Education Should Be A Right – Not A Privilege
Many schools are starting this week. Children, college students, teachers and workers are returning to their schools and what will they find when they return? It is a system in crisis. From kindergarten to graduate school our public educational system has been cut to the bone. California now ranks 50th of the fifty states in […]
Violence in Oakland – Two Responses
The epidemic of violence that has plagued Oakland gained more attention when three-year-old Carlos Nava was shot and killed by a stray bullet in a mid-day drive-by shooting in East Oakland two weeks ago. That tragic event brought forward different responses from the community. Most people responded with sadness and a sense of outrage that […]
Verizon Strike – Drawing a Line Against Concessions
Starting on August 8th, 45,000 workers at the Verizon telephone company went on strike. The company wants major concessions from a section of the Verizon workforce which has union rights and benefits. Verizon is attempting to break the unions that represent these workers, and strip away their benefits. The Verizon workers are absolutely right to […]
Community Responds To Oakland Violence
Last Monday, Carlos Fernandez Nava, a three-year old child, was gunned down in the middle of the day. Carlitos, as he was known to family and friends, was with his mother on the way to a store on International Boulevard in Oakland. Drive-by shootings are nothing new in Oakland, but this murder of innocent child […]
Using the Debt Crisis to Attack Our Lives
For weeks now Obama and the Congress have been arguing over what to do about raising the US government debt ceiling. The US debt is now more than $14 trillion – meaning this is how much more the US government has spent than it has taken in. There is a real crisis of the economy. […]