Activism
COMMENTARY: No Unity in America? Remember 9/11 Before We all Forget
I will never be in doubt again about what to do on Sept. 11. At each time stamp of terror, mark it with a moment of silence to honor the dead and the brave. That’s what they’ve done in New York the last 22 years.
By Emil Guillermo
The politics of the week was as polarizing as it gets. President Biden spoke to the UN General assembly about defending democracy, especially when it comes to giving aide to Ukraine, a sovereign nation invaded by Russia.
That would normally happen without debate, but now polls in the U.S show more than 50% say we’ve given enough to Ukraine. And with already $60 billion given to date, fulfilling the request for another $40 billion may be in doubt.
It’s easy to say, “Gee, wouldn’t it be nice if any of that could be used to fix our local problems.” But we’re talking about a threat of a different level. Gang bangers shooting up neighborhoods and local smash-and-grabs are one thing. A superpower like Russia smash-and-grabbing a free country like Ukraine, we all need to care about.
That’s not how democracy works.
And then there is the weaponizing of government by Republicans in Congressional hearings, on full display when the GOP lead Justice Committee member badgered Attorney General Merrick Garland for hours on irrelevancies like Hunter Biden.
“…They do that at the expense of millions of Americans who need the government to stay open and want their kids safe in school, and like to see Ukraine stay in the fights that don’t help Russia,” said California District 14 Congressman Eric Swalwell, who called the hearings a clown show. “Except they actually have real responsibilities that affect real Americans.”
That hearing was on Sept. 20, nine days after the 9/11 anniversary.
When I think of an America United I like to think of that day.
Where Were You on 9/11?
I was in the San Francisco Bay Area, thinking about trading the markets, so I was up way early with CNBC at 5.46 a.m. Pacific time when the first plane flew into the North Tower.
Then the second plane at 6:03 a.m. Pacific time struck the South Tower.
And then the third plane struck the Pentagon at 6:37 a.m Pacific time.
It’s too early for all this, I recall thinking, my head spinning from the news. But then the South Tower fell at 6:59 a.m. Pacific.
OMFG wasn’t an acronym back then.
I would need something stronger at 10:03 a.m. Pacific, when a fourth plane crashed in Shanksville, Pa.
Within the half hour at 10:28 a.m. Pacific, the North Tower fell.
I will never be in doubt again about what to do on Sept. 11. At each time stamp of terror, mark it with a moment of silence to honor the dead and the brave. That’s what they’ve done in New York the last 22 years.
It’s the timeline of when the terrorists’ war came to us. It was in Lower Manhattan. But I felt it instantly via television in California while still in my pajamas.
It was also a day I lost my taste for the markets and the mindless chase of the almighty dollar. Sept. 11 made me sense something more was at stake, our sense of country, of ourselves, and of our America.
There were shattered buildings in New York, but was there ever a moment when the country was more united?
Remember that, America. Because there have been so many times since then when we forget what it’s like to be on the same side, always, together.
It shouldn’t take an act of terrorism to get back that feeling. Just think of what we did for each other when our real patriotism emerged Sept. 12, 2001.
The Last Thing I Did on Sept. 11
After 2001, my life really did take a different path. I went from television and radio to newspapers. This is not unlike saying to the modern world that you prefer communicating through cave drawings.
But I survived.
One of my friends became a big-time corporate lawyer and is now retired. Our politics are polar opposites, but we’re still buddies. We have history together. We both graduated from San Francisco’s Lowell High School. He moans about the Cal Bears.
If Sept. 11 can have a unifying effect, would it happen when I had dinner with my friend?
The answer is at least on the surface, yes. We were in New York, at, coincidentally, a Ukrainian restaurant with few vegan options. But I made do.
We disagreed on everything. Especially on affirmative action. He sided with the Supreme Court against Harvard. I didn’t. He brought up the historical discrimination against Jews. “There were some law firms that wouldn’t even talk to me when I graduated,” said my friend, who is Jewish.
We agreed that was wrong. But he couldn’t get past his belief that discrimination happens to everyone. You deal with it and get over it, he said.
Easier said than done, if you happen to be a darker shade.
But we’re friends and respect each other.
On the matter of 9/11, he told me where he was that day. His office was a few blocks from the World Trade Center. But he came to work shortly after the first tower fell.
He remembers seeing people walking up FDR Drive from Lower Manhattan covered in soot, their faces in shock.
I told him about my theory of 9/12, how it sparked a feeling of unity that is so rare these days.
He said it was still there, though admittedly, it’s gotten worse. “It doesn’t matter about your politics,” he said, adding how he didn’t care about my point of view. We went to high school together. I called him. He saw my show in New York and now we’re having dinner.
“So, you’re a crazy guy, but so what, I am too,” he said. “You’re my friend and if you need anything, you just ask me.”
Maybe that’s the best we can hope for in a polarized America.
To have a meal together. Laugh. Then fight over the check. Not politics.
But making the feeling last beyond 9/12 is getting tougher and tougher in America.
Emil Guillermo is a journalist and commentator. See his Emil Amok videos on YouTube, Instagram and Facebook.
Activism
Oakland Post: Week of June 12-18, 2024
The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of June 12-18, 2024
To enlarge your view of this issue, use the slider, magnifying glass icon or full page icon in the lower right corner of the browser window.
Activism
ICAC Invites Community to Benefit from Safe Car Park Program
The Interfaith Council of Alameda County (ICAC) will hold a meeting to announce a faith-based expansion of overnight safe car parking for unhoused families on Thursday, June 13, 2024, from 1-2 p.m. at Williams Chapel Baptist Church located at 1410 10th Avenue in Oakland. The ICAC President, Rev. Ken Chambers, announced that Williams Chapel, pastored by Rev. Kenneth Anderson, and members of ICAC, has also planned to open an overnight safe car parking program and day center to provide unhoused neighbors and families with wrap-around services.
by Post Staff
The Interfaith Council of Alameda County (ICAC) will hold a meeting to announce a faith-based expansion of overnight safe car parking for unhoused families on Thursday, June 13, 2024, from 1-2 p.m. at Williams Chapel Baptist Church located at 1410 10th Avenue in Oakland.
The ICAC President, Rev. Ken Chambers, announced that Williams Chapel, pastored by Rev. Kenneth Anderson, and members of ICAC, has also planned to open an overnight safe car parking program and day center to provide unhoused neighbors and families with wrap-around services.
Rev. Chambers said additional support for the program will also come from Bishop Bob Jackson, Pastor of Acts Full Gospel Church and Pastor Phyllis Scott, head of the Oakland Police Chaplaincy Program.
Chambers said, “ICAC’s goal is to just serve Oakland by helping to make the community surrounding 10th Avenue and International Boulevard both welcoming and safe.”
David Longhurst, a member of Oakland Temple LDS Church and an ICAC board member, said
“We can make the city of Oakland safer, one block at a time, by connecting our community and neighbors.”
Chambers said ICAC has a $450,000 grant commitment from the City of Oakland and a $2.5M grant request has been presented to Nate Miley, President of the Alameda County Board of Supervisors President Nate Miley to cover and expand ICAC’s Safe Car Park Program located at West Side Missionary Baptist Church to additional locations including Center Street Baptist Church, Taylor Memorial United Methodist Church, Corinthians Baptist Church, Allen Temple Baptist Church, Acts Full Gospel Church, and other congregations.
Dr. Ken Chambers said he and ICAC are assisting congregations on how to receive a one-time $5,000 grant. “ICAC has plans for several tiny homes with kitchens, living space and bathrooms that we hope will become available this fall in partnership with the State, County and City of Oakland.”
Chambers is appealing to the public to help with transitioning the unhoused populations into tiny homes or affordable housing. “If you or anyone you know is living out of a car and needs a safe place to park overnight, visit interfaithAC.org, call 510-239-6681, or stop by the ICAC hub at 732 Willow Street, Oakland, CA 94607 between the hours of 7 p.m. – 9 p.m.”
Activism
Calif. Leaders Discuss Foster Care Reform Strategies for Black and Brown Youth
Before becoming a nationally recognized social justice leader and a member of California’s Mandated Reporting Taskforce, Shane Harris spent 13 years as a foster care youth after he lost both of his parents. As President of the national civil rights organization, People’s Association of Justice Advocates (PAJA), he’s aiming to solve some of the toughest challenges Black and Brown children in the foster care system face.
By Lila Brown, California Black Media
Before becoming a nationally recognized social justice leader and a member of California’s Mandated Reporting Taskforce, Shane Harris spent 13 years as a foster care youth after he lost both of his parents. As President of the national civil rights organization, People’s Association of Justice Advocates (PAJA), he’s aiming to solve some of the toughest challenges Black and Brown children in the foster care system face.
During National Foster Care Month in May, Harris visited the Sanctuary of Hope in Los Angeles to host a roundtable meeting with current and former foster youth, many of whom, like Harris, have beat the odds and become successful professionals.
According to the federal government’s Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System, there are nearly 370,000 American children and youth in foster care.
Nationally, Black children are overrepresented in foster care. According to datacenter.kidscount.org, Black children represented 14% of the total child population in the United States. However, they represented 23% of all children in foster care. Harris pointed out that one out of every four foster youth go homeless upon exiting foster care in California. Across the state, there are nearly 65,000 children in foster care, he added. Of the 65,000 children in foster care across California, 14,000 of them are Black American.
Harris also announced a new effort already underway to push for the removal of the term “case” in L.A. County when referring to foster youth during the roundtable which featured Hafsa Kaka, Senior Advisor to Gov. Gavin Newsom and Janet Kelly, the Founder and Director of Sanctuary of Hope. The session focused on solving problems foster youth face.
Sharing personal stories, insights, and various visions for policy changes, the participants discussed numerous solutions and addressed specific concerns about ongoing challenges with the foster care system.
One top priority was how to close the foster care to homelessness pipeline for the disproportionate number of Black and Brown children in LA County’s and the state’s foster care system.
“When you see the direct connection between the disproportionate rates of Black children in foster care and the disproportionate rates of Black people in the general homeless population, there is a very clear connection there in which our foster youth are coming out of care,” stated Harris during opening remarks.
Kaka said the governor has been intentional about making sure that foster children are homeless prioritized as the state addresses homelessness.
“This is a critical moment for foster care,” said Kaka. “The systems that are working together are looking at leveraging federal, state and local funds.”
Harris said he has already begun efforts in San Diego County to drop the word “case” when referring to homeless youth.
“We are asking for a 90-day public input period, in which the county CEO and leadership can facilitate discussions with the community on replacement terminology. There’s plenty of ideas,” Harris elaborated.
Kelly said a majority of the youth who go through the Sanctuary of Hope program are young people who have experienced some form of housing instability or housing crisis.
“The goal of the work that we do is really centered around helping young people leave here with leadership skills and other forms of what we call protective factors in order for them to continue on with their stabilization journey and become loving, caring and active citizens in this world,” Kelly said.
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