Contact Us: 310.399.1631
235 Hill Street, Santa Monica
Built on a progressive past, forging a just and inclusive future. Hosted by the United Methodist Church
Vigil With The Original Save Venice
In honor of Keenan, Tortuguita, Oscar, Takar, and Tyre
Sunday, February 5th, 2023
3:30pm-5:30pm PT
First Baptist Church of Venice
685 Westminster Avenue
Venice CA 90291
Take Action With Re-Imagine LA County
Last Call: Survey Closing SOON
Date & Time: now and ongoing
Location: online survey at: https://reimagine.la/survey/
Details: Imagine a budget for L.A. County that’s crafted by our communities, for our communities. Instead of investing public money in systems that harm Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities, L.A. County can redirect investments towards resources that uplift, equip, and empower our people. We need a public budget that prioritizes and allocates greater funding towards community investments! And that’s only possible if our communities are truly driving the process. Make your voice heard, by taking our survey at reimagine.la/survey.
Take Action with JusticeLA in 2023
Join JusticeLA for Virtual actions on Mondays and/or Wednesdays
sign up at http://jlanow.org/vasignup
Join “Where Has All the Housing Gone?” and search for the lost affordable housing in Venice
“Where Has All The Housing Gone?” is a participatory, community-based art project starting in early February that will investigate the loss of affordable housing in Venice.
We will research, take photos of, and write about the many rent control homes that have been taken off the market– and develop our writing and photo-taking skills at the same time with local poets, artists, and photographers. We’ll also interview people who can help tell the story. The project is organized by Judy Branfman with Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center in Venice.
We’ll develop an exhibit, in Beyond Baroque’s gallery and online, a zine, and readings and events out of the materials we produce. The project will begin in early February 2023 – and we’ll meet on Saturday mornings, eat, share our stories and do some research, photo/writing skill-building, and go out into Venice to take photos and write. Small stipends will be available.
If this sounds interesting or fun to you, let’s talk – we’d love to hear from you!
Please contact Judy at sycamorecity@gmail.com or 310-392-2076
or Beyond Baroque at 310-922-3006
Take Action With Keep LA Housed
Emergency tenant protections are slated to end on January 31, potentially creating thousands of evictions.
60% of LA residents are tenants and we need the LA City Council to adopt strong permanent protections for tenants immediately!
We have a real chance to win the following protections:
Universal Just Cause, Relocation Assistance, Limits on Evictions for falling behind on rent
The Council will be voting this week - TIME FOR ACTION:
Send a quick email to councilmembers: bit.ly/klahcityaction
Send a quick email to councilmembers: bit.ly/klahcityaction
Call the following councilmembers and urge them to pass the above protections:
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District 3 - Bob Blumenfield - (213) 473-7003
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District 7 - Monica Rodriguez - (213) 473-7007
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District 11 - Tracy Park - (213) 473-7011
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District 15 - Tim McOsker - (213) 473-7015
Take Action with 173 Organizations across California who Support Local Solar Energy
On December 15th, the CA Public Utilities Commission is scheduled to vote on a proposal to slash solar credits by 75%. If passed, it would make the cost of rooftop solar too expensive for those who do not yet have solar, and deny millions of Californians the opportunity to get out from under crippling energy bills, constant price increases, and rolling blackouts. 173 groups signed a letter (posted here) to Gov. Newsom and the CPUC with this press release.
Please call Gov Newsom Monday. We know the utilities are lobbying CPUC to make the proposal even worse!
For more information, including Gov. Newsom's contact number, click here
Take Action with the Coalition to Free Ruchell Magee!
Harold Weston spoke with the Church in Ocean Park last February about the plight of Ruchell Magee. Well it's close to a year later, and he is still imprisoned!! Magee was unjustly captured in 1962 and given trumped-up charges. He is now 82 years old, forced to suffer mentally and physically due to the poor conditions inside California’s prison camps. Ruchell needs our support and action so that he can be released, spend time with his loved ones, and better his community.
Harold Welton has organized with the Southern California Chapter of the Black Panther Party, the East Los Angeles College Black Student Union, Los Angeles SNCC, Jonathan Jackson Educational Cadre, union organizer with SEIU Local 99, and Black August LA. Harold is imploring us to take action now ~ Call Governor Newsom Today.
Take Action to Support Teachers at UCLA's Lab School
UCLA Lab School Demonstration Teachers have been working with an expired contract for almost three years! UCLA Lab School is a diverse, inclusive elementary school on UCLA's campus that champions inquiry-based teaching and learning, public engagement and research for all children.
Other teachers in K-12 schools in the UC system have negotiated all subjects of bargaining and have won strong contracts. However, despite the Public Employment Relations Board issuing four separate but connected labor law violations (“complaints”) against UC Management, the Lab School still does not have a contract.
Please sign this petition urging UCLA’s Executive Vice Chancellor & Provost, Darnell Hunt, and Dean of the School of Education and Information Studies, Tina Christie, to take action now – to stop the union busting and begin fair negotiations.
Take Action with Keep LA Housed Coalition
Tenants in LA City and LA County have COVID-19 temporary tenant protections thanks to the organizing and advocacy we've mobilized over the past 2 years. The County's protections expire on 12/31, and due to a recent court order, they could expire as early as 12/1 if the BOS does not take timely action. Additionally, the City Council - which has recently proven to be anti-tenant - will soon vote on ending their protections 1/31/23. WE CAN'T LET THIS HAPPEN!
Fill out this form to let our City and County electeds know that we're not going back! LA tenants have a right to affordable, secure, and habitable housing free from harassment and discrimination, and ending emergency protections without first implementing a Tenant Bill of Rights is not an option.
Email the Full LA County Board of Supervisors
Make sure to follow us on Instagram and Twitter for the latest updates on all things tenant rights in Los Angeles.
Take Action with STAND LA and South LA Activists
The City of Los Angeles continues to delay and deny health and safety protections for South LA residents plagued by the Murphy oil drill site. Earlier this year residents asked for three protections the City mandated for wealthier, whiter, West LA drill sites more than 20-years ago:
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Enclose the drill site to keep toxic gasses out of neighboring homes and schools.
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Require electric workover rigs instead of diesel
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Power the drill site with an electric utility connection instead of burning methane
The City continues to delay and deny justice for South LA. Please click on the link to call on Mayor Garcetti and Planning Director Bertoni to end decades of disparate and discriminatory treatment and then share the link with your friends and groups on social media.
Take Action With The Poor People’s Campaign in California
On Sunday November 6 at 3:00 PM PT you're invited to join our CA PPC Text Bank Turn Up. Whether it's your first, 5th or 50th time, help us crowd the screen with CA text bankers on the last weekend before election day.
Sign up here to textbank. We'll be signing up for 6:00 PM ET which will be 3:00 PM PT. Bring your friends and family.
@ppc_gptv2022
Take Action With Justice LA, The National Lawyers Guild
and Many Others
Measure A authorizes the removal of a Los Angeles County sheriff if they commit serious violations of the public trust — like breaking the law, stealing county funds, or obstructing investigations into deputy misconduct.
Yes on A would create common-sense checks and balances and hold future sheriffs accountable.
Learn more and get involved here: https://yesona.la/
Take Action with Housing Activists Across LA
Measure ULA is a tiny tax on mega-mansions that will produce many millions of dollars every year - to reduce homelessness and protect low-income seniors, veterans, and other tenants…
Learn more about and please help pass Measure ULA!
Take Action With Justice LA
Justice LA is working to stop two motions by the LA County Board of Supervisors to explore an increase in locking up people with mental illnesses. Join them Mondays and/or Wednesdays to get involved in their work.
Take Action With the ACLU and Healthy LA
Join us this Thursday, Sept. 29th at 6:30pm for Just Solutions: Equitable Housing in LA, an interactive panel discussion on equitable solutions to address LA’s housing crisis, with a special focus on the Yes on Measure ULA campaign (https://YesonULA.com)
More Information & Registration Link: https://aclusocal.co/justsolutionsinla
Action for Jackson
The people of Jackson, Mississippi are suffering with the lack of clean water, as we have seen in Black communities like Flint, Newark, Pittsburgh and other cities around the country. The Fannie Lou Hamer Institute's first event in 2017 was to support the people of Flint.
The Fannie Lou Hamer Institute is sponsoring Action for Jackson, Saturday, September 24th, 11am at the Crenshaw Mall and on Zoom: https://tinyurl.com/Action-for-Jackson
The special guests from the Mississippi Rapid Response Coalition will be Rukia Lumumba, Executive Director the People’s Advocacy Institute and Makani Themba, Executive Director Higher Ground Strategies.
Take Action!
Take Action with Keep LA Housed (KLAH) and Allies TODAY
The results of the 2022 Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count show that, since the COVID-19 outbreak, the number of homeless Angelenos rose by 4.1% in LA County and by 1.7% in the City of LA. In the comparable 2-year period prior, homelessness had risen by approximately 30%. The policy interventions that explain a near-zero increase in the homeless population are the strong tenant protections that were put in place countywide and by individual cities in response to COVID-19, increased access to legal services to prevent eviction, and emergency safety net programs. "Without these lifesaving measures, the 2022 Homeless Count would have shown a significantly higher increase in homelessness." Find the entire Keep LA Housed statement here
The LA Housing Department released a report recommending that the City end its COVID-19 tenant protections on December 31, 2022, the same date that the County protections are slated to end. Amidst a continuing global pandemic and skyrocketing inflation, with countless families and individuals still struggling to recover financially, physically, and emotionally, ending the emergency eviction protections without passing stronger, permanent protections in place first would be reckless and inhumane.
The City of LA’s emergency eviction protections have kept tens of thousands of Angelenos in their homes, saving lives, stabilizing communities and preventing mass displacement during a public health crisis. To learn more about Keep LA Housed's recommendations for City & County tenant protections, check out our reports:
Keep LA Housed Report on City Protections
Keep LA Housed Report on County Protections
We must make sure the City DOES NOT end emergency protections without first implementing permanent ones:
United to House LA is now *officially* on the ballot as Measure ULA!
The same initiative that will reduce homelessness and help low-income seniors keep their homes. But from this point forward, instead of going by United to House LA, our measure is ULA. And our biggest priority right now is telling Los Angeles voters to vote YES on ULA.
Can you take 45 seconds to share this post announcing our new name?
Because Measure ULA is how voters will see us on the ballot, it is critically important that we spread the word to as many Los Angeles residents as we can.
Yes on the mansion tax = Yes on Measure ULA. https://unitedtohousela.com//://:/
Take Action With the Poor People’s Campaign
Urge Gov. Newsom to make history and
support over half a million workers
Earlier this year we reported on AB 257 (aka the FAST Recovery Act), a landmark piece of legislation that would give workers a seat at the table with global corporations like McDonald’s, Burger King and Jack in the Box—empowering those workers to set industry-wide standards like wages, benefits and working conditions.
After passing in the California Assembly, the bill must now clear the State Senate before it lands on Governor Newsom’s desk. By signing AB 257 into law, the governor would be supporting historic legislation that would create the opportunity for economic equity and worker power for more than half a million fast-food workers.
You can help! Learn more about the bill in this Vox.com article and sign this petition asking the Governor to sign AB 257.
Take Action With LA County Housing Activists
If approved, SB 679 would create the L.A. County Affordable Housing Solutions Agency: a single affordable housing solutions agency in Los Angeles County with the ability to raise its own public and private revenue to fund systemic solutions to the countywide affordable housing crisis, including 100% affordable housing and renter protection programs. To read more about SB 679, click here.
SB 679 has cleared the State Senate and been approved by all State Assembly committees. The legislature has until August 31 to approve the legislation, and then the Governor must sign the bill. There are a few Assemblymembers who have not confirmed their support, which is necessary for SB 679 to succeed. Take 30 seconds today to fill out this email template and send it to key legislators!
Take Action With Reform LA Jails: Cancel The Contract
The Reform LA Jails coalition is meeting with Supervisor Barger and want her to advocate for the Antelope Valley Union High School District to be included as one of the pilot programs to provide services to improve safety and culture in schools – services that don't include School Resource Deputies. Some of the services that will be in place are: healing-informed trainings, social/emotional training, and additional staff (that are NOT School Resource Deputies) to improve school climate, peer leadership training for youth, and technical assistance to support the development of a safety plan with clear roles and responsibilities.
Students from the Antelope Valley Union High School District have suffered for far too long at the hands of law enforcement violence in our schools. Recently, Black students made up 16.7% of the student population in the district, yet they received over half of all law enforcement contacts. We owe it to them to fight for their safety and wellbeing.
Will you take a moment to help flood Supervisor Barger's inbox #CareOverCops
Take Action With United To House LA
United To House LA is an exciting ballot initiative we will get to vote on this November, creating a one-time tax for millionaires, billionaires, and corporations that only kicks in when they sell properties in LA for more than $5 million. It would immediately provide housing for people living on the streets, send emergency assistance to low-income seniors in danger of becoming homeless, protect renters from illegal harassment and rent hikes, and provide legal aid to renters. The measure would be implemented with the strongest oversight in LA’s history.
We only have three months until election day -
Learn More and Volunteer https://unitedtohousela.com/
Take Action With The CA Community Land Trust Network
The CA Community Land Trust Network is sponsoring a bill, AB 1837, that will fight displacement and strengthen community ownership. Check out our fact sheet for details on the bill.
Real estate investors who are profiting on the status quo are trying to sink our bill so we need your help to get us through the Senate Appropriations Committee. We've prepared an online letter that you can submit to the Appropriations Committee.
Take Action with Stay Housed LA
L.A. County has had laws to protect tenants affected by COVID-19 throughout the pandemic.
And Stay Housed L.A. has been there to make sure tenants know their rights along the way.
On July 1st, new tenant protection changes for the county went into effect that renters should know about.
To help tenants understand these changes better and protect themselves check out StayHousedLA.org
Take Action With the National Coalition Against Censorship and the New York Film Academy
The National Coalition Against Censorship and New York Film Academy invite films from filmmakers under 19, responding to:
WHAT DOES FREE SPEECH MEAN TO ME?
Create a video (up to 3 minutes) using film, animation, photographs, music, or anything else to explore what free speech means to you–a student, a citizen, a human.
Be thoughtful. Be creative. Be original. Be uncensored.
Details, terms and conditions at ncac.org/film-contest
Take Action With California Poor People’s Campaign
Bring Brittney Griner back home: A call from interfaith leaders
Brittney Griner, the WNBA superstar and two-time Olympic gold medalist, was taken into custody by Russian officers at a Moscow airport on February 17.
She has been in detention ever since.
Please sign this new petition which calls on ”the White House and all government entities to secure Brittney Griner’s safe and timely return home.”
Take Virtual Action With Justice LA
Date & Time: Twice each week:
Mondays,10:30am - 12:00pm PT
Wednesdays, 6:30pm - 8:30pm PT
Location: Zoom, register here
Details: Join us in action to lift up and organize around demands from JusticeLA and coalition partners calling for defunding law enforcement, decarceration, and investment in community-based Alternatives to Incarceration. It all happens right there - context, training, collective action + recruitment, debrief, and next steps.
TAKE ACTION WITH THE STOP LAPD SPYING COALITION
#KnowYourFight Community Webinar Series
Date & Time: Every Tuesday, 6:00pm PT
Location: Online, Zoom link available here
Details: Join the Stop LAPD Spying Coalition in this weekly webinar series to dive deeper into Los Angeles policing through a lens of surveillance and counterinsurgency. Each week focuses on a different topic - for more information on this week's webinar, check out their calendar here
Take Action With Reimagine LA
Email the Board of Supervisors demanding full finding and transparency in year two of the Care First Community Investment (CFCI) FORMERLY KNOWN as Measure J!
Take Action With Code Pink
Meet members of congress, policy-makers, and grassroots activists – and take action to champion progressive peace legislation.
Join twice-monthly Zooms (1st and 3rd Tuesdays of each month, 5pm Pacific).
Sign up for CODEPINK Congress to receive info on our bi-monthly peace actions: codepink.org/codepinkcongress
Take Action With BAJI, the Black Alliance for Just Immigration
END TITLE 42 TODAY
Date & Time: ASAP
Location: Anywhere; toolkit here
Details: On April 1st, 2022, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced that on May 23rd the Biden administration would be ending Title 42, the Trump-era pandemic restrictions that effectively blocked migrants from entering the United States. The administration was responding to years of advocacy from immigrants' rights groups, including BAJI, and directly impacted people against this racist and harmful policy. About 1.8 million people have been expelled and turned away at the border using the Title 42 policy. A Louisiana judge ruled on May 20th that the Biden administration must continue implementing Title 42. Following this decision BAJI and our allies maintain our everlasting position that the Biden administration and legislators must work toward codifying an end to Title 42."
Use this toolkit to reach out to legislators and amplify BAJI's demands.
Take Action With Black Lives Matter LA
#EndPoliceAssociations RALLY
Date & Time: Every Wednesday, 4:00 - 6:00pm PT
Location: 1313 West 8th Street
Details: Join Black Lives Matter - Los Angeles in favor of progressive justice reform. This is an in-person action, please show up masked and stay socially distant.
Take Action With Housing Activists Across California
Take Action With Housing Activists Across California
We have 10 days to pass AB 2050 out of the Assembly.
We must amend the Ellis Act and end speculator evictions in California.
ACCE has updated their tool to quickly and easily contact our potential supporters here.
Take Action With Justice LA
Pending legislation in California — Senate Bill 1338 — would establish what is being called “CARE Courts”. The proposal would give the state and persons without mental health expertise the power to initiate a process to force anyone into court-ordered treatment, while calling it care. If a person refuses to participate in forced treatment, or the treatment is not deemed "successful", the CARE Courts will have the power to impose hospitalization, state conservatorship, forced medication, and criminal penalties, again while calling it care. SB 1338 is not actually care, but a statewide sweep of unhoused people and a gross violation of human rights that targets Black, Brown and Indigenous communities. Please take action to stop SB 1338 this week. #CareNotCourt
Poor People's Campaign:
A National Call for Moral Revival
Take Action With Veterans For Peace
Please support Veterans For Peace’s bill to reduce the overall environmental impact of military activities and missions - and to monitor and report greenhouse gas emissions from all of its operations.
Take Action With Black Lives Matter LA
#PeoplesBudgetLA wants to know how you want YOUR tax dollars to be spent.
The People’s Budget LA is a coalition led by BLMLA demanding a city budget that invests in the wellbeing of our communities with a priority on supporting Black people.
Make your voice heard by participating in this survey to help create a People’s Budget.
Please participate in the survey here
Take Action With Reimagine LA
In just the past few weeks, our neighbors and community members held a Town Hall Meeting and have sent over 1,100 emails demanding the Board of Supervisors invest $900 million a year in our communities.
Can you take a moment to call your supervisor now? We have it all set up—all you have to do is click here to call.
Tell your supervisor: nothing less than the voter-approved $900 million annual community investment, and full budget transparency, will be accepted. Thanks!
TAKE ACTION WITH HEALTHY LA
Please join us in urging the members of the full LA City Council to reverse the decisions of the Budget & Finance Committee (3/21/22 hearing), to accept the recommendations that earlier came out of the Immigrant Affairs Committee (1/20/22 hearing), and to affirm the City’s commitment to due process for those facing detention and deportation. The Committee voted to add new criminal exclusions that will deny due process to many more undocumented Angelenos. These exclusions make the program less efficient and more complicated.
We are asking you to do the following:
· Action 1: Send an email using this link
· Action 2: Sample Social Media Posts
· Action 3: Call-in and Public Comment for Full City Council Hearing (DateTBD)
TAKE ACTION WITH JUSTICE LA AND REIMAGINE LA
Last week the LA County Board of Supervisors passed a motion authored by Sheila Kuehl establishing the Justice, Care, and Opportunities Department and the Department of Youth Development. The creation of an independent pretrial services agency outside the probation department is a demand that the community has been voicing for decades. While this is a great step in the right direction, our work is not done until they are fully funded.
Please one-click the Board of Supervisors to demand they fully fund and provide transparency for the second year of Care First Community Investment (CFCI), formerly known as Measure J!
Take Action with Student Advocates for Speech
Students across the country are standing up for their right to read and bravely opposing book bans in schools. Help us turn the moment into a movement by sharing with students, teachers and parents.
NCAC's new network of high school clubs will spread greater awareness of the threats to student speech, including book bans and bans on student protest, while mobilizing school communities to get involved.
Student Advocates for Speech will empower the next generation of leaders to
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advocate for freedom of expression as both a fundamental human right and a keystone of democracy
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fight for their own free speech rights, as well as the rights of those they disagree with, and
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promote the essential principles of free expression.
Now recruiting 14-18 year old free speech defenders. Applications are open. Learn more here
Take Action With Justice LA
Please sign up to join the JusticeLA Action List here.
Three times a week you’ll receive, via text, a 2-5 minute action to uplift their justice campaigns, often in the form of an email, a phone call, and/or social media amplification.
Contact: whitepeople4blacklives@gmail.com with questions
Take Action With Stay Housed LA and LA County
State rent relief is an important tool in avoiding an impending wave of evictions in LA County. That’s why it’s so important that every eligible tenant and landlord financially impacted by COVID-19 uses the help available to them.
The program is open to any LA County resident (excluding those living in Pasadena and the City of Long Beach, which have their own programs) with income below 80% of Los Angeles County's median income, regardless of citizenship or immigration status.
For more information on the California Rental Assistance Program, including a helpful video that can walk you through the application process, click here!
Take Action With Stay Housed LA
It is not too late to learn about your rights as a tenant and get help paying your rent.
There are tenants’ rights workshops almost every day – join by phone or zoom: https://www.stayhousedla.org
Take Action With Justice LA
Sign up to join Justice LA on an upcoming Monday or Wednesday for a virtual action.
Take Action with White People 4 Black Lives
White People 4 Black Lives’ goal is to end white support for state violence in Los Angeles County. And we get there by making sure new White People 4 Black Lives members have a clear path to become anti-racist organizers, committed to organizing and acting daily (in public ways and in ways less visible) INCLUDING after moments of intense political and racial upheaval.
The AccountabiliTEAMs project will invite folks new to White People 4 Black Lives (or folks have been around for a while but feel they could benefit from building a stronger foundation and deeper relationships) to be part of 5-person pods, matched with one of our lead organizers. The culture of this program is welcoming and transformative, with the goal of building a foundation for sustainable white anti-racist action for our participants.
More details are available at: https://www.awarela.org/wp4bl-ateams
HOUSING IS KEY
Just because state emergency tenant protections have ended, that doesn’t mean that tenants don’t have any protections or assistance available to them to continue to help with the financial crisis caused by the pandemic. So here’s what you need to know: The state has billions of dollars in rental assistance available to tenants, but you must apply. Applications will remain open until the state runs out of money. You can apply at HousingIsKey.com.
Your protections may differ based on where you live.
Take Action with the Healthy LA Coalition and Our Housing Allies
Two important actions with the Healthy LA Coalition and
our housing allies
Thousands of housing units in LA have already been lost to short-term rentals. It should be illegal to convert housing into a de-facto hotel. Now Councilmembers are considering a loophole to allow the ultra-wealthy to list their second homes as vacation rentals instead of housing units. That would cost Los Angeles an estimated 14,740 housing units.
Take action now and send a letter to urge your councilmember to reject the vacation rental amendment.
Please sign & share the petition from Unite Here Local 11!