Contra Costa County has always been one of the hardest counties in the Bay Area to define. Some define it by its largest city, Concord – known for its direct view of Mt Diablo, thriving Latinx community, and multiple stops on the BART line. Others think of old, industrial Contra Costa – the part of the county stretching from San Pablo Bay in Richmond to the Carquinez Strait in Martinez – with its shoreline, military history and the majority of the Bay’s refineries.

If you couldn’t tell, Pier 5 Law Offices is awesome. They are a a group of really progressive sole practitioner lawyers who have been fighting the good fight for over 40 years. In fact they’ve successfully defended more marijuana cases than any other group of lawyers. As you can tell

This is par for the course. For Black folks, America has always been a hazardous navigation with racist cops and water-cannons, bigoted institutions and poor legal representation. For most of our history you couldn’t even play on the course if you were “colored” (pretty sure we still have plenty of “country clubs” like that ). Today, the tee is still set about a hundred yards back with more than sandtraps lying in wait.

Activist and thought leader Elizabeth McLaughlin made an excellent suggestion on facebook addressing how to peacefully combat racist rallies like the one in #charlottesville.   Specifically, there are white supremacist rally planned for Crissy Field in San Francisco on August 26th and in Downtown Berkely on August 27th.  McLaughlin referenced a great, non-violent tactic to combat these hateful

Created by Bartenders against Nazi’s, inspired by neo-fascist Richard B. Spencer getting punched in the face

“We fought for social justice.” –Khieu Samphan a leader of the Khmer Rouge,  a group that murdered roughly 25% of Cambodia’s population in the 1970s.   Americans in the 21st century have it incredibly easy. We’re so used to freedom that we don’t spend much time thinking about the particulars of how others

Unfortunately for minorities, women, and those on the margins, Trump and his followers are giving powerful license to commit hate crimes and discrimination. Due to Trump not rejecting endorsements from leaders of groups like the KKK and other hate inspired organizations, additional fuel was added to the fire to encourage hate and

Over the weekend the brilliant comedian Louis C.K. wrote an email calling Donald Trump an “insane bigot” and “Hitler”. He also said the US was turning into “Germany in the 30s”. It’s an interesting letter and Louis makes some sharp and wonderful points, as usual. It actually reminds me of