Recent Events

Report on Marin City’s Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr
Birthday Celebration – January 16, 2012

Redeem the Dream
(Opportunity & Justice = Equity)

BY

Monique Perkins, Director of Programs at Marin City

Community Development Corporation

 

WEAP Executive Director Ethel Long-Scott got a standing ovation from Marin County residents after a passionate half-hour Martin Luther King Day speech laying out a vision of a better world for all.

She told a Marin City audience of nearly 200 people at a “Redeem The Dream” celebration that when the need for social change is as great as it is right now, there are three ways that happens – from the courts, through public policy and in the streets.

“We need to build a broad transformative movement with organizing campaigns that show how we can establish a new social contract that puts the things we need into the public domain, from housing, to education, to health care, for the safety and security of all society!” she said.

Not quite 50 years ago, she said, there was another occupy movement begun by a man who gave his life trying to prevent an economic mess like the one we are in. His name was Dr. Martin Luther King, and six months before he was assassinated he issued a call for people to take to the streets in a poor people’s movement for economic justice.

The result, she said, was that, “thousands of people of all races from all parts of the country, people who did not share in the economic prosperity of those days of intense civil rights activity, traveled by train and by bus and even by mule train to Washington D.C. to protest economic injustice . . . They didn’t call it “Occupy Washington” in those days, they called it Resurrection City.” And in May of 1968 about 2,500 people camped out in tents and plywood huts in front of the Lincoln Memorial.

Long-Scott said that if he were alive today, “Dr. King would likely draw attention to the shameful role of all three branches of government in today’s unending economic assault against democracy.

“So what has changed?” she asked. “Why do we see what amount to Resurrection City encampments occupying hundreds of American cities when it’s so clear that lots of the rigid racial barriers Dr. King fought against have fallen? Our children do not think in the limited racial categories that guided thinking in the 1950s and 1960s. What battles are we fighting now that would be familiar to Dr. King if he were here?”

The call for economic security in those days was for “jobs, unemployment insurance, a fair minimum wage, and education.” Those demands are familiar to the occupiers of today, Long-Scott said. But today the terms are less racial and more class-based.

“What has changed is that we are in the midst of an economic revolution that is dramatically altering the nature of capitalism, but our leaders are pretending it isn’t so,” she said. “This is happening because digital technology and the computerized control systems and robots it spawned have fundamentally disrupted our economy. It’s a huge change, as big as the Industrial Revolution, because digital technology and globalization have changed the basic relationship between labor and profits that is the fundamental enabler of capitalism.”

It no longer takes huge numbers of people to make things, she said. “Every day the list of goods and services produced by computer-controlled machines instead of people grows longer. It’s no longer possible to have the capitalism that your grandparents and parents grew up under.”

Corporations and the super-rich understand this, Long-Scott told the crowd in Marin City’s Manzanita Recreation Center, and are successfully bribing elected officials of both major political parties to “guarantee that the super rich will continue to get richer at the expense of workers and the middle income and poor . . . This is the power of government being used to reorganize society so that private corporate power dominates everything and public services nearly disappear. The drive to set up anti-democratic government is pushed on a federal level, in our states and local municipalities.”

She cited one report that from 1979 to 2006 the income of the top 1% increased by 250% “. . . and we know what happened to middle class income during that time. The census bureau now says 146 million Americans are low income – that’s nearly half of the American population!”

The digital economic revolution began more than 40 years ago and rolled first through manufacturing jobs, devastating blue collar industries and creating a “rust belt” of abandoned factories as corporations mechanized jobs and shifted them overseas to countries with cheaper labor, Long-Scott said.

Twenty years ago it began eliminating white collar and professional jobs, and today it is slashing the jobs of government workers, the very people who are supposed to be working for the common good of all.

“As the digital economic revolution rolled forward, some captains of industry and their political allies maneuvered to secure their own economic positions,” Long-Scott said. “As a result the economic boom of the 1990s made the rich much, much richer without doing anything to improve the declining situation of blue collar workers and the poor. That was how determined our political and business leaders were to use the profits from digital technology for their own private gain.”

“Our elected officials from both major parties are setting things up to guarantee that the super rich will continue to get richer at the expense of workers and the middle income and poor. The Occupy movement has been important for bringing attention to the fact that all of this is being driven by an economic revolution that should be used to provide a more secure life for everyone by expanding public resources instead delivering them to private interests.”

“. . . We need a new vision of the possible that will transform society. One thing the digital economic revolution makes possible is an unprecedented abundance that could deliver the necessities of life to everyone. That’s not what it’s being used for, but it could be.

Two days after Long-Scott spoke, the Marin Community Foundation released a report documenting “exceedingly lopsided . . . stark disparities” of wealth and access to opportunity in Marin County.

Its findings included:

  • The distribution of income in Marin is exceedingly lopsided; the top fifth of Marin taxpayers take home about 71 percent of the county’s total income. The bottom fifth earns 1.3 percent of the total income.

  • Residents in Ross are likely to live 13 years longer than residents in the Hamilton neighborhood of Novato—88 years compared to 75.2 years, with longevity in Ross a decade longer than the national average. Plus, the median personal earnings of Ross residents are more than double those of the typical American worker, while the typical worker in the Canal area of San Rafael earns just over $21,000, about the same as an American worker in the late 1960s.

 

September 27th, 2011 Teach-In: Defending Democracy and Anti- Corporate, Anti-Poverty, & Class Rights

On September 27th WEAP hosted our monthly Teach-In and Round Table discussion on Defending Democracy and Anti- Corporate, Anti-Poverty, & Class rights featuring renowned guests, Reverend Edward and Dorothy Pinkney. We were honored to have the Pinkneys join us from the impoverished Rust Belt town of Benton Harbor, Michigan, the first American city to be placed under Michigan’s new Emergency Financial Manager law. Controlled by corporate powers of Whirlpool, the residents of Benton Harbor face extreme economic crisis with 90 percent unemployed and 70 percent living in poverty.

Over 30 people come out for the discussion, representing 10 organizations and universities across the Bay Area including Hip Hop Congress, BOSS, CA Black Women’s Health Project, CHAM Ministry, SEIU 1021 and St. Mary’s College. WEAP Executive Director, Ethel Long-Scott opened the Round Table discussion with commentary on the economic transformation we are facing, and the impact of multiple state cuts to Social Service especially as they relate to public sector workers the safety net. California is now entering the same crisis that has afflicted the Rust Belt for over a decade. With unemployment at depression era levels, and severe cutbacks to important programs, cities are declaring fiscal emergency while corporate profits at record highs. The State government is actively dismantling services, education, and health care programs for working people it now considers disposable.

Ms. Long-Scott posed the question, “how do we elevate and advance the battles. What will it take for us?” To explore this question, the discussion turned to the Reverend Edward and Dorothy Pinkney who bring a considerable moral high ground to the battle and are in the “in the business of freeing minds.” WEAP volunteer Austin Long-Scott introduced the reverend and his wife who have been working for years to defend our hopes. The couple joined WEAP as part of their Northern California tour as national spokespersons against police brutality, courtroom injustice, and corporate dictatorship.

Reverend Edward and Dorothy Pinkney opened their presentation reminding us that “education is a powerful tool and that with organizing and persistence, the people can win against corporations,” as they have proved with their battle against Whirlpool. Reverend Edward Pinkney is President of the Benton Harbor NAACP and has been singled out for political attack because of his years of outspoken criticism of the takeover of his local City government by Whirlpool Corporation. He spent a year in prison in 2008-09 for the “crime” of quoting a curse from Deuteronomy Chapter 28 in an article condemning the behavior of a local judge. An appeals court later reversed his conviction.

The city of Benton Harbor represents a window into the future of any city across the nation that faces industrial collapse. The city is the home of Whirlpool, which formerly employed most of the residents there. But the closing of its last manufacturing plant in March of 2011, resulted in massive unemployment and a per Capita income $10,000 year. In extreme opposition to this poverty lies the corporate interests of the Whirlpool family and the wealthy residents of Benton Harbor’s “Twin City,” St. Joseph, Michigan that has a per capita income of over 3 times that of Benton Harbor. Recently, the State appointed an Emergency Financial Manager that has taken complete control of Benton Harbor’s laws, stripping the Commission of any rights to make decisions.

The Pinkney’s have led a battle against the injustice facing Benton Harbor by organizing actions with over 5000 people and over 10 cities resulting a recall on the commissioner of Whirlpool, the largest family in Benton Harbor with tremendous financial backing. When asked by a participant of the Round Table how he was able to organize and build so much momentum, reverend Pinkney offered these tools: Petitions – go door to do to talk to people register voters and use absentee ballots, spread the word with newspapers that advance the cause of the poor & workers rights such as People’s Tribune and also to use the same media as corporations use to communicate the message. He also described one of his strategies called “Court Watching” where he documents what goes on in courthouses, monitor judges, court-appointed attorneys and prosecutors.

Other states hope to copy the new Michigan law that allows appointed financial managers to strip elected city officials of their power. The effects of globalization, the growing gap between rich and poor, and the shredding of the social safety net are pushing the rest of us into destitution while corporations rake in record profits. The Pinkney’s leadership and vision is an inspiration for all of us and a call to action for all us to continue to fight and organize.

See the WCW page to get regular World Court of Women updates!

August 18th Teach-In: The Debt Deal & Its Impact on Poverty

On August 18, 2011 WEAP presented a Teach-In titled, “The Debt Deal & Its Impact on Poverty, Health Care Reform & Workers Rights.” The discussion focused on the broken healthcare system and included a budget analysis towards a human rights agenda. WEAP also discussed our main campaigns, “Health Care is an Economic Human Right” and the “World Courts of Women” as a way to mobilize and build unity around the impact of recent budget cuts specifically to Medi-Cal and Medicaid.

At the table were guests from United Food Commercial Workers Local 5 (UFCW 5), Hip Hop Congress, California Black Women’s Health Project, LifeLong, BOSS, Healthcare-NOW!, SEIU 1021 among other distinguished leaders and community members. The discussion began with a presentation from Lucinda Bazille of LifeLong Medical Center giving an overview of the $1.5 trillion to be cut from public programs and the burden this has on unionized workers. She also shed light on the recent creation of the “Super Committee” that will decide how the budget will get spent.

With corporations taking over, people are being told there is no money, but there is an amassing of wealth by a few, who do not get taxed or redistribute their wealth like working people do. The discussion posed the question of what will limitations, capping, eligibility changes do to people’s actual health and not just their ability to get access to care? How can it lead to more financial burden on working and low-income people?

Ms. Bazille urged participants to call and write letters to Congress people to mark such cuts as absurdity.

The discussion then turned to a budget analysis looking at the ripple effect from federal cuts down to state level and the impact of these cuts. We heard testimony from a current Cal-WORKS participant on her increasing struggle to provide for her and her family and the lack of support from social workers.

The final portion of the teach-In was a discussion on an important campaign that WEAP is working on, the World Courts of Women on Poverty in The US (WCW). Organizing work is happening regionally & nationally for the upcoming event. WEAP will be hosting the Western regional WCW and is in the planning stages of this monumental event. For more information on the history of the WCW, see the more detailed report on WEAP’s website: World Courts of Women on Poverty in the U.S. For a detailed report on the August 18th meeting go to this page.


July 17th Teach-In & US Social Forum Report Back

On July 21st, WEAP continued the ongoing Teach-In & Leadership Training lunch series with a session following the ground breaking 2010 US Social Forum in Detroit. Attendees who joined the 22,000 participants at the Social Forum reported on their experiences in Michigan. Highlights included the breadth of experiences and inspirational advocates in attendance. With such a diverse population, including well over 3,000 persons under the age of 19, a wide range of ideas and points-of-view were shared at the event. One event goer has this to say: “The overwhelming power, strength, and voice of the poor was unbelievable.”

Through the USSF, the rights framework was used (although not always explicitly), with many emphasizing the need to redefine poverty, resistance, and the social safety net to better reflect the changing landscape of America. Perhaps most inspirational was the commitment each group and attendee made to continue their efforts back home, bringing with them a fresh batch of ideas and solid plans to work together towards a broad social movement.

The teach-in continued with a discussion of California budget cuts and its affects on our most vulnerable citizens. A representative from LifeLong and Representative Nancy Skinner each gave a talk regarding the ludicrous denial of basic human rights by individuals and by a broken political system. As communities we need to stand up and talk to other groups about changes in revenue and tax strategies in California, as well as the way these problems are part of larger societal issues. The same corporate interests that threaten the lives of California’s elderly and disabled are indicative of the same problems that caused the terrible BP oil spill in the gulf. See our calendar for upcoming Teach-In date. For more thoughts on the US Social Forum, see "WEAP at the US Social Forum."

July 14th Teach-In & Round Table

July 14th saw the continuation of WEAP's ongoing Teach-In & Dialogue series. Titled 'Workers Rights/Human Rights: Way Way for America?", WEAP was joined by representatives of Lifelong Medical health centers, CHAM, Hip Hop Congress, the Oakland California Immigrant Policy Center, Safe Ground, and more. The session began with a discussion of the national Medicare and Medicaid developments and their effects on workers, elderly, and the disabled. With caps being placed on medications and doctor visits, patients' lives are being threatened. Adult-care centers are being decimated and entirely removed, and the Department of Human Assistance will soon no longer exist. While the stated intention is to filter the individuals using these services into other programs, alternatives are being devastated themselves and have little room for those in need. The cuts that went into effect July 1st now impact 7 million people, many of whom have run out of options.

Many attendees shared their own experiences, from being turned down by doctors now less willing to accept Medicaid to the gutting of low-income housing in San Jose. The effects of the current California budget crisis is wide spread and disastrous. Low-income families, particular those with children, are struggling more every day. In the words of Sandy Perry, "Without organizing, we cannot do anything."

The Teach-In continued with a brief discussion of ongoing efforts to achieve single-payer health care for all. This featured a video by Healthcare Now! as part of their " Put Medicare for All on the Map " campaign. We encourage all our allies to participate.

The Teach-In drew to a close with an update on the World Court of Women event schedulaed for next year. Drawing on various human rights commissions and a history of thirty-seven other courts of women, the upcoming event is growing moment but needs the continued support of our allies. We invite our readers to learn more about endorsing and sponsoring the WCW and join in our planning committee.

The Human Faces of Health Care
By CHAM

Yesterday’s Assembly Health Care Committee passage of SB 810 was the result of thousands of efforts like the recent “Human Faces of Health Care” event held at Andrew Hill High School in San Jose. The June 12 health fair was a significant success, with about 200 people attending including many dozens of volunteers. Some 40 people received blood sugar screening and counseling, and an additional 40 received blood pressure tests and counseling.

In addition, there were information and referral services provided by 18 agencies and organizations that came to table, and two excellent panels of doctors, nurses, and community and labor leaders. Panelists introduced the idea of single payer health care and SB 810 to scores of people who had never heard of it before, and encouraged them to continue fighting for health justice during these difficult times.

Supervisor George Shirakawa’s office was indispensable to the success of the event. Working with Principal Bettina Lopez, they secured the location for us at Andrew Hill High School and opened the door to participation of school staff, especially the Health and Human Services Program led by Mary Metz-Foley.

Supervisor Shirakawa also helped us connect with St. Maria Goretti Parish, Cryout Christian Fellowship, and Seventrees Neighborhood Group, whose president Elizabeth Contreras became one of our panelists.

Assemblymember Jim Beall addressed the event at noon with a report on the progress of SB 810 in the legislature. He stressed the importance of including coverage for mental health and drug and alcohol rehabilitation in health care reform.

In addition, SIREN (Services, Immigrant Rights, and Education Network) was instrumental in introducing us to the Andrew Hill area neighborhood, where it arranged for us to speak at three of the Cafecito PTAs and at the Seventrees Elementary School Cinco de Mayo celebration.

We have always felt that without the active involvement of immigrants we will never win a truly universal health care system. We were able to provide simultaneous Spanish translation for the entire program, and Vietnamese translation for part of it.

We look forward to continuing to work with Andrew Hill residents in the future and perhaps even making this an annual event. The battle for our human right to health care can only sharpen as Wall Street corporations step up their efforts to loot our society of every last shred of dignity and compassion for one another.


Immigrant Rights/Worker's Rights - Teach-In & Dialogue

On May 27th, WEAP brought together an assortment of leaders and activists to discuss the recent anti-immigrant legislation in Arizona, California budget cuts, the United States Social Forum, and the future of health care reform at our continuing Teach-In & Dialogue series. We were fortunate enough to bring together representatives from Journey For Justice, Safe Ground, Local 2 Union, CA Immigrant Policy Center, Lifetime, and more. Each shared their perspective, from the experience of single-mothers to homelessness, from policy analysis to training young doctor for low income communities - connecting each of our struggles to a wider issue.

An excellent presentation by Doctor Sal Sandoval put the Arizona legislation, and its copycat bills, into a historical context. This bill is part of a long history of blaming immigrants for social and economic troubles. During the great depression, half a million people were deported as people began to blame the recession on immigrants of various races and ethnicities. Right wing organizations are exploiting the national anger, depression, and confusion over the current economic recession to divide workers and foment racist animosity.

Moving forward, we need to reframe these issues from a class perspective. As Isaac Menashe from California Immigrant Policy Center illuminated, there is no factual basis for much of the ant-immigrant sentiments. Instead, purveyors of racist fears use misinformation for their own benefit. We continued to discuss these trends within a wider history of exploitation and the lack of protection of human rights. From the oil spill in the gulf to the terrible budget cuts in California that are slashing essential social services, numerous injustices are taking place while a few individuals and corporations become richer and richer. We concluded with an orientation and discussion on the importance of the upcoming US Social Forum. We encourage you to learn more by heading over to the USSF home page.

"Changing The Work Place Changing The World”  
The 6th annual regional leadership conference
Sponsored by the National Organization of Working Women 9 to 5

On April  8th, WEAP participated in “Changing The Work Place Changing The World”  the 6th annual regional leadership conference sponsored by Working Women 9 to 5, a national organization devoted to labor rights..  Labor activists  and South Bay elected officials joined together to discuss issues of equal pay, wage discrimination and the dismantling of social safety nets. Executive Director, Ethel Long-Scott, was invited to speak along with former Assemblywoman Sally Lieber.  Long-Scott discussed our human right to fair wages. She also addressed the destruction of social safety nets and the realities of the working poor.

Executive Director Long-Scott also lead a workshop on Wage Theft, focusing on trends in contractual public service employees.  Almost all of the workshop participants identify as having been victims of wage theft from current or former employers. In some cases, individuals have gone as long as 3 months without pay.

The conference concluded with a powerful presentation from the chair of the Assembly Health and Human Services Committee, Assembly member Jim Beall. Beall  explained the difficulty in advocating for  legislation aimed at increasing eligibility for programs that provide food, health care and housing in today’s political climate. He also discussed several legislative proposals that present viable solutions to top issues affecting California’s labor and wage problems, signs of hope for a struggling community

March 4th Day of Action

On March 4th, WEAP participated in a protest against impending budget cuts into the California education system. WEAP joined with thousands of students and teachers rallying under the slogan ""No cuts! No fees! Education should be free!" Spending cuts across all levels of education in California, including a 30% increase in University of California and State university tuition fees, has crippled the idea of "public" education.

The cost of the recession is increasingly on the shoulders of students and teachers. Meanwhile, the quality of public education in California has been degraded, decreasing student services and increasing class size. Students, teachers, concerned parents, and activists across the state are rallying together to give education back to everyone. From here in Oakland, to Los Angeles, and across the nation, events like this are parts of a larger struggle for our human rights.

Pre-March Teach-In and Training

On January 19th, preceding a march for affordable housing in San Francisco, several advocates from SafeGround Sacramento participated in a WEAP Teach-In & Leadership Training. Our opening comments stressed the changing economic landscape, the dismantling of social safety nets, and the need for a unified vision and strategy. All over the country, affecting people with all sorts of backgrounds, basic needs are not being met. There is an opportunity for those most affected to come to the table and become leaders.

The remainder of the training discussed WEAP’s tools and methodologies, including rights violations surveys, truth commissions, and education. Participants filled out the health care addendum to rights violations survey and added their voices to numerous individuals who have experienced our broken health care system.

We concluded with a discussion about the current budget crisis in California and strategies Schwarzenegger is exploiting to make deep cuts into social services. Using words like “cap” instead of “cut” is indicative of legal wording tricks. Meanwhile, crucial services like SSI, MediCal, and all services to legal immigrants here for less than five years have been slashed. It is crucial for activists and advocates to fight the protection of wealth and the propaganda that delegitimizes the movement to protect our human rights.