The Latino and Latina Roundtable will hold its bi-monthly membership meeting this Saturday, September 14th at 1 PM, Pitzer College Broad Center Room 208 (1050 N. Mills Ave.) in Claremont. See event. Continue reading
Good article on what a huge mistake it would be for the U. S. to wage war on Syria. This is a civil war. Al Qaeda-affiliated groups are part of the so-called rebel force but this appears to be Continue reading
By Jose Zapata Calderon
POSTED: 09/06/13, 11:05 AM PDT | Read this article in the Daily Bulletin
The Daily Bulletin editorial “Economic injustice in Pomona” (Sept. 5) is on the right track in proposing solutions to the growing street violence in the city that include the creation of a climate where community residents have some trust in their city officials and where Pomona becomes “a city of opportunity.” Continue reading
No good news. Alejo has caved in to requiring a marked license. I just got news that: Continue reading
See the Daily Bulletin editorial at this link: Economic injustice in Pomona: Editorial
The Daily Bulletin editorial, “Economic Injustice in Pomona,” is on the right track in proposing solutions to the growing street violence in the city that include the creation of a climate where community residents have some trust in their city officials and where Pomona becomes “a city of opportunity.” In a series of “Community Messaging Ad Hoc Committee” meetings last Spring, I, and other community advocates in the region, proposed that the most successful strategies for dealing with growing violence among youth needed to focus on prevention rather than criminalization and enforcement. At an April 30th meeting, I proposed that “gang violence would not exist if they (gangs) did not satisfy the desperate needs of young people for family, education, mentoring, housing, employment, health, spiritual, and social support.” In the last few years, the Pomona Habla coalition has consistently raised to the city council that there could be no “trust” as long as the Pomona Police continue to use checkpoints and saturation enforcement tactics that primarily target the majority-minority population in the city. There have continued to be “deaf ears” to the studies, such as that of the Latino Decisions/Center for American Progress Action Fund/America’s Voice poll, which found that “79 percent of Latinos nationwide believed that Latinos who are legal immigrants or U. S. citizens will get stopped or questioned by police.” It is no coincidence then why many of the cases in Pomona are not solved when the tactics used have not been in the direction of cooperation but more focused on strategies that have affected both the immigrant and non-immigrant communities. The use of enforcement tactics do not get at the long-term needs of a community for employment, health, housing, education, and economic development opportunities. These needs cannot simply be solved through ideological “messaging” or “spiritual” soul-awakening from the pulpits, but need to be concretized in long-term collaboration and planning between the public and private sectors. The successful model, created by Father Gregory Boyle in Los Angeles, gets at the “spiritual” needs of gang-involved youth by creating programs that get at the “material” foundations of those needs: through the development of an alternative elementary school, an after-school program, a day care program, a community organizing project, and a Homeboy Industries’ economic development project (that includes Homeboy Bakery, Homeboy Silkscreen, Homeboy/Homegirl Merchandise, Homeboy Diner, Homeboy Farmers Markets, Homeboy Plumbing and Homegirl Café). A similar prevention program could be advanced in Pomona but needs the economic investment of both the government and business sector in developing an “economic justice plan” that includes the capacity-building strategies of quality jobs, housing, health, education, and pre-school/after-school programs (particularly in the low-income sectors of the community).
URGENT ACTION: Sign-on letter to Gov saying no marked licenses – 4 PM DEADLINE TODAY Tell Gov Brown: No marked licenses! Sign-on by TODAY, 4 PM
Tell Gov Brown: No marked licenses!
Sign-on by TODAY, 4 PM Time Sensitive Action Alert: Asm. Alejo’s office is likely to amend AB 60 to include a marking on driver’s licenses for undocumented immigrants, in hopes of garnering support from the Governor’s office.
We need to let the Governor know that marked licenses put undocumented immigrants at risk, and we want him to support AB 60 as is, with no markings. Time is short: Sign your organization on by 4 PM TODAY if you want to let Governor Brown and Asm. Alejo know that licenses should look the same for all, regardless of immigration status. Letter text below. Please click on this link to sign-on.
Text of Letter to Governor Brown (Asm. Alejo will be cc’d):
WE, the undersigned organizations, stand united for ONE license for all Californians. We believe all are safer when all drivers are properly licensed, tested, and insured. But a distinguishing mark on licenses that singles out undocumented community members would make millions of people vulnerable to discriminatory treatment on and off the road.
A “scarlet letter”-type marking on licenses – whether it brands the bearer as “not lawfully present” or puzzlingly declares that the license is “not for identification purposes” – would fill with peril countless daily interactions, from a minor traffic stop to a rental application.
California is behind on this issue. Both Oregon and Washington state provide the same license to all residents, and have done so for many years. It’s time for us to catch up.
An inspiration to all of us who have tried to walk similar paths in our lives. Continue reading
Video on YouTube regarding the One Million New Internet Users Awards Ceremony. Continue reading
To: Latino and Latina Roundtable members and friends:
We are asking each member to attend this forum and to reach out to at least two people between now and Wednesday and let them know about the forum.
“Forum On the Good and the Bad of Immigration Legislation”
When: Wednesday, August 28th, 2013
Time: 6:15 – 9 PM
Where: Pomona Unified School District Board Room
800 South Garey Ave. Pomona, CA 91766
What: This forum will inform the community on the status of immigration legislation. There have been many victories won in California in recent years for immigrant rights and presently there is the possibility of passing a driver’s license bill. Our coalitions continue to work for the legalization of the 12 million undocumented but with no provisions that would result in their criminalization. This event will shed light on these efforts as well as analyze the Comprehensive Immigration Reform bill S-744 on a federal level. At this time, the majority of people in the U. S. want undocumented persons to receive legal status and eventually citizenship. This forum will discuss who and what is standing in the way of passing immigrant rights legislation that would truly serve the interests of our communities and what everyone can do to pass legislation that will serve the common good.
Sponsors: The 28ers, The Latino and Latina Roundtable; Inland Empire Immigrant Youth Coalition, and The Justice for Immigrants Coalition.