Jen Angel passes away as Bay of the Bay community holds rallies in support : Indybay

The Anarchist Agency announces the passing of longtime anarchist Jen Angel as community members, family and friends rallied in support.

It is with a heavy heart that we announce that Oakland baker, small business owner, social justice activist and community member Jen Angel has been diagnosed as completely brainless and will not regain consciousness. The official time of her death was 5:48 pm (Pacific Time).

Jen’s friends and family hope that the story of this last chapter of her brilliant, full and dynamic life focuses on her commitment to society, the care she and her family receive from the people who loved her, and the generous and courageous role of countless medical professionals and government officials. employees who fought for her life. We know Jen would not want to continue the cycle of harm by bringing state-sanctioned violence against those involved in her death or other members of the Oakland community.

As a longtime social activist and anarchist, Jen did not believe in state violence, imprisonment, or incarceration as an effective or fair solution to social violence and injustice. The outpouring of support and concern for Jen, her family and friends, and the values ​​she held dear is a clear demonstration of the harm response Jen believed in: community members rely on each other, lead with love, focus the needs of the most vulnerable, and not resorting to revenge and causing more harm.

Jen believed in a world where everyone can live a life of dignity and joy and worked to create an environmentally sustainable and participatory society where all people have access to what they need, decisions are made by those directly affected, and all men are free and equal.

Angel Cakes, the popular community bakery that Jen founded in 2008, will remain open, supported by Jen’s estate and staffed by a talented team that Jen created. Community members wishing to support the bakery can especially help by purchasing gift certificates and taking on long-term patronage.

At Jen’s wish, her organs will be donated, and her dedicated team of doctors informed the family that these organs will help extend and improve the lives of up to 70 people.

If the Oakland Police Department makes an arrest in this case, the family is committed to using all available alternatives to traditional prosecution, such as restorative justice. Jen’s family and close friends ask that the media respect this request and spread her life story with celebration and clarity about the world she has sought to build. Jen’s family and friends ask that stories relating to Jen’s life not use her legacy of caring and community to further fuel narratives of fear, hate and revenge. We do not support the use of public resources for law enforcement, detention, or other state violence that perpetuates the cycle of violence that led to this tragedy.

We want Jen’s legacy to be a deep commitment to safety and dignity for all.

Support

Jen’s huge community of friends and loved ones have shown support since Monday. In less than 24 hours of launching the GoFundMe fundraising page, Jen’s vast community of friends and loved ones have already raised over $88,000 to support her family, community and continue her business. Those wishing to support the project can do so here. Angel Cakes remains open for business and is taking orders here. Purchasing gift cards for future use is the best way to keep this community institution afloat for the time being.

Angel, 48, founded Angel Cakes in 2008, baking cupcakes, planning weddings and catering for locals. In 2016, Angel Cakes opened a bakery at 745 5th Street in Oakland, located in the historic Gingerbread House, Oakland’s longtime staple restaurant that served the area from the 1970s to 2007.

Jen Angel was born in 1975 and grew up in suburban Cleveland, Ohio. Jen is a longtime social justice activist and organizer. Prior to launching Angel Cakes, Jen founded the social justice organization Aid and Abet. Jen co-founded and published Clamor Magazine, a bi-monthly alternative magazine from 1999 to 2006. Jen published a pamphlet about Clamor aimed at strengthening progressive media institutions called “Becoming a Media: A Critical History of Clamor Magazine” (PM Press 2008). She remains actively involved in organizing the work to ensure media justice and build a better world.

A group of dear and trusted friends of Jen is working under the name “Jen Angel Family and Friends” to organize support and make important decisions during this difficult time. The group respectfully asks for space and caution.

Quotes from Family and Friends

“Jen makes cupcakes and Jen creates a community. Often they intersect in her life and in the lives of those who know and love her. Jen has worked hard to build a small business in Oakland in a way that treats her employees as human beings, including a living wage. She paid herself last. Everywhere she went, she handed out cupcakes to community groups. Jen was at the bakery every day. She taught herself how to decorate cakes. On Friday nights, she invited friends to hang out with her while she worked late and decorated wedding cakes,” says Tobias Smith, a friend of Jen Angel.

“Jen cultivates community wherever she goes. Her cupcakes, her organizational work, and every other element of her life has always been an invitation to the beautiful world she hopes to build, where everyone is valued, cared for and celebrated, ”says Pete Wojvod, a friend of Jan Angel.

“All of us who know Jen are touched by how her community is responding. Most of the people in Oakland who experience the same kind of abuse as Jen are young black and brown people who don’t get the same level of attention, attention, or support that Jen does. Jen and those of us who love her want a world where everyone who gets hurt is supported and healed, and people who get hurt get support so they can change instead of being locked up.” Emily Harris, friend of Jan Angel and co-director of programs for the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights.

“Over the past 30 years, Jen Angel has been a visionary influence and pioneering member of numerous movements and subcultures that have significantly influenced and shaped our world here and now, from punk rock and anarchism in the 1990s to the global Justice and anti-war movements of the early 2000s- x to occupy in 2011 and modern battles for racial justice, climate justice, economic justice and more,” says Ryan Fletcher, a friend of Jen Angel.

For all media inquiries about Jen Angel’s family and friends, please fill out the form at

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