A Call to Power from Despair

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Today, as we woke up to the election news and a red flag warning, we lit candles on our ofrenda. 

You are here. We are here. 

        And we have been here before. 

The North Bay Organizing Project is a power organization. We are a vehicle for change and a political home rooted in action. Remember, that from 2017-2021, his first term, up against a patriarchal white supremacist administration, historic fires and floods, and a global pandemic, our leaders organized to build an infrastructure of care that centers the voices of those most impacted and trains leaders to act. 

When neighbors faced ICE threats in our community, we launched a tri-county North Bay Rapid Response Network. We co-founded UndocuFund, the first fund of its kind in the country to address the needs of undocumented folks during disasters. We hosted our first Sanación del Pueblo, a free people’s healing clinic, because we know justice work must be grounded in healing. We championed the historic win of our Latinx Student Congress, codifying a sanctuary ordinance at Santa Rosa City Schools and SO much more. 

Our leaders won these victories under extraordinary difficult circumstances. And we will do it again by recommitting to each other as a powerful coalition of twenty member institutions driven by our values of justice and dignity. 

We turn now to the embodied knowledge that our ancestors used to survive and demand a better future for each of us. We practice collective governance, because we value democracy. We transform our rage and despair into hope and love for our community as an act of resistance. 

Pa’lante.