More Information About These and COMMUNITY CALENDAR & PROGRESSIVE NEWS - APRIL 2019 Other Events in the Calendar, beginning on p. 3: Tue Apr 2 - Diné Grandmothers Sun Apr 7 Marcha por Zapata Tue Apr 9 LA Police Commission decision on Predictive Policing Fri Apr 12 Puerto Rican Film Night STOP THE WARS - PEACE, EQUALITY & JUSTICE FOR ALL! Sat-Sun Apr 13-14 IWW Organizer Training Beyond the Green New Deal: LA Times Festival of Books, USC Eco-Socialism & De-Colonization Fri Apr 19 UCLA Earth Month by Michael Novick, Anti-Racist Action-LA Tribal nations protect their homelands, rights, sacred sites, Environmental catastrophes in the US mid-west waters, air, and bodies from further destruction. Sat Apr 20 LA River Clean-Up and southern Africa underscore the fact that life- “However, ...we remain concerned that unless changes are made..., the Green New Deal will leave incentives ... to Mon Apr 22 Earth Day threatening damage from capitalist-induced climate change is happening. Hundreds died as a result of continue causing harm to Indigenous communities.... the most impactful way to address the problem is to keep fossil Wed Apr 24 Armenian March for Justice the cyclone in Mozambique and elsewhere, where fuels in the ground. We can no longer leave options for the Thu Apr 25 Labor, Environmental, fossil fuel industry to determine the economic and energy future of this country. Until the Green New Deal can be Social Justice Fair, CSUDH explicit in this demand and close the loop on harmful incentives, we cannot fully endorse the resolution.” http:// Sun Apr 28 State of the Environment www.ienearth.org/talking-points-on-the-aoc-markey-green-new-deal- CSULB gnd-resolution/ The IEN identifies several major problems with the Skid Row Today Green New Deal: 1: Its goal of “net-zero emissions” implies the use of and 2040 “carbon accounting” including carbon pricing systems and/or Payments for Ecological Services. This provides by LA Community Action Network [excerpts] opportunity to fossil fuel industries to continue extraction LA is one of the most expensive cities in the US, Credit: mohammad hashemi http://www.w3.org/2000/svg and combustion. Geoengineering technologies like Carbon right behind NY and SF. Rents are rising, forcing the resultant flooding has caused an “inland sea”. 1000s more into the streets every year. Housing is a Record flooding in Nebraska has caused multi- basic human right, the key to solving this crisis, and million-dollars of destruction, and more flooding is criminally scarce in a city with our resources. anticipated. Things are getting worse. Tim Radford of With simple changes to our land use policies, we can build a city where homelessness isn’t common Climate News Network reports British meteorologists or lethal. LA is updating all 35 community plans that warning that although 2018 broke all records for form the city’s General Plan. Each Community Plan greenhouse gas emissions, 2019 will see even more reflects a vision for neighborhoods and designates carbon dioxide added. https://climatenewsnetwork.net/ land for uses including jobs, housing, manufacturing, human-carbon-emissions-to-rise-in-2019/ Some point to the “Green New Deal” introduced by Ocasio-Cortez transportation, open space and amenities. In October 2016, the Dept of City Planning proposed to and Markey as the answer. rezone parts of Skid Row to include market rate housing as But the impact of US economic and military actions part of the Downtown community plan update, or DTLA around the world, make it clear that decolonization and 2040. No one who lives, works or shares a stake in Skid demilitarization are central to overcoming global climate Row gave input to this plan. In response, we formed Skid injustice. As the Indigenous Environmental Network Row Now & 2040 to include community groups, non- has pointed out, the Green New Deal leaves much to be profits and individuals who believe everyone deserves a desired. “The IEN applauds the Green New Deal resolution for its vision, intention, and scope. ... From sea level rise home and a voice in the future of their neighborhood. Capture Sequestration can be claimed as producing net Skid Row Now & 2040 wants generations of families and to loss of land, Indigenous frontline communities and Tribal nations are already experiencing the direct impacts zero emissions as well as “building green infrastructure.” Skid Row residents to lead full, vibrant lives in Downtown Carbon trading allows polluters to buy and sell permits to LA, so we’ve created the following guidelines for the City of climate change, and we are encouraged to see these congressional leaders ... help Indigenous communities and pollute and privatizes the air that we breathe. Planning Department, District 14 and the Mayor’s Office. 2: “Renewable/Clean Energy” need to be clearly No displacement of extremely-low-income residents defined. Burning “bridge fuels” like fracked gas, should occur; policies that promote the Human Right Health, Environment municipal waste and biomass, nuclear energy and large- to Housing should be enacted. The DTLA 2040 update scale hydroelectric dams all pose major environmental shouldn’t include any policies or zoning changes that harm Threats of 5G justice concerns. low-income communities of color. This includes policies by John P. Thomas, Health Impact News, 3. Restoring and protecting threatened and fragile that lead to criminalization. If adopted, this approach for Waking Times https://www.wakingtimes. ecosystems is linked to supporting climate “resiliency.” will prevent displacement of current Skid Row residents, com/2019/01/08/20000-satellites-for-5g-to-be-launched-sending- Restoration projects could be used as climate mitigation enrich lives and show the way to ending homelessness in focused-beams-of-intense-microwave-radiation-over-entire-earth/ schemes. Programs like REDD+ “financialize” Nature and all 35 communities. We’re waiting to hear a response from turns it into commodities to be sold in speculative markets. City Planning, Jose Huizar and Mayor Garcetti. 4. Compensation for farmers might include funding for GMOs and/or Climate Smart Agriculture, so-called Policy Recommendations: “carbon farming” for “offsets” of industrial pollution. 1. No Net Loss - All existing units must be protected with 5. Weak language on indigenous peoples sovereignty: the inclusion of a No Net Loss policy to ensure baselines “Stakeholders” don’t explicitly include indigenous people. of affordable housing units remain in DTLA. The city’s community plan update must mirror and IEN suggests the following language instead: support other city policies that have been passed to ensure a baseline of affordable housing units existing in “The Green New Deal must be developed in transparent Downtown. and inclusive consultation ... and partnership in 2. Inclusionary Zoning - The DTLA 2040 concept map recognition of the sovereignty and self-determination of proposes to change Skid Row’s light manufacturing zone Public attention about 5G has been focused on federally recognized American Indian and Alaska Native into a traditional housing zone, boosting land values the plans of telecom companies to install millions of Tribes and villages including all ...rights secured under tremendously for Developers. Skid Row Now & 2040 is small cell towers on electric utility poles, on public treaties, statutes, executive orders and federal and state recommending the creating of a 25% set aside to generate buildings and schools, on bus stop shelters, in public court cases. These projects will also include ...Native 7,000 new units. parks, and anywhere they want in national parks and Hawaiian organizations and State recognized Tribes. Acknowledge the ... Tribes that develop ... their own Free, 3. Affordable (Low Income) Housing Creation - With on federally owned land. In local urban communities, Prior and Informed Consent laws [for] Indian Country, much of the cities’ affordable housing funding being lost there would be a cell tower approximately every 500 inclusive of their lands, waters, territories and resources; with the dissolution of the Community Redevelopment feet along every street. and off-reservation hunting, fishing, medicine gathering, Agency, Skid Row Now & 2040 suggests the creation of As bad as these small cell towers might seem from the food gathering, cultural and spiritual practices...” funding sources for affordable housing in Downtown, such standpoint of constant exposure to radio frequency (RF) Indigenous people worldwide pay a heavy price for as Developer fees and a new 1% impact bond for rental radiation in close proximity to the source, perhaps an even US practices. US imperialism continues to have primary subsidies. more alarming prospect will be the beaming of millimeter- See: “Skid Row 2040,” p. 7 See: “5G Threat,” p. 7 See: Decolonization, p. 7 Medical Neglect of People with Disabilities Kills April 2019, Vol. 25 Number 10 by Autistic Self Advocacy Network https://autisticadvocacy.org/2019/03/disability-rights- statement-on-the-deaths-at-wanaque-center-for-nursing-and-rehabilitation/ IN MEMORY OF As people with disabilities and loved ones of people For the time being, the Wanaque Center is not allowed to with disabilities, as disability rights advocates, and admit new pediatric patients – but many of the survivors as human beings, we are horrified by the deliberate of the outbreak still live there. They have been left in the neglect which led to the deaths of 11 children last fall care of the same people who demonstrated disregard for at the Wanaque Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation, their lives during the outbreak. The Center’s administrator, medical director, and director of nursing have all kept their an institution for medically fragile children. As new jobs. reports continue to emerge, we are disturbed by a lack The state of NJ and the federal Medicaid system knew of action to bring justice to the victims, ensure the for years that conditions at Wanaque, where nearly 100 safety of the survivors, and correct state and federal medically fragile children lived, were dangerous and could policies which directly led to these deaths.