Members and friends of PDB:

In Chief Erik Upson’s recent City of Benicia News update as Interim City Manager, he announced that the Benicia Library is partnering with Benicia Black Lives Matter and the Bay Area Chapter of Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) for a six-week series of classes on racial justice. This course is free to the public but classes are limited to 30 members for each of the two sessions available – one to be held on Tuesdays beginning Jan. 12, and a second session on Saturdays beginning Jan. 16. (See REGISTRATION, below.)

ABOUT SURJ AND THE STUDY/ACTION SERIES:

SURJ (Showing Up for Racial Justice) Bay Area is part of a national network of groups and individuals organizing white people for racial justice. Through community organizing, mobilizing, and education, SURJ moves white people to act as part of a multi-racial majority for justice, with passion and accountability.

SURJ Study & Action is a community of learners committed to examining the histories of white supremacy and resistance movements and building our abilities to effectively take action in support of Black and Brown-led organizations fighting for racial justice.

…We are responding to Black peoples’ long-standing call for white people, in large numbers, to talk, study and take action with each other so we can confront white supremacy in our workplaces, schools, with our families and throughout our lives.

Learning in community makes our movements strong. We train up, so we can show up!

FROM RALPH DENNIS, PDB CHAIR: I strongly recommend that white PDB members and friends look in a mirror and consider the benefits that attending these classes will provide. No matter how much we who are white think we are “aware of” and fight against racial prejudices and discrimination, and/or that “I’m not racist,” none of us can know how it feels to be black in a white-dominated culture. And, all of us need to acknowledge the history and systemic nature of racism in our country, and here in Benicia, and learn how to address it and become anti-racist in actions and deeds. These classes are a path towards beginning that journey in Benicia.

Here’s more information from Chief Upson and how to register for the classes.

Showing Up for Racial Justice – Study & Action Course

(From City of Benicia this week, Message from the Interim City Manager 11/30/20)

The Benicia Public Library and Benicia Black Lives Matter are teaming up to offer a free series of classes for the community, cosponsored by the Bay Area chapter of Stand Up for Racial Justice (SURJ).

Participants are asked to:

commit to attending all 6 sessions of this intensive program in order to hold accountability to the group, build community, and get the most out of the series;
allow enough time in your schedules to read the weekly assignments, about 2.5-4 hours per week;
commit to participating in at least 3 racial justice actions during the course of the Intensive. Facilitators will suggest actions to be a part of at each weekly meeting.

Two six session courses are available, one series held on Tuesdays beginning January 12 (registration deadline Dec. 29), the other held on Saturdays beginning January 16 (registration deadline Jan. 2). Please choose either Tuesdays or Saturdays. There are 30 spaces available in each series. All meetings are held on Zoom.

REGISTRATION

For Tuesday Classes: Register Online

For Saturday Classes: Register Online

Questions? Please contact Nancy.

More information is available at https://benicialibrary.org/standing-up-racial-justice.

Coronavirus COVID-19, U.S. Rep. Mike, U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson

Rep. Thompson virtual town hall on Coronavirus Thurs Nov 18 7pm

November 18, 2020 Editor

Members and Friends of PDB, our Congressman Mike Thompson will have a Zoom Town Hall tomorrow evening, Thursday Nov. 18 at 7:00 pm, discussing the recent surge in coronavirus cases in our region, state, and across the country. Local health experts will be on hand to share how we all can best protect ourselves now and in the immediate months ahead. Below is more information for the event.

From: Rep. Mike Thompson
Sent: Wednesday, November 18, 2020 8:11 AM
Subject: Virtual Town Hall on Coronavirus

NOVEMBER 18, 2020

Dear Friend,

Coronavirus case rates are spiking in our district and across our nation, at a time when people would usually be making plans to see family and friends and travel for the holidays. We must all be doing everything we can to keep ourselves, our families and our communities safe from this virus. That means scaling down our celebrations and staying home for the holidays. I know this is hard to do right now, particularly because we are all tired of the pandemic. But it’s what we need to do to get through this together.

To help you navigate this stressful time and answer your questions about staying safe, this Thursday, November 19 at 7pm PT, I am holding my seventeenth Virtual Town Hall. We will be joined by George Rutherford, MD, Professor of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at UC San Francisco and Dr. Karen Relucio, Deputy Director of Napa County Health and Human Services-Public Health Officer, for a discussion about the surging Coronavirus case rate. You will need to register for this event by emailing your name to [email protected]. Shortly before the event you will receive an email with instructions on how to join and we will also simulcast the event on my Facebook page.

I hope you will join me for this Virtual Town Hall. Remember that you can always call my office if you need immediate assistance.

Sincerely,

Mike Thompson
Member of Congress

2020 election, 2020 Presidential Election, Benicia City Council, Benicia elections, Benicia Mayor, Endorsements

Benicia Election Results November 2020

November 5, 2020 Editor

Congratulations to our endorsed candidates, Mayor-elect Steve Young and Councilmember-elect Terry Scott!

Here are links to an important KQED report by Ted Goldberg, and other Benicia election details and analysis by Roger Straw on the Benicia Independent:

KQED: Candidate Targeted by Valero Wins Benicia Mayoral Race November 5, 2020 Significant quote: “The fact that Young withstood the Valero PAC’s campaign is hugely significant, according to Matto Mildenberger, an assistant professor of political science at UC Santa Barbara, who focuses on oil politics. ‘It means that Benicia voters are willing to take their climate future into their own hands and are going to resist efforts by oil companies to control local politics.’” (continued)
Benicia election results – UPDATED details and analysis (Nov. 5) “The Solano County Registrar of Voters have completed the count of Election Day ballots, and added those results to previously received mail-in ballots. The result is still unofficial.” (continued)
Benicia election results – winners Steve Young, Tom Campbell, Terry Scott, and the Cannabis referendum November 4, 2020 “Here are Benicia election results as of 8:15 a.m. on November 4, from the Solano County Registrar of Voters website.” (continued)
Benicia election results – Steve Young handily defeats Strawbridge and the Valero PAC November 4, 2020 “I called it at 10:48pm last night. It wasn’t even close. Steve Young is Benicia’s Mayor-elect. This morning, with all mail-in, early and precinct votes counted, Steve won by a wide margin – 51.9% to 30.6%, a spread of over 21 points!” (continued)

For additional incoming Benicia updates and information on our local vote totals for California races and propositions and the US Presidential race, go to the Solano County Registrar of Voters ELECTION RESULTS PAGE.

Progressive Democrats of Benicia

INVITATION: Six-week study and action series on racial justice in Benicia