George Floyd & Black Liberation #BlackLivesMatter
Statement From CFJ Leadership & Staff: Black Lives Matter. George Floyd’s life mattered. Breonna Taylor’s life mattered. Tony McDade, Nina Pop and Ahmaud Arbery’s lives all mattered. Not just because they were stolen at the hands of police and white supremacists, but because they were human beings, pieces of our communities and valuable voices we…
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Press Release: High School Students Across CA Talk School Closures, Impact And Needs In The Wake Of The Coronavirus
Young people are inheriting a California that is one of the wealthiest states in the United States but only for those who can afford it. Despite our state’s vast material wealth, Coronavirus has illuminated how easily overwhelmed and under-resourced our city and county infrastructures are in a time where crises are becoming commonplace. More importantly it has highlighted how essential public institutions like schools are, and the alarming need to invest in our local community and school infrastructures to provide the most basic of needs to our families and young people across the state.
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4 Things That Will Change Education in 2020
Update: this post was updated on 1/17 with the first official poll for Schools & Communities First. Three years deep into a Trump presidency, we are ready for change. Without a doubt, November 2020 will be our most significant election in two decades. It will be a Democracy lesson we will never forget. It’s up…
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Text Thread W/ Deshae Lee: Featuring the Students of CFJ
This week, we spoke with Deshae Lee, a student activist in Fresno, CA. Deshae joined Californians For Justice 1 year ago as an incoming high school senior, and is already a central leader within our organization. Every week Deshae is in our Fresno office, setting up meetings with school officials, preparing to speak on behalf…
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Celebrating 5 Years of The Incredible Journey of The Student Voice Campaign
A legacy in the making turns 5 today— the Student Voice Campaign. Five years ago, the Student Voice Campaign transformed the perception and role of students as “essential” stakeholders in local decision-making processes in California’s public schools giving a voice to 4.5 million students. Today Californians for Justice celebrates an incredible historic victory in the…
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What does it mean to be Filipino American?
By Geordee Mae Corpuz (Organizing Director for CFJ Oakland) and Justine Santos (Lead Organizer for CFJ Oakland) October is Filipino American History Month. Three decades after Carlos Bulosan published his poem, his words still resonate. With over 4 million Filipino Americans in the United States this month is a call for us to celebrate and…
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Reparations, The Crown Act, & Youth Voice: A Summer in The Movement
This Summer our communities of youth activists, experts, and community leaders continued to build towards a more equitable and racially just education system. Students rose to podiums, experts used their platforms to speak about racial justice, and race in education made national headlines. Here are just a few of the highlights from this Summer behind…
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Why we need Integration for Liberation
Last month student leaders, elected officials, researchers, educators and community organizers from California and beyond gathered in San Jose to discuss “Integration for Liberation.” While our conversation was rooted in our schools, we quickly saw that transformation and liberation must also ripple out to our communities. Schools today in New York and California are more…
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An Activist’s Book List
To celebrate National Read a Book Day, we sent out a mass email to Californians for Justice staff and gathered a list of the most impactful books we’ve read. Here are our Top 15 books, and why we love them so much! Signed, your local activists. 1. Hunger by Roxane Gay This books is about…
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