades?
Uno, anyone?) table, your card
may be in danger.
It could take until Super
Bowl Sunday for reinstate -
ment.
I don’t know much about the
card table, but for years I was
on probation by the ‘Aunties,’
the givers and takers of Black
cards.
How I Got into Trouble
It was 1970-something and
I was influenced by the health
food movement that emerged
from the hippie era. A vegetari-
an (which was then considered
sacrilegious by most Black
people I knew) prepared me
a simple meal: grated cheese
over steamed broccoli, lentils,
and brown rice.
I introduced the broccoli
dish at the Friday night supper
with my aunt and grandfather.
She pronounced the bright
green broccoli undone, but she
ate it. (I did not, of course, try
brown rice on them.)
I knew that I would be al -
lowed back in the kitchen when
she attempted the dish, but the
broccoli had been cooked to
death. (Y’all remember when
ALL vegetables, not just
greens, were cooked to mush?)
My Black card, which had
been revoked was then reat -
tained because they ate what I
prepared and imitated it.
Over the decades, various
transgressions have become
normalized. I remember when
having a smoked turkey neck
instead of a ham hock in col -
lard greens was greeted with
mumblings and murmurings
at both the dining room and
card tables. Then came veg -
an versions with just olive oil
(What? No Crisco? No bacon,
at least?) and garlic. And now
my husband stir fries his col -
lards in a wok.
But No Matter How Things
Have Changed…
At holiday meals, there are
assigned tasks. Uncle Jack
chopped raw onion when
needed. Uncle Buddy made
the fruit salad for Easter. My
mother brought the greens in
winter, macaroni salad in sum-
mer. Aunt Deanie did the mac-
aroni and cheese, and the great
aunts, my deceased grand -
mother’s sisters, oversaw
preparation of the roast beef,
turkey, and ham. My father, if
he was present, did the carv -
ing.
These designations/assign -
ments were binding agree -
ments that could stand up in a
court of law. Do not violate the
law of assignments by bring -
ing some other version of a
tried-and-true dish even if you
call it a new ‘cheese and noo -
dle item’ to ‘try out.’ The aun-
tie lawgivers know what you
are trying to do. It’s called a
menu coup d’état, and they are
not having it.
The time for experiments is
in your own home: your spouse
and kids are the Guinea pigs.
My mother’s variation of
a classic that I detested from
that Sunday to the present
was adding crushed pineap -
ple to mashed sweet potatoes.
A relative stops by, tries it, and
then it can get introduced as an
add-on to the standard holiday
menu.
My Aunt Vivian’s concoc -
tions from Good Housekeep -
ing or Ladies’ Home Journal
magazine also made it to the
Black peoples’ tables all over
the country in the form of a
green bean casserole.
What Not to Do and How
Did It Cross Your Mind?
People are, of all things
holy, preparing mac ‘n’ cheese
with so much sugar it tastes
like custard with noodles in it.
Also showing up in the
wrong places: raisins. Raisins
have been reported in the stuff-
ing (makes no sense unless it’s
in a ‘sweet meats’ dish), in a
pan of corn bread, and – her -
esy in the Black kitchen – the
MAC ‘n’ CHEESE.
These are not mere allega -
tions: There is photographic
evidence of these Black card
violations, but I don’t want
to defame witnesses who re -
mained present at the scene of
the crimes.
The cook – bless his/her
heart – was probably well-
meaning, if ignorant. Maybe
they got the idea from a so -
cial media influencer, much
like Aunt Viv got recipes from
magazines.
Thankfully, a long-winded
blessing of the food at the ta -
ble can give the wary attend -
ee time to locate the oddity’s
place on the table and plan ac-
cordingly.
But who knows? Innovation
always prevails, for, as the old
folks say, ‘waste makes want.’
What if the leftovers were cut
up, dipped in breadcrumbs and
deep fried? The next day, that
dish might make it to the TV
tray by the card table.
An older cousin – on her
way to being an Auntie – in her
bonnet, leggings, T-shirt, and
bunny slippers and too tired
to object, might try it and like
it….
And if she ‘rubs your
head’ after eating it, the new
dish might be a winner and
(Whew!) everybody, thanks
God, keeps their Black cards.
Until the next time.
COMMENTARY:
If You Don’t Want Your ‘Black Card’ Revoked,
Watch What You Bring to Holiday Dinners
COMMENTARY:
My Afternoon at the Black
Repertory Theater
The ‘aunties’ playing cards. iStock photo by Andreswd.
Mona Vaughn Scott. Photo courtesy of Emil Guillermo.