Black History Month 2023

The BCH (Benioff Children’s Hospital) Black Caucus is a combined Oakland/San Francisco chapter of the larger UCSF Black Caucus established in 1968 from the direct action of UCSF staff who advocated for change. Our BCH Black Caucus was formed in 2020 by Stephanie Brown and Abdur Shemsu, for the same reason. 

What do you want to accomplish with BCH Black Caucus?

The mission of the BCH Black Caucus- Oakland/San Francisco is to help foster a hospital climate and culture of unity, equity, and inclusion. The group serves as a resource for advancing the social and cultural growth among African American care providers and staff through outreach, mentoring, networking, community service, and enrichment activities. We work in collaboration with our counterparts in San Francisco, hospital leadership, the BCH DEI/AR Council and other affinity groups.

What do you want to accomplish with MDJS?  

MDJS hopes to engage with the broader UCSF and BCH communities to facilitate and support the recruitment and retention of Black/African American faculty and synergistically engage with broader diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging, and anti-racism initiatives.

HOUSING

• Community Housing Development Corporation - CHDC provides a broad range of affordable housing opportunities and services to enable low/moderate income residents to gain better housing and financial stability. Our unique approach to community development engages residents at the grassroots level and ensures that the whole neighborhood benefits from the affordable housing and neighborhood services provided.
• Our America: Lowballed - A special ABC News documentary on the discrimination in the home appraisal process,following Black and Latino families as they fight for fair home values after lower than expected appraisals.

CAREER PIPELINE

• The Hidden Genius Project, a national nonprofit organization, was founded in Oakland in 2012 by five Black male entrepreneurs/technologists who were unnerved by the dramatic juxtaposition between the high unemployment of Black male youth and the plethora of career opportunities within the local technology sector. To address this challenge, the founders established a program to connect young Black males with the skills, mentors, and experiences that they need to become high-performing entrepreneurs and technologists in a 21st century, global economy.
• Solar Richmond’s mission is to empower people to effectively participate in the green economy and advocate for policy that will stall climate change through vocational training and leadership development. We envision that communities across Richmond and the greater Bay Area are thriving, healthy, and are an integral part of the green economy without barriers of race or class.
• The Cypress Mandela Training Center is a community based organization dedicated to improving the lives of the people it serves by providing pre-apprentice construction and life skills training along with employment assistance.

HEALTH AND WELLNESS

• Roots Community Health Center - Founded in Oakland, California, the mission of Roots Community Health Center is to uplift those impacted by systemic inequities and poverty. We accomplish this through medical and behavioral health care, health navigation, workforce enterprises, housing, outreach, and advocacy. 
• The People’s Community Mobile Health Clinic is tasked with bringing free healthcare directly to the people of Oakland. They are currently seeking the support of Black health practitioners. 
• In 2020, Umoja Health was conceived by and out of the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center’s (HDFCCC) Community Advisory Board (CAB). Umoja Health Partners are Community Coalitions initially formed to address the COVID-19 and health-related needs of underserved communities of color in the Bay Area. After taking on COVID-19 testing and vaccination under a new model of community led care delivery, we are expanding our scope to address the burden of cancer, other chronic diseases and unmet social needs that have left communities of color especially vulnerable during the pandemic.
• Black Doc Village - We are a community committed to actively supporting and advocating for Black trainees and physicians facing workplace discrimination. Our mission is to expand the Black physician workforce to improve health outcomes in the Black community.
•  The African American Wellness Project was organized to respond to inequities in the health care delivery system. African Americans suffer from health conditions  ealth conditions at a disproportionately higher rate and need to know how to organize their health care delivery options in a way that allows them to best utilize health care services.

SOCIAL JUSTICE

• Dr. Huey P. Newton Foundation aims to preserve and promulgate the history, ideals and legacy of the Black Panther Party and its founder Dr. Huey P. Newton. Over 25 years since the founding of the Foundation, we have a new public history vision that includes a monument, pop-up exhibit, and museum all dedicated to the Black Panther Party. We are bringing the Panther legacy to the people while carving out a permanent space for our history in Oakland.
• HipHopForChange, Inc. uses grassroots activism to educate people about socio-economic injustices and advocate solutions through Hip Hop culture. We raise funds for local causes that enrich marginalized and historically oppressed communities.
• Brotherhood of Elders Network is an intergenerational network of men of African ancestry who foster environments where Black boys and young men are emplowered to flourish
• The Black Organizing Project creates safe Black spaces for our community to come together and identify the assets and issues that impact our communities the most. The practice of healing starts with being able to struggle together. In 2020, we successfully eliminated the Oakland Unified School District’s internal police department.
• The California Black Freedom Fund is a five-year, $100 million initiative to ensure that Black power-building and movement-based organizations have the sustained investments and resources they need to eradicate systemic and institutional racism. The first state-based fund of its kind, the California Black Freedom Fund prioritizes investments in the courageous and visionary grassroots advocates and community leaders who are transforming our cities, our state -- and our world.