By Rev. Charlotte Y. Williams, Special to The Post

The Prostate Cancer 2500™ Care Summit brings together health systems, community organizations, and survivors to put early detection within reach

Black men in America are diagnosed with prostate cancer more often than other men and are about twice as likely to die from it. Early detection changes that outcome.

On Saturday, Oct. 17 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Allen Temple Baptist Church will host the Prostate Cancer 2500™ Care Summit (#PC2500), a free event open to the entire community.

. Attendees can receive prostate cancer screenings and health consultations on site, learn about prevention and nutrition, ask medical experts questions in an interactive Q&A, and hear from survivors who will share their stories and offer support.

Screening is recommended beginning at age 45, and at age 40 for Black men with a family history of prostate cancer. All men are welcome, and families are encouraged to attend.

The summit’s mission is to reduce the impact of prostate cancer through education, early detection, research, and support. It is presented in partnership with The Oakland Institute of Health, Inc., SCAN, Brotherhood of Elders Network, UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, Alameda County Public Health Department, Stanford Medicine Cancer Center, Impact Oakland Now, Bay Area Umoja Health, Bay Area Black Nurses Association, Inc., and 100 Black Men of the Bay Area, Inc.

For more information prior to the event, reach out to Rev. Charlotte Y. Williams at (510) 604-5242 | [email protected]

For more information on the day of the event, reach out to Deacon Dwight Williams (510) 501-1650 [email protected]. The church is located at 8501 International Blvd., Oakland, CA 94621 The service is free and free parking and refreshments will be provided. The site is accessible to persons with disabilities. To pre-register, go to Allen-Temple.org

Allen Temple Baptist Church was organized in 1919 in Oakland. For 107 years, ATBC has served as a bright beacon of faith, hope, and love beyond its’ four walls. Allen Temple is committed to sharing the love of God and the message of Good News throughout the world. We welcome people of all ages and cultural backgrounds as we joyfully celebrate worship and fellowship, and carry out ministries of evangelism, discipleship, education, community outreach, and global missions. Allen Temple’s holistic, prophetic and social justice ministries address the needs of the whole person as well as the whole community. Dr. Jacqueline A. Thompson.

Rev. Charlotte Y. Williams is the minister and director of Communications at Allen Temple Baptist Church.

By Post Staff

In the AC Transit Ward 3 election, AC Transit’s labor organizations have recently expressed their endorsement for Director Joel Young, recognizing his longstanding commitment to public transportation, workforce investment, and the employees who keep AC Transit moving every day.

Those unions include the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 192, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1245, and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3916.

ATU Local 192 Vice President Nathaniel Arnold stated “our support reflects confidence in Young’s leadership and experience as the longest-serving member of AC Transit’s current Board of Directors. His experience is particularly important as AC Transit confronts serious fiscal challenges while working to preserve and strengthen service.

“At a time when difficult decisions lie ahead, Young brings institutional knowledge, longstanding relationships, and a demonstrated commitment to public transportation.

“Since joining the board in 2009, Young has served in key leadership roles, including president and vice president, helping guide AC Transit through periods of growth, innovation, and change.

During his tenure, he helped AC Transit secure more than $600 million in funding to support critical transportation investments. Young has also helped advance workforce development initiatives, support transit technology improvements, expand AC Transit’s zero-emission bus fleet, and strengthen the District’s national presence on transportation policy issues.

His leadership has extended beyond the Bay Area.

Young has represented AC Transit on the national stage, including participation in the White House Roundtable on Clean Bus Manufacturing, where transit leaders and policymakers discussed the future of clean transportation and domestic manufacturing.

By Richmond Standard Staff

West County residents can receive locally grown produce through Urban Tilth’s Farm to Table Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program, with home delivery and pickup options available.

Contra Costa County Supervisor John Gioia highlighted the program in his newsletter, pointing out that his district office in El Cerrito serves as a pickup location.

Weekly or bi-weekly subscriptions include seasonal greens, vegetables, fruits and herbs. Produce comes from Urban Tilth’s North Richmond Farm and farms within 200 miles of Richmond, including small family farms and those owned by BIPOC, women and LGBTQIA+ growers.

Subscriptions also support hands-on job training for local youth and volunteer opportunities.

The standard price is $50 per week, which Urban Tilth says reflects the true cost of fresh, sustainably sourced, locally grown produce. A subsidized “Food for All” price of $15 per week is available for individuals and families with extremely limited financial resources. Both options provide the same produce and service.

Gioia’s office is located at 11780 San Pablo Ave., Suite D, in El Cerrito. To sign up or learn more about pickup and delivery options, visit urbantilth.org/heal/csa.

By Ruth Dessault, Bay City News

More than 100 protesters packed the Marin County Board of Supervisors chamber Sept. 29, urging supervisors to consider an ordinance restricting the actions of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.

County and state officials are already advancing some measures that overlap with demands the protesters have made for the past year.

“I want to share that the immigration subcommittee has been hard at work drafting important board policy as directed by the Board of Supervisors,” said Marin County Executive Derek Johnson, referring to policy that will prevent the use of county property for federal immigration enforcement activities.

“County resources are to never be used in the furtherance of federal immigration enforcement,” Johnson said, of the policy which is still in development. “The policy will require all county employees to notify the county executive within 24 hours of any immigration enforcement activity in which they become aware on county property.”

Those policy goals align with the two central provisions proposed by the No ICE in Marin Coalition, which filled the room at Tuesday’s meeting.

Their policy proposal, called ICE-Free Marin, prohibits ICE from using county property, resources or personnel without a judicial warrant and establishes clear reporting requirements whenever county department staff observe or communicate with federal immigration authorities. Those interactions may include the service of subpoenas and warrants, as well as attempts to access county facilities.

The ICE-Free Marin ordinance would require the county to post signs and barriers restricting ICE from entering county property, with county staff denying ICE officials entry and refusing to provide information and assistance. If ICE disregards directives, the county counsel would seek a court order to stop them, and if ICE unlawfully detains someone, they can be challenged in court, according to the ordinance.

Last year, the group protested the county’s participation in the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program, administered by the U.S. Department of Justice in conjunction with ICE and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

SCAAP funds are used to reimburse costs incurred for jailing immigrants lacking permanent legal status who have at least one felony or two misdemeanor convictions and are incarcerated for a minimum of four consecutive days.

In February, the county announced its 2026-28 budget does not include SCAAP funding.

State Takes Action on Immigrant Protections

Also on Sep.t 29, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a package of more than 20 bills aimed at increasing state oversight of federal immigration enforcement and protecting immigrant communities, according to a news release from the governor’s office.

The state legislation creates a 25% tax on private detention centers, expands health and safety oversight in those centers, requires additional public input and planning approvals for new facilities, and strengthens the role of state Attorney General Rob Bonta in inspecting them.

The measures also ban law enforcement from using wearable electroshock “shock gloves,” restrict flash-bang grenades and explosive breaching charges, limit the use of state-owned property for federal immigration operations, and require temporary identification decals on rental vehicles used by law enforcement.

The legislation expands access to public records involving private detention facilities and restricts former federal immigration officers who committed serious misconduct from becoming California peace officers or public employees.

Other measures allow people to sue federal officials for alleged violations of their constitutional rights and protect people traveling to and from courthouses from civil immigration arrests.

“We may not be able to dictate federal immigration enforcement policy, but we can make clear that activities taking place in California will be subject to California law,” the governor said in a video message announcing the bills.

The group leading the local campaign for the ICE-Free Marin ordinance is the Democratic Socialists of America. DSA spokesperson Courtney Sadowski said in an email that the group has spoken with supervisors Eric Lucan, Mary Sackett, Dennis Rodoni and Stephanie Moulton-Peters.

“But none have committed to introducing the ICE-Free Marin ordinance,” Sadowski said.

The group has attended numerous meetings of the Civilian Oversight Commission of the Sheriff’s Office asking for their support, she said.

“We cannot afford to wait the months or years it would take them to review and consider this item,” she said. “Even if they moved more quickly, all they can do is issue a recommendation.”

Speakers Weigh In

Hector Garcia, a community library specialist with the Marin County Free Library, spoke to the supervisors. He said that he recently completed an intense Department of Justice certification that will allow him to provide immigration services at the library.

The Recognition and Accreditation program allows qualified non-attorney staff working for eligible nonprofit organizations to legally provide immigration services for low-income and indigent individuals who cannot afford private attorneys.

“It would be impossible for me to fulfill this job with the presence of ICE,” Garcia said. “A fascist police force, they disregard the law, terrorize, assassinate and separate Black indigenous people of color and their families.”

Lisa Bennett with the Marin Rapid Response Network, a nonprofit that helps families locate detained relatives and provides other support services, said families go into shock when the major breadwinner is detained.

“Basic things like money for food, utilities, even driving are no longer a given,” she said. “They worry about their parent’s medical needs. They worry about themselves being next. They worry about what happens if the remaining parent is taken. This is what our government is doing to its own people. Silence is complicity.”

By Fredrick D. Redmond, AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer and Fedrick C. Ingram, American Federation of Teachers (AFT) Secretary-Treasurer

Byron Donalds wants to be Florida’s next governor. Not on our watch. 

Our stance is rooted in an old saying coined by Floridian Zora Neale Hurston in her final major nonfiction work, Dust Tracks on a Road, set in Florida. “All skinfolk ain’t kinfolk” is an idiom that distinguishes shared identity from shared interests.

The congressman has done little to advance the cause of Black workers. In fact, on the AFL-CIO’s legislative scorecard, which tracks how legislators vote on the issues and policies that matter to working people, Rep. Donalds has voted against working people every time except once – giving him a lifetime score of 1%.

He has built his political identity around his support for Donald Trump and his embrace of Gov. Ron DeSantis, two political figures whose policies have undermined, undercut and trampled on our rights and freedoms.

As governor, DeSantis has been nearly surgical with his assault on the Black community, especially in education, where he undermined the state’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities through installing crony politicians; banned books by and about us from school libraries, rejected the country’s first AP course on Black culture, and instituted the STOP WOKE Act, which 11th Circuit judge rightfully demeaned as a “breathtaking assertion of power to ban unpopular ideas from public discourse.”

But he didn’t stop there. Next was Black employment.

As national labor leaders, we have witnessed the relationship between strong worker representation and stronger communities – especially for Black communities who over index when it comes to union membership. Like us, they have experienced the power of collective bargaining to help educators advocate for classroom resources, nurses raise concerns about patient care, and public employees seek fair compensation and safer working conditions. We have also seen the consequences when workers have fewer avenues to influence decisions affecting their livelihoods.

So it should come as no surprise that in 2023, DeSantis signed Senate Bill 256, imposing new restrictions on many public-sector labor unions by creating new challenges for unions seeking to maintain their bargaining certifications. This law is a direct threat to the sovereignty of American workers who have historically used unions to negotiate wages, benefits, workplace protections and the conditions under which essential public services are delivered.

The struggle for civil rights and the struggle for workers’ rights have long intersected. From A. Philip Randolph’s organizing of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters to the 1968 Memphis sanitation workers’ strike, demands for economic dignity have stood alongside demands for equal treatment under the law.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. understood that the promise of civil rights could not be fully realized without economic justice. His final campaign in Memphis reflected the conviction that workers’ rights, racial equality and human dignity were inseparable.

That history offers an important lesson for the present: Political representation and substantive policy representation are not necessarily the same thing.

That is history Byron Donalds has either forgotten or refuses to consider. Either way, it lays bare his disconnect from the collective vision of America most Black people share – one that acknowledges real differences while working to reduce the negative impacts of those differences. Donalds has adopted a different vision – one that thinks it more valiant to turn a blind eye to the disparate outcomes race creates in employment, education, and health care rather than admit there are real, structural issues that need to be addressed.

One person who does seem to understand and is working to do better is Donalds’ opponent, David Jolly, a former Republican congressman now running as a Democrat.  He has positioned his candidacy as an alternative to the DeSantis approach, emphasizing affordability, public schools and a different direction for state government. And while we may not share skin color or a cultural history with Jolly, we do share his commitment to fight for equality and the dignity of the American worker. 

The November 3 gubernatorial election presents Floridians with a choice between candidates offering different approaches to governing. Byron Donalds has sided with DeSantis who has made their disdain for Black people loud and law, and Jolly who sided with us and our understanding of community and collective power. 

Every election is an opportunity to examine not only what candidates promise, but also what their records and policy commitments reveal.

For working people, that examination must include a fundamental principle: Economic prosperity and democratic participation are strongest when the people who do the work have a meaningful voice in shaping their future.

Florida’s next chapter will be written through the decisions of its people and the accountability they demand of those entrusted with public office.

That is the enduring promise of democracy—and a responsibility that belongs to all of us.

Fredrick D. Redmond, the highest-ranking African American labor official in history, is the Secretary-Treasurer of the AFL-CIO, the nation’s largest labor federation representing 65 unions and nearly 15 million workers. 

Fedrick C. Ingram is the Secretary-Treasurer of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), representing 1.8 million educators, healthcare workers, and public employees. 

HOUSTON — A new exhibition opening Sunday, Oct. 4, at The Health Museum is bringing Black maternal health into public view through art and personal storytelling.

The Call Me Mother Experience will be on display through Feb. 28, 2027. The museum lists a preview reception today from 3 to 5 p.m. at 1515 Hermann Drive, with tickets priced at $5 for members and $15 for nonmembers.

A personal story becomes a community conversation

According to the museum, founder, curator and lead artist Deborah D.E.E.P. Mouton developed the project from a poem she wrote during a miscarriage. The installation combines films, recorded interviews, visual artwork and contributions created with community members.

Mouton, Houston’s first Black poet laureate, discussed the exhibition and her connection to its subject in an Oct. 1 appearance on KPRC’s Houston Life. The station described the project as addressing the unequal burden of pregnancy-related illness and death faced by Black women in Harris County.

An announcement distributed by the Call Me Mother Experience says the initiative will also reach community locations and faith-based organizations across Greater Houston. Those additional settings are intended to extend the conversation beyond a museum visit.

What visitors can expect

The museum says reception guests can explore the exhibit, hear the curator and meet participating artists. Reception admission includes general museum entry; refreshments are available while supplies last.

The featured image accompanying this article is an original illustrative concept, not a photograph of the exhibition or its artwork.

Sources and visitor information:The Health Museum exhibition listing; preview reception details and tickets; KPRC Houston Life; organizer announcement.

The post Houston’s ‘Call Me Mother’ Exhibit Opens Today, Spotlighting Black Maternal Health appeared first on African American News and Issues.

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