Frontlines to Headlines September

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Our post-Labor Day round-up catches us up on media attention from August and early September. Policy-change wins in oil drilling regulation and the Los Angeles County minimum wage increase (following the City of L.A. in June) along with passage of the state wage theft legislation (now on Governor Brown’s desk) top the list.

New regulations from the South Coast Air Quality Management District require oil companies drilling in urban areas to cut back on noxious odors and give residents an easier way to complain. Liberty Hill-funded coalition Stand Together Against Neighborhood Drilling (STAND) is at the forefront of the resident movement, and in a report on the change, the Los Angeles Times quoted Bahram Fazeli of coalition member Communities for a Better Environment.

The L.A. Times turned to Liberty Hill for background and data on another story about South L.A. residents battling oil companies over residential pollution. Aljazeera also covered a protest organized by STAND.

Alexandra Suh of Koreatown Immigrant Workers Alliance (KIWA), a key anchor group in the fight for passage of statewide wage theft enforcement bill AB 588, spoke to Southern California Public Radio as the bill passed both houses of the California State Legislature and headed to Governor Brown’s desk. (The Times chatted earlier with Alexandra in their “chat and a selfie” column.)

Passage and implementation of wage theft enforcement is a goal of a Liberty Hill partnership fund, the Fund for Equity and Economic Dignity (FEED), whose grantees include the Maintenance Cooperation Trust Fund, mentioned in this L.A. Times story of the injustices workers experience through wage theft.

The County minimum wage increase spurred more coverage. A Wall Street Journal article about how the minimum wage increase will impact L.A.’s garment industry quoted Marissa Nuncio, director of the Garment Worker Center, who stressed the importance of curbing wage theft.

A Huffington Post piece mentions the work L.A. VOICE and Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE) have done to mobilize workers. In The Times also covered the County wage increase with a piece by ACCE member, Martha Sanchez.

Power to the People: These Grassroots Orgs Received Liberty Hill’s Rapid Response Fund Grants

By Joe Rihn

From Ferguson to New York, Baltimore and Los Angeles, police violence is claiming the lives of unarmed Black men at an alarming rate.  As communities cry out for justice, mass movements like #BlackLivesMatter, are forming and the fight for racial equality is gaining momentum.  Though impossible to predict, it is times like these when community organizers on the frontlines of change need resources the most.  That’s why Liberty Hill Foundation established the Rapid Response Fund for Racial Justice.

Twelve organizations from Los Angeles, the Bay Area, and the Central Valley were chosen to receive year-long grants of up to $10,000 to support the urgent work of pushing back against the criminalization of communities of color, fighting to reform the criminal justice system, and uplifting Black lives.  Liberty Hill’s role included administering the Southern California funding pool, and the fund also received support from The California Endowment, The California Wellness Foundation, the Rosenberg Foundation, and the Sierra Health Foundation.  Liberty Hill began receiving contributions during its annual Uplifting Change event, which supports African American philanthropy in L.A.  The fund has since brought in $150,000 from foundations and $20,000 from individual donors.

A Soundtrack for Social Justice, as Heard at Liberty Hill’s Upton Sinclair Dinner

At the 33^rd annual Upton Sinclair Dinner, Liberty Hill Foundation celebrated the new generation taking up the struggle for social justice.  As young leaders backed by Liberty Hill are pushing for restorative justice in schools, fighting for a cleaner environment and stopping families from being split apart by deportation, musicians from all genres are proving that protest music is alive and well.  Here you will find the Upton Sinclair Dinner soundtrack, which includes social justice songs from local artists, national chart-toppers and everyone in between.

While some of these songs reference political music from the ’60s and ’70s, others are rooted firmly in the sounds of today.  There are topical responses to injustices in Ferguson, Los Angeles and elsewhere, as well as songs that meditate on the broader concepts of solidarity and movement building.  In Oscar winner John Legend’s case, the fight for justice goes beyond music.  The singer campaigned to pass Proposition 47 in California, and recently launched a new campaign called “Free America,” which will target mass incarceration nationwide.

Frontlines to Headlines March 2015

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POLICING & CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM

As the Skid Row community reacts to the shooting of an unarmed Black man, Los Angeles Community Action Network (LA CAN) has responded by demonstrating outside the LAPD headquarters, demanding an independent investigation into the killing, and calling for more mental health professionals in the neighborhood. See the L.A. Times, the Huffington Post, LAist, KABC Radio AM 790, Press TV, and Yahoo News for coverage. Neon Tommy’s report mentions Youth Justice Coalition’s (YJC) participation in demonstrations as well. For more background, see the Daily Beast’s recent article on the history of Skid Row. The piece quotes LA CAN organizer Steve Diaz on how the Safer Cities Initiative has led to a “police occupation” of the neighborhood.

YJC is co-sponsoring SB124, a bill that seeks to limit the use of solitary confinement in juvenile detention centers. The Chronicle of Social Change and Witness L.A. have the story.

Frontlines to Headlines January 2015

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InnerCity Struggle (ICS) organizer, Jennifer Maldonado

 

KPCC ran an article about how restorative justice techniques are beginning to take hold in L.A. Unified schools as suspensions and expulsions decline. Liberty Hill’s Brothers, Sons, Selves Coalition has been instrumental in advancing restorative justice in L.A.’s schools.

Equal Voice published a piece by InnerCity Struggle (ICS) organizer, Jennifer Maldonado, on her work fighting for healthier communities in East L.A.

ENVIRONMENT

The oil company, Freeport McRoRan, announced that it would no longer pursue expanding its operation at the Jefferson drill site in South L.A.’s West Adams neighborhood. The announcement comes after Liberty Hill’s Fund for Environmental Health and Safety grantees, Redeemer Community Partnership and Esperanza Community Housing led organizing efforts to address the drill site’s toxic impact on the neighborhood. See the L.A. Times and KPCC for more.

POLICING

#BlackLivesMatter demonstrators camped outside LAPD’s headquarters for over a week to demand justice for unarmed people of color killed by police. LAist covered the protest and featured quotes from Los Angeles Community Action Network (LA CAN) organizer, Pete White.

Frontlines to Headlines Dec.-Jan. 2014

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CHANGE

With major changes coming to immigration policy in 2015, the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights Los Angeles (CHIRLA) continues to make headlines as a leading organization on the issue. CHIRLA appeared in several publications as the President’s executive action was announced, including the Chronicle of Philanthropy. The organization’s public education event drew large numbers to the L.A. Convention Center, drawing coverage from outlets including KPCC and the L.A. Times. CHIRLA member Isobel Sandoval and her family were profiled in KPCC’s MultiAmerican blog.

As undocumented immigrants become eligible for driver’s licenses, the Pomona Economic Opportunity Center is helping them navigate the DMV and prepare for tests. The L.A. Times and the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin have the story.

Nationwide protests against police killings of unarmed African Americans continued through December, and demonstrators gathered in L.A. in response to the decision not to indict the officer who killed Eric Garner. Epoch Times has the story with a quote from Los Angeles Community Action Network member, Homid Khan.

As reported by LA School Report and the Los Angeles Daily News, the Labor/Community Strategy Center is calling for greater oversight of school police in the wake of revelations that LAUSD police possess heavy arms like grenade launchers and mine resistant vehicles.

ECONOMIC JUSTICE

 

 

 

 

 

Strategic Actions for a Just Economy (SAJE) and Strategic Concepts in Organizing & Policy Education (SCOPE) are among the organizations pushing for a boycott of the El Super supermarket chain, where workers are fighting for better conditions and calling attention to health code violations. The L.A. Times has the story.

Several Liberty Hill organizing partners, including the Black Workers Center, Koreatown Immigrant Workers Alliance (KIWA), Restaurant Opportunities Center Los Angeles (ROC-LA), and Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE), demonstrated at City Hall before an Economic Development Committee hearing on wage theft. LA Weekly picked up the story. Footage of the event is also on Youtube.

A CBS Los Angeles TV news report on wage theft mentioned ROC-LA and interviewed two ROC-LA members who are wage theft victims.

ACCE and other groups presented the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development with the “Grinch of the Year Award” for contributing to foreclosures by auctioning off delinquent loans. Housing Wire has the story.

The City of Long Beach will consider an ordinance called the Multi-Housing Habitability Ordinance/Program (MHHP), which would help ensure greater access to affordable, safe housing for residents through new methods of code enforcement. A Signal Tribune article quoted Kerry Gallagher of Housing Long Beach and discussed the organization’s work on holding landlords accountable.

The L.A. Times quoted Larry Gross of the Coalition for Economic Survival in an article about City Council’s growing concern over short-term housing rental website, Airbnb. Gross spoke about how short-term rentals contribute to the housing shortage.

An L.A. Times article on Geoffrey Palmer, the real estate developer known for downtown apartment complexes, mentioned how SAJE worked to make sure one of Palmer’s projects included affordable units.

An Al Jazeera America piece on the transit justice movement mentioned the Bus Riders Union’s work preventing fare increases and supporting equal service in all neighborhoods.

ENVIRONMENT

 

 

 

 

 

T.R.U.S.T. South L.A. helped organize the recent CicLAvia event in South Los Angeles that closed streets to traffic while Angelenos biked from downtown L.A. to Leimert Park. Check StreetsBlog L.A. for background, and see another Streetsblog L.A. article for pictures and stories from the event.

Frontlines to Headlines Nov.-Dec. 2014

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CHANGE

As the nation responded to the ongoing killings by police of unarmed young men of color, protesters in L.A. took to the streets and community-based organizations issued statements of solidarity. ABC TV’s breaking news coverage of responses to the failure to indict began with Youth Justice Coalition’s demonstration in Leimert Park. An organizer with Labor Community Strategy Center was one of a gallery of young people of color pictured on fusion.net and explained why they came out. NBC News mentioned the Korean Resource Center (KRC) in an article about Asian-Americans showing solidarity with Ferguson demonstrators. The article quotes a joint statement from KRC and other organizations. Liberty Hill’s blog carried a statement from the Brothers, Sons, Selves Coalition.

 

The announcement of President Obama’s executive action on immigration drew praise along with calls for a more comprehensive solution. The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA), as a national leader in the immigration reform movement, was sought after for comment (L.A. Times, CNN, Washington Post), and the group’s role in meetings with the White House earlier this year was described (New York Times). Pilipino Workers Center, CHIRLA and KIWA members were interviewed by publications from various parts of the Southland including Orange County Register, EPG News and Inquirer.net. Pomona Economic Opportunity Center (PEOC)’s plans for a forum to help undocumented immigrants learn about the new plan was part of coverage in the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin and the San Bernardino County Sun.

 

ECONOMIC JUSTICE

Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE) made national headlines when the organization helped an Azusa family become the first in the country to buy back their foreclosed home. NBC, ABC, and CBS all covered the story, along with the L.A. Times and the Washington Post.

The PBS documentary series, America by the Numbers, aired an episode about young Cambodian-Americans in Long Beach. Part of the documentary follows members of Khmer Girls in Action as they discuss the role of organizing in their community. The Long Beach Press Telegram has more on the episode.

The Nation’s StudentNation blog featured an entry from Californians for Justice, about the organization’s work to pass Prop 47.

PEOC is creating a program specifically geared toward helping women find job opportunities. Check the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin for more.

EdSource ran a piece about community groups making a difference in the educational system. InnerCity Struggle and Community Coalition were both featured.

ENVIRONMENT

Politicians, community members, and activists are working to shut down a battery recycling plant in Vernon that has been leaking toxins into the surrounding neighborhood. NBC’s coverage featured a quote from Mark Lopez, Executive Director of East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice.

An urban oil drilling site in South Los Angeles is sickening neighbors with dangerous fumes, and using toxic chemicals feet away from homes. Liberty Hill Fund for Environmental Health and Safety grantees, Redeemer Community Partnership and Esperanza Community Housing helped mobilize community members to attend a hearing about the site at City Hall. Check the L.A. Times, My News L.A., Streetsblog L.A., and KPCC for coverage.

LGBT RIGHTS

The Colorado Anti-Violence Program, a Queer Youth Fund grantee, hosted an event in observance of national Transgender Day of Remembrance, a day to memorialize transgender victims of hate crimes. Denver Westworld has the story.

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Give to Liberty Hill via AmazonSmile

By Crystal Shaw

At Liberty Hill we understand that life is busy.  Time is valuable and in this day and age, people are constantly trying to figure out how to do more with less, and how to do several things at once.  Now you can shop and donate to grassroots organizing at the same time. This could be a breakthrough strategy for the holidays and beyond.

By registering with AmazonSmile and  shopping at smile.amazon.com you can donate a percentage of every online purchase you make to Liberty Hill Foundation.

AmazonSmile is a website operated by Amazon with the same wide selection of products and shopping features as on Amazon.com. In order to browse or shop at AmazonSmile and make donations, customers must first select Liberty Hill Foundation as their charitable organization of choice. Then, for eligible purchases, the AmazonSmile Foundation will donate 0.5% of the price to Liberty Hill!

It’s that easy.  Simply by shopping, you will be supporting awesome social justice right here in L.A. with the click of a button.  During the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, and in the months to follow, you’ll have one more way that you’re giving to Liberty Hill. Thank you!

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Giving Tuesday Tip #12: Giving Tuesday!!

It’s Game Day … #GivingTuesday and Liberty Hill couldn’t be more excited!  Today’s tip is to repeat Tips 1-11 and GIVE.  If you missed a step in our 12 days of #GivingTuesday Tips series encouraging giving, today’s a great day to go back and follow it!  Here’s all the tips in order from 1-11.  Happy Giving!

 

Giving Tuesday Tip #5: Get Picky With It

At Liberty Hill we encourage you to be picky … and by picky we mean pick 35 of your social media friends or followers and tag them in a #GivingTuesday post encouraging them to GIVE.  Why 35?  Because on this Giving Tuesday think local.  And when donating $35, $350 or $3,500 to Liberty Hill, you’ll be helping more than 35 grassroots organizations right here in Los Angeles!

Right now it’s more important than ever to get involved.  You can support grassroots organizations like Youth Justice Coalition, Innercity Struggle, Californians for Justice and more who are working with youth, fighting to avoid another travesty like what happened in Ferguson.

Need some examples of what to post?  We’ve got you covered with that too, right here.

TOMORROW: Liberty Hill’s GIVING TUESDAY TIP#6.

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