Liberty Hill Blog: News from the Frontlines

Hot Topic: The New Jim Crow

 

Michelle Alexander

Byline: Corey Matthews

This past week I had the opportunity to attend a book signing and talk given by Michelle Alexander on her powerful book The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness. 

I was very excited to attend this event and waited in anticipation to finally get a chance to meet this brilliant woman, whose book I had to read in class just a few weeks before. The event was co-hosted by former Liberty Hill grantee, A New Way of Life Reentry Project , a grassroots organization that organizes formerly incarcerated individuals in the Watts and South L.A. area, and the UCLA Black Male Institute  , a community-oriented research unit hosted by the UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies.

So on the night of the reading, after waiting in line and finally getting a chance to shake this woman’s hand and personally thank her for such an insightful book, I find my seat along with the four guests that I invited to attend with me.

Michelle Alexander begins her talk with her assertion that the prison industrial complex is “a racial caste system” for social control of African American and Latino communities. She gives day-to-day examples of how low income African American communities are intentionally targeted and heavily policed.

She actually shocks me when she explains how more than 80% of all incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people went to jail for nonviolent crimes, such as drug possession. And even further, that four out of five drug-related offenses were for possession of marijuana, a drug that has not been proven to be more damaging than tobacco, and which is legally sold!

The author explains how a prison record forever relegates someone to second class citizenship because upon reentry to the community, they no longer have access to jobs, voting, or government programs such as housing support. This is counter productive because, she says, “The easiest way to keep people out of jail is to give them a job!”

Michelle Alexander's talk is powerful on its own merits, but one question that is asked at the very end of the program strikes me the most.

A man gets up to the mic and says, “I’m 47 years old and a Watts native, formerly incarcerated on a double murder charge, but I’m out on parole and now my life is dedicated to saving our babies from this corrupt system.” After his short introduction he provides examples of young men that have died in the last year due to police brutality in Watts and begins to pose the question, “Where was y’all at?”

He asks, “When I was in the police station just last week arguing with the chief of police, where were y’all at?” “When that young man got killed as he had his back turned and was running away from the police, where was y’all at?” He said, “It’s easy to come together and talk about these things but as they pick our babies off one by one, where will you be?”

I hunt this man down after the event to get his card because, as I tell him, I want to help.

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Year 2 - Leadership Institute Intensives

Byline: Barbara Osborn

The second year of Liberty Hill's Leadership Institute for Change began two weeks ago with three-day intensives around the core tracks. Two down: Board Development and Community Organizing. Two to go: Communications and Grassroots Fundraising. This week the Communications track comes to town! Here is information on the fabulous trainer and coaches for the track. Thanks to Institute Director Evelin Montes for all this great info!

Celia Alario, Communications Track Trainer works at the intersection of campaigning, grassroots organizing and marketing to support organizations, film makers, artists and authors in engaging key audiences for their stories, tapping both traditional media and marketing as well as social media and web 2.0 tools to create meaningful opportunities for engagement. 

She was a community organizer and a corporate accountability campaigner, and first found her way to communications and media work when she was the only one in the group who wanted to make media calls for a rally in Los Angeles.  She’s been at it ever since.

Over the last 18 years she’s helped spin groundbreaking social action campaigns, provided one-on-one trainings for incoming Communications Directors, trained thousands of spokespeople and placed hundreds of stories about critical social justice and environmental issues in prominent national and international media outlets.  Personal highlights include doing publicity for Liberty Hill grantees working to reverse California’s unethical Three Strikes law, and being a guest on the O’Reilly Factor to defend civil disobedience and peaceful protest as tools for social change.

Some of Celia’s past clients include Moveon.org, Witness, Students for a Free Tibet, Code Pink, Forest Ethics, Rainforest Action Network, Greenpeace, Liberty Hill Foundation, Energy Action Coalition, Montana Women Vote, United Steelworkers of America, Redrock Forests, Women’s Earth Alliance, Black Mesa Water Coalition, Confluence Literary Festival and Amazon Watch.

She was a Producer on Michael Moore’s Emmy-nominated television show ‘The Awful Truth’ and as an Outreach Producer created publicity and audience engagement campaigns for a number of award-winning documentaries and television programs, including Firestorm, On Coal River, Sir! No Sir!, Trade Off and Building Green.  

Celia has also worked in community radio journalism and currently produces public affairs programming for KZMU, the Pacifica affiliate in Moab UT.  She got her radio start in the News Apprenticeship Program at Pacifica Radio’s KPFA in Berkeley, California, where she also co-produced and co-hosted ‘Terra Verde’ and ‘Flashpoints’.  

She proudly serves on the Boards of Directors of the Independent Television Service (ITVS) and the smartMeme Training and Strategy Collective, and on the Advisory Boards of BEN (Business Ethics Network) and IVAW (Iraq Veterans Against the War).  

Debra Nakatomi, coach. Nakatomi & Associates is dedicated to supporting mission-driven organizations dedicated to meaningful social change through communications, education and advocacy.  Our expertise includes designing and implementing strategic communications programs, branding and identity, messaging, stakeholder engagement, board and organizational development, policy and media advocacy, presentation and media skills training and community education campaigns.

From fish contamination education to teen pregnancy prevention, gun violence, sexual and domestic violence to teacher recruitment and promoting sustainable community development, we are committed to improving lives and communities.  We apply the tools of communications to promote health and education, environmental justice, peace promotion, financial education and safety while promoting access, equity and justice.

 

 

 

Doe Mayer, coach. Doe Mayer holds the Mary Pickford Chair at USC's School of Cinematic Arts where she teaches documentary and fiction filmmaking. She holds a joint appointment with the Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism where her work is centered on the practical application of communication campaign strategies and designs for social issue and health-defined organizations.

Professor Mayer has been working in film and television for the past 25 years and has produced, directed and provided technical support for hundreds of productions in the United States and numerous developing countries. Much of this programming has been in the areas of family planning, basic education, health and nutrition promotion,   HIV/AIDS prevention, population, and women's issues.

As a consultant, she has designed communication campaigns using media and public outreach on subjects such as encouraging girls to stay in primary school in Malawi, providing evacuation information on a dangerous volcano about to erupt in Vanuatu, and teaching farmers to put less pesticides on their cabbages in Fiji. She has designed and implemented numerous workshops for non-governmental organizations (NGOS) on how to effectively get messages out to their target audiences using media and face-to-face communication.

She completed a project called Women Connect! in 2005, an initiative of the Pacific Institute for Women's Health that is funded through the Annenberg Center for Communication at USC and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The project sought to strengthen African women NGOS (Non Governmental Organizations) to use communication strategies in media and technology to improve women's health and well-being. 

She received the Associates' Award for Excellence in Teaching, USC's top teaching award, for the 2009-2010 school year.

Bobbi Murray, coach. Bobbi Murray honed her media skills amid the rough-and-tumble of California’s social change movements and big-city Los Angeles politics.  She can translate complicated public-policy speak into plain language. Her experience includes media campaigns for immigrant rights and economic justice organizations, training grassroots spokespersons for TV and newspaper interviews and building ongoing strategic media relationships. 

Her campaign experience began as a teenage volunteer, when she organized picket lines for United Farmworkers boycotts. As fundraiser and media coordinator for Medical Aid for El Salvador (1983-1986) she ran house meeting campaigns in Los Angeles to raise awareness of the war in that country along with funds for civilian health care there. She also worked to educate the Los Angeles English-language media about the conflicts in Central America and about conditions in the communities of newly-arrived Central Americans.

Bobbi then went on to produce 200 editions of the nationally distributed public affairs radio program AMERICAN DIALOGUES, hosted by actor/director Robert Foxworth (1987 to 1991) which covered everything from U.S. foreign policy, to genetic engineering, identity issues, racial justice and international economics.

As director of Coalition LA (1992-1994), an organization that did voter education and get-out-the-vote work in communities traditionally under-represented at the polling place, she raised a campaign budget, managed precinct lists and wrote and produced voter education materials. At CHIRLA, the Coalition for Humane Rights Los Angeles (1994-1996), she worked with mainstream media to promote a vision of immigration policy that respects human rights. She also orchestrated community information campaigns through work with Spanish and Asian-language media and conducted workshops to develop grassroots members as media spokespersons.

At the LA Living Wage Coalition (now the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy) Bobbi executed a successful media strategy for the campaign to pass LA’s living wage ordinance in 1997. Economist Robert Pollin of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, praised Murray in his book The Living Wage: Building a Fair Economy, for her ability to “present arguments in ways that would be comprehensible to people who don’t spend their days reading economics textbooks.”

Bobbi later worked in City Hall doing media work with Los Angeles City Councilwoman Jackie Goldberg. She then transitioned into a writing career and learned the rhythm and pace of the news room during ten years as freelance writer and as a staff reporter for the Los Angeles Daily Journal. 

She was selected as 2002-2003 Criminal Justice Fellow at the USC Annenberg School for Communications Institute for Justice and Journalism and as a Fellow with the Horizon Institute in 2008.

A devoted martial arts student, Bobbi holds a 2nd degree black belt in kenpo jitsu ryu and teaches a weekly kenpo jitsu class at the Universal Core Karate Academy in Los Angeles.

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How Much Is Enough?

Byline: Darrell Tucci

On Monday evening a small group of Liberty Hill donors gathered with Jason Franklin, Bolder Giving's executive director, for an intimate conversation about philanthropy.

This is the beginning of an organizational partnership between Liberty Hill and Bolder Giving, whose mission is to inspire and support people to give at their full life potential.

During the evening Jason guided us through a series of questions and stories from their workbook that are designed for self-reflection about what motivates us to give, what holds us back from giving more and to challenge us to think about how much money is really enough?  Is it ever enough? Can we sacrifice things in our life to give more money away?

At the end of the evening it was clear.  Unlike other philanthropic conversations, this one was not about who we give our money to or how we give it.  This conversation helped us take a deep look at our lives and our values, then challenged us to give more boldly.

If you're interested in exploring for yourself, download their workbook or take some quizzes on Bolder Giving's website to explore your giving or read inspiring stories of other Bolder Givers.

Next Steps for Equality California

Byline: Vincent Jones

I was asked to add my voice to an important conversation about what the Equality California (EQCA) Board of Directors should look for in hiring their next Executive Director. EQCA has been instrumental in making California one of the most LGBT-friendly states in the nation when it comes to laws on the books. Now, it's up to EQCA and the movement in general to make sure those laws are applied equally in all communities in this state. 

Liberty Hill's strategy is laser-focused on ensuring that LGBTQ equality is not just a privilege for some but a reality for all.  Groups like Latino Equality Alliance are succeeding in their efforts to change the narratives about LGBT families and lives in Spanish-language media.  API Equality LA has built a massive coalition of API organizations united in their support of LGBT equality. Gender Justice LA is expanding access to healthcare for transgender people, especially in communities of color where such care is often non-existent. Jordan Rustin Coalition is breaking down barriers and increasing support for LGBT equality in South Los Angeles with monthly days of action and an innovative canvassing project led by community members.

Turn EQCA Upside Down: Empower the People to be Changemakers

Equality California helped to transform the legislative landscape for LGBTQ equality in this state. Geoff Kors wasn't singularly responsible for all of that but he was a force for change and should be applauded. Other orgs, such as Lambda Legal, Transgender Law Center, NCLR, the Williams Institute, and the American Foundation for Equal Rights have led the charge on the judicial front. What our movement lacks in California is a strong grassroots arm that is able to win on the ground.

EQCA began to build a grassroots infrastructure with its marriage project led by Marc Solomon and Amy Mello. Regional coalitions were supported with resources, information, and other assistance. Grassroots organizations that target particular communities were sought as strategic partners. People outside of the "gay ghettos" where engaged in conversations about LGBT issues in an effort to gain their support, win their hearts, and change their minds.

Whomever leads EQCA next, in my opinion, should build on that nascent infrastructure and transform the entire organization into one that empowers the several hundred thousand people on its email lists to be changemakers actively engaged in the efforts to advance LGBTQ equality.

At the same time, the next leader needs to educate its supporters so that they understand that the average LGBT person is not at a $300/person dinner or an exclusive cocktail party in the Hollywood Hills. Poverty, homelessness, job & housing discrimination, and immigration inequality are real issues for a larger segment of the community than most acknowledge, as is HIV.  For all of the important legal protections won by Geoff Kors and his team over the years, it is critical for the next EQCA leader to make sure those legislative victories have the intended effect on the ground and for all facets of the LGBTQ community.  Laws on paper are great but mean less if the police officer in Redding, landlord in Chinatown, HR manager in Yuba City, or Principal in South Los Angeles is unaware or hostile to them.

Most importantly, the next leader of EQCA should be adept at collaborating in a manner that yields success. No one individual or one entity holds the sole right to setting the agenda for LGBT equality. We are lucky that several viable groups exist at various levels that incorporate LGBT issues into their advocacy and organizing. Those organizations have a track record and relationships that must be honored and leveraged and not belittled and derided. While EQCA may be statewide in scope and have the capacity to raise millions more than most groups, it should not assume that it is the leader of the movement in California.

Lastly, my sincere hope is that the Board of Equality California chooses an individual with some experience in other movements to give her or him, and in turn, LGBT leaders some perspective and authentic relationships to non-traditional allies.

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Tracking the Polluters

 

Byline: Michele Prichard

Hidden Hazards is a new report prepared by the Los Angeles Collaborative for Environmental Health and Justice which is made up of L.A.-area community groups working for environmental justice, academic researchers, and Liberty Hill Foundation. The report provides important new data that will help community organizations advocate for greener businesses and a reduction of pollution in their communities. As part of my work at Liberty Hill, I’ve been a leading partner in this important research on environmental justice.

The collaborative has previously published research documenting the clear relationship between the elevated risk for asthma, cancer and respiratory illnesses in low-income communities of color and the close proximity of these communities to air pollution sources such as factories, freeways and goods movement facilities such as railyards. That research provided scientific evidence to corroborate the first-hand knowledge of residents that they are disproportionately impacted by air pollution.

Hidden Hazards goes deeper and shows how the official record, based on data collected by public agencies, does not tell the whole story of air pollution in our communities.

California’s regulatory agencies have recommended protecting residents from air toxins by establishing buffer zones between pollution sources and "sensitive population" centers such as schools and hospitals. But there are big differences between the official record and what local residents find when they go into their neighborhoods and measure the distance between pollution emitters and places where vulnerable people gather.

To research the hazards that are hidden from the view of regulatory agencies, community members, guided by academic researchers, used scientific tools and techniques to locate polluting facilities, measure buffer zone compliance, and measure air pollution. Teams from Union de Vecinos, Figueroa Community Land Trust (now known as TRUST South L.A.), Communities for a Better Environment, East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice, Pacoima Beautiful and Coalition for a Safe Environment fanned out over Commerce, Maywood, Wilmington, Pacoima, Boyle Heights and other parts of Los Angeles to map locations of hazardous facilities and to measure actual air pollution levels using the same type of monitoring devices used by state air quality regulators. We call this research work "Ground Truthing."

Isella Ramirez, Co-director of East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice (and a Liberty Hill 2011 Grassroots Leader to Watch) was a Ground Truthing team leader in Commerce, where she and her family have lived for decades. Among the team members on the 2008 project was Nathen Mata, who grew up next to the railyards and factories and had then just graduated from high school. He's now a student at East Los Angeles College and an organizer for East Yard. Other team members were Maria Becerra, Marta Becerra, Edwin Cervantes and Miguel Ortega.

The Ground Truthing team first went through three days of in-depth education and interactive workshops. The workshops covered the environmental hazards facing the East Yard communities, the health impacts of the pollution affecting the neighborhood, and the science of documenting environmental impacts. The seven member team did additional training in the use of GPS, aerial maps, and devices like the P-Track monitors  which measure ultra fine particles that can penetrate deep into lungs.

"We were pretty ambitious in terms of the area we chose to cover and we had one of the smallest teams," says Isella, "but within a month we’d finished it up.... If we were where there were a lot of homes, then we were on bikes or walking. If we were in an area not so friendly to pedestrians, then one person would drive while another wrote everything down."

The teams made detailed location notes, took pictures and gathered as much information as they could about each facility. For example, they might measure the distance between a church day-care room and a dry cleaning faciliy or auto-painting shop. They also measured air pollution levels in a loading area while counting the number of trucks or school buses idling. 

"Our community members know how to use a couple-thousand-dollar machine and are really comfortable with collecting data," says Isella. She and Nathen and the other team members assessed their findings and saw they could quantify the anecdotal evidence offered by their neighbors.

The Ground Truthing team found that when you compare air quality at a particular location over six days, three times a day and compare it to air quality at other locations in other neighborhoods, a pattern emerges. "It’s like a staircase. You can see that the closer you are to the industry, the higher the density of harmful air toxins."

The Hidden Hazards report not only presents findings but also outlines measures that local governments can take to lessen the health hazards faced by their residents. It offers recommendations for specific actions that can be implemented using tools already available to city planners and agencies. 

The East Yard Ground Truthing team took its comparisons between air quality at home in Commerce and air quality in Pasadena (which was much better) to the Commerce City Council. Community members asked the city to create a "green" buffer zone between residents and pollution sources.

Says Isella, "This kind of buffer zone doesn't mean we’re going to push away businesses. We would like to see companies, especially locally-owned ones, that contribute to the job base of our community. But, we want to see clean, green and sustainable businesses that are not harmful to the health of our residents." 

The Hidden Hazards report led to the formation of a campaign to "clean up and green up" Los Angeles. Learn more.

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Irvine Foundation Leadership Awards

Byline: Kafi D. Blumenfield

Wow was I moved yesterday!  The 2011 James Irvine Foundation Leadership Awards were announced. I sat on Awards Selection Committee, but nothing prepared me for how moving it would be to meet each of these leaders.

Need a pick-me-up for the end of the week? Check out the video portraits of these remarkable changemakers. And then if you're hungry for more, be sure to check out Liberty Hill's 2011 Grassroots Leaders to Watch.

Dr. Judith Broder, The Soldiers Project, Los Angeles

Tim Carpenter, EngAGE, Burbank

Dr. Steven Pantilat, UCSF Palliative Care Program, San Francisco

Dori Rose Inda, Agricultural Workers' Access to Health Project, Watsonville

Martha Ryan, Homeless Prenatal Program, San Francisco

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Poem in your heart? Give it to Liberty Hill!

Byline: Susan LaTempa

Got a poem in your heart? Liberty Hill wants it! This year’s  Heart & Soul grant program will give $10,000 to the best original four- to eight-line poem or stanza that reflects the work or mission of a nonprofit. Why not Liberty Hill? The engine of change in Los Angeles. Deadline March 28.

Surely you can do better than this!

Sintia sits on the floor of her math class
Where is her desk? Where is her future?
Who can fix this?

Not Superman. Not Spiderman.
Sintia can and will!
Made strong With others.
Powered by passion and Liberty Hill.

The submission process is a little complicated, so rather than having each budding poet go through it, post your submissions on our Facebook wall and we will submit the top 5 entries for you!

Summary of Hidden Hazards Results

Don't want to wade through a big document to find the big results of the Hidden Hazards report?

The Kresge Foundation, which helped fund Liberty Hill's Hidden Hazards report and groundtruthing community-based research, has posted a very useful summary of the results of the report. Find it here.

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