Rally for Community Justice in Richmond
On June 4th, about 10 members of UUCB attended the major rally in Richmond organized by CCISCO and coalition allies to support a strong Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) with UC Berkeley regarding the new Berkeley Global Campus they are planning for the Richmond Field Station. Supporting CCISCO’s call for a housing fund, educational programs, local hire jobs, and job training, several members of the Richmond City Council spoke including Vice Chair Jael Myrick, Galye McLaughlin, Jovanka Beckles, and Edwardo Martinez. The rally was chaired by Melvin Willis of Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE) and attended by approximately 300 people. UUCB’s own Rev. Craig Scott joined 14 other CCISCO clergy members on the steps of Richmond City Hall. Rev. Alvin Bernstine of Bethlehem Missionary Baptist Church in Richmond spoke, including stanzas from the great Unitarian poet James Russell Lowell’s The Present Crisis which we all know: “Once to every soul and nation comes the moment to decide, in the strife of truth with falsehood, for the good or evil side; some great cause, God’s new Messiah, offering each the bloom or blight, and the choice goes by forever ’twixt that darkness and that light.” Come join us in meetings of the Working Group on the Berkeley Global Campus every fourth Thursday at the Richmond Field Station (1301 S 46th St, Richmond 94804) at 6:00 p.m.
CCISCO County-wide Meeting at Mt. Diablo UU Church
Nancy “Kelly” Kelly and Lee Lawrence joined about 20 members of CCISCO at a countywide meeting last Saturday, hosted by our Unitarian Universalists in Central County. Attendees included many from Richmond and Antioch. Our workshop focused on the source of our power in ourselves, our relationships, and in our communities. We focused particularly on our own personal experiences with oppression, and our struggles in overcoming oppression. It was a powerful, and empowering experience, and we hope all UUCB members will have a chance to participate in similar experiences. CCISCO staff also outlined issues we will be focusing on in the future:
- End Mass Incarceration: CCISCO will be opposing the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s plan to build 400 new jail cells. Also we will be supporting AB 953, a bill that would make local police submit statistics about stops, searches, etc., and would illuminate racial profiling to the Attorney General on a quarterly basis. The ACLU also strongly supports this bill.
- End Mass Divestment in Local Communities: We will support the Make It Fair initiative on the 2016 ballot, Constitutional Amendment 5, which would alter Prop 13’s approach to commercial property taxes, which are currently evaded by not technically changing ownership. Residential taxes would remain as they are. The change will create $11 billion more per year for local schools, road maintenance, and local government.
- End Mass Deportation: We will continue to support DACA and DAPA programs, and we support SB 4, Healthcare for All, (Lara-D) which would create a state insurance exchange for undocumented residents in California, enabling them to purchase affordable health insurance.
