The Flatlands Newspaper

The Flatlands Newspaper (1966–1968) was published in Oakland, CA and featured news and opinion articles, profiles, photographs, and event calendars focused primarily on poverty, education, housing, police brutality, and politics in the East and West Oakland "flatlands".^[1] The newspaper was funded through a $100,000 grant from the Ford Foundation to the University of California at Berkeley in 1966.^[2] The newspaper's first issue noted that "The flatlands people have had no one to speak for them".^[3] The tagline of the newspaper read "Tell it like it is and do what is needed". The newspaper pushed for advocacy and reform for people, especially African-Americans, displaced by housing developments and Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART).^[4]

Editorial Board

The following names are associated to the Flatlands Editorial Board:^[5]

Curtis Lee Baker, a Black Nationalist and activist, also known as the "Black Jesus of West Oakland".^[6]
Vera Bumcrot
Mark Comfort
Gloria Comfort
Urban Dennis
Gene Drew
Bill Goetz
Pauline Goetz
John George
Bill Lowe
Jerry Leo
Jack Ortega
Agnes Woods
Ralph Williams.

References

^ Whitaker, Mark (2024-02-06). Saying It Loud: 1966—The Year Black Power Challenged the Civil Rights Movement. Simon and Schuster. p. 236. ISBN 978-1-9821-1413-8.
^ Investigations, United States Congress Senate Committee on Government Operations Permanent Subcommittee on (1969). Riots, Civil and Criminal Disorders: Hearings Before the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations of the Committee on Government Operations, United States Senate ... U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 5046.
^ "Flatlands Volume 1, No. 1. MS197_1966-03-12 | Oakland Public Library Digital Collections". oakland.access.preservica.com. Retrieved 2025-02-14.
^ "Guide to The Flatlands Newspaper Collection". oac.cdlib.org. Retrieved 2025-02-14.
^ "Guide to the The Flatlands Newspaper Collection". oac.cdlib.org. Retrieved 2025-02-15.
^ "Losing Just the Same". American Archive of Public Broadcasting. 1966-11-28. Retrieved 2025-02-15.

[1] Whitaker, Mark (2024-02-06). Saying It Loud: 1966—The Year Black Power Challenged the Civil Rights Movement. Simon and Schuster. p. 236. ISBN 978-1-9821-1413-8.

[2] Investigations, United States Congress Senate Committee on Government Operations Permanent Subcommittee on (1969). Riots, Civil and Criminal Disorders: Hearings Before the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations of the Committee on Government Operations, United States Senate ... U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 5046.

[3] "Flatlands Volume 1, No. 1. MS197_1966-03-12 | Oakland Public Library Digital Collections". oakland.access.preservica.com. Retrieved 2025-02-14.

[4] "Guide to The Flatlands Newspaper Collection". oac.cdlib.org. Retrieved 2025-02-14.

[5] "Guide to the The Flatlands Newspaper Collection". oac.cdlib.org. Retrieved 2025-02-15.

[6] "Losing Just the Same". American Archive of Public Broadcasting. 1966-11-28. Retrieved 2025-02-15.

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