Port Chicago Alliance

Port Chicago Alliance 501(c)(3) nonprofit honoring the legacy of the Port Chicago Sailors through historic recognition, public education, and community-driven remembrance.

At the 82nd anniversary commemoration of the Port Chicago disaster, John P. “Sean” Coffey — the 24th General Counsel of ...
09/19/2026

At the 82nd anniversary commemoration of the Port Chicago disaster, John P. “Sean” Coffey — the 24th General Counsel of the Department of the Navy and a key figure in the 2024 exoneration of the Port Chicago Sailors — returned to the Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial with three paintings depicting Port Chicago Sailor Ollie Eaton Green and his sons, Ollie Jr. and Edward.

Coffey presented them to Rev. Diana McDaniel, Yulie Padmore, and Jonathan Lee — three advocates he recognized for their roles in the long fight to preserve the Sailors’ history and clear their names.

The choice of Green carried special meaning.

When Coffey began reviewing the Port Chicago cases, Green’s conviction was one of the first things that caught his attention. On the day Green was ordered back to loading am******on, he had a broken wrist, a splint, and a doctor’s note excusing him from loading.

He was convicted of mutiny anyway and sentenced to 15 years of hard labor.

Green had shown remarkable courage during the 1944 mutiny trial. In proceedings that limited testimony about hazardous working conditions, racial discrimination, and failures by Navy leadership, Green testified about the dangerous competition between loading divisions to move am******on faster.

Eight decades later, Coffey’s review ultimately led to the recommendation that the convictions be set aside.

On July 17, 2024 — exactly 80 years after the Port Chicago explosion — Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro set aside the convictions and sentences of 256 Sailors connected to Port Chicago.

At this year’s commemoration, the paintings connected generations of that story: a Sailor who spoke up in 1944, a family that carried his legacy, advocates who refused to let the injustice be forgotten, and a Navy that ultimately cleared their names.

The Sailors did not live to see their exoneration.

Our responsibility now is to make sure their names — and the full story of those who fought for them — are never forgotten.

Learn more at the link in our bio. ✦


[◉°] Halle Antoine

09/18/2026

Port Chicago became the U.S. Navy’s deadliest home-front disaster of World War II, claiming 320 lives—including 202 Black Sailors.

Lloyd Anthony McKinney survived the explosion—but carried its aftermath in his body, his posture, and his silence. Weeks later, he became one of fifty Black Sailors convicted of mutiny for refusing to return to unsafe am******on-loading work.

For eighty years, his story lived in gestures, photographs, and unanswered questions.

“Those men showed bravery. This is my opportunity to be brave.”

In “The Senses of Silence,” McKinney’s grandson, LaMar “YoHan” Vinson, follows those traces transforming inherited trauma into remembrance and silence into understanding.

Part memoir and part historical restoration, the newly released book honors a Black Sailor whose courage went unrecognized and a family that carried his truth across generations.

✦ You have the power to save our Sailors’ stories. “The Senses of Silence” is available now through YoHan’s Creative Circle and booksellers nationwide.


LaMar YoHan Vinson

09/17/2026

This September, we’re remembering the trial of the Port Chicago 50—the largest mass mutiny trial in United States history and a civil-rights turning point that made America confront segregation in the Navy.

The trial began on September 14, 1944, after fifty Black Sailors refused to resume am******on-loading work under unchanged and unsafe conditions following the Port Chicago explosion.

One year later, the Navy released “The Negro Sailor,” a film celebrating Black Sailors’ service, skill, and patriotism during World War II.

This month, we’re pressing play again and looking beyond the screen at the trial, the testimony, and the courage that helped transform the United States Navy.

✦ Save our Sailors’ stories today with the link in our bio.

09/14/2026

On July 15, 2025, Walnut Creek Mayor Cindy Darling presented a proclamation recognizing July 17, 2025, as Port Chicago Remembrance Day!

Port Chicago Remembrance Day honors the 320 men who lost their lives in the Port Chicago disaster, recognizes the bravery and enduring legacy of the Port Chicago Sailors who protested unsafe and unjust conditions, and remembers the nearby town of Port Chicago and the community connected to this history.

Their story represents a pivotal moment in civil rights and U.S. military history and must continue to be preserved and shared with future generations.

The proclamation was presented to Port Chicago Alliance board member Lewis Thrower, as part of the Alliance’s continuing efforts to preserve this history and expand recognition of Port Chicago Remembrance Day.

Thank you to the City of Walnut Creek for helping keep our Sailors’ stories alive. ✦ Discover the courage that changed America forever and help preserve our Sailors’ stories by watching the full proclamation at the link in our bio.

With Gratitude,
☆ The Port Chicago Alliance Team ☆


City of Walnut Creek - City Hall

09/10/2026

During World War II, a catastrophic explosion at the Port Chicago Naval Magazine in California killed 320 men and exposed unsafe and segregated working conditions for Black American Sailors. In protest, 258 servicemen refused to return to hazardous duties after the blast, and fifty were charged with mutiny in the largest mass mutiny trial in United States history.

⚓︎ On our annual Port Chicago Weekend aboard the historic Red Oak Victory, we sat down with actor and filmmaker Titus VanHook, a Columbia University MFA graduate, to reflect on the Port Chicago Sailors and their courage which continues to inspire him today.

✦ They changed history. Help save theirs today with the link in our bio.


Halle Antoine
SS Red Oak Victory
Titus VanHook

¿ What do you spy? Give us a clue, and we’ll give it a try! ⚙︎ Rat-a-tat-tat went the rivets in ’44,as Rosie built a Vic...
09/09/2026

¿ What do you spy? Give us a clue, and we’ll give it a try!

⚙︎ Rat-a-tat-tat went the rivets in ’44,
as Rosie built a Victory ship by the shore.
With sleeves rolled high and sparks flying bright,
she hammered by day and she hammered by night.

✦ Tap-a-tap-tap, every bolt, every seam—
building for war, though she couldn’t yet dream
that eighty years later, those decks by the sea
would dance to a rhythm quite differently.

★ For World War II was calling,
and Red Oak was new—
a Victory ship built
with a serious job to do.

But my, oh my,
if those old decks only knew…

that one day the war would be over,
and she’d be waiting to dance with you! ✦

○｡° FLIP! go the pancakes, towering, syrup spilling from the ceiling.
POP! goes the popcorn—is that Indiana Jones reeling?

♪ Clickety-clack! once went the boots on the floor,
now Charleston feet come gliding in dance galore.

And while pancakes sizzle!
and the Charleston goes SWING!
there’s one little secret
behind everything:

★ Helping hands! Helping hearts!
A remarkable crew!

Volunteers keeping history
merry and new.

From new Rosies with rivets
to volunteers today,

it has always taken loving hands
to keep history underway.

⚓︎ So wander her halls, where old footsteps still meet,
and hear the Port Chicago Sailors’ courage beneath your feet—
for you may come aboard searching for stories of old,
and leave having found a little courage of your own yet untold! ✦


[◉°] Deandre Forks

Once, right here in the Bay Area, a group of young Black Sailors found the courage to say no.Their courage traveled fart...
09/02/2026

Once, right here in the Bay Area, a group of young Black Sailors found the courage to say no.

Their courage traveled farther than they ever could have imagined and transformed America forever.

🎙️ Swipe to discover Percy Robinson’s story in his own words and save our Sailors’ stories today. ✦

Listen to Percy Robinson’s oral history ✦ UC Berkeley Oral History Center — Percy Robinson Interview

08/30/2026

THE NEGRO SAILOR
─── U.S. NAVY • 1945 ───

You’re watching Black naval history as America first saw it!

A year after the Port Chicago explosion, the U.S. Navy released The Negro Sailor—a film highlighting the service, skill, patriotism, and expanding roles of Black Sailors during World War II.

Among the stories honored in the film were Black naval heroes including Doris “Dorie” Miller, William Pinckney, and Leonard Roy Harmon.

Nearly eight decades later, we’re pressing play again.

08/28/2026

Did you know? ☟

The 258 Port Chicago Sailors were warned that if they continued to refuse to return to am******on-loading duty, they could be charged with mutiny and executed by firing squad. After that warning, fifty continued to refuse. They became known as the Port Chicago 50.

Halle Antoine, Social Media Director for the Port Chicago Alliance, joined KMEL’s Street Soldiers to discuss the story of the Port Chicago Sailors and the importance of Port Chicago Weekend 2026.

A special thank you to KMEL’s Street Soldiers for opening the airwaves to the story of the Port Chicago Sailors and helping their courage reach another generation! ✦

Watch their full conversation with the link in our bio and discover why the courage of the Port Chicago Sailors still matters today.


Kmel Radio
Halle Antoine

✯ Can you guess who this legend is? He is in many of America’s most beloved films. During Port Chicago Weekend, we had t...
08/25/2026

✯ Can you guess who this legend is? He is in many of America’s most beloved films.

During Port Chicago Weekend, we had the joy of gathering with him somewhere especially meaningful, Yerba Buena Island.

In 1944, after 320 people were killed in the Port Chicago explosion and hundreds of Black Sailors later refused to resume am******on loading, fifty were charged with mutiny. Their historic court-martial was held at the Treasure Island Naval Base.

More than 80 years later, our community returned to this landscape for jazz, conversation, remembrance and one another. Port Chicago Weekend’s sunset gathering at Panorama Park was intentionally held beside the historic trial site overlooking the Bay.

A place that once judged their courage became a place where we gathered to honor it.

𝟎𝟗 𝐀𝐔𝐆 𝟏𝟗𝟒𝟒 — THE REFUSAL
Of 328 Black Sailors ordered back to am******on-loading duty, 258 refused. They had survived the catastrophe less than a month earlier and feared another explosion.

𝟎𝟗–𝟏𝟐 𝐀𝐔𝐆 — THE BARGE
The 258 men were confined for three days aboard a barge docked at Mare Island. 208 eventually agreed to return to duty but were still subjected to summary courts-martial.

𝐒𝐄𝐏 𝟏𝟗𝟒𝟒 — THE 50
The Navy singled out the remaining fifty men and formally charged them with mutiny — an extraordinarily serious wartime accusation meaning death by firing squad.

𝟏𝟒 𝐒𝐄𝐏 — THE TRIAL BEGINS
At Treasure Island Naval Base, 50 Black Sailors were tried together in what became the largest mass mutiny trial in U.S. Navy history.

To every descendant, family, historian, neighbor, partner and friend who joined us on Yerba Buena Island, thank you for saving our Sailors’ stories!

With Gratitude,
☆ The Port Chicago Alliance Team ☆


[◉°] Deandre Forks

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Concord, CA
94520

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