As California reopens to tourism, Alcatraz is once again drawing visitors from around the world and featuring an exhibit celebrating the 19-month-long Native American occupation of the island 50 years ago. And in a dramatic, if delayed, response to the occupation, the National Park Service is contemplating the installation of a permanent Native American cultural center on Alcatraz in collaboration with a group that formed with that as one of its key objectives more than 50 years ago.
Category: Social Justice
Posted in“Civic” Podcast, Community, Government & Politics, Immigration, Social Justice
S.F. Organizer Sees Repetition of Brutal History in Myanmar Military Coup
When Ko Ko Lay has managed to speak to his 86-year-old mother living in Myanmar under a military regime, she has told him she cannot sleep through the night. Like many civilians, she fears armed nighttime raids. “They are so worried about one day some security forces will come and will break through their door, […]
Posted in“Civic” Podcast, Government & Politics, Public Safety, Social Justice
Bloated Police Budgets Crowd Out Public Safety Alternatives, Activist Says
“Law enforcement budgets are like the weeds that choke out all other spending,” said James Burch, policy director for the Anti Police-Terror Project and the Justice Teams Network and president of the National Lawyers Guild Bay Area. Burch spoke with “Civic” about the trial and the movement to defund law enforcement.
Posted in“Civic” Podcast, Bay Area, Public Safety, Social Justice
Anti-Asian Violence Resurfaces Narratives Shaped by White Supremacy
Jeff Chang, author of several books including “Who We Be: The Colorization of America and We Gon’ Be Alright: Notes on Race and Resegregation,” has written extensively about this history and talked with “Civic” about the legacy of white supremacy and how it has influenced the discussion of recent anti-Asian violence: quietly rather than overtly.
Posted in“Civic” Podcast, Arts & Culture, Government & Politics, Social Justice
SF Poet Laureate Tongo Eisen-Martin on Poetry as Revolution
San Francisco’s new poet laureate, Tongo Eisen-Martin, is a city native raised by local organizers, and his work is deeply political. On “Civic,” Eisen-Martin reflected on national politics in the wake of the summer uprisings against police brutality and racism, the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and the presidential inauguration.
Posted inLaw & Justice, Social Justice
Oakland Activists Lead Car Caravan, Virtual Events Inspired by Teachings of MLK
Organizers with the Anti Police-Terror Project every year mark Martin Luther King, Jr. Day with demonstrations that underscore King’s revolutionary teachings — the ones that made him a target of political criticism and law enforcement.
This year the activists have adapted their events to the pandemic, hosting virtual training and ceremonies. Their three days of events were to culminate in a car caravan from the Port of Oakland to the Eastmont Mall at noon Monday.
Posted in“Civic” Podcast, Community, Elections, Media, Politics, Social Justice
In 2020, Youth Media Engaged With Election, Pandemic, Racial Reckoning
Newsrooms across the country have been in overdrive most of this year, covering a global pandemic, a primary and a presidential election and protests against systemic racism and police brutality. Contributors with YR Media, a national network of young journalists and artists, many of them people of color, have been covering the events of 2020 with reporting and perspectives that are rarely afforded space and attention in national or corporate outlets.
Posted in“Civic” Podcast, Aging, Community, Elections, Social Justice
Senior, Disability Advocates Mobilize to Ensure Care Facility Residents Vote
The coronavirus pandemic has transformed elections, and for people who live in residential care facilities like nursing homes, that may be creating barriers to participation. Last week, organizers with Senior and Disability Action called together advocates and experts to lay out what rights these residents have and how to ensure they are able to exercise them.
Posted in“Civic” Podcast, Community, Government & Politics, Social Justice
Workplace Inclusion Expert Reflects on Federal Diversity Training Ban
In September, news broke that diversity and inclusion trainings at two research labs in the Bay Area were being suspended at the direction of the White House. President Trump issued an executive order characterizing trainings about racism, sexism and white privilege as anti-American propaganda. Federal employees and contractors, including researchers at federally funded labs and […]
Posted in“Civic” Podcast, Arts & Culture, Bay Area, Social Justice
Draft Resistance Documentary Draws Throughlines With Civil Rights, Current Movements
The new documentary “The Boys Who Said NO!” shows how young draft resisters built a massive movement with a commitment to nonviolence that followed in the footsteps of civil rights organizers. Hundreds of thousands of people ultimately refused to be drafted into the military.