The Honorable Toni Cook is a legend in the education landscape of Oakland from the cradle to college.
I had no idea who Ms. Toni was — the Honorable Toni Cook, School Board member from District 6, the school board member who made the equity-minded appeal for adequate and additional resources for students who spoke African American vernacular. Infamously known as the “Teaching kids Ebonics policy.” I saw Ms. Toni as one of the always-present black women on campus supporting all the students and teachers. She visited often to admire her daughter’s mastery of teaching the babies — within six months they knew how to read! West Oakland is home to a generation of Black Excellence in Black Education.
I had no idea who Ms. Toni was — the Honorable Toni Cook, School Board member from District 6, the equity-minded appeal for adequate and additional resources for students who spoke African American vernacular. Infamously known as the “Ebonics Policy.” I knew Ms. Toni as one of the always-present black women on campus supporting all the students, teachers. She visited often to admire her daughter’s mastery of teaching the babies — within six months they knew how to read! Oakland is home to a generation of Black Excellence in Black Education.
Ms. Toni graced SoBEO with a conversation largely focused on the OUSD Housing policy. We wanted her perspective as a policymaker in Oakland on the relevance, and any strategies she thought were important to building a strong coalition. Well, we were blessed with so much more — a real understanding of the landscape of Oakland politics, Black lives, and politics of Oakland. She shared some gems … we’ve picked out a few for you in these video clips!
Were ever grateful to Ms. Toni for making the connection to the work she does feeding the unsheltered in our community at First AME Church Oakland. Ms. Toni is responsible for serving over 300 meals a week. During the pandemic, she has been working closely with Ms. Trish Anderson of OUSD’s McKinney-Vento Homeless youth case manager to ensure our families were fed!
Ms. Toni has encouraged the SoBEO campaign and me as a Board member to bring forward bold legislation to repurpose OUSD lands to serve our families, youth, and OUSD staff.
The vote is today — Thursday 11/12 and after successful passage, the work begins with partners like the faith-based community and other governmental agencies, and the SoBEO community!