Benicia Black Lives Matter to host fourth annual Juneteenth celebration at Benicia Public Library
Benicia Black Lives Matter is hosting a Juneteenth Celebration at the Benicia Veterans Memorial Hall on Saturday, June 15th, from 12 to 5 pm. There will be live music, food & drinks, vendors and activities for kids.
Juneteenth – which falls on June 19 but will be celebrated on the 15th here in Benicia – was finally recognized as a national holiday in 2021.
More information will be posted here when it’s available.
[ This post has been updated: BBLM’s Juneteenth celebration was originally going to take place at the Veteran’s Hall but was moved to the Benicia Public Library.]
[The following message was received from Benicia Black Lives Matter by email today. – BenIndy contributor Roger Straw]
Important Upcoming City Council Meetings-Supporters Needed!
There are two important City Council meetings coming up, tomorrow (12/18/23 at 9AM) and Tuesday (12/19/23 at 6PM). Despite the late notice, if anyone is able to call in, write in, or attend to give public comment, this would be a great time to participate.
We need to fight to keep the CURE Commission, the DEI Manager, and our membership in GARE (Government Alliance on Race & Equity.) Even a brief comment of a sentence or two to express support for these items will be helpful.
Below you can find meeting agendas, Staff reports, and details on how to submit comment:
Save DEI in Benicia: Agenda Item #20.A
The UPCOMING City Council meetings are: MONDAY, December 18th at 9:00AM TUESDAY, December 19th at 6:00PM
12/18/23: Item 11.A – RESILIENCY PLAN WORKSHOP – FINANCIAL SCENARIO REVIEW (Deputy City Manager) As part of the path forward for addressing the City’s structural deficit, the City is updating its Strategic Plan and developing a Resiliency Plan. Recommendation: Provide feedback and direction on the draft elements of the Resiliency Plan.
12/19/23 Item 20.A – NATIONAL LEAGUE OF CITIES’ CONTRACT AMENDMENT AND UPDATE ON EQUITY, DIVERSITY, AND INCLUSION WORK (City Manager)
PUBLIC COMMENTS FOR AGENDA ITEMS WILL START AFTER THE ITEM IS INTRODUCED. Detailed information about how to submit comments via phone call or Zoom is below. While emails/letters submitted to City Council after the deadline of last week members may be read, they will not be entered into the public record nor will they appear in the agenda packets.
FOR WRITTEN PUBLIC COMMENT BY EMAIL Members of the public may provide public comments to the City Clerk by email at lwolfe@ci.benicia.ca.us but the window of time to have those comments entered into the public record and added to the City Council agenda packet has closed. Any emails sent may or may not be read by City Council and Staff. Make your choices accordingly.
ACCESSING THE MEETING (NOT BY ZOOM)
1) Attend in person at Council Chambers 2) Cable T.V. Broadcast – Check with your cable provider for your local government broadcast channel. 3) Livestream online at www.ci.benicia.ca.us/agendas. 4) Zoom Meeting (link below)
FOR PUBLIC COMMENT BY ZOOM OR PHONE (5-MINUTE LIMIT)
Use participant option to “raise hand” during the public comment period for the item you wish to speak on. Please note, your electronic device must have microphone capability. Once unmuted, you will have up to 5 minutes to speak.
Dial in with phone: Before the start of the item you wish to comment on, call any of the numbers below. If one is busy, try the next one.
1 669 900 9128
1 346 248 7799
1 253 215 8782
1 646 558 8656
1 301 715 8592
1 312 626 6799
Enter the meeting ID number: 885 0804 7557 *please note this is an updated ID number*. Once unmuted, you will have up to 5 minutes to speak.
Any member of the public who needs accommodations should email City Clerk Lisa Wolfe at lwolfe@ci.benicia.ca.us, who will use her best efforts to provide as much accessibility as possible while also maintaining public safety.
PUBLIC COMMENT TEMPLATE OF TALKING POINTS (OPTIONAL)
*YOUR OWN WORDS WILL BE THE MOST IMPACTFUL, BUT THESE ARE SOME EXAMPLES OF WHAT YOU CAN SAY. Adjust the language to suit your voice as these were all mostly written by the same person and really sound like it.
*The basic idea is to express support for continuing the DEI work the city has undertaken, by continuing the CURE Commission, the DEI Manager position, and membership in GARE (Government Alliance on Race & Equity). Even a one or two sentence comment expressing your support for these items is useful and crucial.
Equity issues continue in all areas including government, education, business culture, housing, and continued work is essential.
Importance of continuing the work that has been started, for the importance of the work, but also not to waste the investment that has already been made.
City Council—all white, all but one white men
What CURE has actually accomplished (see report)
What CURE was intended to be and how it was sabotaged
Value of being model city
More than lip service DEI considerations attracts and retains talent, young people
Students from Robert Semple Elementary School walk from Francesca Terrace Park in support of Ruby Bridges during Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day in California on Tuesday in Benicia. | Chris Riley / Times-Herald.
School system honors Ruby Bridges, the first African American child to attend whites-only school in 1960
In 1960 Ruby Bridges became the first African-American child to attend formerly Whites-only William Frantz Elementary School in Louisiana during the New Orleans school desegregation crisis. Today — 63 years later — students in Benicia are making sure nobody forgets.
Students in the Benicia High School Unified School District took part in a day to raise awareness for Bridges after learning about the civil rights activist in school during this year. For students at Robert Semple Elementary School, that meant walking from Francesca Park to the school while carrying signs and wearing T-shirts supporting Bridges.
The third annual event has grown in size every year, thanks to organizers like Kashanna Harmon-Lee, Laura Cohen, Krista Heredia and Rozalind Sinnamon.
“This is something good for Benicia and I’m really proud of the support of what everyone shown,” Harmon-Lee said. “The kids learn about Bridges’ life and these are kids that maybe didn’t know anything about Bridges previously. Each year the parents become more involved. So I’m very proud and very humble about the community effort.”
In early 1960, Bridges was one of six Black children in New Orleans to pass the test that determined whether they could go to the all-White William Frantz Elementary School. While two of the six decided to stay at their old school, Bridges went to Frantz by herself, and three other children (Gail Etienne, Leona Tate and Tessie Prevost) were transferred to the all-White McDonogh No. 19 Elementary School.
U.S. Marshals escorted Bridges to and from school. As soon as Bridges entered the school, White parents pulled their own children out, and most teachers refused to teach while a Black child was enrolled. Only one person agreed to teach Bridges — Barbara Henry, from Boston.
For over a year Henry taught her alone, “as if she were teaching a whole class.”
Students walking on Tuesday morning — along with teachers and family members — wore swag and T-shirts provided by UA Local 342. In total there were approximately 450 purple T-shirts made showing support for Bridges.
“Rich (Patten) reached out to the school and it’s been honor and privilege funding this effort,” UA Local 342 business agent Dave Herwat said. “It’s amazing to be more than just a labor union in this cause and to be an actual prescience in the community. If there is an opportunity to spread the wealth, then this is certainly the way to do it.”
Student supervision aid, Chelsea Bearce, walks with students during Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day in California on Tuesday in Benicia. | Chris Riley / Times-Herald.
One of the students wearing the swag was fourth-grader Gianna Patten, who also made a sign showing support for Bridges.
“I knew about her before this event but I like her (Bridges) because she never gave up,” Gianna said. “Even when people were yelling at her she never gave up.”
Sinnamon was also thrilled to be part of the third annual event.
“This is something I got behind three years ago and it’s grown a lot ever since,” Sinnamon said. “It celebrates diversity, it a teaching lesson to kids and adults and there is just so much forgotten and overlooked in history that we have to remember. We have to remember that it’s, ‘we the people and we still have power.’”
Benicia City Councilmember Kari Birdseye was happy to be involved with the event.
“I’m so proud of the parents that have been involved and this all started on the shoulders of a few people and it has evolved into something much bigger,” Birdseye said. “This is not just a walk. There is so much education around this. It promotes freedom, love and it is a great thing for the country and community.”
Robert Semple Principal Christina Moore said she let her teachers decide the role of how Bridges would be educated in classrooms.
“The pride I have is unmeasurable. I cannot express the gratitude and honor for being apart of something so meaningful in our community that was brought along by our parent group,” Moore said. “I love the beautiful posters, the writings about Ruby Bridges, the solidarity with all of us wearing all the shirts together. It’s all beautiful.”
Who is Ruby Bridges? And why are we walking to school for her? Come find out! The Library invites children, families, teens, and adults of all ages to the launch of a new program series: “We Are All Related”.
The inaugural “We Are All Related” event will celebrate Ruby Bridges and help children get ready for the annual Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day. Six-year-old Ruby Bridges stepped into the history books November 14, 1960, when she became one of the first students to integrate William Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans, Louisiana. Since 2018, students have celebrated Ruby’s courage by walking to school making Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day the perfect opportunity to teach children about the civil rights movement and make connections to our ongoing, collective efforts to end racism.
2:00 pm: Stories about and related to Ruby Bridges
3:00 pm: Messages from Benicia Mayor Steve Young and BUSD Superintendent Damon Wright
3:15 pm: A screening of the movie about Ruby Bridges
PLUS, snacks, crafts, and community conversation.
Disclaimers: Benicia Public Library does not support or oppose any political party or candidate. This is not a program of the Benicia Unified School District (BUSD); BUSD accepts no liability or responsibility for this program, nor does it support or oppose any political party or candidate. Benicia Independent is not affiliated with either Benicia Public Library or BUSD.
There are two important City Council meetings coming up, tomorrow (12/18/23 at 9AM) and Tuesday (12/19/23 at 6PM). Despite the late notice, if anyone is able to call in, write in, or attend to give public comment, this would be a great time to participate.
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