Letters: Transparency is imperative in OPD’s probe of death
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Transparency imperative
for OPD investigation
On June 30, a Black man was found hanging from a tree in Oakland’s Dimond Canyon. Police quickly suggested suicide, yet no name, cause of death or investigative details have been released.
As a Black father raising two sons here, I can’t separate this image from America’s history of lynching or Oakland’s own record of state violence — from Oscar Grant to the Black Panther patrols that arose to protect our communities. In 2020, effigies hung in my neighborhood. Skepticism is not paranoia — it’s survival.
Silence breeds distrust. We need transparency: the man’s identity (with family consent), the investigative timeline and evidence supporting any conclusion. Without this, fear will fester and trust in our institutions will erode further.
Justice is never given — it is demanded. Oakland must demand answers now.
Saleem Gilmore
Oakland
Democracy still
animates nation’s spirit
Democracy is the majority, the masses, the individual, the bigger tent, the marginalized, DEI, a seat at the table, urban/suburban/rural, the right to food, the right to shelter, the right to feel safe, the right to disagree, the Constitution, awake, radical, truth, an aspiration, an experiment, the past, present and future, the arts, the sciences, storytelling, family, hope, optimism, respect, agency, a birthright, our shared humanity, an ideal that lives in all of us.
Democracy is not a political party. Democracy is a way of life. Democracy matters. Democracy is America.
Ward Kanowsky
Pleasanton
Doulas can help
with aid in dying
Re: “State’s Medical Aid in Dying law erects barriers” (Page A6, Aug. 6).
My heart ached when Randall Spangler described his disappointing experience with medical-aid-in-dying.
Being with a loved one as they approach death is complex enough without encountering additional stresses. But as end-of-life doulas, we have seen this situation go another way. We’ve seen compassionate, dedicated medical professionals work as a concerted team to make sure telehealth visits and house calls take place according to the 48-hour waiting period between a patient’s first and second legal request. We’ve also seen pharmacies make deliveries within 24 hours of receiving the prescription order. We have seen how important it is for patients to understand how to time requests as well as when to take aid-in-dying medications.
When dealing with a life-threatening or terminal illness, a trained end-of-life doula can walk alongside the family, providing compassionate support as well as information that honors the loved one’s wishes.
Pastor Kim Risedorph
Danville
Remember those who
wouldn’t dissuade Trump
Re: “The America we knew is rapidly vanishing” (Page A7, Aug. 7).
Sadly, no one in the Trump administration is brave enough to stand up to him.
In Donald Trump’s latest firing of the commissioner of the Bureau of Labor and Statistics because he didn’t want her to report the truth about the economy, all I can say is shame on all those GOP politicians who we expected would always be the gatekeepers in upholding the integrity of our democracy for their blatant and head-snapping dereliction of duty.
I hope every citizen will remember each and every one of them by name when it’s time to vote to ensure we never have a repeat of such spineless disregard for truth, transparency and simple moral decency.
Sharon Dixon
San Leandro