Frontlines to Headlines October 2015

LINKS TO RECENT NEWS MEDIA ARTICLES ON LIBERTY HILL AND THE ORGANIZERS WE SUPPORT

LEGISLATIVE VICTORIES

October is the end of California’s legislative season and up until the end grantees working on issues targeted by Liberty Hill’s Push for Power were chalking up victories! In an hour-by-hour countdown to the signing deadline, the San Jose Mercury News notes that at 1:45 p.m. on Sunday, October 11, Governor Brown signed into law SB 588, the bill developed with input from Koreatown Immigrant Workers Alliance (KIWA) that puts some teeth into enforcement of California’s wage laws and helps workers collect wages they’ve earned.

Earlier in the month, the governor signed a bill designed to reduce racial profiling in law enforcement–supported by Dignity and Power Now and L.A. Voice as described in this Los Angeles Times report. He also signed a measure calling for history textbooks and courses in California schools to teach about the mass deportation of Mexican Americans and Mexican nationals in the 1930s known as the “Mexican Repatriation,” a decision Jorge-Mario Cabrera Jr. of Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights Los Angeles (CHIRLA) praised in a Fox News Latino article.

POLICING & CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM

In an important editorial, the Los Angeles Times took a stance opposing efforts by the L.A. Police Commission to silence activists including leaders from Youth Justice Coalition, Los Angeles Community Action Network (LA-CAN) and Black Lives Matter (Dignity and Power Now), groups that have been using Commission meetings to draw attention to police violence in communities of color. The Final Call has a news story about the “new rules of decorum” that inspired the editorial.

The L.A. Times reported on body camera footage of the killing of Skid Row resident, Charly Africa Keunang, quoting Pete White of LA-CAN on the culture of police violence.

People Organized for Westside Renewal (POWER) and LA-CAN were organizers of a demonstration in Venice to protest recent police killings of homeless people. CBS Los Angeles reported.

One of the recipients of Liberty Hill’s Rapid Response Fund for Racial Justice, the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights is caravanning to nine California cities to raise awareness about racialized policing (covered by NewsOne) and has released a report about how women of color shoulder the burden of mass incarceration—a finding reported on by the New York Times, Colorlines, Atlanta Black Star and Mother Jones.

Community Coalition hosted a clinic to educate the public about Proposition 47, and helped community members go through the process of amending their criminal records under the new law. The L.A. Sentinel has the story.

ENVIRONMENT

The L.A. Times reported on findings that regulation is lacking at urban oil drilling sites in Los Angeles. The article mentions Stand Together Against Neighborhood Drilling (STAND-LA), a coalition of grassroots organizations supported by Liberty Hill. Another L.A. Times article on the AllenCo drill site in South L.A., which is moving to reopen after having production suspended for environmental violations, quoted Nancy H. Ibrahim of Esperanza Community Housing, a coalition member.

The New Republic, the L.A. Times and the Daily Breeze reported on new EPA regulations for monitoring air quality around oil refineries. All three outlets interviewed Jesse Marquez of Fund for Environmental Health and Safety grantee Coalition for a Safe Environment.

ECONOMIC JUSTICE

The Huffington Post featured an article by Los Angeles Black Worker Center director Lola Smallwood Cuevas on attending the Worker Voice Summit at the White House, an event to elevate the concerns of workers. Among the other attendees was Jennifer Epps-Addison, Liberty Hill’s Chief Program Officer. Check the New York Times for more on the summit.

The Coalition for Economic Survival (CES) appeared in an L.A. Weekly article on earthquake retrofitting for vulnerable buildings. Executive Director, Larry Gross, spoke out against passing the cost on to tenants in an already crunched housing market.

Organizers with Strategic Actions for a Just Economy (SAJE) are helping tenants to document issues like vermin infestations and mold that South L.A. landlords are neglecting to fix. KPCC has the story.

Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE) appeared in a Los Angeles Daily News article about illegal dumping in Pacoima. The group drew attention to the issue by organizing a tour of local trash piles that the City has been slow to clean up.

The Pilipino Workers Center is facilitating a hotline to provide Filipino Americans with resources on worker rights, labor laws and other employment questions. The Asian Journal has the story.

The Santa Monica Lookout reported on workers at one of the nation’s first unionized carwashes who have successfully negotiated for higher wages. The story mentions CLEAN Carwash Campaign.

The Nation featured Strategic Concepts in Organizing and Policy Education (SCOPE) CEO, Gloria Walton, in an article on the Republican Party’s stance on inequality. Walton implored Republic leaders to address the drastic income gap between rich and poor neighborhoods in Los Angeles.

Al Jazeera and Just-Style reported on a Garment Worker Center (GWC) study that found many workers in L.A.’s garment industry face poor working conditions. Al Jazeera’s coverage quoted GWC’s Mar Martinez, who explained that “American made” doesn’t mean sweatshop free.

GENDER JUSTICE

NBC News quoted API Equality L.A. in an article about the tragic death of an Asian-American transgender teen activist, Skylar Lee. The organization reminded readers about how systemic transphobia and racism can create tremendous challenges for trans youth of color.

Black Women for Wellness traveled to Washington D.C. to participate in a conference on Black women’s reproductive rights. Afro and Black Enterprise have the story.

IMMIGRATION

The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights Los Angeles (CHIRLA) criticized a new policy that will give ICE agents more access to searching for and detaining undocumented immigrants in the county jail system. See CBS Los Angeles and the New York Times for more.

Representatives of CHIRLA criticized Donald Trump in Fox News Latino and the L.A. Times, and called out Republican presidential candidate, John Kasich, for offensive comments toward Latinos for CNN and Think Progress. On the other hand, Jorge-Mario Cabrera of CHIRLA offered a quote to the Press Enterprise in a story about how California Republicans are trying to distance themselves from Trump’s anti-immigrant stance.

Pilipino Workers Center members were among a group of 100 women who drew attention to immigration issues by walking 100 miles to hear Pope Francis speak during a recent U.S. visit. Grist and ABS-CBN covered the story.

When ICE detained a 67 year old grandfather who has been in the United States for 20 years and has no criminal record, Immigrant Youth Coalition put their organizing expertise toward a campaign to free the man. Get the story from Think Progress.