Our Platform

SAFETY IS A HUMAN RIGHT

  • Invest in violence and crime prevention measures for our youth and young adults, such as afterschool programs, TownNights, and the Caught in the Crossfire program which sends trauma specialists into hospitals to meet with teens that have been shot in order to offer support and prevent cycles of retaliation. 
  •  Advocate for effective consequences for people who break the law, with emphasis on consequences that have been shown to reduce recidivism and improve public safety; the current 50% recidivism rate in California (the likelihood that someone will reoffend after being released from incarceration) is unacceptably high. 
  • Expand access to restorative justice diversion programs for youth and young adults in cases where victims prefer restorative justice and the youth are willing to hold themselves accountable; youth who go through RJ diversion processes have been found to be 44% less likely to reoffend than youth who go through traditional prosecution because the RJ process teaches them how to take responsibility for their behavior, repair the harm that they caused, and address the root causes of their actions.
  • Demand that CeaseFire, an evidence-based gun violence intervention program in Oakland, be revived after it was watered down in 2020; studies show that between 2012 and 2017, CeaseFire led to a 44% reduction of homicides in Oakland.  
  • Advocate for programs and ordinances that improve 911 response times, such as the verified response ordinance currently considered by the Oakland City Council which would save police time the equivalent of 4.5-6.8 full time police officer hours annually by using technology to verify burglary alarms; currently 98% burglary alarms are triggered by system malfunction or pets, leading to police officers wasting time responding to false alarms. 
  • Ensure that mental health crises are responded to by mental health professionals so that police officers can focus on violent crime; expand MACRO (the Mobile Assistance Community Resources of Oakland), an evidence-based program that diverts 911 calls related to mental health, drunkenness in public, and homelessness to trained civilian dispatchers that include an EMT and a mental health professional.
  • Hold community listening circles and advocate for policies that directly address the safety and care needs of our community.

HOUSING IS A HUMAN RIGHT

  • Advocate for safe spaces and shelter for the unhoused, including access to food, personal hygiene, and other assistance as needed.
  • Support rent control and the protection of tenant’s rights.
  • Advocate for state and county investment in housing for no-income and low-income individuals, not more tax subsidies for corporate developers and landlords; rent never should never exceed 30% of the annual income of working class families.
  • Support community-based approaches to the housing crisis, such as the East Bay Permanent Real Estate Collective (EBPREC) and other community land trusts. 
  • Advocate for the repeal of The Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act, Prop 13 and the Ellis Act.

DEMOCRACY IS A HUMAN RIGHT

  • Support only campaigns free of corporate money and free of conflicts of interest.
  • Support only candidates who are not funded by military contractors, fossil fuel, police unions, private prison industry, foreign governments and corporations involved in human rights violations in the U.S. and abroad.
  • Advocate for public financing of elections and overturning Citizens United.
  • Advocate for democracy for all through support of fair and transparent election policy including hand-marked paper ballots, increased voter access especially in disenfranchised communities, fairly drawn election districts, language and culturally relevant materials.
  • Advocate for the protection of our First Amendment rights, freedom of the press, and participation in public meetings both in person and online.
  • Advocate for Election Day being made a federal holiday. 
  • Reform Alameda County’s Elections Department to ensure our local elections are well run.

EDUCATION IS A HUMAN RIGHT 

  • Advocate for the expansion of funding for public education, including universal preschool and fully funded special education.
  • Advocate for reversing the closure of public schools.
  • Advocate for tuition-free public college education.
  • Advocate for national and state programs to cancel student debt.
  • Reject any diversion of public funds to for-profit charter schools.
  • Advocate for standardized testing reform.
  • Advocate for legislation for equitable distribution of school funding.

JUSTICE IS A HUMAN RIGHT

  • Advocate for ending mass incarceration and the failed War on Drugs.
  • Advocate for ending cash bail, private prisons, stop and frisk policing, police abuse of force, and all policies and practices that disproportionately impact Black, Indigenous and People of Color in the United States. 
  • Advocate for equity within the cannabis industry and investment into communities harmed by the drug war.
  • Advocate for the protection of DREAMers and TPS recipients, and maintaining Alameda County as a sanctuary county.
  • Advocate for the abolition of ICE and the adoption of comprehensive immigration reform.
  • Advocate for reparations for Black Americans on local, state and federal levels 

PEACE IS A HUMAN RIGHT

  • Advocate for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and a diplomatic solution that leads to equal rights for all in Israel/Palestine.
  • Demand the end of U.S. military funding to the state of Israel and all other state and non-state actors involved in the commission of human rights violations. 
  • Advocate for divestment from companies that benefit from mass atrocities anywhere in the world, including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, China, Zimbabwe, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Haiti, Palestine and Afghanistan. 
  • Advocate for the divestment of public funds from the military industrial complex.

DIGNITY IS A HUMAN RIGHT

  • Affirm that nobody should be discriminated against for who they are.
  • Oppose LGBTQIA, religious, ethnic, racial, national origin, gender, disability, mental status, economic, age and all other discrimination in any form.
  • Advocate for the expansion of social security benefits.
  • Advocate for investment in senior centers for citizens in loneliness and need.
  • Advocate for investment in centers and other spaces for people with developmental disabilities.

 LIVING WAGE IS A HUMAN RIGHT

  • Advocate for a living wage indexed to inflation and the cost of living.
  • Advocate for a Universal Jobs Program and Universal Basic Income.
  • Advocate for non-regressive tax policy and the Earned Income Tax Credit expansion as outlined in the Grow American Incomes Now Act (GAIN).
  • Advocate for the abolition of Right To Work laws.

HEALTHCARE IS A HUMAN RIGHT

  • Advocate for a national Single Payer/Medicare-For-All program.
  • Advocate for legislation to create a comprehensive guaranteed health care system.
  • Advocate for the expansion of local healthcare benefits and community hospitals.
  • Advocate for fast and uninterrupted transfer of coverage and care when people move between counties.

PRIVACY IS A HUMAN RIGHT

  • Advocate for the protection of all women’s right to choice and access to abortion.
  • Advocate for the reversal of the state’s power of surveillance.
  • Advocate for the bolstering of internet privacy laws that prevent the sale of personal information to third parties.

HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT IS A HUMAN RIGHT

  • Affirm clean water and clean air are human rights.
  • Endorse, support and advocate for the Green New Deal in response to the worsening climate crisis.
  • Advocate for an 100% Solar/Renewable based economy and public infrastructure.
  • Advocate for the restriction of single-use plastics and end the wasteful use of all plastics.
  • Reject privatization of water sources and fracking.
  • Advocate for a divestment of public funds from fossil fuel industries.
  • Advocate for an expansion of funding for and development of Mass Transit for all communities.
  • Advocate for a retrofitting of community buildings with solar power systems.
  • Advocate for sustainable urban and suburban development, including the protection of public common spaces and parks.
  • Advocate for an expansion of local recycle programs.
  • Require humane treatment of all living creatures.
  • Support and advocate for climate initiatives for carbon neutral communities

INTERNET IS A HUMAN RIGHT 

  • Advocate for the adoption of Ro Khanna’s Six Principles for an Internet Bill of Rights:
    • Right to universal web access
    • Right to net neutrality
    • Right to be free from warrantless metadata collection
    • Right to disclose amount, nature, and dates of secret government data requests
    • Right to be fully informed of scope of data use
    • Right to be informed when there is change of control over data.
    • We recognize that the internet is the new economic landscape and invest in broadband infrastructure into rural and low income communities.
  • Advocate for Municipal Internet programs to democratize internet usage and increase economic development.
  • Advocate for the regulation of broadband internet as a public utility.