News from Ella Baker Center

January 7, 2010 — During his State of the State address today, Governor Schwarzenegger proposed a constitutional amendment that would bar the state from spending more on prisons than on higher education, and that would allow privatization of California’s prison system. Advocates applauded the call for significant cuts, but criticized the governor for leaning on a panacea of privatization. [Read More]

October 25, 2009 — Over the past year, the Ella Baker Center, East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy (EBASE) and Urban Peace Movement have partnered on an innovative research project entitled Good Jobs, Safe Streets: How Economic Recovery Can Lead to Community Safety in Oakland. This report is the beginning of a collaborative effort city-wide to ensure that all young people have systems in place that can be utilized to foster their development, personal growth and leadership within the community. [Read More]

August 21, 2009 — The Sacramento Bee, San Fransisco Chronicle, San Jose Mercury News have come out in favor of Prison Reform for California mean while TIME Magazine, The New York Times and countless number of other publications have written stories pointing to California as a example of what's wrong when your priorities are centered around incarceration not education. [Read More]

Los Angeles Times (November 27, 2009) — Ian Kim explains how with regards to the Stimulus in California, there may be a skill gap. Most of California's 2.2 million jobless workers need the investment in job-training and skills development.

San Francisco Chronicle (November 22, 2009) — obs that not only help save the planet but usher individuals and neighborhoods out of poverty - talk about a silver bullet. If the promise of green jobs sounds too good to be true, the simplicity of the logic is difficult to resist: Train and hire people who are economically marginalized in work that is critical but has been neglected. Instead of poor people getting stuck at the back of the line, they step to the front of the new technology.

Truthout (August 25, 2009) — Is it a famine and a feast? Some Californians might wonder. The People's Bidget Fix went to Sacramento to meet with legislators and discuss sensible solutions for the budget crisis.

The Oakland Tribune (February 9, 2010) — The Green Collar Jobs Campaign Lead Organizer Emily Kirsch explains the amazing opportunity Oakland has to be a worldwide leader in equitable climate action.

Calitics (September 17, 2009) — California is facing financial ruin. Its schools have been forced to make devastating cuts that could put a whole generation of children at a competitive disadvantage -- and at higher risk of turning to crime. By refusing sensible reforms to save money in our corrections system, more children may lose their health care, more teachers may be laid off, and more health and safety programs may be cut.

The Oakland Tribune (January 2, 2009) — Silence The Violence director Nicole Lee explains the epidemic of violence in Oakland in 2008 and the continued disproportionate affects of crime on the same people year after year.