As 2010 comes to an end, we reflect on the issues that were at the tip of everyone’s tongues.
The beginning of the year was marked by a devastating natural disaster that wreaked havoc in the Caribbean. On Jan. 12, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake rocked the island nation of Haiti, affecting more than a million people and killing more than 230,000. People in San Francisco and throughout the Bay Area responded by holding numerous fundraising events and continue to keep abreast of the situation there. Thanks to these local and other international efforts, billions of dollars in donations poured in from around the world. The people of Haiti now contend with a cholera outbreak and our continued support is essential.
In April, an oil spill began gushing from a deepwater drilling facility in the Gulf of Mexico, lasting for three months. This was the largest oil spill in history, costing billions of dollars in damage to the gulf coast’s industries and clean-up costs. The actual environmental toll of the damage is still being debated, but what is clear is that free trade policies that allowed for companies to pursue the extraction of fossil fuels with little accountability have been carried too far and need to be revised.
People around the world responded to the devastation of the gulf and other policies carried out by the developed countries of the world with the World People’s Congress on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth in Cochambamba, Bolivia at the end of April. There, people from around the Americas, Asia and Africa gathered to craft a unified statement and strategize about addressing global warming and the environmental impact of free trade policies while also standing up for the rights of indigenous peoples. The statement was submitted to the United Nations for review and was also a part of the recent gathering of activists in Cancun for the United Nations Summit on Climate Change. A whole new chapter in environmental and indigenous rights activism has gained momentum this past year.
After more than seven years, the combat troops were withdrawn from Iraq by presidential decree in August of this year, officially ending the War in Iraq. But thousands of private contractors remain, along with tens of thousands of military personnel that are supposed to help with training Iraqi security forces. The War in Afghanistan continues, with several months of the year seeing some of the highest casualty reports of the war. We still have a long way to go until all of our troops are returned home and we can begin to establish healing relationships with these devastated regions.
Closer to home, another kind of war has been ravaging Mexico, as the Mexican government steps up its efforts to combat drug traffickers. More than 25,000 people have died as a result of gang violence perpetrated by cartels along the Mexican border. This has created a desperate situation for many of Mexico’s vulnerable communities. At the same time, the U.S. government has stepped up its militarization of the Mexican border, all but abandoning Obama’s campaign promises to create a meaningful immigration reform that takes into account the millions of Latin American immigrants that are already in the country.
Instead, we saw the introduction of SB 1070, an Arizona bill which would give the local law enforcement the capacity to stop anyone they suspected of being in the country illegally and ask for identification before arresting them and reporting them to immigration officials to prepare for deportation. The bill was the center of a huge legal dispute that originally saw certain portions overturned by a federal judge only to have a 3-person committee reinstate core provisions that critics say will effectively criminalize the fact of being Latino. Protests erupted throughout the country against the bill and continue, with artists creating political art to address the situation and people from all walks of life showing their solidarity with immigrants that are being impacted by these types of measures. In its stead, proponents of immigration reform are trying to secure passage of the DREAM Act, which would give undocumented youth who have enlisted in the military or studied in the U.S. the opportunity to become citizens.
Studying in the U.S. has also become a complicated issue. Massive tuition hikes and privatization at public universities that were proposed beginning in 2009 have created a surge of student activism not seen for several years. In California, strikes and sit-ins organized by students inspired similar protest efforts around the world, and the year 2010 has been a year of massive student activity from Paris to Puerto Rico.
The general state of the U.S. economy has impacted every sector of society. The recent recession which started with the foreclosure crisis has grown to impact just about every area of the economy. Unemployment is at its highest in 30 years. Nationally, the government’s efforts to forestall the crisis have amounted to massive aid packages for businesses and banks, with little relief in sight for millions of people. Locally, California has seen drastic budget cuts that might have resulted in extreme cuts to many social and human service organizations had it not been for the tenacity of local activists in organizing to stop them. Now, nonprofits around the country and throughout California are struggling to remain afloat in the midst of fewer funds. But the spirit of resistance is still strong, as evidenced by a Community Congress convened by the city’s progressive community at the end of the summer to propose comprehensive reforms that would give city residents more say in how policy and budget decisions are made in the future.
It has been a difficult year for sure, but in the face of travails, there is triumph in the fact that around the city and the world, people have been organizing. We are hopeful about 2011 because the activism we have seen has become more vocal and more creative. A resurgent student movement, a bold new chapter in environmental organizing and the continued struggle of immigration reform activists has galvanized people from a cross-section of society. Local organizations continue to fight against proposed budget cuts to necessary services and put forth agendas aimed at bringing the city’s diverse constituencies together. These are movements that will carry our hope into the next year.
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