Jazmin Martinez, a senior at Manual Arts High School, blogs about being searched in a round-up with an auditorium full of students for being tardy. She writes about the need to end the racialization of the "war on drugs" by creating forms of prevention, intervention and ultimately decriminalizing drug usage in her blog, Prevention Beyond Just "Say No".

After weeks of nervous speculation, a victory against a court system that fails time and time again to convict and sentence police officers for murder. For Black people in particular, this perpetual lack of legal re-dress for one of the oldest problems impacting our community has created deeply entrenched pain, fear and anger. No matter the social status, economic class or skin tone, almost every Black person in America has experienced a nervous moment whenever a cop came near. This is not because we are a community of cowards. rather it is because...

The first pre-trial hearing for Johannes Mehserle - the Ex-BART officer who shot and killed Oscar Grant on New Years Day 2009 - brought out a tapestry of emotion and activity. The Foltz Criminal Justice Center was abuzz with scores of brave protestors, media representatives, and agents of the legal system all taking part in the early morning rush.
It was an amazing scene considering that the hearing itself was rather basic and bland. The biggest developments of the day included...

Contrary to idea of America in the age of colorblindness, civil rights advocate and law professor Michelle Alexander argues, "we have not ended racial caste in America; we have merely redesigned it."  Her new book is The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness. Please join Community Rights in a booksigning and discussion with her this week.

In January, the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization (LVEJO) of Chicago was proud to take part in the TRPT's National Advocacy Day for Civil Rights. We met with the staff of Senator Durbin and Senator Burris, as well as the staff of Representatives Davis, Gutierrez, Jackson, Jr, Lipinski, and Quigley. Because senators’ number one priority right now is jobs, we stressed...

Just yesterday, CNN ran a top story in their legal news section that features our Community Rights work against truancy tickets and pre-prison conditions in schools: "But one thing is sure: Alexa's case isn't the first. At schools across the country, police are being asked to step in..."

Two new members were elected for their first time to the Planning Committee this year.  I asked them about their impressions of their first month.  What was it like at your first meeting?  What surprised you?  How has your perspective on our work changed?

Earlier this month, more than 40 people, representing 16 organizations
from across the state, piled into an AC Transit Bus and rode to
Sacramento to demand that our Legislators stop the fare hikes, service
cuts, and layoffs that have been devastating  California transit
operators and their riders.

This year we're working on raising $10,000 to build support around the Wilshire Bus-Only Lanes Campaign
which is so close to victory. To kick off our fundraising effort, we
had our first event on Saturday January 30th--Clean Air Campaign Yard
Sale.

Big news! In the first successful action of its kind in the nation, Bay Area members of Transit Riders for Public Transportation (TRPT), Public Advocates and Urban Habitat, filed a civil rights complaint to stop $70M in stimulus funds from being allocated to the $500-billion boondoggle rail project, the Oakland Airport Connector project (OAC).