Page 28 - Sonoma County Gazette July 2020

The Pain of Others:
Black writer James Baldwin articulated a stunning revelation that white people need Negroes to carry the burden, not only of labor, but to embody
our own negative or lower self, of which we are afraid.. In a New Yorker
essay later published in The Fire Next Time, Baldwin wrote: “White people in this country will have quite enough to do in learning how to accept and love themselves and each other, and when they have achieved this – which will not be tomorrow and may very well be never – the Negro problem will no longer exist, for it will no longer be needed.” A weird, symbiotic but destructive relationship has possessed us in the 400 years since white men enslaved blacks. But this “othering” of a class of people different from ourselves is not only reserved for black people, not only for people of color, but for people of sexual difference, and the poor; and it is a license to kill.
SPRINGS AFFORDABLE HOUSING PROPOSAL PASSES!
Have we learned anything yet?
In June the Sonoma Valley Citizens Advisory Commission (SVCAC)
voted to send the County Planning Department a proposal to build 92 senior affordable housing units on property now housing a mobile home park including 12 households. 36 people would be subject to eviction - 25 adults and 11 children to be replaced by 300 seniors in a three story building.
It may serve us for a time but it does not help us. The pressure that builds up as we suppress feelings we do not want to own eventually creates an explosion, not always physical but violent and destructive nevertheless, whether it takes the form of police brutality, genocide, war or domestic abuse. Our violence requires a victim, usually someone weaker, or made weaker
Ann Colichidas, President of the Sonoma Valley Mobile Homeowners Association, submitted a letter reflecting life now. “I see HOME to multigenerational families living there for decades. I see a safe, affordable community, I see kids playing where there is no traffic, I see people sitting out on their verandas in the fresh air. I see flowers that are someone’s pride and joy... I see trees, a big sky and glimpses of Sonoma Mountain. I see a location that provides access to necessary goods, services, jobs and transportation. I see families afraid of losing their homes and battle weary from previous attempts to close the park and the ongoing campaign of the park owner.”
by the circumstances we have created to corral them. The image of the policeman’s knee on the neck of a strong black man forced to the ground will remain with us for a long time to come.
The developer, Milestone Housing of Los Gatos, faced a variety of questions that centered on four topics.
1. Procedures for protecting the current residents.
2. The size of the three story project to be sandwiched among Siesta Way, E.
This is all very important, wrote a Sonoman to one of the papers during the uprising that followed the murder of Floyd George. But fortunately, he said, we don’t have that problem here. Was he being ironic? There was a naivete about the tone that suggests he was not. But we do have that problem here, partially concealed under the thin skin of our nice white liberalism.
Thomson, and Highway 12. Current Sonoma rules don’t allow three story structures. A comment, “People on the third story will be gazing into everyone’s backyard on E. Thomson!” Also, there were inquiries about the protection of the nine (9) mature oaks vulnerable because of oversize parking areas.
Will Shonbrun writes, in an email: “The history of police brutality [in Sonoma County] is wide and deep and goes back to the 1990s. In response to the inordinate number of deaths in the Sonoma County jail, and police- related fatalities, a federal Commission on Civil Rights and its Advisory Committees investigated Sonoma County law enforcement agencies and among its chief recommendations was the creation of an effective civilian review board” which happened 20 years ago.
3. Why are there 92 units (544 square feet each) laid out on a 2.29 acre parcel? Isn’t that a case of overload? Another questioner asked why are they
single bedroom apartments? What about elders who need a two bedroom complex? The new senior affordable units at Fetters down the road have 1-2- 3 bedroom facilities.
A group is working on a petition “to expand and strengthen that oversight entity for the safety and protection of all county residents.” More information at socoeffectiveoversight.org.
4. The most frequent criticism of the Milestone proposal was its Siesta Way location. Traffic from the neighborhoods to the east is heavy. Three minute stops at Highway 12 are common.
Springs Splash will keep you informed of what comes next. . Those who wish
Black people have been telling whites for years that we need to deal with our race problem before we can stop racism in America. Janet Ryvlin and Denise Blanc have been developing a series of classes about whiteness, which they introduced last year at the Shambhala Center here. They just completed another, six-week series this spring and will offer another in July. “White people benefit from doing work with each other. Because of our privilege
we don’t see our own racism,” Janet told me. To learn more, contact Janet at jplanet10@comcast.net
to ask questions of the County planner in charge may contact him at (707-565- 1735) Eduardo.Hernandez@sonoma-county.org.
These are slow, if painstaking signs of change. But perhaps the leap forward lay in the tenor of the protests this year.
“From where did this come? What’s its history?” The bell has resided at Ms. Lynn Spivak’s home for twenty years. Traveling to Denver, Colorado, her parents, Eugene & Shirley Spivak, passed a church in Matherton, Minnesota, that was being decommissioned. The bell was for sale.
D’mitra Smith, speaking at one of three protests in the Sonoma Plaza, all organized by students, raised a fervent fist in defiance of racism in this county. But she managed to acknowledge and engage white people in the fight. “It’s all connected and we need all of us to get through this.
When they moved to Sonoma, they placed it in front of their house hen gave the bell to their daughter. There are no foundry casting marks to indicate where it was cast. Thank you Ms. Spivak for adding cultural interest for the many walkers who pass the bell.
“I have privilege,” she cried. “I am a citizen. I can vote. I don’t have to worry about ICE showing up at my door.
“What do white folks need to do with their privilege? Your privilege is a tool. Use it! Use it!”
Four hundred people, mostly white, mostly young, cheered.
Commissioners stated concern for the current inhabitants but seemed placated by the fact that State law will govern what will happen to these people if Sonoma County approves the project. The rules are complex. Let’s hope the evictees have access to free legal help.
The Los Robles Bell catches the eye of daily walkers!
On Los Robles Drive above Central walkers come face to face with a large mission-type bell set in concrete.
28 - www.sonomacountygazette.com - 7/20