The Advocate

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 ...

I finally finished listening to the season finale of local political and foodie podcast, The Marinade with Lee Thomas . For those who don't know, Lee is a former District 3 City Councilmember here in San Leandro - one of the few Black elected officials in our area - as well as a small business owner and budding entrepreneur.  I was happy to hear District 6 City Council Candidate Dylan Boldt speaking up to dispel the myths surrounding rent stabilization . (Something his opponent, Robert Bulatao, also enthusiastically supports.) Because of inflation and the high cost of living here in the Bay Area, rents are going up as much as 10% year over year. Meanwhile, most people's salaries are stagnant and they're already paying more than 1/3 of their income for rent as is! I think those skeptics, like Lee, should take a look at the broad-based movement from the Big Tent - San Leandro and the work we're doing on housing reform. As for Ed Hernandez , apparently, he's lying aga...