By Special to The Post

Alena Maunder is a third-generation Marin City resident, parent, community advocate, and former Sausalito Marin City School District Trustee who served from 2020 to 2024.

Professionally, Alena is a registered nurse with more than 20 years of healthcare experience and nine years in leadership. She holds degrees in Psychology and Nursing, as well as a Master of Science in Nursing.

With school board experience, she brings a strong understanding of governance, fiscal oversight, accountability, and the importance of stable district leadership.

Alena has also remained actively involved in Marin City through community service, youth programs, and initiatives focused on strengthening opportunities and resources for children and families.

Maunder is seeking to return to the Board to continue advocating for academic excellence, fiscal responsibility, strong special education and mental-health supports, and meaningful community engagement. She is committed to strengthening relationships among students, educators, families, and the Marin City and Sausalito communities while ensuring every student has the opportunity to succeed.

Her campaign reflects her commitment to “Experienced Leadership. Students First.”

Learn more at www.electalenasmcsd.com.

Becerra Urges Black Leaders to Turn Out the Vote in Record Numbers

 A week before the Nov. 3 election where he hopes to succeed Gov. Gavin Newsom as the next democratic governor, former U.S. Secretary of Health Xavier Becerra (center) stopped in Oakland to meet with Black leaders. Welcomed by Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee (center right), who is seeking reelection herself, Becerra said he was proud to stand with Black leaders in Oakland as Election Day grows closer. “Thank you to the elected officials, faith leaders, civic and community leaders who joined us at Oakstop, a Black-owned business that supports local entrepreneurs, artists, and community organizations. This election is about protecting all of California’s communities,” he said. “Let’s finish together.” They were joined by constituents Paul and Gay Cobb (left) and Sacramento Observer Publisher Larry Lee (right). Photo by Jonathan ‘Fitness’ Jones. 

For the last month, I have been crisscrossing my home state of Florida, connecting with families, communities, and voters about the November elections. Are people scared? Yes. Are they worried? No doubt. But most importantly, the primary feeling in the streets and homes of Floridians is that people are fed up and they want change.

They have had enough of the attacks on education, the skyrocketing cost of living, the scapegoating of minorities, the lies, the grifting and greed. The status quo is no longer acceptable, and when voters go to the ballot box, they will be voting for change. Why am I so confident? Because I’ve seen this before—we all have. In 2008, America was frustrated with a vastly unpopular president, caught in an equally unpopular war while presiding over a shrinking economy and rising prices. The result? America turned the page with the historic election of Barack Obama, ushering in an era of prosperity and peace.And Florida is ready for this moment, as I believe it sits at the epicenter of three converging factors that will be the path to victory.

First, and perhaps most crucially, labor unions have embraced their duty to protect the rights of workers in the state. That may seem obvious, but when you consider the state’s anti-union legislation—namely Florida’s Senate Bill 256, which creates new and restrictive challenges to unions’ bargaining powers—you understand the scope of the issue. When you attack workers’ rights to advocate for their wages, working conditions and benefits, you send a message that their voices don’t matter. That’s why unions like ours, the Florida Education Association, United Teachers of Dade and countless others, have not folded in the face of adversity; we have stood 10 toes down in our ongoing fight for workers’ rights. We have maintained our infrastructure, our membership networks and, most importantly, our alliances with others.

Those alliances are a second factor in the upcoming change election, because it is simply not enough to maintain democracy; we must continue to expand it, and that requires community. I saw that community-building firsthand when I joined the National Black Justice Coalition, civil rights attorney Ben Crump, and elected officials like state Reps. Fentrice Driskell and Dianne Hart at the state capitol to push back against Gov. Ron DeSantis’ plan to cancel the nation’s first Advanced Placement course focusing on Black culture.

My union also worked with the local NAACP to furnish 10,000 books for new Freedom Libraries in response to the governor’s “Stop WOKE” act, which marked Black stories and history as too “woke” and unfit for our kids.

These acts of solidarity mean something to the men, women and children in our communities who often feel like no one cares about them and the issues that affect them. By locking arms and walking together with other organizations, we show not only that we care, but that we have a plan to fight against injustice. And once the people see a plan and results, the hunger for justice grows. But while we will never stop fighting for American workers and their families, there is a limit to what unions can achieve on our own. Which is why, especially in our democracy, we look for trusted, competent leaders to represent, advocate for and legislate on behalf of the people—all the people.

That brings me to the third crucial element: candidates who can capitalize on the moment. As I said earlier this summer, “The true test of this political moment is whether we can capitalize on the localized excitement of the August Primary to fuel a historic turnout engine for the General Election.” It’s clear to me that the rampant illegality and incompetence of the Trump administration not only is a drag on Republican candidates (see how they run), but also has created a wide open lane for Democrats to use. But that opportunity is useless without leaders the people believe in. Thankfully, we have that in abundance across the board, including folks like David Jolly, Gwen Graham, Angie Nixon, Annette Taddeo and Jose Javier Rodriguez. I have stood next to many leaders—presidents, senators and more; I know greatness when I feel it, and I can tell the people feel it too. These candidates have both hands on the pulse of Florida and know that anyone NOT fighting for higher wages, better investment in public education and lowering healthcare costs is the wrong person for Florida. They are fearless, principled and dedicated to justice—the exact opposite of the current leadership Florida has watched wreck the state one institution at a time.

The stars have aligned. The stage has been set. And now, the last element, the only thing needed for change—the kind of change Florida has been begging for—is you. Closed mouths don’t get fed, so if you have any illusions about sitting this election out because you’re not convinced it will affect you, think about the last seven years in Florida and ask yourself if you would like to repeat them. If you are fine with the status quo, the rising costs, the attacks on education and culture, then perhaps change is not for you. But if you are like the thousands of people I have seen and talked to in the last month, you are ready to turn the page. That starts with your vote: Whether early, by mail or in person, NOW is the time to make your voice heard.

By Joe W. Bowers Jr., California Black Media

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Xavier Becerra outlined his priorities for housing, health care, education and civil rights during an Oct. 15 meeting with Black elected officials and community leaders in South Los Angeles.

Los Angeles County Supervisor Holly Mitchell introduced Becerra, citing his experience in the Legislature, Congress and federal government.

“We need people who have walked where we have walked and understand the communities that we all live in, come from, and represent,” Mitchell said.

Becerra pledged to defend diversity, equity and inclusion programs against federal opposition and criticized voter identification requirements as barriers to voting.

“If there’s a fight for that diversity, that strength, that inclusion, that equity, count me in, and let me use the governor’s office to make it clear,” he said.

Identifying housing and health care as immediate priorities, Becerra said more than 40,000 housing units are awaiting financing. He cited Proposition 1, a housing bond measure on November’s ballot, as a potential funding source.

“Prop 1 would give us the money to help start getting those moving,” he said. “And the more you build, the more you relieve the pressure, the demand for housing, which means you can probably see the price stabilize as well.”

On homelessness, he demanded measurable results from cities and counties receiving state funding.

“We will demand accountability when it comes to homelessness,” he said. “I’m not willing to let $1 from the state, from taxpayers, go to a city or a county unless they can show me how they’re going to use the dollar and what the results will be.”

He advocated temporary shelter, mental health and substance use treatment, and intervention before families lose their homes.

Becerra warned that federal Medicaid cuts could leave millions without coverage and threaten hospitals and clinics.

“If these families lose their insurance and still go in for care, now the doctors and the hospitals won’t get paid,” he said. “I want to make sure neither the patients nor the providers feel like Trump’s cuts are going to undermine our health care system.”

He said he is consulting providers and insurers but offered no financing plan.

Addressing surveillance and artificial intelligence, Becerra urged safeguards against discriminatory tracking and dangerous technology, including possible government authority to shut down unsafe AI systems.

“Once you give up your privacy, you can’t get it back,” he said.

He also criticized federal immigration enforcement and advocated comprehensive immigration reform, citing uncertainty for families and employers dependent on immigrant labor.

On education, Becerra supported expanded early childhood learning, tutoring, stronger academic standards and experienced teachers in underperforming schools. He opposed directing public education funding toward for-profit private schools.

“Keep your taxpayer dollars in our public community schools,” he said. “Don’t let those tax dollars go to for-profit private schools first, because it’s already tough enough as it is.”

He said schools must address learning gaps early rather than advancing students without grade-level skills.

“Too many of our kids are starting even kindergarten, and they’re not ready to learn,” he said. “And is it surprising that by the third grade they’re not reading or doing math at grade level?”

He also urged districts to assign skilled teachers to schools with the greatest needs, working with unions to address compensation.

The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) commemorates its 100th anniversary this year, marking a century of advocacy, innovation, and leadership in early childhood education (ECE).

Founded in 1926 as the National Association for Nursery Education, NAEYC began with a simple but powerful belief: young children deserve better, and the people who care for them deserve a voice. Today, NAEYC stands as the nation’s largest early childhood education association, with tens of thousands of members, 50 affiliates in nearly every state, more than 5,800 accredited early learning programs serving over half a million children and nearly half a million families, and nearly 180 accredited higher education programs teaching the next generation of early childhood educators.

“Our work has never been more urgent,” said NAEYC CEO Michelle Kang. “We need systems that truly value children and the people who care for and educate them.  Early childhood educators are the workforce behind the workforce—skilled, dedicated professionals whose impact reaches children, families, businesses, and communities nationwide. By recognizing these educators’ expertise, investing in their compensation, and elevating their contributions, we invest in our collective future.”

A Century of Progress

Over the past 100 years, NAEYC has created the foundational infrastructure of the early childhood education field. Key milestones include:

• Publishing the first professional standards in 1929
• Collaborating to develop the Child Development Associate (CDA) credential in the 1970s
• Launching the first voluntary national accreditation system in 1985
• Establishing Developmentally Appropriate Practice guidelines in 1987 to promote each child’s optimal development and learning
• Creating the field’s first Code of Ethics in 1989

More recently, NAEYC convened Power to the Profession (2017–2020), a national collaboration of 15 organizations and 11,000+ educators that developed the “Unifying Framework,” which defines shared career pathways, qualifications, and compensation recommendations for the early childhood workforce.

A Crisis of Today

While the science is clear that high-quality early childhood education changes trajectories for children, families, and communities, today’s early childhood educators remain undervalued and under-supported. Early childhood educators currently earn a median wage of $15.41 per hour, even as families pay an average of $13,128 per year for child care.

“Families can’t afford to pay more, educators can’t afford to earn less,” said Kang. “Our entire nation suffers as parents can’t find or afford the high-quality care they need, pulling themselves out of the workforce in the process.”

A Year of Reflections and Events

As the centerpiece of its centennial commemoration, NAEYC has launched A Year of Reflections, a storytelling initiative inviting educators, families, and advocates to share the moments, mentors, and milestones that have shaped their journeys in early childhood education. Monthly themes throughout 2026—from beginnings to workforce advocacy to a vision for the future—aim to not only surface important stories and storytellers in the field  but will help inform NAEYC’s next chapter.

I’m going through the most challenging experience of my life with SHAPE,” said Deloyd Parker. He has served as the executive director of the historic SHAPE Community Center for over 57 years and is still energetic and driven by the love of serving the people. Known as “The United Nations of The ‘Hood,” SHAPE is a precious cornerstone of Houston’s Third Ward, serving generations of families through programs and activities, with emphasis on Unity, Self-Determination, Collective Work & Responsibility, Cooperative Economics, Purpose, Creativity, and Faith.

January 2027 will mark two years since a devastating electrical fire took place at SHAPE’s Nia Becnel Family Center, located at 3815 Live Oak. The building and priceless historical items were significantly damaged and lost. That included the “Wall of Fame” photo collection that adorned the interior walls. Nedzra Ward, President of the Board of Directors, shared how the fi rst few days aft er the fire were very trying for everyone who loved SHAPE and those who visited the sacred grounds were in shock and silence. “We knew we had to start working to get things back up,” said Ms. Ward who has been apart of SHAPE’s staff and board for decades. In the aftermath, Ms. Ward called the insurance company and then reached out to Charles Cave to be the lead project manager. They also reached out to engineers Brian Smith, Barbara Smith and Frank Brown, and other experts to formulate the group known as Together Building Back Better (TBBB).

The team met weekly at the Harambee Admin Building located at 3903 Almeda Rd. And to continue serving the people, Mr. Parker and team worked to get that building certified and operational, especially for the children. “Deloyd never stopped. He was the driving force for everything. He made sure that someone was taking care of licenses and that this place was being refigured. His whole goal was to have these kids back and in a safe environment,” said Ms. Ward. “We have served the people for 57 years and as a result of serving the people, the people are coming through,” said Mr. Parker. “It’s going to take more than a fi re to put us out.

Volunteers from the community stepped up to help at Harambee Admin Building. Many programs, events and activities have resumed including the weekly Elders Institute of Wisdom and enrollment is now open for the 2026-2027 After School Enrichment Program. Soft opening scheduled for November The desire was to reopen the gutted Live Oak location within a year but Ms. Ward and Mr. Cave described the many challenges SHAPE has faced in this rebuilding effort. The insurance did not cover everything that’s needed and tariffs

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Based on reporting by African-American News and Issues – Dallas.