Page 6 - Sonoma County Gazette April 2017

OPINION: Standing Rock is Not Over
pipeline has su ered a string of setbacks including an executive order reversing the Obama administration’s hold on the Dakota Access Pipeline, and the Army Corps decision to abandon the environmental impact review. Yet far from accepting defeat, Native communities and their allies have become energized by events taking place all over the country, including here in Sonoma County. “We haven’t lost; we have awakened people to water rights issues, land rights issues including tribal sovereignty, and environmental justice, as well as issues of women of color and marginalized communities.” states Eryn Wise, resident of the Jicarilla Apache Reservation in New Mexico and member of International Indigenous Youth Council. Eryn was one of many tribal leaders and speakers from around the country who rallied native Americans and their allies at a series of marches called by The Indigenous Environmental Network and the International Indian Treaty Council.
OPINION: The Legacy of Andy Lopez
By Linda Swartz
The camps have for the most part been cleared, and the movement against the
By Ron Rogers
It has now been over three years since 13-year-old Andy Lopez was shot
and killed by Sonoma county deputy (now sergeant) Erick Gelhaus while Andy was walking in his Roseland neighborhood returning a toy replica gun to a friend. Despite this passage of time, Andy’s legacy remains unclear. Will the legacy of Andy Lopez be a permanent divide in Sonoma county between those who think the shooting was justified and those who do not? Or was the shooting a tipping point for the community to begin seeking common ground to achieve needed change?
Local group Sonoma Solidarity with Standing Rock is aligned with march organizers who state: ”The Standing Rock movement . . . has evolved into a global movement highlighting the necessity to respect Indigenous Nations whose rights protect Mother Earth for future generations.”
For nearly three years, we have
been working on a public affairs
documentary about the Andy Lopez
shooting and its impact on the people
of Sonoma county. Although fatal
police shootings are happening and
reported in the news throughout the
United States, this shooting has struck
a deep cord here and affected people throughout the county.
The group recognizes that the call to respect indigenous rights is also a call to preserve human rights; that the right to clean water, a livable environment, clean energy, and climate justice are rights we all share and must stand together to uphold.
Over 40 in-depth interviews with county residents having wide-ranging perspectives have been filmed so far for the documentary, currently titled “Andy”. These include interviews with Sonoma County Sheriff Steve Freitas, Santa Rosa Police Chief Hank Schreeder, District Attorney Jill Ravitch, several members of the Board of Supervisors and the Santa Rosa City Council, attorneys, activists, educators, clergy, police officers, young people, members of the state legislature, city and county law enforcement auditors, friends of Andy, and others. We have also collected three years of archival footage, photographs, news reports, and other materials for use in the film. These interviews and other materials reveal that in Sonoma county -- like many other communities around the country -- concerns about police use of force, police-community relations, gun control, availability of replica guns, public official transparency and accountability, the independence of police shooting investigations, and other related issues are hotly debated and unlikely to go away any time soon.
Sonoma Solidarity formed last September when a group of 30 citizens gathered in Santa Rosa, concerned about the escalating violence at Standing Rock. As they continued to organize and grow, in October and November members initiated divestment actions in San Francisco, San Rafael and Santa Rosa urging divestment from the pipeline, in concert with other groups across the USA.
Adam Villagomez, local member of Dakota Sioux/Chippewa and Cynthia Quinn of Yurok descent, along with other members, led an event with a rally and silent vigil in Santa Rosa on December 4, drawing 600 marchers including local veterans. The march coincided with the convergence of veterans from all over the country at Standing Rock in support of the 100 tribes gathered there.
We are trying to find out why the United States has a significantly higher number of fatal police shootings than other countries around the world.
In January at the Women’s March in Santa Rosa, we disseminated divestment information and marched with 5,000 others to stand up for human rights, social and environmental justice, and climate action. That same week we hosted another event featuring Native American youth speakers from Standing Rock at the Sebastopol Grange. The following week we joined over 100 environmental and social activist groups at the North Bay Community Engagement Fair where we raised funds for the water protectors.
Unfortunately, we are finding bias and misperceptions all around. Some see the videos of police shootings in the news and believe that all police officers use excessive force and are biased against minorities. Some public officials and police officers see the protests in the streets and in the media and believe that anyone who questions police conduct is anti-police. Neither is true.
We initiated an ongoing letter writing campaign to target elected o cials and to request an investigation into con icts of interest and human rights abuses at Standing Rock.
Despite all this, we have discovered that the Andy Lopez shooting seems to have been a tipping point for Sonoma county, leading people on both sides of the issue to look for common ground to achieve change. Although not universally popular, initiatives like the hiring of auditors for the sheriff’s office and police department, the use of police body cams, progress on the annexation of Roseland, the creation of Andy’s Unity Park, and other efforts have arisen out of the tragedy. Whether these initiatives will bear fruit is yet to be known. But we have discovered that the struggle is to find answers and change the conditions that led to the shooting ... or face the heart-breaking potential of the same tragedy happening again.
In February and March we collaborated with 350.Marin to stage divestment actions at SPO Partners, and Wells Fargo, both invested in the pipeline. Dennis Bernstein on KPFA’s “Flashpoint” interviewed members at this action. Upcoming actions include The People’s Climate March on April 29, organized by a coalition of environmental and social justice groups, and tabling for divestment at Day Under The Oaks at the SRJC.
The filmmakers can only imagine what it was like for the Lopez family to lose 13-year-old Andy in such a violent way. We can see, though, that there has been a significant ripple effect throughout the county with a number of lives deeply and permanently affected. And three years later, the emotions are still very raw.
Standing Rock supporters are now galvanized by recent news of successful divestment campaigns in Seattle, Berkeley, Richmond, San Francisco and Santa Monica, as well as international cities in Norway, Sweden, The Netherlands, Australia and many others.
When released in the fall of 2017, the documentary will give a voice to both sides of the issue. The film may be criticized for not supporting one side over the other. But both sides have valid views and the lessons of that tragedy may not yet have been fully learned.
Currently our goals are:
1) Fundraising to support lawsuits filed against Energy Transfer Partners, the major pipeline funder, and to support legal defense for hundreds of people arrested during lawful and peaceful protests.
2) Promoting divestment from banks and other organizations invested in the pipeline.
3) Educating the community about the current status of Standing Rock and ways to support indigenous peoples and communities.
We continue to hold biweekly meetings the 2nd and 4th Saturdays of each month at the Peace and Justice Center. We invite your participation and deeply appreciate your support.
To contact Sonoma Solidarity: Facebook: facebook.com.SonomaNoDAPL Website: sonomasolidarity.org Email: sonoma.solidarity@gmail.com
6 - www.sonomacountygazette.com - 4/17
After nearly three years of filming and other work, the documentary is now at a point where associating a top-level film editor and other post-production elements are necessary to take the film to the level this compelling subject deserves. A fund-raiser to help finance the finishing of the documentary will take place on April 25 at Aqus Cafe in Petaluma, with a showing of a short trailer from the film and Q & A with the film’s director. With proper funding, this documentary – aimed at public television, film festivals, and community showings – will make a significant contribution to a constructive dialogue.
So, what is the legacy of Andy Lopez? We don’t yet know. But surely, it is worthwhile to find out.
Ron Rogers is a filmmaker based in Sonoma county and Producer with Blue Coast Films LLC, maker of public affairs documentaries.