This year, black and brown voters in Oakland, Calif., set off a political earthquake that has shaken the local Democratic establishment, with two recalls now on the November ballot. What began as an effort to remove Mayor Sheng Thao and District Attorney Pamela Price has evolved into a full-fledged movement. As this grassroots coalition gathers momentum and national attention, progressive media have doubled down on dismissive narratives, attempting to discredit it. The response underscores an uncomfortable truth: Some white progressive journalists have become the most insidious voices undermining the very people they claim to support.
When Oakland’s black community initiated the mayoral recall in January, driven by rising crime—the city led the nation in stolen vehicles in 2023—and governmental dysfunction, progressives scoffed. They laughed at our notice of intent and mocked our early organizing efforts. But their laughter quieted when we submitted more than 40,000 signatures, six weeks ahead of schedule. I guess they thought they were only people who knew how to organize. Panic ensued and escalated to fear when, just days after the recall qualified for the ballot, Thao’s home was raided by the FBI, the Internal Revenue Service, and the US Postal Service over as-yet-murky allegations.
After a lengthy battle to shift opinion through independent journalism on X (formerly Twitter) and grassroots organizing, the San Francisco Chronicle and the East Bay Times endorsed both recalls, signifying a major shift in public perception regarding failed progressive policies. Recent polling reveals a staggering disconnect between progressives in power and the communities they claim to represent: More than 70 percent of black Oaklanders support the recall of the mayor, with 65 percent of all Oaklanders supportive. The Oakland NAACP officially endorsed the recall of Thao in September. The DA recall also polls well, with a strong majority of voters indicating they want to remove Price from office.
Yet left-leaning publications like The Guardian, Mother Jones, and Oaklandside, among others, refuse to acknowledge the reality on the ground. For them, black voices challenging progressive orthodoxy must be caricatured as mere pawns in a nefarious plot cooked up by wealthy white benefactors. For instance, Darwin BondGraham, the news editor for Oaklandside, took to X to characterize the recall as an effort mounted by “opponents of criminal justice reform.”
This is a common tactic of gentry-progressive outlets like Oaklandside, which purport to speak for “the community” on crime and justice. They frequently ignore the grieving families pleading with Price for justice, the small shopkeepers suffering repeated robberies. They play down or excuse Thao’s refusal to submit a critical $17 million public-safety grant on time—a failure California Gov. Gavin Newsom regularly highlights in his critiques of Thao.
The anti-recall smears parroted by the media (who often serve as p.r. for failing progressives) have been relentless. Recall organizers have been accused of being “backed by billionaires.” This is rich, coming from Oakland progressives who receive support from billionaire donors and national DNC operatives like Quinn Delaney and Wayne Jordan—foundational supporters of the national #defund movement who have poured more than $30 million into Bay Area political races alone. Additionally, familiar players from the NGO-industrial complex—Carnegie, Ford, Rockefeller, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, and the California Endowment, among others—support Oakland’s faux-radical movements.
Mayor Thao’s now-infamous speech—labeling the voters recalling her “MAGA right-wingers”—conveniently elided the fact that the recall movement is led by Brenda Harbin-Forte, a retired black female judge from East Oakland; Brenda Grisham, a black woman who runs an anti-gun-violence nonprofit in memory of her slain son, also from East Oakland; and me, a black former union organizer in West Oakland.
“We are treated as if we don’t know what’s best for ourselves.”
The iron law of woke projection holds. These publications claim to champion the working class and communities of color, yet when those communities demand accountability from our elected officials for misspent coffers, neglected neighborhoods, and a failing local economy, we are treated as if we don’t know what’s best for ourselves. In reality, these outlets have abandoned the very people they claim to support, trading integrity for elite loyalty and a defense of failing policies.
Oakland’s working-class neighborhoods, particularly in Deep East Oakland, have long endured political neglect. While wealthier residents enjoy safer streets and well-maintained communities, those in the flatlands are living in hell. The current administration has widened these divides, even changing City Council meeting times in a way that limits working-class participation as frustration with local government mounts.
Oakland is the tip of the spear in American politics. As the nation watches, we reveal that the people—especially those from historically marginalized communities—are ready to hold failed leaders accountable. This movement, powered by ordinary Oaklanders of color, is part of a larger demand for justice and responsibility, a sharp rebuke of what the “left” has become and the elites it often serves. But no matter: We are reclaiming our city and our agency.