Grassroots Environmental Justice Rally & Benefit June 4th

As politicians and government officials meet in San Francisco for the United Nations World Environment Day events,

Greenaction is bringing together over 60 grassroots environmental justice, social justice and environmental groups for a

COMMUNITY RALLY FOR ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE, SATURDAY, JUNE 4, 2005 at 11 a.m..



The rally will take place directly across from San Francisco City Hall, in Civic Center Plaza, Polk and McAllister Streets (near Civic Center BART and Muni). Urban, rural, desert and Indigenous groups are uniting for this historic event.



The rally will draw attention to the community struggle to close the polluting and unnecessary PG&E Hunters Point power plant, and to similar environmental injustices impacting communities far and wide.



NIGHT OF CULTURE AND CELEBRATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE:

AT 7 P.M. please join Greenaction and community groups in a Night of Culture and Celebration of Environmental Justice, featuring traditional Mohave Bird Singers and dancers from the Colorado River Indian Tribes, Aztec Dancers, Malcolm X Polynesian Dancers and the Huntersview Children’s Choir.



The Night of Culture and Celebration will take place at St. Boniface Church, 133 Golden Gate Avenue, between Leavenworth and Jones, San Francisco (near Civic Center BART/Muni). Donation $5-$100, no one turned away for lack of funds. This event is also a celebration of Greenaction’s 8th year!



Please visit our website for updates and action alerts http://www.greenaction.org



The following is a great story written by Marie Harrison, Bayview Hunters Point community leader and Greenaction community organizer, and appeared in the Bayview Newspaper:



Bayview gears up for World Environment Day

by Marie Harrison

As a week of activities for United Nations World Environment Day approaches, Bayview Hunters Point continues its fight for environmental justice. In the midst of feel-good, look-good events at posh venues like the Metreon Theater in San Francisco, grassroots organizations and residents are gearing up for the largest environmental justice rally in San Francisco’s history.

Planned for the front steps of San Francisco City Hall on Saturday, June 4, at 11 a.m., the rally is sponsored by 48 groups so far, with more signing on daily. It’s entitled “From Bayview Hunters Point to Communities around the World.”

We should feel tremendous pride that organizations from across the United States will be standing in solidarity with our struggles against the PG&E Hunters Point Power Plant and other polluters that foul our air, water and soil. We need to put those folks on the endangered species list — as they have for many residents in our community.

Mayors from as far away as Kabul, Afghanistan; Rome, Italy; and Mtale, Sri Lanka, will be joining dozens of U.S. mayors to sign the Urban Environmental Accords. Over the next several years, signatory cities will be implementing the agreement, which include initiatives on energy issues, recycling, urban planning, transportation, toxics reduction and clean water.

Each day during the week beginning June 1 will have a different theme, including pure food, water and air; recycling, green building and smart growth; transportation; renewable energy, energy efficiency and climate change; and the development and maintenance of open space in the city.

So is there anything wrong with the picture of hundreds of mayors wandering around in the Presidio, Embarcadero and Muir Woods, attending film galas, luncheons and cocktail parties and munching on Japanese sushi? Mayors will even be attending an “Urban Planet Concert and Festival” on the Polo Fields in Golden Gate Park. Cool, huh?

Where is the real San Francisco at in this picture? The only thing I might be able to afford on the itinerary is the walk across the Golden Gate Bridge (This may change if the San Francisco Transportation Authority decides to charge a fee for biking or walking across the bridge!) Are you with me on this?

This is the perfect opportunity to shine a light on the real San Francisco and its people. We aren’t the ones that will be swilling champagne cocktails while people in the southeast section of town are choking on noxious fumes from polluters.

We must turn the whole community out to make a clear statement: This is the real face of environmental justice and urban renewal! Change needs to happen in all the Bayview Hunters Points of the world — before we join the party.

We aren’t asking for wine and roses, just clean air and water and a safe place for our children to grow. This isn’t about the rich and the powerful, but about the rest of us who struggle every day of our lives just to take a decent breath of air.

San Francisco could be the real face of environmental justice. Remember the Wizard of Oz? Perhaps what our City needs are the same things as the Lion, Scarecrow and Tin Man: courage, a brain and a heart.

It’s about time our leaders stopped being so timid and self serving. Here they are, showing off our beautiful city and bragging about their environmental credentials while they cower in the corner and claim that the PG&E Hunters Point Power Plant should continue to operate to give the City added reliability!

If they only had a brain they would realize that this dirty, broken down plant is only hurting the community, not helping the City. If they had courage, they would stop passing the buck to the California Independent Systems Operator and close this plant. And finally, if they only had a heart, they would stop trying to site new fossil fuel power plants in southeast San Francisco and at the same time close walk-in clinics for the poor.

I hope you will also join Greenaction and other residents from Bayview Hunters Point for a celebration of the struggles and victories for Environmental Justice that will be held at St. Boniface Church, 133 Golden Gate Ave. between Leavenworth and Jones, after the rally at 7 p.m. on Saturday evening. An amazing lineup of entertainment, including our own Malcolm X Polynesian Dancers and the Huntersview Youth Choir will headline the event! It will be a fun evening with raffles, food and cultural presentations by the Mohave Bird Singers, Aztec Dancers and community environmental justice leaders. Proceeds will go to fund the struggle to close the PG&E Hunters Point Power Plant.

This is about us — so come support both of these events and bring your family and friends. Let’s show the mayors real empowerment and have fun at the same time!