“KAYAKTIVISTS” Paddle Against Chevron

Photos: Brooke Anderson

May 5th, 2024, Point Molate, Richmond, CA – The Rich City Rays, a young BIPOC centered organization based out of Richmond, California, took out a record 56 kayaks yesterday to continue to highlight the environmental and humanitarian consequences of Chevron’s Richmond Oil Refinery. Carrying flags and banners, the Rich City Ray kayakers went out on the waves with coinciding land events amplifying their calls.

The kayaks paddled boldly into restricted waters, with "ABOLISH CHEVRON' signage, bannered across a raft of participants, and “temporarily blocked one of the ships,” reported Rays member Alfredo Angulo. A Coast Guard vessel was observed surveilling the action, but was effectively de-escalated and no arrests or harm came to the paddlers. The water event included offerings of flowers and song. As Cho Adolfo, member of the Rays told reporters, "We take back the water by creating space for joy.”

The Rays use kayaks as vessels for social change and center historically excluded communities of color in both access to coastal waters and education on non-violent direct action. Representing the Bay Area’s pioneers in water defense, these activists paddle local waters to bring frontline communities to the heart of environmental justice.

Today’s action was part of a global protest of Chevron’s brutal history of forcing low income communities of color to become frontline victims to environmental harm. This international revolution against Chevron pulses through Palestine, Ecuador, Myanmar and the Philippines. The kayaction held space for the international reality of the Anti-Chevron struggle, extending the focus beyond Richmond with flags from many nations.

With Richmond’s childhood asthma rates double that of the nation's average, a generation of citizens traumatized by oil-induced fires, explosions, flares, and acid rain crescendos onto this day’s mass demand for justice.

Last October, the Rays teased Chevron’s oil tankers at Richmond’s long wharf. Now, returning to the Bay seven months later, increased pressure to shut down Chevron in light of international solidarity allowed these activists to take greater risks.