Take Action: Protect California Renters

Exciting news! We are on the verge of passing a new law, the California Tenant Protection Act (AB 1482),  in the California Assembly that will end rent gouging and stop landlords from evicting tenants without just cause. 
 
We are only a few votes shy of being able to pass this law over the next two weeks. Can you spare 30 seconds today to contact your assembly member and ask for their support? Corporate interests are trying to kill this legislation – and we need your voices to fight back. 
 
CLICK HERE for an easy tool that allows you to email key assembly members and will connect you directly to the right office, where you can leave a simple message expressing your support. It takes less than a minute! 

For more information on how you can help protect renters and strengthen California communities, please find district factsheets and assemblymember contact information below:

  • Assemblymember Al Murasutchi -- AD 66, Torance,Redondo Beach, Rancho Palos Verdes
    (916) 319-2066 or @AsmMuratsuchi
  • Assemblymember Autumn Burke -- AD 62, Inglewood, Hawthorne, El Segundo:
    (916) 319-2062 or @AsmAutumnBurke
  • Assemblymember Tom Daly -- AD 69, Anaheim, Santa Ana):
    (916) 319-2069
  • Assemblymember Freddie Rodriguez -- AD 52, Ontario, Pomona, Chino:
    (916) 319-2052 or @AsmRodriguez52
  • Assemblymember Blanca Rubio -- AD 48, Covina, Azusa, Baldwin Park:
    (916) 319-2048 or @AsmBlancaRubio
  • Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia -- AD 56, Eastern Riverside County, Imperial County:
    (916) 319-2056 or @AsmEGarciaAD56
  • Assemblymember Cristina Garcia -- AD 58, Bell Gardens, Norwalk, Pico Rivera:
    (916) 319-2058 or @AsmGarcia
  • Assemblymember Ed Chau -- AD 49, Rosemead, Arcadia, South Pasadena:
    (916) 319-2049 or @AsmEdChau

Thanks for your help in fighting for more affordable rents and basic fairness for California renters.  

A Victory Against Police Violence, Won by Families

On Monday, surrounded by family members who have lost their loved ones to deadly police force, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law AB 392: The California Act to Save Lives, authored by Assemblymember Dr. Shirley Weber of San Diego.

This legislation is the result of years of courageous organizing by directly impacted families; and the Alliance for Boys and Men of Color and PolicyLink have been proud members of the #LetUsLive coalition, as co-sponsors and partners in this campaign to protect our communities from police violence.
 
Because of our collective efforts of the #LetUsLive coalition, California will go from having one of the deadliest use-of-force laws in the nation, to one of the most protective — saving countless lives.
 
This victory was made possible by leaders like Kori McCoy, who spoke at the signing ceremony and whose younger brother, Willie McCoy, was killed last February by six officers firing 55 shots in less than four seconds.
 
Kori noted: "The reality is, officers rarely face consequences, and families like mine are left to wonder who is policing the police. This law offers a ray of solace for my family and hope that it will spare other families from bearing this burden with us."
 
Now that AB 392 is the law, California is the ONLY state to combine the "necessary standard" with requirement that courts consider officers' conduct leading up to a use of deadly force in determining its legality. This commonsense change brings a glimmer of hope and the promise of greater accountability as we keep fighting to end the epidemic of police violence.
 
This is only the beginning. We recognize that we have much more work to do so all communities — particularly Black, Latinx, and Native American — can live with dignity and free from police violence.
 
That’s why the Alliance for Boys and Men of Color and PolicyLink will continue to organize to ensure the just implementation of AB 392 throughout California and advocate for community-led initiatives that invest in safety, not policing. Help us transform unjust systems and advance equity by signing up to take action with the Alliance for Boys and Men of Color.

For Willie McCoy, Myra Micalizio, Charlie Salinas, Oscar Grant, James De La Rosa, and all of the other loved ones whose lives were cut short, let us honor them with this victory and by continuing the fight.

A New “Quess?” for Equity

Recently PolicyLink launched “We, the 100 Million”, a new equity research project and national tour geared towards highlighting the approximately 100 million people across the country who, every day, face an increasingly inequitable and evermore intractable collection of social, economic, legal, and cultural systems.

“We, the 100 Million” will entwine the spirit and motivation of various creative platforms with our National Equity Atlas data on changing demographics, racial inclusion, and the economic benefits of equity—in cities, regions, states, and nationwide.

In lifting up the lives, hopes, and aspirations of the one-in-three individuals living at or near poverty in the United States, we’re excited to announce our collaboration with celebrated poet, educator, actor, playwright, and activist A Scribe Called Quess?

Over the next year, Quess? – a National Poetry Slam Champion and 2017 Urban League Courage Award recipient -- will be working with the National Equity Atlas team at PolicyLink and communities across the country as part of the “We, the 100 Million” to incorporate art, story circles, poetry workshops, and Theater of the Oppressed techniques into the way we support grassroots equity advocates and campaigns.

Watch video of A Scribe Called Quess? here!

At PolicyLink, we believe that art and culture are essential to creating a just and fair society. Together creative platforms and data inspire us to move beyond generations of limited opportunity and towards finally achieving equity for all.

We are excited to share more details of this partnership and national tour in the coming months. Stay tuned!    

Juneteenth: A Rallying Point for Reparations

Today, Juneteenth, marks the end of slavery and is emerging as a rallying point for the demand that the United States reckon with the defining sins of the nation and commit to reparations for African Americans.

No matter how much the country would like to put its shameful history behind, the nation’s soul is stained by the immorality and the legacy of slavery. The United States was built on Black bondage and to this day, Black people have been subject to laws, policies, systems, and conditions that block the opportunities at the heart of the American dream, including education, personal and community safety, the accumulation of wealth, and the prospect of a better life for one's children.

There can be no hope for achieving a truly equitable society until the United States formally acknowledges the persistent economic and social impact of slavery, racism, and inequality on African Americans, and provides fair, significant, and meaningful compensation as payment for these extreme harms and as acts of healing and racial reconciliation.

In Pittsburgh, Community is the Key to Advancing Racial Equity

From the 1930s through the 1960s, Pittsburgh’s Hill District was one of America’s elite African-American neighborhoods. Affectionately known as “Little Harlem,” it was home to a vibrant jazz scene, and was one of the few integrated areas in the city. By the 1950s, however, urban renewal – in which the federal government empowered local governments and private developers to redevelop commercial districts, displacing a disproportionate number of people of color and their businesses – hit the city. In Pittsburgh, this included forcibly removing over 8,000 residents and 400 business from the Lower Hill District into already segregated neighborhoods.

Today, Pittsburgh remains one of the most segregated cities in the United States. “When the city ignored advice not to demolish homes and businesses in the Lower Hill District, it raised new questions about the government's power to alter a neighborhood's social, racial, and economic fabric,” Dan Fitzpatrick explained in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. But what if they used their power differently? If local government could take wide sweeping actions to create today’s inequality crisis, then government can certainly take bold actions – in partnership with local leaders – to reverse this tide.

That’s exactly what the Pittsburgh City Council has recently set into motion. In a unanimous vote, the council passed a legislative package to increase equity across the city. Introduced by Councilmembers R. Daniel Lavelle and Rev. Ricky Burgess, supported by the Mayor’s office, and influenced by All-In Pittsburgh – a coalition of over 40 organizations dedicated to advancing racial equity and equitable development in the region. Specifically, the legislation:

  • Declares Pittsburgh an “all-In” city, demonstrating its commitment to breaking down barriers to advance racial economic inclusion and equitable growth.
  • Adds equity reporting requirements of all city department directors.
  • Creates an equity and inclusion implementation team to implement, monitor, and enforce equity and diversity goals in all city departments.

There are many existing models Pittsburgh will be able to rely on when working to foster equitable development and embed equity across city government. In 2005, Seattle became the first city in the United States to start a citywide initiative to eliminate racial inequities and structural racism. Now all city employees are trained on equity and inclusion, and all city departments use a racial equity analysis tool to consider how their work benefits or burdens various communities, and how they may contribute to racial disparities. This has led to hundreds of changes in city operations. Similar initiatives are at work across the country, in communities from Oakland, California to Fairfax, Virginia.

What makes the work in Pittsburgh particularly exciting is the commitment to working with community throughout the process. Councilman Burgess said the city will work with the All-In Pittsburgh coalition to challenge corporations, institutions, and nonprofits to set the same goals created through the legislation. As outlined in The Path to an All-In Pittsburgh, to ensure the sustainability and success of this work, local leaders must invest in multiracial, cross-sector collective action, with an emphasis in supporting grassroots and resident leadership.

Community-based leaders actively participate in the coalition, including representatives from Beltzhoover Consensus Group, Hazlewood Initiative, Hill District Consensus Group, Homewood Children's Village, Kelly Strayhorn Theater, and the Kingsley Association. Together, these organizations can play a vital role in building community cohesion, articulating a vision for the community’s future, negotiating with developers, and partnering to implement investment without displacement strategies. This will require the sustained support of philanthropic leaders investing in the institutional structures and networks that can take collective action.

There is perhaps no greater asset to coalition building towards equitable development than local residents. Resident leadership and organizing is foundational to ensuring that as a city continues to grow and change, those most at risk of being displaced know their rights and have a voice in how their neighborhoods change. Local government and private sector leaders should provide clear, widespread information about specific development proposals in neighborhoods, so residents are informed and empowered to weigh in on plans that impact them. This also requires investment in tenant advocacy and organizing to prevent displacement, engage in neighborhood planning, and ensure healthy housing.

As Pittsburgh commits to truly going “all-in,” they will need to continue to invest in community power, voice, and capacity. Building structures for collective action and developing policy leadership from within Pittsburgh’s communities of color is critical to carrying this agenda forward. Pittsburgh’s leadership has taken important steps towards ushering in an era of equity. Positioning residents and community’s leaders at the center of this work will show that the city is truly heeding the lessons from the past.

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