SF Bay Area Communities organizing to 'Silence the Violence!'

The Oakland-based Ella Baker Center along with grassroots groups like Let's Get Free, SF's United Playaz, Bang4Change and the Filipino Community Center today are calling on all neighborhoods to stand to together today against crime and to begin campaigns to empower youth and low income communities.

SF - VOTE Yes on Prop A on June 6th: Stop Homicides Now!
I am joining a handful of elected officials led by Supervisor Chris Daly [District 6 - South of Market/TL/Civic Center] and a number of grassroots organizations that are rallying at noon today at City Hall to call for support for Proposition A, a local measure that would allocate $10 million a year for local homicide-prevention services from the city’s General Fund for each of the next three years.
Despite opposition from Mayor Newsom and conservative groups, many youth and grassroots people's organizations like SF People's Organization, Youth Making a Change [Y-MAC], Coleman Advocates, and the League of Young [Pissed Off] Voters support SF's Proposition A on the June 6 ballot.

The SF Bay Guardian this week highlighted the emerging coalition of progressives and communities of color that have come together in the Prop A campaign -

The Prop. A campaign is about more than just the relatively modest $10 million. Progressives and communities of color have begun to build an alliance around the
measure that hasn't always existed in the past — which is a polite way of referring to the left's sometime failure to address problems afflicting minority communities.

June 1st to Election Day June 6th - Statewide - Let's silence the violence together.
All day June 1st young people in the Bay Area will celebrate "Silence the Violence Day." It's the beginning of a summer-long campaign to address the skyrocketing homicide rates in Oakland and San Francisco.

The best thing? You get to be a part of it. Tune in at 9 am when KMEL "silences the music" during peak driving hours. At 11, all of Oakland and Alameda County will take a moment of silence. Join us in taking a breath to honor and mourn those we've already lost to violence. Then at 7 pm, join us in person at one of the many "Silence the Violence" candlelight vigils happening in Oakland and San Francisco.
If by coming together, one time, for one night, we can save one child's life, or keep one family from being torn apart, or steer one person away from violence, we will
have changed the world. Let's make this a day of healing.
This is a critical moment, and you have the chance to make a real difference. Please join us tomorrow. Together, we can create a peaceful future for Oakland.
Many thanks,
Venus Rodriguez - Lead Youth Organizer, Let's Get Free venus@ellabakercenter.org 510.428.3939 x244

THURSDAY, JUNE 1: VIGIL LOCATIONS
OAKLAND
West Oakland: 7th Street & MandelaEast Oakland: 87th & Macarthur at the Youth Uprising CenterLake Merritt: Grand & MacArthur, across from the Grand Lake TheaterDowntown Oakland: 14th & BroadwayNorth Oakland: 61st & San Pablo Highland Hospital: 14th Ave & E. 31st Street
SAN FRANCISCO
SOMA: 6th Street & NatomaTenderloin: Leavenworth & EllisSunnydale/Visitation Valley: Sunnydale & SantosMission: 24th & MissionHunters Point/Bayview: Whitney Young Circle & HudsonWestern Addition/Fillmore: McAllister & Webster (Ella Hill Hutch Rec Center)Excelsior: Persia & Lisbon
MORE INFORMATION
Venus Rodriguez venus@ellabakercenter.org 510.428.3939 x244
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Power to the Filipino Communities- PEP turns 5 - FCC reaches out to youth
I bumped into Terry Valen and folks from SF's 1 year old Filipino Community Center last night. They are holding some great events this coming month for young people, students and community supporters.

"Silence the Violence" - Excelsior Community Vigil
7pm-8pm
On the Corner of Persia and Lisbon
Stand with the FCC, the Greater Mission Consoritum, United Playaz and other community participants in a 1-day bay-area-wide action to address rising homicide rates and violence in our prisons, on our streets, and even in our schools. Support Proposition A which would increase funding and support for Violence Prevention programs and victims of violence. We have to develop long-term solutions and address the ROOT CAUSES of violence in our community -- lack of economic opportunity and social and political isolation. Silence the Violence Day is the kickoff for the Summer of Non-Violence, a summer-long effort to help youth find positive solutions to the issues they face on the streets.

Friday, June 2nd, 2006
BAGSAK TO THE PAST, PRESENT, and FUTURE: ON A BANIG, TRICYCLE, and JEEPNEY
A final show performance by PEP students from Balboa HS, Burton HS, and Longfellow Elementary School.
$5-$20 sliding scale donation
6pm-8pm
at the FCC
Join the PEP students from Balboa High School, Burton High School, and Longfellow Elementary School as they perform and share what they've learned throughout the school year with support from mga "kuya" at mga "ate" from San Francisco State University. After a year of learning about Filipino and Filipino American history, culture, and community, they will reach out to their local community in this culminating performance show. Don't miss it! All proceeds contribute towards funding Pin@y Educational Partnerships' program.

Saturday, June 10th, 2006
PEP 5 Year Anniversary Celebration!!!
5pm-8pm
at the FCC
PEP started as a partnership between SFSU and Balboa High School and has blossomed into a 5-school program working with youth and students from kindergarten through college and even graduate school. All this in a matter of 5 years with the leadership of Professor Allyson Tintiangco-Cubales (PEP Director), Program Coordinators Arlene Daus and Roderick Magbual, and all of the PEP teachers, students, and their allies. Celebrate this landmark achievement and honor them at the 5-Year Anniversary Celebration of PEP.

Friday, June 16th, 2006
"Pakaraguian sa Maguindanao"
A Palabuniyan Kulintang Ensemble (PKE) Performance and Villabrille-Largusa Kali School Demonstration
8pm-10pm
at the FCC
Join us for an entertainment event of traditional Kulintang music and dance from the Southern Philippines. Witness Master Artist Danny Kalanduyan and the PKE Performance as they keep the Philippine indigenous musical traditions alive in this community-centered cultural sharing event. The Performance Event will also feature a Martial Arts Demonstration coordinated by Guro Many Dragon and the Villabrille-Largusa Kali School's bay area students.

Saturday, June 24th, 2006
The Movement: Roots, Rocks & Resistance
6pm-10pm
at the FCC
"The Movement: Roots, Rocks & Resistance is a performance documentation of the Filipino/Pilipino-American story telling as told through the eyes, voices, and bodies of the Native born and American born movement artists of this generation. Utilizing the weapons of dance, theater, martial arts, and shadow, take a ride with us as we take you to the past and the present."

More info on the FCC -
Terrence Valen Organizational Director - Filipino Community Center (FCC)
35 San Juan Avenue San Francisco, CA 94112
Phone: (415) 333-6267 Fax: (415) 333-6495
Email: filipinocc@sbcglobal.net