It's Getting Hot In Here

This is what green-blue solidarity can look like. Early Tuesday morning the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, Oakland Apollo Alliance, Urban Habitat along with concerned citizens and local groups rallied together in the name of green jobs, not jails. We joined about 150 people gathered outside the Oakland City Hall in support of the Green Jobs Corps, which would help create green-collar jobs in Oakland. The rally directly preceded the City Council meeting where the public works committee recommended that the council vote to increase funding from $100,000 to $250,000 to provide specialized job training and paid internships for people with barriers to employment and this work would make the city more energy efficient. Where is this money coming from? The city has $4.17 million from a lawsuit from the California energy crisis in 2000/2001 to be spent on energy efficiency projects; what we were there demanding is that this financial resource be channeled to those who were hurt most and need it most now –our impoverished youth who can become the backbone of the local green economy we all need to solve the climate crisis in a just way.

The Oakland Green Jobs Corps is described as a “world-class job training system providing ‘green pathways out of poverty’ for young adults in Oakland.” Through the Job Corps the young adult community will not only get training for careers in green development but also gain life skills, literacy and vocational training. By uniting the environmental and urban youth movements it simultaneously benefits the climate and will help to propel Oakland residents out of poverty. The program will help empower Oakland’s youth, which can transcribe to youth populations around the country, especially if other cities adopt the program. It is important to continue building youth programs and movements that mobilize and recognize youth as the future. We can view Oakland’s new Green Job Corps program as step forward for all youth and need to continue strongly supporting and discussing programs and initiatives of this manner. Speakers at the rally included Van Jones, the Executive Director of the Ella Baker Center, Oakland poetic activist Aya de Leon, Victor Ochoa the Deputy Chief of Staff in Oakland, and the plan is strongly backed by the Oakland Mayor and Councilwoman Nadel who are urging the city to give it priority. Add your support to the Green Jobs Corp by writing a quick email. You can read more from the Oakland Tribune.