Photo by kendrak from Flickr used under Creative Commons license

The Equal Justice Society stands in solidarity with the thousands of student protesters opposing the 32 percent fee hike recently adopted by the University of California Board of Regents. (Follow the protest on Twitter @ucbprotest and #ucstrike)

This tuition hike will bring the total cost of a UC education to more than $10,000 per year, and will disproportionately impact the ability of low income students, undocumented students, and students of color to attend California’s public universities.

In the 13 years since the passage of California Proposition 209, enrollment of students of color at the University of California’s flagship campuses has already dwindled to levels not seen since the ’60s and 70s.

These increases will further decrease the number of students of color able to attend UCs, and will force many current students to work multiple jobs just to stay in school, or worse yet, to leave because they are no longer able to afford tuition and fees.

Moreover, by disproportionately excluding students of color and students from disadvantaged backgrounds, these hikes will prevent our state from developing the diversity of leaders that we need – which is central to the mission of the University of California.

Please stand with us in opposing the privatization of the UC system, and demanding that public education in California remain open to all students who desire to pursue higher education, not just those who can afford it.

The future of our state depends on it.

Links to other articles (and graphics):

• http://www.democracynow.org
• http://www.nytimes.com
• http://latimesblogs.latimes.com

Five years ago at its inaugural gala, the Equal Justice Society honored the 60th anniversary of the devastating explosion at Port Chicago Naval Weapons Station that killed over 300 sailors, mostly African Americans assigned to loading munitions ships. When 50 black sailors refused to resume loading until there was an investigation into the explosion, they were charged and convicted of mutiny. The ensuing outcry led in part to the desegregation of the military. In October of this year, legislation introduced and championed by Rep. George Miller and Sen. Barbara Boxer passed the House and Senate creating the Port Chicago Memorial as a new park to be administered by the National Park Service. At our upcoming annual Gala on Dec. 4, 2009, EJS will salute the Friends of Port Chicago Memorial Committee, the National Park Service and many others for their dedication in pursuing recognition of the Port Chicago Memorial as a National Park and as a historic symbol of our struggle for equality and dignity. http://www.equaljusticesociety.org/gala

“This has been a long time coming. The Friends of Port Chicago are tremendously grateful to Congressman Miller, Senator Boxer and those who have championed this legislation,” said Rev. Diana McDaniel, President of the Friends group. “Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial will now be a permanent memorial and will help ensure that the lessons and history of racial and social injustice at Port Chicago are shared with America so that the story will not be lost.”

The legislation, signed as part of the FY2010 Defense Authorization Act, was introduced under the leadership of Rep. George Miller (D-CA) and will elevate Port Chicago – the Concord, CA area site where the largest U.S. home front disaster during World War II took place- from an affiliated park site to a full unit of the National Park System. This will allow the Park Service to create a national park visitor center and receive increased funding to hire park rangers to share the site’s story with the public.

The Port Chicago explosion at the naval magazine killed 320 men, 202 of whom were African-American. The explosion, work stoppage, and subsequent mutiny trial provide insights into the injustice of racial discrimination, the African-American experience in the U.S. military, and home front life during the Second World War. These events ultimately led to the desegregation of the armed services in the United States.

“Today, the National Park System became one step closer to representing a more complete picture of America’s past,” said Neal Desai, Bay Area program manager for the National Parks Conservation Association. “Let us hope that increased awareness of the Port Chicago story and the challenges of race and segregation that we faced during World War II will inform future decisions to better our society.”

The blast, felt up to 500 miles away, occurred as merchant ships were being loaded with 5,000 tons of high explosives. The ammunition-loading workforce at the Port Chicago Naval Ammunition Depot was composed exclusively of African Americans. After the disaster, on August 9, 1944, 258 of the surviving black sailors, who had been sent to Vallejo to load munitions at Mare Island, realized they were on their way to load munitions again and engaged in a work stoppage. They wanted to avoid another catastrophe because of the unsafe working conditions. Fifty of the sailors were charged and convicted of mutiny in the largest mutiny trial in U.S. Naval history. The trial and its aftermath prompted historic steps toward racial integration in the Navy, encouraged by such prominent figures as Thurgood Marshall, who filed an appeal on behalf of the convicted sailors, and Eleanor Roosevelt, who used Port Chicago as a powerful example of the need to desegregate the military.

Because of the exemplary public-private partnership of the Friends of Port Chicago and the National Park Service, the Equal Justice Society will be honoring both groups at their annual gala on December 4, 2009.

For more information visit www.friendsofportchicago.org.

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Friends of Port Chicago National Memorial, a 501 c 3 non profit,  has worked for years to he lp make this a permanent memorial to honor those whose lives were lost in the largest U.S. homefront disaster during World War II.  The Friends of Port Chicago are working to preserve this history by working collaboratively with the National Park Service, and the East Bay Regional Park District to create a Visitor & Interpretive Center that would promote a greater public awareness of the importance of the work done by these men to support our winning WWII, the events surrounding the tragedy, and the historical significance of the mutiny trial as a catalyst for the furtherance of the civil rights movement in our country, especially in the desegregation of our military.  The Friends are also working to have the sailors’ mutiny convictions revoked, as well as establishing a youth mentoring program in the future.

Since 1919, the nonpartisan National Parks Conservation Association has been the leading voice of the American people in protecting and enhancing our National Park System. NPCA, its 325,000 members, and many partners work together to protect the park system and preserve our nation’s natural, historical, and cultural heritage for generations to come.

The Trust (http://www.trustcommunity.org), currently in post-production, takes a personal look at incarceration and re-entry through the eyes of men struggling for transformation within the corrections system. The Least of These (http://theleastofthese-film.com) addresses the issue of family detention, looking in particular at the Don T. Hutto Residential Center and legal and community efforts to soften its harsh treatment of children and families.

After the screening, the films’ producers and some of the individuals profiled in the films participated in a question and answer session with an engaged and moved audience.

On first impression, it might seem that these two films take on important but unrelated issues.

The Trust is predominantly about the impacts of the prison-industrial complex in urban, African American communities – including the challenges of mass incarceration combined with limited opportunities for rehabilitation or re-entry.

The Least of These is about immigrant families (Middle Eastern, Latino and others) forced to flee atrocities in their home countries only to arrive in the United States and face long-term detention in for-profit, prison-like facilities because they have no access to asylum without being detained.

So what’s the connection? Well the crowd at the Kabuki-including students, activists, organizers and lawyers-was a perceptive one and it saw a clear connection between the two pieces: we live in a nation that systematically locks people up, and in large part failing to craft solutions consistent with the human and civil rights principles the United States purportedly stands for. Whether we call it incarceration, immigrant detention, enemy combatant detention, or internment, the United States always seems to be putting people away. And the people being put away always seem to be predominately people of color and the working poor.

The good news is that people are noticing, people are talking about it and people are working collectively to address this phenomenon. The film screening and subsequent discussion is a key example of this process. It was inspiring to see such a diverse crowd realize the big picture together even though different individuals are working on different angles and aspects of the issues. People left the event with a refreshed commitment to their own work as well as a new motivation to reach out and connect with others to bring a different, richer perspective to that work.

Thanks again to the co-sponsors, filmmakers, panel participants, and audience for making the event a definite success.

- Mairead Donahey

The Equal Justice Society is now accepting applications for its 2010-2011 Judge Constance Baker Motley Civil Rights Fellowship, named after the first African American woman to serve on the federal bench. Applicants for the one-year paid fellowship should be recent law school graduates with up to five years of work experience after law school.

Applications must be received in our office, not postmarked by December 7, 2009.

EJS is a national strategy group heightening consciousness on race in the law and popular discourse. As heirs of the innovative legal and political strategists of Brown v. Board of Education, the organization broadly models its programmatic efforts after the late Honorable Constance Baker Motley and the Brown litigation team. Using a three-prong strategy of law and public policy advocacy, cross-disciplinary convenings and strategic public communications, EJS seeks to restore race equity issues to the national consciousness, build effective progressive alliances, and advance discourse on the positive role of government.

Motley Fellowship applicants should demonstrate experience in civil rights advocacy and a strong commitment to racial justice. The Fellow will work under the supervision of staff attorneys for a 12-month period. During the fellowship period, the Fellow may lead new research, advocacy, coalition building, and public education efforts related to transforming anti-discrimination law and policy. The Fellow will be a full participant in office events and activities, including staff meetings and strategic planning sessions.

The position is based in our San Francisco office and runs from October 1, 2010, to September 30, 2011, with some flexibility in dates.

To be considered for the Judge Constance Baker Motley Civil Rights Fellowship, applicants should send a cover letter, resume, list of four (4) references and a writing sample (preferably on a racial/social justice topic) to info@equaljusticesociety.org with the subject line “Motley Fellowship Application” or mail hard copies to Motley Fellowship Applications, Equal Justice Society, 260 California Street, Suite 700, San Francisco, CA 94111.

Applicants should be recent law school graduates with 0-5 years of work experience after law school. Bar passage is not required. Candidates will be evaluated based upon criteria including: Demonstrated commitment to racial and social justice; Demonstrated interest in civil rights law and policy;  Excellent research and oral /written communication skills.

As a prosecutor, litigator, and trial and appellate judge, Judge Sotomayor brings more federal judicial experience to the Supreme Court than any justice in 100 years, and more overall judicial experience than anyone confirmed for the Court in the past 70 years.

We applaud President Obama on his successful nomination and laud this momentous step forward for the Court and our country.

Share with us your thoughts about our newest Justice at ConfirmSotomayor.org.

Judge Sotomayor’s nomination and confirmation will be among our discussion topics at a Netroots Nation panel next week at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh, Pa.

EJS is coordinating a session on “The Myth of Post-Racial America” on Thursday, August 13, from 9 a.m. to 10:15 a.m.

Panelists include Rinku Sen, President and Executive Director of the Applied Research Center (ARC); Rich Benjamin, Senior Fellow at DEMOS; Annabel Park, director/producer of the upcoming documentary film “9500 Liberty” and moderated by Keith Kamisugi, EJS Director of Communications.

Save the session date and info on Facebook.