San Francisco, CA
Legendary San Francisco preacher Dr. Amos Brown to retire from the pulpit — sort of
After nearly 50 years delivering fiery sermons bearing messages of empathy, equality and salvation from the pulpit of San Francisco’s Third Baptist Church, Dr. Amos Brown is retiring as head pastor.
This weekend, the church will celebrate Brown’s near half-century as head of the church, though he still plans to play a robust role in the church’s programs.
“I know traditionally we have called one’s moving from position of service as being retirement,” said Brown, sitting in the pews of the church’s sanctuary where he’s delivered thousands of sermons. “But for me, I will never retire. I’m just repositioning myself.”
Brown took over the role of Third Baptist’s pastor in 1976 after heading up the historic Pilgrim Baptist Church of St. Paul, Minnesota. It wasn’t his first time in San Francisco, though.
He first traveled to San Francisco in 1956, driving from his home state of Mississippi with civil rights activist Medgar Evers for the 47th NAACP National Convention. It was at that convention he first met Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who would later teach a class on social philosophy Brown attended in seminary college.
“From that day forward I stayed with him, marched with him,” Brown said.
Courtesy of Dr. Amos Brown
Courtesy of Dr. Amos Brown A photo of Dr. Amos Brown (right) and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. during their first meeting at the 47th NAACP Convention, held in San Francisco in 1956.
Brown presided over the Third Baptist congregation with the fiery oratory of a Southern preacher, infused with the emotional grit and fortitude of his lifelong battle in the civil rights movement. Born in Jackson, Mississippi, he was arrested numerous times for challenging segregation, defiantly riding busses as a freedom rider and battling racism at every opportunity.
“I was even locked up two nights in jail down in Jackson, Mississippi, when I wouldn’t let a white intern call my 85-year-old neighbor ‘boy,’” Brown said.
Brown was 14 years old when the lynching of another 14-year-old in Mississippi, Emmett Till, would shake his world. Brown sought out Evers to vent his frustration after two men accused in the lynching were exonerated.
“Mr. Evers said, ‘I understand how upset you are and hurt and angry,’” Brown remembered. “He said, ‘Don’t get stuck there. Let’s be smart.‘”
Inspired by Evers’ council, Brown went on to found the NAACP Youth Council. He would later serve as president of the San Francisco NAACP and with the national organization.
After moving to San Francisco, Brown waded deep into the city’s political waters. In 1996, then-Mayor Willie Brown appointed Brown to the board of supervisors, where he remained until 2001. Among his controversial ideas was a proposal to move the homeless population to barges in the Bay and another calling on the city to issue fines for loitering.
Joe Rosato Jr./NBC Bay Area
Joe Rosato Jr./NBC Bay Area Dr. Amos Brown sits in the pews of San Francisco’s Third Baptist Church where he has served as head pastor since 1976.
His service extended beyond the borders of San Francisco’s 49 square miles. In 2001, he accompanied Jesse Jackson to South Africa to meet with Nelson Mandela in discussing issues of African development.
Since 1964, he traveled to Africa 27 times, sponsoring African refugees through his church and helping dozens of children receive heart surgery in the U.S.
“In the words of Charles Wesley,” Brown recited, “the world has always been my pulpit.”
In stepping back from the pulpit he’s occupied since 1976, Brown theorizes he’ll have more time to read books, travel and listen to music, especially Mozart.
He may also on occasion stroll down Dr. Amos Brown Way, a block of Pierce Street adjacent to Third Baptist which the city will rename this coming Saturday in a ceremony. Though he may not be in the pulpit, Brown figures he will stay plenty busy. When asked about his future, he recited a poem about the tedium of sailing a small boat near the shore when there are great ships to encounter further out.
“I’m still going to be out on the sea of life trying to show someone else to find the way to the shore,” Brown said.
Santa Rosa prepares for next big earthquake
The Great 1906 earthquake devastated the Bay Area, destroying much of San Francisco and killing more than 3,000 people. The city marked the quakes 120th anniversary this weekend, but whats not as widely recognized is the damage to surrounding comunities like Santa Rosa.
SANTA ROSA, Calif. – While the Great 1906 Earthquake was a centerpiece of news around the world when its massive damage and fire destroyed much of San Francisco and took 3,000 lives, another far smaller, far less famous town, suffered massive damage almost forgotten by history.
Nearly forgotten
On this day 120 years ago, stunned people were digging for survivors two nights after the quake. Like a demon in the night, the Great 1906 Earthquake also came to Santa Rosa also bent on mass death and destruction.
Eric Stanley is the history curator and deputy director of the Museum of Sonoma County in Santa Rosa that supplied these pictures. “Santa Rosa, in particular, was devastated by the 1906 earthquake,” he said.
Survivors were shaken awake as whole buildings collapsed around them or on them. “A good portion, a really significant portion, of downtown Santa Rosa was completely destroyed,” said Stanley.
Many never woke up; crushed to death in their sleep. There were over a hundred people killed in the 1906 earthquake in Santa Rosa that only had 7,000 people in it at the time,” said the curator.
Active fault line
Sixty-three years later, in 1969, a time of budding, but far better science-based building codes, a double shaker nonetheless did significant damage and killed one person. “Even understanding all those things, you kind of at the earlier stage of that in the sixties,” said Stanley.
Today, four of Santa Rosa’s School buildings lie near or on the Rodgers Creek Earthquake Fault, capable of up to a 7.3 magnitude rupture. One is already closed with another due to close at the end of the school year for budgetary reasons.
That leaves two elementary schools, Hidden Valley, alongside the fault and Proctor, on the fault. The school board says both are seismically sound and safe to continue operating. “The two that are remaining open are both the ones that have the potential and the ability to grow because the entire site is not impacted by the fault line,” said Nick Caston, Santa Rosa City School Board president.
Staying prepared
In other words, things can and will eventually be moved around.
“What we’re gonna end up having to do is redesign the campus over the next several decades to have our fields and our parking in the front, which are totally acceptable to be over a fault line and actually move our academic builds and our student-serving buildings to the back,” said Caston.
Ultimately, the pictures and relics museums hold from natural disasters are given to those who come, a lesson and a warning. “Real people went through these experiences and we really do have to be aware of that and do our very best to prepare for those kinds of things,” said Stanley.
The 1933 Field Act requires earthquake-safe construction of schools, with evolving seismic codes as we learn more.
A California sea lion pup found last week on a San Francisco street corner is malnourished but “active and quite feisty,” The Marine Mammal Center said Monday.
The sea lion, believed to be about 10 months old, had apparently wandered into city’s Outer Sunset neighborhood and was discovered early Thursday morning, authorities said.
The pup was spotted near 48th and Irving Streets, one block from Ocean Beach and Sunset Dunes park. A trained responder from the Marine Mammal Center was joined by San Francisco park rangers and police officers to safely corral the pup, now named ‘Irving’, into a carrier crate.
Dubbed ‘Irving’ by his rescuers, Irving weighed in at 40 pounds and is considered malnourished, the Marine Mammal Center said.
“The sea lion is active and quite feisty which is a positive initial sign in terms of general behavior,” the center said in a news release on Monday.
During an exam by veterinarians, a series of blood samples were also taken to determine whether there’s any underlying ailment.
Irving is being tube fed a fish smoothie blend two times per day to boost hydration and weight; offers of whole herring will also begin shortly.
The quick actions by police, recreation and parks staff and Ocean Avenue Animal Hospital gave the young sea lion a second chance at life, said Lauren Campbell, animal husbandry manager at The Marine Mammal Center.
“As a roughly 10-month-old pup in his first year of learning how to forage on his own, this animal has a long road to recovery due to his severe malnutrition,” Campbell said. “We are hopeful that in the coming weeks with continued specialized care that this pup starts to make positive strides toward recovery and release.”
Irving will be held in the Center’s Intensive Quarantine Unit until clearing medical protocols, before likely being transferred this week to a traditional rehabilitation pool pen. A long-term prognosis and potential release timeline are not currently known.
After Sunday’s 3-0 loss to the Washington Nationals, the San Francisco Giants headed back to the West Coast. They’re going back to the Bay Area, too.
The Giants have a date with the Los Angeles Dodgers for a three-game series at Oracle Park starting Tuesday night.
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So, San Francisco probably wanted to get out of Washington, D.C., with a win. That didn’t happen at Nationals Park on Sunday afternoon.
Nationals reliever Andrew Alvarez, the third pitcher used by the team on Sunday, picked up the victory with 4 1/3 innings of work. Giants starter Robbie Ray absorbed the loss, falling to 2-3 this season.
Ray worked six innings, giving up seven hits, three runs (all earned), walking one, and striking out seven Nationals. If the Giants’ offense had found a way to tack on some runs, then Ray’s outing wouldn’t have looked so bad.
The Giants’ bats, though, had eight hits. The big number for Giants manager Tony Vitello to look at in the box score after this one was, well, pretty big. San Francisco left 10 runners on base on Sunday, going 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position. This indicates that San Francisco had plenty of opportunities to score some runs.
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They just didn’t get the job done.
Let’s go to the bottom of the fifth with the Giants and Nationals in a scoreless tie. With nobody out, the Nationals’ Keibert Ruiz connected for his third double this season. Nasim Nuñez scored to put Washington up 1-0.
With one out, Curtis Mead sent a Ray pitch over the left-field wall, a two-run blast that gave the Nationals a 3-0 lead.
San Francisco had a scoring threat in the top of the eighth inning. With runners at first and second base and nobody out, Casey Schmitt grounded into a double play. Matt Chapman, who was on second base, went to third. But the Giants were unable to bring him home.
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Rafael Devers and Drew Gilbert went 2-for-4 at the plate for the Giants, producing half of the Giants’ hits.
The Giants fall to 9-13 this season, sitting in fourth place in the National League West Division. The Nationals’ record goes to 10-12, good enough for third place in the National League East Division.
All eyes now turn toward Oracle on Tuesday night. It’ll be a chance for two longtime rivals to renew their rivalry.
Baseball fans know that the Giants-Dodgers matchups usually are must-see TV.
That’s probably going to be the case once again as Giants fans watch their team battle the Dodgers. Those lucky to have tickets to the three-game series at Oracle Park will show up in Giants colors, hoping to see Los Angeles head back to Southern California with either a series loss or a Giants’ sweep.
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Buckle up, Giants fans. It’s about to get rowdy at Oracle Park.
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