July 17th Teach-In & US Social Forum Report Back

On July 21st, WEAP continued the ongoing Teach-In & Leadership Training lunch series with a session following the ground breaking 2010 US Social Forum in Detroit. Attendees who joined the 22,000 participants at the Social Forum reported on their experiences in Michigan. Highlights included the breadth of experiences and inspirational advocates in attendance. With such a diverse population, including well over 3,000 persons under the age of 19, a wide range of ideas and points-of-view were shared at the event. One event goer has this to say: “The overwhelming power, strength, and voice of the poor was unbelievable.”

Through the USSF, the rights framework was used (although not always explicitly), with many emphasizing the need to redefine poverty, resistance, and the social safety net to better reflect the changing landscape of America. Perhaps most inspirational was the commitment each group and attendee made to continue their efforts back home, bringing with them a fresh batch of ideas and solid plans to work together towards a broad social movement.

The teach-in continued with a discussion of California budget cuts and its affects on our most vulnerable citizens. A representative from LifeLong and Representative Nancy Skinner each gave a talk regarding the ludicrous denial of basic human rights by individuals and by a broken political system. As communities we need to stand up and talk to other groups about changes in revenue and tax strategies in California, as well as the way these problems are part of larger societal issues. The same corporate interests that threaten the lives of California’s elderly and disabled are indicative of the same problems that caused the terrible BP oil spill in the gulf. See our calendar for upcoming Teach-In date. For more thoughts on the US Social Forum, see "WEAP at the US Social Forum."

The Human Faces of Health Care
By CHAM

Yesterday’s Assembly Health Care Committee passage of SB 810 was the result of thousands of efforts like the recent “Human Faces of Health Care” event held at Andrew Hill High School in San Jose. The June 12 health fair was a significant success, with about 200 people attending including many dozens of volunteers. Some 40 people received blood sugar screening and counseling, and an additional 40 received blood pressure tests and counseling.

In addition, there were information and referral services provided by 18 agencies and organizations that came to table, and two excellent panels of doctors, nurses, and community and labor leaders. Panelists introduced the idea of single payer health care and SB 810 to scores of people who had never heard of it before, and encouraged them to continue fighting for health justice during these difficult times.

Supervisor George Shirakawa’s office was indispensable to the success of the event. Working with Principal Bettina Lopez, they secured the location for us at Andrew Hill High School and opened the door to participation of school staff, especially the Health and Human Services Program led by Mary Metz-Foley.

Supervisor Shirakawa also helped us connect with St. Maria Goretti Parish, Cryout Christian Fellowship, and Seventrees Neighborhood Group, whose president Elizabeth Contreras became one of our panelists.

Assemblymember Jim Beall addressed the event at noon with a report on the progress of SB 810 in the legislature. He stressed the importance of including coverage for mental health and drug and alcohol rehabilitation in health care reform.

In addition, SIREN (Services, Immigrant Rights, and Education Network) was instrumental in introducing us to the Andrew Hill area neighborhood, where it arranged for us to speak at three of the Cafecito PTAs and at the Seventrees Elementary School Cinco de Mayo celebration.

We have always felt that without the active involvement of immigrants we will never win a truly universal health care system. We were able to provide simultaneous Spanish translation for the entire program, and Vietnamese translation for part of it.

We look forward to continuing to work with Andrew Hill residents in the future and perhaps even making this an annual event. The battle for our human right to health care can only sharpen as Wall Street corporations step up their efforts to loot our society of every last shred of dignity and compassion for one another.

Immigrant Rights/Worker's Rights - Teach-In & Dialogue

On May 27th, WEAP brought together an assortment of leaders and activists to discuss the recent anti-immigrant legislation in Arizona, California budget cuts, the United States Social Forum, and the future of health care reform at our continuing Teach-In & Dialogue series. We were fortunate enough to bring together representatives from Journey For Justice, Safe Ground, Local 2 Union, CA Immigrant Policy Center, Lifetime, and more. Each shared their perspective, from the experience of single-mothers to homelessness, from policy analysis to training young doctor for low income communities - connecting each of our struggles to a wider issue.

An excellent presentation by Doctor Sal Sandoval put the Arizona legislation, and its copycat bills, into a historical context. This bill is part of a long history of blaming immigrants for social and economic troubles. During the great depression, half a million people were deported as people began to blame the recession on immigrants of various races and ethnicities. Right wing organizations are exploiting the national anger, depression, and confusion over the current economic recession to divide workers and foment racist animosity.

Moving forward, we need to reframe these issues from a class perspective. As Isaac Menashe from California Immigrant Policy Center illuminated, there is no factual basis for much of the ant-immigrant sentiments. Instead, purveyors of racist fears use misinformation for their own benefit. We continued to discuss these trends within a wider history of exploitation and the lack of protection of human rights. From the oil spill in the gulf to the terrible budget cuts in California that are slashing essential social services, numerous injustices are taking place while a few individuals and corporations become richer and richer. We concluded with an orientation and discussion on the importance of the upcoming US Social Forum. We encourage you to learn more by heading over to the USSF home page.

"Changing The Work Place Changing The World”  
The 6th annual regional leadership conference
Sponsored by the National Organization of Working Women 9 to 5

On April  8th, WEAP participated in “Changing The Work Place Changing The World”  the 6th annual regional leadership conference sponsored by Working Women 9 to 5, a national organization devoted to labor rights..  Labor activists  and South Bay elected officials joined together to discuss issues of equal pay, wage discrimination and the dismantling of social safety nets. Executive Director, Ethel Long-Scott, was invited to speak along with former Assemblywoman Sally Lieber.  Long-Scott discussed our human right to fair wages. She also addressed the destruction of social safety nets and the realities of the working poor.

Executive Director Long-Scott also lead a workshop on Wage Theft, focusing on trends in contractual public service employees.  Almost all of the workshop participants identify as having been victims of wage theft from current or former employers. In some cases, individuals have gone as long as 3 months without pay.

The conference concluded with a powerful presentation from the chair of the Assembly Health and Human Services Committee, Assembly member Jim Beall. Beall  explained the difficulty in advocating for  legislation aimed at increasing eligibility for programs that provide food, health care and housing in today’s political climate. He also discussed several legislative proposals that present viable solutions to top issues affecting California’s labor and wage problems, signs of hope for a struggling community

March 4th Day of Action

On March 4th, WEAP participated in a protest against impending budget cuts into the California education system. WEAP joined with thousands of students and teachers rallying under the slogan ""No cuts! No fees! Education should be free!" Spending cuts across all levels of education in California, including a 30% increase in University of California and State university tuition fees, has crippled the idea of "public" education.

The cost of the recession is increasingly on the shoulders of students and teachers. Meanwhile, the quality of public education in California has been degraded, decreasing student services and increasing class size. Students, teachers, concerned parents, and activists across the state are rallying together to give education back to everyone. From here in Oakland, to Los Angeles, and across the nation, events like this are parts of a larger struggle for our human rights.

Pre-March Teach-In and Training

On January 19^th, preceding a march for affordable housing in San Francisco, several advocates from SafeGround Sacramento participated in a WEAP Teach-In & Leadership Training. Our opening comments stressed the changing economic landscape, the dismantling of social safety nets, and the need for a unified vision and strategy. All over the country, affecting people with all sorts of backgrounds, basic needs are not being met. There is an opportunity for those most affected to come to the table and become leaders.

The remainder of the training discussed WEAP’s tools and methodologies, including rights violations surveys, truth commissions, and education. Participants filled out the health care addendum to rights violations survey and added their voices to numerous individuals who have experienced our broken health care system.

We concluded with a discussion about the current budget crisis in California and strategies Schwarzenegger is exploiting to make deep cuts into social services. Using words like “cap” instead of “cut” is indicative of legal wording tricks. Meanwhile, crucial services like SSI, MediCal, and all services to legal immigrants here for less than five years have been slashed. It is crucial for activists and advocates to fight the protection of wealth and the propaganda that delegitimizes the movement to protect our human rights.

Healthcare-NOW! Strategy Conference

On November 14th, WEAP participated in Healthcare-NOW!'s national strategy conference in St. Louis, MO. Activists from around the country joined together to plan a strategy to achieve a guranteed single-payer universal health care program. Executive Director, Ethel Long-Scott, was invited to speak to the assembly. The following video is a portion of this speech. Here you can find the written speech in its entirety

The annual Health Care Now Strategy conference took place just one week after the Senate passed “The Health Care Reform Act”. This factor significantly affected the mood and tone of the strategy conference. Participants representing labor, health care professionals, teachers, and social workers from across the nation were exasperated by the seemingly endless struggle towards real, fair, and comprehensive health care reform.

The dominant quandary in the strategy conference was messaging. How can Health Care Now move their single payer health care as human rights message forward, given the current political climate? How can we draw attention to the universal mandate to protect and care for everyone regardless of class, race, or gender

WEAP offered the Strategy Conference participants several options at generating strong grass roots support for health care as human right and single payer option.  In her speech the first evening of the conference Director Ethel Long Scott presented both a question and a solution.  Long-Scott asked “What should we do as we go forward? We can go forward by building outreach based on human rights values.”

WEAP’s delegates presented a workshop at the conference that further reinforced Long-Scotts message. The delegates shared powerful personal stories in their plight as working class women. They presented evidence of our failing social safety nets, from the lack of health care to the lack of housing. The delegates also spoke of the empowerment they had obtained through WEAP’S teachings and learning tools. WEAP invited the strategy conference participants to use WEAP’s methodologies, toolkits, website and written material to promote a grass-roots agenda that changes the social values surrounding poverty, illness, and health care.

WEAP & St. Mary's College Leadership Training

In October WEAP participated in a Leadership & Social Justice Conference put on by St. Mary’s College in Moraga, California. Joined by Patrizia Longo, Professor of Politics and Women’s Studies, and about twenty-three of her students, WEAP began a health care discussion.  WEAP addressed the fact that our health care delivery in the U.S. is a for-profit business directed by major financial corporations that consider health less important than profits. Questions about health care delivery, the relationship between health and corporations, and the human right to health led to students sharing their own experiences of a lack of health care for them and their families.

The students had strong opinions in support of some form of Universal or National Health Care Plan.  They also expressed concerned over the right wing propaganda against health care that fueled confusion and misinformation. A brief presentation on health care as a human right was followed by a personal story from Prof. Longo comparing Italy’s health care system and her experience as a young pregnant graduate student in the U.S.

WEAP shared the importance of a new vision and a new strategy  built around the human right to health care, as well as specific tools we use to advance comprehensive health care reform as a part of a new social contract.  We put forward the importance of linking health care reform to poverty elimination.

This prompted a discussion about the allocation of public funds and why some nations spend less money yet provide better health care to all their citizens, while our nation shuns universal health care for fear of wasted dollars, even as we spend huge portions of the national budget on the military.

This St. Mary’s session concluded with discussion about activism, and how taxpayers can direct funds that reflect their values and not those of elected officials. WEAP emphasized the importance and significance of empirical and qualitative data on social reform. Accordingly, each student filled out a health care addendum to WEAP’s human rights violation survey report, providing an invaluable service towards the education and advocacy for human rights for all.

Women Organized to Respond to Life-threatening Disease (WORLD) in Oakland

It's an outrage that the lives of far too many women around the world are cut short by the scourge of HIV/AIDS. Increasingly, according to one expert, the face that epidemic is a minority woman living in poverty. On October 20th, 2009, WEAP held a Leadership Training and Information Session in conjunction with Women Organized to Respond to Life-threatening Disease (WORLD) in Oakland. Our discussion of tragically inadequate treatment of the sick and poor was bolstered by the presence of WORLD members and people from Life Long Medical Health Clinic, each with their own personal experiences.

WEAP's Human Rights framework was brought into the training early as a tool to change the health care narrative, creating a moral responsibility to provide health care for all. By focusing on the importance of this responsibility, and the importance of reporting rights violations, we are better able to understand our situation today and what we need to work towards.

Discussion then centered on the human rights benefits of comprehensive single-payer health care. This segment approach was crucial in dispelling negative myths about a single-payer system, its costs and its benefits. Even a quick glance at the profit driven model that rolls up huge profits for health corporations and CEOs while the unindered and underinsured suffer makes it clear we have a moral mandate to support universal health care for all. By renewing our efforts towards education and action, we can continue bulding a social movement to demand justice and our human rights.