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| Issue: # 41 | January 3,2011 |
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To have an item listed send it to
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 Everyone Welcome Celebrate the
New City Council
Tuesday, January 11, 6:30
Admission Free
Entertainment:
Voices of Reason
Buffet Dinner
Guest Speaker, Rev. Phil Lawson
"Unity: The Road to Community
Empowerment"
Click here for full size leaflet |
"Stop Bank Greed--Save our Neighborhoods"
 Fighting Foreclosures
A Bay area coalition has been fighting bank foreclosures in the Bay Area. Not only have the banks played a major role in creating the housing bubble and the resulting economic recession, but their handling of the problems are making matters worse. The banks have failed to quickly work to modify borrower loans possibly putting them in violation of the Home Affordable Modification Program which was part of the bank bailout. At the same time the banks have paid out billions in bonuses to executives as rewards for how well they have managed in the last year. A coalition led by CCISCO (Contra Costa Interfaith Supporting Organization), SEIU 1021 (public employees union), and ACCE (Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment) has been taking action to expose the banks and pressure them to provide relief for homeowners hit by the recession. On December 16, the coalition sent a delegation into Wells-Fargo's San Francisco corporate offices to support appeals on mortgages held by the bank. A small delegation was able to make it upstairs to deliver the petitions while a much larger group made its presence known in the main lobby of the building.  |
 | | Senator Bernie Sanders |
The Battle over Tax Policy
There was one bright spot as Congress and the administation collapsed in the face of the hard stance of the corporate /right /tea party coalition on tax policy and super-trickle-down economics.
Vermont Independent Senator Bernie Sanders' attempted to reframe the issues and rally people to understand that there is a class war in this society; that the growing inequality is a central part of the crisis that must be addressed.
View Sanders' 8 minute speech previous to the vote.
Read Sanders' 8 hour "filibuster."
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Chevron in Ecuador Update
 As most readers of this newsletter are aware, Chevron is involved in the largest environmental lawsuit in the world. The suit over the destruction and poisoning of large sections of the Ecuadorian rainforest by Chevron's predecessor company, Texaco ,involves high stakes legal intrigue. The 2009 documenary, Crude, brought publicity as well as legal attempts by Chevron to force the film makers to give information to the company. See the movie website.
 The Real News Network just did a 2-part update:
Part 1
Part 2 |
Sustainable Worker-run Co-ops in Richmond
Report on Mondragon
Here is the link to see the report by Mayor Gayle McLaughlin and Marilyn Langlois on their look at the well-established and famous co-op movement in Spain |
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Martin Luther King National Day of Service!
MAKE IT A DAY ON...
Monday, January 17, 2011
9:00am - 1:00pm
 Join the MLK Day Planning Committee and over 300 of our closest friends for the largest volunteer event of the year in Richmond!
Event locations:
* Richmond Greenway (main site) 6th Street between Ohio Ave & Chanslor Ave (near Lincoln Elementary)
* Richmond Greenway @ 16th Street
* Richmond Greenway (Eastern Trailhead) Carlson & Ohio Ave
Join a Volunteer Team:
· Plant an edible, butterfly and trees
· Learn to plant and grow medicinal plants
· Beautify Berryland & Lincoln School Farm
· Expand the Habitat Garden
· Help design a new mural
Come out with your family and friends and help Green Richmond!
FREE Food, REI Raffle, Purple Tree Collard Giveaway, Kids Zone.
Check out Urban Tilth for more info |
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Bone Marrow
Looking for Ethnic Minority Marrow Donors
Misha Rashkin is now working with the Icla da Silva Foundation, which is dedicated to registering more ethnic minorities for the National Marrow Donor Program. Currently it's very difficult for a non-caucasian cancer patient to find a bone marrow match. Misha was on the staff of the Sierra Club, active in the 2008 campaign, and on the RPA steering committee until he left the area.
Interested individuals can easily register through the Icla da Silva web site.
Once prospective donors fill in their contact info, a kit will be mailed to them so they can swab their cheek and just mail it back. It's a great way to help out a cancer patient!
Misha will visit the Bay Area occasionally and is looking to set up "swabbings" at parties or other events attended by people of color. You can contact him directly at mrashkin@gmail.com |
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Help Build the RPA
A good city council is only part of the solution. Progress in Richmond requires us to keep working block-by-block, issue-by-issue. The RPA is re-gearing to meet this new challenge. Richmond already has an effective system of neighborhood councils which should be strengthened. In addition the RPA has set up ten issue committees to address different needs in our community.
Currently the RPA Committees and the initial convenors are:
- Arts Committee (Gayle McLaughlin)
- Climate Justice/Environment (Margaret Jordan)
- Green Campus Jobs Committee (Jeff Ritterman)
- Recreation Committee (Juan Reardon)
- Office/Newsletter Committee (Mike Parker)
- Worker Owned Co-op Committee (Marilyn Langlois)
- Culture of Peace Committee (Vivien Feyer)
- Education Committee (Eduardo Martinez)
- Pt Molate Committee (Andres Soto)
- Foreclosure and Homeless Committee (tbd)
You can see more description of these committees here.
We invite you to join our effort. Let us know if you are interested in working on one of these committees. Email us at rpaactivist@gmail.com. |
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RPA Activist Info
is for Richmond community members who want to be active in taking on the problems of the environment, racism, joblessness, housing, and crime to create a healthy Richmond. We believe that community involvement means more than voting every two years. It means regular communication with the candidates we elect, letting them know our issues and positions, supporting them as they try to take our issues forward. It means we attend meetings, use email, phone our neighbors, or go on marches building an organized movement to create real change.
Comments and columns are welcome. Articles and columns are the views of the author, unsigned text the views of the editor, Mike Parker, and not necessarily those of the RPA. Send photos, articles, and comments to RPAactivist@gmail.com or call 510-595-4661. Longer articles of analysis and archives of past newsletters can be found on our website.
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Checkout the RPA Calendar