FACES AROUND THE BAY

FACES AROUND THE BAY

FACE AROUND THE BAY

“I feel families should support each other in our community.  I am concerned with the economy and hope Obama’s plan helps,” said Carol Joseph, Hayward resident, as we spotted her going into a Beauty Supply House on her way to an event at the Lake Merritt Boat House with two of her boys, Tyrone, aged two; and Kaleb, aged four.  “My husband Charles Joseph is catering the affair,”   she explained.
Joseph works for the HUD and Public Housing in San Francisco. Her husband works for the City of San Francisco’s Homeless Coalition.
The family belongs to C.O.G.I.C. Church of God in Christ.
Photo and text by Barbara Fluhrer

Gwendolyn Carter

Post’s Poster Girl Has
A Chihuahua Dog

“I don’t like to see animals hurt, and I like to help them,” says Gwendolyn Carter of Pittsburg,  who dreams of one day being a veterinarian.
Carter has a Chihuahua named Lilo, “who is so little and acts so big that I nick named  him Big Lee.” Carter’s parents, Christine and Kenneth Carter, and her four sisters - Kineitha, Vanessa, Julisa and Lauren - are about to add a guinea pig to the family.
Carter graduated from DeAnza High School, took classes at Laney and hopes to go to a university one day.  She has worked for three years at the Post Newspaper. She was born at Brookside Hospital in Richmond and has been a member of Market Street Seventh Day Adventists Church  in Oakland all her life.
Photo and text by Barbara Fluhrer

Doris Barrett

A Rebel With A Cause

When she learned that all Berkeley Adult School classes at senior centers were to be cancelled this summer, Doris Barrett said, “We don’t have to sit still for this.”
She is advocating resistance to these cuts, which she says are due to state budget cuts that especially target seniors. “Seniors have given their lives for this community, and they should be rewarded, not punished,” she said.
Barrett points out that these programs are a necessity for elderly people in her exercise class who work from seated positions, who are unable to stand and depend on these classes for their health.
Barrett, a Berkeley resident for over 50 years, was born in Texas, attended Jarvis Church College and moved to California. where she worked awhile for the Oakland Public Library.
“I found my calling when I became a teacher in Early Childhood Education with Albany Unified School District,” she said, explaining that she worked for 38 years with children from all over the world at the University Village.
Barrett continues to volunteer at her church, Mills Grove Christian Church, and the South Berkeley Senior Center.  Her commitment to others has generated respect in the community, said Ruthie Gibbs, a friend who taught with her in Albany.“(She) is a wonderful person; she takes care of people everywhere she goes, “ said Gibbs.
Barrett put her hands on her hips, smiled and said, “Well, I hope!” Barrett’s late husband Bobby Barrett was band director at St. Mary’s College High School. They had two children, who Barrett sees often, as well as her two grandchildren.
Photo and text by Barbara Fluhrer.

FACES AROUND THE BAY

Hanna Boru left Ethiopia when she was 24 and currently resides in Hayward with her two children.  She earned a Certified Nursing Assistant license and spends weekends doing home care.  During the week she is studying to become a Registered Nurse. Boru is a member of Oromo Lutheran Church.  She has visited her family twice in Ethiopia, she says, but is “happy to live in California.”
Photo and text by Barbara Fluhrer.

FACES AROUNF THE BAY

Jerry Donaldson was born in Laurel, Mississippi and began playing the piano at age 7. Exposed to many fine musicians in Laurel, he was inspired as a young child. He remembers, “Leontyne Price was born in Laurel, and  often came home, and many young students were  inspired by her”. He studied there with Price’s teacher, Mrs. H.Z.J. McInnis. His first teacher was a lady in his neighborhood, Evelyn Sidney.
Donaldson studied at De Pauw School of Music in Green Castle, Indiana, earning his B.A..and later spent a summer in France studying with, “whomever would take me”.
After moving to California, Donaldson continued as musician in various capacities: soloist, accompanist and church musician. Donaldson has been musician for Saints’ Rest Baptist Church, Down’s United Methodist Church ( for 25 years), and  is presently musician at St. Augustine’s Episcopal Church  (where he’s been for 4 years). He teaches piano from his Berkeley residence and enjoys composing and arranging.
Donaldson is visible as he moves around town on his bicycle, usually wearing a big hat.  Why music? “It is essential to my identity.  I think it was a calling I had.”
Photo and text by Barbara Fluhrer.

FACES AROUND THE BAY

FACES AROUND THE BAY

Faces Around the Bay: Alphonso Breland

Alphonso Breland was born and raised in Berkeley and attended Columbus, Garfield and Berkeley High schools.  He worked for East Bay Municipal Utility District for several years, then moved to Seattle. When his mother, Margaret Breland passed, he returned to Berkeley.

He fondly remembers, “My mother once served on the Berkeley City Council.”

Breland  later suffered a stroke and remained in Berkeley, where he lives with “my beloved dog, Brooklyn”.  He currently works at Ephesian Church.

Photo and Text by Barbara Fluhrer

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