The West
Californians for Justice is a statewide grassroots organization working for racial justice by building the power of communities that have been pushed to the margins of the political process. We organize youth, immigrants, low income people and communities of color in order to improve their social, economic and political conditions. Lack of access to quality education handicaps the future of too many youth in California. CFJ challenges the unequal access to education by working to create change at the school level and the state level. CFJ student members develop solutions for problems and then run campaigns to turn those solutions into concrete action. CFJ also leads the Campaign for Quality Education, a statewide alliance of over 100 organizations which works to make policy changes that will improve schools throughout the state.
Coleman Advocates for Children & Youth
Coleman Advocates for Children and Youth has worked to improve the lives of San Francisco’s children, youth, and families for over 30 years. Our mission is to make San Francisco a city of hope, justice and opportunity for all children and their families. We have a pioneering hybrid model of policy advocacy and grassroots organizing, with the leadership development of young people and parents at the center. Parents Making a Change (P-MAC) which was formerly known as Parent Advocates for Youth) and Youth Making a Change (Y-MAC) are Coleman’s two organizing projects. We also have a coalition of city service providers, and a broad network of thousands of individual advocate-supporters. In our new model, only members vote on and drive our policy agenda.Our Mission: To transform the social and economic conditions in South LA that foster addiction, crime, violence and poverty by building a community institution that involves thousands in creating, influencing and changing public policy.
Who We Are: Community leaders, including current California Assembly Speaker, Karen Bass, founded Community Coalition as a non-profit organization in 1990 in response to the 1980′s crack cocaine epidemic that devastated South LA. The goal was to provide preventative community centered solutions to the drug problem. Community Coalition works with African American and Latino residents to build a prosperous and healthy South LA with safe neighborhoods, quality schools, a strong social safety net and positive economic development in order to reduce crime, poverty and substance abuse in our community.
InnerCity Struggle (ICS)
InnerCity Struggle promotes safe, healthy and non-violent communities by organizing youth and families in Boyle Heights and East Los Angeles to work toward economic and social justice. InnerCity Struggle has worked with youth and community residents for the past 12 years to promote safe, healthy, and non-violent communities in the Eastside. We involve youth, families and community members that work together for change in their communities. We provide positive after-school programs for students to become involved in supporting our schools. We have empowered students to reach their family’s dream of college. The work of InnerCity Struggle demonstrates that youth and parents working together are a powerful force for improving their communities and making real change.
With roots in the struggle for educational justice, Padres Unidos has evolved into a multi-issue organization led by people of color who work for equality and justice in education, racial justice for youth, immigrant rights and the right to quality healthcare for all. Jovenes Unidos, the youth initiative of Padres Unidos came next, emerging out of the fight for educational justice for all children. Both Padres and Jovenes Unidos challenge the root cause of discrimination, racism and inequity by exposing the economic, social and institutional basis for injustice as well as developing effective strategies and tactics to change it. Parents and students are empowered to organize, develop new leadership and realize meaningful change.
Grounded in the commitment to unity, peace, and justice, the mission of Youth Together is to address the root causes of educational inequalities by developing multiracial youth organizers and engaging school community allies to promote positive school change. Youth Together’s purpose is to develop organizers committed to improving schools and communities for lowincome people of color. YT was founded in 1996 as a community-based response to inter-racial conflict on high school campuses. Youth and community members identified this conflict as a direct result of institutional neglect inside public schools and YT was launched to address campus conditions. YT operates student organizing teams, utilizing a grassroots community organizing model, in four public high schools in Oakland and Richmond California: Castlemont Community of Small Schools, Fremont Federation of High Schools, Richmond High School and Skyline High School. Youth Together’s core programs include: youth organizing on school campuses, regional campaign development and school and community based Youth Centers/ One Land One People Collaboratives at Skyline High and Youth Empowerment School.
This entry was posted on Sunday, May 23rd, 2010 at 11:56 pm. It is filed under Featured.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
