Barry Saks

Supporters for Healthcare for all, on Sunday, March 26, on their way to L.A. City Hall; Photo by Barry Saks

More than 200 people, many of them who work in healthcare or are retired, marched from Pershing Square to the Los Angeles City Hall, on Sunday, March 26, in support of California Senate Bill 562, titled Californians for a Healthy California Act, which supporters call universal healthcare or single payer.

Pilar Schiavo speaking to supporters, on Sunday, March 26, before marching; Photo by Barry Saks

At Pershing Square, Pilar Schiavo, who works for the California Nurses Association, led the crowd with some chants, using a rolled-up poster as a bullhorn.  One chant was “Medicare for all is our fight.  Healthcare is a human right.”  Another chant was “California here we come.  Five-six-two, let’s get it done.”  A third chant was “Everybody in, nobody out.  Five-six-two is what we’re about.”

Supporters of Healthcare for all, Sunday, March 26, crossing the street between Grand Park and the backside of L.A. City Hall; Photo by Barry Saks

The crowd then chanted and marched to the backside of L.A. City Hall, across from Grand Park.  Some chants not done at Pershing Square but could be heard from the marchers were “Show me what democracy looks like.  This is what democracy looks like,” “We are the 99 percent,” “Hey, Hey, Ho, Ho, Healthcare greed has to go” and “The people united will never be divided.”

Schiavo emceed the rally at City Hall.

California State Senator Ricardo Lara, on Sunday, March 26, speaking to supporters; Photo by Barry Saks

California Senator Lara said, “We know healthcare is a human right for everyone, regardless of where you come from…. Other countries have done this…. I am proud to say I’m taking a group of (California) Senators to Canada over the next couple of weeks so they can see firsthand what Canada is doing to provide coverage for everyone.”  After speaking in English, he spoke to the crowd in Spanish.

Fong Chuu, on March 26, speaking at L.A. City Hall

After the Senator, Registered Nurse Fong Chuu spoke.  Chuu said she is in charge of the Liver Transplant Program at UCLA Medical Center and member of the CNA and added, “Here in Los Angeles we have the worst record in all of California in the preventable hospital stays.  Those are hospitalizations that are the direct result of people not being able to afford medical treatment until their conditions become crisis…. Nurses see patients that suffer stroke or heart failure (and) …. (n)urses in operating rooms see patients that end up having a limb amputated because of untreated diabetes all because they cannot afford to see a doctor…. Even with the ACA (Affordable Care Act) many Californians still cannot afford to use the insurance they have because of the high deductibles and out-of-pocket expenses.”

After Chuu, Jenni Chang urged the crowd to call and lobby the members of the Senate Health Committee in support SB 562.

Clifford Monroe, on Sunday, March 26, making a point to a friend at Pershing Square, Los Angeles; Photo by Barry Saks

Before the march, Clifford Monroe, 68, who’s from Mission Viejo, which is in in Orange County, was at Pershing Square.  Monroe said he was there to support the bill and that he believed healthcare should be a human right.  Monroe said a discussion needs to be had on the role of employers providing employees healthcare or do we need a larger pool that goes beyond private employers.  He added one economic driver for increasing healthcare costs is the rapid growth of drug costs.

Anne O’Neil at Pershing Square; Photo by Barry Saks

Another person at Pershing Square was Anne O’Neil, 64, who is a Registered Nurse and teaches Licensed Vocational Nurses.  O’Neil lives in West Lake Village and does not belong to a union and never has.  She said she supports ACA and wants to move toward single-payer healthcare.  In response to Gov. Brown’s skepticism on how to pay for universal healthcare, she pointed out people’s healthcare needs do not go away, one way or another healthcare costs are paid for.  She then added before the Affordable Care Act, about $1,000 a year for people who had healthcare went to pay for those who didn’t have any healthcare.

A third person at Pershing Square was Inke Schroeder, 59, who does research at UCLA.  Schroeder said she has lived in California for about 25 years and now lives in west Los Angeles.  Schroeder said she was there to celebrate that the Affordable Care Act will remain and wants to move toward providing healthcare for everyone, like in Germany, where she was born.  Schroeder said she strongly supports “an income-based system,” but also said she thought employers should continue to pay for their employees’ healthcare.

California State Senators Ricardo Lara (D, Long Beach-Huntington Park) and Toni Atkins (D, San Diego), on Feb. 17, introduced the bill.  On March 2, it was moved to the Rules Committee.

The bill states, “It is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation that would establish a comprehensive universal single-payer health care coverage program and a health care cost control system for the benefit of all residents of the state.”

Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Times on Wednesday, March 22, reported California Gov. Jerry Brown was skeptical of the funding for the bill and quoted the Governor saying, “Where do you get the extra money? This is the whole question.”

Senator Lara announced on Tuesday, March 21, he is running for Insurance Commissioner in 2018.

Click here to read the Los Angeles Times story that quotes Gov. Brown.

Click here to read the text of Senate Bill 562.

From Left to Right: Amani Al-Hindi Barakat, Alfredo Gama, Nana Gyamfi, Micahel Letwin, Lydia Ponce, Ameena Mirza Qazi, Garik Ruiz in conversation, Wednesday, March 22; Photo by Barry Saks 

To a standing-room-only crowd of about 75 people, a discussion: “From Palestine to Mexico, All the Walls Have Got to Go” was held on Wednesday, March 22, at 6101 Wilshire Blvd., formerly Johnie’s with the theme, “grassroots movements for human liberation increasingly recognize #Palestinian liberation as a central component of intersectionality (sic),” according the Facebook page of the event.

Also according to the same Facebook page, the event was sponsored by Al-Awda the Palestine Right to Return Coalition, American Indian Movement Southern California, California for Progress, HP Boycott Campaign-Los Angeles, Idle No More L.A., Jews for Palestinian Right of Return, Jewish Voice for Peace-L.A., Labor for Standing Rock, LA4Palestine, and March and Rally Los Angeles.

Karen Pomer introducing the panel, March 22; Photo by Barry Saks

Karen Pomer, who was the lead event organizer, also according the Facebook page, and who is also with Labor for Standing Rock, said, “If we are missing a few people tonight, it’s because we have hundreds of people that we helped organize along with many other groups outside the L.A. County Sheriff’s Office tonight fighting back against the raids and again protecting the state of California from ICE (U.S. Department of Homeland Security Immigration and Customs Enforcement).

To read the Facebook page, which announced the discussion, click here.

Garik Ruiz, March 22; Photo by Barry Saks

Pomer introduced Garik Ruiz.  Ruiz said he’s the North America liaison for the Palestinian BDS Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) National Committee (BNC).  Thus, he works with organizations fighting for human rights for Palestinians against the Israeli state.  Ruiz reported last week the U.N. Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia released a report for the first time named Israel as “creating a system of apartheid” and asked governments to respond to the BDS campaigns.  Because of pressure from the U.S. and Israel, the U.N. removed the report.  In response, the director resigned rather than withdraw the report.  He also reported the Israeli state had detained prominent Palestinian human rights defender Omar Barghouti placed him under “intense interrogation” to intimidate him and the BDS movement.  Click here to read the the full statement on Barghouti by BNC.

Ruiz then introduced the panelists: Amani Al-Hindi Barakat, who was born in Kuwait and is the National Chairwoman of Al-Awda, the Palestine Right of Return Coalition; Alfredo Gama, who is a member of the Papalotl Brown Berets and an organizer of the recent immigration protests; Nana Gyamfi, who is a member and co-founder of Justice Warriors 4 Black Lives, a network of attorneys and non-attorneys providing legal support for the Movement for Black Lives, including BLMLA; Michael Letwin, who is a New York City public defender, former president of the Association of Legal Aid Attorneys (United Auto Workers Local 2325) and Labor for Standing Rock; Lydia Ponce, who is an organizer with the American Indian Movement and Idle No More of Southern California and an organizer of the No Dakota Access Pipeline protests in Los Angeles; and Ameena Mirza Qazi, who is the Executive Director of the L.A. chapter of the National Lawyers Guild, civil rights attorney who has worked on free speech, social and economic justice, discrimination and due process issues.

Amani Al-Hindi Barakat, March 22; Photo by Barry Saks

Barakat characterized herself as a Palestinian-American immigrant and refugee.  She said, “Trump’s win … has been very difficult and exhausting for many of us…. Aside from him (President Trump) bringing us together today, we’re only two months into his administration and we’re already seeing a change in the American landscape….Tens of thousands of citizens across the country have stormed congressional offices and town hall meetings.…We can see today policy flourishing in the larger institutional structure that serve only select few in the American society.  Whether you’re Black, Latino, Native American, LGBQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual or Queer) or a Muslim, the system excludes you equally….As a Palestinian, I can say with certainty that injustices we face are the same ones our Black, Latino and Native American brothers and sisters have faced for far too long.”

Alfredo Gama, March 22; Photo by Barry Saks

Next was Gama.  He said when he was first asked to speak he was reminded of the Facebook picture, which said, “From Ayotzinapa to Ferguson to Palestine.”  He then explained that Ayotzinapa is “where 43 students went missing, to Ferguson, where Michael Brown was murdered right to Palestine, where … indigenous Palestinians are also being murdered…. We have to understand we are still a colonized people…. The law is not about justice but power…. We are illegal because we are profitable…. We are saying we are here and we are here to stay.”

Nana Gyamfi, March 22; Photo by Barry Saks

Gyamfi followed Gama.  She almost immediately said, “It is clear that everyone that’s here is someone who understands that how this system is constructed is completely wrong, that it needs to be destroyed and that we need to build a new world.”  She pointed out the Platform for the Movement for Black Lives in 2016 included support for BDS and Palestinian autonomy because Pan-Africanism and the struggle of the Palestinians are a result of colonialism.  At the end, she said, “We are talking about the onslaught on the freedom, the liberation, the autonomy of indigenous populations and we will win together.”

Michael Letwin, March 22; Photo by Barry Saks

Letwin followed Gyamfi.  He said the struggle around Palestine is “a beating heart” of intersectionality, which puts Palestine in the center.  Letwin rhetorically asked what the Trump administration means for the movements?  He said while the Trump era is troubling and worrisome, the response, the resistance to it is hopeful.  He pointed out that the policies of the Trump administration that the grassroots movements are responding to are the policies that were part of the Obama administration and all the administrations before it.  Letwin’s last point was that different struggles must include those struggles that have been most marginalized, like the struggles of Standing Rock, Black Lives Matter, and Palestine.

Lydia Ponce, March 22; Photo by Barry Saks

Ponce immediately reminded the audience they were on the land of the Tonga people.  She said when we come to these kinds of gatherings and meetings, “we recognize that we are all healing from our historical trauma and that the value of coming together like this is to do it more often.”  Ponce said activists “need to step out of their comfort zone and “just show up” even when it “may not be your thing.”  She added, “For solutions tonight, … is to accept the idea the economic elite has declared war on all of us and has signed a death certificate for earth mother.”

Ameena Mirza Qazi, March 22; Photo by Barry Saks

Last to speak on the round was Qazi.  She wasted no words.  She described briefly that the question of Palestine was important to the Middle East South Asian Committee, which is part of the International Committee of the National Lawyers Guild.  She spoke of the Arabic concept of “ummah,” which means community, but also “transcends space and time” and the need to return to that concept that was used before 9/11.  She said, “The United States plays the most active role in oppression of foreign peoples with the suppression of Palestinian rights.”

Ruiz posed some questions to the panel.  First, besides just showing up, are there ways to develop what Ruiz called, “joint struggle.”  Barakat said it was important to learn about each other’s struggles and then participate.  Gama said it was important “to show up but to shut up.”  He said for himself, while he can learn about the Palestinian struggle and stand in solidarity with it, he understood the Palestinians must lead their own struggle.  Gyamfi said issues need to be identified that “we have the same opposing force” and that we understand that we are oppressed and harmed in different ways.  Letwin said one area for potential struggle is to look at “class” and when attempts are made to exclude folks, we need to figure out a way to participate without being silenced, including our own contingents.  Ponce echoed Gama and ended her thoughts with “honor the differences but find the similarities.”  Qazi said it was important to create safe spaces for all of us.  She used a recent example, where it was necessary for the NLG had to boycott a meeting because the Anti-Defamation League (According to the Electronic Intifada, the ADL had been advising universities how to isolate the BDS movement.  Click here to read the Electronic Intifada article.), was participating.  To educate those at the meeting, the NLG sent a letter explaining its decision.

Ruiz posed a second question: what does it mean for us to be supporting Palestinian indigenous resistance, when we are doing that work here on indigenous land and how can we better shape our campaigns and messaging?  Ponce said it was divestment and the need to support the United Nations’ Declaration of Rights for the Indigenous People.

Ruiz posed a third question: how can the Palestine Solidarity Movement in the U.S. do more to support the Movement for Black Lives?  Gyamfi said one way is “to address the anti-blackness within in the Palestinian population.”

Now playing in Los Angeles County at Laemmle’s Music Hall, Sundance Sunset Cinema and Landmark Regent.  Check show times.

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I can only say, “Bravo” to ‘I Am Not Your Negro.’

Because of Director Raoul Peck, even in death, the late, great novelist, poet and social critic, James Baldwin, lives through his words and images.

From the text of Baldwin’s unfinished final novel, ‘Remember This House,’ the film confronts the audience with what it means to be Black in America.  However, this film is not only about race relations in the United States, it is about our history that so many good intentioned people deny and refuse to accept responsibility for, partly out of ignorance and partly out of lack of self-reflection.  Peck and Baldwin do us all a service by forcing us to face our past.

Samuel L. Jackson narrates with all his eloquence.

Near the end of the film, Jackson says these words of Baldwin, “Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.”

Not only is this sentence poetic, it holds truth for us, as a society and for us as individuals.  As a society, for the U.S. move forward, it must face its racism, the racism of whites towards people of color, including the genocide committed against the indigenous, which still manifests itself today.  As individuals this film forces us to face our own racism, individually and collectively.

Baldwin’s novel was his attempt to face the assassination of his three friends: Martin Luther King, Jr., Medgar Evers and Malcom X.  Peck takes Baldwin’s words and faces the recent killings of young African-American men, racial violence more generally and more specifically the struggles of Black Lives Matter.  The result is beautiful and horrific because we (black and white and everyone in between) must face man’s inhumanity to man.

Behind me sat an African-American teenage girl crying in response to the horror she witnessed.  However, her mother was holding her symbolizing the beauty between her and her mother.

Also near the end Baldwin said he was an optimistic because he was still alive.  To be alive means we can still struggle, which is where our hope is.  Baldwin’s insights and words remind us the struggle will continue because no other choice exists for those of the oppressed and their allies.

Long Live James Baldwin.

About two hundred people, led by local indigenous leaders, marched on Friday, March 10, from Pershing Square to the steps of Los Angeles City Hall, to demand the city council divest from the banks that have invested in Dakota Access and the Keystone XL pipelines.

The Los Angeles event was in solidarity with the demonstrations in Washington, D.C. and was part of the solidarity effort in 12 other cities across the United States, according to website of Indigenous Environmental Network and the Native Organizers Alliance.  Click here to go to the website.

Lydia Ponce with microphone speaking at Pershing Square, March 10, with Frances Fisher standing behind her.  Photo by Barry Saks

Before marching to Los Angeles City Hall, a rally was held on Olive Ave. near the corner with 5^th Street, next to Pershing Square.  Lydia Ponce, who is from the American Indian Movement and Idle No More of Southern California, emceed the rally.  Ponce said, “Standing Rock in not over…. The water wars are not here yet, but they are happening in Mexico.”  She also pointed out water has been rationed in Canada for the last four years.

Before speaking, Fixxco (left) standing next to Lydia Ponce (right) on Friday, March 10.

One speaker Ponce introduced was Fixxco.  Fixxco said he only goes by his one name.  He said he went to Standing Rock the first week in November and that he was asked to be part of the group “to protect the camp—women and children and elders.”  He said, “On Nov. 20, they (law enforcement) attacked us for simply removing a vehicle off the bridge…. My camp elder, my grandfather, Standing Horse, fell.  He had a heart attack.  He was hit by a concussion grenade in the heart and he died in my arms…. We are protectors, not protesters.”

An elder drumming and dancing, Friday, March 10, with children behind him dancing in front of Wells Fargo branch.  Photo by Barry Saks

After the first rally on Olive next to Pershing Square, the march weaved its way through the financial district, where it stopped at a Wells Fargo branch for a brief second rally, which included a prayer.

Cheyenne Phoenix addressing crowd, on Friday, March 10, at L.A. City Hall.  Photo by Barry Saks

From the second rally, the march headed through Grand Park to the steps of Los Angeles City Hall for the final rally of the day.  Cheyenne Phoenix, who characterized herself as coming from Navajo and Northern Piute Nation, emceed.  Phoenix, who is a Long Beach City College sociology student, in her opening remarks, said, “We are gathered here today because our relatives at Standing Rock in Washington, D.C. are gathering for a native-nations-wide march…. We are standing in solidarity with each other, with our water protectors everywhere.”  She then pointed out that L.A. get more than 40 percent its water from the Owens Valley, which was once Piute land.

Shannon Rivers speaking, Friday, March 10, at L.A. City Hall.  Photo by Barry Saks

One of the speakers at the rally on the steps of Los Angeles City Hall was Shannon Rivers.  Rivers said, “Five hundred twenty-four years ago, an ideology was brought here….  It’s the idea of greed and capitalism.  You suffer from a disease called capitalism.  You keep taking from the earth and without giving back.  You constantly want something without giving thanks.”

Another speaker was Frances Fisher.  Fisher, who also spoke at Pershing Square, said, “We are here to divest L.A.”  She asked the crowd to go online and sign a petition, which was going to be sent to the City Council after another 500 signatures are gathered.  She then read the petition.  The beginning of the petition reads, “We the people call on the Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and City Council to divest from Wells Fargo.”  She then announced the phone numbers of the city council representatives for the crowd to call.  To read the petition online, click here.

Kwazi Nkrumah, Friday, March 10, speaking at City Hall.  Photo by Barry Saks 

And still another speaker was Kwazi Nkrumah. Nkrumah, who is a leader of the MLK (Martin Luther King Jr.) Coalition of Greater Los Angeles, pointed out the week before the temperature of the outer edge of Antarctica was measured at 65 degrees Fahrenheit and added it meant the Pacific Island nations could be submerged in years.  He then said L.A. has about a 100 neighborhood councils and urged the crowd to get their friends and neighbors to go to their councils and get them to come out in favor of divesting.

One chant on the march was “Sisters and brothers, let’s defend our mother (earth).”  Another was “The people united will never be divided.”  A third chant was “Who is funded by the banks?  Pipelines and Tanks” and a fourth chant was “Up, Up with people.  Down, down with the pipeline.”  A fifth chant was “Who stands with Standing Rock.  We stand with Standing Rock” and a sixth was “You can’t drink oil.  Keep it the soil.”  A seventh chant was “Whose streets? Our Streets” and an eighth was “They’re killing our sons and daughters.  They’re poisoning the water.”  A ninth chant was “Wells Fargo opens fraudulent accounts.”  A tenth chant was “When your body is put to the test? Stand up, fight back.”

Michael Rotcher with his sign, Friday, March 10, before marching.  Photo by Barry Saks

One of those who marched was Michael Rotcher.  Rotcher said that he was from Orange County, that he was in support of those who oppose the Dakota Access Pipeline and that he was “concerned for the water rights of the indigenous people there.”  He added, “We got a head of the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) now that does not believe in climate change.  That is shocking… It is a bad thing for the people who depend on that water for their livelihood and it is a terrible thing for all of us.”

David Calvillo with his sign, on Friday, March 10, before marching.  Photo by Barry Saks

Another marcher was David Calvillo.  Calvillo said he was from north Long Beach and had taken the light-rail system to get to Pershing Square.  Calvillo said he woke up and realized he had to be there with like-minded people.  He said his family is from Arizona and is Hopi.  He said his great-grandparents looked like the Native American on “the Buffalo nickel.” He said this struggle was “important for the generations that come after us.”

A third marcher was Alvaro Maldonado, who characterized himself as a longtime activist.  Maldonado said, “I’m worried the direction the fossil fuel industry is taking us…. I believe that working-class folks are the ones who will create the change.  By no means is the Democratic Party going to a make these changes because they are completely tied to Wall Street, big capital, big oil corporations, war production companies, etc.  So they are not going to do it.  It’s going to take us from below, the people from below.”

A fourth marcher was Natasha Gascon.  Gascon said she is “truth speaker” and a 37-year-old female business student at East Los Angeles College, where she has also studied Administration of Justice.

Unknown Artist Drawn Banner, Friday, March 10.  Photo by Barry Saks

An audience of less than 100 attended the Long Beach Planning Commission of Thursday, March 2.  Photo by Barry Saks

With public comment of more than an hour, in front of an audience of less than 100 people, the Planning Commission of the City of Long Beach on Thursday, March 2, voted 7-0 to recommend to certify the Environmental Impact Report, to approve the Site Plan Review, the Conditional Use Permit, the Standards Variance and Local Coastal Development entitlements for the construction and operation at 4000 E. Olympic Plaza for Belmont Beach and Aquatic Center.

Mark Hungerford, planner, presented the project for the Belmont Beach and Aquatic Center.  He provided a history of the former pool and said, “The (pool’s) building was closed to the public in January 2013 after studies found major seismic and structural deficiencies that were deemed an eminent threat to public safety.”  Hungerford, besides describing how local residents were notified of the meeting, he said the staff received 173 written testimonies, in which 161 were in favor and 12 were against the construction of the new pool.

Assistant City Manager Tom Modica said, “The City Council has a demonstrated commitment to the aquatics community…. The pool, if you’ve ever been out there today, is very heavily utilized.  It is a wonderful facility but it is not come close to meeting the demand we have not only from our residents but also from the entire region.  Because it is in the state’s tidelands we need to serve the region we also need to serve the state and we do but it is undersized.”

One person who supported the project and who attended the Planning Commission meeting was Parks Wesson.  Wesson said he lives about a half a mile from the pool and has been a swimmer almost all his life.  He said there should be pools in the other council districts in Long Beach and that there are.  Wesson said, “Swimming was great for me when I was a kid…. I think it is great for the community to have a pool like that.”

Another person who supported the project and who also attended the meeting was John McMullen, 65.  McMullen said he lives in the 3^rd District about five or six miles from the pool.  McMullen said, “I actually was selected by the City Manager to participate in the stakeholders’ committee to determine programmatically how we should build the pool and that I was an at-large member.”  He then added, “My father was a seasonal Long Beach lifeguard.  I was a seasonal Long Beach lifeguard.  Both of my children were employed by the City of Long Beach as seasonal lifeguards.”

Another person who supported building the project is Debby McCormick, who is the head coach and owner of McCormick Divers, on the board of the Aquatic America Foundation and a member of the Long Beach Century Club.  McCormick said, “I put my heart and soul into this project…. The entire world of diving is totally supportive.  They want to come.  Everybody loves Long Beach.  They’re going to have the greatest facility in the world.”

Not everyone at the meeting supported the building of the pool.  Gordana Kajar didn’t.  Kajar, who spoke during public comments said she lives in Belmont Heights and added, “I’m here today municipal pools for residents and recreation.  I do not support a sports facility that is designed for aquatic competition and spectator tourism in my neighborhood.”

Another person who spoke against the project was Mel Nutter, the former chair of the California Coastal Commission.  Nutter said, “The variance approval must be based on unique conditions that place a property at a disadvantage when compared with other sites.  This is not what we have here.  Instead, the city is faced with zoning and LCP (Local Coastal Planning) rules that this project violates.  It appears that the city is, in effect, treating the variance procedure as if it were a get out of jail free card.”

Another person who spoke against the project was Anna Christensen, who represented the Long Beach Area Peace Network.  She said the issue is about environmental and economic justice.  Christensen said, “The Belmont Beach and Aquatic Center is a poster child for race and class privilege…. The Belmont Beach and Aquatic Center exasberates inequities.”

The ratio of speakers for and against the project was about 3 to 2.

Gene Simpson, who spoke in favor of the project, responded to the unanimous decision of the commission in favor of the project.  Simpson said, “It was really nice to see.  It was surprise, 7-0.”

To see the meeting notice, click here.    To see the meeting agenda, click here.  To see the video of the meeting, click here.