It’s been about three weeks since this author interviewed Oakland Activist and Candidate for Mayor of Oakland Cat Brooks, and what has she done since then? Well, before we go further, it’s a good idea to watch our over hour long and wide-ranging talk over a cup of tea or coffee, here….
Ok.
What Cat Brooks has done is march with those who were rightfully concerned over the failure of my friend San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón to bring to justice the SFPD Officers who were the killers of black men in the cases of the 2015 shooting of Mario Woods and the 2016 shooting of Luis Gongora.
After that, she worked, and is working, to build her campaign staff – but in a special way and with a different focus: helping people along the way. Specifically, Oakland artists, many who I struggling to keep a roof over their heads. To that end, she’s hosting an event called “Keeping Art In Oakland” on June 6th, at the Joyce Gordon Gallery at 406 14th St, Oakland, at 6:30 PM.
You can find out more at her website here, and also donate to her campaign, as she’s working to raise $5,000 in just two days (!) It’s important to help Cat Brooks build, frankly because the incumbent Mayor of Oakland Libby Schaaf needs a truly effective challenger to her seat. Oakland Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan may have, once again, waited too late to get into the game, Ken Houston’s made himself invisible to all but, well, himself and his Instagram following, Jesse Smith needs to get off the smartphone, out of the cafe, and beyond Twitter, Saied Kamarooz can be great if he wants to be, Nancy Sidebotham was a guest on Zennie62 on YouTube last night and could make a real splash if she holds her own town hall meeting, and the others haven’t done jack to make themselves known to anyone.
Otherwise, Mayor Schaaf doesn’t improve, and Oakland’s the worse for it.
Having no real challenger for Mayor of Oakland also reflect what honestly has to be seen as an electorate that’s not engaged politically in an election year. That’s weird. It’s one thing to talk, another to protest, but its the simple act of supporting candidates and going to your polling place in Oakland to make choices that really does change things.
That’s a fact.
Stay tuned.