Government-mandated births

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Government-mandated births relegate US women and girls to second-class citizens

Following the recent US Supreme Court decision on Roe vs Wade, many Americans feel they have been made second-class citizens and therefore they are not celebrating American freedom on this 4th of July.  Americans are furious about this intrusion on their 14th Amendment right to privacy and the infringement on their right to control their own bodies.  That’s why millions of Americans will be protesting this flawed Supreme Court decision this holiday weekend and until the ruling is overturned.

A local School Board member and elected member of the Democratic Party of Contra Costa County, Anamarie Avila Farias, expressed this reaction to the Supreme Court decision on Facebook and was vilified on Fox News and has received death threats.  She has responded with a clear statement on her page.  As a patriotic American she is exercising her right of free speech.  You can read her comments at https://medium.com/@amavilafarias/maybe-your-momma-should-have-aborted-you-1b203c4cc6f7?fs=e&s=cl

The Democratic Party has been very clear about this issue.  We stand for all human rights, rights for all humans irrespective of their status or condition.  This is not an abortion question; it is a healthcare question.  The right to terminate a pregnancy belongs to the pregnant.  A free country should provide this and healthcare to its people.  There is never a time to go backward.

Government-mandated births return America to a time of patriarchal dominance over women, plus government-mandated births will throw tens of thousands of women into poverty since there is no requirement by the “right to life” movement for any financial support by the father, nor any state responsibility for prenatal care or childcare.

Unlike Republican’s forced birth policy, nothing in the Democratic policy forces any person to terminate their pregnancy.  Democrats support the pregnant person’s right to make that decision.  Making abortion illegal will not stop abortions; it will just make them unsafe.  Societies that make abortion illegal put women and girls’ lives at risk and maternal mortality rates are much higher.

Stand with the Democratic Party’s support for human rights and vote only for candidates who support safe and legal abortions on November 8th.  Take action and join the Democratic Party of Contra Costa County and learn how you can make a difference in this fall’s election. 

Juneteenth Celebrations

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JUNETEETH CELEBRATIONS THIS WEEKEND

City of Richmond Juneteenth Parade and Festival: June 18, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Booker T. Anderson Center, Richmond.
This year will be Richmond’s first in-person Juneteenth festival since 2019. The parade will start at 10 a.m. at the Booker T. Anderson Center and end at Nichol Park, where a food festival and live music awaits. Free. ci.richmond.ca.us/

Pleasant Hill Juneteenth-Proud To Be — Partner Painting: June 19, 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. 548 Contra Costa Blvd., Pleasant Hill.
Celebrate Juneteenth with a night of painting led by instructors at Painting with a Twist. The whole family is welcome. $42. paintingwithatwist.com/

Resolution in Support of the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe’s Resolution SJR 13

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DPCCC membership approved the following resolution at the June 16, 2022 regular meeting.

WHEREAS, on March 07, 2022, a Senate Joint Resolution (SJR 13) was introduced by Senator Cortese and Coauthors Senator Wieckowski, Assembly Members Kalra, Lee, Low, and Robert Rivas, which would urge the United States Congress and the Department of the Interior and its Bureau of Indian Affairs to reaffirm and restore the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe as a federally recognized tribe and include the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe in the Federal Register as a recognized tribe; and 

WHEREAS, several California counties and elected officials have officially supported the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe in its efforts for recognition through legislation commending their efforts and historical and social accomplishments, supporting requests for historical claim by the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe, and urging the federal government to reaffirm and restore the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe as a federally recognized tribe; and 

WHEREAS, part of the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe’s aboriginal and ethnohistoric territory includes Contra Costa County; 

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Democratic Party of Contra Costa County supports the adoption of SJR 13 and calls on the Department of the Interior and the federal government to officially recognize the historical and social history of the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe by restoring the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe as a federally recognized tribe; and 

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this resolution will be sent to Chairman Dodd and the members of the Senate Committee on Governmental Organization urging the committee to hear and vote to pass SJR 13 onto the full Senate for debate and, at the discretion of the Chair and Executive Board, to any subsequent legislative committee assigned to consider and act on SJR 13. 

Submitted by Susan Hildreth, Elected Member, District 2, May 31, 2022

Proclamation in Support of Juneteenth, Sunday, June 19, 2022

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DPCCC membership approved the following resolution at the May 19, 2022 regular meeting.

WHEREAS, The first enslaved Africans were brought as captives to what is now the Commonwealth of Virginia in 1619 where they were bought and sold as slave labor for 250 years suffering unspeakable acts of violence; and

WHEREAS, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, declaring “that all persons held as slaves within the rebellious states are, and henceforward shall be free”; and

WHEREAS, The Emancipation Proclamation was the vehicle used to pass the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution abolishing slavery in this nation on January 31, 1865; and

WHEREAS, On June 19, 1865, Major General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, announcing General Order Number 3 which ended both the Civil War and slavery; and

WHEREAS, June 19th has become a symbolic date, representing the freedom of African Americans and is recognized by 47 states and the District of Columbia, with Virginia, New York and Pennsylvania recognizing it as an official paid holiday for state employees; and 

WHEREAS, Our nation is facing a new reckoning as the legacy of sharecropping, Jim Crow, redlining and police violence against Black Bodies continues to pervade and permeate our society, institutions, and systems of law; and

WHEREAS, Although the 13th Amendment provided for freedom, it also laid the groundwork for mass incarceration within the African American community by stating “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction”; and

WHEREAS, if Black Lives Matter, the Democratic Party of Contra Costa Party must acknowledge the history racism has played and continues to pervade and permeate our society, institutions, and systems of laws fostering many of the current-day disparities in education, health care, housing, and employment. NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Democratic Party of Contra Costa County hereby recognizes Sunday, June 19, 2022, as Juneteenth to acknowledge the historical significance of the day and commit the Democratic Party of Contra Costa County to working toward the dismantling of institutionalized racism.