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Council’s duty to act on global issues

Steven Carrillo & Marja Claire
Friday November 30, 2001

Editor: 

It is with great dismay and disappointment that I read of the backlash and fury Berkeley City Council and the City of Berkeley are encountering relative to its brave stand on our country’s involvement in Afghanistan. 

How quickly generations have forgotten of Berkeley’s proud history as a collective voice of dissent and as a leader when it has become necessary to analyze and criticize the actions of our government. Contrary to popular political spin, it is, and forever will be, the responsibility of town councils and city governments to issue resolutions and to speak out on behalf of its citizenry. 

And while there will always be fallout, it is the voice of dissent that has steadfastly and consistently propelled our nation forward – on civil rights issues, illegal military involvement, reproductive rights, women’s rights, and so on. 

Thank you Berkeley. You continue to serve as a beacon of democracy and justice for us all. 

 

Steven Carrillo & Marja Claire Martin 

Santa Fe, New Mexico