The Advocate

Well, I told y'all this was gonna happen . I said it again and again in public comments to the city and letters to the editor in the local paper. It was only a matter of time before someone finally decided enough is enough and that's exactly what's happened. The City of San Leandro is on the verge of being sued for violating the California Voting Rights Act. Why? Because it has continued to refuse to use district-based elections. Instead, San Leandro uses at-large district elections where candidates must live in the district they run for office in, but are voted on by the entire city. This dilutes people's voting power, particularly for members of underrepresented groups, and exponentially increases the costs of running for elected office. The result? Our local elected officials are either independently wealthy or wholly reliant on special interest groups to fund their campaigns. They don't tend to focus on the interests of the constituents in their district, and th...

( Illustration: Maxime Mouysset) Well, looks like we made the papers! (Again.) Check out this investigative piece from Bloomberg / CityLab by Sarah Holder and Fola Akinnibi,  Nextdoor’s Quest to Beat Toxic Content and Make Money It still only scratches the surface. On Nextdoor in San Leandro, racial profiling, antisemitism, harassment, and abuse are rampant to the point that they've become core features of the platform. Users on Nextdoor in our city spread false kidnapping claims and call the police on innocent people, advocate for gun violence, share COVID-19 conspiracy theories, as well as attack anyone who doesn't subscribe to their brand of bigotry. People in San Leandro have been hurt because of the toxicity that congeals on Nextdoor, spilling over into real life again and again. In less than two years, we've seen the results from assaults on BIPOC participating in our local Buy Nothing group to attacks on our unhoused population just trying to find a safe place to ...

(Photo by San Diego Union-Tribune ) Content Warning: this post contains graphic discussions of bigotry and violence. Last month, a Woman of Color participating in our local Buy Nothing group was attacked in a textbook case of how social media fearmongering leads to real-world consequences. For those who don't know, Buy Nothing is a national organization made up of individual community chapters that serve as a place to share goods and services, from clothes to books, and yard work to housework, as well as almost anything else. I have included links to the full statements from the administrators of North San Leandro Buy Nothing below, but I want to directly share the series of events as reported by the victim: "On a porch pickup today (12/23) at 10:50am (to a house I have already been to) I was physically assaulted. My body is in pain and I can still feel burning where the man’s hands were wringing my arm. I was accused of stealing from the gifter’s porch which I explained to th...

SWAI, the San Leandro White Antiracism Initiative (pronounced "sway") is having our next meeting on Wednesday, October 20, from 7:30 to 9:00 PM. We will be having a presentation from Neighbors for Racial Justice (N4RJ). Contact SWAI@googlegroups.com to join and get the Zoom link. Blurb by N4RJ — Confronting Racist Profiling: Committing to Safer Communities is a 90-minute presentation given by one person of color and one white person. This includes a facilitated dialogue. Learn how our conditioned racist beliefs undermine public safety efforts and drive profiling that brings devastating harm to our neighbors of color, especially those who are Black. The presentation includes personal storytelling and actions to confront racist profiling in your community. The content was created by Neighbors for Racial Justice under the guidance of a Black, women-led council.  About SWAI — We are a group of neighbors, organizers, and allies committed to justice, equity, diversity, and inclusio...

If you live in San Leandro and don't listen to The Marinade with Lee Thomas, I highly recommend you add it to your list and start digging in with gusto! You can listen to them at Apple Podcasts . Thomas offers a unique blend of delicious BBQ and political discourse. In fact, he might be the only media outlet offering anything remotely resembling real talk about politics in San Leandro. So far his guest have included entertaining and informative appearances from Mayor Cutter, Surlene Grant, Peter Oshinski, and the latest with San Leandro Police Officers' Association President, Mike Olivera. *** Unfortunately, instead of hitting a savory-sweet spot, Olivera comes off as bland as if he was reading from a poorly prepared press release. As usual from the police union, we get the classic copaganda of lies and scare tactics coupled with a complete lack of self-reflection or self-awareness. But this isn't surprising. This is the same Mike Olivera who helped cover up the murder of A...

(Credit:  Boise Regional Realtors® ) California’s AB-1466 finally provides a systemic solution to remove racist covenants, conditions, and restrictions from property deeds and it is on Governor Newsom’s desk! Even though these CC&Rs were found to be unconstitutional and unenforceable since 1948, the offensive language persists. Seeing such blatant bigotry in escrow documents is painful, particularly for people of color. While we cannot and should not forget the history of racial exclusion in housing, there is no purpose in keeping this language in people’s property deeds other than causing further harm. It is past time they were removed for good. If you’re wondering about whether all of this is necessary, there are many examples of such covenants on social media local news that highlight exactly why. Here is just one example : "We hear a lot about racially restrictive [covenants] and systemic racism, but have you ever seen an example of it? Well, here’s a snapshot of propert...

I am pleased to share the recent presentation from the San Leandro White Antiracism Initiative! (SWAI) This month we look into the racist history of San Leandro, how it affected us then, and how it still impacts us today. Even more importantly, it serves as a step towards how we can repair the harm that was done, honor the history that has been ignored, and move forward towards a just, equitable, diverse, and inclusive future. For more background, you can watch:  The Suburban Wall (1971)  and  The Invisible Wall (1981) Please reach out to SWAI@googlegroups.com to get involved! Take note and take care.

"Like slavery and apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man-made and it can be overcome and eradicated by the action of human beings." — Nelson Mandela in 2005 at the Make Poverty History rally in London’s Trafalgar Square. Average rent for a 1 bedroom apartment in San Leandro in 2020 is approximately $1,845 per month . For a single year of occupancy, that total rent is $22,140. The minimum wage as of July 1, 2020 is $15 per hour . For a single full-time worker that equals a gross annual income of $31,200. After taxes, that comes to approximately $26,425 annual net income . That leaves you with approximately $4,285 for the entire year, or about $357 monthly, to pay for groceries, water, electricity, transportation, healthcare, and internet. This assumes you don't get sick or injured, lose your job or access to reliable transpiration, are evicted or foreclosed on, experience any kind of financial emergency, and that you aren't saving for retirement. In one of the m...

I've been meaning to come back to this video for quite a while. The incident in question happened July 18, 2019. The victim was a Black woman. The perpetrator was a White San Leandro police officer. The video itself is only about 14 to 16 minutes , but the sequence of events can be summarized as follows: The cell phone recording begins with a Black woman in her car being confronted by a White police officer for an alleged traffic infraction. The officer stated the woman was pulled over for not having a front license plate. The woman informed the officer that she actually does have a front license plate. The officer reasserted that there is not front license plate, requested the woman's identification, and attempted to get her to exit the car in order to conduct a search. The woman did provide her identification but did not consent to a search of her vehicle as the probable cause for the stop was false because she did indeed have front license plates. The officer became argument...

I was pleased to see this recent CNBC piece about the systemic issues with racism and related bigotry on Nextdoor: https://youtu.be/mvL5HKyw0zs. I was even more proud to have been able to support and connected with the group, Neighbors for Racial Justice (N4RJ), which was formed in Oakland, but now encompasses several allied groups around the Bay Area, including San Leandro with yours truly! As we've seen here, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, Nextdoor's platform has become a public square where our community members, including local businesses, can connect with each other. However, as we've also seen, it has been used as a tool for racial profiling, toxicity, misinformation spread by public officials, and even illegal activity. This is going on against a backdrop of Nextdoor's attempts to rehabilitate its image and increase ad revenue in anticipation of an IPO (initial public offering) for the company that could see it become a real competitor for social medi...

If your kids like to take naps in the car as much as mine do, maybe while driving around town you've noticed an American flag with muted colors and a thin blue line highlighted in the middle. To many this flag represents a commitment to law and order To many it represents solidarity with fallen police officers. To many it represents respect, honor, and courage. To many it represents their support for law enforcement as part of the fabric of American society. However, the reality is far less prosaic. Because this flag is actually a symbol of White Supremacy. Let's start with a history lesson. (See original reporting at https://www.themarshallproject.org/2020/06/08/the-short-fraught-history-of-the-thin-blue-line-american-flag .) The flag made one of its most famous appearances at the "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville in 2017. The same rally with Confederate flags and tiki torch wielding terrorists chanting "Jews will not replace us." (Full disclosure:...