The Labor/Community Strategy Center Feed

The Occupy Movement and Its Demands

Eric Mann — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 14:20:27 -0800

Many in the Occupy movement believe that making specific demands will leave the movement open to cooptation and division. But without demands that ask the president, Congress, and Wall Street to make radical changes in policy, there is the danger that they will still carry out business as usual while the protests grow stronger.

In new report, coalition indicts LA County MTA civil rights practices, calls for strong federal intervention

Eric Romann — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 12:37:09 -0700

Civil rights, labor, environmental, public health, and housing organizations argue bus service and fare increases result in civil rights harms for transit-dependent people and obstruct economic recovery for low-income transit-dependent Angelenos.

Media buzzes as nation’s largest school district police force joins LAPD in adopting new protocols

Crystal McMillan — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 14:02:25 -0700

Media trumpeted the news as the Los Angeles School Police Department unveiled protocols intended to reduce the number of daytime curfew tickets written to students. The revised procedures are a result of collaboration and discussions between Public Counsel, the Community Rights Campaign, the ACLU of Southern California, Children's Defense Fund, CADRE, and Youth Justice Coalition - groups that work to keep students in school - and Los Angeles School Police Department (LASPD) leaders.

Capacity crowd, expert panel unmask transit crisis at Town Hall

Eric Romann — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 15:03:09 -0700

With a federal review of MTA's civil rights record still in progress, a standing room only-crowd of over 200 and an all-star panel exposed LA MTA's civil rights crisis at the Transit Justice Town Hall meeting Saturday. Overo 100 bus riders people gave three hours of testimony on the harms caused by deep cuts in bus service, inadequate bus service, increases in fares - all of which will be used for a report on the crisis to be released in September. The event was organized by the Bus Riders Union and sponsored by a city-wide multi-racial coalition of 35 organizations.

BRU and broad coalition of allies win major breakthrough on Wilshire Bus Lanes at Los Angeles City Council

Sunyoung Yang — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 11:32:07 -0700

After six years of campaigning, the BRU scored a major environmental victory today: the Wilshire Boulevard Bus-Only Lanes won the resounding approval from the LA City Council and cleared the last major political hurdle for it to become reality

Ten Reasons Why Protecting Unions Is a Life and Death Issue

Eric Mann — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 15:40:07 -0700

Reason #8 Union meetings are rough and tumble but a real exciting place to go. Some local unions are run by a clique but the members have the right to vote them out. Some union meetings are run top down but the workers have the right to yell out their ideas and get the floor. Some local unions—like the one I was in, UAW Local 645 in Van Nuys California—were hotbeds of political discussion where...

In LA Times, HuffPo, Colorlines, "Truancy" Ticket Victory Media Waves Reach City Hall, Cardenas Responds

Daniel Kim — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 14:12:23 -0700

As news of our "truancy" ticket victory rolled through local and national media. the Community Rights Campaign carried the momentum of our coalition into City Hall on Monday, where Councilmember Cardenas presided over an unprecedented meeting where community voices were heard, and councilmembers were moved.

Los Angeles Times Article - L.A. Public Transit Moves in Wrong Direction

Esperanza Martinez — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 14:31:52 -0700

LA Times columnist David Lazarus fights against bus cuts and advocates for designated bus lanes, commuter routes, and a commitment to public transit in order to ease street congestion.

Press Release- BRU Complaint on Bus Service Cuts - Spurs Comprehensive Federal Civil Rights Review of the Los Angeles MTA

Gabriel Strachota — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 09:53:43 -0700

Breaking News - (Los Angeles, CA, March 14, 2011) - The Federal Transit Administration specified, in a letter in response to the Bus Riders Union (BRU) Administrative Complaint submitted in the fall of 2010, that it "plans on conducting an on-site compliance review of LA MTA this year. The decision to perform this compliance review was based, in part, on your (BRU) complaint submitted to the FTA Office of Civil Rights."

At WSF Dakar, Ambassador Solon, Bolivians outreach to build climate justice movement for COP17 Durban and Rio+20

Daniel Kim — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 23:23:22 -0800

n/a

Rio+20 and the rush to sell nature's invisible labor

Daniel Kim — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 01:23:21 -0800

n/a

New study finds MTA policies squeezing transit riders at both ends

Esperanza Martinez — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 18:08:27 -0800

n/a

MTA - No Matter How You Spin it, You're Rolling Back Civil Rights

Esperanza Martinez — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 14:34:48 -0800

As MTA prepares to cut another set of over 300,000 hours of bus service, the Bus Riders Union has been on the offensive. Read on to see how despite how MTA slices it, their proposed service cuts and recent fare increases are rolling back Civil Rights!

How 2 minutes can change your entire life | An Intimate Portrayal of a Black Mother's Fight to Save her Son

Kendra Williby — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 19:05:12 -0800

Let me share with you a story of a courageous and fierce Black mother. Her persistence to have her children do more than merely "survive" or "make it" and commitment to justice took her on a truly transformative journey that has inspired us all.

Is Your Bus Line on the chopping Block?

Gabriel Strachota — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 15:43:12 -0800

MTA is Proposing to Cut 13 Bus Lines & Reduce Weekend & Night Service on 16 others!

Who is being affected? The fight for Wilshire BOL next Thursday!

Eric Romann — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 16:30:22 -0800

We are at a critical stage in the long struggle to win a Bus-Only Lane (BOL) on Wilshire Boulevard. Let's be clear: In spite of the speculative numbers being put out by Supervisor Yaroslavsky, there is no hard evidence that supports the removal of this section from the BOL route - the traffic impacts of the BOL are the same as anywhere else along the route; the only difference is who is being impacted.

RECLAIM: OUR CITY, OUR HISTORY MARCH & CONCERT

Gabriel Strachota — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 17:48:47 -0800

Top 10 reasons to come out and support the BRU & LA Human Right to Housing Collective March & Concert on December 1st:

Center for Political Graphics 21st Annual celebration

Nicole Eng — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 20:22:36 -0800

n/a

$70M Transit Breakthrough in Restoring Civil Rights Title VI

Francisca Porchas — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 14:20:11 -0800

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).

Reclaim our City, Reclaim our History - March and Free Concert

Esperanza Martinez — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 18:17:03 -0800

The BRU & the LA Human Right to Housing Collective invite you to the Reclaim our City, Reclaim our History March & Concert on December 1, 2010 starting at 3:30pm at MTA headquarters with the concert starting at 5:30pm at La Placita Olvera.

Back by Popular Demand: CR's Resistance Art Exhibition!

Kendra Williby — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 17:25:02 -0700

With such great reviews and high level of community participation & discussion we have brought back our "school-to-prison" pipeline maze for a second showing! Last Saturday, over 150 students, teachers, parents, and community members from various Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) schools and social & educational justice organizations joined the Community Rights Campaign at our Caps & Gowns NOT Jail Cell Bound event!

SYOA Notebook: It is our Duty to Fight for Freedom | August 30, 2010

Lissett Lazo — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 16:06:58 -0700

Lissett Lazo, SYOA Alumni '07 and Community Rights Organizer, reflects on the highlights and breakthroughs of this year's Summer Youth Organizing Academy class. She looks back to her own experience as a SYOA student as a pivotal point in her own growth and transformation as an organizer and young Salvadoreña, Hondureña, Nucaraguense womyn.

Comment now to ensure Wilshire Bus-Only Lanes get approved!

Daniel Kim — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 20:10:49 -0700

The draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the Wilshire Bus-Only Lanes Project has been released for public review! Your comments will be critical during this time because full public participation makes the Environmental Impact Report that much stronger.

Wilshire bus lane study to be released next week

Sunyoung Yang — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 17:32:04 -0700

The long-sought project to add a bus lane to 9.5 miles of Wilshire Boulevard for peak hour commutes will take a step forward next week when a draft environmental impact report is released jointly by Metro, along with the city and county of Los Angeles.

Video from May 27th MTA Board Meeting

April Wong — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 15:41:14 -0700

The BRU's campaign to defeat MTA's racist fare increase reached a fever pitch on Thursday, May 27, when 150 BRU members and allies shut down the MTA Board.

Hunger Fast Showdown at MTA--Recap

Eric Romann — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 12:53:45 -0700

After months of campaigning and an intensive week of fasting and organizing at the Rosa Parks Tent City, 150 BRU members and allies shut down the MTA Board. We were left with no choice but to stop business as usual. We brought the MTA Board meeting to a halt for the better part of 4 hours. In the process, two of our organizers, Sunyoung Yang and Gabriel Strachota, were arrested in an act of civil disobedience. Here's a recap of the day...

Profiles of the Fasters: Staci Williams & Rosa Miranda

Gabriel Strachota — Fri, 21 May 2010 16:12:15 -0700

Interviews with two of the BRU hunger fasters. Rosa Miranda, inmigrante mexicano, lives in Westlake, mother of 3, a bus rider. Staci Williams, unemployed, lives in South LA, mother of 2, a bus rider.

LA Times, media breakthrough on fight to stop fare hikes

Daniel Kim — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 10:46:12 -0700

Yesterday on the front page of their local news section, the LA Times ran a strong story on our fight to stop MTA's racist fare hikes. We also saw excellent coverage in La Opinion, by radio and on television (so far we have confirmed coverage on Channel 7, NBC Channel 4). The Times article quoted BRU Co-Chair Barbara Lott-Holland and lead organizer Esperanza Martinez talking...

Part 2: Are we still trying to change the world?

Manuel Criollo — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 16:41:53 -0700

n/a

UPDATED In surprise move, Mayor reaches out to BRU for public hearing

Esperanza Martinez — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 16:00:21 -0700

UPDATE 4/22: On Thursday, April 15, Mayor Villaraigosa introduced Motion #49 to the MTA Board, with L.A. DOT General Manger Rita Robinson and L.A. County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas. The motion proposes an informational briefing to announce the fare increase and listen to “comments”; this is not a public hearing and not...

CNN features Community Rights on "zero tolerance," truancy tickets in schools

Manuel Criollo — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 17:05:51 -0800

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..."

$70M Transit Breakthrough in Restoring Civil Rights Title VI

Francisca Porchas — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 17:39:00 -0800

n/a

Michelle Alexander: Book Signing and Discussion of her new book "The New Jim Crow"

Geoff Ramsey-Ray — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 16:37:11 -0800

Los Angeles -- Thurs: Freedom Hall 4:30 PM; Fri: Eso Won Bookstore 7PM

CRC Launches New Report Against Problems of Police in LAUSD Schools

Kendra Williby — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 19:49:14 -0800

n/a

From the Battle in Seattle to the US Social Forum 2010

Daniel Kim — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 16:52:54 -0800

Where is the global justice movement 10 years after its birth in the Battle of Seattle? In a radio interview, the Strategy Center's Tammy Bang Luu remembers being "a young kid" on the streets, and being arrested in the protests. She draws connections between what happened then and where the global justice movement is today as it heads into the second US Social Forum in Detroit in 2010.

Are we still trying to change the world?

Manuel Criollo — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 21:50:09 -0800

I don't normally write to newspaper columnists but, over the past few weeks, Bob Herbert at the New York Times has been writing some really sharp OpEd columns that have caught my attention. What hooked me was a column where he put his finger on a question that's been bothering many of us: where is the anger, the outrage, the action? where is the hope for changing the world?

US Diplomacy & Honduran Resistance -- A Balance Sheet

Manuel Criollo — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 13:07:15 -0800

Last weekend, the Honduran political crisis entered a new stage when US diplomats brokered an agreement between the coup government led by Roberto Micheletti and the ousted President Manuel Zelaya. Is the agreement a victory for Zelaya and popular forces in Honduras and across Latin America or is it a triumph of a sophisticated strategy of US imperial manipulation? Manuel Criollo comments.

BRU Wins Policy Breakthrough by Securing the 20% of Measure R Bus Improvement funds | October 22, 2009

Esperanza Martinez — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 15:41:06 -0700

BRU wins two major policy breakthroughs to protect bus riders' Civil Rights at the MTA's monthly Board meeting! After months of pressure from the BRU, Mayor Villaraigosa requests that MTA staff present a plan for bus system improvements and Supervisor Ridley-Thomas introduced an amendment to the 2009 LRTP that included language to protect the 20% of Measure R funds exclusively for bus expansion.

A Black Mother Takes Action to Challenge a “Guilty” Verdict on a Truancy Ticket | Pre-Prison Diaries: October 25, 2009

Barbara Lott-Holland — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 17:57:59 -0700

n/a

Super Pasajera vs. the LRTP Legion of Doom

Esperanza Martinez — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 19:52:42 -0700

We have just finished with our teatro / rally / action at the MTA headquarters, but we are repeating our performance on Wednesday 10/21/2009 at 12:30pm at the corner of Wilshire / Western. Don't miss our performance! The Bus Riders Union, bus riders and their allies will be urging the public to call on MTA Board of Directors to reject the 2009 Long Range Transportation Plan (LRTP) draft that calls for permanent fare increases and bus service reduction.

Breakthrough: Community Rights Wins Withdrawal of Motion to Expand "Truancy Tickets" Law

Lisa Adler — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 13:32:23 -0700

We are pleased to announce that LAUSD Board Member Tamar Galatzan and Councilmember Tom LaBonge have withdrawn their motions to deputize police officers to issue LA Municipal Code 45.04 Daytime Curfew Citations, popularly known as "Truancy Tickets," inside LAUSD schools. Ms. Galatzan will now be chairing an agenda item on Truancy and Attendance at the October 20th Board meeting, where Community Rights Campaign organizers will be presenting. To advance this breakthrough, important next steps are still needed....

Is it now a crime to be poor? The criminalization of everyday life

Manuel Criollo — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 13:46:53 -0700

Barbara Ehrenreich's op-ed, Is it now a crime to be poor?, published on August 9th in the New York Times is an important contribution, written for the readers of the New York Times, about the criminalization of poverty in the U.S.

TRPT Packs D.C. Briefing Room: Advocacy Day 2009 Report

Francisca Porchas — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 17:34:08 -0700

On Tuesday, June 9th, ten different organizations from across the country, including our allies from Transportation Equity Network (TEN) joined Transit Riders for Public Transportation (TRPT) for their first national Advocacy Day on the Hill. The first half of the day organizers from across the country met with at least 30 meetings with the staff of congressional leaders. The Advocacy Day culminated with a Congressional Briefing hosted by TRPT and Transportation and Infrastructure Committee member, Congresswoman Grace Napolitano on the importance of greatly expanding permanent transit operating assistance funding in the next federal surface transportation act...

Wilshire Bus Only Lanes Get Federal Greenlight!

Geoff Ramsey-Ray — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 15:16:59 -0700

After an insistent 5-year BRU public health and environmental justice campaign, the Wilshire Bus Only Lanes project has won U.S. Senate funding approval. This breakthrough clears the way for MTA to begin implementing Bus Only Lanes along the busiest single transit corridor in the country.

Highway to Hell: Transit Change Needed in Stimulus Package

Eric Mann — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 23:45:39 -0800

President Obama's focus on "shovel ready" capital projects that advance the highway lobby compromises his mission of social justice and reversing global warming.

Stop the Bipartisan Police/Prison Budget Shell Game

Bethel Hamel — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 13:06:37 -0800

We Need 1,000 More Teachers, 1,000 Less Prison Guard. 1,000 More Buses, 1,000 Less Police!

New EPA Chief At WE ACT Conference, What's Our Next Move?

Francisca Porchas — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 20:49:15 -0800

To understand how monumental it is for Lisa Jackson to be the new EPA chief, you have to look at history. Traditionally, heads of the EPA have been for the most part white men praised for how much money they saved industry....

The Wire: Actors Wendell Pierce & Andre Royo

Eric Mann — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 15:16:55 -0700

n/a

Wilshire Bus Lane Wins $23 Million

Eric Romann — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 17:00:08 -0700

BRU helps win federal funding for bus only lane on Wilshire Blvd.

Transit Racism & the Environmental Movement

Eric Mann — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 16:08:33 -0800

Article: Our fight over the future of L.A.'s buses has important implications for the future of the environmental movement.

Katrina’s Legacy

Geoff Ramsey-Ray — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 17:03:04 -0800

n/a