Hi everyone!
There’s a one-week’s delay on the decision to relocate the Serra statue in Ventura. So we’ll be needing assistance to finish this project on Wed. July 15th. Stay tuned for updates.
Last night in Camarillo, the idea of reviewing their Ventura Co. Sheriff’s Office contract and the simple request to support a proclamation stating that Black Lives matter got everyone off their couch. Kind of surprised that the vote against using the phrase was so close – 3 to 2.
No surprises, just more work, and obviously more education is needed.
http://tinyurl.com/Antiracist-events-Ventura
Today’s CALL/email Actions!
Junipero Serra Statue Action
Whose history counts? Write Ventura City Councilmembers to relocate the Serra Statue! Get ready for the next meeting on Wed. July 15.
Although Ventura Mayor Matt LaVere, Father Tom Elewaut of Mission San Buenaventura and Julie Tumamait-Stenslie, tribal chair of the Barbareno/Ventureno Band of Mission Indians (Chumash), had already agreed that the statue of Junipero Serra should be transferred from City Hall to the mission grounds where he belongs, a contentious city council meeting spooked some council members to abandon this civilized solution, and punt their decision to a later meeting on a CEQA technicality(Wed. July, 15th) or even to a costly public vote.
Preview YouTube video HOMILY OF FATHER TOM ELEWAUT ON SAINT JUNIPERO SERRA [12th Sunday in Ordinary Time, 21 June 2020]
Taking down monuments does not erase history. On the contrary, it signals a deep societal awakening where people are willing to learn and confront the truths of our past. This statue actually presents two problems, as both an icon for a specific religion in front of a seat of secular government and as a colonizer of California’s native population. (VCReporter) “[Tumamait-Stenslie] hopes those who might not understand why the statue is being removed will consider that while Serra “is an iconic figure representing a lot of history,” that the Chumash people had a history that is not being told. “That was a very dark time for our family, and it continues past the missionization [era]. It went on… and it continues.”
“History has just changed to a different color, with different protagonists. Now we are not getting punished, we have the freedom to move about. We’ve found our voice to speak freely about our concerns and advocate for our culture.’”
Let’s do our part:
Write to our local city councilmembers – all of them and tell them that it’s past time to make this right for our Chumash neighbors. Obviously the city managed without such a statue up until 1936, and if it hadn’t been for a Depression WPA grant for artists, we’d be living in a Serra-statue-free environment now. Ask them to remove this monument and convey it to the grounds of his own creation – the San Buenaventura Mission. There is also an interior wood statue that should be returned to its owner, as it is on loan to the city. (Attachment “C” of the City’s July 7 Staff Report regarding Agenda Item #12A.) Feel free to give them some creative ideas with what to do, if anything with the traffic island space the statue leaves behind. Maybe it’s time for a grant for an artist of this century to create something new. (https://www.cityofventura.ca.gov/DocumentCenter/View/22135/12A)
cheitmann@cityofventura.ca.govmlavere@cityofventura.ca.govenasarenko@cityofventura.ca.govcweir@cityofventura.ca.govsrubalcava@cityofventura.ca.govjfriedman@cityofventura.ca.govlbrown@cityofventura.ca.govcouncil@cityofventura.ca.gov
The Camarillo City Council blinked when it came to affirming “Black Lives Matter.”
On the bright side, the community has a list of districts that need new, better, councilmembers!
From an alert observer:
“I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro’s great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen’s Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to ‘order’ than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice” Dr. MLK
Last night Kevin Kildee, Tony Trembley, and Charlotte Craven were the white moderates who failed miserably at acknowledging the trauma and pain of the Black community. It was painful to observe white discomfort being protected while silencing the voice of Black people.” A watered-down version was passed instead. (https://www.cityofcamarillo.org/City%20Clerk/Meetings%20&%20Agendas/City%20Council/2020/CC%20XIX%20B%20Resolution%20regarding%20Racial%20Equality%20and%20Denouncing%20Racial%20Injustice%20-%20Trembley%20RED%20FOLDER.pdf)
Petitions
Additional petitions here.
Ventura, CA: Freedom of Speech!
Petition here.(https://www.change.org/p/ventura-county-ventura-ca-freedom-of-speech)
The city of Ventura, Ca requires “Free Speech Permits”. It cost $25 to apply and the website states any event, “that impact City streets, sidewalks, parking lots, public property, airways, public buildings, and traffic require a City permit. Many private properties also require City permits for special activities that have the potential to impact the public-right-of-way.”
The right to free speech and the right to assemble is protected by the United States Constitution under the first amendment. The first amendment states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” Notice how it says “free exercise thereof”? How is a $25 fee to apply for a free speech permit constitutional?
Tell ICE: #FreeTheFamilies
Sign this petition to demand you comply with Judge Dolly Gee’s order to release all children who have been detained for more than 20 days by July 17th and that all family members and guardians of detained children be released as well with their children. Not ONE child should be separated from their families! (https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/tell-ice-freethefamilies/)
Amnesty Internationaland RAICES petitions here.
Adriene
Co-Director
Indivisible Ventura
indivisibleventura@gmail.com
