To: President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, Republicans Do NOT freeze or cut federal aid!

An urgent letter to Donald Trump about federal aid and abrupt cuts. Scary times.

-Angela Valenzuela

To: President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, Republicans

Do NOT freeze or cut federal aid!

Closing out his first week, President Donald Trump issued a catastrophic memo ordering a pause in all federal grants and loans that would go into effect with little more than 24 hours notice. States, organizations, and local officials are scrambling to respond and interpret the vague directive.

If not stopped, this memo could be devastating for people in the U.S. and globally–disrupting public services, eroding infrastructure and safety nets, and impacting jobs.

Trump is slashing resources for working class and everyday people—meanwhile his billionaire friends keep getting richer. Will you add your name to the petition to show that we, the people, OPPOSE Trump freezing federal funds that go toward our children, families, schools, and communities?

Why is this important?

The directive, issued by the White House Office of Management and Budget, impacts tens of billions of dollars in funding.

Children and families across the country could suffer from abrupt cuts to school breakfast programs, food benefits, child care block grants, and housing vouchers.

Not to mention how it could impact funding for public education, roads, and transportation. Health care programs and programs like Medicaid, cancer research, and suicide hotlines.

The people who provide these services and the people who rely on them are having their entire livelihoods thrown into limbo. Even temporary pauses to these critical programs could have long standing and lasting effects for everyday people.

Trump and his wealthy friends won’t be impacted by disruptions to federal aid. This is just another political stunt to them. But for the average American, stunts like this are devastating. It’s unacceptable for the people we trust and elect into office to play politics with the public services and social safety nets we rely on.

These federal grants are our tax dollars at work. Trump has no right to freeze necessary funding that puts our communities, jobs, and health at risk. Add your name to the petition to fight back against this or any future freeze to federal aid!

A Timeline of Challenges to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) at the University of Texas at Austin

Friends, 

As promised in my previous blog post, here is a chronology or timeline of recent events at the University of Texas at Austin (UT) that highlights public statements. on Senate Bill 17 and its implementation. Understanding that the timeline is listed out by date of publications, it's not a strict timeline. That said, what I am seeing is that the publications do track closely to the playing out of events at UT Austin.

The struggle began much earlier, of course, during the 88th (2023) Texas legislative session, much of which I have already captured on this blog.

This is most definitely a dark moment in the history of UT and Texas. Have courage, my friends, and be sure to reach out to whoever represents you to let them know your thoughts and feelings about this negative and harmful attack on diversity in our state. Also, be sure to vote and to get others around you to vote. Your vote is your voice. Su voto es su voz!

In the meantime, also read this New York Times piece by Confesossore (2024) titled, "America is under attack”: Inside the anti-D.E.I. crusade," as this will provide some context. Moreover, given that this is a national "crusade," folks in other states can keep current via the DEI tracker appearing below.

My plans are to update this specific blog regularly. My goal is not to be exhaustive, but as informative as possible. This is going to be playing out for some time.

-Angela Valenzuela

ANTI-DEI LEGISLATION TRACKER

***

CHRONOLOGY

Editorial board. (2023, March 10). Editorial: Abbott's attack on diversity policies is a step backward, Austin American-Statesman Editorial Board. 

American Association of University Professors (2023, Sept. 27). Faculty in red states express concerns over political interference. https://aaup-utaustin.org/2023/09/27/faculty-in-red-states-express-concerns-over-political-interference/

Confessore, N. (2024, Jan. 20) “America is under attack”: Inside the anti-D.E.I. crusade. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/01/20/us/dei-woke-claremont-institute.html

Jones, C. (2024, Jan. 23). Students and staff reeling at UT-Austin after DEI ban goes into effect: 'UT has over complied a lot.' San Antonio Express-News https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/ut-dei-ban-sb17-18592242.php

Texas Public Policy Foundation (2024, Feb. 13). TPPF Announces Top Priorities for the Texas Legislative Session [website]

Zamora, E. & Valenzuela, A. (2024, Feb. 13). Anti-DEI Law implementation has been a disaster, Texas Observer.

De La Garza, I. & Rizvi, S. (2024, Feb. 21). The MEC is here to stay. The Daily Texan.

McGee, K. & Mohamed, I. (2024, Feb. 26). As doors close and funding fades, students worry UT-Austin is taking Texas’ new DEI ban too far, Texas Tribune.

Gamboa, S. & Kim, I. (2024, March 9). Bans on diversity, equity and inclusion may halt Latino progress in higher education: Anti-DEI laws are wiping out tools helping Hispanic students enroll and graduate, NBC News.

Svivastava, N. (2024, March 25). Native student organization moves powwow off campus

Senator Brandon Creighton, “Senator Brandon Creighton Announces Oversight on Senate Bill 17 Implementation“, (2024, March 26).

Brandon Creighton  letter to Chancellor Williams and the Board of Regents of University of North Texas System: https://senate.texas.gov/members/d04/press/en/a20240326a.pdf (cited in the Creighton press release above)

Terry Ellis, N. T. (2024, March 28).  University of Texas at Austin students say cultural programs are struggling to stay afloat in wake of anti-DEI law, CNN.

Kepner, L. (2024, April 1). Senate Education Committee is warning universities to comply with anti-DEI law. Here's why, Austin American-Statesman

Hartzell, J. (2024, April 2). Organizational Changes. University of Texas at Austin. (also Hartzell letter below )

Mangan, K.  (2024, April 2). After DEI Ban, UT-Austin Eliminates a Division and Lays Off Its Former Diversity Staff, Chronicle of Higher Education

Kepner, L. (2024, April 2). Sources: UT lays off at least 60 employees previously in DEI-related position, closes DCCE, Austin American-Statesman

Moore, A. (2024, April 2). UT student groups left searching for money, support under new Texas DEI ban, Houston Chronicle, Austin Bureau

Xia, A. & Dey, S. (2024, April 2). UT-Austin announces round of firings in latest step to comply with Texas’ DEI ban, Texas Tribune.

Joint Press Release by Texas AAUP & Texas NAACP. (2024, April 2). UT Austin Staff Laid Off in new SB 17-related development.

KVUE News. (2024, April 2). Students mobilize as UT lays off employees under new Texas DEI ban

Bryant, J. & Appleby, C. (2024, April 3). These states’ Anti-DEI legislation may impact higher education. https://www.bestcolleges.com/news/anti-dei-legislation-tracker/

CBS News. (2024, April 3). Austin Fires Dozens to Comply with Texas TEI Law. https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/video/ut-austin-fires-dozens-to-comply-with-texas-d-e-i-law/

Lt. Dan Patrick's Interim Legislative (2024, April) Charge [pdf] 

Kepner, L. (2024, April 4). 'We did not see this coming': UT staff, students react to layoffs, DCCE closure after SB17

Executive Committee of the UT Austin advocacy chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP). (2024, April 4). Protest Letter to Jay Hartzell.

Alfonseca, K. (2024, April 5). Map: The impact of anti-DEI legislation: DEI programs in state agencies, schools and private companies are affected. ABCNews.

Editors. (2024, April 7).The harsh consequences of the Texas GOP's fervor to crush DEI at UT, Austin American-Statesman. 

Kepner, L. (2024, April 12). 'This was a breach of trust': TX NAACP confirms 66 former UT DEI jobs lost at UT, Austin American-Statesman.

Kepner, L. (2024, April 16). UT confirms nearly 60 workers laid off, most in former DEI jobs; students not accounted, Austin American-Statesman.

Gretzinger, E. (2023, April 17). 'A Pawn in a Game' Why Texas A & M's lone Black professor of nursing called it quits, Chronicle of Higher Education

Irwin, L. (2023, April 18).  UT Austin students protest layoffs over new DEI ban, The Hill.

Adams, C. (2024, April 18). UT Austin students protest school’s DEI layoffs amid state ban: The university sparked controversy last week when it laid off nearly 60 employees to comply with Texas’ new DEI ban earlier this month. NBC News.

Irwin, L. (2024, April 18). UT Austin students protest layoffs over new DEI ban, The Hill.

Diaz, J. (2024, April 18). UT president confirms nearly 60 people in DEI-related roles laid off, KVUE/ABC

Zeeble, B. (2024, April 24).Texas universities cut jobs after Texas bans DEI programs, KPFA

Kepner, L. (2024, April 30). Austin City Council members, NAACP condemn UT Austin layoffs of former-DEI staff members, Austin American-Statesman

Castro, J. & Basco, I. (2024, May 2). More than 600 University of Texas faculty members sign letter expressing 'no confidence' in president Jay Hartzell, KVUE ABC.

Alums for Campus Fairness. (2024, May 10). [Press Release]. Nearly 12,000 Texans Sign Letter Thanking University of Texas President Jay Hartzell for Ending Antisemitic Encampments

Dey, S. (2024, May 14). Under scrutiny from legislators, Texas university leaders attest to how they’re complying with the state’s DEI ban, Texas Tribune.

Renteria, R. (2024, May 14) Excerpts of DEI March and Press Conference in Austin Texas.

Kepner, L. (2024, June 11). UT Austin initiates discipline for student protesters, places hold on transcripts, Austin American-Statesman

Phillips, A. (2024, June 18). Collateral Damage: Texas anti-diversity and Austin HOME laws both harm Blacks and Latinos, Austin Free Press. 

Miscellaneous Pertinent Documents

Open Letter: UT Faculty Have No Confidence in President Hartzell

Faculty Senate. (2023, May 10). RESOLUTION AFFIRMING ACADEMIC FREEDOM AND TENUREAT THE UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTONAPPROVED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON FACULTY SENATE ON MAY 10, 2023, University of Houston.

National Urban League. (2024). WE DEMAND DIVERSITY! Advocacy Toolkit

National Urban League. (June 3, 2024). Active Campaign Dates.

Black Economic Alliance (2023, August 28). New poll by the Black Economic Alliance Foundation/The Harris Poll: Corporate diversity initiatives overwhelmingly supported across racial, ideological, and generational lines.

April 2, 2024

Dear UT community,
Soon after the passage last year of Senate Bill 17 — which prohibits many activities around diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) — the University embarked on a multiphase process to review campus portfolios and end or redesign the policies, programs, trainings, and roles affected by the new law. Our initial focus was to ensure we made the required changes by SB 17’s January 1 effective date, but we knew that more work would be required to utilize our talent and resources most effectively in support of our teaching and research missions, and ultimately, our students. 

Since that date, we have been evaluating our post-SB 17 portfolio of divisions, programs, and positions. The new law has changed the scope of some programs on campus, making them broader and creating duplication with long-standing existing programs supporting students, faculty, and staff. Following those reviews, we have concluded that additional measures are necessary to reduce overlap, streamline student-facing portfolios, and optimize and redirect resources into our fundamental activities of teaching and research. 

For these reasons, we are discontinuing programs and activities within the Division of Campus and Community Engagement (DCCE) that now overlap with our efforts elsewhere. Following these changes, the scale and needs of the remaining DCCE activities do not justify a stand-alone division. As a result, we are closing DCCE and redistributing the remaining programs. This means that we will continue to operate many programs with rich histories spanning decades, such as disability services, University Interscholastic League, the UT charter schools, and volunteer and community programs. Going forward, these programs will be part of other divisions where they complement existing operations. We know these programs and the dedicated staff who run them will continue to have positive impacts on our campus and community.

Additionally, funding used to support DEI across campus prior to SB 17’s effective date will be redeployed to support teaching and research. As part of this reallocation, associate or assistant deans who were formerly focused on DEI will return to their full-time faculty positions. The positions that provided support for those associate and assistant deans and a small number of staff roles across campus that were formerly focused on DEI will no longer be funded.

I recognize that strong feelings have surrounded SB 17 from the beginning and will shape many Longhorns’ perceptions of these measures. It is important that we respect the perspectives and experiences of our fellow Longhorns as the changes we are announcing today take effect. It is also important that this continues to be a welcoming, supportive community for all.

Respect for our students, faculty, and staff will be essential as we make these changes. The Division of Student Affairs will work to ensure that current student-facing services will continue to be available for the rest of this semester, and student workers also will retain their positions through the end of this term. Staff members whose positions are being eliminated will have the opportunity to apply and be considered for existing open positions at the University, and resources will be made available to support them.

UT Austin is a world-class public research university serving all of Texas and more than 50,000 incredible students. Our students, alumni, faculty, and staff continue to affect the world in meaningful ways each day. Other campus leaders and I appreciate your ongoing efforts as we seek to maximize the impact of our teaching and research.
Sincerely yours, 

Jay Hartzell
President

A call out to the current occupant of the White House By Roberto Dr. Cintli Rodriguez August 16, 2018

Dr. Roberto Cintli Rodriguez

Thanks to University of Arizona Mexican American Studies professor, Dr. Roberto Dr. Cintli Rodriguez, for allowing many of us to be a part of this shared statement of what we believe. 

 -Angela Valenzuela






After being under relentless assault by the current president for some 3 years, on August 16th, the nation’s mainstream media – its opinion writers – are finally striking back. On this day, some 100 of the nation’s leading newspapers are set to publish columns in defense of the 1st Amendment, and against his continued calls to censorship and violence against the press. When a would-be dictator dehumanizes community after community, and also the press, it is good to see the media fight back. Aside from being a professor, as a life-long member of the media, this is my way of weighing in. Here, I asked mostly red-black-brown friends and colleagues from across the country, to not simply take part in this defense, but to also present, in the form of a call out, his v. our world views.

To the current occupant in the White House: You believe that misogyny, xenophobia, homophobia and white supremacy are the true ideals of this nation. We believe that all people are full human beings, entitled to full corresponding human rights.

You believe that you must Make America Great Again. We believe that the lands of our ancestors have always been sacred (Michael Yellowbird, Dir. Tribal and Indigenous Peoples Studies, N Dakota State Univ.). ----

You believe the earth is to be plundered by humans. We believe the earth is sacred and alive (Dulcinea Lara, U of New Mexico). ----

You believe we should be exterminated. We believe you cannot survive without us (Olga V Gonzalez, MeXicanIndia, author, mother, Denver). ----

You believe in oppression. We believe in social justice (Isidro Ortiz, San Diego State Univ). ----

You believe in actions without consequence and the objectification of women, in terracide, in more and now and in self-image. We believe in the sacred circle, in mother earth/earth mothers- source of life and sustenance, in the seven generations and in self-determination (Maria Vai Sevoi, Calpolli Teoxicalli, Arizona). ----

You believe that imprisoning children is good policy. We believe: that children are sacred and that violating their rights is a blatant violation of due process and ungodly (Angela Valenzuela, UT Austin). ----

You believe in separation and competition. We believe in interconnectedness and love (Aly Wayne, NY, undocumented, world citizen). ----

You believe that Mexicans are rapists and drug dealers, "bad hombres.” We believe Mexicans and all immigrants contribute to the overall richness of the American experience (Dyana Ortelli, Los Angeles actress). ----

You believe climate change is a hoax. We believe in caring for this our only home (Devon Peña, U of Washington). ----

You believe you own this land, the water and all its abundant resources. We believe this land is our Sacred Earth Grand-Mother who loves all her grandchildren, be they white, red, yellow or black and this land is be shared (Henrietta Mann, Cheyenne educator). ----

You believe in the golden rule of wealth-based privilege, autocratic power, and violence. We believe in one Creator, the sacredness of all life, and the life affirming ways of love (Frank Acosta, Acosta & Associates, Whittier, Calif). ----

You believe the earth is to be plundered by humans. We believe the earth is sacred and alive (Grace Sesma, Cultural practicioner, S. Calif). ----

You believe in inciting the poor and afraid to do your bidding so you can profit immensely at their expense. We believe in fairness and opportunity for all, and to open dialogue to unite the citizens – not to divide our country even further than you have (Robert Castro, Dir. community-based org, N. Calif). ----

You believe in rule by hatred and fear. We believe in revolutionary love (Gail Perez, U of San Diego). ----

You believe America was once great. We believe the Indigenous peoples of the Americas, having survived invasion, settlement, genocide and colonization, will also survive you and the ravages of your neo-liberal world order (Marcos Aguilar, principal Semillas, Los Angeles). ----

You believe some animal species will perish as a result of border enforcement policies and that some people will perish from thirst in the desert as a result of border enforcement policies. We believe the Endangered Species Act must be upheld and that water and life are sacred (Maria Aparicio de Rodriguez, Arizona attorney). ----

You believe that you are making America great again We believe that our greatness is ahead of us, not in the rear-view mirror (James Michael Brodie, writer, Maryland.) ----

You believe that our society can and should be divided by race, class, gender, sexuality, nationality and physical ability We believe, that human life is interconnected and interdependent (Irene Vasquez, Dir. Chicana/o Studies, U of New Mexico). ----

You believe in defending your immoral actions through hate, bigotry, and lies. We believe in acting through love, compassion and truth (Cristina Devereaux Ramirez, U of Arizona) ----

You believe in “melting,” in the pot of continual cultural genocide. We believe in the beauty of our differences - rooted in love for ourselves and each other! (Bryant Valencia, U of Arizona grad student). ----

You believe in exploitation. We believe in liberation (Gilda Ochoa, Pomona College). ----

You believe Grandma Earth is yours to destroy & ravage for profit. We believe Grandma Earth deserves to be protected & nurtured for all, especially our children (Sandrea Gonzales, MA LPCC, New Mexico). ----

You believe that truth is only what serves you. We believe that truth serves a greater purpose (Javier San Roman, educator, Los Angeles) ----

You believe in objectifying women and demonstrate this in your comments and gestures toward women. We believe women should be honored and respected and never objectified (Leilani Finau, musician, Seattle). ----

You believe that the racist dogma that you spew is truth. We believe that non-Indigenous Science has not caught up to Indigenous Orality (Dan Smokeas, Western University, Canada). ----

You believe in the rhetoric of Manifest Destiny We believe the destiny of all people is made manifest by our personal, spiritual beliefs and convictions (Charlie Eaton, CSUSB). ----

You believe you uphold the taming of a continent. We believe we have never been tamed. We are not animals, and our existence is our continued resistance (Yaotl Mazahua, musician, Aztlan Underground). ----

You believe only some people carry value. We believe: that all people and life is sacred (Debra Camarillo, Latino Commission, N. Calif). ----

You believe you are descendants of the founding fathers. We believe we are people of the earth, descendants of indigenous ancestor warriors, whose sun will shine once again (Raul Adaír Ochoa, Houston human rights activist) ----

You believe your own hate-filled lies. We believe in the strength, dignity and truth of our people (Andrea Serrano, writer, New Mexico) ----

You believe you are protecting this land from we who belong to it. We believe that we are part of this land and will do everything we can to preserve it (Enrique Cardiel, Raza Unida, New Mexico). ----

You believe in lies and hate and allowing police to hurt our people. We believe in protecting our people and also in Truth and Love for Justice (Laurie Valdez, San Jose human rights activist). ----

You believe in sowing division and hatred while benefiting from financial gain. We believe that you will die and cannot take it with you, and eventually the people, and the working class, will achieve justice, welfare, and peace (Manuel J Hernandez, ASU). ----

You believe in hate. We believe hate will be overcome by love, justice and struggle (Dolores Delgado Bernal, Cal State LA). ---- Your beliefs are morally bankrupt. Our beliefs are based on a morality of love and empathy (David B Chon PhD, Califaztlan). ----

You believe: the US dollar and profits reign supreme We believe: you cannot put a price on Justice, Integrity and Compassion (Jan Laskin, Esq., Maryland). ----

You believe in inflicting pain and suffering on our children We believe that all children are God's gifts and hold the future in their hands (Rosie Castro, San Antonio) ----

You believe in taking children from their families. We believe in creating stronger families and communities (Frank Blasquez, Tepatzin, New Mexico) ----

You believe: We are defeated. We believe: Ancestrally, we know this place--we've been here before. We have already won (Terican Gross, ). ----

You believe in selling natural resources for profit. We believe we must protect our Mother Earth (Lilifor Arte, Los Angeles Artist). ----

You believe black and brown people are a threat to western civilization. We believe western civilization is the largest threat to this earth and all life forms (Roberto D. Hernandez, San Diego State Univ). ----

You believe in building the biggest military around the world. We believe in building International solidarity and practicing it now (Cynthia Diaz, human rights activist, Arizona). ----

The friends and colleagues I surveyed here are the mirror opposite of everything he stands for; a backward looking world on the march towards apartheid. As such, I am confident that most people do not want to be a part of his future. And yet, amid this frontal assault on the “enemy of the people” and the debasement of the 1st Amendment, we are also conscious that for some communities, particularly communities of color, the media has traditionally been hostile. In fact, as an institution, it has generally always been problematic, through the normalization of harmful stereotypes and myths, that often leads to both our criminalization and lethal racial profiling. Their practices have also invisibilized many of our communities. More so, the mainstream media is the one institution that has always functioned as cheerleaders for illegal wars, and nowadays, permanent war. Yet despite that history, most of us defend the media against those that would remand us to state-run or controlled media (akin to FOX News). When this disgraced president is driven from office, it is also hoped that the same media take a step forward and never return to those practices that have in fact been historically detrimental to our communities.

Rodriguez, a PhD in mass communications, is an associate professor in Mexican American Studies at the University of Arizona and can be reached at: XColumn@gmail.com.

OPEN LETTER to America from America's Children, by Dr. Ron Harris

Friends:

Brace yourself. This is gut-wrenching. We all need to read this Open Letter to America and pin it to the top of your Twitter accounts, as well as to our refrigerators as a daily reminder of just how anguished and deprived so many of our children are right now as a result of horrific policies, practices, and neglect.

Thanks to Bruce Lesley @FirstFocus, who also advocates for an independent Commissioner for America’s Children, another piece that he recently penned.

To give children a voice in their democracy and government, we propose that the Congress pass legislation to create an independent Commissioner for America’s Children. The creation of such an office has a proven track record in nations all across the world, as the role of children’s commissioner has been established in more than 40 countries, among them the UK, Sweden, and New Zealand. The strategy has improved children’s well-being and awareness as to the unique issues of importance to children.

Keep up the great work, Bruce!

-Angela Valenzuela
#TheChildrenAreWatching
#FamiliesBelongTogether
#ProtectOurKids #ChildrensCommissioner

A Letter from America’s Children

By Ron Harris, NNPA Newswire

Published July 12, 2018





Dear U.S. Media, Democrats, Republicans, Independents and to the concerned Americans who poured out into the streets to protest Donald Trump’s cruel and faulty immigration policies,
What about us?
We understand and applaud your response to this administration’s malevolent separation of immigrant families from their children—policies and practices so un-American and shocking that they have come to dominate the national conversation. Your immediate, visceral response to evil spurred you into action.
But there is another evil, a pervasive, chronic and unrelenting wickedness that we, your children, live with every day. We are being shot down on the nation’s streets, locked away in juvenile facilities, poisoned by dangerous drinking water, threatened and harassed by neighborhood gangs, left homeless, either alone from abuse or with parents that cannot afford to put a roof over our heads. We live in neighborhoods bereft of adequate food sources and with fathers and mothers so wrought with financial and psychological instability they can’t provide our needs.
And because our nation has lived with this reality so long, it has become almost accepted. It has become quietly and unconsciously perceived as part of the norm, part of the landscape, like the air we breathe, until little by little it becomes so caustic that it kills us or chokes us into action. Unfortunately for us, your children, you haven’t reached that point.
There are 408,000 of us, American children, who also have been separated from our families and placed in the care of others, like the 2,000 immigrant children who you took to the streets to protect. Many of us languish in foster care with little hope of ever being united with our parents or extended families. As we watched the huge crowds that stretched across 700 U.S. cities Saturday. We saw the signs proudly held high that read, “Family Separations Are Cruel.” And we thought, “Yes, they are.” What about us? Where is our march? Where is our media coverage?


Half of us currently in foster will be homeless within six months after growing too old for the system. We are unprepared to live on our own. We have limited education and no social support. About a quarter of the rest will be homeless within two to four years of leaving the system. Some of us will become part of the 20,000 U.S. children annually forced into prostitution.
Another two million of us this year will separated from our families and placed behind bars and in juvenile custody. Many of us, like Clarice, one of twin 14-year-old sisters in Montgomery County, Md., can’t go home because there is no suitable home to go to. Her parents are homeless, and authorities can’t release her to an unstable home. Other parents are dysfunctional or can’t provide the guidance we need. So, we go behind bars because there are not enough treatment facilities for us.
We want a march, too, one for better schools for all, because you recognize how the hopelessness created by faulty education diminishes lives and leads to incarceration – that 32 percent of white males in juvenile custody dropped out of school, and that nearly half of African-American and Hispanic male youth behind bars also quit.
Media reported how families from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico are fleeing to the U.S. to escape gangs in their countries. Many of us live in gang-infested neighborhoods, too. In cities like St. Louis, Baltimore, New Orleans, Detroit, Cleveland, Las Vegas, Kansas City, Mo., Memphis, Newark and Chicago, the 10 U.S. cities with the highest murder rate, we have long understood their terror. We understand their fear.
In Chicago, a city rife with street gangs and where at least 16 children have been murdered in the first six months of this year, more than 50,000 people demonstrated for the rights of immigrants fleeing gangs in countries few of them have ever visited.
Ironically, they never marched for the children slain this year in a city they traverse every day: Maysia Woodard, 12 mos.; Damarcus Wilson, 16; Deshawn James, 17; Rhomel Wellington, 17; Mateo Nathan Aguayo, 2; Joseph Smith, 16; Jose Agular, 14; Jayton Jones, 17; Erin Carey, 17; She’Vaughn O’Flynn, 12; Jechon Anderson, 11; China Lyons-Upshaw, 17; David Thomas 16; Parris Purdis, 17; Kyle McGowan, 17, and Jazmyn Jester, 15, who was among four people murdered and 13 others shot over 17 hours on a Tuesday and a Wednesday in May.
Where do families like theirs emigrate to escape the violence?
Many of us live in poverty, one of every four children in Arizona, Georgia, California, Kentucky, Texas, Nevada, New Mexico and New York, one in three in the nation’s capital. At least 2.5 million of us will spend some period of life this year homeless; maybe a month, maybe six months or maybe the whole year. Most of us will spend at least one day every month without food.
Look at us. Pivot your cameras and microphones to us, as well. We are your children, and there is real evil that plagues us too.
What about us?

Ron Harris is a journalist, adjunct professor at Howard University and co-author with Matthew Horace of the new book “The Black and The Blue, A Cop Reveals Crimes, Racism and Injustice in America’s Law Enforcement.”

OPEN LETTER: A call to end the separation of children from parents at U.S. border crossings from the National Association of Social Workers.

An open letter from the University of Washington School of Social Work Leadership Team and the Faculty Council regarding the federal policy of separating immigrant families at U.S. border crossings

June 8, 2018

The enduring and often lifelong health and mental health consequences of traumatic parent-child separation have been established by decades of child welfare research, led by some of the nation’s top social work scholars and health scientists. Much of this research has been funded through the National Institutes of Health and its National Institute of Mental Health, spurred by the humanitarian ethos that defines the highest purposes of our democracy. 

During the past several months, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has expanded the enforcement of our national immigration policy, including prosecuting all individuals crossing over our nation’s Southwestern border and referring all adults to the Department of Justice for adjudication. The result is that border enforcement officials are forcibly separating children from their parents, who are then arrested and incarcerated for suspected unlawful entry into the country.

These children are turned over to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for an indefinite and typically prolonged period in nonparental custodial care—often in homes of complete strangers. This dire new national policy brings with it a range of extraordinarily detrimental consequences that will most likely be borne by the children of immigrants and refugees traumatized by forced removal from their parents. 

As social workers who have a mission of serving all members of our community, we are taking a stand against this draconian policy that is a sharp departure from the nation’s previous immigration enforcement policy. That policy allowed detained parents—many of them refugees fleeing from violence in their home countries—to stay with and care for their children pending the outcome of their immigration cases.  

To ignore well-established, federally sponsored research, in favor of the dubious gains of a national policy that regards the willingness to inflict lifelong trauma on the children of immigrant families as a legitimate tool of border enforcement, is both unconscionable and a profound betrayal of the very values that define us as a nation. We believe this policy should be reversed immediately to avoid further trauma to hundreds, and potentially thousands, of innocent children and their families.

Read the statement from the National Association of Social Workers.

#FamiliesBelongTogether, #FreeTheChildren, 

An open letter from the César E. Chávez Institute in support of Ethnic Studies at San Francisco State University

HAPPENING TODAY AT SAN FRANCISCO STATE UNIVERSITY.  SUPPORT ETHNIC STUDIES.  If you're wondering whether ethnic studies "works," check out my other posts from this week on this.  The jury is in.  Ethnic Studies promotes academic achievement, actual learning, and a positive sense of belonging not only in K12, but also at the higher education level.  Let's all support ethnic studies in SFSU and beyond. Let's not eliminate the very program that helped birth the well-developed program in the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) that is now receiving accolades as a result of the rigorous Dee and Penner study that showed very positive findings regarding its benefits.

Dee, T. & Penner, E. (2016). The causal effects of cultural relevance: Evidence from an Ethnic Studies curriculum. National Bureau of Economic Research, Working Paper 21865.  http://www.nber.org/papers/w21865

 

To wit, see this morning's post on Ethnic Studies featured in The Atlantic.
 
Angela Valenzuela
c/s

#ethnicstudiesnow


An open letter from the César E. Chávez Institute
March 15, 2016

Dear Familia,

Campus rally tomorrow Wednesday 3/16/16

We at the Cesar Chavez Institute are reaching out to our extended community of colleagues and supporters to let you know what is happening here at our home campus of San Francisco State University.

You may have already heard that our parent institution, the College of Ethnic Studies, the birthplace of ethnic studies and the Third World Strike that transformed San Francisco and the nation, is today fighting for its very survival. The Institute is fighting alongside it to defend fully accessible, fully funded, high-quality, relevant public higher education.

Campus-wide budget cuts were introduced during the Great Recession, as the State slashed funding to California State University; all units were affected, but being the smallest of the five colleges on campus, the decade of reduced funding has had an exponentially larger impact on ours - and disproportionately so, as recently admitted by President Wong.
An intended additional funding reduction announced by the President and Provost recently will cut our College to the bone, resulting in dismissal of all CoES lecturers, a 40% reduction in undergraduate and graduate courses, loss of faculty lines, untenable reductions in departmental support, shutting of the college's vital Student Resource Center, and the mandated closure of our Institute.

There has been a tremendous reaction of outrage and manifest solidarity across campus and from institutions and student bodies across the State and country. Our own students have inspired and moved everyone with their swift, cohesive and courageous mobilizations, spear-heading a nationally connected movement to not only defend ethnic studies but advance them by demanding increased institutional support.

The students, faculty, alumnus, administrators and staff are standing firm, armed with facts, numbers, and a clear contextual focus, and responding to the fundamentally disrespectful and devaluing rhetoric and actions coming from individuals in the higher University administration. This administration's approach echoes the historical treatment of marginalized communities everywhere - increasing disinvestment and disengagement, leading to deterioration and a prolonged struggle for resources, then blaming the communities for the crisis and watching silently while displacement and disempowerment silence us.

As our Dean just wrote in his public letter:

"We live in an historical moment when the state of California and the United States are experiencing unprecedented personal wealth, albeit held in the smallest percent of the population ever. At the same time, political leaders have chosen to provide the smallest share of that wealth for the public good, particularly public higher education. Public higher education is a proven pipeline to success for the poor and working classes and the backbone of the nation's real economic strength. Moreover, we are experiencing one of the most vitriolic backlashes against people of color, the poor, gender or sexually non-conforming communities and others in recent history. Our local challenge is apparently a flashpoint for systemic state and national challenges."

The Institute

At the César E. Chávez Institute we have worked diligently to obtain outside funding to support a high quality research agenda directly linked to community's needs. For the last 20 plus years, the Institute has been one of the more prolific research centers on campus, seeding efforts like Jim Quesada's grant on immigrant day laborers, Caitlyn Ryan's nationally recognized project on family acceptance for LGBTQ youth, the powerful work with youth of color by Jeff Duncan-Andrade, Sean Ginwright and Antwi Akom, and more recently Leticia Marquez-Magana's NIH grant to support students of color in the sciences, which emerged from our own educational equity work.

Previously the Institute had three faculty lines, a full-time Director and a full-time Director of Administration, and full administrative support. The still-deepening reductions in institutional support by the University have seriously hurt the Institute and we now rely only on a part-time Director and one staff member.  Despite these severe cuts from 2008 to today, the Institute generated $1,070,000 in external funding during the same time period. Today, the university provides no support to the Institute, and advocates for its closure next fall as a cost-saving measure.

Even now, as this battle for appropriate resource allocation heats up, the Institute is able to meet all its current commitments and the new commitments being contracted for the near future. New grants will sustain the staffing and operations specifically outlined in their respective proposals. But one thing is clear - solid institutional support is needed for a research institute to expand its grant funding, support new projects that reap benefits for both the university and the community, and attract the talent needed for expanding our work in honor of César Chávez' legacy.

What you can do:

Join us tomorrow Wednesday at a student-led protest on campus (see flyer below) to demand increased, fully accessible, fully funded, high-quality, relevant public higher education.

Write President Leslie Wong
Write the Provost Sue Rosser
¡Ya basta!
Defend our communities
Defend the vital institutions we have created
Defend  our  ideas  our  stories

In respect and solidarity,
Belinda Reyes
Director