Technology weaves in and out of our lives in myriad ways. There’s a 73% chance that you are reading this month’s newsletter from the palm of your hand. And if that’s the case, we are willing to guess that you ordered today’s lunch, bought a transit pass, or added a holiday gift to your shopping cart from your smartphone as well. For some, technology is how work gets done. For others, it’s how life gets done. As one of our strongest connections to the rest of the world, smartphones and the internet carried some of us through the worst parts of the COVID-19 pandemic through memes and solidarity. On the other side, the tech industry has dramatically widened income inequality, concentrated wealth and power among a shrinking number of predominantly white men, and disproportionately harmed low-wage workers.

As we approach the third year in which Normal Ain’t Normal, the big business of tech is solidly an integral part of our lives and economies. Approaching the next inflection point on this journey to recovery, can we retool our relationship with tech and create systems that work equitably for all of us?

Absolutely!

Throughout all the wariness, this time is ripe for recreating industries, reimagining housing, and reinventing how and for whom the Bay works. We are excited about a future where everyone has access to quality, empowered jobs that allow them to benefit from and shape the new normal. We are ecstatic to use tech for the greatest good and make it possible for everyone to live full lives with security, dignity, and agency in our work, home and communities. We can’t wait to ReWork the Bay.

In Community,

Rob, Kayla, & Brianna

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Home is a heavy concept. As a noun, it’s pretty easy to point one out, but things get murky when we explore it as a feeling. Home is jumping off the last step on the school bus and running full speed to catch up with your friends so you all can walk together. Home is knowing which burner on the stove is the tricky one. Home is knowing that Ms. Gladys on the 3rd floor walks to church every Sunday and going up to knock when you don’t hear her come down the steps. Home is sacred, but just as quickly as you can create one, it can be taken from you.

In 2020, California began taking steps toward making families whole again. Assembly Bill 3121 established the Task Force to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans. “AB 3121 charges the Reparations Task Force with studying the institution of slavery and its lingering negative effects on living African Americans, including descendants of persons enslaved in the United States, and on society. Additionally, the Task Force will recommend appropriate remedies of compensation, rehabilitation, and restitution for African Americans, with a special consideration for descendants of persons enslaved in the United States. By statute, the Task Force will issue a report to the Legislature by June 1, 2022, which will be available to the public.” (The report is done and it’s [appropriately] 500 pages long).

Through this bill, families like the descendants of Willa and Charles Bruce have an avenue to win their fight for home. Earlier this year, The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to return Bruce’s Beach, a popular Black resort in 1920’s Manhattan Beach City, to the family of the owners. “As we move to remedy this nearly century-old injustice, California takes another step furthering our commitment to making the California Dream a reality for communities that were shamefully shut out by a history of racist exclusion,” Governor Newsom said. “We know our work is just beginning to make amends for our past, and California will not shy from confronting the structural racism and bias that people of color face to this day.”

We agree wholeheartedly. The work to remedy the injustice of the past–a necessity prior to realize a just and inclusive future–is just beginning. Rising rents, gentrification, and climate change remain daily threats to the sanctity of our homes. It’s time to build a new future for the Bay Area, one where everyone can live full lives with security, dignity, and agency in our work, home, and communities. It’s time to craft a world where good hard work translates into bright futures for current and future generations. It’s time to ReWork the Bay.

Ready to join us? Check out our website to see how we are showing up for that future and what you can do to help (and while you are there, check out the State of Bay Area Workers Data Tool!).

In Community,

Rob, Kayla, & Brianna

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