For International Women’s Day, Richmond ‘Embraces Equity’

Richmond celebrated International Women’s Day on March 11 with the 16th annual Sisters in Solidarity event, placing an emphasis on equity and community service.

The event, held at Richmond Memorial Auditorium, gave many women and allies an opportunity to network and support each other. It also championed the fight for gender equality, living up to the theme, “Embrace Equity.”

The 22 sponsors provided prizes that were raffled off.

The keynote speakers were City Manager Shasa Curl and Deputy City Managers LaShonda White and Nickie Mastay. All spoke on the topic of equity.

“The person that might be able to create space for you professionally might not look like you, and we really should be open to that,” Curl said. “When we get [into] these roles, what we should try to do is create space for other people that are traditionally underrepresented.”

The theme of the event was modeled after the International Women’s Day theme, according to Trina Jackson-Lincoln. For Jackson-Lincoln and the planning committee of Sisters in Solidarity, embracing equity means imagining a gender-equal world.

White said that, when seeking opportunities, “men will go without knowing everything and will apply and will move. Women sometimes will wait until they have everything lined up. You don’t. You really have everything you need from being women, from being mothers, from being wives.”

Most of the 250 people in attendance were women, but men were there too. Allies like them are equally responsible for supporting and advancing the lives of women in Richmond.

In a poem, former Richmond poet laureate David Flores said women are “more than mothers and wives, carriers of knives that rip through walls and glass ceilings. Healing mind, body and soul. Warriors for truth. Seeking, speaking and naming what we need to grow from tiny seed out of darkness to light that she lives in.”

Deborah Burkes, founder of the North and Greater Richmond Blues Foundation, said it was her first time attending Sisters in Solidarity, and she was excited to see how it honors women.

“Some of the things that I heard Jovanka Beckles speak about the rich history of African Americans in Richmond, we focus on that, on the music side,” Burkes said, referring to the former City Council member.

The planning committee focused on recognizing public safety and community service. The committee recognized 25 women in public safety, both police and firefighting officials.

They also recognized five women for community service in achievement, advocacy/leadership, innovator and mentorship/service. Three of the honorees were in attendance: Naomi Williams, Myrtle Braxton and Jenny Baslile. They had friends and family cheering them on.

The planning committee consisted of community leaders Yenny Garcia, Tiffany Harris, Nava Mizrahhi, Lea Murray, Jill Rodby, Queen Graham, Linda Whitmore, and Beckles. It was chaired by Jackson-Lincoln.

“We started planning in November,” Jackson-Lincoln said. “As we got closer, we started meeting more. Initially it was once a month, then twice a month, then every week. This time we wanted to pull more of the community in, so that’s why we had the community services award.”

Jackson-Lincoln also said she invites the community to be a part of the Sisters in Solidarity planning committee.

Here’s what a vote for Measure P would do

Richmond voters are being asked on the November ballot to boost rent control measures so that tenants in controlled units would experience no more than a 3% rent hike. 

If Measure P is approved, it would keep those tenants from potentially receiving a much higher rent increase that is based on the consumer price index. In Richmond, landlords can raise the rent to 100% of inflation, which is the percentage increase in the consumer price index — currently, 5.2%. Measure P would decrease that to either 60% of inflation, or a flat 3% increase in monthly rent, whichever is lower. 

In a city where nearly half of the households are renters, the measure stands a good chance of passing on Nov. 8. 

Councilwoman Gayle McLauglin, who pushed to put it on the ballot, noted that residents have gone from a recession to a pandemic to inflation. And housing in the area is expensive — the median rent in Richmond, she said, was about $2,000 per month.

According to the 2020 census, the median rent was $1,574 per month, which was about the same as the state average, and the median income was $72,463 a year, about $6,000 lower than the state average. The city’s poverty rate was 14%, which was slightly higher than the state’s rate.

Measure P points out that because of the high inflation rate, unless tenants are offered more protection, they could see “an unprecedented rent increase” at a time when the costs of goods and services also are rising. 

City Council voted to put the measure on the ballot in July, with those aligned with the Richmond Progressive Alliance supporting it, along with Demnlus Johnson III, and Nat Bates and Mayor Tom Butt dissenting.  

Opponents of the measure — including the Association of United Richmond Housing Providers, the California Apartment Association and the East Bay Rental Housing Association — argue that the cap should be temporary and include a sunset clause. 

“Measure P is prompted off of the inflation we are experiencing right now,” said Mike Vasilas, co-founder of United Richmond Housing Providers. “It is an anomaly. It is the highest it has been in four years.”

Vasilas said the cap would make it harder for a landlord to afford upkeep of a property, which would push some small property owners out of the city. 

But proponents point to the high cost of living in the Bay Area and the growing number of homeless people as reasons for the city to clamp down on rent increases. 

“An increase in rent adds to an increase in homelessness,” said Edith Pastrano, at the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, which supports Measure P. “Not finding affordable places to live is going to [create] high pressure.”

Richmond established rent control in 2017, two years before the state passed the Tenant Protection Act. Under state law, rents can’t go up more than 10% ,or no more than 5% plus the inflation rate, whichever is lower.

Measure P would supersede the state’s rent-control law and would replace the city’s current rent cap, which is 6% of monthly rent or 100% of inflation, whichever is lower. 

This story was updated to correct information about the state law.

Rydin Road RV camp cleared; residents say they felt forced to leave their homes

By Saturday, the last 28 people living in vehicles on Rydin Road were relocated by Richmond’s Public Works and Police departments. 

Non-functioning vehicles and the remaining recreational vehicles were moved to Safe Organized Spaces, under Interstate 580. Residents are temporarily being housed in motels in the surrounding area including in Pinole, Pittsburg, and Brookside Shelter in Richmond. Former Rydin Road residents can work on their vehicles from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. daily at SOS.

“I have been informed by City staff that the last RV has left Rydin Road,” Mayor Tom Butt posted on Facebook Saturday. “All previous campers have been relocated into suitable housing or shelters. Next is Hensley/Castro with some 100 campers. Good work, City staff! You did it!”

Rain Citro resents being forced to leave Rydin Road after he and his partner were told by the city to leave the gun range on Goodrick Avenue and relocate to Rydin Road three years ago. 

”It feels like it was a mistake, we were happy out there,” Citro said. “Due to circumstances beyond my control, medical reasons, we needed to get closer to civilization.” 

James Foster said the same thing happened to him. And like Citro, he would have preferred to stay at Rydin. 

“I was directed here by law enforcement. I was in a residential area. They suggested and recommended that I come to Rydin Road,” Foster said.

Many people who had been living on Rydin had already left by mid-September, after the city imposed a Sept. 30 deadline. At its Sept. 20 meeting, City Council pushed back that deadline to Oct. 21 for residents with extenuating circumstances. 

Lina Velasco, director of community development, told the council that relocating Rydin residents is only a short term intervention. The city is in the process of drafting a strategic plan to address homelessness. The council is slated to adopt that plan by February.

Velasco said people have a few options: a shelter bed in Oakland’s Fremont Hotel, Glo independent living program or a shelter bed provided by the county upon request. The city also is open to work with other assistance programs. 

Relocating to a shelter doesn’t suit Jessi Taran, who wants to keep living in her colorfully painted bus.

“I choose to live on my bus. I don’t want anyone to feel sorry for me. This is what I want to do. I don’t agree with our current economic paradigm, “ she said. “I don’t feel like it is a good deal for me to give up my life for an apartment. I’m disabled. To me, this is the best solution. I am being fiscally responsible living within my means. I shouldn’t be punished for that.”

Taran is among those who created a sense of community at Rydin. She had a kiosk at the center of the encampment out of which she distributed donated food, water and solar energy. 

According to the city’s point-in-time count this year, the people who live in RV encampments on Rydin Road and on Castro Street, which also will soon be cleared, are among 632 unhoused residents in Richmond. Rydin residents are getting some relocation money, with $50,000 being equally distributed among them. 

Kathleen Sullivan, former director at Greater Richmond Interfaith Program and now a Homeless Task Force member with the city, suggested using the money to help Rydin residents get their vehicles repaired, licensed and insured. She said it would be beneficial for the city to partner with an auto repair business to make the vehicles movable.

Foster agreed that fixing his vehicle would be a better solution. He wants to know what the options are for people who do not want a shelter bed.

Taran said a tiny home community where residents gain training in a marketable skill would be a better solution. 

“Instead of being homeless, they would be a skilled workforce. It would draw industry to the area. It would provide housing,” she said. “Once they get a job they could either choose to leave, or choose to give a third of their income to the housing community. It would pay for itself.”

Richmond Teacher Is ‘Very Happy’ UCs Dropped the SAT, ACT

The University of California has removed the SAT and the ACT from its freshman admission requirements. As a teacher who lives and works in Richmond, a majority-minority community, I am very happy with this decision.

These tests inherently have racial biases against minority students, as well as disadvantages for low-income students, who often cannot afford a tutor or test preparation. Many of their counterparts have years to prepare, getting the opportunity to learn the language these tests use from a very early age. Plus, they are from families who can afford tutors who can help them get higher scores.

Standardized tests have provided a remarkably similar outcome to the lack of Affirmative Action. Instead of making universities and colleges more diverse and inclusive, as intended, they exclude many minority students and strike those who do get in with imposter syndrome.

Many Black and Brown youth doubt their accomplishments when they reach colleges and universities, questioning whether or not they belong. The SAT and ACT do not make it any easier, regardless of how the students do on them.

And it doesn’t stop there. It doesn’t help to tell students that they can do well if they really apply themselves. It is not helpful to say everyone can and should pull themselves up by their bootstraps, as the cliché goes; it is oppressive.

Students need to feel supported. Instead, they are often disregarded and discouraged by their supposedly “more articulate and educated” peers. Minorities often feel like they have to work two or three times as hard just to feel like their work is adequate. Minority students shouldn’t have to feel pushed down or like they don’t belong. When you have to work three times as hard to only get a B — while it seems others are putting in less effort for an A — you feel like you’re not good enough.  

The problems extend far beyond the education system. I would be remiss to overlook the killings of George Floyd in Minnesota and countless other Black people across the country. Not only do Black students have to work extra hard to do well academically, they also have to navigate the traps and pitfalls created by systemic racism, including the lack of economic opportunity, only to be met by gatekeeping tests geared to the white middle class.

How is that fair? It’s not.  

Having grown up in Richmond, I believe if all colleges and universities had removed the SAT and ACT as part of their admissions processes it would have changed the trajectory for me and many of my close peers.

We were incredibly involved, active and academically inclined in high school. We all aspired to go to colleges and universities around the nation. Some of us were accepted into the schools of our choice but weren’t offered enough aid to go. Some had to settle for different schools. I am sure we could have received better scholarship packages if it weren’t for the SAT and the ACT. 

Even after getting help and taking the SAT multiple times, I didn’t get the score I wanted. The phrasing of the questions was just really different from anything I had ever experienced. It left me feeling like I wasn’t good enough to go Cal. Luckily, for me, that feeling didn’t last. After I connected with classmates and friends on campus I was able to feel worthy and not like an outsider.

Now, the pandemic has proven something most teachers agree on: Students are better off with less testing. Many of us know there are more effective ways to teach and learn. I am a firm believer in project-based learning.

For example, after three years of preparation, my students are able to produce a website. This makes them more confident and ready for the real world. Also, Junior Achievement hosted an event early this year when students had to try to solve a community issue using technology. They competed to have their ideas come to fruition. My students were nervous at first but soon became confident enough in their ideas to present them to an auditorium full of people.

 Most testing, like state testing, has been suspended these last couple of months in an attempt to reduce students’ stress levels during the pandemic.

With that said, some tests really can help students. Advanced Placement tests, in particular, allow students to get ahead of the curve in higher education. Most of the tests students take during their K-12 experience, however, do not provide an advantage like AP tests do.

California proved that the California High School Exit Exam, once required to graduate, was expendable when then-Gov. Jerry Brown suspended it in 2015.

I am glad we are finally moving in the right direction with other unnecessary tests.

The UC Needs To Drop the SAT, Says This Richmond Teacher

When considering prospective students, colleges and universities need a way to quickly assess their level of competency in English and mathematics. That has long been the SAT — formerly known as the Scholastic Aptitude Test — among other things. But is that the best way?

A lawsuit filed in December on behalf of the Compton, Calif., school district and other parties is demanding that the University of California stop requiring SAT or American College Test (ACT) scores for admission, setting off an ongoing debate at the nine-campus system and beyond.

The SAT is a standardized exam, meaning everything about the test — the questions, scoring, administration, etc. — is meant to be consistent. On the surface, that might sound fair, but it’s not, something more people are finally starting to realize.

I teach digital arts and web design at Kennedy High School. I never felt right telling my students to measure their success with an exam such as the SAT.

I have had several strong students for whom the SAT just did not reflect their capabilities. One in particular last year was brilliant, self-directed, and in the top 10% of her class. She took AP classes and pushed her classmates to do better and think differently. She always did well on projects and on many tests, but not on the SAT. This is the reality of many students in cities like Richmond.

When I was in school, I found it hard to believe that the SAT could demonstrate my strengths as a student. In fact, although I was top of my class, studied as much as I could, and prepared with a proper instructor, I did not do as well on the exam as I wanted to.

When I took the SAT, the maximum score was 2400, but my top score was only around 1600.

The creators of this exam ignore the needs and conditions of urban communities when making the test. Whether that’s intentional or not, I don’t know.

The SAT uses unfamiliar language and does not account for the anxiety that such an exam can cause the students already experiencing fight or flight, which is exacerbated by the pressure that comes from having to prove yourself through one exam.

Plus, students from a city such as Richmond try to do their best to prove they can “make it out.”

They try to do well on the test so they can get accepted to the best college or university. That means making sure to have enough time to study and prepare for the SAT while not leaving behind classes or any personal obligations.

This test, first given to high school students in 1926, has roots in racism and class inequality. Only those who can afford a daily tutor or have lived their entire lives preparing for this exam are the ones that do well on the SAT. African American and Hispanic/Latino families are far more likely to be low-income, which makes them far less likely to be able to prepare for the test and, thus, far less likely to do well on the test.

The disadvantages these students face aren’t just at home. The SAT requires knowledge of the academic English that only the top schools are able to cover, while many schools are trying to get students to grade-level English. Even at the “best” urban schools, this task is incredibly daunting.

This method excludes so many of the students that take the exam. It gives students little, if any, chance of success if they think outside of the box, are more artistic, or are better at showing their talents through projects.

On College Day at Kennedy High, the seniors take the SAT while the juniors and sophomores take the PSAT, a practice version of the test.

Each year, I encourage my juniors and sophomores to do well on the PSAT for a chance at a $10,000 scholarship. Although I do not agree with the exam, I can only hope that my students are able to get as much as they can out of the practice.

I have felt completely hypocritical pressuring my seniors to do well on the SAT, so during the most recent College Day, I opted out of administering the test. Instead, I led the freshmen through college and career readiness workshops that I think can better help them to be successful.

Some of these were meant to help students build community or do well on the courses required for admission to a UC or Cal State school.

I am very happy that the UC system is finally considering dropping the SAT as an admissions requirement. That kind of move by such a large and prestigious body could have really positive consequences across the U.S. educational system. I only wish it had done it sooner.

WCCUSD Weighs Closing Crespi Amid Concerns over Space, Costs and More Across Schools

West Contra Costa Unified School District is considering closing Juan Crespi Middle School in El Sobrante, opened in 1965, because of what Supt. Matthew Duffy called “a shortage of space.”

In December, Duffy met with the principals of Crespi and Pinole Middle schools to discuss the possibility of combining the two middle schools into one.

The potential closure of the 7th and 8th grade school comes as the district grapples with challenges involving spending, declining enrollment and a legal requirement to provide facilities to charter schools.

Two new charter school, Invictus and Voices, which both took up residence at the two middle schools at the beginning of 2018-19 school year, are requesting more space for 2019-20.

As news of the meeting and the potential closure got out, fears and tensions flared among school staff and community members.

Duffy addressed the issue at the Jan. 23 district school board meeting.

“We have two middle schools, and both schools are having their space eaten up,” he said.

Invictus, on the Crespi campus, and Voices, at Pinole Middle are expected to grow by approximately 160 students each this coming school year and to increase to 500 to 640 over the next several years, Duffy said. Neither Crespi nor Pinole Middle has the space for these projected incoming students.

As a result, Duffy has looked at combining Crespi and Pinole, which are reportedly experiencing a drop in enrollment.

Duffy says he knows the meeting caused some confusion but that it was intended to be a proactive discussion about the district’s options.

“District-wide, we are seeing declining enrollment, and that’s been an ongoing situation,” Marcus Walton, the district’s communications director, said by phone. “It’s a little more acute at Pinole and Crespi because you have demonstratively smaller student populations in bigger spaces, which causes a tension in itself.”

Parents largely were not part of the discussion as Duffy and the district offered them little opportunity to voice their opinions.

When asked by board member Consuelo Lara what outreach has been made to families, Duffy said he sent just one letter about the requests for space. The letter also invited families to participate in the board’s discussion as the district “continues to look at all options across the district to find a solution to these pressing challenges.”

Some people apparently decided to take the district up on that offer. Five members of the public commented on Crespi’s potential closure at the meeting. Some said they were concerned about parent and staff outreach and a lack of transparency.

“I want to make sure that we’re not doing transparency and community engagement for name only,” said Emma Erbach, executive director of United Teachers of Richmond. “These are folks that have spent years of their life in this school and they deserve a say in what their community is going to look like if hard decisions are going to be made.”

Don Gosney, a member of the Citizens’ Bond Oversight Committee, asked the board to look at why families are leaving the district. “How about learning where these schools intend to draw their students from, [then] speak to these parents and learn why they think it’s imperative to flee from our schools,” he said.

Walton said that, for now, Duffy is only exploring the possibilities and the district never set a plan in motion to shut down Crespi.

“It’s nothing that was ever set in stone. There wasn’t a complete plan, because we can’t plan until we explore the options,” Walton said.

At a meeting with parents in the Crespi library on Tuesday attended by about 40 people, Duffy attempted to reframe the issue, saying the challenge faced by the district is much bigger than the “Crespi/Pinole Middle situation.”

He even offered a personal apology for some of the information that led community members to believe the district had planned to close Crespi.

“We had some conversations about all sorts of things that might take place in the future,” Duffy said. “Those conversation got boiled down in the public sphere as the closure of Crespi.”

Duffy went on to describe another dilemma: The district has more schools than it does physical campuses, if you include charter schools, to which the district owes facilities by law.

After a few years of being able to manage the extra load, Duffy said the district hit a wall when, last year, out of extra space and money, the district made the decision to host charter schools at Crespi and Pinole Middle, which then had available space.

“It’s difficult and has been a challenge for sure. And we’ve heard that all through the year,” he said.

Now, the charters are requesting more space, and Duffy says that, under the law, the district must accommodate them.

“Pinole Middle and Crespi have space to share for one more year, but after that, we can’t do it,” he said, adding that the district needs to figure out its long-term plan.

Duffy say the problem may have been compounded by an ordinance recently passed by the city of Richmond prohibiting schools from being built in commercial areas. “Now that a charter school can’t go build at Hilltop, can’t go rehab a building,” he said, “they’re using the state statutory processes to ask us for facilities. It puts more pressure on us.”

Rachel Arrington has one daughter in the 8th grade at Crespi and another in 5th whom she has expected to send there from nearby Murphy Elementary.

Arrington said she’s heard from her older daughter that students from both schools sharing the campus talk about the situation.

Like others in the room, she believes she sees the writing on the wall, despite Duffy’s words.

“I appreciate the district being proactive, but, at the end of the day, I didn’t hear any guarantees. We believe in this school, and we need to fight for this. As a parent, that’s what I want to do.”

Though Duffy repeatedly stated that here is no plan to make changes for the 2019-20 school year, he offered Crespi parents little other assurances.

“We still have these schools that we’re going to owe some space to. That’s going to be the challenge for us,” he said.

UPDATE: At a study session on Thursday hosted by the school board to discuss facility challenges in the district, Superintendent Matthew Duffy recommended the board not consider closing Juan Crespi Middle School unless its enrollment drops below 350.

Voters Approve Tax Aimed at Helping Kids

For the first time in the city’s history, Richmond youth are set to have a local government department dedicated to serving them.

Kids First Richmond, the ambitious initiative that required passage of three separate local measures, passed its last test on Nov. 6 when voters approved an increase in the real estate transfer tax to fund the program.

According to Measure H’s official language, the transfer tax will not affect properties sold for less than $1 million, but will raise the transfer tax by the following amounts: 1.25 percent for property sold for $1 to $3 million, 2.5 percent for $3 to $10 million, and 3 percent for properties over $10 million.

At least part of that revenue will go towards implementation of Richmond Kid’s First. The plan is to roll out the program over the next few years, eventually allocating up to 3 percent of the city’s general fund over the next decade. The fund will be administered by a city-operated Department of Children and Youth.

Hopes were high at the RYSE Center on election night as supporters of the measure watched returns come in.

Isaiah Grant, 18, was part of the effort to get Measure H passed. He and his friends hiked up the hills of Point Richmond and El Sobrante and knocked on doors to inform people about the tax measure.

“A lot of people were supportive about it,” Grant said. “When we would canvass, it was usually a house that had kids. When we told them it helped youth they were like ‘Oh, it must be beneficial for my kid.’”

Even though the RYSE team, which Grant was a part of, made a big push in local politics this year, some youth at the election night watch party said they didn’t see the point in voting.

Tearra Brintley, 19, said she is disappointed by our two-party system and the back and forth between Republican and Democrat held chambers. She said she doesn’t see a point in helping that wheel keep turning.

“Even if I did vote and I go vote for things that people didn’t want me to vote, what was the point of it?” Brintley asked.

Marques Egan, 18, said he doesn’t think the items on the ballot are going to make substantial changes.

“For the Obama election, I would’ve voted, if I could, because it was the first Black president,” he said. “That changed history, but for the senators I think it’s just gonna repeat itself.”

Although Brintley and Egan did support Measure H by canvassing, they seem to be frustrated by the constant cycle they see in politics.

“This generation just does not care,” Egan said. “For us, it is just an obligation. We do not really look into politics and we do not know what is going on unless we look at a meme or something.”

Staying Local, Permanently

A couple of years ago I began looking to buy a place of my own. I first looked into lofts and homes with small square footage in nearby Albany. But, the prices in much of the Bay Area felt so out of reach.

I would work as many hours as my supervisors allowed but still there was no way I could afford it.

During this time, my parents ran into some hardships and I moved back home to help. While I spent time supporting my family I pushed the idea of homeownership even further back in my mind.

But when I allowed myself to dream about it, I couldn’t shake the question – what does home really mean to me?

To me, a home is a space where friends and family can freely gather with laughter and love audibly filling the room. It’s a place where you have reign to make of it what you wish. A place I wanted. And after college, I knew where I wanted to plant my roots: Richmond.

Richmond has been home since I was an infant. I am pretty well traveled, and still there is no place I’ve felt a stronger sense of belonging.

Having committed to a career as a teacher, I thought maybe it was time to make a plan. Then, at a Richmond City Council meeting, I learned about a social impact bond-funded program for first-time homebuyers.

Under the Richmond Community Foundation’s Housing Renovation Program, abandoned and blighted properties throughout the city are renovated with energy efficient materials and sold to first-time homebuyers like myself.

As I heard about the program I thought, for the first time, that maybe I could buy a home in the Bay now. That maybe I wouldn’t have to wait a decade.

A few weeks later, the West Contra Costa School District hosted a housing fair and I spoke with representatives from RCF about realizing my dream.

RCF is unique in that it allows first-time homebuyers to bypass the bidding process by connecting them with one of two local agencies, Sparkpoint or Richmond Neighborhood Housing Services.

Sparkpoint and RNHS provide financial and credit advice, HUD-certified homeownership lessons, access to grants and more.

This was it. This was my chance.

Yet, it wasn’t easy. There was the issue of paperwork – so much paperwork – then getting down payment assistance, closing cost, etc. There were several roadblocks along the way but we — my fiancé and I — were persistent. We persevered.

Of the 10 homes RCF was rebuilding, we chose the house that was the best fit for us and we got it.

Our new home is a three-bedroom house with a flushed ceiling, living and dining area. It has the nice green grass in the front that I imagined as a kid. I couldn’t be more content.

The location is great too. I am right across from my former elementary school, two blocks away from my parent’s house, and I’m still close to the school where I teach. My fiancé is now centrally located to the schools he reaches through his non-profit.

We get to live and build a family in the city I know and love. Granted, Richmond has its issues, but nothing that cannot be changed.

Richmond is where my heart lives. I get to grow and live out the lifelong relationships and friendships that I invested in growing up. I am so fortunate to be able to live so close to the areas that mean so much to me.

My hope is that one-day I get to see my students go through the same process with even greater ease.

State ‘Soda Tax’ Ban Leaves Richmond Program For Youth At Risk

While a diverse group of community organizers in Richmond were gathering signatures in support of a citywide soda tax for the November ballot, Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill into law banning cities and counties across the state from taxing any groceries including sugary beverages for the next 12 years.

Just weeks before the state ban, Richmond voters passed Measure E, the “Richmond Kids First initiative” and its amendments detailed in Measure K, to create a new city Department for Children and Youth Services. But, the department is dependent on a new revenue stream, which just went dry with the governor’s signature.

The plan was a one-cent-per-ounce tax on sugar-sweetened beverages, excluding baby formula, milk, agua frescas, and nutritional supplements. The tax would be nearly identical to those passed by other Bay Area cities, including Berkeley, Oakland and San Francisco.

“[The soda companies] knew that there was no way they could continue to move. We were going to win, people would continue to win soda taxes. They had to figure out how they were going to stop them,” Jamileh Ebrahimi, youth organizing director at the RYSE Center, said.

The state legislature was faced with a difficult decision. A ballot measure funded by the American Beverage Association—the Tax Fairness, Transparency and Accountability Act of 2018—was slated for the November election. If approved, it would have changed the requirement for cities and municipalities to pass any local sales tax increases from a simple majority to a two-thirds, super majority.

In a compromise, lawmakers backed the 12-year-ban and the ABA-backed ballot measure was withdrawn from the November ballot.

The timing was especially hard for Kids First supporters who had spent months collecting thousands of signatures in support of the tax.

“We’re like a week away from submitting,” Ebrahimi said.

Now, Kids First Richmond is searching for a new fund source — at least until 2031 when the ban ends.

“Moving forward, ACCE, SEIU, APEN folks are around the table trying to figure out what the next steps are going to be,” said Ebrahimi. “Once those are determined we’ll have to go back to everyone’s doors to campaign like before.”

The fund for the Department for Children and Youth Services is set to go into effect in July 2021, but that can’t happen until the committee finds a new revenue source.

“We’re clearly disappointed that the state has banned new soda taxes for the next 12 year,” Contra Costa County Supervisor John Gioia said. “The soda industry lobbied hard for that because they saw soda tax measures passing in cities around the state.”

But, Gioia doesn’t believe this is the end of soda taxes in California.

“I understand the legislature could undo this, so we’ll see,” he said. “There is also a group of public health advocates and the medical community that are proposing a statewide soda tax for the 2020 ballot that would be two-cents-per-ounce, not the one-penny-per-ounce that cities have passed.”

Gioia said the coalition is still optimistic and is now focusing on an increase of the real estate transfer tax on higher-priced commercial and residential properties in the city. That proposal will soon be in front of the Richmond city council.

In the meantime, the city will still create the Department of Children and Youth, which will be allocated $950,000 over the next two years.

WCCUSD Students and Parents Weigh in on Future of Schools

Guadalupe Calvario, a Richmond resident and mother of two students at Nystrom Elementary, wants to know what’s going on at her kids’ school. From events to activities and meetings that are happening, she wants information easily available so parents and students stay informed and can weigh in when it comes to bigger decisions.

“A lot of parents want to participate,” Calvario said. “I’m trying to make things change so there is more parent involvement.”

“If I don’t know about it, and I’m always at the school, then we have a problem,” she added. “It’s frustrating. We shouldn’t have to come here to fight with the school.”

Calvario was one of many parents and students from West Contra Costa Unified School District gathered at the East Bay Center for the Performing Arts earlier this month to discuss how to improve the safety, learning and welcoming climate of district schools. Attendees also provided recommendations about how school funding can help support the changes they’d like to see.

Those recommendations included how to collect data to help inform district decisions, how to show the impact of existing programs, ways to include parents, students and community in positive school climate policies and support for students and families impacted by the justice system.

The event, entitled Transparent Schools, Engaged Communities, took place on May 3 and was sponsored by Healthy Richmond — a coalition of community organizations, resident leaders and advocates focused on developing projects in the community to build lasting health equity. The organization’s School and Neighborhoods Action Team (SNAT), made up of local youth and parent leaders like Calvario, organized the meeting.

The Local Control Funding Formula, a California law enacted in 2013 that revamps how the state funds K-12 public schools, promises more state money to low-income and English Learner students. As part of this law all school districts are required to engage parents and the wider school community before setting spending priorities, known as a Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP).

The aim of the event was to provide recommendations for the district’s LCAP and its Positive School Climate Resolution passed by the school board in November.

“That resolution [passed by the school board] is the beginning of the implementation of a series of major policy changes for the district,” Ryan Bealer, project coordinator and communications specialist with Healthy Richmond said, “connected to restorative justice and trauma informed trainings for all staff, the elimination of willful defiance suspensions, and a host of other changes meant to create a positive school climate.”

Other topics discussed at the event included how to transform the campus security officers’ program to better align with positive school climate goals and support for restorative justice techniques by providing a student training.

“We were able to connect the dots,” Calvario said. “Everyone is from different areas. It helped us have a bigger outlook on what’s going on.”

A panel of elected officials and district staff were brought together to listen and provide feedback to parents and students. The panel included LeShante Smith, school climate coordinator; Demetrio Gonzalez, president of United Teachers of Richmond; school board members Elizabeth Block and Madeline Kronenberg; Michael T. Booker, emergency and safety preparedness point person; John Gioia, Contra Costa County supervisor and Richmond City Councilmember Jovanka Beckles.

Bealer, said the event fulfilled one of SNAT’S biggest objectives for the year.

“The event was a new approach to our team’s advocacy, to not only build stronger relationships with community leaders and decision makers, but to also create a community led space to share our recommendations and demonstrate support and unity for them,” Bealer said.

As a student who faced adversity in his school as an English learner student, Carlos Linares, a senior at El Cerrito High School, believes that the SNAT recommendations would better support him, and others like him, in school.

Linares is the co-president of his school’s Youth English Learners Advisory Committee and former youth representative on the school board.

“I also felt supported here,” Linares said, “and even more with the students and parents sharing their stories alongside me.”

In the last few years, there has been a shift on the school board and the city council to include more voices that are directly impacted by their decisions, especially the students.

“More than anything, I’m so proud of the students and parents who have already done so much work,” Bealer said. “To see their leadership grow, that’s what this is really about: students and parents building their power.”

The panelists unanimously agreed that they supported the recommendations the parents, students, teachers and community members made – and many are hopeful that their support may mean implementation down the line.

“I want to thank Healthy Richmond for the recommendations that they have made to our LCAP process, especially around the positive school climate, Superintendent Matthew Duffy, said. ” I fully support these recommendations and will work with Healthy Richmond and see how we invest in those.”

Julissa Hernandez, a ninth-grader at El Cerrito High, said she was happy that the panelists supported their recommendations.

“This [event] inspires me to do more for my community,” she said. “I feel happy and hopeful for my future.”

Three Measures Aim to Put Richmond Kids First

Eleven-year-old Ayush Dahal stood in front of a gathering of local elected officials and community leaders and recounted one of the worst memories of his short life.

“This one time I went to an apartment and someone got shot right in front of my friend’s house,” Ayush recalled. “It inflicted lots of pain on me and my 3-year-old cousin. We were in tears for hours and hours.”

The young boy spoke at a kick-off event held at RYSE Youth Center last week, in support of a new and ambitious campaign to create the first city fund dedicated to serving youth in Richmond.

“We need the support,” Ayush said. “I hope the bill passes so everyone could have the support they need.”

Ayush was one of many speakers from nonprofits and community groups throughout the city to talk at the campaign’s first event.

Advocates of the campaign, known as Kids First Richmond, hope to convince voters to pass three separate pieces of legislation over the next year: two measures in June and a sugary beverage tax in November. It may be a big ask for a city that voted against a similar “soda-tax” measure six years ago.

The campaign is built around Measure E, the Richmond Kids First Initiative, which initially received enough signatures to be on the ballot in 2016. (The measure didn’t make it to the ballot, however, because county officials didn’t validate the signatures in time for the city council to include it on its agenda. Later, at a tense meeting, the council decided against adding the initiative to the agenda as an emergency item.)

If approved, Richmond Kids First would allocate up to three percent of the city’s general fund, over the next decade, to a special fund for children and youth services. The fund would be administered by a city operated Department of Children and Youth and grants and applications would be reviewed and passed on to city council for approval by a community oversight board.

When the initiative was first floated in 2016, it didn’t have a revenue stream tied to it and didn’t enjoy the wide support it does today – including unanimous city council approval.

“In a few months, we have gone from contention to collaboration, and I think there’s a great lesson here,” said Mayor Tom Butt at the kick-off event. “We’re all on the same page. We’re out to get this done. It’s not only remarkable, but it’s really a great lesson in how to move something forward.”

That collaboration came in large part thanks to amendments to Richmond Kids First found in Measure K, which will also be on the June ballot. Aside from a dedicated special revenue stream to fund the new department, the revisions detailed in Measure K include removing a restriction on how much funding the city can receive as well as a requirement that the city partner with a nonprofit organization. (Which would allow the fund to be spent on city programs as well as those provided by nonprofits.)

If both measures pass in June, the next test – and arguably the hardest one – will come in November with another attempt at passing a one cent per ounce sugar-sweetened beverage tax.

In 2012, Richmond was the first city in the nation to put a sugar-sweetened tax measure on the ballot. But it failed with nearly two-thirds of the electorate voting against it. A companion advisory measure that asked if the proceeds of the tax should be spent on sports and health education programs for local youths passed by nearly the same margin – indicating that voters liked the idea of supporting youth programs but didn’t like the idea of taxing their sodas.

However, leaders say they’ve learned from that failure and have reworked the tax so that it’s levied on the distributors of sugar-sweetened beverages rather than local retailers. It is still unclear whether the tax would mean higher prices for customers.

“This measure is very different,” said Contra Costa County Supervisor John Gioia. “It is modeled after the successful measures that passed in San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley and Albany.”

The new proposed tax would charge distributors one cent per ounce on sugar-sweetened beverages but will not apply to baby formula, milk, agua frescas and nutritional supplements.

Gioia said he is optimistic that voters will support the tax this time around knowing that it will expanded services and opportunities for youth.

“It’s a different dynamic,” he said. “Last time, there wasn’t Kids First.”

Supporters agree that Kids First is the linchpin. The organizations at Saturday’s kick-off event read like a who’s who in Richmond activism: RYSE, Service Employees International Union Local 1021, Asian Pacific Environmental Network, Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, Richmond Progressive Alliance, Richmond Police Officers’ Association, YES Nature to Neighborhoods, Ed Fund, East Bay Center for the Performing Arts and Healthy Richmond.

“Kids First Richmond might be one of the first measures in a long time where everybody is for it,” said Kimberly Aceve-Iñiguez, executive director at RSYE. “It feels good for young people.”

Aceves-Iñiguez said establishing a city department for kids was a vision RYSE brought to former Richmond mayors Irma Anderson and Gayle McLaughlin. “This isn’t new,” she said.

“San Francisco’s Department of Children, Youth & Their Families and the Oakland Fund for Children and Youth have transformed services for children and youth,” Aceves-Iñiguez said. “RYSE came into Richmond at a time young people were seen as deficits, under invested in and under valued. Without solid and sustainable infrastructures, our organizations are always at peril.”

At the event, groups such as ACCE promised to secure 3,000 signatures out of the 5,100 needed to get the sugar-sweetened beverages tax on the November ballot while reps from SEIU and APEN promised 300 signatures.

“I got about 350 to 400 signatures in 2016,” said Jaheim Jones, a freshman at Kennedy High School, who helped collect signatures for Richmond Kids First in 2016. “I am very passionate about going past that. I came in a little late [last time], and most of my friends got 600 or 700.”

Given the unanimous support from elected officials, signatures in support of putting the sugary beverage tax on the ballot may not be the deciding factor.

“If by some chance, there’s not enough signatures in time by June, the council can still vote to put this on the November ballot,” Gioia said. Though he added that the decision to collect signatures was a strategy to build community support, and it appears to be working. While it may still be early, there hasn’t been any public opposition.

“I am extremely hopeful and almost confident that we are going to win,” said Jamileh Ebrahimi, youth organizing director at RYSE. “When we submitted arguments for Measure E and K, no one submitted against,” she added.

Local Students Get Loud With Poetry →

During his junior year at Kennedy High School, Anderson Esteban learned about Poetry Out Loud, but since only seniors can present, he helped out and waited.

This year, his senior year, Esteban read “The Last Laugh” by Wilfred Owen, a poem about young men dying on the battlefield. “I like history a lot and it was interesting to me,” he said.

In front of fellow students, parents, teachers, peers, and administrators in the library at Kennedy High School on Jan. 26, Esteban was deemed the winner of the site competition.

An initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts, Poetry Out Loud encourages students to learn about poetry through memorization, performance, and competition, helping them master public speaking skills and build self-confidence.

Poetry Out Loud is a site, regional, state and national competition where students are able to recite poetry in front of judges. The Kennedy site competition was arranged by AP English literature teacher Ian Bader and his students.

Bader said that he wanted to give students an interactive assignment that they would enjoy. Bader said Poetry Out Loud can give his students public speaking skills and bring the community together to see it.

Kennedy had 11 students compete at the site level to go on to the county competition. The students rehearsed, performed, and actively expressed their favorite poems and the audience responded with thunderous applause.

“Poetry Out Loud inspired me to go out and do more pieces of poetry and be able to go to an open mic,” Ursula Cabriales, a senior and one of the final candidates at Kennedy, said.

While Esteban took first place at the site competition, a scheduling conflict prevented him from taking part in the countywide competition. Though he would have liked to compete further and represent his school, he also has plans to join the Marines Corps and is mandated to go to training.

“I feel good [that we are represented at county] because it shows that Kennedy is not just a ghetto school,” Esteban said. “We are doing something.”

Instead, the runner-up, Luis Arzate, a fellow senior at Kennedy, took his place at county competition. Bader joined Arzate on an early Saturday morning to compete with nine other students around the county.

“Going into high school, I didn’t like poetry at all until he showed me William Blake, who’s now my favorite poet,” Arzate said. “I think just that introduction into it really opens your eyes. The county one is more real. I had a lot of fun.”

In the end, students from other counties took home top prizes at the regional competition. The Poetry Out Loud state finals are scheduled for March 18-19 in Sacramento.

Convening Brings Parent Leaders Together →

On a cold Saturday morning in January, parents and children were greeted with warm hugs and soft smiles from other parents and community leaders at the Nevin Community Center. About 60 parents from various ethnic backgrounds, with children in schools around Richmond, gathered to celebrate local parents’ commitment to making schools better and their role as community leaders.

Hosted by Healthy Richmond — a coalition of community organizations, resident leaders, and advocates — the event, titled Time to Celebrate Richmond Parent Power Convening, was aimed at increasing parental engagement and honoring those who are actively involved in their children’s schools and advocating for changes in the school district.

Healthy Richmond, part of the California Endowment’s Building Healthy Communities initiative, focuses each year on developing projects in the community to build lasting health equity.

Ryan Bealer, project coordinator and communications specialist with Healthy Richmond, said the event was intended to address barriers parents and students encounter at school and create a platform for parents to share stories about what they are doing to make changes in the school district. Bealer said he he hoped people would leave feeling connected to a larger community of support.

“The event itself was led by the parents to try and hold space for celebration and storytelling in order to spark new connections between parent leaders and parents who are looking to find ways to advocate for their children,” he said.

 Featured speakers Wendy Lopez, a parent volunteer, Blanca Hernandez, program director at YES! Nature to Neighborhoods and Zelon Harrison, a parent advocate, all spoke about challenges they’ve faced in schools and how they have effectively advocated in the district.

Hernandez described the barriers she experienced while growing up in San Diego as the only Latina in her class. Her experience with racism and discrimination in education resonated deeply with many parents in the room.

“We are lucky to be in this community full of support,” Hernandez said. “You are not alone.”

Harrison shared her story of raising several successful children, all while dealing with the impacts of poverty and violence. “It took my children feeling loved, feeling safe, having a place to grow and get their education,” she said, followed by applause from the audience.

Other speakers shared what they think is working well and what could be better with the West Contra Costa Unified School District. Many said that creating change in the district requires everyone working together. A crucial first step is getting everyone together, to let them know they are not alone.

Attendee Myisha Dozier, a mother with a daughter at Richmond College Prep and another at El Cerrito High School, said she grew up on the south side of Richmond surrounded by “nothing but negativity.”

“Each of the cousins I grew up with, neither of them made it out of high school,” Dozier said. “All of them are pretty smart people,” she added. “Generation after generation we are watching our kids fail. It’s time for some kind of change.”

Dozier said she really connected with the speakers at the convening. “[They grew up] going to different public schools and [they] got the same outcome from all of it,” she said. “Not really anybody there pushing you to graduate, pushing you to be somebody in life. I connected to that.”

Parents also discussed, amongst themselves, what they thought of the speakers’ experiences, analyzing how they related to it and what they believed would be best for families in Richmond.

Ana Villanueva, a mother with a son and daughter at Grant Elementary, has volunteered at her children’s school for six years. Villanueva said events like this one give parents courage to fight for an equitable education for their kids.

“This event motivates us more as parents to keep fighting for the wellbeing of our children and the whole community,” she said. “In our community, we have children who do not have a voice. We are that voice for those children.”

Parent leaders planned the festivities in just four weeks. Healthy Richmond recruited a group of local parents: Alicia Jackson, Guadalupe Calvario and Mark Saephan. Calling themselves the Plan It Team, they met once a week for three weeks until the event. They also served as emcees and said they were happy with the end result.

“I am a parent volunteer and I work with the different non-profits. It’s the same people, just in different locations,” Calvario said. “This event is a chance to bring everyone together. Plant it down, see who we all are and start working together.”

Following the success of the meeting, the Plan It Team and Healthy Richmond intend to continue bringing families together annually in similar events. They hope to build strong connections between parents and showcase the work they’re doing.

For those in attendance, it was also an opportunity to address feelings of disconnection and isolation and to help open up space where issues affecting parents can be talked about with compassion.

“I would like to see us fighting for our community and what is happening in our community,” Dozier said. “I would like to see a walk or a march with Hispanics and Blacks together. I think that would be so strong and it would send a message to our government right now. We will not stand by and [watch] one race after another get attacked. We will fight together.”

Being Head of the Class Offers New Perspective →

It’s the first day of school. I’m nervous.

I’ve been thinking about this day for a while now. I want to make a good impression. I put on my t-shirt and my pants, and I head over to Kennedy High School. I come to school early and countdown the time until class begins.

I’ve done this before, but this time it’s different. I am the instructor. I was born and raised in Richmond and went to district schools. For my own K-12 experience, I attended Nystrom Elementary, Lovonya DeJean Middle and Leadership Public Schools. I know the drill.

Having been in a student in the district myself, I’m knowledgeable about the community and the students I would be teaching. I knew, however, that every day is a learning experience for me. I learn how to better serve my students with every chance I get to be in front of them. I teach Digital Arts.   

I took Media Studies classes as an undergrad at UC Berkeley. As a college student, there is only so much you can learn in the classroom. I began searching for ways that I could apply what I was learning. I starting working for several outlets, including The New York Times, The Daily Californian, a startup called Prynt, LA School Report, and Fusion. Once I knew that I was going to be an educator, I was so happy to share what I learned.

I spent most of my summer planning for this. I knew that I had to set high expectations for my students and share the knowledge and skills that I have used in the industry. I did forget how technologically illiterate I was in high school. That was apparent in the first day.

Students are comfortable with their phones. Putting a computer in front of them, however, was a bit of a shock that first day.For some, it was one of their first times typing.

I knew I had to slow down and work with my students individually to show them how to effectively use their computers.

As a student, you don’t think about these little things. I recalled thinking how my teachers were so forgetful. What I didn’t realize is that they were concerned with fulfilling the needs of about 180 students. They have more than 90 conversations a day on a block schedule and 180 on a seven-period schedule.

In high school, I really admired the teachers that had classroom management down to a T. Those teachers were able to keep the room quiet and on task. That’s still important today, but I have a lot of empathy for the teachers that struggled to keep complete command of a classroom. It takes a lot of patience that, to be completely honest, I did not initially know I had.

I grew up dreading getting paired up in group projects with what teachers and students alike identified as “troubled students.” Those students needed the most help. I knew that in high school but not to the depth that I realize now.

Now that I am a teacher, I connect with my underserved students the most. I know the struggles they face and how far my encouraging words can go. I support all my students, but the conversations that make the biggest difference are centered around how they can best be model citizens.

I can’t wait to see where my students will be in a few years, and I am happy to lead them through that journey. I couldn’t have picked a better space to express and connect with my community. I love my job as a teacher at Kennedy High School.

‘Crime Prevention is Everyone’s Responsibility’ →

In the past 10 years, crime and violence has overall been trending downward in Richmond. Along with the police department’s community policing efforts, residents and community organizations have all played a role in lowering the city’s crime rate.

Richmond Police Lt. Felix Tan says one thing that has helped is the relationship between police and residents who are willing to be the eyes and ears of the neighborhood. It encourages people to report crimes as they’re occurring.

“Crime prevention is everyone responsibility,” Tan said. “The department can lead in it, but we need everyone to participate.”

Tan would know. He was among 10 people honored at the Crime Prevention awards banquet on October 21 at the Recreation complex. The banquet also celebrated the partnership between RPD and the community. This included honoring civilians and officers for their dedication to Richmond.

Along with Tan, RPD staff recognized for outstanding service in crime prevention included Officer Jameiz Terrell, Officer Savannah Stewart, Lt. Sean Pickett (retired), and Lt. Joseph Schlemmer.

On the flip side of the community-police coin, citizens recognized for outstanding service were volunteers of the year Jessie West, Vivian Williams and Madalyn Law. Tony and Maria Maura of Portumex, and Sergio Rios of Bob’s Cleaners were recognized as businesses of the year.

In Richmond, the roots of the current Crime Prevention Executive Board effort started about thirty years ago with Richmond residents Myrtle and Abraham Braxton. It started with community activism and eventually spawned neighborhood watch groups. Now, the Crime Prevention Executive Board aims to reduce crime with a focus on education, organizing and promoting safety.

Crime Prevention board members Karla and Al Perez first got involved about 10 years ago when their apartment complex registered nearly 100 shootings in a single year.

“We’ll do whatever it takes to get this community back,” Karla Perez said. “People don’t need to be afraid. It takes a village and people need to start standing up.”

Awardee Officer Jameiz Terrell, who works in the Southern District, became aware of the “crime-free” housing on her beat, a crime prevention program designed to eliminate crime and/or drug violence in apartment complexes. This caused Terrell to reach out to be a part of the crime prevention action.

“I just wanted to build a good relationship with the community there. I want to know the individuals over there,” she said.

Terrell says that while there can be a perceived negative stereotype of police officers, she has hope for the work that the officers in Richmond do.

“We’re always a police department trying to be better, strive for, I know you can’t be perfect, but we strive for perfection,” she said. “We’re always moving in a positive direction.”

While some crime numbers have improved, namely gang-related activity, Officer Savannah Stewart says other areas of crime prevention need attention.

“What people don’t realize is that there is still a lot of domestic violence and sexual assaults occurring,” Stewart said. “The shootings may have gone down, the property crime might have gone down a little bit but that comes in spurts.”

Captain Al Walle said, typically in most other places, first responders only go to a neighborhood to take a report “and that’s about the level service they provide.”

“The Richmond Police Department tries to take a more holistic approach,” he said. “We’re trying to break these patterns of victimization or violence.”

One way of doing that is by taking victims of violence alongside officers to share their story with neighbors to ultimately drive home a core message.

“Don’t be a victim, be a victor,” Tan said.

If you’re interested in getting involved, the Richmond Crime Prevention Executive Board meets every third Wednesday of the month at the Richmond Recreation Center.

RYSE Festival Showcases Films Tackling Social Justice Issues Through Youth Lens →

RYSE Youth Center’s third annual film festival on October 28 showcased the works of youth filmmakers, exploring themes dealing with a range of complex issues, including social justice, gender equity and human rights.

The short films, up to12 minutes in length, were made and produced by local and international filmmakers between the ages of 13 and 24 to highlight justice. The film festival’s aim was to give youth a platform to share their truth, tell stories of injustice and hope, and provide visions of equity in the world.

In total 29 short films, animations and music videos were chosen for the showcase by the judges. Nearly a hundred audience members attended the event.

Stephanie Medley, Education and Justice Director at RYSE, said she has enjoyed seeing the festival grow and gain recognition over the years.

“This year we had 800 plus submissions compared to our first year where we had 60,” Medley said. “Additionally we opened submissions so we could showcase out of state and international spotlights.”

Lilly Chen of Bay Area of Legal Aid’s Youth Justice Team was one of 11 volunteer judges for the festival. She judged films in the documentary and narrative categories.

“Each judge got 15 to 20 short films to view in different categories,” she said. “The films ran the gamut, all different types of genres, different media, different geography/location.”

Chen said her favorite films were “Hands Up,” by Michael Love and “A Life Like This,” by Isaiah Tour. “Those really stood out to me,” she said.

“Hands Up” won the Best Narrative Short category by filmmakers ages 19 to 24. The story centers on a young black man from Inglewood who is struggling with the recent loss of his father from police brutality.

Another guest in attendance, Henrissa Bassey, had a few films stand out to her too. “School to Prison,” by Idaliah Chavez and Ernie Terrazas Jr., members of RYSE, received an honorable mention in the Best Narrative Short by ages 13 to 18 category. Their film focused on how the actions and words of people in a young person’s life can affect their outcomes in life.

“I liked the juxtaposition between what could happen and what usually does happen,” Bassey said of the film. “And that it was all from the young woman’s perspective.”

“I think it’s important when we are talking about a system of racism, and all that comes with it, to not just make it this abstract thing that no one has any control over,” Bassey said. “She focused on the day-to-day and how people can actually change their actions.”

After the showcase, RYSE staff awarded a raffle to attendees with prizes including shirts, gift cards and home decor. Audience members took part in the awarding too, by voting on a showcased work to receive $1,500. Filmmaker and rapper Leo walked away with that prize for his music video, “Plus,” about an overworked young father fighting mental illness.

Chen said that overall the event was eye-opening and rejuvenating.

“The films were very inspirational and moving,” she said. “I was really impressed with the breadth of different issues that were covered and how thoughtful they were.”

Medley, who helped facilitate the event, said that the importance of film festivals like this are their ability to create a platform for young people to express their views on critical issues in ways other mediums can’t quite capture.

“Being able to go on a journey with them and seeing what they see through the camera is inspiring,” she said, adding that the festival’s location in Richmond is another point of importance.

New California Bill Would Help Protect Undocumented Workers →

A new bill being proposed in California would increase protections for undocumented workers.

Currently, employers have the right to refuse to let ICE agents into their workplace without a warrant.

The Immigrant Worker Protection Act, AB 450, would make it a requirement for employers to ask immigration enforcement officials for a warrant before allowing them to enter a workplace. Employers would also be required to ask for a subpoena before handing over any private information about workers.

“These protections are critical because we know that enforcement actions at the worksite have really serious negative implications for workers at that worksite,” said Michael Young, a legislative advocate for California Labor Federation, which co-sponsored the bill.

Young spoke on a recent telebriefing hosted by Ready California and New America Media.

“When immigration enforcement actions happen at the worksite, you typically see the result of that is a downward repress on wages and working conditions for all workers at the workplace regardless of immigration status,” Young said. “The threat of immigration raids prevents workers from wanting to complain or take advantage of state remedies or federal remedies to workplace violations.”

Undocumented communities are increasingly worried as they see reports of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids in homes and the workplaces. In California, where there are over 2.6 million undocumented immigrants, immigration officials have targeted areas with a high density of Latino communities such as Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area.

“The tools that Immigration [and Customs Enforcement] is using have been the same that they have been in the past,” said Grizel Ruiz, staff attorney at the national nonprofit Immigrant Legal Resource Center. “We still see … cooperation between local enforcement and federal immigration officials.”

Since the election, there has been a heightened sense of urgency in immigrant communities.

“What we are seeing is a normalization of violence across the board immediately after the election of Trump,” said Cal Soto, national workers rights coordinator for National Day Labor Organizing Network. “There is an increase of hate crimes, openly and on corners. There is clearly an emboldened segment of the population that now thought they have the backing of full force of the federal government.”

“There is a newfound fear since the election,” added Ruiz. “That, coupled with reports of increased enforcement practices on the ground, have left a real lasting impact in the community.”

But when it comes to implementing his plans, Ruiz said, the Trump administration is constrained by their budget.

“Even though the current administration has put a laser focus on immigration, it is important to note that for the president to fully play out his plan, it actually requires quite a bit of funding from Congress,” Ruiz said. “He is still working with the budget that there was before.”

Meanwhile, there are steps immigrant families and business owners can take to secure their finances, such as protecting their credit and saving their money.

“There are three main steps that we would like to share with the community,” explained Mohan Kanungo, director of programs and engagement for Mission Asset Fund. “The first is how to protect your money. The second is how to protect your belongings. The third is to create an emergency plan. Within all of these categories, to really think about an action plan.”

New Play About 1940s North Richmond Gets Rave Reviews →

An original play written by 23-year-old Richmond resident DeAndre Evans takes the audience back to what it was like to live in North Richmond in the 1940s. Richmond Renaissance, performed by young people from Richmond’s RYSE Center, debuted at the El Cerrito High School Performing Arts Theater to a sold-out crowd that gave the actors a standing ovation.

To open the show, Randy Joseph of RYSE introduced Betty Reid-Soskin, the oldest serving park ranger. In her remarks, Reid-Soskin mentioned how essential Richmond was to the success of World War II. Henry Kaiser built 747 ships in 1942 to “turn the world [war] around.”

“I bet you did not know that Richmond saved the world,” said Reid-Soskin. “Young people on the stage tonight will bring that history back.”

That is just what they did.

To begin the play, the audience hears real-life testimonies on an audio recording from Robert Ellison and Elmer Williams, about how Richmond was a very popular destination in that era.

Richmond Renaissance takes place in the bustling 1940s, and centers on a fictional nightclub run by Annabelle, a Louisiana migrant who moved to North Richmond. One of Annabelle’s table waitresses, Lucinda, had a troubled past but found comfort when she found Annabelle’s.

Lucinda and her brother LeRoy traveled from the south after their parents died. Their story and the storylines of other characters highlight how difficult it was for people of color to own businesses and make a living.

The play references historical events such as the Black Wallstreet in Oklahoma, the Great Depression and the Ku Klux Klan.

While the play is journey into the past, Evans says the gentrification happening now in Richmond and the Bay Area was on his mind as he wrote the play.

“The theme is community and ownership,” Evans said. “How we need to come together and love one another. We need to control ourselves and have control of the property. The reason we are moving out of Richmond is because we don’t own where we at.”

Claudia Jimenez, a community organizer in Richmond who was in the audience, said her favorite part of the play was the passion of the main character Annabelle, a woman of color surrounded by women.

“It was beautiful to see the Richmond community gather together for this kind of event,” said Jimenez. “I saw many people that I work with, my neighbors… It was really valuable to get people to gather around art and celebrating Richmond’s history.”

“People still say, ‘You don’t want to go to Richmond,’” said Richmond City Council Member Melvin Willis, who was also in the audience. “Richmond is continuing to make history by the ban of DeVos, increasing the minimum wage, or writing to Congress to impeach Trump. That’s the type of story that doesn’t get told,” he said. “Plays like this highlight the rich history and culture.”

Evans says he will continue to write screenplays for RYSE Center and his companions will continue to support him along the way.

“I needed to tell a story about our history and start with the city I was raised in,” said Evans, “and then we can take it somewhere.”

DVD’s of the play will be available for sale soon. Check RYSE’s website at http://rysecenter.org.

How the Teacher Shortage Affects Richmond Students →

I remember going to school in Richmond as a kid, only to find too often that there was no teacher for us. One of my most memorable instructors in middle school at Lovonya DeJean was actually a long-term substitute. There was a teacher vacancy in my science class for an entire school year.

These vacancies made me feel like the district didn’t care about me or my peers. It recently made the students at Richmond High feel the same way. They came to the first school board meetings in January to testify about their experience. As students, we were insulted that we had been robbed of our learning time.

Seventy-five percent of California’s schools are facing a teacher shortage, according to Desiree Carver-Thomas, research and policy associate at Learning Policy Institute, a non-profit research organization based in Palo Alto. This is due to a “leaky bucket,” she said, in which there are more teachers leaving the profession than there are coming in.

And communities like Richmond are among the hardest hit.

“Teacher shortages disproportionately impact disadvantaged students,” Carver-Thomas said. “They have the greatest impact on low-income students, minority students, and English Language Learners.”

Carver-Thomas spoke on a panel on May 2, organized by my fellow Students for Education (SFER) members. More than 60 teachers, parents, district leaders, and community members joined us to discuss how to address the problem of teacher shortages in Richmond.

The panel was moderated by Superintendent Matt Duffy, along with SFER alumna and program coordinator Raquel Antolin.

The event was part of a Teach Richmond campaign we launched earlier this year to raise awareness in the community about the urgency of this issue, and to do our part to work with the district and other community partners to brainstorm solutions.

We launched the campaign after attending a school board meeting last December, when students from Richmond High gave heartfelt testimonies about teacher vacancies in their classrooms. Their stories hit close to home for many of us SFER members, including myself. Even though we are in college now, we remembered what it was like to go to a school that doesn’t have enough teachers, and wanted to do something to spark action on this critical issue.

For us, the panel was a chance to bring this conversation to the community and to acknowledge the crucial role that teachers play in our lives.

“Our teachers are our direct line to students. We have to invest in them,” said Katherine Acosta-Verprauskus, principal of Montalvin Manor Elementary School in San Pablo.

Elora Henderson, a special education and intervention teacher at Lincoln Elementary School in Richmond, added, “As a SPED teacher, I have not met a single [special education] teacher who doesn’t want to support kids. A lot comes from funding, budget, etc. I encourage all parents to get involved with the budget committee.”

Farihah Hossain, a former teacher at Dover Elementary in Richmond and current teacher at KIPP Bridge Academy, commented that while she loved the teachers at her school in Richmond and that they were all wonderful, she did not feel like she was realizing a vision for students. She said she often felt that her work was on “an island.”

Panelists and community members voiced the importance of investing in creating positive change to improve teacher retention.

“This event is one step on the mission to solving the teacher shortage problem,” explained SFER member Anthony Caro. “There are many ways to get involved– going to community events such as this, planning community events, going to school board meetings, talking to our school board members, talking to our teachers, and talking to our principals. We can’t do anything without discussion, and that’s what tonight was about.”

We encourage the community to join the conversation and help us in the fight for educational justice by following us on social media Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram and post using the hashtag #TeachRichmond.

Together, we can shine a spotlight on the infinite impact that quality teachers make on all of our lives. 

Dogs and Their Owners Love Point Isabel Dog Park →

If you have yet to visit Point Isabel Regional Shoreline in Richmond, it is a sight to see. Point Isabel, a 23-acre dog park with an additional 20 acres right alongside a stunning view of the San Francisco Bay Area, is the one of the largest off-leash dog parks in the United States.

The park is a local favorite for visitors of the East Bay because it allows dogs of all sizes to run around off the leash and enjoy the large grassy areas. Many dogs can also enjoy a refreshing bath on the shore right off the bay.

Some visitors are locals. Others drive a fair distance to have their pooches enjoy the large park.

“It’s beautiful. You get great bay views,” said Vic from Oakland, who came to the park with his dog Rose. “On hot days, it’s cooler here. The people are generally pretty good. I go to places like Redwood Regional Park and Albany Bowl but I prefer this place. I also get to hang out with my friends and Rose gets to hang out with her friends,” he said.

The park has features that are standard for most dog parks. It is equipped with water fountains, doggie bag stations, and a few communal toys. But it also has additional features such as the Mudpuppy’s Tub and Scrub, a dog-bathing and grooming center, and the Sit and Stay Café which offers snacks for humans and canines alike.

“I am a dog walker and my dogs love it,” says Delane from Oakland. “It’s refreshing, it’s sunny, not too hot. There is a slight breeze.”

One of the reasons she likes Point Isabel so much is because it’s a safe place. “I go to other trails where there are deer, coyotes, rattlesnakes, dead animal carcasses, stinging nettles, joggers every once in a while,” she said.

“When dogs see people infrequently they get pretty protective. If there are lots of people walking, like here, they have a different mindset, they don’t get all protective. They don’t chase after people or scare people. It’s dog friendly.”

Visitors to the park are friendly and it’s a great place to start a conversation and meet new people.

Dog owners also engage in park activities such as organized bonding and meet-up times. “The last Saturday of every month, labradoodles [a cross between a Labrador retriever and a poodle] and their owners visit the park for cupcakes and doggy treats. There is also a Great Dane day the first Saturday of every month,” says Anthony Caro from Berkeley.

“I like how open it is, there are no borders or fences. The view is amazing. These dogs get a better view than me from my apartment. This is a must-stop for anyone traveling with their dog.”

Whether you are a dog walker, an owner or a dog enthusiast, visitors highly recommend taking a walk at Point Isabel Dog Park.