Joseph Victor Alfano was born Sept. 22, 1942, in Pittston, Pennsylvania, to Joseph Angelo Alfano and Josephine Madelena Barberis.
He had one brother (Phil), and the family s princess was his little sister (Marie). Joe loved calling his sister Marie daily, and they often talked about the good olâ days. Joe always ended those phone calls with âLove you madly. Ciao! Ciao!â
He was preceded in death by his parents (Joe and Josie), Nona, and Uncle Mondo.
At age 3, he and his family moved to sunny California. He was born with a talent for music. His parents nurtured that love of music by buying him his first saxophone and upright string bass (which he still owned and played). He earned a masterâs in music from San Jose State University. He taught instrumental music classes to a range of students from young kindergarteners to college undergraduates.
KALW A mural on a West Oakland house celebrates the often overlooked stories of the women of the Black Panther party.
On Center Street and Dr. Huey P. Newton Way, in West Oakland, there’s a bright blue mural on the side of a chocolate brown house. The mural stretches across the entire length of the 2 story victorian. In block letters, at the top, it says, “Women Of The Black Panther Party.” The mural was created by Oakland resident Jil Vest to center the, often neglected, women of the Black Panther Party.
Over the sky blue background of the mural, are these 30 foot tall Black women, all with natural hair. One’s in a military stance holding a gun. Another is holding a protest sign with her fist raised in the air, and another one is cradling a small child. One woman is delivering a bag of groceries filled to the brim, over a backdrop of hundreds of names written in white paint.
I have been in law enforcement for 25 years. I have been a Black woman my whole life
By Lisa Fernandez
San Francisco Assistant Sheriff Tanzanika Carter was sworn in on Jan. 11, 2021
SAN FRANCISCO - Tanzanika Carter is the San Francisco Sheriff’s Office s new Assistant Sheriff, the third-highest ranked position in a 171-year-old department steeped in tradition.
Her mother and grandparents came to California from Arkansas during the Great Migration and her mother worked two jobs to support her daughter’s education at Holy Names High School in Oakland.
Carter was sad that her mom passed before she could see her daughter get sworn in January, to a workforce that is 19% Black.