Activism
NAACP Warns Redistricting Commission Ready to Take Legal Action Over Mapping
“We believe that maintaining the integrity of Black community boundaries is integral to electoral representation of Black residents in California and urge the Commission to consider the long-term implications of weakening historically Black-led coalition legislative districts,” wrote Rick Callendar, president of the California-Hawaii NAACP. “The iteration of the latest maps erases the culture of diversity that is ingrained in the fabric of California.”
By Antonio Ray Harvey | California Black Media
The California/Hawaii State Conference of the NAACP has informed the state’s Citizens Redistricting Commission (CRC) that it is “prepared to take legal action” should the current iterations of maps stay the way they are currently drafted.
Rick Callendar, president of the California-Hawaii NAACP, said the Assembly and Senate maps the commission is proposing for Los Angeles County and areas of the East Bay will weaken Black political power.
Los Angeles County and the East Bay are regions in the state where the highest numbers of African Americans live.
“We believe that maintaining the integrity of Black community boundaries is integral to electoral representation of Black residents in California and urge the Commission to consider the long-term implications of weakening historically Black-led coalition legislative districts,” Callendar wrote. “The iteration of the latest maps erases the culture of diversity that is ingrained in the fabric of California.”
The California-Hawaii NAACP pointed out that while maps may seem to represent fair and equitable representation for communities of color, they will actually have unintended consequences in three areas of concern: minimizing Black representation, a loss of seats that will end Black political power and eliminating African-American voter influence.
“Due to rising housing costs, Black residents throughout the state of California are experiencing homelessness in record numbers and aren’t being counted in the Census. This means we lose much-needed political representation,” Callendar said in the statement released December 3.
Every 10 years, California must redraw the boundaries of its electoral districts so that the state’s population is evenly allocated among the new districts. In 2008, California voters passed the Voters First Act, authorizing the creation of CRC to draw new district lines.
On November 10, the CRC released draft maps for the state’s Congressional, Senate, Assembly, and Board of Equalization districts ahead of the California Supreme Court mandated November 15 deadline.
“These are not intended to be final maps and we strongly encourage Californians to continue weighing in until we get it right,” said CRC Chairperson Trena Turner. “A global pandemic and delayed census data would not stop this commission from delivering on its promise to create maps that encourage fair representation. We will have final maps completed and certified by the December 27, 2021, deadline.”
“This is not equitable and is a violation of the African-American community’s equal protection rights under the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution,” Callendar wrote to CRC’s executive director Alvaro E. Hernandez. “It is also completely unnecessary and avoidable to dilute Black representation in Los Angeles.”
Callendar warned the CRC that if the maps are not equitable the next step would be litigation.
“The California Hawaii State Conference of the NAACP will not stand by and watch our communities suffer due to maps which will disenfranchise Black voters and representation,” Callendar said. “We are prepared to take legal action to ensure that our communities are protected, remain whole and strong, and our political power is preserved.”
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
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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.
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