Public water systems are a cornerstone of democracy. Public water systems are a city’s most valuable infrastructure. Handing over New Orleanians’ most valuable asset to a private company is an appalling abdication of public service. There are more than 300 jobs at Seweragee and Water Board that need to be filled now. More than ever, it is clear New Orleans needs a real and urgent commitment to its public water system. We need true accountability for the management of our whole water system and our community needs jobs. Instead of focusing on solutions to strengthen and reform New Orleans Sewerage and Water Board, Mayor Landrieu is selling out New Orleanians to the bottom line of private contractors and corporations. Mayor Landrieu’s privately-contracted “Interim Emergency Management and Support Team” released an RFP on October 23rd that would privatize operations, management and multiple levels of water system positions through a public private partnership with a corporation for “up to three years.” On October 27th at a pre-bid meeting, the contractors asking about the RFP asked if their employees had to have valid Louisiana Drivers Licenses and professional certifications – they don't plan to hire locally. New Orleanians need jobs, right now! New Orleans needs an accountable, transparent, high-functioning public water system and our community needs good, local jobs. We can work together on a win-win solution. A first step is stopping Mayor Landrieu’s takeover of Sewerage and Water Board—Don't take us back to 1898.

The People's Dispensary has a vision of healing, freedom, and empowerment for our beloved community of Oakland. We are in a unique moment, that comes along once in a generation, to build a marketplace that fundamentally serves the good of the community in which it exists. With that vision in mind, The People's Dispensary has applied for one of the four Oakland general dispensary licenses! Here is a little bit about us: ► We are collectively owned ► We are 100% owned by Bay Area residents (Oakland & San Leandro) ► We are 75% owned by people of color ► We are 75% owned by women of color ► We are 100% owned by LGBTQ people Our co-founders are Chaney Turner, Charleen Caabay, Christine De La Rosa and Michael Schlieker. Each of them has a different lived experience that brought them to cannabis. But the common thread they all share is the belief that a dispensary can do more than sell cannabis products, it can heal, uplift and transform entire communities using the profits of cannabis. The People's Dispensary has developed a three prong Equity Plan specifically for Oakland and the Bay Area. ► We have created an opportunity for small and non-accredited investors to legally invest in the cannabis industry. ► We have plans to refurbish existing dilapidated multi-unit residential complexes in Oakland to provide affordable housing for employees, enabling them to live in the community they serve. ► We are creating an Impact Fund that allows our dispensary and our investors to reinvest a portion of future profits into Bay Area initiatives focused on ending criminalization and supporting disenfranchised and vulnerable communities. As one of the general applicants, The Peoples Dispensary is committed to providing monetary, material and mentorship support to equity businesses. In our quest to find values-aligned equity partners we chose three equity cannabis start-ups to incubate. LIV Dispensary and LIV Manufactoring owned by Jennifer Johns and Ajayi Jackson and Coastal Cannabis Delivery owned by Karissa Lewis and Audrey Smith. These equity cannabis businesses are: ► 100% owned by Oakland residents ► 100% owned by Black and Indigenous people ► Committed to creating jobs for the Oakland community We love Oakland and have been investing in its present and its future for decades. The co-founders of The People's Dispensary collectively own Benefit Health Collective Dispensary delivery service, Town Biz retail shop and Craft & Spoon restaurant. These businesses employ 20 people of which 95% of our employees are people of color, 70% are women, 65% are part of the LGBTQ community. We believe in Oakland and Oakland has believed in us. Built into our business model is our commitment to: ► Providing no cost health services for its clients in the form of on staff nursing, mental health professionals and holistic healers ► Hiring formerly incarcerated people and family members of incarcerated people ► Creating jobs and opportunities for advancement for our communities ► Investing in the future of Oakland We believe that we deserve to have a stake in the cannabis market in Oakland as a dispensary. Through granting a license to the Peoples Dispensary, Oakland can help us fulfill our dreams to create and shape a marketplace where everyone wins. Signing this petition is a vote for Oakland, for communities of color, for marginalized communities and for reversing the trends of criminalization and disinvestment. Please sign this petition, post and share this petition. WE BELIEVE WE WILL WIN. We are The People's Dispensary

Although the confederacy is an important part of American history that should not be forgotten, Johnny Rebel symbolizes racism and should not be a forefront figure of any public institution. Even more, the school was aptly named Savannah and the combination of Johnny Rebel with a prominent Southern city is a testament to the conditions that allowed racism to thrive. Our nation has matured and our public schools should not be an institution holding onto times and hatred long foregone. Our schools should evoke symbols of progress, of inclusion, of acceptance; not of hate and discrimination.

http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/10/06/the-fbi-has-identified-a-new-domestic-terrorist-threat-and-its-black-identity-extremists/ In August of 2017, the FBI's Counter-Terrorism Division report entitled, “Black Identity Extremists Likely Motivated to Target Law Enforcement.”, obtained and released released by "Foreign Policy", stated: “The FBI assesses it is very likely Black Identity Extremist (BIE) perceptions of police brutality against African Americans spurred an increase in premeditated, retaliatory lethal violence against law enforcement and will very likely serve as justification for such violence.” Incidents of “alleged police abuse” have “continued to feed the resurgence in ideologically motivated, violent criminal activity within the BIE movement”. This issue proliferates as racial tensions have increased and become more mainstream during the Trump Administration. This would be an optimal time for the President to utilize his platform and leadership to condone racism while utilizing the FBI to dismantle actual domestic terrorists and their racist and detrimental practices. Instead, efforts are spent deflecting the legitimate criticism of policing and labeling citizens exercising their 1st amendment right to protest as domestic terrorists- an organized faction that now pose threat to police officers. The Black Lives Matter movement is not a domestic terrorist movement. Martin Luther King Jr. was not a communist. But if we do not hold our government and its agencies accountable, history will repeat itself. The Federal Bureau of Investigation has a history of implementing Draconian and often illegal and/or immoral practices within the black community. Similar to the use of COINTELPRO in the 1960's, the actions of black activists are criminalized and, consequently, the narrative focuses on isolated violent responses instead of the organized peaceful tact of official movements. With intrusive surveillance legislation such as CISPA and The Patriot Act, it is imperative for the black community to protect itself from political persecution by galvanizing lawmakers and applying political pressure on government agencies and officials.

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.. Stop balancing the budget on the backs of our kids! Due to former Superintendent Wilson's BLOATING of Central Office, fiscal mismanagement, and massive overspending by Central - the district has been operating with a structural deficit for several years, depleting our reserves and causing us to fall below the state mandated 2% reserve. The Alameda County Office of Education has threatened NOT to approve our 2017-18 budget report unless OUSD restores that 2% reserve - just $1.2 million would get us there - and takes steps to get our finances in order. The District ALREADY cut $32 million over the last 10 months to close the shortfall which hurt kids and schools (by cutting essential programs and services). By December 13, the district will vote on $15.1 million in additional cuts (with $5.6 million being cut directly from school sites) - which is far more than necessary to meet the reserve. IT IS POSSIBLE to keep cuts away from all school sites if the BOARD: ● Cuts From the Top - Not From the Kids. Return to 2013-14 Central staffing levels for executive positions, cut from Central anything that is non-essential to kids learning, and cut unnecessary consultants! Publish transparent Central Dept budgets - we need to know how our kids money is being spent. MOVING FORWARD, ● We need to adopt budget equity principles to ensure any future proposed cuts include community input and engagement, and do not disproportionately harm our most vulnerable students. ● We also need to make necessary changes required (immediately) to establish a Healthy Finance Department HERE’S WHAT YOU CAN DO NOW! ● SIGN and SHARE this petition https://tinyurl.com/nocutstokids - to make your voice heard now and get updates ● EMAIL board members to demand NO CUTS TO SCHOOLS: https://tinyurl.com/emailousdboard ● ATTEND and SPEAK UP at the School Board Meeting on NOVEMBER 27th ● SHARE YOUR IDEAS for savings by with OUSD: https://tinyurl.com/suggestsavings The Justice for Oakland Students Coalition (J4OS) is a group of deeply concerned students, parents/families, teacher allies, and community organizations - including Oakland Kids First (OKF), Parent Leadership Action Network (PLAN), Black Organizing Project (BOP), Parents United for Public Schools and others - who came together to demand our District: Directly fund schools, not high salaries at the executive level in Central Office. Budget transparency and accountability. Dollars should align to the greatest need; Stop the proliferation of charter schools and re-invest in making all in-district schools excellent; Divest from school police and reinvest in a culture of restorative justice, real school safety and inclusion; and Honor the principles of equity, meaningful engagement of students and parents, democratic decision-making and shared governance.

On Friday, October 20th at a Study Committee Meeting on Health Policy in Georgia, you made comments recommending people with HIV be quarantined, essentially turning back the clock on years of progress we have made in the treatment and care of individuals living with HIV. And on behalf of the 47,000 Georgians and the nearly 1.2 million Americans living with HIV, we demand that you resign your seat in the Georgia State House of Representatives immediately. Your statement calling for more government resources to quarantine Georgians living with the virus is not the first time you have used your position to slam the HIV community. In fact, on February 28, 2017, in a Health and Human Services Committee Hearing, you joined other Republicans to block a vote on a bipartisan bill that would have made information about PrEP and PEP, both proven methods of preventing new HIV infections, more readily available. Furthermore, we know that you are not alone in your disturbing perspective on HIV, as your husband Tom Price, disgraced former Health and Human Services Secretary under Donald Trump, proposed $202 million in cuts to various federal HIV programs. While at the same time mismanaging taxpayer money on private jets and elaborate travels. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), both Metro Atlanta and the State of Georgia ranks no. 5 in the U.S. for new cases of HIV. The CDC also estimates that 1 in 51 Georgians will become HIV positive over their lifetimes. And despite HIV being a serious public health challenge for all Georgians, the virus has a particularly heavy impact on marginalized communities of color. In fact, Emory University determined that young Black gay men in Atlanta have a 60 percent chance of becoming HIV positive before their 30th birthday. While constituents expect their leaders to work to reduce these statistics, offering quarantine as a possible solution in a state that already criminalizes people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) is a dangerous proposal that could have significant consequences. Your behavior as a legislator towards the community of PLWHA, in the face of disturbing statistics that indicate that Georgia is leading the nation in new cases of the virus, illustrates that you are unfit for public office. And the fact that you are a physician just adds insult to injury. As a lawmaker you should be looking to develop solutions in concert with PLWHA to help reduce new cases of the virus. As a physician, you should be rooted in stigma-free healthcare that encourages people to seek the care they need to live healthy lives. Your behavior thus far has illustrated that you are unable to serve our community in either capacity. As a community of PLWHA, advocates, public health professionals, and concerned constituents we will not tolerate public officials using their platform to spread stigma and hatred. Rather than using your position to make reckless public policy suggestions that can negatively impact PLWHA, you and other elected officials should use your platforms in Georgia and across the nation to uplift and support policies like the expansion of Medicaid which can reduce stigma, increase access to care, and ensure optimal health outcomes, particularly in marginalized populations hit hard by the epidemic. Finally, we are looking for leaders who support expanding access to PrEP and PEP, increasing resources to help PLWHA stay in care and achieve viral suppression, ending HIV criminalization, and fighting the stigma. Representative Betty Price, you are not one of those leaders and thus why we can no longer afford for you to hold elected office anymore.

Neville Pinto and Mayor John Cranley, We will not tolerate racism, hatred and violence on our campus! I can’t understand for the life of me why you would allow a person such as Richard Spencer to speak at the University of Cincinnati knowing his background and the destruction and death he caused with his rallies. You all keep bringing up this whole freedom of speech B.S., but not allowing him to book a facility is not denying him freedom of speech. He shouldn’t be allowed to book a facility at the University and use it to incite violence and hate! You have majority of the students and faculty saying they do not want him there, but yet you are still allowing this. What about the voices of those who make the University of Cincinnati what it is today? If it weren’t for those students you would not have the position you call “president”. I am a concerned parent and when I attended UC’s orientation I was assured that safety was top priority when it came to students and staff. But clearly this was a lie or a tactic in order to get your student population up or flat out just about money! I am absolutely sure that freedom of speech does not include the right to incite actions that would harm others, and if your lawyers didn’t know that, then you need to get new lawyers! I would like for the University of Cincinnati to change it’s decision and not allow Richard Spencer to book a facility to speak at the University. If you allow this man to speak, then you are aiding in the harassment of your students and staff along with placing everyone there in a hostile environment. You will be destroying the integrity of the school should you allow this event to take place! Keep in mind that Richard Spencer is taking full advantage of your lack of strength and unity you have with the school and all of its occupants! This is not about the freedom of speech that everyone has, but about inciting violence and hate by threats of fake lawsuits that you are buying into! Again no one is denying freedom of speech but you do not have to facilitate any speech! We all know Richard Spencers background, why would we want to host someone who want to cause a criminal disturbance? You have to know that violence is inevitable if you’re in preparation of extra safety and security measures! Do not facilitate Richard Spencer, stand by your University and choose love! Thank you Parents, Family, Friends, and Supporters

Right now, the challenges our communities face are many. Imprisonment is a big one. Corporations and their politician friends have made it their life’s work to enact policies that keep our families and communities in jails. Every time someone in our neighborhoods is locked up, someone at a corporation makes money. These corporations, like Florida-based GEO and CCA, operate in the dark, away from public view and work hard to keep it that way. Their lavish vacations and retirement funds depend on it. On top of that, most people aren’t aware of how the prison industry operates and thus feel powerless to change it. We want to change that. Dream Defenders is a small, young organization with limited resources in the face of a goliath, seasoned system of paper pushers with unlimited resources. The prison system is tearing up our families, communities, and future generations. According to Miami New Times writer Jerry Ianelli: "Investigative reporters Carol Marbin Miller and Audra D.S. Burch obtained stomach-churning video of Florida juvenile offenders fighting one another after being groomed as attack mobs by state guards. Scores of surveillance videos show groups of teenage boys sucker-punching, stomping, and beating up other kids, breaking noses, eye sockets, and a host of other bones in the process. The Herald uncovered tales of rape, molestation, children beaten to death, and a justice system that let almost every guard involved walk free without consequence. The list of nightmarish allegations in the series is too long to fully recount. The Herald noted cases where staffers set up fights and bet on them; instances where the DJJ hired guards who had formerly been caught having sex with inmates; other cases where guards showed a teen pornography and watched him ‘fondle himself’; raped a transgender inmate; had sex with a child detainee in a closet; and abused one female detainee by using her head as a ‘toilet plunger.’ One Broward County youth counselor was allegedly so brazen about having sex with teen inmates she became known as the ‘cradle robber.’ The 12 juvenile deaths the Herald noted seem due to state negligence." In 2016, the U.S. Department of Justice condemning the state of juvenile detention in the country. A report of the National Institute of Justice, research arm of the Justice Department, added: “This ill-conceived and outmoded approach is a failure, with high costs and recidivism rates and institutional conditions that are often appalling… Every youth prison in the country should be closed, and replaced with a network of community-based programs and small facilities near the youths’ communities.” We agree. The Dream Defenders goal is to end the prison system's hold on our states’ policies, profits, priorities and people. We work in classrooms, communities and prisons to educate and organize to end this incredible threat to our lives. We can’t continue to watch this happening to the people in our communities, we have to act. If we can do this; if we can begin to break this massive machine by freeing our children from it's hold, then we can begin to collapse it in our lifetime. If we do not, we risk losing many more generations.

9Round Fitness fired me for exercising my right to protest on the weekend with my partner during our personal time. They made up a policy after firing me requiring all employees to stand for the anthem but I still don't see how such a policy would cover employees in their time off. Either way, 9 Round Fitness needs to apologize for ending my employment for sitting in solidarity with victims of police brutality and systemic oppression. In addition to an apology, I'm also demanding that 9Round Fitness pays me for the time I did work for them as well. Wage theft, unlike protesting, is illegal. I don't care if I work for an hour, a week, or a year I am to be compensated for my time. Instead of behaving professionally 9Round Fitness has ignored all communication from me in my attempt to receive my just pay. I refuse to work for free even if it is the last thing I'll do, I demand to be paid for my time. My firing from 9Round Fitness is just another example of the very injustice we are protesting. 9Round Fitness fired me for expressing myself in my own time. They need to apologize for mischaracterizing my protest and firing me and they definitely need to pay me what they owe me.

As Black families in Flint are still recovering from years of lead exposure, recent reports have revealed lead-tainted water in another Black community -- this time at McClymonds High School in West Oakland. After news broke in August, Oakland school officials took some immediate, short-term actions to protect Black students at McClymonds, including installing filters on water fountains. But this recent incident could be the tip of the iceberg for lead-tainted water at Oakland schools, leaving more Black kids at risk for lead exposure. No child should be exposed to lead while trying to learn in the classroom. Lead is highly toxic to kids, and even small exposures can cause permanent damage to their cognitive development. That's why pediatricians across the country stress that there is NO safe level of lead for our kids. And data increasingly shows that wherever there is lead in pipes and plumbing, there is risk for contamination. It's time for Oakland Unified to adopt a strong district-wide policy that will truly protect all kids from these lead threats.

The work for the people is not getting done and its time for that to stop

Because it is wrong to perpetuate negative stereotypes of African Americans.