Juneteenth - Santa Cruz
By MEILIN OBINATA and SANTA CRUZ BRANCH OF THE NAACP
Since 1991,
Santa Cruz has been celebrating Juneteenth, a tradition brought by a native of Texas, Raymond Evans. If you are wondering, “What is Juneteenth?” Juneteenth marks June 19, 1865, the day on which Major General Granger brought 2,000 Union troops to Galveston to bring recognition to the Emancipation Proclamation, which had been signed by Lincoln 30 months prior, on January 1, 1863.
Despite Union victory in the Civil War, many states under Confederate occupation did not willingly honor the Emancipation Proclamation - and Texas was the western-most edge of the United States at the time. Once the Union troops appeared in Texas, this meant actual federal enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation had teeth. Simply put, it is the day on which all persons who were previously given the status of chattel property became recognized as humans on U.S. soil.
Many African-American communities observe Juneteenth with public gatherings as well as family events to mark this special day of liberation. Previously unknown to most Americans, it is
recognized
in nearly all states, the House and the Senate. And, it is often a paid holiday for government workers. This year, some prominent businesses are
honoring
Juneteenth with paid time off for their workers as well.
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Pulling strings to keep the status quo in Santa Cruz’s Democratic Party?
By SARAH RINGLER
Early in the year, some progressive Santa Cruzans, who were not thrilled by the general unresponsiveness of the Democratic Party to big issues like housing, poverty, the environment and racism, decided to attempt to become part of the Santa Cruz County Democratic Central Committee. Democratic Central Committees around the country work to support and promote Democratic Party values and California State law requires that every county have a Central Committee for each political party. The hope was to prod the party into dealing with these life and economic death issues.
The March 3 election resulted in adding six new progressive members to the Santa Cruz County Democratic Central Committee. Nora Hochman was one who was elected to one of the five seats in the First District. She scored nearly 6,500 votes. She, with the others, was sworn in at the April 22 meeting.
Each member of the committee is required to serve on a committee. Hochman chose the Endorsements Committee that does candidate outreach and interviewing to determine the suitability of a candidate and determine if they are worthy of the SCCDCC’s endorsement. Nora has had decades of experience in this area in Santa Cruz County. However, she was told at the end of May, that the committee already had eight members and was full.
Denise Elerick, another progressive Santa Cruzan on the DCC, decided to resign from the Endorsements Committee. When she tendered her resignation in early June, she asked that Hochman be appointed to replace her. There was no immediate response. On June 15, Hochman got an email from Coco Raner Walter, DCC Chairperson, and Gigi Kelbert, Endorsements Committee Chair, informing her that the committee is still full; eight was full before and now seven is full. Despite a big national election coming up and community pressure to deal with racism and dire health and economic issues, the excuse was that because of Covid-19, there isn’t much to do.
Many of us aren’t thrilled that Joe Biden is the Democratic candidate for President. His gaffes are embarrassing but even worse is his inability to advocate for what most Americans need, whether it’s health care, getting out of poverty, housing or a safe country that isn’t provoking hostility at every turn. Politics start at home and we, at least, need a Democratic Party locally that meets the needs of most of the people.
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Sarah's County Covid-19 Report
Every Wednesday, the Santa Cruz County Health Department releases data on the current status of Covid-19 in the county. The data for age and gender has been fairly consistent over the months.
As of June 18, there have been 273 cases who have tested positive:
By gender:
45% male
55% female
By age:
18 to 64 year olds, 76% tested positive.
65 or older, 14% tested positive
17 and younger, 11% tested positive
By jurisdiction:
3% Scotts Valley
4% Capitola
21% Santa Cruz
23% unincorporated
49% Watsonville
By ethnicity:
4% multiracial or other
39% white
57% Hispanic/Latino
To get tested without a doctor’s request at Ramsay Park, call 1-888-634-1123 or go online at
https://lhi.care/covidtesting
.
To visit the website for the Santa Cruz County Health Department:
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Grannie Moonbeam
This year's summer solstice occurs on Saturday, June 20 at 2:44 pm PST. It's when one of the earth’s poles tilt closest to the sun. In the northern hemisphere in
Bodø
, Norway, Murmansk, Russia and Rovaniemi, Finland, the sun won't go down at all. In the southern hemisphere, Ushuaia, Argentina, will have 7 hours and 12 minutes of daylight, its shortest day.
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“Those who profess to favor freedom and yet depreciate agitation, are people who want crops without ploughing the ground; they want rain without thunder and lightning; they want the ocean without the roar of its many waters. The struggle may be a moral one, or it may be a physical one, or it may be both. But it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.”
― Frederick Douglass
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YOUR STORY HERE
: Many of you are active in the community in various ways. Please submit a story that you think would be of interest to the people of Santa Cruz. Photos and drawings are also welcome. Try and keep the word count under 400. Also, if possible, suggest an action item. For the next issue, please submit by Wednesday at 4 pm. Sarah Ringler: coluyaki@gmail.com
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Some local events:
Fri June 19, 5:45pm, Juneteenth to Allegiance,
March to City Hall. Starts at London Nelson Community Center, 301 Center St. Please practice Social Distancing.
Sat June 20, Poor People's Campaign,
This 2 hour digital rally will be shown 3 times June 20, 7am, 3pm, and June 21 3pm PST
S
ign up
at
https://www.june2020.org/
Thu June 25, 9:30am , Campaign for Sustainable Transportation
zoom mtg - contact Rick Longinotti
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W
e the People of Santa Cruz County.....
Over time, our county has grown more stratified and divided with many people feeling left out. Housing affordability, racism and low wages are three obvious factors. Many groups and individuals in Santa Cruz County work tirelessly to make our county a better place for everyone. These people work on the environment, housing, economic justice, criminal justice, disability rights, immigrant rights, racial justice, transportation, workers’ rights, education reform, electoral politics and more. Often, one group doesn’t know what another is doing. The Serf City Times is dedicated to serving as a clearinghouse for those issues by letting you know what is going on and how you can support them.This is a volunteer effort.
Sarah Ringler
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