News & Commentary

Several times since the horrible events of Charlottesville, people have asked me, "what gives you hope?" I have had to search past a few things to get to that answer. 

When police officers replace school administrators as disciplinarians, the results are often disastrous, especially for students of color, low-income students, and students with disabilities. Police presence on campus contributes to the school-to-prison pipeline that pushes thousands of youth out of the classroom and into the criminal justice system

“On behalf of myself and my 17-year-old daughter that I’m raising and my mother, who recently passed away – we’ve been drinking contaminated water for some time now. I live on a fixed budget. I don’t make more than $600 a month, and I pay out about $80 a month to have to buy water. And that’s for cooking purposes also other than just drinking. In talking with my daughter, she says, “Dad – how can I be safe, how can I be healthy if I can’t even drink the water?”

It's the 135th anniversary of the Chinese Exclusion Act, an immigration law that legitimized racism as policy.

No one should have to turn on their tap and wonder if the water is safe to drink. But thousands of homes across the state are connected to water sources contaminated with a cancer-causing chemical called 1,2,3-TCP.

California incarcerates thousands of people while they await their court dates - simply because they can’t afford to post bail. Meanwhile, wealthy people can easily buy their freedom. 

Students on yearbook staff wrote an article about Black Lives Matter. When their principal rejected it, they knew it was time to speak up for their rights. Students have a right to free speech and expression at school. This includes political speech, cultural expression, and speech that a school district may preemptively feel is controversial. 

While California already has many great laws in place, there's much work to do for civil rights and civil liberties – especially now as the Trump Administration begins its attack on the most vulnerable among us.

Knowing Trayvon Martin's story, and the history of the struggle against racial profiling, helps us to free ourselves from the myths of racism.