As the new Organizer for the Green-Collar Jobs Campaign, I feel privileged to have had a first week that grounded me in my work here.
On Wednesday, the office closed for Oakland’s General Strike. Leading with the Ella Baker Center… Read more
Tag Archives: California
My First Week at the Ella Baker Center
by Denise Fan on Nov 16, 2011
An Important Opportunity for California
by Jakada Imani on Aug 31, 2011
We’ve heard it before – “the green economy is here” and “green jobs are on the way!” At the Ella Baker Center, we put time, energy, and money into building training programs and promoting the idea of the “new,” green economy. Just a few years later, the economy crashed and… Read more
Whose priorities?
by Glenn Backes on Jul 7, 2011
The California budget passed by the Legislature and signed by Governor Brown is filled with painful cuts to health, education and state parks. Contrast this with lack of cuts to corrections, and increased spending on lock-up and probation at the local level, and you get a sense of… Read more
The Time is Now
by Sumayyah Waheed on Jan 12, 2011
HUGE NEWS- Governor Jerry Brown wants to close California’s youth prisons! On Monday, Governor Brown proposed to eliminate the Division of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) and fund counties to treat the youth instead. Books Not Bars has been calling for DJJ’s closure for seven years. And finally, Sacramento is
Connie Malloy: Drawing California’s Lines
by Guest Authors on Dec 3, 2010
By Connie Galambos Malloy
On November 30th, I was sworn in to a 10-year term of service on California’s first-ever Citizens Redistricting Commission. This 8-member body is charged with selecting the final six commissioners to form the 14-member commission that will redraw California’s Senate, Assembly, State Board of Equalization,… Read more
We’re Represented on CA’s New Redistricting Panel
by Ian Kim on Nov 23, 2010
Wow, one of our own, Urban Habitat’s Connie Galambos-Malloy, made it onto California’s 8-member Redistricting Panel!
This is one of the most important government bodies you never heard of. California’s redistricting process is mysterious to most of us, but it will have a HUGE impact on California’s politics for decades. These 8… Read more
Bye, Bye Arnie
by Sumayyah Waheed on Nov 20, 2010
This week marks the seventh anniversary of when Arnold Schwarzenegger was sworn in as governor of California. I remember when he was elected. I was ashamed of our state for allowing celebrity to trump qualifications. I had no idea what to expect from him.
A few years later, I… Read more
Knowing Da’ County
by Abel Habtegeorgis on Oct 27, 2010
In addition to his role as the Ella Baker Center Media Relations Manager, Abel is a fellow with the Alameda County Leadership Academy.
Understanding the bureaucracy of county government was difficult, for that matter frightening for me. So what was a curious, civically-engaged resident of Alameda County like myself… Read more
Poisonous Pals- Props 26 & 23
by Jakada Imani on Oct 25, 2010
The California Ballot Measure process has become a roulette game for big corporations to gamble with the health of our citizens. Perfect examples of how this plays out are Proposition 26 and Proposition 23, deceptive initiatives bankrolled by major polluters, both would result in more pollution in our state,… Read more
Goodbye (for the Moment) to Prop 8
by Meredith Fenton on Aug 5, 2010
Today, U.S. District Court Chief Judge Vaughn Walker found that Proposition 8, the November 2008 ballot initiative that took away marriage rights from gay and lesbian couples, is unconstitutional. At the heart of his decision is the belief that Proposition 8 violates the equal protection guarantee of the Fourteenth