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What is going on for Greens in the Oakland/Berkeley area?
- Outstanding Political Resources
- Diverse and Dynamic Small Cities
- Superb Environment and Recreational Sites
1) Outstanding Political Resources:
* A strong Green Party atmosphere in the San Francisco Bay Area, with many city locals and county organizations, especially in Alameda County (Oakland/Berkeley) and San Francisco. A sizable pool of active Greens to volunteer for the Convention. Please see “Local Green Party” on navigation sidebar.
* A large number of elected Bay Area Greens are available to meet with delegates and address groups on such subjects as “Governing while Green”, etc. Please see “Elected Officials” on navigation sidebar.
* Over three hundred activist organizations located in Oakland and Berkeley, with many more in San Francisco and other nearby cities, making a total of over 1200 such organizations located throughout the Bay Area. Please see http://www.bapd.org/ for an extensive listing of many of these groups.
* We have worked closely with many local activist organizations over the years, and we expect the best of them to offer to staff tables, hold workshops, and provide resource people for the convention as needed, and generally participate in whatever way the GPUS would like to make use of this strong activist community in our area.
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2) Diverse and Dynamic Small Cities:
Ethnic Communities:
Oakland and Berkeley are home to a surprising number of ethnic communities, given the small size of these cities. Over 100 different languages are spoken in the Oakland-Berkeley area, according to the US Census Bureau. African-Americans, Native Americans, Central and South Americans, Chinese, South Asians, Southeast Asians, Pacific Islanders, East and West Europeans, Middle Easterners, Africans, have all brought their cultures with them to their new home. Restaurants, houses of worship, service organizations, street festivals, markets and shops let everyone enjoy this Grassroots United Nations of the Bay Area.
Ecologically aware governments and businesses:
The Bay Area is home to hundreds of small and medium-size enterprises working on solar energy, wind energy, recycling, biodiesel, etc. For example, see the websites for the Bay Localize (http://www.baylocalize.org/) and Berkeley's Energy and Sustainable Development Office (http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/sustainable).
Styrofoam plastic bans in grocery stores and restaurants in Oakland, Berkeley and San Francisco. San Francisco is the first city in the US (in the world?) to ban oil-based plastic bags in supermarkets and pharmacies, with a recently passed law written and promoted by our own Green SF Supervisor, Ross Mirkarimi.
* The Ecology Center, setting the standard for urban grassroots environmental organizations. http://www.ecologycenter.org/
* Association of Bay Area Governments’ green business site. http://www.greenbiz.ca.gov
* A list of Berkeley’s green businesses, including restaurants. http://www.shopinberkeley.com/type/misc/green.php
* Worker-owned Inkworks Press (and faithful publisher of the Green Voter Guide). http://www.inkworkspress.org/
* The Biodiesel Collective. http://www.berkeleybiodiesel.org/bbc/
* Bay Area Community Relocalization groups. http://www.relocalize.net/groups/sanfrancisco and http://www.willitseconomiclocalization.org/
Progressive Local Media:
KPFA – 94.1 FM: Flagship station of the Pacifica Network, holding the community-funded, progressive high ground in downtown Berkeley since 1949. Listen online… http://kpfa.org/
The San Francisco Bay Guardian: a Green-friendly alternative newspaper that runs head-to-head with the corporate mouthpiece, SF Chronicle, in the battle for the hearts and minds of Bay Area voters. http://www.sfbg.com/
The East Bay Express: East Bay’s own local alternative weekly, featuring great investigative stories on local politics by fearless journalists. http://www.eastbayexpress.com/
The Berkeley Daily Planet: what a hometown newspaper should be in the progressive capital of America. http://www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/
Independent Media for the Bay Area… on the internet. http://indybay.org/
Jump right in to Bay Area culture with this community site for the young and hip. http://sfbay.craigslist.org/
Award-winning black newspaper, very supportive of local Green Party candidates. http://www.sfbayview.com/
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3) Superb Environment and Recreational Sites:
The San Francisco Bay Area’s wonderful summer weather (60-80 degrees, low humidity, no rain) and Mediterranean climate and ecology make the Bay Area a comfortable and exciting place to hang out. There are several large wild parks in the Berkeley and Oakland Hills, as well as beaches, waterfront parks, and marinas on the Bay. Please see http://www.ebparks.org/ for more details.
Oakland highlights:
Diversity (markets, restaurants, festivals), radical politics (Black Panthers, April 2003 march on the Port where Oakland Police were condemned by the UN, new progressive Mayor – and former Congressman - Ron Dellums), art (home of hiphop). Politically progressive, Oakland has 5,600 registered Greens, and many more Green-friendly voters. Aimee Allison, our City Council candidate in the last election, just missed getting her seat with 47% of the vote. With a broad mix of minority groups, there are plenty of social justice issues for Greens and their allies to work on here. Running the cultural gamut from A to Z, Oakland is an active city, and fun too.
Website for the Convention Center and Tourism. http://oaklandcvb.com/
The City’s official website, info on Events, Lodging, Maps, History, Parks, Restaurants, Transportation. http://www.oaklandnet.com/
The Oakland Museum: presenting the natural science, history and art of California. http://www.museumca.org/
“Oaksterdam”: taking a page from Amsterdam’s approach to drugs, here is Oakland’s answer to the pharmaceutical industry: Medical Marijuana now available at a downtown club near you! http://www.oaksterdamnews.com/
The Arts in Oakland… http://www.oaklandculturalarts.org/
Oakland Clubs: Yoshi’s (http://www.yoshis.com/jazzclub), Eli’s Mile High Club (http://www.oaklandmilehigh.com), and many more.
Berkeley highlights:
In 1964 the University banned the distribution of political literature on campus, provoking a massive Free Speech Movement. This was followed by the conflict over "People's Park” and a month-long occupation of Berkeley by the National Guard on orders of then-Governor Ronald Reagan.
Berkeley remains one of the most progressive cities in the US. Out of a total of 70,840 voters, there are 3893 registered Greens, and only 3790 Republicans! The Dems have 44,308 and “Decline to State” (no party affiliation indicated) are 16,728, according to April 2006 numbers. Berkeley’s 2004 presidential vote gave only 6.7% (4,010 votes) to George Bush.
The City’s Website… Art Galleries, Bookstores, Parks, Live Music, Farmers Markets, Museums, Shorebird Nature Center, Pacific Film Archive, Center for Performing Arts, Berkeley Marina, Mario Savio Free Speech Café… http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/
Our renowned world-class public “University of California at Berkeley” (increasingly corporate-funded, alas). http://www.berkeley.edu/
Berkeley from a student’s point of view. http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~satishr/focs.html#pub
The Lawrence Hall of Science: techno-fun for kids. http://www.lawrencehallofscience.org/
The Arts in Berkeley:
(Berkeley's art, theater, and poetry district is just 2 blocks from the Berkeley Community Theater).
Please see: http://www.downtownberkeley.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=18&Itemid=34
Berkeley Clubs: La Pena Cultural Center (http://www.lapena.org), The Long Haul Café (http://www.thelonghaul.org ), Ashkenaz Music and Dance Community Center (http://www.ashkenaz.com), and many more.
Nearby Counties:
San Francisco (museums, downtown entertainment & shopping, SF Green Party HQ, the Mission District, SOMA, the Fillmore, the Haight, the Castro, and all the rest…),
Marin (great sites for hiking in Muir Woods and Mt Tamalpais, beaches at Bolinas, Stintson, boats at Sausalito),
Silicon Valley (world home of hi-tech, Stanford University, San Jose),
Contra Costa/Solano (Sacramento River Delta for boating and wetlands)
Napa Valley (wine country, hot springs),
Sonoma/Mendocino (redwoods, hippies, pot)
Further Afield:
Sacramento, Lake Tahoe, Yosemite National Park, Monterey Aquarium, Santa Cruz Boardwalk and University
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The Oakland Greens are a local of the Green Party of Alameda County (GPAC),
the county organization of the Green Party of California (GPCA).
We welcome people with a Green perspective relating to the Oakland area (Oakland, Emeryville, Piedmont, Alameda)
www.cagreens.org/oakland | oakland@cagreens.org | 510-436-3722 | P.O. Box 3727 Oakland, CA 94609.
Register to vote! Register Green, and remember to reregister whenever you move