Our Leader
Ms. Phelicia Jones is the Founder and Leader of Wealth and Disparities in the Black Community. A native to San Francisco’s Bayview Hunter’s Point, she is a community advocate and her personal mission is to foster healthy lives in disenfranchised and marginalized populations, with a concentration on the Black Community.
Ms. Jones is currently employed by the San Francisco Sheriff’s Department as a Rehabilitation Services Coordinator, where she develops programs that serve incarcerated and post-incarcerated populations and their families. She is also the Executive Director of Hope Preservation, Inc., Founder of San Francisco’s Black Agenda, an SEIU Local 1021 Steward, a Union Delegate for the Committee on Political Education (COPE), and she has recently been selected by Mayor London Breed to work on the Human Rights Commission with Executive Director Sheryl Davis.
Our members at work
Our Team
On a July day in 2013, I was driving with all my belongings back up to San Francisco to relocate and live. During the drive, I heard with horror and disbelief on the car radio that the racist murderer of Trayvon Martin had just been acquitted. In that moment, I knew that I had to *do something,* something significant. I felt an urgency to dedicate in a big way, devoting significant resources and energy to the betterment and protection of Black lives in this racist society.
It wasn’t long after that when I discovered the San Francisco Police Department had a terrible record of killing people and every time pronouncing the killings “justified.” I went to my first rally and vigil related to an SFPD killing in 2014, and other actions followed. Then in 2015, Mario Woods was senselessly murdered by SFPD in a horrific caught-on-camera viral execution scene, and as I shared the incident online, I met and was invited to a meeting by Phelicia Jones, Founder of Wealth and Disparity in the Black Community, and after Mario’s murder, Founder of the Justice 4 Mario Woods Coalition. Since that time – for 5 years – I’ve worked with Phelicia and the WDBC team for Justice for Black San Franciscans. The group and Phelicia’s leadership has been extremely consistent and extremely effective – ushering in amazing changes in the past 5 years.
The journey to a deep and lasting commitment started with a spark of passionate outrage – a call to act on behalf of my fellow human beings in the face of an unjust and unacceptable system.
~Jean Bridges
I decided to join Wealth and Disparities in the Black Community after the recent murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. I realized it was no longer acceptable to sit on the sidelines. I needed to contribute to real solutions and real progress towards equality and equity for all races, especially the black population in San Francisco. After hearing the passion, and unfortunately pain, behind Phelicia Jones’ speech, I decided to join the group and do everything I can to help.
~Bear Silber
I’ve been looking to get involved with a local organization that supports Black San Franciscans, and so I asked a friend, a younger Black activist, for a recommendation, and he instantly replied “definitely Wealth and Disparities; Phelicia Jones is the real deal.” And after being involved with the group for only a few months, I can say that he was definitely right. I’m very happy to be a part of this group of dedicated individuals. Thanks for the opportunity.
~Tim Orr
I joined Wealth & Disparities after attending a memorial for George Floyd last June. I realized that I needed to do more beyond showing up in support of Black folx in the community. I needed to work alongside them and learn from them, too. I'm inspired by the collective action of the group and the vigor with which it challenges institutions designed to oppress Black folx. Black Lives Matter.
~Victoria Juarez
WDBC's work is always focused towards discrete, impactful action on addressing issues tangibly at a fundamental level. Whether it's partnering with local government on policy recommendations, keeping SFPD accountable to reforms by raising public visibility, or distributing essential supplies and relief to disadvantaged members of the Black community, WDBC is always doing the real work, and it's great to be a part of that!
~ Ben Saunders
I was compelled by SFPD’s December 2015 execution of Mario Woods to join the San Francisco Black community’s uprising against racist police brutality in the City. Driven forward by passionate San Francisco Black leaders, the Justice for Mario Woods Coalition organized a movement and Wealth and Disparities in the Black Communities (WDBC) has stood on the front lines leading the fight ever since. The years 2014 through 2016 saw a total of 12 SFPD murders and communities of color erupting en masse. San Francisco District Attorneys have not filed charges in any officer-involved shooting dating back at least past two decades.
In her book Caste, Isabel Wilkerson describes the ugly dehumanization of Black people, the most targeted population in America’s racial caste system. Working closely with Mario’s mother, Gwen, and folks in San Francisco’s Bayview community has brought home again and again the pain and grief that this racist targeting wreaks on Black communities, especially through the powerful apparatus of law enforcement.
It has been an honor to work with Phelicia and WDBC’s dedicated team in this ongoing fight.
~Marty Jaye
Having spent five plus years as an activist for Wealth and Disparities in the Black Community, I’m struck by the way this group has grown in stature and influence. In April, 2015, I showed up at City Hall to video a Black Lives Matter rally organized by Phelicia Jones and featuring several San Francisco supervisors as well as Etecia Brown, a Bay Area organizer of Black Lives Matter. At the end of the rally, Miss Jones introduced herself to me and asked if I could send her a DVD copy of the event. That was the start of a friendship that continues to this day.
In December, 2015, the execution-style shooting death of Mario Woods by the SFPD galvanized the whole city and especially the Bay View community which asked Miss Jones to do something about this injustice. Under her leadership, numerous rallies and town hall meetings were organized, plus annual events honoring Mario Woods both as a birthday celebration (in July) and a solemn memorial of his execution death (in December).
Over the years, I’ve seen many twists and turns in Wealth and Disparities in the Black Community as a grassroots organization. These changes have included the expansion of lobbying efforts to Sacramento and several name changes, but throughout it all Phelicia Jones has remained the driving force for social and economic justice in the Black community. If you’re interested in getting involved in this audacious group you will be warmly welcomed.
~Tom Brown
I joined the group after hearing about a lobbying trip they were taking to Sacramento. I tagged along on the trip and found it to be an awe inspiring experience, demonstrating the power of Phelicia Jones as her voice echoed throughout the capitol building. Since then it has been a privilege to work under her leadership as part of such an important movement.
~Ben Paul