Pacifica: 2022 Year End Update
Dear Pacifica Action Team and Ocean-loving Community,
First, on behalf of the BGS team, we hope that you and your loved ones are well and continue to stay safe amidst the pandemic. Quite some time has passed since you last heard from us! Earlier this year we made a giant leap forward on the path to coastal access, equitable beach permitting, and surf equity. The Community Access Partnership Permit (CAPP), was unanimously approved by the Pacifica City Council and the Parks, Beaches and Recreation Commission. Our combined activism, including your letters of support and public comments, have made it possible for Brown Girl Surf and City Surf Project to hold programs at Linda Mar Beach (Pacifica State Beach).
Since then (Fall 2020), Brown Girl Surf has had over 20 surf programs at Pacifica State Beach, supporting a new generation of surfers who had previously been systematically excluded from accessing the beach on their wave-riding journeys.
However! We’ve known for some time that the City of Pacifica DOES NOT have the authority to regulate activities of surf camps/schools, and has been operating under an out-dated system that does not currently meet the California Coastal Act’s requirements on public access.
Earlier this year, the Coastal Commission shared a letter to the City of Pacifica that stated:
“The City does not have authority to operate the surf school program, or any other similar program, on Pacifica State Beach unless and until it is authorized by the Coastal Commission through a CDP, or other appropriate process allowed under the Coastal Act. Thus, if the City is continuing to implement such a program, please note that that would be a knowing and intentional violation of the Coastal Act to which enforcement consequences would apply, and the City needs to immediately cease such activities if they are ongoing. Importantly, absent an approved CDP, access to the beach and ocean is available to all without any restrictions, and we would encourage the City to inform all who ask, including surf school operators, that Pacifica State Beach is open to all members of the public.”
SO WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?… PACIFICA STATE BEACH IS OPEN TO ALL MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC! And although we have successfully pushed for the expansion of their outdated permitting system to include both Brown Girl Surf, City Surf Project, and other future nonprofits, we recognize that with our continued partnership, much larger, more equitable reform is possible and necessary. We’re currently working closely with the City of Pacifica Parks, Beaches, and Recreation Department, the California Coastal Commission and other California non-profit partners to create a system that is truly equitable for all, and will have some updates coming your way soon.
What an exciting opportunity we have – to create a better permitting system that will allow for all people to feel like they belong, feel safe, and are welcome on the beach. If you have any thoughts and ideas on the issue, we’d love to hear from you.
Stay tuned as we continue the movement for surf equity! You can Brown Girl Surf is excited to share about the launch of the Ocean Justice Forum! The Ocean Justice Forum is a coalition of 18 grassroots and national nonprofit organizations, including Brown Girl Surf, who are working towards advancing an ocean policy agenda that promotes the goals of economic, racial, climate, and environmental justice. Brown Girl Surf is proud of our role in ensuring that equitable access to the ocean remains a key policy priority for the Ocean Justice Forum. In California, the public’s access to the ocean is in theory protected by law, however we know that persistent inequities across race, including housing discrimination, intergenerational wealth gaps, and deficits in public transportation, as well as illegal and prohibitive coastal access and permitting systems, have created barriers for people of color to reside and/or engage with coastal areas. And this is just the case in California. According to a new report by the Center for American Progress, only 10 percent of this country’s coastline is covered by strong legal protections that ensure equitable public access. The other 90 percent is at the whim of private property owners and wealthy coastal developers. Access isn’t the only thing we’ve been fighting for, however. We also know that Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) in coastal communities have been disproportionately impacted by the climate crisis, including rising sea levels and intensifying storms, as well as by pollution, overfishing, and loss of habitat and biodiversity. We have co-created the Ocean Justice policy platform so that systematically marginalized and harmed communities will no longer be deliberately left out of the decisions and actions that directly affect them and their relationship with the ocean. To learn more about the Ocean Justice Forum and what we’ve been up to: read our policy platform here. Anastasia was born and raised on Ohlone Land/San Francisco, and joins the Brown Girl Surf team with an immense love for playing in the ocean. She is the happiest when she is snuggling her fur babies, catching a wave, or eating a pickle. Anastasia was first introduced to surfing by her parent, but most recently fell in love with it when she was obtaining her B.A. in Communications at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa. Playing in the water, sitting on the beach, or immersing her body in water gives her a sense of grounding, calmness, and a moment of peace in our chaotic world. Stephanie is passionate about the intersection of the environment and health, and joins Brown Girl Surf after working as a physician, documentary filmmaker, and communications specialist in West Africa, the Middle East, and the United States. She holds degrees in social welfare, population health, and medicine from UC Berkeley and Brown University, and has studied at Harvard University and the UnionDocs Center for Documentary Art. When not advocating for more equitable ocean access, Stephanie works as a clinician and advocate for reproductive rights and homeless health. Her pastimes include listening to music too loud, watching boring documentaries, and finding any excuse to get in the water. Mo is a Nigerian-American East Bay transplant who loves to write and be outside. They grew up in the South and came to the Bay to study Psychology and Performing Arts at Stanford University. Mo comes to Brown Girl Surf as an outdoor educator dedicated to uplifting Black, Indigenous, and People of Color and connecting them to ways of being well, especially in the outdoors. They debuted their book, It’s My Pleasure: Decolonizing Sex Positivity, in 2021 to showcase their thought leadership of re-envisioning sex education as a path towards liberation. When they’re not working, Mo loves to cloud watch, make zines and sleep under the Sun. While we can take a moment to rest, the journey is not over. Brown Girl Surf is continuing to work with the City of Pacifica, the California Coastal Commission, and our allies as the CAPP and all systems supporting it are implemented in Pacifica over the next year. We will continue to expand this path to equity for future groups and organizations wishing to share the ocean with their community. The Community Access Partnership Permit (CAPP) has been unanimously approved and passed by the Pacifica City Council, the Pacifica Parks, Beaches, and Recreation Commission, and the Surf Camp/School Policy Advisory Task Force. Furthermore, Brown Girl Surf and City Surf Project have both been approved for a continuation of our pilot CAPP permits through 2022. Brown Girl Surf and City Surf Project see the approval of the CAPP program as one success along a path of many as we work towards equitable beach access for all. We will continue to work with the City of Pacifica to create an equitable Request for Proposal (RFP) process for future CAPP and commercial surf camp/school applicants and advise the City of Pacifica during the implementation of all systems, boards, and policies that will support and uphold the CAPP. In the meantime, BGS and City Surf Project will continue to operate on Linda Mar Beach under the second phase of our CAPP pilot program. Additionally, the City of Pacifica has been in communication with the California Coastal Commission (CCC) and filed an application for a Coastal Development Plan. The City of Pacifica is currently awaiting approval of their application. “Equitable access to nature is absolutely critical always, but especially now as COVID further compounds the historic exclusion of Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) from parks, open space, and coastal resources. All Californians rely on safe access to nature, now more than ever. Nonprofit organizations and school-based programs with proven track records of bringing BIPOC folks to the ocean through culturally relevant, thoughtfully designed programs, are the best resource to ensure equitable community connection to nature” – Shelana DeSilva, BGS community member These personal share outs emphasized the importance of a safe and inclusive surf culture, and a city’s role in upholding policies and practices that encourage and uplift that culture. Acknowledgments The work to achieve these successful policy shifts has not been quick, nor simple, but the support we’ve encountered and built along the way has been monumental. We’d like to thank Black Girls Surf for their call to action and to CSP who organized the 2020 Paddle out for Peace where Brown Girl Surf was able to share the inequitable policies of the very beach the paddle out was held at. Being able to publicly share the impacts of inequitable and exclusionary policy informed many and encouraged community members and allies to act, thus leading the City of Pacifica to create the Task Force. We’d also like to acknowledge As we continue to work towards creating equitable beach access, we want to emphasize the importance of supporting other groups who are also leading surf programs, and/or lessons to increase equity and inclusion in the line up. Organizations lead by BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and non-dominant culture groups that are working on the California coast to further beach access and provide surf programs/lessons include: If you are also doing work or have recommendations/suggestions of groups who are actively running programs/lessons please feel free to reach out to us. “[the CAPP proposal] was a remarkable example of the power of people working across different perspectives to solve an important problem. I am deeply grateful to all who participated… I believe that the CAPP system and the adjustments to the existing Surf Permit system being recommended today are the best path forward for creating an equitable permitting system that is fair and keeps everyone safe. Brown Girl Surf and City Surf Project did this not just for our own access, but to make sure there was a system in place for other groups who are engaging folks who have been underrepresented in surfing… the policy recommended today is a HUGE step in the right direction and puts in place some really important systems to make this possible.” – Mira Manickam Shirley, Co-founder and former Executive Director of BGS, and a driving force behind this work “Pacifica has taken the opportunity to lead the way on the California Coast for demonstrating a permit system that truly promotes equity in surfing.” Adriana comes to Brown Girl Surf with over 13 years of experience in education and youth development. A common thread that weaves Adriana’s professional aspirations and beliefs together is her pursuit of social justice with a youth development-lens and community-based approach. Over the last decade, Adriana has worked in a variety of capacities in the nonprofit sector across the globe with communities ranging in their socioeconomic, cultural, and language backgrounds. Outside of work, Adriana has served on the leadership team for Women’s March Oakland and currently serves as the Secretary on the Board of Directors at Camp Phoenix, and the Alpha Chi Omega Chapter Advisor at UC Berkeley. Adriana holds a B.A in Psychology from Arizona State University and a Master’s in Nonprofit Administration from the University of San Francisco. Adriana resides in Huchiun/Oakland with her partner and their dogs, Nova & Roux.
BGS Joins Ocean Justice Forum
To learn more about our work for coastal access on the local level, click here.
Anastasia Bloise, Administrative Coordinator
Stephanie Chang, Advocacy Specialist
Mo Asebiomo, Program & Engagement Specialist
Resolution Summary: Surf Equity in Pacifica at Linda Mar Beach
UPDATE: A resolution has been made! Check out our “Resolution Summary” below to learn about the most recent success – the APPROVAL of the CAPP proposal.
What has been the resolution?
How did we get here?
Ultimately, the City of Pacifica council members unanimously voted to create the CAPP program and integrate more equitable policies for surf camps/schools on Linda Mar Beach moving forward.
Looking Forward
Adriana Dominique Guerrero-Nardone, Executive Director