2017 COUNTERPOINTS COUMNS

Shades Of China
 Trump, LaVar Ball and his boy, and the Chinese sunglasses
December 2, 2017

My Words Are My Words
 Fallout From The Demise Of A Proposal For A Black District In Downtown Oakland
November 15, 2017

Kept In The Dark About Bus Rapid Transit - Part II
 AC Transit's Falling Down On Letting The Public Know About Its Groundbreaking BRT Project
October 16, 2017

The Death Of Laney College As We Know It?
 Hard To See How The Proposed A's Baseball Stadium And Laney Community College Can Exist Across The Street From Each Other
September 18, 2017

Blood Drops On The Sidewalk
 An All-Too-Common East Oakland Mystery
September 8, 2017

Kept In The Dark About Bus Rapid Transit
 Few Bus Riders And Residents Know The Purpose For The Massive Street And Sidewalk Construction Along East Oakland's International Boulevard
August 3, 2017

The Healthlessness Of Homelessness
 How The Health Crisis In Oakland's Homeless Camps Affects All Of Us, And What We Can Do
July 25, 2017

Oakland's Black Arts And Business District Left Off State Pilot Project List
 Where Will The Official BAMBD's Funding Come From Now?
July 16, 2017

And About Those Hidden Community Benefits From Carmel Partners
 Some Details About What We Know And What We Don't Know Was Granted To The Community Coalition
June 27, 2017

A Darktown/Chinatown Brawl? A Councilmember Responds
 Councilmember McElhaney Believes That If A Problem Exists, It's Because I'm Starting It
June 13, 2017

Is There A Darktown/Chinatown Brawl In The Making In Oakland?
 Confusion In The Drafting Of The Boundaries For Oakland's Proposed New Downtown Black Cultural And Business District Could Cause A Turf Battle Between Two Of The City's Most Important Ethnic/Racial Communities
May 26, 2017

The Laney College Athletics?
  Oakland's Professional Baseball Team Is Looking At Building A Stadium On The Grounds Of One Of The City's College Campuses
May 17, 2017

The Beautiful Babies Of Khan Sheikhoun
  Donald Trump's Choices In The Wake Of Syria's Poison Gas Attack
April 11, 2017

Breaking The Stalemate Over The Oakland Black Arts District
  Narrowing it down to the two major errors that caused the problem
February 10, 2017

A Tale Of Two Visions: Oakland's Downtown Black Business And Arts District
  How a single initiative to create the district became competing proposals at odds with each other
January 26, 2017

Imagine A Special District In Downtown Oakland Highlighting Black Arts, Business, And Entertainment
  A step towards uplifting Oakland's African-American population and rising all of Oakland's boats in the process
January 12, 2017

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J. DOUGLAS ALLEN-TAYLOR

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Shades Of China

December 2, 2017

“Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth,” that fellow called Ishmael explained at the beginning of Moby Dick, “whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul; whenever I find myself involuntarily pausing before coffin warehouses, and bringing up the rear of every funeral I meet; and especially whenever my hypos get such an upper hand of me, that it requires a strong moral principle to prevent me from deliberately stepping into the street, and methodically knocking people's hats off—then, I account it high time to get to sea as soon as I can.”

Me, I got a simpler problem with a simpler solution.

Every time Donald Trump says something that makes me so mad that I want to smash in my television set or take a brick to somebody’s head—anybody’s head—my head—then I just make my way down to the corner to visit with the Professor. Nobody can riff on Donald Trump like the Professor, and usually after he’s finished, my blood pressure’s gone down and I can function in the world again. But this time, he disappointed me. [To Complete Column]