Progressive Dems of Benicia invite you to say hello to John Garamendi, our new US Representative, and to offer thanks and goodbye to our longtime US Rep. Mike Thompson
Mark your calendar to attend a Hello and Goodbye Summer Social on Sunday June 26, from 2 to 4. We will welcome our new U.S. Rep. John Garamendi and say goodbye to Benicia’s longtime U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson. It will be held right here in Benicia, at the Veterans Memorial Hall, 1150 First Street, across from the Gazebo. (See info about tickets below.)
Both Thompson and Garamendi will remain in Congress – the change is due to a redrawing of California Congressional Districts.
The party is also a fundraiser for our fellow Democratic Club the United Democrats of Southern Solano County. This is a great opportunity to connect with these important legislators and our fellow Democrats. Ticket information below, purchase your ticket(s) here.
There was much to be celebrated this past Sunday, June 19, 2022.
Benicia Juneteenth 2022 – Ariel Marin Music
By Amira Barger, June 23, 2022
Thanks to community volunteers and the events team of Benicia Black Lives Matter (BBLM), the second annual Juneteenth Celebration brought us together as we collectively reflected on and commemorated a historic day. This event was made possible by community, for community.
From its origins in 1865, Juneteenth has presented a paradox – much like our little City by the Bay, Benicia – marking a legacy of systemic racism and inequity yet simultaneously representing hope and opportunity to see and do things differently. In this way, Juneteenth is not just a remembrance of the past, but a call to action for us, today and tomorrow. Each community member who showed up – on Father’s Day no less—joined in an act of solidarity with and for Benicia’s Black community.
Benicia Juneteenth 2022 – Solano County Supervisor Monica Brown with BBLM’s Amira Barger and Kashanna Harmon-Lee
Nearly one hundred Benicians gathered to commemorate Freedom Day and the end of enslavement in the United States. While the downtown Veteran’s Hall was filled with visible smiles, colorful artwork and other media, live music, and the smell of delectable foods, the stage was shared amongst a handful of stunning singers, speakers, poets, artists and activists who together reminded us that the fight for equity and freedom is far from over and won.
Benicia Juneteenth 2022 – around 100 in attendance
There is still much more work to be done in our little City by the Bay. BBLM encourages each resident of Benicia to continue your journey of learning and working to celebrate Black culture, Black people, Black history and Black life. Some actionable steps you can take today are noted here and can be found on our website and social pages:
Be sure to attend this event each year and, most importantly, spend your money with our vendors that joined us – most of them Black-owned and -operated. Links are included in this article where vendors have been mentioned and shared on our social media pages.
To close this recounting, we urge you to center this passage from BBLM’s first-ever essay contest winner, Sydney Allen, who offered these apt words to our community:
“I will leave you with this quote from the Black-trans activist Marsha P. Johnson, who said, ‘History isn’t something you look back at and say it was inevitable. It happens because people make decisions that are sometimes very impulsive…’ If we do not stop to consider the outcome for all of those with whom we are making decisions for, then we continue to perpetuate a vicious cycle of racism and bigotry. But if we are able to authentically bring diversity, inclusivity, and unity to our nation’s government, then we are one step closer to a society that truly has ‘liberty and justice, for all.’”
Thank you for being in community with us and see you next year!
About
Benicia Black Lives Matter is a grassroots community group organized to address anti-Black racism in the city of Benicia.There is a lack of Black representation across City leadership, departments, and voluntary boards. The lack of Black representation tells a story of our complacency as a community and more so, the impact on our Black Benicians lived experience. The good news is, we can rebuild the City of Benicia into a better Benicia, one commitment and one change at a time – and we have a strategy to do so. Our Strategy: Actively Commit to Change. The City of Benicia must commit to a specific vision of what a better, more inclusive and equitable future looks like. For additional information see beniciablacklivesmatter.com.
I’ve given my life to causes of freedom, justice, peace and public health. In the years after my retirement, that last cause, public health, has expanded to an understand that human health is totally dependent on the health of this big blue ball of a planet that we call home. The earth itself is sick, and it threatens to get worse.
Also in the years since my retirement, I’ve increasingly understood the critical importance of thinking globally and acting locally.
For me, this means I am already hard at work to elect Kari Birdseye for Benicia’s City Council this November.
Kari’s professional life has been stellar in seeking the good of our planet and the security of all life that shares air, water, time and space here. She is a warrior for wellness and an anchor for hope.
You don’t get too many like that in your own small town.
Kari is a kind and gentle soul. She is a mom and loving spouse, a longtime resident of Benicia, a trusted friend to many in our community, and a tireless worker for our schools.
Kari is chair of Benicia’s Planning Commission, serving on that Commission for 7 years. She showed leadership on that most important of our city’s appointed bodies when Benicians rallied against Valero’s dangerous and dirty plan to bring crude oil by train across California’s mountains and into our small town. The Commission studied the issue in depth, listened to the concerns of the public, and stood Goliath to the massive influence of Texas billionaires. I believe Kari was a key factor in stopping crude by rail here in our hometown.
Speaking of Texas… as of right now, the so called “Working Families” Political Action Committee (PAC) reports that it has a fund of $232,386.88 which it will spend here in Benicia to elect its favored candidates to our City Council. We can’t stop that. Federal law permits corporate Texas giants to spend as much as it wants on whatever it wants. The PAC’s $232K is nearly 7 times what a Benicia candidate can spend under Benicia’s voluntary campaign expenditure limit. And the PAC will surely be expanding its war chest beyond that $232K, as it did in 2020 when it spent over a quarter million dollars.
Big Oil will try again to buy our 2022 election – will try. But Benicia voters will have the last word, because THIS is a cause of freedom, justice, peace and public health, right here in “B Town”. We will think globally, and act, very much locally.
Make a commitment today. Sign up now to endorse, place a yard sign, contribute financially and volunteer. Visit KariBirdseyeForBenicia.com.
I don’t know…. I got soooo tired of the Donald show every morning for four-plus years. I was sick of being sickened. Maybe I still am, and especially now that the January 6 Commission is filling our heads with the inside scoop on Tyrant Trump and his treasonous enablers. Seems fitting to take a breather. So here’s a bit of fun from this week’s comics, and a seriously funny Jimmy Kimmel video at the end. Enjoy?
Mark your calendar to attend a Hello and Goodbye Summer Social on Sunday June 26, from 2 to 4. We will welcome our new U.S. Rep. John Garamendi and say goodbye to Benicia’s longtime U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson. It will be held right here in Benicia, at the Veterans Memorial Hall, 1150 First Street, across from the Gazebo. (See info about tickets below.)
You must be logged in to post a comment.