As September’s orange skies and record-shattering wildfires made vivid, we’re in a climate crisis. The impacts are hitting low-income communities and communities of color first and worst and threaten the viability of civilized life on Earth. The majority of Americans (72 percent of voters in a recent Fox poll) are concerned about this crisis and...

In response Michael Eckhart’s column about Second Street Studios, as a fellow veteran I am grateful for Mike’s service and to be of service to him and all our residents at Second Street Studios. Mike and all of our residents have a voice, and we want to hear and learn how to better serve as...

It brings me great pain and disappointment to once again address the inappropriate behavior of the Silicon Valley Organization (SVO). After the blatantly racist attack ad, which served to perpetuate fear of African Americans and low-income families, the NAACP had hoped to see the SVO “do the right thing.” However, their idea of the right...

The Silicon Valley Organization money was not poured out purely for racism. The SVO money poured out to buy political power among specific candidates. The SVO money poured out to defeat specific candidates that champion the oppressed — because the oppressors are desperate to maintain power. Hit piece after hit piece has been funded by...

As a special educator for 40 years and a grandmother of a child with dyslexia, I am struggling with the navigation of school in the age of coronavirus. In March, when California schools sent students home to learn virtually, a shockwave of panic was set into motion for families of children with special needs. While distance...

An astounding 51% of Latinx college students are considering not returning to college or shifting to part-time status while 37% already have stopped taking college classes altogether. These are the heartbreaking decisions that Latinx college students — in California alone — are making this fall due to the pandemic’s devastating and disproportionate impact on them...

It is unlikely that Nov. 3 will be a liminal day. Nineteen states allow ballots to be counted after Nov. 3. It may be weeks or more before election results are final. There’s a lot of justifiable anxiety in our country — about voter suppression, about counting every ballot and questions about whether a peaceful...

The process of creating policy — the work that helps shape a community — can seem opaque and frustrating, but it doesn’t have to be. Most of us intuitively understand many of these concepts. For example, as our cities and towns debate whether to close streets to cars to allow outdoor dining, it’s sparked a...

We had an impressive showing at this year’s California Coastal Cleanup. Congratulations to the 862 outstanding volunteers who picked up a total of 22,215 pounds of trash and cleaned over 336 miles during socially distanced neighborhood cleanup events, held each Saturday in September. These dedicated community members hit the streets, parks and creeks equipped with...

Weeks into the fall semester, instead of catching the bus or train to campus, we are learning from home. Both COVID-19 and the recent California wildfires have kept us indoors and amplified the ongoing struggles that our families and communities face. As the smoke fades and our region recovers from COVID-19, returning to “normal” is...