At our June RPA Membership meeting we presented the Reimagining Public Safety campaign and hosted a forum where we asked panelists to share with us the main public safety issues facing their community and how RPA might build a reciprocal relationship with their organization. One speaker was Reverend Kamal Hassan, Pastor of Sojourner Truth Presbyterian Church of Richmond. His community is about 99% Black and one of their urgent safety concerns included low Covid-19 vaccination rates. The following is an interview and report on what came next.

The City of Richmond honored the Transgender Day of Remembrance on Thursday, November 18, with a flag-raising ceremony in front of City Hall. The commemorative event was hosted by Cesar Zepeda of Richmond Rainbow Pride, and guest speakers included Carolyn Wysinger and Suzanne Ford of San Francisco Pride and Richmond City Councilmembers Eduardo Martinez and Claudia Jimenez.

The Listening Project is a people-centered process to guide our local transition away from the fossil fuel industry. Our goal is to listen to and understand the concerns and needs of Richmond communities that have historically suffered the most from generations of fossil fuel operations in Richmond. 

Dancing with the Divine: A Flow of Grace by Carla De Sola, ed. by Diana Wear, and designed by David W. McCauley, Jr. (Self-published, 2021), 182 pp.; www.omegakairosbooks.com.

“Dance is revolutionary movement. It has the power to connect us to worlds beyond our own. A dancer’s outstretched hand says come...take this journey. I’m reminded as I read Dancing with the Divine that dance, as expressive as a raised fist symbolizing power, offering connection to the divine through art, is such a warm and welcome revelation.”

BK Williams, Activist, Richmond, California

The COVID-19 moratorium on evictions of renters is phasing out.  As a result, we are likely to see a big increase in homelessness here in Richmond which has a large vulnerable population.

There is, however, an important program where the State of California is distributing $2.6 billion in renter and utility relief to those renters hit hardest by the pandemic. Applying for the program also provides some protection.

Workers are just weeks away from their unionization vote and we want to show them how much our community has their back. There will be a HelloFresh Worker Solidarity Pep Rally & Art Build on November 11 to cheer on workers coming on & off of two of their work shifts with signs and noisemakers. We will also fill out postcards with messages of support and solidarity for workers to add to our art installation.

RPA is having a Holiday Party on Sat. Dec. 4 from 3:00-6:00pm at Bridge Storage and Art Space.

The Listening Project is a people-centered process to guide our local transition away from the fossil fuel industry. Our goal is to listen to and understand the concerns and needs of Richmond communities that have historically suffered the most from generations of fossil fuel operations in Richmond. 

Three months into our youth-led, community-driven process, here are the four major initiatives we have been working on.

Green Mountains from Momoyogusa, Kamisaka Sekka (1909)

On October 19th, the Richmond City Council voted 4 to 3 instructing the City Attorney to file a brief in the federal appeals court case in support of Point Molate Alliance and other community groups who have sued the city for voting behind closed doors on the Point Molate settlement. After opposing us, the city will now go on record admitting that it violated the Brown Act and California's land use law when it secretly approved the settlement with the failed casino developers. This illegal 2019 agreement resulted in the proposed luxury housing project we are fighting today.