Oakland City Council Oakland District Three Councilmember Carroll Fife Posted This On March 19th, 2021
Dear movement family,
I often find myself up late and night and early in the morning with the weight of countless burdens on my heart and mind. As I fight for the things poor people deserve: housing, healthcare, liberatory and nurturing education, life supporting jobs, clean air to breath and more, I am reminded daily that none of us should be in the crosshairs for working to make the world liveable for all. The selfishness of the wealthy (and those aspiring to be wealthy) who have stolen and hoarded resources, actively create pain and impossible conditions for those living on the margins.
I am fully aware that we are on the right side of the transformative times in which we are currently living, but it does not lighten the load. Hearing the whisper campaigns, watching the direct and indirect attempts to discredit and disrupt our movement objectives reminds me of history lessons learned from activists and radical changemakers. In Oakland, and around the world, people are standing up for their lives and their humanity. From Ethiopia to Myanmar, there is a resounding cry from the ground demanding recognition as human beings whose lives have value.
So why is this so hard? It’s because instruction and education on critical thinking, resistance movements or just about any topic that would create an informed populace with a desire for equity and real freedom, is rare. Miseducation and misinformation is by design. An informed populace poses a threat to the powerful, to the systems of white supremacy and capitalism that funnel our society’s wealth into the hands of the very few.
So if a few people fall for the lies that are circulating, I don’t blame them. Not all of us have access to knowledge about how the State acts to repress every expression of the struggle for collective liberation. Instead I’ll continue to fight the folks telling the lies and controlling the narrative, and educating Oaklanders about the history of how social movements like ours have been targeted by federal law enforcement and undermined by neoliberal politicians and the cronies they pay.
Stay encouraged friends. We are many and we will stay the course. We have nothing to lose but our chains.
Yours in solidarity,
Carroll Fife
As one who lives in Councilmember Fife’s District Three, it would be great if she would focus on the task at hand with passing Oakland City Council initiatives, ask for help, and then keep her head down and grind. She’s the power now – no excuses.