Resolution 16114 CITY OF ALAMEDA RESOLUTION NO. 16114
SUPPORTING LOCAL, STATE, AND FEDERAL EFFORTS TO
EXONERATE THE PORT CHICAGO 50
WHEREAS, on July 17, 1944, the deadliest home front disaster of World War II
took place when a tragic explosion occurred at the Port Chicago Naval Magazine killing
320 men (of whom 202 were African American) and wounding 390 (of whom 233 were
African American); and
WHEREAS, Port Chicago Naval Magazine was racially segregated and all sailors
loading munitions at the time of the explosion were African American; and
WHEREAS, the surviving sailors were entitled to standard survivors' leave but
were denied leave and ordered to clean up after the disaster; and
WHEREAS, the surviving sailors were ordered back to handling high explosives
before an investigation could determine the cause of the deadly explosion; and
WHEREAS, 258 ammunition handlers engaged in peaceful work stoppage rather
than return under the same unsafe working conditions; and
WHEREAS, fifty of these men were unlawfully charged with mutiny, prosecuted as
guilty and sentenced to prison; and
WHEREAS, three weeks after the work stoppage, a Naval Court of Inquiry report
confirmed working conditions and practices enforced by Port Chicago leadership were in
violation of Naval safety regulations and federal safety code; and
WHEREAS, the actions of the sailors, the public mutiny trial, and public advocacy
from their champion Thurgood Marshall, initiated the desegregation of the Navy in
February 1946; and
WHEREAS, there have been several attempts over the years to appeal the
decision, but all have failed; and
WHEREAS, starting in the 1990s, Congressman George Miller worked to preserve
the history of the Port Chicago 50 and worked towards their exoneration, and in 1992, his
legislation designated the site of the Port Chicago Naval Magazine as a national
memorial, which is managed by the National Park Service; and
WHEREAS, in 2009, President Obama signed legislation to incorporate Port
Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial as a full and permanent unit of our National
Park System; and
WHEREAS, the East Bay Regional Park District received part of the Concord
Naval Weapons Station through a Public Benefit Conveyance on July 19, 2019, and has
named the park the Thurgood Marshall Regional Park — Home of the Port Chicago 50,
which honors the courage and legacy of the Port Chicago 50 and all those who sacrificed
their lives in our nation's ongoing struggle for social justice, racial equality, and workers'
rights; and
WHEREAS, Naval historians now recognize the actions of the Port Chicago 50
potentially saved lives and changed the Navy for the better; and
WHEREAS, in 2022, the City of Concord, the City of Albany, the Contra Costa
County Board of Supervisors passed resolutions supporting local, state, and federal
efforts to exonerate the sailors wrongfully convicted of mutiny following the Port Chicago
disaster of 1944; and
WHEREAS, in 2022, the State of California successfully passed SJR-15 urging the
President of the United States and Congress to restore honor to the sailors unjustly
blamed for, and the sailors convicted of mutiny following, the Port Chicago disaster, and
to rectify any mistreatment by the military of those sailors, including the full exoneration
of those who were convicted at court-martial; and
WHEREAS, in 2023, US Representative Mark DeSaulnier (CA-11), US
Representative Barbara Lee (CA-12) and US Representative John Garamendi (CA-08)
introduced a resolution recognizing the victims of the Port Chicago disaster and calling
for the exoneration of the Port Chicago 50; and
WHEREAS, in June 2023, the Philadelphia 15 were exonerated by Assistant
Secretary of the Navy Franklin Parker. This case serves as an example and pathway to
exonerate the Port Chicago 50; and
WHEREAS, in August 2023, Vice President Kamala Harris praised the Port
Chicago 50, writing that they "pushed for progress, and our Armed Forces are stronger
today because they reflect the diversity of our country."
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Council of the City of Alameda
does resolve as follows:
Section 1. The City of Alameda does hereby support these and all efforts to exonerate
the Port Chicago 50 and recognize their service to our country.
Section 2. The City of Alameda recognizes the efforts that this case presents in our
nation's struggle for social justice, racial equity, and workers' rights.
Section 3. The City of Alameda affirms support for all future efforts which urge the
President, Congress of the United States, and Secretary of the Navy to take all necessary
actions to restore honor to, and rectify the mistreatment by the United States Military of,
any sailors who were unjustly blamed for and convicted of mutiny after the Port Chicago
disaster, which occurred in the town of Port Chicago, California, in 1944.
Section 4. This resolution shall become effective immediately upon its passage and
adoption.
I, the undersigned, hereby certify that the foregoing Resolution was duly
and regularly adopted and passed by the Council of the City of Alameda in a regular
meeting assembled on the 7th day of November 2023, by the following vote to wit:
AYES: Councilmembers Daysog, Herrera Spencer, Jensen, Vella and
Mayor Ezzy Ashcraft—5.
NOES: None.
ABSENT: None.
ABSTENTIONS: None.
IN WITNESS, WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the official seal
of said City this 8th day of November 2023.
` Imo/$
Ashley IZiba, Acting City Clerk
City of Alameda
Approved as to form:
Yibin Shen, City Attorney
City of Alameda