The Advocate

( Photo credit here  by artist Lia Tin) As American fascism continues its steady stride across the world , I'm back again with your regular roundup of warnings and strategies. This is especially important as the Trump regime has explicitly said it will attempt to interfere with and, if possible, even cancel midterm elections in America . So, what is San Leandro doing? Well, the City Council is still fighting amongst themselves, even as they face a deadline to fill an the seat vacated by former District 2 Councilman Bryan Azevedo. The usual suspects  from among our bottom barrel roster of local leaders are out campaigning  for the chance  –  but not from the voters. No, they'll need the vote of the very City Council currently flailing in dysfunction .  That leaves it to the people, per usual, to step up to protect our democracy. So let's talk about how you can get involved right now to build a better San Leandro. Because no one else is going to do it and t...

(Copy of Google Maps location) On MacArthur Boulevard you'll find a row of quaint storefronts. Coffee shops, burger joints, martial arts studios, and insurance agencies. Elbowing in the middle, at # 1039, is the headquarters of the Alameda County Republican Party. How did this happen? In the belly of the East Bay, where liberal and progressive politics dominate, how did the GOP set up shop to sell American fascism ? Well, let's find out. *** The exact founding date for the Alameda County Republican Central Committee isn't public. Filings show that it was registered with the FEC on July 26, 2004. The location on 1039 MacArthur Boulevard has been its mailing address every year since. Given San Leandro's history as a redlining sundown town surrounded by a suburban wall of White Supremacy, patrolled by racist police, with cross-burnings still going on as recently as 1989 , the choice starts to make sense. The current chair of the organization is Jeanne Solnordal , who o...

(Costanoan by Pastel @  Highway 880 Marina West Exit ) I remember the exact day that the Left in San Leandro died. It was actually a Monday evening downtown at City Hall. There was a city council meeting that night and it was packed. A group of fellow local activists, and even more from outside the community, had organized a protest against the then-recent war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas. The protest erupted into civil disobedience that shut down the city council meeting, before ultimately descending into bigotry and violence. I know because I was there. This post has been a long time coming. Some have repeatedly asked me to share what happened. Just as many would like to pretend nothing happened that night. A few have even threatened me against ever writing about it. But I'd bet that there are also a lot of people who have absolutely no idea what happened. This isn't about spreading salacious stories for social media clout. It's about holding ourselves accountable as...

American fascism is getting worse and San Leandro still ain't ready . I'm here to help explain why that is and what you can do to change it. I'll cover basic media literacy, local news sources, and a few pro-tips. Let's start with how we got here: people just can't read good . To the point that over half of Americans can't read beyond a 6th grade level . Their attention spans are fried . They can't focus long enough to read past a misleading news headline, let alone long enough read a book. If they can read a book. And most people have become so polarized that they've positively calcified in their petty little bigotries. People have tempers shorter than the shoestrings holding this country together. Now, none of this should be surprising. We're seeing it everywhere, from our neighborhoods to our capital buildings. It was the entire reason that certain "politicians"  dismantled public education  over the past 40 years going back to the ...

American fascism is here and San Leandro ain't ready . Last month, I laid out the case and point of the case in point. Some people were not happy to hear it. Most of the complaints were some variation of "too long, didn't read," and "womp womp, cry harder." Others were hit dogs hollering in the comments. A few were confused and wanted to know more. A handful agreed about the dangers we're facing and asked what they can do to help. Well, if reading is too hard, then it's time to get good. If you think being sad about the corruption and destruction of American democracy is funny, then we're not on the same side. If you're angrier at me for calling out the failures in our leaders and institutions, than the failures themselves, then you don't actually care about building a better San Leandro. But if you want to learn more so you can help, well, then let's go. *** First things first, you need to know the basics about what San Leandro is : ...

San Leandro isn't ready to resist the arrival of American fascism. We're now over 8 months into the Trump Regime 2.0, and our democracy is crumbling faster than a sandcastle in the sea. ICE is snatching innocent people off the streets like the Gestapo in 1930s Germany, sending them to concentration camps in Florida or foreign gulags in El Salvador. The White House is openly defying court orders, from ending birthright citizenship to firing federal workers en masse. Trump himself has monetized the presidency with billion-dollar jets from Qatar and literal gold statues from Apple's CEO. The tariffs are spiking inflation, and the job market is tanking as ordinary folks and working families struggle to survive. But the richest people continue to rake in profits. Now the military is being deployed against American cities, with soldiers on the streets and threats to send more across the country. It's so bad I don't even have the space to type it all out. *** So what's...