Holly Kernan

Last night, Bishop Robert Jackson spoke at the Oakland City Council meeting. He and other Oakland ministers came together to demand more aggressive action from Mayor Jean Quan in response to a recent spike in violence. They asked her to call for a state of emergency. KALW’s Holly Kernan spoke with the Bishop to ask him what that would mean for the city.

In 1999, Jerry Brown called Maurice Lim Miller at home. Brown was mayor of Oakland at the time, and Miller was on the board of an organization applying for more than $10 million dollars for youth programs. 

“And most mayors you’d think would be really happy that we’re bringing that kind of money into the city,” says Miller.

But Brown wasn’t happy – he was upset. And after looking more closely at the proposal, Miller understood why.

The Unity Council has deep roots in Oakland’s Fruitvale neighborhood. Founded in 1964, the center has expanded into a national model for community development, spearheading the creation of the Fruitvale Transit Village and growing to work with about 12,000 low- to moderate-income clients per year.

KALW’s Holly Kernan asked Gilda Gonzalez, CEO of the Unity Council, to talk about the organization’s history.

The 2012 election marks the final significant broadcast for Bay Area trailblazing journalist Belva Davis. She’s come very far:

“When I was first applying for jobs in television, I had never seen a black television reporter,” Davis once said.

It’s been almost two decades since Canada, Mexico, and the U.S. signed the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA. When then-president Bill Clinton signed it, he told Congress that the agreement was the only correct response to the world’s rapidly changing economy. As a border state and a major agricultural producer, California has a big stake in NAFTA. 

U.C. Berkeley geography professor Harley Shaiken has written extensively on the agreement, and he spoke with KALW's Holly Kernan about what NAFTA has meant for this state.