We Stand on Their Shoulders - 9/29 Sat Celebrate Bill Sorro's life - Horace Mann Middle School, Mission District, SF

[ 2004 Pilipino Mural @ SF State University - Bill Sorro is the dude in the top right hand corner with the bullhorn speaking truth to power!]
Please join us to celebrate Bill Sorro's life and contributions to so many of our people's movements! He was a Balboa High School graduate and a proud parent of children that attended Horace Mann Middle School, Burton High School, City College and SF State.
Bill was a master teacher - he taught us how to believe in ourselves, to speak from our hearts, to speak truth to power, to fight for what is right, to love ourselves, our families, and our communities.
Bill used to love to say with his scratchy but warm voice, POWER TO THE PEOPLE!
I am so grateful that I was able to spend time with Bill [and his family] to learn from him about struggle [MAKIBAKA!] and how to make a better world for everyone. Though he has passed on, the beautiful spirit of Bill Sorro will always live on in our people's movements.

Saturday, September 29th, 2007 - 2pm to 5pm - Horace Mann Middle School, 3351 23rd Street (at Valencia, near 24th Street BART; Free Parking, Enter lot through Barlett St. Near 24th Street BARTstation)
"Labor and community activist Bill Sorro passed away on August 27 after a long fight against cancer. A native San Franciscan, father of 7, grandfather of 13, Bill tirelessly dedicated his life as an activist for social and economic justice. His passion, humor andhumility inspired people of all ages, ethnicities and sectors of the community.
Bill made history by believing in and nurturing the leadership of others, by supporting the wisdom and creativity of everyday people. He believed power truly existed in the people themselves; they need not look outwards for salvation, only into the mirror. Bill made society’s most discarded people-the elderly, the homeless, the immigrant, queer and transgendered people, individuals with substance abuse issues, youth of color-count and believe in themselves. "

Donations in memory of Bill Sorro will be given to the causes close to his heart-affordable housing groups, Manilatown Center, youth organizations, United Playaz, etc. Checks (in lue of flowers) in Bill's memory to: St. John's-Bill Sorro Mail to:St. John the Evangelist Church1661 15th StreetSan Francisco, CA. 94103 Contributions will be distributed equally among the following: Affordable housing groups, youth groups and the Manilatown Heritage Foundation.

Students Rising Up in SF and East Bay to Support the Jena 6 in Louisiana

Incredible photos by Felix of the Revolutionary Worker which capture the militancy of students from Berkeley High School and San Francisco schools yesterday who joined the more than 60,000 in Jena, Louisiana and hundreds of thousands around the country to demand justice for the Jena 6. See the Teachers for Social Justice, NYCORE, and T4SJ Chicago lesson plans for teachers and students on the Jena 6 and the struggle for racial justice in the US.

See/hear/view also the independent media coverage at Indybay.org and Democracy Now.

Over 20,000 people from across the country gathered in Jena, Louisiana on Thursday, September 20th, from across the country to protest the pending charges against six African American high school students (Protest Details). The six students were charged with felonies after a fight that started after nooses were hung outside their high school. Protests were also held in cities across the United States. At UC Berkeley, over 1,000 protesters gathered in Sproul Plaza at 12pm. In San Francisco, over 200 people rallied at Powell and Market.
Last week the Louisiana Third Circuit Court of Appeals threw out the conviction of 17 year old Mychal Bell. The court ruled that he should not have been tried as an adult. Bell was supposed to have been sentenced for attempted second-degree battery this Thursday.
Mychal Bell and five other students were arrested for beating a white student during a schoolyard fight last year. The fight occurred after white students hung three nooses on a tree in the schoolyard. Bell has been jailed since January unable to meet his $90,000 bond. As of this morning he remains in prison waiting for his new bond to be posted. The District Attorney plans to appeal Bell's overturned conviction at the Louisiana Supreme Court.

Felix's photos from UC Berkeley and San Francisco protests.

Teachers Support Justice for the Jena 6 - Six young black men are headed for 20+ year prison sentences in a clear case of Jim Crow "justice"

Thursday 9/20 is a national day of action in solidarity with the Jena 6 in Louisiana.

According to http://www.colorofchange.org/, the lives of six young black men are being ruined by Jim Crow justice in Jena, Louisiana. The District Attorney has refused to protect the rights of Jena's Black population and has turned the police and courts into instruments of intimidation and oppression.

SF's Teachers for Social Justice has joined the New York Collective of Radical Educators (NYCoRE) and Teachers for Social Justice in Chicago (TSJ) in a joint project to support the Jena 6 - REVEALING RACIST ROOTS - Jena 6 Resource Guide for Educators. NYC and Chicago put a lot of work into this. Please use the materials and help FREE THE JENA Six!

From the Guide:

The COLOR OF CHANGE site has put together a petition and letter that can be sent to Gov. Blanco and D.A. Walters. Students can craft their own letters and personal statements, sharing what they have learned. Students can investigate the use of petitions and other forms of activism in order to combat institutionalized racism. http://www.colorofchange.org/jena/

FRIENDS OF JUSTICE provides information about local activism, provides updates, and suggests possible actions.

This ZMAG report documents some of the initial grassroots work performed by the Jena community, showing a history of activism in small towns that connects students to other social movements.

THE SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER has joined to struggle to free the Jena 6, as this article describes.

NOLA.COM provides a description of how other communities, in this case New Orleans, are responding to the situation in Jena. This report can give educators and students a look into ways they might be able to do similar consciousness raising work in their own communities.

Fighting Lennar Development and Environmental Racism in SF Schools and Hunters Point Community

Photos from SF Bayview Newspaper

Environmental racism and health inequality for the lowest income communities of color in San Francisco are clear structural barriers to educational equality in our school district. The largely African American Hunters Point community in the Southeast region of San Francisco has been organizing for almost a year now to stop the 'ethnic cleansing' of SF's Black community there.

Over the past decade big business developers and city politicians have gradually 'pushed out' African American families from Bay View Hunters Point and other Southeast areas of the City. But the most dramatic displacement is going on right now with Lennar Corporation's Hunters Point Shipyard development that is threatening the neighborhood with some 1500-1600 new condos. The School Board has been working with neighborhood and environmental justice groups, parents, students and social justice organizations to halt the Lennar Development until a thorough independent health study can be conducted to ensure the health of the community's children and families.

Here's the resolution the San Francisco Board of Education is scheduled to vote on at our school board meeting on Tuesday 9/25 at 6pm:

---------------

San Francisco Board of Education Resolution
In Opposition to Lennar Corporation’s Hunters Point Naval Shipyard Development and In Support of the Community’s Demand for a Temporary Stoppage and an Independent Health and Safety Assessment to Protect Our Students and Their Families

- Commissioners Eric Mar and Kim-Shree Maufas
[will move to suspend the rules to vote on First Reading 9/25]

WHEREAS: Patterns of environmental racism, inequity and injustice exist within San Francisco, where schools in communities like Bayview Hunters Point bear the brunt of environmental health problems; and
WHEREAS: Since October 2006, when a young worker blew the whistle on Lennar Corporation’s Hunters Point Naval Shipyard development, large numbers of students, teachers, educators, workers, and families of the Bayview Hunters Point area have been voicing their concerns about the construction-related dust at the Hunters Point Shipyard site and the dangerous health impact that the dust and toxics in it, including asbestos, heavy metals and other inorganics, are having on our SFUSD students, staff and members of the community; and
WHEREAS: Lennar Corporation is a Florida-based Fortune 500 company which reportedly had revenues of $16.3 billion in 2006 from development projects throughout the country like the 1500-unit condominium development planned for Hunters Point; and
WHEREAS: Lennar Bayview Hunters Point LLC was involved in large scale grading that reportedly caused untold amounts of toxic dust and Asbestos Structures to migrate over its boundary and into areas were children and families live, work and play; and
WHEREAS: In response to these health dangers and conerns, a broad grassroots coalition of Bayview Hunters Point and social justice community organizations has been demanding a temporary stoppage in Lennar Corporation’s construction so that an independent health assessment can be conducted; and
WHEREAS: There has been a history of problems with implementing the City’s dust-mitigation plan since the soil grading and disposal process began that has included: an absence of air monitoring for the first four months of the project during heavy grading; malfunctioning air monitors; a Notice of Violation from the Air Quality Management District; and when the monitors started working, routine exceedances of the agreed-upon allowance of asbestos prevalence in the air – 16,000 structures per cubic meter [SF Department of Health Regulations, Article 31] including 9 exceedances in June alone; and very poor communication of these exceedances to adjacent neighbors; and
WHEREAS: Numerous studies have documented that Bayview Hunter's Point and other communities in Southeast San Francisco are overburdened with the cumulative impacts of a multitude of environmental health threats that impact the health and well-being of children and other residents who are overwhelmingly African American and other people of color. These impacts include exposure to toxic air pollution, carcinogens, and other inorganic substances from industrial facilities, power plants, sewage treatment and solid and hazardous waste facilities and diesel particulate from trucks, trains and other vehicles. Additionally, these impacted children and residents are more vulnerable to environmental toxics due to their limited access to quality health care and healthy foods and other social and cultural factors. And, this disproportionate impact has a damaging effect on our students academic achievement and opportunities for success in school and in their lives; and

WHEREAS: San Francisco public schools such as Malcolm X Academy, George Washington Carver, Bret Harte, and Dr. Charles Drew College Prep Academy, other schools, childcare centers, and playgrounds are in the immediate vicinity of the Lennar development site; and
WHEREAS: Three African American employees of Lennar Corporation filed a whistle blower lawsuit in SF Superior Court on March 16, 2007, alleging that they suffered retaliation after reporting asbestos dust exposure and racial discrimination and that the company failed to contain asbestos dust while drilling into the Shipyard site, endangering the local community, including the school children of the neighboring Muslim University;
WHEREAS: The World Health Organization reports that there is no evidence for a threshold for the carcinogenic effect of asbestos and that increased cancer risks have been observed in populations exposed to very low levels of asbestos; However, there are tests for lead, chromium, radon, arsenic, etc., which are toxic chemicals that are present in the dirt on the affected site; and

WHEREAS: The ‘Precautionary Principle’ has been adopted by a growing number of cities, including San Francisco, as well as the Los Angeles Unified School District, as a proactive approach to promote the safest, lowest risk approach to protecting people’s health, the environment, and property; and

WHEREAS: The Precautionary Principle as adopted by the City and County of San Francisco includes the following “essential elements:” :

Anticipatory Action: There is a duty to take anticipatory action to prevent harm. Government, business, and community groups, as well as the general public, share this responsibility.
Right to Know: The community has a right to know complete and accurate information on potential human health and environmental impacts associated with the selection of products, services, operations or plans. The burden to supply this information lies with the proponent, not with the general public.
Alternatives Assessment: An obligation exists to examine a full range of alternatives and select the alternative with the least potential impact on human health and the environment including the alternative of doing nothing.
Full Cost Accounting: When evaluating potential alternatives, there is a duty to consider all the reasonably foreseeable costs, including raw materials, manufacturing, transportation, use, cleanup, eventual disposal, and health costs even if such costs are not reflected in the initial price.
Short-and long-term benefits and time thresholds should be considered when making decisions.
Participatory Decision Process: Decisions applying the Precautionary Principle must be transparent, participatory, and informed by the best available information. (City of San Francisco, Precautionary Principle Ordinance, Section 101, August 2003, http://temp.sfgov.org/sfenvironment/aboutus/innovative/pp/sfpp.htm)

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED: That the Board of Education of the San Francisco Unified School District believes that the Precautionary Principle as adopted by the City and County of San Francisco requires the Mayor Gavin Newsom, the Redevelopment Agency, Department of Public Health, Board of Supervisors, and other agencies accountable to our communities to take “anticipatory action” to prevent harm and through exploration and careful analysis of courses of action in order to present the least threat to the students, families and staff of the schools in the vicinity of the Hunters Point development; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED: That the Board of Education of the San Francisco Unified School District calls on the Mayor, Board of Supervisors, Redevelopment Agency, Department of Public Health and other relevant City agencies to require an immediate halt of Lennar Corporation’s development of Parcel A in the Hunter’s Point Shipyard until an immediate and independent health and safety assessment can be conducted in coordination with the Superintendent and the School District’s School Health Programs Office and relevant community organizations and City task forces like the SF Asthma Task Force; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED: That the Board directs the Superintendent to coordinate with City officials to ensure the health of our students and their families in the affected area and report back to the full Board with an environmental safety action plan and timelines to ensure the safety of our students and their families no later than the Board’s October 23rd meeting.

------

For more info on how you can support the Bayview Hunters Point community -

POWER

Green Action

Francisco DaCosta

SF's Richmond District Activism stops STARBUCKS in our Neighborhood

For the past few months I have been working with a number of small business owners, and anti-chain store activists in trying to stop the STARBUCKs multinational corporation from opening their 81st store in SF in our neighborhood, the Inner Richmond District. And last night our work paid off when we successfully urged the SF Board of Supervisors to reject the STARBUCKS in our community. Previously activists like Tess Manalo Ventresca in the Sunset District and other activists in the Hayes Valley and Japantown Districts had kept the chain out of their areas. But we were unsure when some of us first learned of the STARBUCKS proposal in July that we could build the momentum we needed to keep STARBUCKS out.
This was my post to the blog I set up with the other activists -
Thank you so much to everyone who wrote, called, rallied and spoke out at the 9/11 Board of Supervisors meeting to stop the Starbucks in the Inner Richmond District.
The SF Examiner and SF Chronicle coverage didn't adequately acknowlege the tremendous groundswell of support we built from our Richmond District community and other neighboring communities to stop the STARBUCKS:

Starbucks' effort to flood San Francisco with coffee shops ground to a halt Tuesday when the Board of Supervisors blocked a new outlet in the Richmond District under chain store regulations passed by voters last fall.
The board voted 9-1 to overturn the Planning Commission's June approval of a Starbucks at the corner of Geary Boulevard and Fifth Avenue, killing the proposal.
Jesse Fink, who has owned a nearby cafe for 25 years, filed the appeal on behalf of the Clement Street Merchants Association, which represents approximately 30 merchants in the area.
"I don't want San Francisco to lose its character and become a city of strip malls. ... That's what Starbucks is all about," Fink said in a hearing before the board.

Kudos especially to organizer extraodinaire Bryan McKeon, Toy Boat's Jesse Fink and his family, and Meg Lynch of Velo Rogue Cafe and the many richmond district small business folks that supported and built this campaign from 2 people to over 4700 united voices in a few weeks. Thanks also to David Tornheim, Dean Preston - Local-Imact.org, Eric Brooks - Our-city.org, Kathryn Roberts, and planning commissioner Christina Olague and others that provided key strategic advice. And Sue Hestor and Steve Williams for their legal advice as well.

Most of us were worried going into the 9/11 hearing, but by the time the Supervisors were deliberating we knew we had won. My 7 year old daughter Jade joined in the celebration last night too, not only because she thought there might be free ice cream from Toy Boat. I told her 'this is what democracy looks like' - and it's better than ice cream.

Excellent posting from Duane

Duane Campbell has an awesome blog if you are interested in what is happening to education from the CA state legislature point of view. Check out his commentary following his posting of the Sac Bee article about new teachers.

Thursday, September 06, 2007
The California Legislature usually gets it wrong on public education

9/29/07 Celebration for Bill Sorro @ Horace Mann Middle School

[Photo of Bill Sorro [center] with Belvin Louie, Giulio Sorro and Al Robles from Asian Week, article by former editor Neela Banerjee]
The details for the 9/29 Bill Sorro 'Celebration' are listed below. Unfortunately I will be in Atlanta @ a Civil Rights Movement 40th Anniversary event. But hundreds are expected to celebrate Bill's life and the movements he helped build. He was a Horace Mann Middle School parent as well years ago and the school, in the heart of the Mission District, is a regular spot for economic and social justice summits and gatherings in our communities.

From Lilian Galledo, director of Filipinos for Affirmative Action:
***
A Celebration of Bill Sorro's life

"...Bill wanted a celebration/ party as opposed to a memorial."

The celebration will take place Saturday, September 29, 2007, from 1pm to 5pm at
Horace Mann School, 3351 – 23rd St @ Bartlett, San Francisco, CA. Available in the school's parking lot off Barlett Street. But the school is just a couple of blocks from the 24th St. BART station.

Mabuhay Bill Sorro!

More Tributes to Bill Sorro and his legacy in building the "other San Francisco"

Photo of MAC founder Eric Quezada, a community leader and organizer running for District 9 Supervisor - SF Nov. 08 .
From our friends at the Center for Political Education on Bill Sorro's legacy. He and his partner Huli helped build the Center and its predecessor organizations. The article by my SF State Ethnic Studies colleague Jason Ferreira and longtime Mission District activist Eric Quezada is the unedited version of the SF Bay Guardian piece they did this week:

We at CPE honor and celebrate the life of Bill Sorro, a comrade that will truly be missed.

Bill Sorro, Presente!

By Jason Ferreira and Eric Quezada
San Francisco has lost a precious treasure. Not the San Francisco of downtown business interests, or of the dot-com craze, or of the waves of "young urban professionals" moving into the city's overpriced live-work lofts or condominiums. No, we're talking of the San Francisco struggling, on a day-to-day basis, to maintain its very existence: of Pilipino families and elderly in South of Market, of African American residents in the Fillmore, of tenants in SRO hotels, and of immigrant Latina/o workers in the Mission. In the early morning hours of Monday, August 27th, this San Francisco lost veteran activist Bill Sorro.
Bill passionately fought for this "other" San Francisco.
Born in 1939, Bill Sorro grew up in San Francisco's working class and predominantly African American Fillmore District, long before working class folk were pushed out by Justin Herman's notorious redevelopment schemes. Coming from a family that suffered as a result of anti-miscegenation laws [his Pilipino father was arrested and jailed for marrying a white woman], Bill consistently sought to connect the struggle against class exploitation to that of racial oppression.
Nowadays people in progressive circles often discuss ways to decrease ones footprint in the world; it can truthfully be said, however, that Bill Sorro left a tremendous footprint in peoples' lives and in their collective struggles.
Recently, he became an inspirational anchor for a growing housing justice movement in San Francisco, from the Mission Anti-displacement Coalition to the South of Market Community Action Network (SOMCAN).
Compañero Bill, however, leaves a much deeper and longer legacy: most obviously, for Pilipinos (as a leader of the famed International Hotel struggle, as a member of the Kalayaan Collective and, later, of KDP-the Union of Democratic Pilipinos, as a founder of the Manilatown Heritage Foundation, and as mentor for countless Pilipino youth), but equally for communities of color in general, for the working class in particular (as a long-time union activist and committed socialist), and ultimately for all that suffer and struggle against the indignities of oppression and exploitation ... whether it be here in the belly of the beast or across the globe. Standing in solidarity with anyone fighting for justice, Bill embodied the often-quoted, but rarely lived, notion that the essence of any true revolutionary is a profound love for the people! And, man, Bill loved the people! Right on, brother! All Power to the People!
He stands in that long tradition of individuals like Philip Vera Cruz, Paul Robeson, Dolores Huerta, and many others who made enormous contributions to history. But Bill made history by believing in and nurturing the leadership of others, by supporting the insights and wisdom, the creativity and resourcefulness of everyday people. He believed power truly existed in the people themselves; they need not look outwards for salvation, only into the mirror. Bill made societies most discarded people-the elderly, the homeless, the immigrant, queer and transgendered people, individuals with substance abuse issues, youth of color-count and believe in themselves.
Bill leaves behind a tight knit family-his wife Giuliana, who he met on the 2nd Venceremos Brigade to Cuba and subsequently married at the I-Hotel, and children Desu, Daphne, Danae, Django, Giulio, Joachin, and Jordan-as well as one that expands to include literally hundreds of community activists and friends, all who feel a part of the Sorro family. This broader family-one that includes many who may never have even met him-continue to organize and fight to realize Bill's dream: a world in which people matter more than profit and property. And we collectively dedicate ourselves to fight for that future described in Bill's favorite song: Donny Hathaway's "Someday We'll All Be Free."
By Jason Ferreira, Assistant Professor, College of Ethnic Studies, San Francisco State University; and
Eric Quezada, Mission Anti-Displacement Coalition, and Executive Director, Dolores Street Community Services.
--
The Center for Political Education: Dedicated to building strong movements and the left through education, analysis, theory, dialogue and activism

9/10 SF forum - Chip Smith's The cost of privilege; taking on the system of white supremacy and racism; 9/23 Forum on Revolutionary Art

Monday 9/10 @ Galeria de la Raza - SF - join me and other activists and organizers in discussing our decades of work in challenging white supremacy and institutional racism in America. And, pick up Chip Smith's great new book - The Cost of Privilege: Taking On the System of White Supremacy and Racism

Sunday 9/23 @ the Ctr for Political Education - join the SF Print Collective in celebrating the revolutionary art of Emory Douglas and others.

---------------

The Cost of Privilege: Join us for a discussion on the fight against white supremacy
with author Chip Smith, Alisa Bierria (INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence), Rachel Jackson, Eric Mar (SF State Ethnic Studies and Asian American Studies faculty and member of the San Francisco Board of Education), and Molly McClure (Catalyst Project)
Monday, September 10th
7-9:30 PM
2851 24th St., Galería de la Raza Studio 24 Space
on the corner of 24th and Bryant in San Francisco, wheelchair accessible*
The Cost of Privilege: Taking on the System of White Supremacy and Racism, published in February 2007, will be the catalyst for a discussion amongst the author and Bay Area activists and organizers about:
* historical development of white supremacy, patriarchy and capitalism
* histories of resistance and what we can draw from them for today's struggles
* building an intersectional approach around race, class, gender and sexuality into our activism and organizing
The book takes readers from the creation of the white race over three centuries ago to the present-day myth of a colorblind society; from the intersections of class, gender and race to the concrete benefits-and harsh underside-of the privileges white people experience every day; from the victories when people ally across the color line to the failures of some of those alliances to hold; from personal transformations to international struggles.
$5-$10 donation requested, no one turned away for lack of funds.
Co-sponsored by the Catalyst Project, the Center for Political Education and Freedom Road Socialist Organization/Organización Socialista del Camino para la Libertad.
For more information call or e-mail, 415-431-1918 or http://www.politicaleducation.org/
*Galería de la Raza is wheelchair accessible, unfortunately the bathroom at the gallery is not.
_____________________________________________________________________
Chip Smith has given us a powerful weapon for the battle against white supremacy. It combines an in-depth look at the long history of this profoundly rooted plague with an enlightening, up-do-date review of the many efforts to end it. We have here much more than a brilliant analysis of past and present, the author dares to outline a bold program of revolutionary action that lays out both the challenges to be faced and how to confront them. Who could ask for more?
--Elizabeth (Betita) Martínez, Chicana author, activist and director of the Institute for MultiRacial Justice

This is a path-breaking study of the sometimes baffling dynamics of racial oppression in the United States. In fact, this is the most comprehensive and clear analysis of racism and national oppression that I've seen. It is recommended reading for any serious activist fighting for social justice in our time. Not just theory, but a guide to action!
--Komozi Woodard, Professor of History, Public Policy and Africana Studies, Sarah Lawrence College
*********************************************************************

REVOLUTIONARY ART: New work from the SF Print Collective with presentation and book signing with artist Emory Douglas
ONE DAY ONLY - Sunday, September 23, 2007
Exhibit 4 - 7 pm, Emory Douglas @ 5 pm
Located at the Center for Political Education, 522 Valencia Street at 16th St.
An exhibition of posters from the San Francisco Print Collective's Silkscreen Postermaking workshop. We will feature a talk, slideshow and Q&A with former minister of culture for the Black Panther Party Emory Douglas, signing his new book, Black Panther: The Revolutionary Art of Emory Douglas. This event will also raise funds to Free the San Francisco-8, former Black Panthers and community leaders arrested in January on 36-year old charges, based on confessions extracted by torture.
As a primer for public artists, SFPC's Silkscreen Postermaking workshop teaches students how to use the mass media for activist organizing with a focus on guerrilla art, graphic design, and legal defense. Participating artists include: Fiona Glas, Allison Lum, Davis DeBard, Arla Ertz, Ellen Frances, Ly Mai Hoang, Serena Huang, Stacy Kono, Harris Kornstein, John Lewis, Fernando Marti, Gabe Martinez, Jennifer Miller, Nicole Rivera, Suzanne Shaffer, Melanie Ann Tom, Amy Vanderwarker, Debra Walker, and David Shih-chun Wu.
$5-$100, sliding scale, no one turned away for lack of funds.
Sangria, beer and non-alcoholic drinks and snacks!
Sponsored by the Center for Political Education and the SF Print Collective. This space is not wheelchair accessible.
For more information, contact sfprintcollective@gmail.com or center@politicaleducation.org
_______________________________________________________________________________ The SFPC is a printmaking collective that uses graphic art to support social justice organizing. We make public art to challenge the mass media and broadcast progressive politics directly to the streets. For more info. or to get involved in the next silkscreen postermaking class, contact sfpcprintclass@gmail.com or http://www.sfprintcollective.com/
--
The Center for Political Education: Dedicated to building strong movements and the left through education, analysis, theory, dialogue and activism
522 Valencia,
San Francisco, CA 94110
(415) 431-1918; center@politicaleducation.org

Remembering Bill Sorro and the I-Hotel Struggle

I dug up a couple of photos I took of the late Bill Sorro at the I-Hotel commemoration in August 2004, before the 2005 re-opening of the I-Hotel Senior Housing and Manilatown Center site in 2005. See my commentary this morning in BeyondChron.com.

From Beyond Chron: One of San Francisco’s most beloved community leaders Bill Sorro passed away on August 27th. Bill was a fierce activist in many labor, social justice, housing rights, and neighborhood struggles for many decades but is best known as a leader in the struggle to save and rebuild SF’s International Hotel (‘I-Hotel.') He was one of the warmest and most positive people I have ever met, who worked tirelessly nurturing younger activists like me and generations of others in our movements....

Bill’s family and friends are organizing a memorial sometime on the weekend of September 29th. Details will be announced shortly. Until then, please honor Bill by visiting the Manilatown Center exhibit entitled ‘A Serving of Love: The Passion of Bill Sorro,’ a gallery exhibition featuring the interviews, photographs and other historical material from his life - on display through October 6 at the Maniltaown Heritage Foundation, 868 Kearny Street, SF. Bill and his family are also featured in KQED's American Family Portraits: The Sorros.

More Reflections on Bill and his life -

Manilatown Heritage Foundation

Eric Quezada and Jason Fereira from the SF Bay Guardian

Rona Fernandez's Random Rants and Reflections

Tony Robles and Tiny gray-Garcia - Poor Magazine

Robert Haaland - Left in SF - Long Live Bill Sorro's Fighting Spirit

Robyn Takayama/NoNoGirl Radio

Wayie Ly/APEX - KPFA 94.1fm

Tony Osumi & Jenni Kuida on Bill's views of 911

Robyn Takeyama: on 'A Serving of Love' and other projects on Bill's life, cultural work and internationalism and Bill Sorro: His Life and Activism from CA Council for the Humanities

Asian American Movement Ezine

Progressive Forum: Sacramento

Invitation
The Crisis in our Democracy:
Sacramento Progressive Forum
9 Am- 4 PM.
October 4, 2007. CSU-Sacramento. University Union

All of us together know more than any one of us alone.

Join us for a dialogue on current issues facing the progressive movements and their allies in our region. The Progressive Forum seeks to bring together scholars, students, social justice and union activists, and policy makers. The forum is created to nurture a new kind of conversation from within the campus and the social movements. We seek to move beyond the overly fragmented movements each competing with each other to find ways to cooperate and support each others work.
This gathering aims to enhance personal and organizational ties between those engaged in ongoing workplace and community organizing efforts, issues organizing and students and scholars.. The forum should become a place where the diverse movements gathers their energies and where activists learn from internal dialogue. This is an initial step toward elaborating, discussing and debating our visions and ours strategies.
The key thematic areas for the Fall 2007 Forum will include:
Immigration
The War
Democratic Party
Media and democracy
Crisis in public education
Race/ ethnicity and the political organizing .
Corporatization of University/ decline of public universities
Women’s work: Women’s issues
Working class life and culture
The state of our unions
Sponsors:
Bilingual/multicultural education. CSU-Sacramento
Peace and Conflict Resolution Studies
Democratic Socialists of America
Sacramento Progressive Alliance
Student Progressive Alliance
Teach Peace Foundation
Ethnic Studies Department
Labor Studies: CSU-Sacramento

A blog for the forum has been set up at http://progressiveforum07.blogspot.com/

Stop Richmond District Starbucks - send letters now!

This might be a little off topic - but I am working with other Richmond District activists and small business folks to stop another Starbucks from coming into the inner Richmond where I live.
click here to send an email letter to the SF Board of Supervisors now!
And tell your friends and neighbors - pack SF City Hall Tuesday 9/11 at 4:30pm for the hearing to decide on the issue. Or contact us is there are other ways you can help! [Thanks to www.local-impact.org for their support]

Bill Sorro Presente! Longtime San Francisco Movement Leader Leaves Tremendous Legacy of Struggle

Longtime Bernal Heights community activist Bill Sorro, a leader in the International Hotel Struggle 30 years ago, passed away early Monday morning, according to his family.

Bill was a mentor to many of us in the Chinese Progressive Association, the labor movement, anti-displacement movements, and affordable housing struggles. He leaves an incredible legacy [see the current exhibit at the Manilatown Center in the I-Hotel site] of struggle and radicalism in the Asian American and progressive communities in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Strength to Bill's partner Huli, and his children Desu, Daphne, Django, Giulio and Joachin and the family that Bill and Huli built. We will make sure your legacy and spirit live on - Long Live the International Hotel and the Fighting Spirit of Bill Sorro!

SF Teachers & Board of Education Reach Tentative Contract Agreement After Grueling round-the-clock bargaining

After numerous bargaining meetings, several closed session Board of Education meetings over the past few weeks, mediation, and a grueling 17-hour session this weekend, our district and United Educators of San Francisco have announced a tentative settlement. This is big. It means that on the first day of class, our teachers and paras will not be in labor actions challenging the district for a fair contract, as was anticipated. Congratulations to UESF - United Educators of SF- and new Superintendent Carlos Garcia for hammering out the details this weekend. Now we can all get to work building community support for adequate funding for our schools and a sorely-needed School Parcel Tax on the February 2008 San Francisco Ballot.

Here's today's statement from UESF President Dennis Kelly 
The United Educators of San Francisco and the San Francisco
Unified School District have reached a tentative agreement
on the contracts of the certificated (teacher) and
classified (paraprofessional) bargaining units. The
agreement came after a seventeen hour round-the-clock
mediated bargaining session that started at 6pm on Friday.
There will be a joint union/district press conference on
Monday at 4:30 at 555 Franklin Street.
Ratification procedures are still being discussed for the
union.
My personal gratitude to all those who supported the
Bargaining Team and the team members themselves who
demonstrated creativity, tenacity and endurance in seeing
that these contracts were settled before the students
crossed the threshold to begin the new school year.
Dennis Kelly

We revealed today that the agreement includes a 3% raise starting in January, 2008, for teachers and paraprofessionals. In addition, teachers will receive a $225 classroom supply budget this year and paraprofessionals will receive an additional paid professional development day this year and next. The educators will also receive additional support for dependent healthcare coverage.

contains changes in several areas of the contract, including increased dependent health benefits, class size articulation for the child development program, and increased training in special education. The Board of Education and the Union also agreed that the district could have the ability to hire teachers year round for hard-to-staff schools and hard to fill subject areas.

UESF Members will be meeting in the next few weeks to discuss the details of their proposed contract and are expected to take a vote shortly thereafter. The Board of Education will also meet to vote on the tentative contract as well.

Supreme Court Limits School District’s Ability to Desegregate: It’s Up to Teachers and Communities to Ensure Educational Equity

A version of this will appear in the August Newsletter of United Educators of San Francisco. http://www.uesf.org

On July 28th a 5:4 majority of the U.S. Supreme Court furthered chipped away at the landmark 1954 Brown v Board of Education case by striking down the school desegregation plans in Seattle, Washington, and Louisville, Kentucky. Both plans had used race/ethnicity in a limited manner for student assignment and were initiated by the local school boards to combat de facto segregation.

San Francisco teacher, parent and civil rights organizations are now debating the impact of the decision on our schools. Our Board, new Superintendent Carlos Garcia and legal staff are closely analyzing the decision and its implications for our future desegregation efforts.

In the complex split decision, the Court’s most conservative four justices - Roberts, Scalia, Alito and Thomas - argued that race cannot be used in student assignment plans or even as a factor in developing policy. Chief Justice Roberts wrote, “The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race."

While the new swing vote on the court Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote a concurring opinion supporting the other four conservatives in striking down the Jefferson County and Seattle plans, he importantly joined the four liberal justices in recognizing educational diversity and overcoming our history of segregation to be “compelling governmental interests” – among our country’s highest priorities – that communities can pursue through careful race-conscious efforts.

Kennedy’s opinion further defined new limits on just how race may be used in school districts with defacto segregation like ours. “This Nation has a moral and ethical obligation to fulfill its historic commitment to creating an integrated society that ensures equal opportunity to all its children.”

The ruling seems to allow the following to achieve a more integrated educational environment for districts: recruitment of school teachers and staff of diverse backgrounds; collection of data on student performance using race; and the use race as a general factor to guide decisions for new school construction and in determining attendance boundaries for a school.

Despite the striking down of the Seattle and Louisville desegregation plans, Kennedy’s 5th vote IN FAVOR OF the limited use of race in desegregation plans was at least a shred of a silver lining in an otherwise devastating decision that many civil rights advocates say has dramatically turned back the clock of civil rights and educational equity efforts many decades.

The ruling will have an impact on our desegregation and educational equity efforts in San Francisco and on hundreds of school districts throughout the country. We filed a friend of the court brief in support of both the Seattle and Jefferson County desegregation plans. Our Consent Decree monitor Stuart Biegel and many community groups have decried the rapid re-segregation and growing inequality in our district over the past 6 years and urged the San Francisco Board to reintroduce race into the student assignment system.

Our Board has been in intense discussions with our lawyers since the end or our own 1983 SFUSD Consent Decree in late 2005 – a federal court order which required SFUSD to desegregate our schools. We are now studying our existing race-neutral ‘diversity index’ and our now outdated ‘Excellence for All’ [2001] desegregation plan and are likely to decide on a new approach in the coming months after we have heard from teachers, staff, parents and other stakeholder groups.

It seems to me that the 2007 Seattle/Louisville schools decision will be remembered historically as a dark day in civil rights history. But, I agree with SF Freedom School founder and author Kathy Emery that “legal decisions in and of themselves do not create change.” The law though can contribute to fundamental social change when teachers, parents, and students use such landmarks as Brown or the Seattle decision as leverage in our organizing and fighting for broader changes like adequate funding for all schools and educational equity and equality for all of our students. Ultimately, it’s up to us – teachers, parents and communities united - to ensure equality of opportunity to all San Francisco students.

Richmond District Community Opposes the 81st Starbucks in SF

I was appalled last summer when I saw the Starbucks in the Forbidden City in Beijing, China. Now, they are trying to open their 81st store in our City, a few blocks from many other local small business coffee houses and cafes. But Richmond District residents are fighting back, like Sunset, Hayes Valley and other neighborhoods several years ago.
Check Out the New Community Campaign to Protect Richmond District Small Businesses and Communities by Opposing the 81st Starbucks in the City and the 6th in the Richmond District and Surrounding areas.

http://stoprichmondstarbucks.blogspot.com/

Our 2004 SF law to protect communities from chain stores or 'formula retailers', the first in the US for a large city, apparently has some loopholes that allowed Starbucks to obtain a 'conditional use permit' from the SF Planning Commission. Now, our neighborhood has to appeal the decision to the SF Board of Supervisors on Tuesday August 7th. Please Join Us!

Marriage Equality YES; Racism NO! - Community Groups Challenge Anti-Asian Adam Sandler "Chuck and Larry" Film

Community groups are challenging the Anti-Asian Racism in Adam Sandler's new film which makes a statement about marriage equality.
See Mara Math's excellent review and MANAA's statement which targets comedian Rob Schneider who is part Pilipino and has a record of anti-Asian depictions.

MANAA Blasts Rob Schneider For Offensive Racial Caricature in Chuck & Larry Movie

LOS ANGELES-MANAA (the Media Action Network for Asian Americans), the only organization solely dedicated to monitoring the media and advocating balanced, sensitive, and positive coverage and depictions of Asian Americans, is offended by Rob Schneider’s “yellow face” portrayal of a Japanese man in the current #1 movie in the country, I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry starring Adam Sandler and Kevin James.
...
“Sandler showed his movie to GLAAD (Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) and edited out scenes they deemed offensive because he didn’t want to make a movie that would offend the gay community. He should’ve shown it to MANAA; we would’ve had quite a few things to say to him.
MANAA is reachable at manaaletters@hotmail.com, (213) 486-4433, and P.O. Box 11105/Burbank, CA 91510.

San Francisco-based groups like the Chinese Progressive Association, Chinese for Affirmantive Action and the gay-straight alliance building network Asian Equality are discussing some kind of local collective community response.
Coalition on Homelessness activist Mara Math's review of the film gives insight into the insidiousness of the film as it relates to queer communities, Asian Americans and other people of color as well:

Inclusivity as interpreted by Chuck and Larry may mean waving a rainbow flag, or at least waving at one, but it's an odd kind of rainbow: all the stripes are white.
Chuck and Larry boasts some of the most galling anti‐Asian stereotyping since Mickey Rooney donned false buck teeth as an Asian landlord in Breakfast at Tiffany's. In fact, Rob Schneider's chalk‐on‐a‐blackboard riff as a Japanese‐Canadian minister seems to have been recycled directly from the 1961 film.
Sandler, Ayckroyd, Schneider, and an uncredited David Spade are all "Saturday Night Live" alumni, and Chuck and Larry is infused throughout with that cocky SNL assumption, "But we're too hip to be racist." It's just soooo hysterical that the Japanese minister can't pronounce the letter "r," doncha know, that the alleged joke is repeated a dozen or twenty times. A barely‐clad bevy of Asian bimbettes gets three seconds to titter, "Tee‐hee‐hee, you so naughty, Mr. Larry!" or some such, before disappearing. And except for brief glimpses of two extras, these are the only Asians in the film.
In fact, these Asian caricatures, together with Nicholas Turturro (World Trade Center) as a Latino firefighter and Ving Rhames as the one black character, are the only people of color in the entire film — it's Woody Allen's whitewashed New York all over again. Rhames' character, Duncan, fares no better than the Asians (not even getting a first name): His "dangerousness" is exaggerated a la the Scary Black Man stereotype, before Chuck and Larry's masquerade motivates him to come out himself. The fiftyish Duncan could not possibly, of course, have found himself inspired by Marlon Riggs, James Baldwin or Audre Lorde, or even E. Lynn Harris.
Mara Math's full review

More on Yellowface

More on MANAA and other media watchdog groups

More on Building stronger alliances for Marriage Equality and social justice

U.S. Social forum

From the blog: Facing South
U.S. Social Forum: Another politics is possible
A driving message coming from the 10,000+ activists assembled at the U.S. Social Forum is that our country needs a new kind of politics.

Not politics in the traditional sense. Most of the grassroots activists, non-profit leaders, progressive journalists, socially-engaged scholars and others here in Atlanta aren't the kind that would go to, say, the Take Back America confab of progressive electoral leaders that happened in D.C. earlier this month.

The Social Forum goes beyond "politics as usual." The issues being discussed -- from profit-driven health care to U.S. imperial wars -- are those routinely ignored by Big Media. The voices given a platform -- people of color, poor and working-class activists -- are those typically locked out of the debate. The strategies are more aimed at challenging the imbalances of wealth and power in our society than how to impact the 2008 elections.

As a result, it's no accident that the make-up of conference attendees is so different from most progressive events (and more closely resembles the realities of our country): my quick and unscientific estimate is that about half the participants are people of color, and judging from last night's excellent plenary on immigrant rights, a sizable number are new immigrants -- just like the U.S.

My friend John Nichols, who's covering the Forum for The Nation and also covers establishment politics in Washington, gives his take of the political spirit here:
Instead of imagining what might be, contemporary politicians spend most of their time talking, at best, about treating existing wounds to the body politic and, at worst, about "threats" that no longer exist. In the former category, place all the Democratic and Republican politicians who promise a "new direction" with regard to the Iraq quagmire but never get around to rejecting the neo-conservative -- or more precisely, neo-colonial -- policies that got us into the mess in the first place. In the latter category, place all the partisans who suggest that the problem with our health-care system is too much government involvement -- which is a little like claiming that the problem with a headache is too much aspirin.

At a certain point, you just want to say: "Get over it! At a point when only one in five Americans think the country is headed in the right direction, isn't it time we changed course?"

That's the message of the thousands of Americans who have gathered in Atlanta in recent days for the U.S. Social Forum.
I think it would be interesting if the people who came to the U.S. Social Forum were put in the same room -- or mega-convention center -- with people more closely involved in progressive electoral politics. In 1972, Julian Bond -- the civil rights veteran (and co-founder of the Institute for Southern Studies) -- argued in his book "A Time to Speak, A Time to Act" that it was imperative for 1960s activists to "transform our movement into an electoral instrument," to translate the era's grassroots base-building into political power.

The disconnect between the amazing display of activist energy here in Atlanta, and the decisions being made in Washington, make clear that this is also an issue today.

But it's also clear that our political establishment needs shaking up -- and that, as always, there's a need for powerful movements outside conventional politics that tackle the hard questions, and force new issues and ideas into the national consciousness (and in the process, help us realize that ideas now dismissed as the fringe -- like universal health care -- are actually mainstream).

As Nichols at The Nation says:
There is no question of the need for such a movement. Our electoral processes are a shambles, as evidenced by the dubious results of the last two presidential elections. Our campaign finance system is a crime. Our media aids and abets all that afflicts the nation. And working families find it harder and harder to make their voices heard on the job, in the school or in the community. The crisis is clear. What's exciting about the U.S. Social Forum is that the solutions -- fundamental structural and policy changes in foreign and domestic policies, rather than tinkers around the edges -- are coming into focus.
Labels: u.s. social forum

The Court decision today

Today’s Supreme Court decision on school integration plans.

Lets be honest: The Supreme court decision was a victory for conservatives. It reflects the Bush Supreme Court. Our opponents, such as the Linda Chavez Equal Opportunity Commission, Ward Connerly and others, oppose the sue of racial and ethnic measures to make school assignments. But, they do nothing to improve the quality of schooling in the poverty schools. They want to fight about racial categories but not work to improve schools. It is important to not ask the oppressor to design the remedies for past discrimination.

But, our moderate allies and elected officials share the responsibility for this defeat.
The school integration policies of cities have not worked, they have not produced high levels of school achievement for all. So, parents fight sending their children to integrated schools because many of these schools are dysfunctional. ( See Choosing Democracy, 2004)
School districts in Seattle and Louisville were defeated ( as will be Sacramento, Los Angeles and others) because they relied upon the lawyers approach and refused to listen to or to change the educators approach.
Since the 1990’s, we have had a school reform plans usually based upon writing standards and standardized testing, placing pressure on teachers to follow a specific curriculum and a focus on testing. The data on this process is in- it has not significantly improved most schools.
While there are exciting examples of improved achievement, in general, school achievement has remained stagnant. (NAEP) There is only limited evidence that this process actually improves schools , student achievement, or improves student opportunity. (Rothstein)
There has been limited improvement in most schools because the interventions used do not deal with basic causes of low achievement, unequal funding of schools, high teacher turn over, family disruption, un safe schools, crime, safety, unemployment have not changed—and therefore the local school is unlikely to change.
We need to improve the schools. The current dominant school leadership and legislative leadership has not improved the schools. The refuse to make the necessary changes to improve schools. The lawyers approach of integration- without school improvement, has failed.
In most cities, including Sacramento, Los Angeles, S.F., Oakland, etc, we have legal integration, but we also have extreme inequality of opportunity. The goal is not diversity, the goal is equal educational opportunity. These lawyers- these school administrators- have not worked for equal opportunity.
Now, in response to the Supreme Court decision, it is time to improve the schools. It is time to stop using lawyers as a substitute for school reform.
Our opponents, such as the Linda Chavez Equal Opportunity Commission, Ward Connerly and others, oppose the sue of racial and ethnic measures to make school assignments. But, they do nothing to improve the quality of schooling in the poverty schools. They want to fight about racial categories but not work to improve schools. It is important to not ask the oppressor to design the remedies for past discrimination.
Duane Campbell.
author. Choosing Democracy: a practical guide to multicultural education. (2004)

SF Chooses New Schools Superintendent Carlos Garcia; African Americans and Immigrant Rights Groups Build Alliances

NEW SUPERINTENDENT -
San Francisco Unified School District's 2-year nationwide search for a new superintendent concluded last night at our Board of Education meeting and this morning with our official announcement of Carlos Garcia as our new Superintendent.
Garcia is a veteran urban school district superintendent with 11 years experience overseeing districts with enrollments ranging from 7,800 to 300,000 students including two large urban school districts - Fresno , California , and Clark County , Nevada . Clark County District is the 5th largest school district in the country.

Garcia was principal at San Francisco's Horace Mann Middle School - in the Mission District - from 1988 to 1991. During his tenure, the school was restructured, student achievement improved, and the school was designated as both a California Distinguished school and a Blue Ribbon school. Under his leadership Mann was one of the first middle schools in the country to implement block scheduling and there was a long waiting list of families seeking admission.

June Jordan School for Equity teacher Giulio Sorro, a former student of Garcia's at Horace Mann, said Garcia brings a strong sense of community and compassion to his leadership. Sorro and hundreds of district staff welcomed Carlos back home today with open arms. Outgoing superintendent Gwenn Chan who is retiring this summer passed a torch to Garcia and wished him good luck in taking the reins of SFUSD.

To me, Carlos brings the spirit of a 'street fighter' who will challenge all our students to reach their full potential. Our board and district staff will be working him as well to aggressively fight for equity and social justice and to move our district forward for all our communities.

Mainstream press coverage about Garcia's record, accomplishments and challenges -
- SF Chronicle 6/13
SF Examiner 6/13
SF Bay Guardian Opinion 0606
---------------
UNITY -
In the tradition of building stronger unity within and between communities of color, San Francisco Bay Area African American and immigrant rights groups are building bridges for racial justice and human rights this evening.

Please join The Black Alliance for Just Immigration and the Bay AreaImmigrant Rights Coalition

A Forum and Report Back from: Braving Borders, Building Bridges: A Journey for Human Rights

An African American Tour of the U.S.-Mexico Border

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Dinner: 5:30 p.m.

Program: 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.

Laney College Forum

900 Fallon Street, Oakland

Donations accepted

African American leaders will share their experiences on a human rights tour of the US-Mexico border. They include Rev. Phil Lawson, San Pablo City Councilmember Leonard McNeil, former Peralta Community College Board Member Alona Clifton, Liz Derias of the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement and BAJI Coordinator Gerald Lenoir.

We will hear music, have dinner and begin creating relationships necessary to foster true positive change for all our communities.

For more information, contact Gerald Lenoir at bajimail@yahoo. com, (510) 849-9940 or Larisa Casillas at 510-839-7598, larisa@immigrantrig hts.org.

MORE INFO on Bay Area Immigrant Rights Coalition