Liberty Hill Blog: News from the Frontlines

Why do YOU vote?

Why do you vote? We started asking people and it turns out the answers and more varied and complex than you might expect. One staff person said, "How can I expect to be taken seriously as an activist if I don't vote?"

Despite our disappointments with the process and our frustration with the pace of change, Liberty Hill friends and allies do vote. And we have our reasons! Share yours!

Print out the "I vote because..." card and write in your own response!   Download I Vote Because

Join this pictorial conversation at Instagram.Use hashtag #ChangeLA. Find us at @LibertyHillFoundation.  

I vote because... slide show

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We Have a Winner!

Byline: Shane Goldsmith, Vice President and Chief Program Officer

Wow! Liberty Hill is pleased to announce that thanks to 1,100 online voters for the Liberty Hill-Good Maker Challenge: Turn on the Turnout, we have a winner!

Korean Resource Center (KRC) will receive the $10,000 grant to launch the “My Parents Vote for Our Future” project, empowering Los Angeles Korean American youth to engage their parents in civic life and elections.Get

Immigrant Korean American adults represent a notoriously hard-to-reach population. Most have limited English proficiency, work long hours, and are unfamiliar with the voting process. At the same time, they care deeply about quality of life issues, especially education.

With the My Parents Vote for Our Future campaign, KRC will target voters age 30-55 and, based on its past track record, predicts that at least 5,000 unlikely voters will turn out in 2012. Watch KRC's terrific video to see how LA youth will Turn on the Turnout among Korean American parents!

Congratulations, KRC!

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Do You Eat Ethically?

 

By Joseph Edwards

Last weekend, Liberty Hill hosted one of its highly regarded van tours to stops along the frontlines of change in L.A.—this time to explore the frontiers of ethical dining accompanied by activists with Restaurant Opportunities Centers United L.A. (ROC-LA).

Van tours are a special benefit for Liberty Hill’s Justice Society donors, who, as major supporters, have made investments in changing L.A. through community organizing. The tours allow grantee organizations to go deeper with discussions of the issues—in this case, about conditions for workers in the restaurant industry and what some “High Road” restaurant owners are doing to take the next steps for justice.

About 47 participants were on board the bus including Liberty Hill staff and representatives of ROC-LA, a community organization that fights workplace justice campaigns, promotes the “high road” to profitability and does research and policy work. Three stops were made: the first at St. John’s Well Child and Family Center in downtown L.A. to talk with a worker who is part of the “ROC MD” coop through which restaurant workers can get preventive healthcare; then at Red Hill restaurant in Echo Park for some terrific food and an inspiring discussion; and finally outside Capital Grille at the Beverly Center for background about ROC United’s campaign against discrimination and wage theft at the national chain.

To get things rolling, Shane Goldsmith, Liberty Hill’s Vice President and Chief Program Officer,  took the microphone and proceeded to detail in depth the inequities faced by workers in the restaurant industry every single day. Currently, the median wage among restaurant workers in L.A. is $9.24 per hour,  although immigrant workers have a much lower median wage than U.S.-born workers.  Los Angeles has more employees in the restaurant industry than any other city in the nation (including New York!) and most of these jobs offer no health care, no sick pay, and lack of opporunity for advancement. More than half of all restaurant workers in the United States earn less than the federal poverty line for a family of three.  

All of these reasons are why Liberty Hill is supporting ROC-LA, a young organization with 300 members. Stephanie Cho and Nic Bean from ROC LA joined the van at St. John’s and their narration continued the discussion as the bus headed to Red Hill, a cozy place on Echo Park Avenue near Dodger Stadium. Red Hill, a ROC-designated High Road Restaurant. pays tipped wages of $5 and non-tipped of $9, offers paid sick days, and has opportunities for staff to have upward mobility in their jobs.

As tour participants sampled flat breads and fresh-squeezed juices made from locally sourced produce, owner  Jason Michaud, the owner, addressed the group and talked about his feelings about the industry, and mentioned that with his better policies that he has a dramatically lower turnover rate among staff and feels they do better at their jobs with better conditions.He was joined by another High Road restaurant owner, DIep Tran of Good Girl Dinette in HIghland Park.

Saru Jayaraman, ROC LA’s Director and author of Behind the Kitchen Door, which is a researched text on inequality in the restaurant industry, spoke next and highlighted the differences between Red Hill and the big chains. She talked about the movement among diners supporting local food producers and farmers and encouraging the use of organic products. She thanked diners for these efforts, citing eye-openers like “Fast Food Nation.” The next step, she challenged, was for diners to realize that “ethical dining” includes an awareness of worker rights and support for healthy conditions for restaurant cooks and waiters as well as for their customers.

One of the main comparisons made in the discussion was between a restaurant like Red Hill and those like Capital Grille, one of a chain owned by Darden Corporation. Capital Grille, where ROC-LA members hold weekly protests, was the last stop on the tour, and participants heard of some of the practices cited by ROC’s “Dignity at Darden” campaign. ROC says the company’s sales were more than $7 billion last year, but tipped employees are paid $2.13 per hour, non-tipped employees receive $7.25 per hour, and neither receive paid sick days.

Paula Litt a longtime supporter of Liberty Hill who has attended a number of van tours, was moved by the workers' revelations about Capital Grille. “We go to restaurants pretty often, and you never think of the people serving you or the people working in the kitchen,” she said. “Sure, we give tips and try to be generous, but even in these high end restaurants the workers perform in the worst conditions.”

See more photos at Liberty Hill's Facebook photo album of the tour.

Guest blogger Joseph Edwards is a Liberty Hill volunteer.

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COMMUNITY-MADE VOTER GUIDES

Liberty Hill does not engage in electioneering, but we have always helped make democracy come alive by supporting community organizing. In this election season, many grassroots organizations in low income communities of color are focused on mobilizing voters, and in some cases, lobbying for legislation such as ballot propositions being put to the voters.

Community-customized voter guides are one of the tools our grantee groups bring to Get Out the Vote organizing. A glimpse at this year’s publications shows just how many case-by-case questions there are to be answered about voting. Are you homeless? Do you prefer to read in Hangul (Korean alphabet)?  Do you reside in a domestic abuse shelter and need to have your address kept confidential for safety reasons? These are just some of the specialized pieces of information applicable to specialized situations that are answered in community-customized voter guides.

The constituency of Los Angeles Community Action Network (L.A. CAN), based in the Central City East neighborhood of downtown L.A., is made up of very low income and often homeless people. Staff and core members contribute articles and essays to the group’s newspaper, Community Connection. The just-released October/November issue of Community Connection includes a voter guide with information about ballot propositions as well as a link to a website where readers can confirm their polling places and other education resources.

The pre-election push is on at Korean Resource Center (KRC), where more than 100 volunteers have telephoned 21,000 voters in L.A. County in recent weeks.  According to Yongho Kim, Civic Participation Coordinator, KRC has added its local voter guide to a general information guide published by the National Korean American Service and Education Consortium. “We'll address the propositions coming up,” says Kim, “and mail the two guides together. They’ll both be available in print and online."   Both guides are bilingual.

To create the proposition guide, says Kim, “We have a community process. Representatives of our community organizing groups, one of seniors, another of college students, get together. They’ve been meeting over past two months to go over the various propositions.” The community leaders developed suggestions for some, but not all of the propositions on the November 6 ballot. 

Black Women For Wellness has been distributing its 2012 Voter Guide for several weeks now, It's comprehensive, with early-voting information, election day tips (“Be prepared to wait in line”), a rich list of informational links, and even specific information about what to do if you feel you have been wrongfully turned away from the polls (“Don’t leave. Please request to fill out a provisional ballot.”)

There’s a “Props at a Glance” section, with BWW analysis and a summary of each, and even a tear-out “cheat sheet.”

Koreatown Immigrant Workers Alliance has a one-sheet with one-line description of propositions. It's available online to print out and carry to the polls. 

California Calls is an independent alliance of organizations whose anchor groups include Liberty Hill grantee group InnerCity Struggle. Says California Calls, “In 2012, we can do one simple thing to make a powerful statement about what our families and neighbors need: good jobs, well-funded schools, an advanced infrastructure, renowned colleges and universities and safety net programs that take care of our homes and families. We can all vote.” California Calls Voter Guide is focused on proposition info and recommendations, and is cheerfully illustrated and easy to read. It’s available in print and online, in English and in Spanish. Both versions have a simple “quick guide” reference in additional languages.

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THE STORY BEHIND THE AWARD

 

Here are remarks made by Vincent Jones, Liberty Hill's Deputy Director of Common Agenda, at today's Grantmakers for Children, Youth and Families Annual Conference in El Paso, where he received that groups' first-ever Emerging Leader in Philanthropy award, given in recognition of significant contribution and potential for leadership in children, youth and family philanthropy.

Byline: Vincent Jones

Twenty years ago, Los Angeles was on fire.

Four cops accused of beating Rodney King were found not guilty and set free. Within hours, a long-simmering anger boiled over into civil unrest. People who were angered—not just by the acquittals, but also by a system that seemed to minimize opportunities for them, their families, and their children—gathered. They wanted answers. They were frustrated. You could see the frustration in their furrowed brows. You could hear the frustration in the tone of their voices.

LAPD retreated and was not seen for the first twelve hours. Fires were set. Smoke filled the sky and smoldering buildings dotted the city as firetrucks sped by. Stores were looted. Images of Angelenos carrying appliances were on TV screens around the country. Lives were lost. Unspoken truths were spoken. Divisions became clear. Hope slipped away.

Twenty years ago, I was 16, somewhat shy, very bookish, and living in a nearby area some call the Inland Empire. Like many families in Los Angeles, my mother and her new husband had fled the city in search of affordable housing, decent jobs, and a better education for my new older brother and me. Many families didn’t have the ability to leave like we did. Some preferred to stay where they were comfortable. Those of us that did move left behind extended family, church communities, and more.

So I was not surprised when talks of walkouts spread across my high school the morning after the verdict. Despite our distance from the civil unrest in Los Angeles, many of us were in close proximity to the issues that gave rise to it. Eager to avoid any conflicts, our principal pulled together a few student leaders early that morning to craft a plan to keep the peace. I was chosen to be one of those students because I helped to start a diversity club on campus that year. Yet, I still didn’t understand why I was in the room. Like I said before, I was 16, shy, bookish. I wasn’t one of the popular kids. I thought: Who would listen to me?

Nevertheless, in the meeting, I spoke up. I shared ideas. I made suggestions to improve others. By the middle of the meeting, the principal recognized my contributions and decided I should be in charge of the keep-the-peace effort. By lunchtime, the tension began to dissipate. By the end of the school day, it became clear that we had averted a crisis and maybe even made our campus community stronger.

On the school bus ride home, I knew I was changed. I understood why I was in that room. I grew to understand the power of my voice.

Since then, I have been on a path to build and strengthen communities and help others to realize the power of their own voice. The fact that that path led me to the Liberty Hill Foundation is akin to fate.

Twenty years ago, many foundations didn’t understand Liberty Hill. Some didn’t value our approach to investing in grassroots organizing in low-income communities. But the civil unrest made many in the philanthropic community give Liberty Hill’s approach a second look. A group of large foundations invited us to sit at the table with them to devise a collective philanthropic response to the civil unrest. We shared our belief that Los Angeles needed greater investment in grassroots leaders organizing in low income and communities of color to advance community-driven solutions to skyrocketing housing costs, disappearing jobs, police misconduct, declining public schools, environmental injustice, and a growing distrust of public institutions. They listened. And they invested in Liberty Hill, which allowed us to intensify our investment in grassroots community leadership in a more focused and meaningful way.

Today, Los Angeles is no longer on fire. The city has a vibrant network of community organizations building power in low-income neighborhoods and communities of color, and it has advanced and continues to advance policy change that is expanding opportunity and equality for more and more Angelenos. More work is needed, but much progress has occurred.

Liberty Hill is proud to have partnered with amazing leaders at the grassroots and within the philanthropic sector to catalyze some of this positive change.

I share this story to underscore how deeply appreciative and humbled I am to be the first-ever recipient of the Emerging Leader in Philanthropy award from Grantmakers for Children, Youth and Families for the work of my Liberty Hill colleagues and me to invest in organizers who help people not much different than the shy, bookish sixteen-year-old kid I once was to realize the power of their voices.

With this Emerging Leader in Philanthropy award, not only does Grantmakers for Children, Youth, and Families honor me but it also honors the belief that people impacted by injustice can overcome the odds if foundations provide tools, resources, and space to advance community-driven solutions through grassroots organizing. At Liberty Hill Foundation, we call this community-centered philanthropy.

In my work at the Foundation, community-centered philanthropy manifests in several ways. It manifests in our Brothers, Sons, Selves campaign that I manage where Black, Latino, and Southeast Asian young men and boys work alongside staff organizers of community-based organizations to promote positive alternatives to policies that push boys and men of color out of school and into a pipeline to prison. It manifests in the grantmaking and training programs I developed to strengthen institutions led by LGBT people of color with a unique approach that emphasizes peer learning, coalition building and the development of strategic partnerships between LGBT leaders and economic justice organizers. It also manifests in our annual Uplifting Change Summit that I developed where we mobilize Black donors to increase their strategic social change impact so that they, in turn, strengthen community institutions and all of Los Angeles.

Today, I am a confident thirty-something and I guess you can say I’m on fire. And receiving this emerging leader award is adding more fuel so that the fire can grow larger, and larger, and larger.

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VOTE AND HELP MAKE A GRANT!

You can help Liberty Hill make a grant and get voters to the polls by participating in Liberty Hill’s Turn On The Turnout contest on GOOD MAKER. Make your opinion known!

Liberty Hill is partnering with GOOD Magazine and The Goldhirsh Foundation to award $10,000 to the most promising L.A. area project to mobilize voters.

Eleven Liberty Hill grantees, eleven of the most effective grassroots organizations in Los Angeles, are in the running.

Review the projects here at the Turn On the Turnout page and vote for the project you think has most promise!

Voting is open until midnight Monday October 15. Please get involved!

The groups who've submitted ideas are: Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, API Equality-LA., Black Women for Wellness, Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles,  Housing Long Beach,  L.A. Human Right to Housing Collective, Latino Equality Alliance, Khmer Girls in Action, Koreatown Immigrant Workers Alliance , Korean Resource Center,  Pacoima Beautiful.

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Photos of Recent Grantee Actions

WHY ARE THESE WOMEN SMILING? Because they're supporters of a bill just signed into law Sept. 22 by Governor Brown allowing registered nurses to give out hormonal birth control, thus increasing access. The bill was co-sponsored by Liberty Hill  grantee Black Women for Wellness.

This was just one of the many events and actions that Liberty Hill grantee members and leaders participated in during September. We've posted photos of some of these actions in an album on our Facebook Page.

Look for pictures of parades and marches, including this one of a contingent from Latino Equality Alliance at the Central American Independence Parade and Festival.

The Bus Riders Union marched to challenge MTA on development policies that displace and gentrify neighborhoods.

But that's not all. Check out more photos in the Recent Grantee Actions and Events album.

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