Worker-owned cooperatives are growing as an alternative business model that puts the people who do the work in control. And they are getting a lot more organized than in the recent past, turning local networks into regional and national organizations. With the Bay Area still grappling with high unemployment rates and a weak economy, co-op advocates say they have a solution that is gaining momentum. Membership in the United States Federation of Worker Cooperatives has grown 25 percent a year for the past two years, said Melissa Hoover, executive director of the San Francisco-based group.
Category: Social Justice
Posted inArts & Culture, Community, Environment, Food Systems, News, Social Justice
Green hip-hop group pruned by budget cuts
A local organization that promotes environmental consciousness through hip-hop culture is going on hiatus this fall after losing major funding from the city of San Francisco. Grind for the Grind hosted its first — and final — “eco-music festival” of the year in Oakland last weekend. The event, FreshFest, brought local hip-hop musicians, artists and sustainable food producers together for a day of solar-powered live jamming, healthy eats and green-themed crafts. After losing its San Francisco grant, the festival was free to move from Yerba Buena Gardens, where it had been for two years, to Oakland’s Mosswood Park. But there still wasn’t enough money to put on the usual four summer festivals.
Posted inElections, Government & Politics, Media, News, Social Justice
Google and the question of ‘evil’: former allies question hometown company’s motives
Google, the Silicon Valley startup that quickly dominated the global search engine business, gained credibility early on with users by invoking its informal motto: “Don’t be evil.” But consumer groups last week turned the slogan against the company, saying the economics of the digital world have obscured its moral compass. Earlier last week, Google united with Verizon to bring before the Federal Communications Commission a list of proposals that consumer groups said seemed to water down the principle of network neutrality — the concept that all Internet traffic should be handled equally, regardless of who provides it or how much they can pay.
Posted inArts & Culture, Social Justice
Getting schooled in post-racial America
Any artist who promises to end racism in about an hour will earn his fair share of cynics. Comedian W. Kamau Bell was well aware of that when he launched his solo comedy show, “The W. Kamau Bell Curve,” in fall 2007.
Posted inArts & Culture, Elections, Law & Justice, LGBTQ+, Social Justice
Gay-marriage attorney maps out strategy to defeat ‘state-sponsored discrimination’
David Boies, one of the two attorneys in the successful case to overturn California’s ban on same-sex marriage, said the case evoked fights he participated in during the civil rights movement decades ago, calling opposition to equality the “last bastion of official, state-sponsored discrimination in this country.” He spoke at the Commonwealth Club Thursday night.
Posted inClimate Change, Education, Environment, News, Social Justice
Minority voters think greener, statewide poll shows
A poll of California’s voters released last week has revealed disparities between the environmental attitudes of ethnic groups. Asian, black and Latino voters are more concerned about air pollution, more sensitive to the effects of global warming, and more willing to see the government act on environmental issues than white voters. But in the wake of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, all ethnic groups reject more oil drilling off the coast of California.
Posted inCommunity, Labor, Social Justice
Report says city’s mandate on local hiring for construction projects isn’t working
A new report from the Chinese for Affirmative Action and the Brightline Defense Project said the city is not meeting its local hiring mandate for construction projects in the city. Vincent Pan, executive director of the Chinese for Affirmative Action, a non-profit organization that advocates hiring local residents, said San Francisco is well below its mandate. The report titled “The Failure of Good Faith,” shows only 24 percent of city work hours are filled by city residents in 29 projects surveyed by the organizations.“We have to change this mandate to make it more solid so that San Francisco residents are getting the jobs,” said Pan.
Posted inCity Hall, Environment, Land use, Social Justice
Is Bayview the new Gulf of Mexico? Activists see parallels
This week’s debates over environmental approval for the $8 billion redevelopment planned for Bayview brought to the forefront comparisons with neighborhoods in the Gulf of Mexico — both in terms of environmental and racial justice concerns. The neighborhood redevelopment plan passed its latest milestone — the contentious environmental impact report — when the Board of Supervisors gave it a thumbs-up after more than nine hours of debate Wednesday morning, by an 8-3 vote.
Posted inLaw & Justice, Media, Public Safety, Social Justice, Transportation
Response in Oakland to jury verdict in BART shooting death
Oakland spent the afternoon bracing for news of and reaction to the impending verdict in the trial of former BART police officer Johannes Mehserle for the fatal shooting of Oscar Grant III on Jan. 1, 2009. The jury announced its verdict of involuntary manslaughter today shortly after 4 p.m. in Los Angeles. Reporters from Oakland Local and The Bay Citizen are in downtown Oakland and around the city documenting public response. Visit the their websites sites for breaking news coverage. (Click headline for links.)
Posted inLaw & Justice, LGBTQ+, Social Justice
As gay marriage heads back to court, political proponents are split
Since the passage of Proposition 8 in 2008, there has been a substantial divide among gay-rights groups over how soon they should go to voters to try and reverse the ban against same-sex marriage. Meanwhile, a legal effort to reverse the law will return to the courtroom on June 16 for closing arguments.