Your City. Your Budget. Imagine That.

As you may have heard by now, our signature gathering campaign launched with a BANG. We’ve been all over Oakland- marching on May Day against Police brutality, hitting up First Friday Art Walk, and taking action at West Oakland BART (just to name a few..)

It’s only been a week, but we have already gathered hundreds of signatures.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CDP supporters like YOU came from all over the city to take action for people power. Volunteers with different backgrounds and experiences sharing the SAME belief that the people of Oakland deserve to have a voice in their community.

Here’s an example of one of our amazing volunteers.

Meet Linda Chen. In the beginning, Linda wanted to support our campaign but was unsure about signature gathering. Linda had no experience and didn’t know what to expect. Their response to our invitation to join us? “I’ll try it one time.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
After CDP volunteer training and a day of gathering signatures, Linda turned out to be a natural, and gathered the most signatures out of everyone! Their soft spoken nature and strong conviction got people to listen. Not only that, at the end of the day they said “It changed the way I think about how I interact with people, and this will have a big impact on how I show up in my life.”

Whether you are an old supporter or completely new to CDP, come out and join people like Linda in taking action for Oakland and for yourself. I know what you’re wondering.. WHEN CAN I START? WHERE DO I GO?

Here are the shifts for this weekend:

Sat May 9th 1-5pm: Second Saturday Art & Music Walk (meet at corner of San Pablo & Alcatraz)

Sun May 10th 1-4pm: Lake Merritt

Or sign up for other signature gathering parties in May here!

In solidarity,

Mandy and the CDP team

CDP-like Oakland itself-is made up of diverse and passionate individuals, individuals with different experiences who all share the commitment to making democracy real in our city. Below are the personal statements of just two of our members.

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My name’s Tia. I sue perpetrators of domestic violence for a living and I have a love-hate relationship with the police.

Concord’s first police officer dedicated to domestic violence

While I recognize and appreciate law enforcement’s ability to remove a batterer from an abusive household in times of crisis, I also sometimes feel a cramp-inducing fear in my stomach when I spot a uniform-clad officer in my vicinity.

I joined the Community Democracy Project right about when the Darren Wilson verdict came out of Ferguson. That night, I marched in solidarity with Ferguson and then came home feeling tired and hopeless. I felt hopeless because the murder of Michael Brown wasn’t an isolated incident. This past week in Baltimore has proven that point yet again.

The police have slain too many other Black folks:
Freddie Gray.
Yuvette Henderson.
Yvette Smith.
Eleanor Bumpurs.
Aiyana Stanley-Jones.
Tarike Wilson.
Dante Parker.
Ezell Ford.
Kajieme Powell.
Akai Gurley.
Tamir Rice.
Rumain Brisbon.
Oscar Grant.
Raheim Brown.
Alan Blueford.

I get anxious writing these names because I know that each time I try to list victims of police brutality, I forget someone. There’s really just too many names.

So, when the Black Lives Matter movement put out a national call to action, I joined Asians4BlackLives and we shut down the Oakland Police Department. I did this because as a Pilipino person, I recognize that Asians are used to prop up the anti-Black racism that allowed Darren Wilson to walk free.

That’s me trying to make sure the cops stay calm while my friends literally put their bodies on the line by chaining themselves to the OPD entrance in response to a national call to shut down institutions that perpetrate the war on Black people.

Believe me. Shutting down OPD was one of the most amazing moments of my life. That day, members of the Blackout Collective, Black Brunch, and Black Lives Matter joined us.

Their power together was breath-taking.

After symbolically shutting down OPD for a day, I wondered: how can we actually shut down police brutality for good?

That’s where the Community Democracy Project comes in. While the world was in mourning, CDP held space for its members to mourn and be optimistic.

The optimistic part? It FINALLY starts on ‪#‎MayDay‬.

That tagline? “Your City. Your Budget. Imagine That”? Really. IMAGINE IT. The possibilities are overwhelmingly positive.

Imagine spending less on police weapons and more on OPD’s domestic violence unit. Less on the Coliseum Lease and more on affordable housing.

Imagine:

Community owned solar power plants
Domestic violence prevention workshops
Guaranteed jobs
Urban gardens on every block
Libraries open 24/7
Seed funding for worker owned cooperatives
Emergency contingency plans
Culturally relevant murals in public spaces
Free public transportation
Literacy programs
Daily preschool story-time
Rape crisis centers in every district
A requirement that all city employees learn nonviolent communication

Let’s make all of this and more happen. Let’s start on May Day.

Let’s rally with the ILWU in solidarity with victims of police brutality, and start gathering signatures to amend the city charter such that the PEOPLE have a real say on how we spend our money.

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Last night, CDP voted in THREE new members: Shoshanna Howard, Amy Tao, and Tim Ng.

Tim is also a member of Asians4BlackLives and this is what he has to say about joining CDP:

I joined CDP because I refuse to play with the cards that we’ve been dealt.

They tell us:
If a candidate is corrupt, don’t vote for them.
If a corporation is poisoning your neighborhood, don’t buy their products.
If the government doesn’t listen, just move somewhere else.

I challenge the system as a whole and the rules that we’re told to play by. The ruling elite act as a united force, while we are told to make our own little individual choices and trust that the system will listen to our incremental actions.

We were given a bucket of paint and told to change the color of the walls inside their house of oppression.

It’s time for us to step outside and build our own future - enact our transformative visions and take control of OUR money in OUR budget through the principles of the Community Democracy Project.

Community - We are stronger when we build bonds with each other.

Democracy - people power is always within ourselves, ready to be unleashed

Project - through participatory budgeting, we fund each others creative visions.

The path ahead is clear. On May 1, we set forth to a better future.

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We’re meeting THIS Friday (May 1st) at Oscar Grant/ Frank Ogawa Plaza near the 14th St. BART Station exit at 11:30AM.

If you can’t find us, please call or text Tia at 510-393-2723.

RSVP to our Facebook event so everyone will know CDP’s rolling deep on May Day.

If you’re feeling nervous…or if you want to brush up on some talking points about CDP, here’s a cheat sheet we made for volunteers! We’ll also give you a hard copy on May 1st.

For even more details, you can also watch our animated video about participatory budgeting or simply read the initiative here.

If you can’t make it at 11:30AM on May Day, we’re also meeting up at 5:00PM at Oscar Grant/Frank Ogawa Plaza to gather signatures at the First Friday Art Walk. You can also RSVP to other shifts here.

Lastly, please help us pay for the printing costs of this campaign! Donate $35 today!

We can’t wait to see you all!

Sincerely,

Tia, Tim, and the CDP Team

The time has come. Now is your chance to help make history in Oakland. Now is your chance to help build the new paradigm.

The old paradigm is the paradigm of passivity-we the people sit idly by while decisions that shape our city, our communities, our future are made for us, by forces mostly outside our control.

The new paradigm is the paradigm of participation-we the people engage in collective conversations about our shared reality, and we the people decide how to shape our city, our communities, our future.

The City Attorney’s office will send us the official Title and Summary language-to go at the top of each petition-by Tuesday. We will then be ready to gather signatures startingMay 1. (May Day, the historic international day for worker’s rights, the original Labor Day.)

Will you join us? Here is how you can help:

• Volunteer to help gather signatures. (A few hours per month, a few hours per week, a certain number of signatures from your friends and neighbors and coworkers, whatever you are willing to give will make a difference.)
• Make a donation.
• Plan to join us at our launch on May 1. (RSVP for details and to join one of our teams.)
• Phonebank with us on Sunday 4/26 at 1pm-3pm. (RSVP for location.)

Thanks for your support and for all you do to build a better world =)

Shawn and the CDP Team

First and foremost, we want to give a shout out to YOU and the rest of our supporters, who have shown us an overwhelming amount of excitement and dedication as we get ready to launch our signature gathering campaign! Our amazing CDP members and volunteers have already committed to gathering thousands of signatures. Thank you!

How many hours will you pledge to help make history in Oakland? May 1st is quickly approaching, and we need all hands on deck! The way we want Oakland to look and feel in the next five years (and beyond!) is up to us. With just two weeks left to prepare before our official signature gathering launch, we ask you to consider supporting and engaging with us, as we campaign to institutionalize the validity of neighborhood voices and direct democracy.

We have exactly six months from our start date to collect 40,000 signatures from registered Oakland voters. If you are willing to spare just two hours out of your month for the next six months, we can easily reach our goal!

Can’t wait til May 1st to get involved? No problem! Join us this Saturday, April 18th for a phone-banking party from 1:30 PM-3:00 PM. You can meet our members, and help us reach out to fellow supporters to rally support for our campaign. Please RSVP tocommunitydemocracyproject@ gmail.com for location information.

In solidarity,

Victoria and the CDP team

PS. CDP is an all-volunteer organization, but we need money to run a campaign! Visit our crowdfunding site today and donate! Thanks to our generous supporters, we have already reached 40% of our initial fundraising goal. If everyone gave just $1, we could easily reach our goal overnight!

The Community Democracy Project’s signature gathering campaign launch date is quickly approaching.

This means we need money to file and print our initiative. That’ll cost about $3,000 and we need to raise that much by May 1st!

Please donate today and watch CDP’s animated video about our vision for a people’s budget.

As you’ll learn from our video, to get our initiative on the ballot, we need to gather 40,000 signatures from Oakland residents.

CDP members and volunteers have already committed to gathering 36,418 signatures!

It takes about one hour to gather 16 signatures. That means we need less than 20 folks to pledge 12 hours each.

That’s only 2 hours per month between May 1st and October 28th! Admit it… that’s probably less than the time you spend every month feeling frustrated with the current system.

Maya Angelou once said, “If you don’t like something, change it.”

So…will you pledge at least 12 hours to help us create an infrastructure for community, democracy, and mass movement?

In solidarity,

Tia and the CDP team

P.S. Did this e-mail inspire you so much that you want to start helping us ASAP? If so, please attend our phone-banking party this Saturday, April 11 from1:00pm to3:00pm (Location: TBD). We plan to call all of our supporters to let them know that the campaign for a people’s budget starts on May 1st. Email us at communitydemocracyproject@ gmail.com to RSVP.

Calling all supporters! We are excited to announce that we are in the process of filing our petition with the city of Oakland, and we will be officially launching our signature campaign in just one month! Starting May 1st, we will have six months to gather signatures from Oakland residents so that we can get our initiative on the ballot and put the people of Oakland in charge of the city’s budget!

Many hands make light work, so we need as many volunteers as possible to help gather signatures. Spread the word, and contact us directly for more information about how to get involved! In the meantime, here are three things that you can do to get involved RIGHT NOW!

1) We will be hosting another Yard Sale/Phonebank Outreach on Saturday, April 4th from 2 pm-5 pm. Meet us at Alchemy Cafe at 1741 Alcatraz Ave in Berkeley, and help us reach out to our supporters to mobilize and get volunteer hours committed for our signature gathering launch! For more information, check out our Facebook event page.

2) Pledge to gather signatures! Have you been jonesing to get out there with CDP and chop it up with folks all over Oakland? Never fear, we have plenty of opportunities to get involved! Fill out a pledge form and we will follow up with to get you set up with a signature gathering crew.

3) We are always accepting donations, which is a great way to show your support if you’re not able to volunteer with us! As an all-volunteer campaign, we rely on community donations to fund our campaign. All proceeds go directly to the costs of running a campaign - none of our members or directors are paid for the countless hours that they continue to commit to our cause.

We thank you for your support!

In Solidarity,

Victoria and the CDP Team

There’s no time like the present to jump in and join the Community Democracy Project as we explore another Oakland neighborhood! This Sunday we’ll be hitting up Jack London Square to talk to folks about their vision for Oakland.

What: Another installment of Sunday street conversations. If you’re new, we’ll provide a brief training and orientation on community outreach and engagement. Then we’ll head out to talk to people we encounter about what they’d like to see in Oakland. Check out our Instagram for some great snapshots of past conversations!
When: Sunday, March 29th 12pm-2pm. Afterwards join us from 2-3pm to hang out and have some delicious eats! (Hint: it will include chicken & waffles!)
Where: Jack London Square. Email communitydemocracyproject@ gmail.com to RSVP and for location details.

MEANWHILE, in the campaign room…

CDP members and volunteers are excitedly gearing up to launch our next signature gathering campaign! We will be launching in the next couple months, so stay tuned, and sharpen those signature gathering skills! If you’d like to be involved in helping launch our campaign, we would love to have you – email communitydemocracyproject@ gmail.com to set up a meeting to discuss how you can plug into this momentous campaign.

Don’t have time? We’re always accepting donations! As an all-volunteer campaign, all of our funds come from community members like YOU and will support our signature gathering drive. We thank you for your support!

In solidarity,

Allee and the CDP team

Looking for something different to do this weekend? Meet interesting people who also love Oakland? Be a part of a movement to create social change?

The most meaningful part of my experience in CDP has been going out and interacting with people in our community. I’ve talked to so many people who are passionate about Oakland and who are looking for real social change. Believe me, there are a lot of us!

Just last Sunday, I had a great conversation with this Oakland local, who said the following:

“My voice and my opinion needs to mean something. Let me listen to you, listen to me, and let’s make a positive change in the community”

Are you ready to listen? Join us this Sunday for some important conversations about the future of Oakland!

What: Taking it to the People: Sunday Street Conversations
When: Sunday March 22nd 2014 1-3PM. Afterwards join us for coffee from 3-4 to debrief and relax.
Where: RSVP to communitydemocracyproject@gmail.com for location

In solidarity,

Mandy and the CDP team

 

Ah, Sunday afternoon! What better way to spend a lovely day in the sun than at our CDP Garage Sale for Good?

This Sunday from 1 – 5pm, CDP will be posted up outside Alchemy Collective Café with all sorts of treasures, trinkets and threads for sale. And of course, we’ll never neglect the opportunity to spread the people power message to community members that stop by.

Got gently used items you’d like to contribute? You’re definitely invited to bring them along. All unsold items will be donated to the local Goodwill.

One man’s junk is another’s treasure. Join us in our quest for a more democratic budget process for Oakland! CLICK HERE to RSVP.

Community Conversations! We’ll also have Street Teams out and about making connections with folks in the area (Ashby Flea Market, anyone?). Meet at 1 for a quick training and to join a team.

When: Sunday, March 15, at 1pm. (Street Teams go until 3, Garage Sale until 5,).

Where: Outside Alchemy Collective (worker–owned cooperative bordering Berkeley and Oakland), 1741 Alcatraz Avenue, Berkeley

Can’t make it then? Join us later!

3pm-4pm: Garage Sale and Street Teams will be meeting up for drinks. RSVP for location.

4pm-6pm: Phone banking at Alchemy Collective while Garage Sale continues

***Also, time is nearly up to cast your vote. What’s in store for CDP’s new logo? Your vote can help decide. CLICK HERE to vote by Saturday.

In solidarity,

Gabrielle and the CDP Team

Vote for Your Favorite Logo, Plus New Weekly Event Kickoff!

The competing designs are in, and now it’s up to you to vote for our new CDP logo! The winning logo will be revealed in our next newsletter, and it will also be featured on our website, social media, flyers, and cell phone covers. (Just kidding about the last one… or are we?) Click here to pick your favorite! Voting ends Friday, March 13th.

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We are excited to announce a brand new weekly CDP event, and everyone is invited! Join us THIS SUNDAY, March 8th to kick off an afternoon of meeting new friends, creating buzz for the people’s budget, taking pictures, and having fun in our beautiful city. Our weekly event is in three parts: we will engage in an outreach activity, followed by a recreational activity with new and old CDP friends, and then phone banking/email banking to connect with those who have shown interest in having a participatory budget in Oakland. The plan for this Sunday:

1-3 pm: Meet in front of Grand Lake Theater (3200 Grand Ave, Oakland, CA 94610). We will split off into teams to ask Oakland folks about their vision for an economically just Oakland, and what they would spend $1 million on for their neighborhood. Check out our Instagram for responses from our previous experiences!

3-4 pm: Soccer at Eastshore Park (between Grand Ave, Lakeshore Ave, and MacArthur Blvd) with food!

4-6 pm: Phone-banking/email-banking!

This will be a great time to bring friends, meet our new members/directors/volunteers, and meet up with people who hella love Oakland. Hope to see youthis Sunday at any of our activities! RSVP to communitydemocracyproject@gmail.com.

Stay tuned for more exciting events!

In Solidarity,

Talia and the CDP Team