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This is our newsletter to keep the community updated on our latest events, findings, and initiatives. Interested in getting further involved? Visit our website to learn more!
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Monthly Meeting January 13th @ 6:00pm
Reparations: What is the true nature of American resistance to it and how can we uproot it?
Contact sfunitycoalition@gmail.com for access to our upcoming monthly unity coalition meeting or click the Zoom meeting link further below in our newsletter. All are welcome!
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We are delighted to welcome Mr. EJ Toppin, staff researcher at the Othering & Belonging Institute, to speak with us about Reparations.
The question of reparations for African Americans has entered the political discussion in a way it has never before. But a key part of advancing this development will involve understanding opposition to the idea—what motivates it, where it comes from, and what lies under the pretenses it’s usually packaged in. Examining the nature of the resistance to reparations will provide clarity as to where the effort should be focused to uproot it.
Doing so will call into question the nation’s perception of itself, and force a reweaving of the fabric of the nation believed to be unalterably sewn. The country, in other words, must overcome a crisis of self.
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Join us for the Martin Luther King Day March
January 17, 2022 | 10:45 AM PT
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Join us for the Annual MLK Day March in San Francisco, where we'll march to support BLM and human rights.
We'll start near the Caltrain Station at 4th and Townsend. We'll march for about 1.5 miles and end at Yerba Buena Center.
The march starts at 10:45, but we suggest arriving early by 10:30. We also suggest that participants take Muni, Caltrain, BART or some form of public transportation as the crowds will be big! This will make driving and parking difficult. Bring your own signs and look for the San Francisco Black & Jewish Unity Coalition banner!
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Happy new year to all of our community members, friends and family!
This past December, the Unity Coalition held a holiday party, bringing our community together in person for the first or second time in almost two years. There were some familiar faces along with some that have only been seen over zoom up until then! It was wonderful time indeed, and we truly look forward to meeting in person again in the near future.
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Upcoming Committee Meetings
With so many initiatives under our belt, please take a moment to sign up for one of our action committees. See below for details of each committee meeting date and contact sfunitycoalition@gmail.com for meeting access.
ALL TIMES ARE PACIFIC
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Monthly Membership Meeting
Thursday, January 13, 6:00 PM
Sign up
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Community & Economic Development
Tuesday, January 25, 6:00 PM
Sign up
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Health & General Welfare
Thursday, January 20, 5:00 PM
Sign up
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Civic Engagement
Thursday, January 6, 5:00 PM
Sign up
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Criminal Justice & Prison Reform
Tuesday, January 25, 5:00 PM
Sign up
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Interested in learning more about each committee before signing up? Visit our website to learn more.
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Advocacy on Housing Reform - AB 854
Use our Template Letter and Send Your Support!!
Join the upcoming webinar Homes 4 Families, Not 4 Profits: Zoom Phone Bank to Call Legislators to learn about the Homes4Families Campaign to pass two new laws in California that regulate and tax the corporate landlords that are making housing more expensive for all.
"AB 854 & AB 1199 helps protect your current and future home in California from falling prey to corporate greed. We will explain the bills, then you will call state legislators to make sure they get the message: #Homes4Families, Not4Profits. We will train anyone that joins during these two hours."
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Update from the Community and Economic Development Committee
We’re following the Reparations Movement at the Federal, State, and local levels, engaging in advocacy, and looking to organize a teach-in later in the spring. Join us! The San Francisco Black & Jewish Unity Coalition supports the "Why We Can’t Wait Coalition" to move H.R. 40 — the Commission to Study & Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans Act — for a House floor vote. Last April, the U.S. House Judiciary Committee voted to move H.R. 40 to the floor for full consideration, the first time in the bill’s 32-year history. We recently joined racial justice organizations nationwide to become a signatory to the group letter (Link) demanding a vote before the end of the month.
What’s the latest at the State level? Here’s one good article to read for an update on the California State Reparations Task Force, and we’ll keep you posted when the task force heads out for field hearings in 2022 — they’re coming to San Francisco to listen to Black San Franciscans and to learn about our history!
"California created the nation's first state reparations task force. Now comes the hard part.”
Los Angeles Times, December 9, 2021
At our municipal level, community members comprise the San Francisco African American Reparations Advisory Committee, chaired by Eric McDonnell and operating under the Human Rights Commission. Hot off the press is their illuminating report on where we stand in San Francisco on Reparations. Take a look at their findings — find the report link on this page — and we’ll use this report to inform how our Unity Coalition can support the next steps in the movement.
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An Outlook on the Biden Administration's Impact on Environmental Issues
Written by Malcolm Gissen
The Unity Coalition is often asked whether we get involved in environmental issues. We do as they effect communities of color and are inequitable in their impact as when we see facilities that are harmful to human beings being constructed in areas that are contiguous to Black and Brown communities.
The Biden Administration reverse many policies that were implemented and supported by his predecessor and by Republican elected officials It has resulted in crucial climate and environmental justice progress throughout 2021, including:
- President Biden signing important executive orders to rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement, stop the Keystone XL pipeline, halt drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and halt construction of the xenophobic and racist border wall.
- Enactment of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which contains badly needed investments in electric vehicle charging stations and electric school buses, replacement of harmful lead service lines to make drinking water safer, clean technology research and development, grid modernization, and more.
- Reinstatement of environmental regulations that were rolled back under the Trump administration, including rules that protect rivers, streams, and wetlands; make cars cleaner and more efficient; and restore protections for public lands, including Bears Ears, Grand Staircase Escalante, and Northeast Seamounts.
This list came from the League of Conservation Voters and represents some of the individual actions that Unity Coalition members have supported in 2021.
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Community Events Calendar
Learn more about upcoming community events by clicking the button below. A few events are listed below as well.
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Anti-Racism Resources for White People
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 This document is intended to serve as a resource to white people and parents to deepen our anti-racism work. If you haven’t engaged in anti-racism work in the past, start now. Feel free to circulate this document on social media and with your friends, family, and colleagues.
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Ways to Support Black Owned Businesses in the Bay Area
Check out this article to learn more ways you can show your support of Black-owned businesses by patronizing these businesses whenever you can.
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Keep Updated with the SF Unity Group
Make sure to like our Facebook Page (or join our fb group!), follow our Instagram and Twitter and visit our website to keep updated on our latest events, findings and initiatives. For additional questions or inquiries, do not hesitate to reach out. You can contact us using the button below!
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