Liberty Hill Blog: News from the Frontlines

FRONTLINES TO HEADLINES MAY, 2013

From frontlines to headlines! Take a look at recent news of Liberty Hill grantees.

In May, there was extensive media coverage of Liberty Hill Foundation’s work through its two Common Agenda campaigns. Below are links to (1) an organization profile focused on our environmental justice work, (2) national and local TV, radio and newspaper stories on the Brothers, Sons, Selves initiative’s first and highly successful campaign for changes in school discipline policy.

MAY 2013 IN REVIEW

ORGANIZATION PROFILE

The Summer 2013 issue of Stanford Innovation Review features an insightful, substantive organization profile of Liberty Hill seen through the lens of Common Agenda environmental work.

BROTHERS, SON, SELVES

May 13 The Brothers, Sons, Selves coalition’s proposed “School Climate Bill of Rights” was adopted by the L.A. School Board on May 13. The resolution will (1) halt the practice of suspending students under the much-abused catch-all reason “defiance” and (2) implement positive behavior supports that have been shown to dramatically improve academic performance. On the day of the vote, students from organizations in the coalition watched their peers give testimony and erupted into cheers when the proposal passed 5-2, ushering in a new era in L.A. schools. BSS Television Coverage CBS Los Angeles ran several reports, first previewing the issue, then covering the rally and Board meeting live, and then updating the report with final results and interviews. KABC’s report emphasized that this was a first-in-the-nation reform. Brothers Sons Selves Newspaper Coverage The L.A. Times May 12 preview of the issues to be considered by the School Board quoted Liberty Hill campaign lead Tonna Onyendu about the proposal’s significance. The paper’s account of the vote emphasized Supt. Deasy’s support of the change in school discipline policy. In addition, The Times Photo Gallery ran pictures of the Rally at the LAUSD Meeting. The New York Times covered the historic vote as part of its national briefing. Other major newspapers reporting were: Wall Street Journal; L.A. Daily News; Orange County Register; Los Angeles Sentinel, which ran an Op-Ed in support of the proposal; La Opinion; Smaller L.A. County newspapers sending their own reporters included the bilingual San Fernando Valley Sun and Our Weekly (African American news). AP’s story was picked up by papers including San Jose Mercury News, Sacramento Bee, and others. The investigative reporting nonprofit Center for Public Integrity in Journalism, which has produced stories in collaboration with news outlets about LA school discipline issues for the past year, offered in-depth context and statistics in its report and analysis. Brothers Sons Selves Radio Coverage National Public Radio’s “All Things Considered” reported on the outcome of the School Board vote on May 15. Southern California Public Radio’s magazine-format show on KPCC “Take Two” discussed the issues [segment starts at around 8:17]. Marqueece Harris-Dawson of Community Coalition, part of the Brothers, Sons, Selves initiative, spoke on KPCC’s “Air Talk” the day before the vote. In a blog post on May 16th, following up, KPCC’s blog pointed out the connection between the school board decision and AB420, the proposed bill to limit suspensions for defiance throughout the state. RETURN TO LIBERTY HILL HOME PAGE

You Oughta be a Commissioner

 

Liberty Hill Commission Training Program sponsors and speakers include, clockwise from top left: Honorary Sponsorship Committee Co-Chair, Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas; speaker Madeline Janis, co-founder and national policy director of LAANE; speaker Jonathan Parfey, Director of Climate Resolve and a Commission at Dept. of Water & Power; Sponsorship Committtee Chair Sheila Kuehl, Director Public Policy Institute at SMC and former State Senator.

By Shane Goldsmith, Executive Director

Q: Whose vote to approve a contract enabling L.A.'s Dept. of Water and Power "to completely transition out of coal power from the Intermountain Power Plant in Delta, Utah by 2025" was the final piece of the city's move to become coal-free?

A: The Board of Water and Power Commissioners.

Q: Who approved a plan to move one of the runways at LAX 250 feet to the north?

A: The Board of Airport Commissioners.

Q: Who produces a regular report on campaign contributions in Los Angeles?

A: The Ethics Commission.

Los Angeles has more than 50 boards and commissions with more than 300 appointed members who oversee key city agencies and advise the mayor on core policies and programs that impact the quality of life for local residents. Decisions made by these agencies have a major impact on policies and projects throughout Los Angeles.

Liberty Hill is offering a Commissions Training Program to ensure that these appointees are drawn from diverse communities and can help civic leaders make good decisions for all communities. The Training Program is an intensive, full-day, large-group session for community leaders from across sectors and issue areas.

Individuals who participate in this program will gain insight into the opportunities and challenges of commission service in the City of Los Angeles, will understand the process for appointment, and will have an overview of key skills needed for successful service. Graduates will also have the opportunity to participate in priority registration for subsequent Liberty Hill Foundation events focused on boards and commissions advocacy.

Sessions will be facilitated by well-known city advocates who have served on commissions, worked in City Hall, or staffed city agencies. Former commissioners will talk with you about setting priorities and getting the right information for decisionmaking as a new commissioner. To apply, please click here for an application. You must be a City of L.A. resident.

Applications must be submitted by May 17, 2013 to Commissions@LibertyHill.org. You will be notified no later than May 31 as to your application’s status for the June 22 training. If you are offered a seat in the training, you must reserve it by submitting the enrollment fee of $250 no later than June 12. A limited number of scholarships are available. If you have questions, please contact Commissions@LibertyHill.org.

Liberty Hill Commissions Training Program Sponsorship Committee members: Sheila Kuehl (Chair), Director, Public Policy Institute at Santa Monica College and former State Senator; Dean Hansell President, Board of Fire & Police Pension Commissioners; Lara Bergthold, Principal, Griffin Schein; Aileen Adams, Deputy Mayor of Strategic Partnerships Office of Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa; Stewart Kwoh, President, Asian Pacific American Legal Center; Kathay Feng, Executive Director, Common Cause; Tom Saenz, President and General Counsel, Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF); Torie Osborn, Deputy Mayor of Neighborhood and Community Services Office of Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa; Larry Frank, Deputy Chief of Staff, Office of Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa; Pascual Romel, Deputy Mayor for the Environment, Office of Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa; Nolan Rollins, President & CEO Los Angeles Urban League; Helen Torres, Executive Director Hispanas Organized for Political Equality (HOPE); Regina Freer, Professor, Occidental College, Vice President, Planning Commission; Sharon Delugach, Community Engagement Coordinator, American Federation of Teachers; Roxana Tynan, Executive Director Los Angeles for a New Economy (LAANE). Honorary Co-Chairs: Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, Assemblymember Jimmy Gomez, Assemblymember Holly Mitchell, Assemblymember Bob Blumenfield.

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April 2013 Frontlines to Headlines

On the heels of this week’s May Day marches we’ve compiled news of Liberty Hill and Liberty Hill grantees. April showered Liberty Hill and its grantees with press attention, including coverage of May Day marches (and the immigration reform news in preceding weeks) and grantee actions relating to workers rights, tenants rights and environmental justice. In addition, there were stories about Liberty Hill’s Upton Sinclair Dinner, the launch of our Brothers, Sons Selves campaign, and City consideration of the Clean Up Green Up policy proposal. 

May Day

May 1: Angelica Salas, executive director of CHIRLA, traces the history of May Day protest revivals to the year 2000 in L.A. for the Associated Press story, picked up here by the Wall Street Journal blog. The live video report from NBC TV in L.A. is embedded in a written report with quotes from Korean Resource Center and CHIRLA representatives.The L.A. Times music blog covered CHIRLA’s pre-parade press conference with  big-name bands that support immigration reform with a concert, while the Pasadena Star News showed preparations for the march underway at Koreatown Immigrant Workers Alliance (KIWA) and also spoke to CHIRLA’s Xiomara Corpeño (a 2011 Liberty Hill Leader to Watch)

 Liberty Hill’s training and policy work

April 10: Liberty Hill is mentioned in this Wave Newspapers article as a partner in managing California Community Foundation’s BLOOM initiative for boys and young men of color. Our role is providing capacity building through the Wally Marks Leadership Institute.

April 8: Ed Source described a new UCLA study showing that school suspensions jump from about 2.4 percent in elementary school to 11 percent in middle school, and discussed Liberty Hill’s  Brothers, Sons, Selves campaign in that context. 

 April 11:  Los Angeles Times covered LA Unified School District President Monica Garcia’s appearance at the kick-off of Liberty Hill’s Brothers, Sons, Selves Coalition’s citywide campaign for a School Climate Bill of Rights that would roll back harsh punishments that disproportionately impact students of color. The Times followed with an editorial in broad support of the resolution. 

 April 17:  Witness L.A. wrote about the campaign and the Times editorial, calling the School Climate Bill of Rights “carefully worded.” 

 April 15: National Resources Defense Council blogger Adrian Martinez writes about the Liberty Hill-facilitated Clean Up Green Up Campaign on the eve of its successful policy consideration by the LA City Council Planning & Land Use Management Committee (PLUM). The proposal moved on to the Budget Committee.

Upton Sinclair Dinner and Awards Celebration

April 24: Red carpet reception coverage included L.A. Confidential’s slide show of honorees, presenters and Liberty Hill supporters and a blurb in Variety.

Liberty Hill Grantees in Action

April 28:  A writer for the Daily Trojan talks to Coalition for Economic Survival about the downside of gentrification.

April 27: The Global Nation Inquirer describes Pilipino Workers Center’s work on improved labor practices for domestic workers.

 April 26: Interviews labor leaders including representatives of  Restaurant Opportunities Center (ROC) about expected near-future municipal campaigns for paid sick leave are part of an article in the Business section of the L.A. Times.  

 April 2: Trust South L.A. was one of the groups that organized the participatory creation of a “food resources” map for South L.A. created through the collaboration of large numbers of residents on bikes and foot. See the results:  

 April 13-18

As the U.S. Senate immigration reform bill was sneak-peeked, leaked and finally made public, CHIRLA organized rallies on both coasts covered by media including abs-cbnnews.com (a globally-focused Filipino publication), L.A. Times and Talking Points Memo.

 April 9: Khmer Girls in Action and East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice were among the community groups that the Long Beach Post reported would gather for the second annual “People’s State of the City”, where residents discussed jobs, housing, education, immigration, the environment, and the health and safety of neighborhoods.

April 2: The Daily News reports that Coalition for Economic Survival and Union de Vecinos are continuing legal appeals to prevent the consolidation of LA Superior Court courthouses that would result in LA County’s annual 70,000 eviction cases being held in just five sites. 

April 13: Members of Latino Equality Alliance, Bus Riders Union/Labor Community Strategy Center and other groups are profiled by young Latina photographers in a collection of photo slideshows of community activists working for LGBTQ equality in Boyle Heights published by the national Hispanic online publication Vox XXI.

April 6: EGP News, a chain of newspapers covering local communities throughout L.A., focused on Latino Equality Alliance’s outdoor fair/conference “LGBTQ Forum for Youth, Families and Community Services” held at Mariachi Plaza.

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Gala Dinner Highlights!

Liberty Hill's 2013 Upton Sinclair Dinner and Awards Celebration isn't quite over yet!

The program Tuesday night with our amazing honorees was fast-paced but so thought-provoking you might like to review remarks by Alison Morgan, Parke Skelton, Charles F. Johnson, or Howard Gordon (on behalf of himself and Alex Gansa). You'll find the videos in featured position on our YouTube channel: 

www.YouTube.com/ChangeNotCharity.

 You'll find our first album of photos-- from the reeption and red-carpet arrival time-- up on our Facebook page. Please feel free to tag and share with your friends.

And there are still a few days left to bid on outrageous concerts, collector's items and other goodies on our online auction. GIve in to temptation! Go for a Grateful Dead baby t-shirt! Compete for tickets and backstage passes! You'll be supporting L.A.s best grassroots organizers at the same time. 

Thank you to all who came to the gala dinner Tuesday night. It was a rousing success, thanks to you!

 

 

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Introducing Christine Dean

Liberty Hill welcomes our new Chief Development Officer, Christine Dean. She sends greetings and shares some of her background by way of introduction:

Dear Liberty Hill supporters, allies and friends:

In 2009, I volunteered on a Liberty Hill Community Funding Board.  From this experience, I saw firsthand the rigor and strength of Liberty Hill’s grantmaking.  Liberty Hill jump-starts the change process by making meaningful investments in grassroots organizations in addition to well-established agencies, empowering the leaders of tomorrow and enhancing powerful collaborations.  When a position became available, I seized the opportunity to join the Liberty Hill Foundation family and begin the next chapter of social justice work. 

I look forward to seeing familiar faces and making new friends while advancing positive social change across Los Angeles.  The more years I spend in philanthropy, the more I witness the differentiation of funder and recipient breakdown.  Giving and receiving go hand-in-hand and it is a joy to be a part of this process with you.

Liberty Hill is a natural next step in my career arc after spending 16 years fundraising at Planned Parenthood Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Times Family Fund and the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center.  My time at Planned Parenthood and the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center emphasized the nexus between services, education and advocacy in creating social change.  My experience at the Los Angeles Times Family Fund gave me the dual perspective as both fundraiser and grantmaker.  I enjoyed launching the Times’ first donor advised giving program.

Prior to my fundraising career, I received an M.A. in Liberal Studies at Dartmouth College, taking classes such as Equality, Justifying Difference, Deconstructing Gender and the Politics of Identity.  My thesis focused on the themes of identity and representation from a queer and feminist perspective.  I hold a teaching credential from S.D.S.U. and an A.B. in Art from Occidental College.  Occidental College has a knack for attracting and graduating students with a commitment toward community service.

My wife, Rose, and I live in Silver Lake with our two cats and enjoy trying new restaurants, taking walks around the reservoir, visiting galleries, bird-watching and celebrating Halloween with 800 trick-or-treaters.

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Liberty Hill Creative Vision Award honors Charles F. Johnson

On April 23 at the Upton Sinclair Dinner and Awards Celebration, Liberty Hill will present the 2013 Creative Vision Award to a discerning filmmaker and producer, Charles F. Johnson.

As producer of such genre-defining television shows as NCIS, JAG, and Magnum, P.I., Charles F. Johnson has built pathways within the entertainment industry to create balanced and equal opportunities for people of color.

Charles grew up hearing stories of the Tuskegee Airmen from his father, Orange Maull Johnson, who was a member of the American cavalry in North Africa during World War II. Building on this history, Charles nurtured the story of the African American fighter pilots for more than 20 years and worked with executive producer George Lucas to bring the film to life.

The result, 2012’s Red Tails, won the NAACP Image Award for best picture.

Red Tails is “a story that has resonance with a lot of people,” Charles says.

“These young men were not encouraged to fly for their country. They were not expected to succeed. But they triumphed over adversity. These were men who fought racism at home and fascism abroad. They did it successfully and they were heroes, not victims.”

Charles’s activism began in the late 1960s, when he attended Howard University alongside such classmates as Stokely Carmichael. During the Civil Rights Movement, he was active in protests and marches and later worked on John F. Kennedy’s presidential campaign.

Charles earned his law degree from Howard University, was drafted during the Vietnam War, worked as a copyright lawyer for several years, and finally decided to “follow his dreams” and in 1971 embarked on a new career in entertainment. He attended the Professional Theater Workshop in Hollywood, then found work in Universal Studios’ Mail Room, and soon became employed in the studio’s Business Affairs Department. His successful and accomplished career as a producer on television shows at Universal soon followed, and continues to this day.

Deeply committed to social justice, education, and the power of community engagement, Charles advances social change through creativity, passion, and philanthropic investment in a broad range of organizations, including his leadership as a Trustee of the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena and his support of the Samburu Project, which builds wells in Africa and whose mission is to enhance lives of men and women in developing countries.

 

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An Activist Rooted in the Ecology of Justice

You can’t help but think in garden metaphors when talking to Glen Dake, a landscape architect, prominent advocate for “green agenda” issues in Los Angeles, and one of Liberty Hill’s most active donor-activists.  

Because, really, he seems to work on a vision of  L.A. the way he works on a vision of a particular community garden or landscape—with lots of practical, hands-on effort. He has a deep working knowledge of the complex components—irrigation or neighborhood politics, mulch or policy initiatives—that will be acting on the health of the ecosystem in question.

“The important thing is to not just give money but really participate,” says Glen, “It can be a real source of richness in the sense of learning more about L.A. and finding your place in it.”

On one hand, Glen embodies management-level philanthropic activism by frequent board membership at organizations he supports. On the other hand, as a volunteer, Glen has personally watered, weeded, mulched and attended meeting after meeting in community gardens throughout L.A. His friendships as well as his giving strategies have been formed by his experiences in those gardens.

Glen is on the boards of the L.A. Neighborhood Land Trust ( http://www.lanlt.org/index.php), the L.A. Community Garden Council (http://lagardencouncil.org/) and the California League of Conservation Voters (http://www.ecovote.org/). He supports nonprofit organizations not only through Liberty Hill’s Fund for Change, but also, with his sister Renee Dake Wilson and her husband Brian Wilson, through a donor advised fund (see below) housed at Liberty Hill.  “The donor advised fund allows time to do grantmaking over time in a way that’s best for the objective rather than just throwing a chunk out all in one year, the year you take your profit. Unfortunately we don’t take profit every year,” he explains.

The objective? “We focus on youth issues and community development. We do some LGBT and women’s issues. We’re not fooling around. Renee and I try to participate—as is the wont of our generation. We get involved. We’re on boards of the groups that we give to. Each of those boards presents a lot of difficult decisions to the board member. Board service is a very serious responsibility.”

Glen has done public-sector service as well. In 2001, he temporarily stepped away from his design practice, where he created high-visibility projects such as for UCLA and Scripps Institute of Oceanography, to put in a four-year stint on L.A. City Councilmember Eric Garcetti’s staff. There he: helped bring the city into compliance with the Clean Air Act; successfully campaigned for 2004’s Prop O, which funded a $500 million cleanup of L.A. waterways and ocean to meet federal Clean Water standards; worked for requirements for increased use of renewable energy sources; and helped develop 13 new parks. From there, he segued into, among other actions, service on Liberty Hill’s Community Funding Board, and also  a role as an activist and advisor to the Green L.A. Coalition, (http://greenlacoalition.org/about-us/) formed in 2005 and incubated and nurtured by Liberty Hill.

Glen got involved in community gardens when he “got organized by Jackie Goldberg’s office” as a Silver Lake resident. “They were looking for ways to make Echo Park a better working class community. Gardens were one way.”

Since then, he’s seen people’s lives transformed by their participation in community gardens.  “Right now there are a lot of community gardens in South L.A. Why is that? Because there are so many people there who are restricted from entering job market because of age or contact with the criminal justice system. But they don’t just sit around. They’re contributing to improving their lives through the work they do with their own hands at the gardens.  

“A community garden allows people who have so little to make a difference in their lives through their effort, through their time. In a community garden a homeless person is the best! Or an old person. The world says, ‘Oh look at that homeless person, they’re of no use, but in a community garden, they’re the best. They have all that time.”   

Glen mentions an unemployed cook who found a new job through connections she made gardening. He’s seen other people overcome isolation and loss. “One of the reasons you become more impoverished,” he says, “is because of life events—big disruptions in your life like illness, a car breaking down, loss of childcare—so you can’t get to a job interview or even to work. But by participating at a community garden you’re creating a wider and more complex net of relationships. That is a defense against those disruptions.”

Neighborhood residents find literal common ground in community gardens.  “You’re out where you can be seen doing something honorable. Anyone passing by can say ‘What’s that you’re growing?’”

Community organizing is a crucial aspect of community gardening for Glen, and participatory design is a vital part of his extensive involvement with parks, children’s playgrounds and other public spaces. He helped to found the L.A. Community Garden Council, and helped to build not only the Echo Park Community Garden, but also the Stanford Avalon Garden in Watts and the Florence Firestone Garden. He’s a leader in community-designed landscapes but he understands the challenges. “Especially in L.A.—where it seems like before you do anything you have to talk to everybody—it’s hard for people who have gotten a little bit of power to let it go.”

Today Glen’s “main volunteer garden” is Stanford Avalon Garden.  “It’s an unusual garden,” he says, “Large plots, a lot of very experienced, older growers, growing a lot of produce.  But it has its problems. The growers want to have the patron/boss who runs everything efficiently and a lot of them stop coming to meetings because they get no redress there. Many of these older guys who spend a lot of the day there are making a big contribution to the household budget with all this produce. They are doing something very positive but they have a lot of internal stress. I advise the leaders and encourage them to be their best selves.”

Is he a community organizer? “Not really. Maybe I’m a junior community organizer. To be a community organizer requires a discipline to your goals. You have to be the bad guy a little.  I am not able to do that very well.”

Learn more about Glen in this brief video portrait:

Liberty Hill is a donor–inspired foundation, created and powered by the vision and commitment of its individual donor-activists. In addition to our Fund for Change, our primary competitive grantmaking program, Liberty Hill is home to more than 60 Donor Advised Funds, grantmaking accounts set up by individuals and businesses.  Information: https://www.libertyhill.org/sslpage.aspx?pid=344&frcrld=1#da

March 2013 Frontlines to Headlines

 

L.A. Voice PICO rally at City Hall.

In March,  Liberty Hill and its partners were often in the news. Below you'll find links to articles, TV news videos, blog posts and podcats on immigration, LGBTQ equality, economic justice, the environment and community-based research. There’s a lot of crossover among the campaigns and it’s significant how local work is informing national conversations.

LIBERTY HILL

March 19: The week before Passover, the Jewish Journal ran a transcript of remarks made to the Jewish Funders Network by Liberty Hill CEO Kafi D. Blumenfield. 

March 27: An article in Black Gives Back announced that Liberty Hill will honor producer Charles F. Johnson (Red Tails, “NCIS”)  at the Upton Sinclair Awards  Dinner also describes luminaries at our recent Uplifting Change Summit. 

March 21: Liberty Hill’s Common Agenda program to support environmental justice groups is mentioned in an Environmental News Service report on a study showing that low income Californians have higher rates of asthma because of higher exposure to air pollutants.

April 1: With L.A. looking to run-off city elections in May, the L.A. Times reported on a forum, sponsored by groups including Liberty Hill, to discuss environmental issues with candidates for offices including city attorney.

March 7: As the gun violence debate heated up nationally, Colorlines talked to and posted videos of several young leaders involved in Liberty Hill’s Brothers, Sons, Selves campaign about whether they felt safer with police on school campuses. Josh, Timothy and Alfonso are with Community Coalition and Erika  and Lester are with InnerCity Struggle.

IMMIGRATION

March 27:  LA Voice Pico brought 1570 people to the steps of Los Angeles City Hall to kick off a campaign for a “Roadmap to Citizenship.”  More than 40 congregations and 40 clergy leaders participated. The Spanish-language TV news team at Univison reported.

March 22:  Korean Resource Center has launched a weekly podcast to educate the Korean community on immigration reform.

March 21: Eileen Ma of API Equality L.A. is interviewed for a Southern California Public Radio story on the inclusion of rights for same-sex bi-national couples in immigration reform proposals.

March 27: Spokespeople for Coalition for Humane Immigration Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA) continue to be much in demand as coverage of immigration issues intensifies. Southern California Public Radio asks CHIRLA executive director Angelica Salas, about the new L.A. archbishop’s commitment to reform.CHIRLA director of organizing, Xiomara Corpeño, discusses Senator Feinstein’s stance with Asian Journal.

March 4: A multi-destination bus-tour/rally for immigration reform inspired coverage including this story in the Ventura County Star about an Oxnard mom who’s a CHIRLA member and why she joined the protest.

March 14: In the Inland Empire, Pomona Economic Opportunity Center and other immigration reform supporters are focused on border patrol policies and deportation rates. Inland Empire Weekly talks about alleged abuse and racial profiling in Murietta and the Press Enterprise notes increasing protests by PEOC and others against deportations.

QUEER YOUTH FUND 

March 15: Liberty Hill’s Queer Youth Fund makes grants nationwide. Coverage in Oblogdee Oblogda of the work of grantee Make the Road New York offers another perspective on immigration reform.

March 20: In Boise, Idaho, Boise Weekly writes about Queer Youth Fund grantee Idaho Human Rights Education Center's ongoing “Add the Words” campaign which “ a long sought addition of the words "sexual orientation" and "gender identity" to the Idaho Human Rights Act.

March 17: The Queer Youth Fund supports youth media work of the Queer Women of Color Media Arts Project. This interview with director Madeleine Lim gives a sense of the group’s ambitious work.

COMMUNITY-BASED RESEARCH

March 28: As described in Your Houston News, a poll on reproductive health care access cosponsored by Black Women for Wellness showed that 86% of African Americans believe that contraception is a part of basic health care.

March 25: A report from Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE) outlines the continuing economic threat posed by foreclosures in California, although a Huffington Post article that cites the report says our state is in better position than many. The report is also described in Southern California Public Radio’s blog.

March 28: The findings, some relating to trauma rooted in genocide, from a survey by Khmer Girls in Action of more than 500 Cambodian youth are described in a report and were the inspiration for a community  health forum/festival. Described by the investigative reporting nonprofit California Watch and Southern California Public Radio.

ECONOMIC JUSTICE

March 25: The L.A. Times report from La Placita Church describes how OneLA, an organization of churches, synagogues and nonprofit groups, has partnered with LA County  Department of Health Services in an outreach effort to enroll residents in public health insurance programs as part of a transition to the January 2014 changes in coverage.

March 14: Koreatown Immigrant Workers Alliance organized an attention-getting event to highlight the exploitation of low income workers by a restaurant with the most expensive dinners in town. Articles in LA Times and La Opinion.  

March 22: Coalition for Economic Survival director Larry Gross describes the impact of the federal “Sequester” on poor people to a Daily News reporter. http://www.dailynews.com/ci_22845438/federal-sequester-hits-home-many-las-poor?IADID=Search-www.dailynews.com-www.dailynews.com

 March 13: The Pasadena Star News covers the filing of a suit by community groups including Liberty Hill grantees Coalition for Economic Survival, People Organized for Westside Renewal and Union de Vecinos to prevent one of the results of the “Sequester”: the closure of courts in far-flung communities.

ENVIRONMENT

April 2: The Nation  discusses the nuances of California’s possible use of a Cap-and-Trade approach to curbing greenhouse cases, leading off with a story about Californians for a Better Environment activists Melissa and Mary Cervantes, who live in a Wilmington neighborhood where the risk of cancer is 20% higher than the average because of higher air pollution. http://www.thenation.com/article/173449/will-californias-cap-and-trade-be-fair#

March 7 and March 15: The Long Beach Post  and Long Beach Press Telegram report that although East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice and other groups mobilized hundreds of residents to protest the proposed new railyard at the Port of Los Angeles, the Long Beach City Council voted to move forward.

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Best Tables in the House

 

      Byline: Susan LaTempa

For more than 30 years of our 35-year history, Liberty Hill supporters have put the "social" in social justice by gathering for our annual fundraising gala, the Upton Sinclair Dinner, honoring community leaders at the frontlines of change in L.A.

How do we get hundreds of crazy-busy supporters together at one time? Whose job is it to make this event successful and feed our Fund for Change, which invested  $3.3 million in grants in 2011 to support economic, environmental and LGBT justice in L.A.?

And who has to remind everyone they talk to that the dinner is named for the influential muckraking novelist who ran for governor of California in the 1933 "End Poverty in Calfiornia" campaign?

Meet Liberty Hill's marvelous Table Captains, a hardworking crew of more than 50 who step up and take it upon themselves to fill a table of ten—one way or another.

That's a $3,500 commitment and in Liberty Hill's broad-based donor-activist community, there are all sorts of ways to honor that commitment. Sound daunting? The Table Captains and Co-Captains we talked to said it's all about their passion for social justice.

"I'm a cheerleader, a behind-the-scenes cheerleader," says Celia Bernstein, who with her husband Brad Kesden rallys old friends to the cause every year.

"Especially when I'm inspired by the person being honored," Celia explains, "I talk it up, nudge people, send impassioned emails: 'Did you get your tickets yet? Who are you sitting with?' "

"The dinner is for reminding people, 'I'd love to see you. Let's spend an evening together.'" 

Ron Yerxa, who has been a co-captain with his wife Annette Ballester Yerxa for more than a decade, likes a mix at their table. "It's always good to throw in some fresh people—people who want to be introduced to Liberty Hill." Ron focuses on the remarks from presenters and honorees, who unlike Oscar winners, aren't limited to just a few thank-yous, but often offer serious comments on issues or share thoughts about what motivates their work.

"There's a lot of substance," says Ron. "I think that's what makes the dinner unique and why people enjoy it. It's a satisying evening emotionally and an informative occasion, which is better than just an empty good time. Even people who've made a lot of money often wish their work had more meaning and substance." 

"Sometimes we get so many yesses we end up filling two tables. That I love!" says Annette. She, too likes introducing new friends to Liberty Hill. "They're always bowled over by how wonderful the work is that's being done by the organizations. We honor both people who have given to Liberty Hill to allow the organizations to do the work and also people who have been recipients of grants. So when people come to the dinner they see both sides and see the fullness of Liberty Hill's work."

"It's a kind of utopian vision of L.A.," Celia says, "Bringing together community members, activists, donors. You have to inspire people who have resources that 'Hey, you're a very important part of the equation!' Organizing of resources is such a key part of this movement. And Liberty Hill has its unique formula of the Community Funding Board, having the activists who live and serve in our communities decide how the money should be spent."

"What I love about the dinner is that it really does bring together a wide variety of people," says supporter and former Liberty Hill staffer Vincent Jones. "You have community organizers, big donors, executive directors of nonprofits, elected officials, grassroots leaders. You truly have a cross section of L.A. in the room." Vincent, who was a table captain at the Upton Sinclair Dinner before he worked for Liberty Hill, says he's gained confidence in the fundraising responsibility of filling a table and that the evening is part of his annual giving plan.

He earmarks part of his own annual donation budget for picking up a portion of the ticket price for one or two guests who may not be able to afford it on their own. Meanwhile, he acts as an ambassador and encourages his guests who have the means to extend themselves for a premier ticket or to buy a sponsorship.

Jane Peebles has been a Table Captain for almost a half-dozen years. "I felt that as a Board member I had an obligation, and I very much wanted to do this and share my passion and try to get more supporters for Liberty Hill," she remembers.

Her approach to captaining her table is a personal reflection of the strategic approach the Board takes to increase Liberty Hill's impact. "I try each year to bring in at least two or three people who have not been to a Liberty Hill event or at least not to an Upton Sinclair Dinner. In the course of my year, I'm very diligent about remembering who I've met who shares my passion for social justice."

She also invites longtime friends who have "stepped up to the plate" when she's asked them to help out on her philanthropic projects. "It's my way of reciprocating when I invite them as my guests." These are people, she notes, who will often bid generously at the silent auction.The third group Jane turns to are her "regulars"—"I pay for tickets to their gala, they pay for tickets to mine." And all of her invitees, she thinks,"are people who have a good chance of staying involved in Liberty Hill."

But Jane's methodical approach is in service to her sense of joy in the occasion. "It's hard for me to be objective about the dinner. I find it very exciting to be in the hall with 800 people that really care about social justice!" 

A Dynamic List: Table Captains for the 2013 Upton Sinclair Dinner.

Douglas B. Adler, Cynthia Anderson Barker , Celia Bernstein & Brad Kesden, Wendy Chang & David Lee, Sharleen Cooper-Cohen, Glen Dake, Julie Gutman Dickinson & Peter Dickinson, Laura Gabbert & Andrew Avery, Jim Garrison, Shane Goldsmith, Catherine Hess & Larry Frank, Rick Jacobs & Shaun Kadlec, Fran Jemmott & Bernard Rollins, Vincent Jones, Preeti Kulkarni & Rakesh Mathur, The Honorable Jackie Lacey, Paula & Barry Litt,  Alison Morgan & Parke Skelton, Barbara Osborn, Jane Peebles, Sarah Pillsbury, Michele Prichard & Rod Lane, Judy Rothman & Peter Rofé, Sara Sadhwani, Cathy Schleussner, Gary Stewart, Laurie Traktman, Darrell L. Tucci, Amelia Williamson, Renee Dake Wilson & Brian Wilson, Joyce & Joseph Ybarra, Annette Ballester Yerxa & Ron Yerxa.

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February Frontlines to Headlines

February Frontlines to Headlines

In February we saw the kind of coverage of Liberty Hill grantees that can result from consistent constructive efforts to reach out to news media. Korean Resource Center had the voter-participation stats to justify an eve-of-the-election story, Latino Equality Alliance was reader with a member who could tell her story when CNN in Espanol came to a conference, and Youth Justice Coalition responded to calls for more police on campuses with information developed over years of campaigning for positive, not punitive discipline at schools.

March 2

Much-coveted attention in Steve Lopez’s L.A. Times column came on the eve of elections to Korean Resource Center for its awesome Get Out the Vote work, discussed here through a profile of a longtime KRC organizer, Grace Yi. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-0303-lopez-koreanvote-20130303,0,7572247.column

 February 28

Latino Equality Alliance’s Alfredo Lee is interviewed for reaction in this news feature from Noticiero Univision piece on Republican support for same-sex marriage (:43 into the video). http://noticias.univision.com/noticiero-univision/videos/video/2013-02-27/sorpresivo-apoyo-de-republicanos-a?refPath=/videos/

February 26

At a well-attended community health and wellness forum, Khmer Girls in Action called for wellness centers in Long Beach schools and picked up some coverage in Voice of America: Cambodia. http://www.voacambodia.com/content/students-call-for-wellness-centers-in-long-beach-schools/1611070.html

 February 19

Gender Justice LA delivered a petition to The Los Angeles Times regarding an  controversial article published on February 4, requesting that the publication avoid the use of offensive language and attitudes in covering transgender Angelenos. The issue was picked up by GLAAD (Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) and reported on by Huffington Post. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/19/los-angeles-times-transgender-prostitution-_n_2718258.html

Dallasvoice.com, an LGBT publication based in Texas picked up the announcement about the new round of applications for grants being accepted by the LGBT Dreamers Fund housed at Liberty Hill and included photo of a local DACA applicant. http://www.dallasvoice.com/tag/liberty-hill

 February 15

Youth Justice Coalition’s rebuttal, point by point, to legislative proposals to counter gun violence by  funding police/National Guard presence and measures such as metal detectors and surveillance cameras at schools is detailed by a Politics 365 writer. http://politic365.com/2013/02/15/los-angeles-youth-want-more-than-a-vote-when-it-comes-to-gun-violence/

 February 1

Khmer Girls in Action is featured in Nicole Clark’s monthly blog spotlight of organizations or campaigns that stand out with women and girls of color at the center. http://www.nicoleclarkconsulting.com/post/41877676936/ally-alert-khmer-girls-in-action-organization-spotlight

Rosa Manriquez of Latino Equality Alliance participated in the Creating Change Conference organized in Atlanta by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. At the Latino Institute breakout sessions, she was interviewed by CNN in Espanol about her work as an ally and her efforts to provide her two lesbian daughter and others with their human rights. The CNN report is included in this blog report from GLAAD on the conference. http://www.glaad.org/blog/glaad-action-25th-creating-change-conference-atlanta-cc13

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