Activism
Jovanka Beckles Projected to Win AC Transit Board Seat
Although the votes are still being counted, Jovanka Beckles’ campaign is confident she won her seat for the AC Transit Board of Directors in Ward 1. She had challenged Joe Wallace, a 20-year incumbent.
Beckles is a movement organizer, a former two-term Richmond City Councilmember, a longtime leader in the Richmond Progressive Alliance, a children’s mental health professional, a former candidate for California’s 15th State Assembly district, and a democratic socialist in the tradition of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., her web site biography says.
In a letter to her supporters on Wednesday, she said, ‘We won!”
She went on to thank her donors supporters who spent ‘countless hours’ volunteering for her campaign.
And characterized her victory a one “for working people and our public transit system. We said “NO” to service cuts, wage reductions and layoffs, and demanded expanded service.
“We demanded free masks and sanitizer to make buses safe for workers and riders. We demanded that we treat public transit like a human right and get rid of bus fares permanently,” she wrote.
Further demands by her campaign support a Green New Deal for the East Bay and a call to reclaim wealth from corporations and the ultra-rich and invest in public services and public union jobs — starting with transit.
Beckles gave credit to labor unions, progressive activists, and ordinary working people across the Bay and the country who came out in support of her vision for the people. “That’s why we won, and I’m so grateful to all of you for your support.”
But the fight does not stop now, she said. “We’re going to need to put massive public pressure on the rest of the AC Transit Board and on local and state legislators to win taxes on the rich, to fund the public transit system we deserve.
“We need to support the ATU workers should they go on strike to stop givebacks.
Let’s celebrate our victory — and then get back to work to win transit for the people!
Activism
‘Respect Our Vote’ Mass Meeting Rejects Oakland, Alameda County Recalls
The mass meeting, attended mostly by members of local Asian American communities, was held in a large banquet room in a Chinese restaurant in Alameda. The Respect Our Vote (ROV) coalition, consisting of concerned community members and groups, is organizing meetings in Oakland and around Alameda County leading up to the November election.
By Ken Epstein
A recently organized coalition, “Respect Our Vote – No Recalls!,” held a standing-room only mass meeting on Sept. 14, urging residents to vote ‘No’ on the two East Bay recalls funded by conservative billionaires and millionaires with the help of corporate media and instead to support the campaign to protect residents’ democratic right to choose their representatives.
The mass meeting, attended mostly by members of local Asian American communities, was held in a large banquet room in a Chinese restaurant in Alameda.
The Respect Our Vote (ROV) coalition, consisting of concerned community members and groups, is organizing meetings in Oakland and around Alameda County leading up to the November election.
Speaking at the meeting, prominent East Bay leader Stewart Chen said that local leaders, like Alameda County D.A. Pamela Price and Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, worked hard to get elected, and our system says they get four years to carry out their policies and campaign promises. But rich people have “broken” that system.
Within two months after they took office, they were facing recalls paid for by billionaires, he said. “(Billionaires’) candidate did not get elected, so they want to change the system.”
“(Our elected leaders) were elected through the process, and the people spoke,” said Chen. “It’s the entire system that the billionaires are trying to (overturn).”
“If a candidate does something wrong or enacts a policy that we do not like, we let it play out, and in four years, we do not have to vote for them.
“The democratic system that we have had in place for a couple of hundred years, it needs our help,” said Chen.
Pastor Servant B.K. Woodson, a leader of the coalition, emphasized the diversity and solidarity needed to defend democracy. “We need each other’s wisdom to make our nation great, to make it safe. We are deliberately African American, English-speaking, Latino American, Spanish-speaking, and all the wonderful dialects in the Asian communities. We want to be together, grow together, and have a good world together.”
Mariano Contreras of the Latino Task Force said that people need to understand what is at stake now.
The recall leaders are connected to conservative forces that will undermine public education, and bilingual education, he said. “The people behind (the recalls) are being used by outside dark money,” he said. The spokespeople of these recalls are themselves conservatives “who are wearing a mask that says they are progressives.”
In 2017, Oakland passed an ordinance that gave teeth to its “Sanctuary City” policy, which was brought to the City Council and passed because it was supported by progressive members on the council.
“That would not be possible anymore if the progressive alliance – Sheng Thao, Nikki Fortunato Bas, and Carroll Fife – if they are pushed out,” he said.
Elaine Peng, president of Asian Americans for Progressive America, said, “I strongly oppose the recalls of Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao and Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price.”
Citing statistics, she said Alameda County’s murder rate was higher when Alameda County D.A. Nancy O’Malley was in office, before Pamela Price was elected to that position.
“The recall campaign has been misleading the public,” said Peng.
She said Oakland is making progress under Thao. “Crime rates are falling in Oakland,” and the City is building more affordable housing than ever before and is creating more jobs.
Attorney Victor Ochoa said, this recall is “not by accident in Oakland – it is a political strategy.”
“There is a strategy that has been launched nationwide. What we’re seeing is oligarchs, (such as Phillip Dreyfuss from Piedmont), right wingers, conservatives, who can write a check for $400,000 like some of us can write a check for $10.”
“They aligned themselves with so-called moderate forces, but they’re not moderates. They align themselves with the money, and that’s what we have seen in Oakland.”
Ochoa continued, “You got to put up signs, you’ve got to talk to your neighbors, volunteer whatever hours you can, have a house meeting. That’s the way progressives win.”
Pecolia Manigo of Oakland Rising Action spoke about what it will take to defeat the recalls. “This is the time when you are not only deputized to go out and do outreach, we need to make sure that people actually vote.
“We need everyone to vote not just for the president, but all the way down the ballot to where these questions will be. Remind people to fill out their ballot, and mail it back.”
Former Oakland Mayor Jean Quan, who had herself faced a recall attempt, said, “In this recall, they used a lot of money, had paid signature gatherers, and they moved very fast. I talked to many of the people gathering signatures. They didn’t know what was going on. Many of them didn’t live in Oakland. It was just money for them.”
“Sam Singer, the guy who is their spokesperson, is a paid PR guy. He has media ties, so they’ve swamped the media against Sheng,” Quan said.
‘Oakland is… a city that implemented some of the first rent control protections in the country. So, developers and big apartment owners would love to get rid of rent control,” said Quan.
“We also established ranked-choice voting, which allows people with less money to coalesce and win elections,” she said. “That’s too democratic for people with big money. They would rather have elections the way they were.”
Activism
Oakland Post: Week of September 25 – October 1, 2024
The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of September 25 – October 1, 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
Oakland Post: Week of September 18 – 24, 2024
The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of September 18 – 24, 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.
-
Activism4 weeks ago
Jaylen Brown and Jason Kidd’s $5 Billion Plans
-
Activism4 weeks ago
OPINION: Why the N-Word Should Be Eliminated from Schools: A Call to Educators, Parents and Students
-
Activism4 weeks ago
Oakland Post: Week of September 11 -17, 2024
-
Arts and Culture3 weeks ago
San Jose Jazz Fest ‘24: Fun, Food and an Unforgettable Frankie Beverly Farewell
-
Community4 weeks ago
President Dixon’s Vision for College of Alameda
-
Bay Area4 weeks ago
District 3 Councilmember Carroll Fife Kicks Off Reelection Campaign
-
Bay Area4 weeks ago
Congresswoman Lee Celebrates Federal Green Transportation Investments for California
-
Community4 weeks ago
Diabetes Continues to Largely Impact Low-Income Black and Brown Communities