SF Freedom School, June Jordan School for Equity, and AYPAL, Youth Together fight for Educational Justice 52 Years After Brown

One of my favorite things about living here in the SF Bay Area is that there are always dozens of cultural and political events going on almost every week to pick and choose from. That's what attracted me to SF in 1984 in the middle of the conservativism of the Reagan years - I visited here from my hometown of Sacramento and have never left. As a parent too the diversity of organizations and events and actions here in the City allow me to bring my 6 year old to socialize with other social justice movement families and teachers. As a lifelong learner and teacher, it allows me to always expand my own worldview from the struggles and stories and experiences of so many that pass through SF and the Bay Area.
The San Francisco Freedom School is holding their first annual -
San Francisco Freedom School Concert/Fundraising Event
featuring Veterans of the Civil Rights Movement,
the Bay Area Labor Chorus and
Awele Makeba, storyteller/actor and teaching artist for social change
6:30 PM
Saturday, May 6, 2006
St. Francis Lutheran Church, Parish Hall
152 Church Street, San Francicso
across the street from Safeway (K, L, M, J, N, F, 94K, 94M, 94N)
6:30 PM Food and Drink; 7 PM to 8:30 PM Program
RSVP greatly appreciated but not essential
Call 415-703-0465 or email mke4think@hotmail.com
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June Jordan School for Equity is also celebrating their accomplishments this evening at their campus in the Excelsior district of SF - check out the SF Weekly article on June Jordan and the small schools movement in SF by Ryan Blitstein's great article A Study in Size.

As SF Teachers have ratified their tentative contract [I and the rest of the Board of Education are likely to vote in favor of the settlement as well on May 9] and Oakland teachers struggle over their tentative agreement, SF Schools blog is highlighting - Thank a Teacher Today Campaign:

Parents For Public Schools has joined the San Francisco Education Fund, DonorsChoose, and others to promote the Thank a Teacher Today Campaign during the month of May 2006. The campaign encourages everyone in San Francisco to take a moment during the month and throughout the year to personally thank teachers and let them know that we recognize and appreciate their dedication and hard work on behalf of our City¡¦s young people.

And as the anniversary of the historic Brown vs. Board of Education Supreme Court decision approaches - grassroots student, teacher and community groups are continuing their campaigns for educational justice - Please support Oakland's AYPAL, Youth Together and others -

Frustrated Oakland students, community members, concerned parents, teachers and the public demand equal resources for the Oakland Public Schools. Hundreds of Complaint forms have been collected and will be submitted to the School District to demand concrete changes in the Public Schools in Oakland. Our schools are in a State of Emergency with inadequate resources, dilapidated facilities, unqualified teachers that are the root causes of many issues in Oakland. Settlement provides up to $1 billion for the lowest-performing schools base Academic Performance Index (API) deciles 1-3, which 62 Oakland public Schools are eligible to get these funds.
When: Wednesday, May 17, 2006 (anniversary of Brown vs. Board of Education)
Where: Lincoln Rec. Center is 250 10th Street @Harrison in Oakland Chinatown
Time: 4:15-5-30pm
AYPAL's Campaign Demands:
• Fully Funded Schools
• Equitable Resources across School Sites
• Full compliance with the William's Case Settlement
For more Info on AYPAL/Youth Together and the Williams VS. California case [filed 2000, settled 2004]

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Next week - UC Berkeley friends from Ethnic Studies and CJWP and the Enviromental Justice Movement are sponsoring this great dialogue that links many different struggles - Frontlines and Fence Lines... Linking Black Panthers, Zapatismo Environmental Justice and Sustainability
May 9, 2006
6:00-8:30 pm
Room 126 Barrows Hall
UC Berkeley (N of Bancroft bet. Telegraph and Bowditch)
What contributions can the Black Panthers, Zapatismo, racial justice and
indigenous movements have for movements towards environmental justice
and sustainability? Ashanti Alston, a former Black Panther Party member and member of the Black Liberation Army, shares his stories and lessons learned from years of working in the BPP and BLA and also from several recent trips to zapatista territory, for movement building.