Dear EBHO Community,
Like many of you, I am experiencing a range of emotions right now. For me, the most dominant feeling has been numbness and exhaustion. I would like to acknowledge that for some of us, it is a privilege to be able to take a break, to rest, and to take care of ourselves and our families’ emotional wellbeing. But for many of the most vulnerable members of our community—particularly those who will bear the brunt of the most immediate effects of the election results—fear and uncertainty are inescapable.
From the top of the ticket to the down ballot races, including statewide and local initiatives, the election results are a disappointing and significant setback for the fight for equity and security for vulnerable, low-income people in the East Bay.
We’ve been here before. And so has EBHO. Over our 40 years as a housing justice nonprofit working steadfastly towards a vision of a racially and economically just East Bay, we’ve accomplished great progress and we’ve endured major obstacles. EBHO will continue to mobilize the power and wisdom of our members, from younger generations new to the housing justice movement who contribute new energy and ideas, to more seasoned veterans who hold a wealth of expertise and experience. Together, we will continue to build community, take care of each other, and grow this movement.
Together, we will get through this.
Take care of yourselves and each other.
In solidarity,
— Lindsay Haddix, Executive Director
“Your opponents would love you to believe that it’s hopeless, that you have no power, that there’s no reason to act, that you can’t win. Hope is a gift you don’t have to surrender, a power you don’t have to throw away.”
— Rebecca Solnit, Hope in the Dark: The Untold History of People Power
“Things are not getting worse, they are getting uncovered. We must hold each other tight and continue to pull back the veil.”
— Adrienne Maree Brown
Artist credit: Devon Blow
@devthepineapple