Volume III, Issue 1 (Whole Number 6)

November 2025:  The big news this month is Zohran Mamdani defeating three conservative opponents and taking the New York City mayor’s office, winning an absolute majority. (And now–Seattle Mayor-Elect Katie Wilson!)

Mamdani says it in every speech—this is not just a battle to uplift a new leader. It is a people’s campaign to make the city affordable.

Our own city has become impossible for poor and working-class people to afford. Everyone knows it. 

The question now for us in Berkeley is, as Mamdani might say, when do we stop bowing at the altar of caution? When do we fight for housing that is deeply affordable?  And when do we stop prioritizing the needs of large developers over regular working folks?

We’ll come back to these questions in an upcoming edition. In this edition we will look into what it means to be fiercely independent of an authoritarian president. Before we even get to the issue of local government data flowing to agencies like ICE, the Editorial argues for leaders to reject both Trump’s depiction of our cities as war zones or hellholes, and that militaristic force is the solution for social problems. In the Editorial and the companion article “How Can We Stop Trump’s Immigration Madness?” we focus on the Bay Area’s response to the recent military threat from Washington; then our report on “Local Collaboration with Immigration” details numerous breaches in the Sanctuary principle in Berkeley and the East Bay. Two short pieces, “Stand up for the things you know are right” and “Don’t Let the Vampires In!” provide resources and, we hope, inspiration for resisting Immigration enforcement.

Please see our other articles on burning topics including homelessness, police accountability, deaths in the county jail, education, war and (hopefully) peace in Palestine, and climate change. You can browse these articles through either pulling down the Editions menu and selecting Volume III, Issue 1, or pulling down the Social Issues menu and selecting one or another issue thread. As always, you will not run into a paywall on Berkeley Speaks.

Please begin with this edition’s Editorial, “Sanctuary means a brick wall against ICE.“

Get Involved with Berkeley Speaks! 

We’re proud of this issue, which includes articles by several UC students, deep analysis of the Trump-led immigration enforcement crisis, and breaking news on Berkeley you will find nowhere else.

Berkeley Speaks is YOUR community newspaper. It will only succeed with your engagement. It’s time to go deeper and reflect many more voices from throughout our community. We hope you will write for the paper.

Please contact us at BerkSpeak@gmail.com to talk about how you can contribute.  As always, we also need photographers, web and graphic designers, researchers, donors, and (free!) subscribers.  

And please, send us your feedback! We love letters to the editor. Write us at BerkSpeak@gmail.com.