News & Commentary

Finding affordable housing is tough. Finding affordable housing when you’re returning home after serving time is nearly impossible. Last night, the Richmond City Council passed a historic law to protect the rights of people who are re-entering society and find themselves excluded from housing opportunities because of their criminal record. 

A coalition of community groups recently announced a groundbreaking partnership with Facebook and the cities of East Palo Alto and Menlo Park to address affordable housing, displacement, and economic opportunity in the region.

Almost 30 years ago, a study showed that people of color were more likely to live near incinerators.  Since then, the dangerous conditions and exposure to environmental dangers have  gotten worse. In California, CalEnviroScreen data recently demonstrated that race and environmental harms are directly correlated. Considering this, it’s alarming to think that a California agency that has the opportunity to minimize the harmful environmental exposure of pesticides to students of color, is instead suggesting weak protections. 

On opening day of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture in D.C., I crossed the threshold with a memory deeply embedded in my psyche.

California now has some of the strongest protections against policing for profit in the country. Although we had several legislative successes this year, two important, ACLU-sponsored bills died in the Legislature.

Throughout the nation, police officers are legally allowed to take and keep your cash and property - even if you are never charged or arrested for a crime. All it takes is officers claiming they think your belongings were obtained through illegal means.

We support the Movement for Black Lives and the collective #FreedomNow actions taking place globally on Thursday, July 21. Join us at a protest or take these online actions to show your support.

Facebook’s proposed headquarters expansion would inject tens of thousands of new workers into one of the tightest housing markets in the country, yet its environmental study denies any impact on housing demand or displacement pressures.

On Thursday a federal district court judge found substantial evidence that San Francisco police officers and federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents specifically singled out Black people in the Tenderloin neighborhood for federal drug law enforcement.