The May 1 immigrants’ rights march is a hard event to describe to a 12-year-old who is debating whether or not it will be worth his time. It is a historic, enormous event—the outcome of the cataclysmic, politically churning forces of globalization, and the erosion of political certainties such as “national boundaries.” Most of those things, though, pale when compared to the allure of online Pokémon.

The gym at Alum Rock Youth Center on the Eastside was filled near capacity last Thursday evening when Mayor Chuck Reed held the first of four open forums on gang violence in San Jose and how to spend an additional $1 million towards the issue. While a cynic might say that the event was mere political theater—an attempt by the city leaders to quell growing frustrations about violence on the streets—it is undeniable that the forum did tap into the community’s authentic call to be included in the conversation of allocation of resources. The gathering was probably the first time I saw the city council, SJPD, parents, youth advocates, former gang members, and religious groups, all brainstorming from a position of collective problem-solving, rather than fighting over limited funding.

Are Foundations In Tune with Democratic Process?

Last week I saw a glimpse into the future of California philanthropy: big money and big commitments, the kind of which could literally change the course of how some California communities develop over the next decade.

An Act of Protest Has Never Sounded So Good

The corner of Stockton and Lenzen Avenue was bumpin’ on Saturday night. At a show called “Cultura En Tu Idioma,” held at the De-Bug Community Center, some 500-plus Latino youths came to celebrate a culture of their own invention: Spanish rap, rock, poetry and cumbia, all interwoven into one singular expression. No alcohol, no fights, just young people expressing themselves and having a good time.

One Last Fight Left for Silicon Valley’s Environmental Activists

If the Silicon Valley region has been a laboratory for high tech innovation, East Palo Alto has been its trash bin. But now, in a hallmark victory for the environmental movement, those days are over. After a more than twenty-year struggle, East Palo Alto residents have managed to force the Department of Toxic Substances to shut down Romic Environmental Technologies Corp., the toxic waste company that processed much of the hidden hazardous material of our valley.

Law enforcement uses the state’s gang-enhancement law to crack down on violence, but a judge’s ruling in the Joshua Herrera case raises questions about its reach

THE moment before Rebecca Rivera entered the courtroom to hear whether or not her son Joshua Herrera was going to face a life sentence in prison, she gathered with 40 or so supporters, who were bustling around with nervous tension. “I talked to Joshua last night, and he wanted us all to know that whatever happens in there—he is coming home.” She began to weep, then collected herself and walked into court. The potentially devastating question that was left in her wake, the one no one dared ask, was: When? Rivera had already consoled the mother of another young man involved in the case, Alex Samarro, who had been given 23-to-life the day prior, and knew the pain she saw yesterday could be hers today.

Joshua Herrera May be Facing Life in Prison Because of an Unevaluated Gang Enhancement Law

On the steps of the Main Jail, Rebecca Rivera called out to God and her son at the same time. She asked that God save her son from a life in prison, and that her son hear her prayer. 24-year-old Joshua Herrera, housed on the fourth floor of that jail, did in fact hear his mother and the 200 or so supporters who chanted and cheered through Rebecca’s impromptu speech, many of whom also had sons, uncles, nephews somewhere in that building. And from the fourth floor, it must have been quite a sight, an unlikely movement that Rivera has pieced together since Joshua was convicted of home invasion robbery with gang enhancements in 2006. Marching alongside the Herrera family were young Chicano men who also have been labeled as gang members themselves, college students sporting their banners, firefighters who met Joshua, and about 50 leather-clad bikers sitting on Harleys that roared like they had jet engines inside them.