Category Archives: Uncategorized

Countless of you are watching a cavalcade of condolences being shared about ESPN Sport Anchor Stuart Scott today, and are wondering why is his situation so tragic, other than the obvious nature of his death. One social media friend posted ‘I didn’t know who he was, I guess I should watch ESPN more to relate to men, LOL’. I have to admit, the LOL part pissed me off, and I wanted to understand why I was so upset with her.
I searched my own emotions, and came to the conclusion that there were three reasons why the level of support has been so high today for Stuart Scott.
Born in 1965, he is among the oldest Generation X black men, and those of us who are within a decade plus or minus him have a strong familiarity with his historical experiences. What most of you Gen Y’ers, Millennials and Gen Z kids don’t know and cannot feel is that we know a lot about history; we are the last generation that stayed home and watched reruns of 1930 movies like Shirley Temple and The Three Stooges, and we played outside, made things, and listened to The Bee Gees, The Spinners, Duran Duran, and Ice Cube. We remember writing, we remember when there were no personal computers—and we recall when they were introduced. We still remember pay phones and black and white TVs, we remember when racism was still calling you a nigger and not the “N” word, when South Africa was segregated and so was our political ceiling.
Now, throw in someone who was fine with being cool enough to tell the suits that he wasn’t going to change his jargon for fear of scaring off middle America, someone who was fine with being a black Greek, someone who could drop hip hop references mid segment as freely as We-Shall-Overcome-Negro speak, and it was like us being on TV. We were sure he had some baggage as we all do, we knew was that he was divorced. Even with this rather typical piece of life’s trials, never did you hear of it. He was that cat on TV with glasses AND an earring. And really, who these days speaks for us about non essential topics? Steve Harvey? Charles Barkley? What may be missing from the narrative is that sport is essential—not just to men, but to the progression of an aging republic with an insatiable appetite for blood. When the mundane crossed over into societal whispers, we would dial in to find out what Stu would say. He was brilliant enough to allow for other people not in the club to be able to relate to him. He made them feel welcome, and his idioms were a nod to his culture, while being an introduction for others. And he opened this genre of keeping it real/keeping it classy for the rest of us; it allowed white guys to be sillier and more free in their delivery, and it allowed for us to have more blacks on TV. He opened the door for more copycats, and he was fine with it.
In his acceptance speech for the ESPN Jimmy Valvano Perserverance Award, Scott told the world that he occasionally called his sister just to cry. He told everyone how much he hurt, and gave a physical description of the steps he took to stay alive. He was open, and honest. His vulnerability was further evident when he said these last words on stage to the audience: “have a great rest of your night and have a great rest of your life.”
He was in our age demo, and that always made us realize our own mortality. We all know people who have died, but we usually expect those people on TV to live ripe old ages; certainly they have some ‘Magic Johnson’ secret lab hookup to manage their illnesses. Death at 49 is just criminal, and yet, a dozen of my social media friends have made that journey earlier than that. We also see this illustrated dynamically, as we see this man decay and wither of in front of us. We see so much crap on TV, we become jaded to truth; but death has a way of separating the real from the Khardashian, leading the path back to our own longevity or lack thereof. At least a dozen of you social media friends have experienced cancer in the last 2 years; about half a dozen more have died. It is a nasty, evil disease that takes healthy people and wrecks their bodies while in many instances, allowing their minds to have full consciousness.
Being a father of two girls, we put ourselves in his situation, a man with no other reason to live than for his children–and knowing that this man and his girls will miss the expected treasures of existence: graduation, fights over dates, adulthood and everything associated with it; another Christmas. At the end of it all, just coming from a holiday season, we wonder how it felt to know that it was his last and to recognize that they all knew it. When he died, it was like part of us did too. You don’t need to be a sports fan to realize the loss; you simply need to be human.
Here is the disingenuous part of it, his sports celebrity; there are at least two worlds in American sport; and Scott introduced America to the quiet world two decades ago. Yet, there is no reason for the separation other than the bigotry of America. For the sake of argument we will talk about the collisions with the English speaking space of the major sports; Baseball, Basketball, Football (and if you had to twist my arm I’d throw in Hockey, and if you’d break my legs I’d say Soccer). Add in their collegiate counterparts, and toss in Golf, Tennis, and Olympics to round it out, and there are a myriad of avenues to which women and minority men should be welcome in today’s modern sport. I am giving NASCAR, fishing, hunting, billiards, gambling, and bowling to the rednecks, X-games to the stoners; equestrian and all things cerebral to the snobs . Print media, social media, radio talk shows, TV Sportscasting, play by play, have thousands of working positions, hundreds at front line presence. With the maturation of the 24 hour sports cycle, these avenues have not produced that diversity kaleidoscope black people expected. Sure, there are a lot of black men (and some women) on those themed sports to which they have played–America likes to talk to a past hero/heroine–but these folk are only around as long as the season. Moreover, they tend to be flanked by people who have not been sports professionals, almost as if they need someone to do the real work while they shuck and jive their way through segments. BUT, if it weren’t for the fill ins, virtually no blacks and women would be around at all.
The 15 shows on three local radio sports networks in my LIBERAL BAY AREA have two black male co-hosts; one show has two white male co-hosts and the other has one white male co-host and another chime-in guy. The total number of talk show hosts in total on these shows number about 40.
Of the half dozen nationally syndicated shows run on these networks, none of them have blacks; yet there are about 10 on air personalities for these shows. The just-in-time TV sports specific pre-game/post-game shows fare much better both locally and nationally, averaging about 15-20% for baseball and as high as 50% in football and basketball.
Sport in America is the one area that allows for the most level playing field; it is about performance at the purest level. Politics and bigotry are existent, but one’s ability to have a 42” vertical, ability to hit a 32 foot shot, or run a 4.4 40 represents qualified measurements. The 90 mph fastball doesn’t care what school you attended, or what you think about abortion. Sport is also the gateway where people from divergent backgrounds coalesce to commune, celebrate, commiserate and complain. A rich doctor from the suburbs can sit next to an inner city janitor and share the same exuberance for a player or team. This meeting place is where friendships are made during halftime.. “You know, Leroy isn’t a bad guy…..Ted is alright….”
But sports talk is not about the issue of communicating who, what, when, where, and why the on the field actions went the way they did. Sports talk is not about the numbers and records and championship implications. Sports talk is not about educating the population. Sports talk is only about white men talking to other white men about black men. These are the modern day gigs for the male society gossip page. These ‘Dr. Lauras’ rant about the athlete’s ethics or lack thereof, their personality flaws, their intellect, their finances, and their performances off the field.
Unlike the on-the-field requirements of excellence, the other written, social, auditory, or visual media have no real standards. And it shows. Most of these hosts show no real talent to capture the imagination, show fairness in reporting, or add a new insight in the psyche of the organization of the athlete. They end up being highly paid automatons and tend to regurgitate similar themes to each other, or extend themselves to stand out by pushing the limits with gimmicky rudeness and matter-o-fact analysis. There is a lot of staying power in being a pompous ass, and there is safety in castigating a brash black wide receiver in Ocho-Cinco for abusing his wife, but no security in calling out a white Superbowl winning quarterback in Roethlisberger for being accused of raping under age women.
Most of all, they talk about the athlete’s ability to conform and fit in with their standards of societal interaction. Many of these hosts have had no interaction with non-white people until after college, and almost none of them were reared in inner city and/or impoverished areas that included the guys. They simply don’t understand them. When these athletes exercise community leadership and publicly complain about the realities of societal ills, typically these non black hosts are much harsher in their analysis of the black athlete. Scott not only gave us a fair shot, he provided a visual and oratorical alternative.
There is no alternative to wit; we have no new person on the inside who can tell it like it is; there is no go to person to get the scoop from the athlete in his words; there is no more cool; there is no one dropping the funny. ESPN is a machine, but the machine is fed on personality driver entertaining show hosts; they are the Saturday Night Live of Sports talk. And like SNL, when a superstar is gone, all you’re left with is a bunch of no names straining themselves to bring the funny.

I miss him terribly, already.

I was inspired to write tonight because some minutes ago, a ‘facebook’ feed appeared on my page.  I hope you like my little story.

Last month, the one term Mayor lost a re-election bid. Insult.  The Mayor is as much as $125k in debt. Injury.  She ain’t alone.  There are at least 3 more with 5 figure bills.

Why do they owe so much?  Is the ante up required to match the special interests making the race to hard to run?

That is a blogable argument that speaks to several issues; the issue tonight is a problem of the candidate and not the process.

Many an advisor charges too much; I have seen a lot of people who were unqualified to fill my shoes make a ton of money from candidates.  They don’t know the community, they don’t have a plan, they don’t know how to communicate, but people pay them because they have a brand name.  Election night, I saw one guy walk away with two hundred thousand after giving his candidates no vision, and even less support.  Trickery at its finest.  It’s horrible to be an exhausted candidate and trust in an advisor, only to find out that person didn’t give the effort AND took your money.  In a washed society, even minorities tend to think that the white man’s ice is colder….

In this atypical weather pattern that started in November, when it rains it pours.  August deserts are December flood zones.

A scorpion is freezing on the banks of a disappearing hillside.  The rains are closing in, and in minutes, there will be no more higher ground to climb.  No where to run, the scorpion began to panic.  Certain loss was eminent.

Meanwhile, a frog was basking in the new lake like it was Christmas morning and New Years’ Eve all at the same time.  He swam past the scorpion several times but paid him no never mind until he heard the claws snapping towards him.

“Help me!” The scorpion yelled to the frog.

“Wha” the frog croaked back.  “You’re a scorpion!”

“So, so what!  I am going to drown; you have to help me, a fellow creature.”

“If I help you, you’re going to hurt me,” the frog countered.  “So sorry, but helping you is a sacrifice I can’t make for free, the cost is too great, and I’m not sure if you deserve my help…”

“Hey, here’s my promise: you help me get to the other side of the water, and I promise to pay you back when you need it….please trust me.”

The frog thought about it, figured it was the right thing to do, and maybe he could establish a new relationship in the process.  ‘It is good to have friends in high places’, he thought.

“Get on my back scorpion.”

The scorpion complied quickly, and as soon as he was settled, the shore was gone. Minutes later, in the middle of the stream, there was no turning back. In the pouring rain, the frog forged their way to the other side of the water, when all of a sudden “OW, hey that hurt!  Why did you stab me in the back you scorpion?  Now we both are going to drown!”

“Sorry frog, it’s my nature” was it’s only reply.

In some capacity, I helped several people in the last election. I was the advisor, understanding and making policy, introducing them to many of you, providing strategy, sitting in for them in meetings and forums, doing research and writing position papers.  Hearing them bitch and moan about life, lack of support, and the ignorance of the electorate. Most were in various stages of the process; new and energized, older and principled, and some in between.  But 3 of them were crooks, and fortunately I dropped two of them off my back in transit.

However, the third politico stabbed me in the back after making it to the other shore.

In evaluating whether or not I decide to help someone, I usually try to assume what they could do for most people, the greater good.  You cannot seek to find the nun or the scout in this process; incremental change is the best that we can realistically expect, but we can always hope for that moral change agent.  Fortunately for us, they do exist you just have to find them, and it gets real old turning over a lot of stones for them, and most of us give up and settle for 4^th best.  Fortunately for Oakland, these crooks I tried to help did not win.  If we do have crooks in office this session, it’s not because of me.

In my case, crook #3 had the temerity to tell me that they couldn’t pay me our contracted agreement; not $2000..not $20.  The problem is, unless you don’t give a frying fig what I think, or you’re a dolt, or you’re so self absorbed as not to care, you probably shouldn’t post pictures of a 5-star vacation at the same time crying broke.

Should I expose the fiend?  Should I be saying to myself, ‘see you in court when you get back baby…?’

God, I need to put a harness on my back next time……..

http://www.businessinsider.com/best-private-high-schools-america-2014-11?op=1

The last time I checked Head Royce was higher and CPS was a lot lower.
What does this mean that so many schools are located in Oakland, SF and SJ? It seems that rising tides would lift all boats. In other words, the super capable kids and quality faculty that didn’t make it into these elite schools and are forced to attend the next level schools in Oakland should be raising the bar on these other schools…is that happening?

What does this mean to black families?

Are you afraid of sending your boys out on prom night?

http://www.yourblackworld.net/school-administrator%E2%80%99s-tweet-about-the-%E2%80%9Cnightmare%E2%80%9D-of-white-girls-dating-black-boys-sparks-protests/

http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/2014/11/18/arts-not-dead-15-new-projects-and-spaces-in-the-bay-area/

50% of the people in America live within 50 miles from where they grew up; I live one freeway exit from where I was born.  There is a certain sense of pride that locals have that newcomers don’t understand; it isn’t that you aren’t equal, it isn’t that you can’t lead; it isn’t that you couldn’t possibly care as much for my city as I do.  It’s three things: it is what I know from my very inception to the world and the basis for my identity, I didn’t come here to find something that was missing elsewhere for me, and I am not using my entry point in this space as a jumping off to somewhere else.  That can be said for half of the citizens all around this country.

Now how does it differ in the city; in this city of Oakland?  For reasons that cannot fully be explained in this post, much of the differentiation is the difference of Oakland on the national landscape.  SF ran out all its black people; SJ never really had any.  Of the 6 cities west of the Mississippi that have the 3 major sports teams, for now, Oakland is the only city on the west coast that can make that boast.  There are so many firsts here; the terminus for the Transcontinental Railroad, the Black Panthers, Amelia Earhart departing for the Pacific Ocean.  This is not a sister city to San Francisco; it is the step-sister middle child to San Jose and San Francisco.  Throw in the highest crime rates, devastating fires, earthquakes, military closures, school takeovers, and the fall of MC Hammer, and you have the makings of the armpit of the Bay Area.  But as bad as Oakland has stunk it up, it has been the base of janitors who come from the basement of the down trodden to spruce–no Oak it up.  At a time when the perception was that Oakland was a city filled with a bunch of minorities and deviants not worth saving , we always had a comeback.

Now, Oakland is becoming the place-to-be, slowly but surely, and the people who have paved the way are growing increasingly dispassionate about the folks who will be reaping those benefits.  Oakland is on the edge of its own Pygmalion, and we long timers want to make sure that we don’t miss the ball at the expense of an Alamedan via San Franciscan via Ivy League grad via Midwest transplant.  At the same time, nothing is better than watching your kids achieve greatness and prepare themselves to be responsible, capable adults.

At the national level, it is rare to get someone who represents this persona; the stage is just too big.  Presidents don’t represent the people; neither do Senators.  It is common to get people in the House of Representatives who do match the pulse of the constituency; but the Mayor should be the people.

With that, Libby Schaaf is my 2^nd choice for mayor.

There is something to be said for going through the traditional channels, and paying your dues.  There is something to be said for having Oakland leadership come out and support you.  If we want to address the argument about being there, working for Oakland at every level, and understanding how to govern, Schaaf is a front runner.

The first thing that turned heads in 2010 when she joined the City Council is that she began her tenure being objective and challenging her old boss in Ignacio De La Fuente over issues of fairness and governance.  Schaaf blew everyone away, because we figured that it would be business as usual, and she would be a rubber stamp to the De la Fuente-Perata machine.  She wasn’t.

Schaaf also represents a decidedly different direction in Oakland; the younger demographic that is weighing the balance between urban life, career development, and family obligation.  We haven’t seen a working woman; hell, a working person ever have to juggle that at the highest levels in Oakland—yes Quan has kids, but never a career, and a successful husband—gotta love the energy and the sense of urgency from a candidate that understands the people.

Schaaf is very clear in articulating her position: what she thinks, what she has done, what she will do.  http://libbyformayor.com/issues/government.pdf  What a novel notion; tell the people what you would like to do.  Again, we see Schaaf taking the time to treat the citizens as adults, and be specific about what her goal are.

Challenge:  Schaaf is going to need to do some fence mending.  Seriously.  Having a history in working for the first Latino City Council member as his Chief of Staff, working for the Port of Oakland, Governor Brown, former California State Senate leader Don Perata, one gets to be a political animal.  You know the community like no other, you cut deals with other councilmembers, you know the city at a fundamentally different level than your administrative counterparts.  Growing up in Oakland during the time that she and I did in the 70’s and 80’s, that was a magical time of integrated leadership, integrated neighborhoods.  Unlike today, if you were white in Oakland in 1980, you were hear BECAUSE of the diversity that was enriched largely through its black population; not because Oakland was cheaper than San Francisco, not because you want to create a viable, competing gay outpost to SF, not because you want your ethnicity to take over since it is your turn.  Yet, only one black group and no Hispanic community based groups endorsed her campaign in a major way.  For a lifelong resident, she should have many, many significant relationships with these groups.  If Schaaf had shown her real strengths as I know them and made an early attempt to engage these constituencies, this race wouldn’t even be close.

Finally, one thing that Schaaf is…..is HUNGRY.  You can tell that this is where she started but not where she plans to end; if she is seeking higher office—and she will—the one saving grace in all of that is she is prepared to perform at a high level, if for no other reason than to ensure she gets promoted.  Again, I like someone who understands the need to produce.

50% of the people in America live within 50 miles from where they grew up; I live one freeway exit from where I was born.  There is a certain sense of pride that locals have that newcomers don’t understand; it isn’t that you aren’t equal, it isn’t that you can’t lead; it isn’t that you couldn’t possibly care as much for my city as I do.  It’s three things: it is what I know from my very inception to the world and the basis for my identity, I didn’t come here to find something that was missing elsewhere for me, and I am not using my entry point in this space as a jumping off to somewhere else.  That can be said for half of the citizens all around this country.

Now how does it differ in the city; in this city of Oakland?  For reasons that cannot fully be explained in this post, much of the differentiation is the difference of Oakland on the national landscape.  SF ran out all its black people; SJ never really had any.  Of the 6 cities west of the Mississippi that have the 3 major sports teams, for now, Oakland is the only city on the west coast that can make that boast.  There are so many firsts here; the terminus for the Transcontinental Railroad, the Black Panthers, Amelia Earhart departing for the Pacific Ocean.  This is not a sister city to San Francisco; it is the step-sister middle child to San Jose and San Francisco.  Throw in the highest crime rates, devastating fires, earthquakes, military closures, school takeovers, and the fall of MC Hammer, and you have the makings of the armpit of the Bay Area.  But as bad as Oakland has stunk it up, it has been the base of janitors who come from the basement of the down trodden to spruce–no Oak it up.  At a time when the perception was that Oakland was a city filled with a bunch of minorities and deviants not worth saving , we always had a comeback.

Now, Oakland is becoming the place-to-be, slowly but surely, and the people who have paved the way are growing increasingly dispassionate about the folks who will be reaping those benefits.  Oakland is on the edge of its own Pygmalion, and we long timers want to make sure that we don’t miss the ball at the expense of an Alamedan via San Franciscan via Ivy League grad via Midwest transplant.  At the same time, nothing is better than watching your kids achieve greatness and prepare themselves to be responsible, capable adults.

At the national level, it is rare to get someone who represents this persona; the stage is just too big.  Presidents don’t represent the people; neither do Senators.  It is common to get people in the House of Representatives who do match the pulse of the constituency; but the Mayor should be the people.

With that, Libby Schaaf is my 2^nd choice for mayor.

There is something to be said for going through the traditional channels, and paying your dues.  There is something to be said for having Oakland leadership come out and support you.  If we want to address the argument about being there, working for Oakland at every level, and understanding how to govern, Schaaf is a front runner.

The first thing that turned heads in 2010 when she joined the City Council is that she began her tenure being objective and challenging her old boss in Ignacio De La Fuente over issues of fairness and governance.  Schaaf blew everyone away, because we figured that it would be business as usual, and she would be a rubber stamp to the De la Fuente-Perata machine.  She wasn’t.

Schaaf also represents a decidedly different direction in Oakland; the younger demographic that is weighing the balance between urban life, career development, and family obligation.  We haven’t seen a working woman; hell, a working person ever have to juggle that at the highest levels in Oakland—yes Quan has kids, but never a career, and a successful husband—gotta love the energy and the sense of urgency from a candidate that understands the people.

Schaaf is very clear in articulating her position: what she thinks, what she has done, what she will do.  http://libbyformayor.com/issues/government.pdf  What a novel notion; tell the people what you would like to do.  Again, we see Schaaf taking the time to treat the citizens as adults, and be specific about what her goal are.

Challenge:  Schaaf is going to need to do some fence mending.  Seriously.  Having a history in working for the first Latino City Council member as his Chief of Staff, working for the Port of Oakland, Governor Brown, former California State Senate leader Don Perata, one gets to be a political animal.  You know the community like no other, you cut deals with other councilmembers, you know the city at a fundamentally different level than your administrative counterparts.  Growing up in Oakland during the time that she and I did in the 70’s and 80’s, that was a magical time of integrated leadership, integrated neighborhoods.  Unlike today, if you were white in Oakland in 1980, you were hear BECAUSE of the diversity that was enriched largely through its black population; not because Oakland was cheaper than San Francisco, not because you want to create a viable, competing gay outpost to SF, not because you want your ethnicity to take over since it is your turn.  Yet, only one black group and no Hispanic community based groups endorsed her campaign in a major way.  For a lifelong resident, she should have many, many significant relationships with these groups.  If Schaaf had shown her real strengths as I know them and made an early attempt to engage these constituencies, this race wouldn’t even be close.

Finally, one thing that Schaaf is…..is HUNGRY.  You can tell that this is where she started but not where she plans to end; if she is seeking higher office—and she will—the one saving grace in all of that is she is prepared to perform at a high level, if for no other reason than to ensure she gets promoted.  Again, I like someone who understands the need to produce.

There is something beautiful about being in the most integrated community in America.  In some ways, it represents the best of what our country has to offer.  Hang out in front of Lake Merritt on a weekend and you’ll see hundreds of people enjoying themselves.

It doesn’t mean that everyone is some hyper mixed amalgam of each other; it does mean that its pretty difficult to go for a long distance and not find people from different backgrounds, living in the same environment.  It also suggests that your family, your friends, your work associates, and your places of community are likely to be ethnically from all over the place.

The more you are involved with other people, the more likely you are to make decisions based on the content of the character and less on the perceptions of others.  That’s because it will be harder to find individuals to place into a stereotypical box.  There are so many places in this country; heck, in this Bay Area, that you are more likely to catch Ebola than you are to catch a brotha.  There is something very calming about walking around and people not being surprised to see one of ‘you’ present.

Yet, there is an ugly side to diversity of this sort: it is the certainty of pissing someone off who is different from you.  It can be the saying of an outdated phrase, the introduction of a newcomer who doesn’t recognize the history or contributions of the people already there, the alienation of choice (like having a playdate or birthday party for your child and not inviting the only ‘other’ kid in class), or exercising your particular beliefs that are in direct conflict with someone else’s.  In politics, it is the ignoring of a particular group, and it is the inclusion of a group when they want to be left out.

In politics, if you hold a press conference and some ‘ism’ isn’t there, they are going to call you out for not welcoming them.  If you challenge someone from that same ism, someone is going to call you a bigot or a racist.  Unlike a monolithic, homogenous group—the great state of Vermont, the national Republican Party, the Nation of Islam—you can be insulated and survive if you make a mistake about an outsider, because the group doesn’t have the same visceral concern as the entity being singled out.  But try that in Oakland, and you are vilified.

What you do after you make the conflict occur is your measure of character in a pluralistic society.  If you chose to make the conflict happen on purpose, because you have the need to stir up change, it is not going to go well for you.  Yet there are times when you find out things that you cannot ignore any longer, and you have a moral obligation to address that fight, even if it costs you.  That is the sign of leadership.

With that, I am supporting Courtney Ruby as my 3^rd choice for Mayor.

Courtney gets the nod for a variety of reasons; she understands the issues, she has demonstrated an ability to work in a complex environment, she has a vision for funding her administration issues.  If for nothing else, she took the elected position of City Auditor seriously.  In a decidedly union controlled city government, she went after the elephant hiding in the corner of the room under a lampshade and turned on the light.  She has discovered millions of dollars being wasted in city government.  Ruby actually ran the numbers to find cost savings, $9 million in public works, $2.5 million in parking fees, $3 million in payroll: http://www.courtneyruby.com/do-the-math-oakland/, and has asked for whistleblowers to help expose mismanagement.

For the life of me, I cannot understand how you could be a candidate for Mayor and not try to find a comparative advantage in speaking to the numbers against a mayor that doesn’t understand numbers.  There were 20 Mayoral debates over the last 3 months, and very rarely was the issue of the actual financials of the city ever articulated by most of the top candidates.  Why?  Because the candidates never bothered to get the specifics from the city auditors office.  For all of the grandstanding the Mayor and other candidates have had, in the year head start these candidates had on Ruby by entering the race late, only Tuman went to her to ask about the city’s financials.

Far too often, much of the electeds take themselves and not the role of the position to heart.  Ruby practices what she preaches.  For years, she lived in a rough neighborhood in East Oakland; she joined local community based organizations, and as a single person, she adopted two biracial black boys, all without fanfare.

Challenge: the character she possesses in working behind the scenes, not tooting her own horn, and not defending herself when allegations of racism were levied against her has not served her well in the race for Mayor.  Her high road has been interpreted as soft or an admission of guilt.  Additionally, serving as the city’s accountant does not translate into serving as the city’s cheerleading chief officer.  Ruby needed to make her case to the community, and she needed to be out ahead of the pack; there simply may not be enough time for her to fully articulate herself, despite being elected twice in citywide elections as auditor.  Ruby showed her toughness by being the candidate with the most to lose in this race; if she loses, she’s out of office—unlike Libby Schaaf, would could conceivably run for City Council in the At-Large seat in the case of a Kaplan win for mayor (Kaplan would need to give up her seat prematurely, leaving the window for a special election), Ruby has no other place to go.  I admire someone who is willing to give up an easy incumbent win and take the chance to lead at a more visible level.

Paraphrasing the Bible verse Luke 12:48, John F. Kennedy once said  “To those whom much is given, much is expected.”  At 43, he became the youngest and the 1^st Catholic President of the United States.  He also became the 1^st President born in the 20^th Century, and his ascendancy represented the best and brightest taking center stage in leading America forward.  Kennedy was well aware of his elite, privileged position within his community and the moral obligation to service that his state required.

Martin Luther King Kennedy’s contemporary and a giant in the African American community, was hardly the financial elite in either black or white comparisons for the time.  Yet King was the third generation of black preachers, and he himself obtained a PhD from Boston University.

King and Kennedy, coming from different sides of the track were both able to prove their standing by articulating their positions on governance; they were deep thinkers, and understood that people wouldn’t follow them simply because they were rich or well educated.  Further, they matched the rhetorical by establishing themselves in their respective communities with credible records of years of public service before assuming the spotlight and higher organizational leadership, a tradition that continues today in the Democratic community as with Obama.  Finally, they showed a reverence to the giants of the past, and were able to be catapulted into the American consciousness because old school people believed in them, counseled them in the ways of the past, and remained an integral part of their advisory teams, even when they had transitioned leadership to the youth.

With that, I will not be voting for Bryan Parker.

Illustrating the promise of America, at age 43 Bryan Parker launched a candidacy that represents the potential of blacks when they work hard.  Parker is part of the new wave of educated African Americans, with a distinct difference that may or may not present an advantage: his management experiences and leadership development did not come from service.  Parker imagery plays off of the notion that professional achievement with the association that professional management, particularly in technology, will transform Oakland.  It is the moderate Republican election blueprint in a decidedly left of center Democratic city.

With the tactical plan of incorporating social media and online marketing to make for regular, cheap outreach to the younger voters, the Parker team jumped out ahead of everyone.  He was the 1^st candidate in the field of 15, and raised more money than all of the other candidates combined by June 2013.  He was able to show the power of organization, and pointed to his knack for innovation as singling himself out as a different kind of candidate.  Like many technology driven leaders, they try to show the efficacy of what technology can offer an organization.

Almost 18 months later, what Parker’s candidacy frequently represents instead is the ugly side of the dot com generation: uncontained ego, lack of truth, accept-a-disjointed-vision-because-I-say-so, the request for support because I personally have been successful (and therefore know what I’m doing), people don’t matter, winning by any means does.

This campaign illustrates they have a penchant of wanting to be first rather than wanting to be right.  He is the paparazzi among journalists in the 2014 campaign.

Take for example, last winter.  In an overnight maneuver, Parker placed hundreds of campaign signs around the city, months ahead of any other competitor.  Strategic, yet a campaign violation.  Because of the speed, clandestine nature and the manner in which the signs were posted, it was clear that it was a professional job and not the work of any grassroots, volunteer team.  It was a calculated move to garner name and face recognition.  The additional, most disturbing problem was that the signs were illegally placed.  All of the signs were on city, state, federal, county, and military property, and none were at businesses or the residences of voters.  They were placed in dangerous intersections and freeway onramps, places visible for safety thoroughfares, but targets to reach high traffic areas for commuters.

Of the top candidates, his platform is the most incomplete.  Two of his three major platform positions involve schools and education— a play to families, but limiting in real value when you realize that the governance of the school district and the management of the city are two distinct systems with different leadership in place.

The area that should be a position of strength for Parker—economic growth—suffers from a lack of vision, and a real awareness of what is happening in the area.  http://bryanparker.org/policy-platform/  In the Economic development platform, there is a goal of 20,000 jobs (last year it was 10,000) by 2020.  When we go through the plan, we discover that 16,000 of these jobs are directly attributed to the Port of Oakland, a place the Parker knows very well is most influenced by the Port Commission (to which he currently serves) and not the efforts of Oakland city government.  Moreover, over 21,000 jobs were created in the Oakland-Hayward-Fremont area just from September 2013 to September 2014.  Not a real ambitious goal of creating 6,000 jobs in 6 years for the largest city in the Eastbay for a job creator.

While serving on the Workforce Investment Board, and later becoming the Board Chair, he not only didn’t create jobs, but was on the watch when Oakland had to return $600,000 to the federal government because the WIB couldn’t create jobs as mandated by the federal grant.  If Parker wants to create the fastest jobs possible, he clearly isn’t speaking to the African American community or an unskilled labor force.  Fast jobs come in two ways: high tech and fast food; the former that can’t get, and the latter they don’t want.

Since graduating from college 20 years ago, Parker hasn’t held a position for more than 3 years in any company; perhaps a laudatory climb in technology, but a treacherous sign in leadership and governance.  People want you to show you can stick to something, and seeking a job that would be your longest commitment is not a good thing.

The 2000 pound gorilla in the room is the black political community.  Parker cannot escape the obvious; the old school doesn’t see him as loyal, and there doesn’t seem to be anything he won’t do to enrich himself.  There are several unanswered questions out there about Parker as a person, and his relationships, and his civic engagement, yet he won’t answer them.  The lack of social graces and lack of historical knowledge (and reverence) is adding to the narrative.  Mayor Jean Quan confidant Sandre Swanson convinced her to remove a progressive black female from the Port Commission and appoint Parker.  She did.  Two months later, she found out that Parker had lied to her about his political aspirations, and was running against her.  I don’t care about lying to Quan; that is a part of the game these folks play.  It is about the older, disappearing black generation giving him a shot to obtain experience, it’s about trust, and it’s about respect for someone that goes out on a limb to support you, particularly when you’ve done nothing to warrant that support.

Too much about this campaign speaks to outsider—not of the political system, but of Oakland altogether.  No Oakland roots; no Oakland family, no significant contributions to the community as a whole.  Over 2/3 of his contributions are from outside the area, and most of his endorsements come from outsiders.  Even when you look at the internal endorsements, they come from groups like the Oakland Chamber of Commerce, a group that until 6 months ago, had an Executive Director for 17 years that lived 2 counties away.  When the #1 cheerleader for Oakland business doesn’t even live in the county, or the next one, you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to see that they don’t really have Oakland in their veins.

The real credible nod comes from African American clergy—until you read between the lines and realize that he was not only selected as a distant 2^nd choice (nearly tied for 3^rd ), but the only African American candidate chosen by the clergy.  This was a mercy nod to Parker.  If he didn’t make the cut, it would have amounted to an unprecedented move for the black church not to select any black candidate; and would have sent ripples in the black community.  Thus, they were forced to make that vote.

Hours after the announcement, Parker’s campaign went public and stated that they were the black Pastor’s choice in Oakland.  By the afternoon, they had been called out by the clergy, and pulled the endorsement letter.

We expected more out of Parker; perhaps because the young elite black community knows him and anticipated he would understand our tenuous position in the 16^th largest black city in America; perhaps because he said he understood business, development, and job creation but provides no solutions; perhaps because he is more likely to cite the merits of Mitt Romney than he is MLK.  I think it’s because he is not a part of the 99%, and we are not accustomed to someone black without real passion for the traditional downtrodden in urban America.  For the last year, Parker has shown a penchant to ignore them; dozens of posts about Oakland, with no references to the disadvantaged; a facebook page that displayed pictures of Oakland, with no pictures of East Oakland, and a smattering of scenes that included blacks.  We expected him to be more black, and it ain’t happenin’.  This isn’t for the obvious reason that he is black; it is for the notion that someone who pledges an African American fraternity, is a returning member of 100 Black Men of America, attends an African American church, and is the Chair of the Workforce Investment Board, you’d expect him to relate to the critical challenges of education, crime, business development, gentrification, and political coalitions through osmosis.  There is a real reason why Parker saw no endorsements or political lift from his involvement in these institutions; they don’t trust him….and to represent my interests at a local level, neither do I.