Celebrating 25 Years of SYLA Across California
Each year, Californians for Justice offices across the state transform into the Summer Youth Leadership Academy (SYLA). This intensive 5-week program focuses on political education, public speaking, organizing tactics, and campaign work. What started as neighborhood canvassing and local word-of-mouth recruitment in our Bay Area regions has expanded greatly. Today, SYLA spans four regions across…
Series of Wins: Securing Safety and Sanctuary in Schools
Series of Wins: Securing Safety and Sanctuary in Schools Year round and beyond election season, youth leaders are making noise. From Long Beach to the Bay, our organizing is rewriting what’s possible in education and in our communities when we fight back together. Because of youth leadership — and your continued support —we’ve scored wins…
🙌 Finally! Oakland Teens To Vote This November
It’s been four years since Oakland teens led their community to secure a historic expansion of voting rights with Measure QQ. Now, the adults in charge have finally got it together and all systems are a go for 16- and 17-year-olds in Oakland to vote in the Oakland Unified School Board elections this November. “I’m…
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…
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…
Time for Radical Revision of what Public Education Can Look Like for Black Students & Families
Black History Month offers an important time to examine issues of racial justice in communities and our education system. When public education was dreamed up by its founders, Horace Mann and Thomas Jefferson, neither person envisioned Black students attending integrated schools. That much is evident when we look at the history of schooling in America…
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:…
How do you support students and teachers of color?
Most of us kicked off the month of September with the three-day Labor Day weekend celebrating the hard work and organizing efforts of working individuals and families. But looking beyond the holiday, it’s important that we take time to remember that working people — particularly teachers of color — continue to struggle in our communities…
Say Their Names: Nia Wilson, Frederick Taft
Our hearts and minds are heavy with the news of the latest series of violent attacks against Black women and men in our communities. On July 21, Frederick Taft was gunned down at a family reunion in Long Beach. The next day, Nia and Latifa Wilson were viciously attacked by a white supremacist in Oakland.…