[sfbayview] TOXIC TRIANGLE HEARINGS: TODAY, AUG. 19, 6PM, OAKLAND CITY HALL

[Jalili]

Join this bold, historic demonstration of solidarity and self-determination by oppressed communities! Below this announcement by POWER organizer Alicia Schwartz, read your invitation from Supervisor Keith Carson, Assemblymember Sandre Swanson and Oakland City Councilwoman Desley Brooks. Be there tonight, Tuesday, Aug. 19, 6pm, Oakland City Hall!


RICHMOND, SAN FRANCISCO, AND OAKLAND: A TOXIC TRIANGLE?

Richmond, San Francisco, and Oakland contain hundreds of toxic sites in African American communities and other communities of color. We know this isn’t a coincidence—for years, industries and corporations have practiced environmental racism, with the complacency of our local, state, and federal governments. The question on our minds is: what is the EPA and California Department of Public Health doing to make our communities cleaner? The answer: Nothing. Instead, they are selling our communities to developers who promise to clean, but instead avoid environmental regulations and rules.

This Tuesday, August 19th at 6pm SHARP at Oakland City Hall,
stand with African American communities and communities of color in Richmond, San Francisco, and Oakland
to say NO to environmental racism and developer driven public policy!

Alicia Schwartz
Organizer, Bayview Hunters Point Organizing Project
People Organized to Win Employment Rights (POWER)
(415) 864-8372 ext. 305
--
we are fighting for the noblest cause on earth, the liberation of mankind.
they are fighting to entrench an outworn, anachronistic vile system of oppression.
we represent progress: they represent decadence.
we represent the fresh fragrance of flowers in bloom: they represent the rancid smell of decaying vegetation.
we have the whole continent on our side.
we have history on our side.


we will win.

robert mangaliso sobukwe, first president of the pan african congress


YOUR OFFICIAL INVITATION:

From: Black Elected Officials and Faith Based Leaders of the East Bay
Date: 13 August, 2008

The Black Elected Officials and Faith Based Leaders of the East Bay, an
organization comprised of city, county, state, and federal African American
leaders, are responding to concerns raised by residents of West Oakland, the
City of Richmond and the Bayview Hunters Point area of San Francisco. These
communities are experiencing high rates of asthma, cancer, diabetes, and other
health concerns that many residents believe to be a result of environmental
hazards that include: exposure to various toxins in West Oakland; asbestos
exposures from the Lennar shipyard development in Bayview Hunters Point; as
well as ongoing toxic exposures from the Chevron refinery in Richmond.

In response to these troubling issues, our organization has agreed to host
Preliminary Fact-Finding Hearings into these complaints. Therefore we are
requesting that you or a representative from your agency come to this hearing
to provide us with any information your agency may have regarding these
concerns to make our Fact-Finding effort substantive. Please be prepared to
answer questions from the members of our organization as well as members of
the community.

This Preliminary Hearing will be held on Tuesday, August 19th, 6:00pm at
the Oakland City Hall in the City Council Chambers.

Thank you in advance for your response to our invitation to improve our
collective service to the community. We will follow-up this letter with a phone
call and we look forward to seeing you or a representative from your agency.

Please confirm your participation by contacting Oakland City Councilperson
Desley Brooks at (510) 238-7006 or via email at dbrooks@oaklandnet.com

Respectfully,

Keith Carson, Alameda County Supervisor, Fifth District (Chair of BEO&FBL of the East Bay)
Sandre Swanson, State Assemblymember, 16th District