Vicente R. Cruz II Candidate Bio

Vicente R. Cruz II
Candidate for OUSD Board
District 3

BIOGRAPHY

Vicente Rafael Cruz II was born Vicente Rafael Cruz Junior at the Philadelphia Naval Hospital February 4 1964. Rose in his early years by a working single mother with the United Airlines Employees union Vicente comes from a long labor history even back to the civil war. 

Vicente received his education from books on/from teachers such as John Brown, W.E.B. Dubois, Malcolm X, Harriet Tubman, Sister Souljah, Rosa Clemente, and many others.

He received his formal GED from the OUSD Adult Program as well as completing theatrical lighting programs from Diablo Valley College and Santa Rosa junior College. Vicente has a desire to retrieve the Spanish he lost from childhood and will be attending college to read, write and speak the language.

Vicente has worked in education for 16 years first as Youth/Adult Sports Program Director for the Pleasant Hill/Concord Clayton YMCA and 4 years in the Oakland Unified School District with Playworks formerly Sports 4 Kids. He is well known for connecting social justice education into his lesson plans. Also in Vicente’s background is 10 years with Kinko’s where starting as the overnight Shift Supervisor finished being a Production Manager, leaving the company after a severe back injury leaving him disabled.

Vicente has no biological children but has assisted in parenting of five children. Daughters aged 30, and 29 from Maryland, two aged 28 and a son aged 21 from the bay area. Vicente has lived in Oakland since 2006 but has been a bay area resident since 1979.

Since 2000 Vicente has taken a Speak UP Speak Out attitude in the social political community. Doing Legal Observing, Agitator/De-escalate, citizen journalist he has experience with a broad spectrum of the community and has always believed that folks that get elected have to be the people’s voice as well as their own.