The Soul Truth

SOJOURNER TRUTH PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

Special Interest Articles Message from the Pulpit Banks heartless foreclosure exposed Advent Voice

Volume 6, Issue 4 December 2011

Reverend Kamal Hassan: Tidings of Comfort and Joy

To the people who walked in the darkness of hunger, oppression, and fear God has shown a great light. For those who had come to believe that might will always conquer right, justice has raised its banner. Those who tire of conflict can study war no more. Jesus has come and there is peace in the midst of lifes storms. Long ago in Bethlehem a child was born for us who changed the course of history and the world has never been the same since then, thanks be to God. In his infinite wisdom, God entered the world in human form as a vulnerable baby born to a poor homeless family. His birth occurs in a cold animal stall, and it is witnessed by poor shepherds. These men are the first to tell others about the miraculous thing that has happened, and the hope that it brings. As a child and a young man Jesus grows up in Galilee a poor community with a bad reputation. He lives there as a poor, oppressed Jew under the occupation of the mighty Roman Empire. Through it all he learns firsthand how the people at the bottom of society are forced to live. He uses this knowledge to minister to and heal the hurts of all those who suffer. He knows all of our pain and how to Continued on Page 7

The Omnipotent Power of God In This Issue: Message from the Pulpit 1 STPC News Away in a Manger 2 3

For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. His authority shall grow continually, and there shall be endless peace for the throne of David and his kingdom. He will establish and uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time onward and forevermore. Isaiah 9:6-7

Movers and Sheriffs Deputies Refused to Evict 103-year-old from Her Home
Banks heartless foreclosure exposed by Ryan Young

home Tuesday, when sheriffs deputies and the moving company hired by the bank decided not to go through with the action. Channel 2s Ryan Young was there when the family started thanking God for the miracle. At just three weeks shy of her 104th birthday, Vinia Hall has shared her home on Penelope Road in Northwest Atlanta with her daughter for 53 years. I love it. Its a mansion, Hall said about her house. Fulton County sheriffs deputies and movers showed up at Halls home Tuesday after Deutsche Bank planned to kick the two women out. The moving company and the deputies took one look at Lee and decided that would not happen. I saw the sheriffs, who came to put them out, take off and leave. I gave all glory to God, community activist Michael Langford said.

Book with insights on black politics, religion wins Grawemeyer Award 3 Free Food for Families STPC Kwanzaa Celebration 5 5

Study: Housing Discrimination Rampant in City 6 Sojourner Truth Senior Housing Developed by Black Women Advent 7 8 Vinia Hall Atlanta, GA A 103-year-old woman and her 83-year-old daughter were just moments from being evicted from their

This family has been waging a war against Deutsche Bank, community activist Derrick Boezeman said. Source: www.postnewsgroup.com

Advent Voice
But the Christianity that called to me through the stories I read in the Bible, scattered the proud and rebuked the powerful. It was a religion in which divinity was revealed by scars on flesh. It was an upside-down world in which treasure, as the prophet said, was found in darkness, in which the hungry were filled with good things and the rich sent out empty; in which new life was manifested through a humiliated, hungry woman and an empty tortured man. Sara Miles

STPC News Weve Come This Far by Faith

December Theme The Way, The Truth, and The Life

You are invited to join Sojourner Truth Presbyterian Church for Sunday worship. Come and be blessed. Sunday, December 4, 2011 Sunday, December 11, 2011 Sunday, December 18, 2011 Sunday, December 25, 2011 Tidings of Comfort and Joy

Most gracious God, We humbly pray for your Church. Fill it with all truth; in all truth with all peace. Where it is corrupt, purge it; Where it is in error, direct it; Where anything is amiss, reform it; Where it is right, strengthen and confirm it; Where it is in want, furnish it; Where it is divided, heal it, and unite it in your love; Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

New Church Members Danaye Dickson, Etiene Ekanem, Sonia Gibson, Laletha Hurd, and Kazaria Phillips are our latest new members. STPC December Events December 10, 2011 The Hanging of the Greens Special Presentation December 10, 2011 Deacon Board Christmas Gift Card Distribution December 11, 2011 STPC Senior Choir Annual Christmas Musical December 17, 2011 Food Pantry December 17, 2011 Folktales from the Diaspora at the Museum of the African Diaspora December 20, 2011 Intercessory Prayer, Healing Meditation, Laying of Hands, Anointing with Oil December 25, 2011 Christmas Day Worship Service December 30, 2011 STPC Kwanzaa Celebration STPC 2012 Events January 1, 2012 New Years Day Worship Service January 7, 2012 Polity Training January 8, 2012 Ordination/Installation of New Officers January 14, 2012 Senior Choir Retreat January 21, 2012 Food Pantry January 22, 2012 Reverend Kamal Hassans Installation Service and Dinner January 27 & 28, 2012 Annual Session Meeting February 18, 2012 Food Pantry March 17, 2012 Food Pantry

Reverend Kamal Hassan: Tidings of Comfort and Joy

Continued from page 1 soothe it, and at the same time he calls us to lives of dignity and integrity in the midst of forces that would drag us down. The shepherds shouted and rejoiced at these tidings of comfort and joy. They ran all over town, telling everyone they met what they had seen and heard and what it meant for people who needed help and hope. This year during Christmas may these tidings of comfort and joy from the prophet Isaiah give you help and hope as we come to the close of 2011 and look ahead to 2012. The Christ child was born for us also, and all authority in heaven and on earth still rests upon his shoulders. Through Jesus the love of God has given unto us a voice of wise counsel, power beyond human imagining, constant holy companionship, peace in every valley and goodness and mercy that follow us all the days of our lives. So, lets do like the shepherds and share these tidings of comfort with everyone we meet. Tell the people struggling to make it day to day, tell those caught up in the justice system, tell our young men hanging on corners, and our young women walking the streets. Go tell young folks struggling to learn in poor schools and their teachers, tell our children who do not embrace the faith that has sustained us from generation to generation, go tell all those who are rich in things, but poor in spirit. Go tell it on the mountain, over the hills and everywhere that Jesus Christ is born!

Remember the true meaning of Christmas Jesus, the Saviour, the Light

Sojourner Truth Senior Housing Developed by Black Women

by Aneesah Dryver

A Christmas Prayer
Loving God, Help us to remember the birth of Jesus, That we may share in the song of the angels, The gladness of the shepherds, And worship of the wise men. Close the door of hate And open the door of love all over the world. Let kindness come with every gift And good desires with every blessing Which Christ brings, And teach us to be merry with clear hearts. May the Christmas morning Make us happy to be thy children, And Christmas evening bring us to our beds With grateful thoughts, Forgiving and forgiven, For Jesus sake. Amen

From left to right: Sandra Johnson-Simon, Cheryl Moore, Sylvester Brooks, President Evelyn Jackson, Daisy Murray, Ara B. McGowan, Deborah Williams. Photo by Adam L. Turner.
Inspired by the accomplishments of the legendary Black abolitionist and suffragist, Sojourner Truth, a group of black women gathered in 1964 to discuss a plan to create a space for Black women who were business professionals. In July of 1964, Daisy Murray, a nurse at the Oakland Veterans Hospital, asked Billye Dunlap, owner of Mademoiselle Coiffures to help her start the womens organization. Murray and Dunlap then sought the help of Catherine Parish on how to form and run a nonprofit organization. Parishs tutorship led to the founding of the East Bay Chapter of the Negro Business and Professional Women (BPW). In those days, black people had a hard time having anything. Many women strived to get into positions of leadership so that we could be recognized as strong women that knew how to lead, Murray said. Continued on Page 8

Sojourner Truth Presbyterian Church 2621 Shane Drive Richmond, CA 94806 Church Phone (510) 222-2020 Church Fax (510) 222-6551 Church Web Page http://www.stpcweb.net Church E-mail [email protected] Rev. Hassan (510) 691-5204 Pastors E-mail [email protected] Health Ministry [email protected] San Francisco Presbytery www.presbyteryofsf.org

Sojourner Truth Senior Housing Developed by Black Women

Continued from page 7 Ellen Winborn proposed the development of a low-cost housing complex for senior citizens in 1971. The building was to be named Sojourner Truth, after the BPWs national symbol. Winborn along with former realtor and community activist, Viola Vi Taylor-Wims, led the effort to convince federal housing officials that the BPW had the capability to build and manage such an ambitious construction project. Daisy Murray recalls the words Winborn used during one of the contentious meetings with the federal housing officials, saying, We showed strength and solidarity as Black women to show HUD that we meant business. After three arduous years, BPW completed the Sojourner Truth Manor Retirement Homes development. Daisy Murray is the sole surviving original member of the East Bay Area Club of Negro Business & Professional Women. We considered ourselves as women who simply wanted to help people and, as Black women, to have something of our own, said Murray. The Lord has blessed us to maintain those buildings for 37 years, she said. Many of the women have passed or have fallen ill. Murray hopes to find young Black women with the same passion of the pioneering woman of BPW to continue the tradition of Black women as leaders and managers. Source: Richmond Post www.postnewsgroup.com

Advent
Advent means coming and is the season where Christians prepare for the second coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We begin Advent with the celebration and preparation of the birth of Baby Jesus and also for the Second Coming of Christ. During the first part of Advent we are reminded of the appearance of the King of Glory, and of our duty to remain awake and watchful for his return. During the last part of Advent we focus upon Jesus first coming, as a baby, born of a virgin, in Bethlehem of Judea. During Advent, one of the traditions which we enjoy is lighting the candles of the Advent wreath. The wreath itself reminds us that God is eternal, the Alpha and Omega without beginning or end, and also of the hope we have in God, of newness, renewal and eternal life. There are four candles that are lit during the four Sundays of Advent. When there is a service on Christmas Eve, or when Christmas falls on a Sunday we light the Christ candle. With each candle, the church moves towards the celebration of the nativity of the Christ Child, the true light of the world. The first candle (purple) represents Hope. We have hope because God is faithful and will keep the promises made to us. Our hope comes from God. (Romans 15:12-13) The second candle (purple) represents Peace. (Isaiah 9:6-7) Jesus is the wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. The third candle (pink) represents Joy. The angels sang a message of Joyand she gave birth to her first born, a son. (Luke 3:7-15) The fourth candle (purple) represents Love. God sent his only Son to earth to save us, because he loves us. (John 3:16-17) The white candle is called the Christ candle because Jesus Christ is the spotless lamb of God, sent to wash away our sins and is the light of the world. This candle is lit on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day where there is a service on these days. (John 3:1-8) submitted by Elder Darlene Jones

Weekly Calendar of Events Sunday: 10am Sunday School 11am Morning Worship Service Tuesday: 2pm 5pm Pastors Office Hours 12pm Bible Study 5:30pm Prayer Ministry 7pm Senior Choir Rehearsal 7pm Youth Choir Rehearsal Wednesday: 10am 2pm Pastors Office Hours Thursday: 10am 2pm Pastors Office Hours 7pm Bible Study

Away in a Manger

Book with insights on black politics, religion wins Grawemeyer Award

A book filled with fresh insights on the relationship between black politics and religion has earned its author the 2012 Louisville Grawemeyer Award in Religion. We have all seen the rapt wonder in the eyes of children on a Christmas morning as their gaze dances across the lights, the tinsel, and the gifts under the tree. But the real marvel is not the wonder in their eyes on Christmas morning, is it? It is the wonder in their eyes just any old day when they see a dog or a cat they have seen and petted and talked to a dozen times before, and seeing this family pet, they look upon it as though for the first time and see as if it were the strangest and most wondrous creature ever to emerge from the pages of mythology. We have observed the same experience when a childs gaze falls on a perfectly ordinary twig in the yard. Picking it up, they toddle toward you, holding the twig, bringing it to you. They place it in your hand as though to say, Look what I have discovered. Its a miracle, a tiny, bark-encrusted miracle. Have you ever seen anything so amazing? The wonder is that children find wonder in everything, absolutely everything. Children are enchanting because their world is enchanted. Scholars have long noted the disenchantment of the world around us. Some have chalked it up to the Enlightenment, to modernity, or post-modernity, or postpost-modernity. There is surely some truth in all their theories, though I am inclined to chalk up our disenchantment of the world to a tendency that humanity has had for a long, long time, the tendency not to notice. Surely, our tendency not to notice could be tied to the assumptions we have carried around since the dawn of the age of science, assumptions that strain-out whole categories of experience from our observations, reducing the most amazing displays of the world around us to dry calculations. And, certainly, the fact that we have become acquainted with the rule of secondary causation has had some effect on our tendency to attribute everything that happens to God. But I suspect that some of the disenchantment of our world is simply because, as someone has said, as we grow older we grow calluses on our souls. Our touch grows less sensitive. We stop noticing just how utterly astonishing the world is. I suspect that one reason, long after we achieve adulthood, we find ourselves drawn to tales of wonder whether in the form of complex cinematic worlds peopled with science-fiction avatars or in the myths, fairy tales, and stories from C. S. Lewis, George MacDonald, and J.R.R. Tolkien we read to our children, our grandchildren, nieces, and nephews is because we hunger to notice the world again in all its enchantment. Continued on Page 4

Barbara D. Savage Barbara D. Savage, a professor of history and American social thought at the University of Pennsylvania, is receiving the prize for the ideas set forth in her book, Your Spirits Walk Beside Us: The Politics of Black Religion, published in 2008 by Harvard University Press. The book, selected from among 66 nominated works, introduces important new perspectives on the study of black religion and the political role of African American churches. Dr. Savage explains why it is misleading to speak of the black church given the enormous diversity among African American congregations. She also challenges the popular belief that black churches have been prophetic and politically active throughout history, which has retrojected an image from the post-Civil Rights era onto earlier decades, said award director Susan R. Garrett, Professor of New Testament Studies and Dean-elect at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary. In light of this understanding, the crucial role of the black churches in the Civil Rights movement was not inevitable, but something of a miracle, added Garrett. Savages analysis includes critical evaluation of three of the most influential black intellectuals of the early twentieth-century: W.E.B. DuBois, Carter G. Woodson, and Benjamin E. Mays. She focuses on how these prominent thinkers advocated for theological education for black ministers. But she also shows how black women, such as Nannie Helen Burroughs who was excluded from religious leadership and the formal study of black religion, became leaders outside their churches, Garrett said. Burroughs founded one of the nations first vocational schools for women. Your Spirits Walk Beside Us combines areas of study that are usually kept separate. Continued on Page 4

Away in a Manger Continued

Of all the amazing scenes of the Christmas story, the one that never fails to amaze me is that of the shepherds who found their way to the manger, and who noticed something miraculous there. Having grown up on a farm, I can say with some authority that most farmers and ranchers are pretty unsentimental people, not given to flights of fancy. They dont go searching for elves under cabbage leaves, or wherever elves are supposed to dwell. Shepherds lived with both feet planted on the ground. But that didnt stop them from finding enchantment in a manger. Undoubtedly lots of other people passed by the vicinity of the barn where Jesus was born and never noticed what the Creator of the Universe was up to inside. But, thanks to the intercession of angels, a group of shepherds noticed that God had become flesh and blood, and was curledup next to a young woman, his mother, on a bale of hay. They noticed and wonder attended. Especially at Christmas, I love to watch the old film, Harvey, starring Jimmy Stewart. It is not a Christmas movie. It is a sort of comedy of errors, really, based on a Pulitzer Prize winning play by Mary Chase. Even more, it is a comedy of attentiveness, reminding us of presences unnoticed, of a world wrought with wonders through which we pass yawning. One of my favorite scenes in the movie occurs when Dr. Chumley, the head of a psychiatric hospital, speaks with Elwood P. Dodd, our young hero (played by Jimmy Stewart) who is in the process of being committed to Dr. Chumleys asylum because he sees Harvey, a pooka, a six foot tall rabbit. Dr. Chumleys problem and the reason he is speaking to Elwood in this scene is that he has begun to see Harvey too. Dr. Chumley, whose scientific world has unexpectedly crashed on the rocks of Celtic mythology in the person of Harvey, asks Elwood to tell him all about Harvey. As Elwood talks, the doctor grows even more enraptured. Elwood could talk for hours about Harvey, about how they met at the corner of 18th Street and Fairfax, about how Harvey and he have made new friends, and how Harvey has overcome not only time and space, but any objections. Finally, the Doctor leaps from his chair and says: Fly specks! Fly specks! Ive been spending my life among fly specks while miracles have been leaning on lampposts at 18th and Fairfax. Miracles indeed are leaning on lampposts at the corner of 18th and Fairfax, and on countless other street corners. The miracle that lies away in a manger, the child asleep in the hay, reminds us this is true. The glory of God is that God is among us whether we notice God or not. And the Christmas story is a neonlighted, tinsel-bright sign pointing out this fact that is always a fact whether we acknowledge it or not. The Christmas story invites us to be amazed like children enchanted by crystal Christmas balls, twinkling lights, the gifts wrapped in foil paper, and the freckles on the hands of the person by whom the gifts were wrapped. God is not a million miles away, so the story of Christmas reminds us. God is present with us. Enchantment follows when we notice again. Merry Christmas Posted by Michael Jinkins Source: Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary 800.264.1839 www.lpts.edu

Book with insights on black politics, religion wins Grawemeyer Award Continued
On the one hand, Savages book is a scholarly, yet veryaccessible, analysis of the academic study of black religion. On the other hand, it is also an elegant narration about lived religion that is, religion as it has been practiced in the lives of service and commitment, said Garrett. A Penn faculty member since 1995, Savage teaches courses on American religious and social reform, 20th Century African American history and the relationship between media and politics. She has held administrative posts at Penns Center for Africana Studies and previously worked as a staff member in the U.S. Congress. Savage will present a lecture on her award-winning book at Louisville Seminary, April 11, 2012, at 7 p.m. in Caldwell Chapel. Louisville Seminary jointly presents the Grawemeyer Award in Religion with the University of Louisville. The university also presents four Grawemeyer Awards each year for outstanding works in music composition, world order, psychology, and education. The awards are $100,000 each. For more details on the awards or to download Savages photo, see www.grawemeyer.org. _________________________ About Barbara D. Savage Barbara D. Savage is Geraldine R. Segal Professor of American Social Thought and professor of history at the University of Pennsylvania. Her book, Your Spirits Walk Beside Us: The Politics of Black Religion, has been hailed as the definitive historical examination of debates about the public responsibility of black churches and the role of religion in racial leadership. Among her other writings are Women and Religion in the African Diaspora, a book she co-edited in 2006, and Broadcasting Freedom: Radio, War and the Politics of Race, 1938-1948, a 1999 work that won the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library Award for best book on American history from 1916 to 1966. She has received fellowships from the Smithsonian Institution, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Studies at Harvard University, Princeton University Center for the Study of Religion, and New York Public Librarys Schomburg Center on Black Culture. Continued on Page 5

Free Food for Families

Health Ministry Food Distribution to Community:
12 pm to 2 pm every 3rd Saturday of each month at Sojourner Truth Presbyterian Church H. Eugene Farlough Jr. Fellowship Hall. Food Pantry Dates for the New Year are: January 21, 2012 February 18, 2012 March 17, 2012 April 21, 2012 May 19, 2012 June 16, 2012 July 21, 2012 August 18, 2012 September 15, 2012 October 20, 2012 November 17, 2012 December 15, 2012 Information is also www.stpcweb.net available on our website at

Sojourner Truth Presbyterian Church Kwanzaa Celebration

Please Join Us!

_________________________________________________________

When: December 30, 2011 Time: 7:00 p.m. 9:00 p.m. Place: Sojourner Truth Presbyterian Church 2621 Shane Drive Richmond, CA 94806 RSVP Contact: Church Office Phone 510.222.2020 E-Mail: [email protected] Church Website: www.stpcweb.net

Folktales from the Diaspora

The Museum of the African Diaspora (MOAD) introduces a new interactive program series for children and their families of storytelling, performance, and craft-making from Africa, North America, South America and the Caribbean. STPCs Sunday School and Youth Group will be attending these series on: December 17, 2011 Featuring the artistic expression of Congolese song, music and dance Performances 2 pm to 4 pm MOAD 685 Mission Street San Francisco, CA All members are welcome to attend! Admission for adults is $10 and $5 for senior citizens For additional information contact: Johnnie Murray Claudia Mbama Darlene Jones

Book with insights on black politics, religion wins Grawemeyer Award Continued
Savage holds a doctorate in history from Yale University, a law degree from Georgetown University, and a bachelors degree from the University of Virginia. She has worked for the Childrens Defense Fund and Yale Universitys Office of the General Counsel and is a trustee of the Wenner-Gren Foundation, a private organization supporting research into humanitys biological and cultural origins. Savage is now working on a biography of Merze Tate, a professor at Howard University from 1947 to 1977 and one of the few black women academics of her generation. Savages ties with the Black Womens Intellectual History Collective, a project to recover the history of black women as intellectuals, inspired the book. Contact: Michelle Melton [email protected] 800.264.1839 www.lpts.edu

Study: Housing Discrimination Rampant in City

Landlords have strong bias against black apartment hunters, audit finds by Hannah Dreier
[email protected] 510.262.2787 A black person looking for rental housing in Richmond can expect to be discriminated against 80 percent of the time, a study revealed. This is a much higher rate than similar studies have found in other Bay Area cities during the past two decades. Nobody knew what we would find, but these results were pretty startling and extreme, said Caroline Peattie, of Fair Housing of Marin, the nonprofit that did the survey. National experts called the rate astonishingly high. The audit had pairs of black and white apartment hunters with similar incomes and rental needs call property owners and managers advertising on Craiglist. The callers voices indicated their race. The audit in June found that 16 of the housing providers responded less favorably to blacks than their otherwise identical white counterparts. Among the findings: Housing providers did not return black testers calls, failed to tell them about other availabilities and movin specials, and used more stringent screening criteria. Nearly half of the housing providers gave the white testers a lower income requirement. A property owner in the Richmond Annex neighborhood told a black tester that he was busy and abruptly hung up, but that same day encouraged a white tester to drop by for a viewing. A housing provider in the Hilltop neighborhood asked a black tester for a $699 security deposit but told a white tester the deposit could go as low as $199.

The studys findings were no surprise to Ruth Scott, who struggled this fall to find an affordable rental in Richmonds Hilltop area. She believes that the apartment managers she called quoted her high rents because they didnt want her as a tenant. They just put the rent up so high, they definitely dont want us to rent houses, she said. Property owners associations described the findings and offered to help the city educate its housing providers. Its basically ignorance, said East Bay Rental Housing Association board member Link Corkery. Maybe a person who buys some real estate takes the attitude, Well, its my property, and I can rent it to whoever I want. Thats not the law. Scholars believe that housing providers generally discriminate against minorities either because they think they can use race to predict something about the tenant; such as their income or employment status, or because they are trying to please their existing white tenants. (Scholarly studies) indicate that there is an economic basis for discrimination, which helps to explain why it is so difficult to eliminate, said John Yinger, professor of Public Administration and Economics at Syracuse University. Some experts say this kind of discrimination persists because HUD which got the power to enforce housing discrimination law in 1988 has insufficient resources to do so. This camp believes that the agency should do more largescale audits to measure true level of discrimination. The evidence suggests that over time discrimination has become more subtle and therefore harder to detect and deter, said Xavier Briggs, and MIT professor of sociology and urban planning who led the housing departments last major bias audit. Most people who are victims of housing discrimination dont even know it. Minority applicants dont know about apartments they dont see or deals theyre not offered. Thats where side-by-side comparisons come in. One of the white testers who participated in Fair Housings study explained that although he was given preferential treatment, he had no way of knowing that on his own. Briggs said the 80 percent discrimination rate in Richmond is astonishingly high if the study is valid. Even when renters do recognize bias, they may be reluctant to bring a complaint. Scott is the rare tenant who formally accused her landlord of racism, but she does not recommend the tactic. With the help of Bay Area Legal Aid, which also worked on the study, she charged her landlord in court with discrimination and persuaded him to abandon an attempt to raise her rent above what she could afford. However, her living situation became so hostile during the suit that she moved out. It was a horrible situation dealing with him, she said. I felt very bad about it because it had been a nice, safe place. Its not easy just trying to find a place to live. Source: http:// www.contracostatimes.com

The sample size was small, but such undercover testing is actually better at rooting out bias than complaint-driven enforcement, according to John Trasvina of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The number of complaints really doesnt tell you all that much, Trasvina said. What does tell you a lot is testing. City Council members discussing the report Tuesday vowed to eradicate the housing bias. Eighty percent is just awful, and we did a heck of a lot worse than anywhere else, said Councilman Jeff Ritterman. We should do whatever we have to do as a city to not tolerate it. In studies over the past several years, Fair Housing found that 48 percent of housing providers in the small towns around Richmond discriminated against black renters, and 32 percent of housing providers in Marin showed a bias. In 2005, a different nonprofit found that housing providers discriminated against black men 26 percent of the time in Hayward, Livermore, Pleasanton and Union City. Council members suggested supporting litigation against biased homeowners and publicizing their names, and sponsoring civil rights workshops for tenants.