Unity Wins
Dear Friends,
This election felt deeply personal to me. And with 160 million people voting, the highest percentage turnout in the last 100 years, it felt personal to many of us. We voted like our lives depended on it. For EBALDC, the vision of building healthy, vibrant, and resilient neighborhoods here in Oakland the East Bay was definitely at stake. In the end, the message of UNITY for our country and prioritizing a national response to the coronavirus, economic recovery, criminal justice reform, systemic racism, and the climate crisis prevailed.
CONGRATULATIONS TO PRESIDENT-ELECT JOE BIDEN AND VICE PRESIDENT-ELECT KAMALA HARRIS.
I want to let this soak in. Stop and savor the history of this moment in Kamala Harris’ victory. A daughter of immigrants, she is an Oakland and East Bay native, who is the living embodiment of Black and Asian UNITY. She has experienced the biases and the struggles that people of color and women confront every day, to be our next Vice President.
So it is with renewed hope and optimism that we can close out 2020 and look to a brighter, more inclusive future. As the parent of two teenagers, one of whom voted in his first general election, I was thankful that they were able to experience a democracy that works. They saw that everyone’s voices – through their votes – mattered. Young voters of color showed up strong with 87% of Black youth, 83% of Asian youth and 73% of Latinx youth voting overwhelmingly in favor of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. Our youth voted for UNITY.
And with this mandate, the hard work is just beginning, even here in California and the East Bay. Votes are still being tallied in California, with the passage of Measure W here in Alameda County still too close to call. We are deeply disappointed in California’s failure to pass Proposition 16 in support of racial equity. We still have much work to do.
Finally, we owe a debt of gratitude to local election workers and officials, U.S. postal workers, and get out the vote organizers. In the face of tremendous pressure, and in some cases, threats and intimidation, they upheld the integrity of this election and our democracy.
2020 has truly been the year of the essential worker.
In Community,
Charise Fong
CEO (Interim)