Posts by Hannah Esqueda
The Problem with Earth Day
Earth Day is problematic. For years the needs and conservation leadership from Black, Brown and Indigenous folks have been ignored by the environmental justice movement despite our communities suffering the most. Across the U.S. we continue to see examples of the inequity built into environmental justice efforts. Cities like Flint, Michigan still don’t have clean…
Read More ...CFJ Youth Leading Together with LBUSD to Interrupt Bias in the Classroom
This weekend CFJ youth leaders and staff led a powerful bias training for Long Beach Unified School District teachers and administrators. The session was a unique twist to traditional trainings that center conversations on adults rather than students. CFJ youth leaders led the space and trained LBUSD staff participants on the ways implicit biases show…
Read More ...This Tax Day It’s Time for Big Corporate to Pay Their Fair Share!
This tax day we urge you to take a moment and think about where your money is going. Like most taxpayers in our communities, your money goes to help our schools — but big corporations like Shell and Chevron, benefit from property tax loopholes that allow them to skip their part. The effect is our…
Read More ...Movement Builders: Faces of CFJ
Californians for Justice is proud to have worked with thousands of youth leaders across California over the last two decades. We’ve helped students organize and step into their power, using their voice to fight for their schools and communities. But did you know many of our staff started their social justice work with us as…
Read More ...CFJ Fresno Open House Celebrates Community, Art, and Relationship Building in Schools!
Earlier this month, Californians for Justice celebrated community, art, and student voice as part of Art Hop in Downtown Fresno. The event doubled as an open house for our new offices within Common Space and allowed our youth leaders the chance to engage community members in relationship building and conversations about the importance of racial…
Read More ...Students and Parents Speak: OUSD strike should be red flag for all school districts in CA
The following piece was originally published as an Open Forum in the San Francisco Chronicle online on March 6, 2019. By Belize Gonden-Cruz and Zaineb Alomari There is a crisis in Oakland Unified School District — educators are leaving our classrooms at an alarming rate. Each year, we lose more than 300 teachers from Oakland schools. At…
Read More ...Check Us Out: Faces of CFJ
Californians for Justice has grown greatly over the last two decades. From our start in Oakland in the late ‘90s organizing students and community to confront racial bias in our education system, to today’s campaigns calling for full funding of our public schools. We’ve never stopped organizing and evolving, listening to our communities and lifting…
Read More ...CFJ mobilizing Oakland Unified students and parents
Last week, Californians for Justice staff and student leaders in Oakland organized our community to lift up their voice and call for district and education leaders to protect students and protect our schools! We hosted a joint press conference with Oakland Community Organizations and Public Advocates to show that our students and families are clear:…
Read More ...Working to Build Relationships Not Walls in Fresno Unified
Over the last few years student leaders from Californians for Justice have had the privilege of working closely with Fresno Unified Superintendent Bob Nelson and the school board to develop Relationship Centered Schools within the district. This work is a reflection of our school leaders and elected officials recognizing the value of student voice, relationship…
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