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Rising for Climate, Jobs, and Justice

By Nancy Latham

On Saturday, September 9, over 900 Rise for Climate, Jobs, and Justice rallies were held worldwide. Indivisible East Bay represented at the San Francisco rally, with some 30,000 (that’s the reported, but unconfirmed, number) others on a gorgeous day, starting with two minutes of silence and connection with the earth.

Rise for Climate Jobs + Justice, photo by Nancy Latham

There were songs and some short speeches, and then we marched from the Embarcadero to City Hall, where we ended with another two minutes of silence and reconnection. At City Hall, marchers also found a bustling resource fair. Our IEB table was in excellent company between Indivisible SF and Indivisible Berkeley (why should the Indivisibles be separated?!?)

Rise for Climate Jobs + Justice, IEB GC members Nancy Latham and Nick Travaglini

IEB Governance Committee member Nick Travaglini held down the fort for the entire day, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and GC member Nancy Latham joined Nick for the last two hours after the march was over. From 2 to 4 PM a constant stream of people stopped by to learn more about Indivisible and to sign up to get our weekly newsletter and participate in actions with us. We hope to see some of these new faces at the next All Member Meeting: September 30, 1-3 PM at Sports Basement, Berkeley. RSVP (free, of course) and details here. We hope you join us, too!

Rise for Climate Jobs + Justice, photo by Nancy Latham

Photographs by Nancy Latham

Nancy Latham is on IEB’s Governance Committee, and is a passionate member of the Resistance. In her day job, she works with non-profits, foundations, and government agencies that support greater equity and justice through initiatives in youth development, education, housing, and community development.

 

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SB 10: A good bill gone bad

Action deadline: ASAP – We had hoped that state Senate Bill 10 would end money bail in California. Unfortunately, by the time it was passed by both houses of the state legislature, it codified many of the problems it was originally intended to cure.

Money bail keeps one in three people in jail after arrest because they can’t afford to pay bail – in California that averages $50,000! – or instead pay a big, nonrefundable bond to a private bail bond company. In other words, bail disproportionately keeps the poor and people of color in jail. The State Senate passed SB 10 but at the last minute, the Assembly amended the bill in ways to let local courts create their own systems to decide who can or can’t be released. Those systems can’t impose monetary conditions for release, but it’s easy to imagine situations in which local prejudices favor and disfavor the same people as under the current system. As San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi says, “this is not the bail reform California needs.” And with mere days to go in the legislative session, the Senate approved the amended version of SB 10.

What you can do:

MOST IMPORTANT: Tell Jerry Brown to veto SB 10.

Call: (916) 445-2841
email: leg.unit@gov.ca.gov
Tweet: @JerryBrownGov

What to say:

My name is _______________, my zip code is ____, and I’m a member of Indivisible East Bay. I am calling to urge Governor Brown to VETO SB 10. I support abolishing cash bail in California, but the amendments to SB 10 have changed it so that it isn’t real bail reform any more. It allows pretrial detention so that people who are arrested can be held without due process for nearly 2 weeks. It let judges decide who stays in jail based on their subjective determination, instead of giving them an objective risk assessment tool. Please VETO this bill, and tell the legislature that you want real bail reform instead.

Then, if you still have time: Please tell your state representatives that you’re disappointed that they voted for phony bail reform rather than the real thing.

What to say:

My name is ___, my zip code is ___, and I’m a member of Indivisible East Bay. I’m disappointed that you voted yes on SB 10. I support the abolition of cash bail in California, but the amendments to SB 10 in the Assembly let judges decide who stays in jail based on their subjective determination, instead of giving them an objective risk assessment tool. They allow pretrial detention so that people who are arrested can be held without due process for nearly 2 weeks. This isn’t real bail reform and you should have voted NO on SB 10.

Graphic: © ACLU of Northern California

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I’m Not Listening: Boycotting Trump’s State of the Union

Sorry, What Was That?

For a looming moment on January 30th, Donald Trump will be called upon to address the country and sum up the state of the union that we all call home. A betting woman would put money on him devoting large portions of this speech to how wonderful tax cuts are, how beautiful the military is, how corrupt the media, how weak Senator Schumer, how cold it is in winter, how I really need to do the dishes after dinner tonight, how I think there’s still laundry in the —

Sorry! I drifted off. We know exactly what he’s going to say, down to the very last sequential adjective. It’s going to be a lot of lying and a lot of “Okay?” It’s going to be a wholesale waste of our time.

Open Hearts, Closed Ears

Several brave Members of Congress – so far predominantly people of color – are boycotting Trump’s State of the Union speech, because they too know exactly what’s going to happen. They know he’s going to manage not to say anything overtly racist for half an hour, and a lot of people are going to yap about how he isn’t a racist because all he did was dog whistle. They know he’s going to bumble through some words about #metoo that don’t directly call for the end of the Sixth Amendment. They know it isn’t worth their time.

If you are also already over what promises to be a lukewarm exercise in papering over the vast fissures this administration continues to widen daily, consider taking the following action in the days leading up to the speech:

  • Thank the Members of Congress who are taking a stand and boycotting the speech.
  • Petition other representatives to follow their example. Then, petition them some more.
  • Take part in the fourth annual People State of the Union, where people participating in our actual democracy will come together to share their stories about living in this great nation. These stories will be woven together into a poem.
  • Reclaim your time. Do literally anything other than watch him, comment on him, or engage with him. Join me in catching up on the dishes and laundry I was daydreaming about at the start of this piece. Walk your dog. Take your neighbor some coffee. Catch up on IEB Newsletters of the past. Deprive our nominal leader of the attention that sustains him.