After a ten-year struggle for the rights of undocumented youth to regularize their status through higher education or military service, the DREAM Act was again shot down by anti-immigrant senators on December 18, International Migrants' Day. DREAM has gone through several changes since it was first introduced, each version weaker and more unpalatable than the last. Nonetheless, the youth-led activism surrounding the DREAM Act has been incomparable. An entire generation has learned the arts of activism, from lobbying and letter-writing to hunger strikes and civil disobedience, including a DREAM-focused shut-down of Wilshire Boulevard earlier this year. In Southern California, the immigrant rights community reacted to the tragic news of DREAM's non-passage.

From the newswire: International Migrants' Day Posada for Human Rights by Rockero | | DREAMERS WILL NOT GIVE UP by Dream Team LA | | DREAM Act Vote Will Not Be Forgotten by CHIRLA

Saturday, December 11, 2010

COLTON, California - In a large public gathering in the cafeteria of Alice Birney Elementary School, well over one hundred community members from Colton, a city whose residents include many low-income immigrants, met with their police chief to expose him to the injustices his officers have been committing and to petition for redress of their grievances. While distrust between the community and police is historic, things have gotten worse since the city created its own towyard a few years back and began collecting impound fees on cars, mostly taken from immigrants ineligible for licenses. In order to impound more automobiles to bail the city out of its financial troubles, officers have resorted to profiling anyone who "looks undocumented," making pretextual stops in order to impound vehicles.

Full report: Colton Immigrant Community Meets PD Chief, Demands Justice by Rockero | En español: Comunidad Inmigrante de Colton Se Reunió con Jefe de Policía para Reclamar Abusos por Rockero

“The lives of Africans and Native Americans have been intricately intertwined for at least 500 years. The relationship has been one of rescue, mutual assistance, and sometimes abuse and strife. . . . “ – The Red-Black Connection by Valena Broussard Dismukes

Dismukes (African, Choctaw, Scottish, Irish, and French) is a retired school teacher, prolific photographer, author, lecturer, and community activist. She recently spoke in Pasadena about various aspects of African-Native Americans, including the 500+-years of shared history by Native Americans and Africans and genealogy.

Audio/photos: A Talk by Valena Broussard Dismukes on African-Native Americans by RP

For the second consecutive year, the Northeast L.A. Radical Neighbors (NELA-Rad) and Converging Storms participated in the annual world-wide 350 demonstration. (Other groups were represented this year as well, including the Montrose Peace Vigil.) However, unlike last year, we organized two events: one on October 2, which coincided with Eagle Rock's annual Music Festival and thus benefited from heavy foot traffic. The second event happened on October 10 in conjunction with the other 350 activities around the world

Story and pictures: So Cal Participates in the 10/10/10 Global Work Party by R of the Northeast L.A. Radical Neighbors

LOS ANGELES, October 3, 2010 – Death penalty opponents held a rally at the Westwood Federal Building this past Tuesday. The rally was called to oppose the threat of renewed executions in the state of California.

About an hour after the rally the news came that a federal judge has blocked the scheduled execution of Albert Brown, saying he needed more time to determine if the state’s new lethal injection procedures are free of pain to the condemned. Then the following day on Wednesday the California Supreme Court also moved to block the execution over the issue of procedure.

There is still a threat of state executions resuming in the near future, as the court rulings are based solely on the procedural methods of execution and not the constitutionality of the death penalty itself. Report with photos: Death Penalty Opponents Rally to Oppose Planned Execution

LOS ANGELES, September 21, 2010 – Manuel Jamines, a Guatemalan migrant, was shot twice in the head on a crowded street by an LAPD officer on September 5th. This past Saturday, a full two weeks after the shooting, the Westlake community continues to protest.

This past Saturday a community march was held, starting at Union and 6th (the site where Manuel was killed) protesters marched to the infamous Rampart Division police station, and then after a rally in front of the station, the march wrapped itself through the neighborhood and back to MacArthur Park. The march was made up of an impressive diverse group of all ages and many ethnicities.

There was apparently some confusion at one point as it seems that a second march was also staged on Saturday. This caused questions and some discussion among people confused about which direction to march for a moment. The outside group went on to march downtown to city hall and the community remained to march through Westlake with a rally ending at MacAthur Park.

Reports on the Westlake community march: Sept. 18, March to Support Manuel Jamines by Anna Kunkin | | PHOTOS: March & Rally: Justice for Manuel Jamines by Jen Kluu | | Manuel Jamines Protest Photos (both factions) Robert Stuart Lowden

Report from the downtown march: RALLY/MARCH FOR JUSTICE FOR MANUEL JAMINEZ by Alliance-Philippines (AJLPP)

Venice, CA – The gentrification of the Los Angeles beach district of Venice has been an ongoing struggle for longtime Venice residents and families for close to fifty years. Much of the initial devastation of lower income and working class communities in Venice occurred in the 1950s and 1960s. The 1970s saw an organized push back by Venice residents but much of the ground gained during that decade was eroded in the 80s and 90s.

Today the struggle to defend the last remaining areas of affordable housing and alternative lifestyle tolerant neighborhoods is exemplified by the work of a small handful of activists who are resisting the police crack down on the un-housed and those living in their cars or motor homes on the streets of Venice. Reports from the Newswire: Venice Homeless Protect LAPD Order to vacate public sidewalk after 9pm, Aug 26, 2010 by Lisa Green | | The Real Stink in Venice by Venice Justice Committee

Recent developments: Bill Rosendahl Helps Homeless Haters Win in Venice by Justice Committee

LOS ANGELES, September 9, 2010 - Manuel Jamines was shot and killed by Rampart police on Sunday, September 5th, 2010. He was a 37 year old indigenous man from Guatemala. Manuel leaves behind a wife and three children in who live in his native Guatemala. Manuel was a day laborer and had been working in Los Angeles for the past 8 years. Manuel was standing on the corner of 6th Street and Union when police were called to the scene. The police claim he had a knife and was threatening a pregnant woman.

What actually transpired next is unclear but many eye witnesses accounts directly contradict the police version of events that lead to Manuel’s death. Police claim that their use of deadly force was justified because Manuel failed to comply with orders to drop the 6 inch knife they claim he was welding. However friends of Manuel say he did not speak English or Spanish and that his native language was of a regional Mayan dialect.

The killing has sparked four days of continuous protests in the streets of Westlake. Protests have gone late into the night and groups of 100’s of outraged local community members have been directly engaging the police, taking and holding street intersections with impromptu blockades and trash fires.

The police response has been one of more violence against the community; beatings with batons, rubber bullets and chemical weapons, (tear gas, pepper spray) have all been deployed on protesters in the last four nights. To date close to 25 arrests have been reported. Two of those arrested are being charged with arson. There are also reports of many injuries from the police violence against the protests.

Reports from the Newswire: Pico Union/Westlake Rebellion after Rampart Police Murder Manuel Jamines - Indigenous Man by Joaquin Cienfuegos | | BREAKING: Street Clashes with Police in Westlake | | Report From The Street | | 9:55 pm - Rampart Firing Rubber Bullets!

During the Vietnam War, the Mexican-American (Chicano) community, realizing that so many youth from that community were being used as canon fodder and were dying at a rate of 3 to 1 Anglo deaths, rose up en masse on August 29, 1970.

Now, 40 years later, the still active Chicano Moratorium Committee, along with the Brown Berets, are keeping that moment alive. The Anniversary March and Rally took place on August 28, 2010 with a march down Whittier Blvd. in East L.A., culminating in a rally at the renamed Salazar Park in memory of the great reporter who has become the roll model for so many.

Today the march commemorates what happened 40 years ago, when the Los Angeles County sheriffs attacked an anti-war protest in the park…. opened fire on the protest with 12 gauge shotguns… killing three activists including a young Brown Beret. Later that day Sheriffs shot and killed Ruben Salazar a Los Angeles Times reporter, as he sat in the Silver Dollar café. The sheriffs shot Salazar with a tear gas gun canister, hitting him in the head.

At this years march people placed heaps of flowers on the sidewalk on Whittier Blvd where the Silver Dollar used to be. Marchers all stopped along the march to pay respects to the reporter assassinated by the Los Angeles County sheriffs department. Report from the newswire: Pics of Chicano Moratorium anti war protest and march by hellokitty siempre | | Past Coverage: 2009 | 2006

Related: Ramsey Muniz: Guilty of Being Latino and Activist in America

HUNTINGTON BEACH, August 16, 2010 - A developer is building a housing complex in Huntington Beach and plans to remove the remains of some 80 Indigenous people.

Bolsa Chica is a significant Southern California Native American Site which dates back about 9,000 years and was once a thriving ceremonial site of the Tongva and Acjachemen Nations. The site is referred to archaeologically as the Cogged Stone site (CA-ORA-83) which once covered over 120 acres of the Bolsa Chica mesa.

Cogged stones are unique to Bolsa Chica. The only other place in the world they have been found is Chile.

Please write letters expressing your concerns or offense to the coastal commission Call to action: Please Stop Removal of Native American Cemetery in Huntington Beach by not necessary | More information: YouTube video

On July 20, 2010 members of Women of Color in the Global Women's Strike, GWS/LA and the weekly vigil for Haiti visited the Bolivian Consulate in L.A. Their concern: Bolivia's ongoing participation in the U.N. force that's been occupying Haiti since the 2004 coup which removed the democratically-elected president Jean-Bertrand Aristide. The recent earthquake has been used as an excuse to further militarize most aspects of Haitian society, say sources on the ground there.

[. . .] Bolivia's participation in the occupation has been contrary to the efforts of President Evo Morales to oppose war and exploitation. Bolivia's own constitution is against war (and thus occupation). The delegation asked why Bolivia, which is fighting for self-determination at home, would want to associate itself with the occupation of a country whose president was removed with the backing of the same foreign power which has been trying to topple President Morales of Bolivia and President Chavez of Venezuela?

Full story: An Appeal to Bolivia: Withdraw from the U.N. Occupying Force in Haiti by Ross Plesset

From Arizona Indymedia - On July 28th at about 10:00 a.m. Federal judge Susan Bolton issued a preliminary injunction against four provisions included in Arizona's anti-immigrant law, SB1070. These provisions include the mandate that law enforcement officers solicit the immigration status of anyone they encounter; the portion that makes failure to carry immigration documents a state crime; the portion that makes it a state crime for undocumented immigrants to perform work in Arizona; and the portion allowing for warrantless arrest of anybody who is suspected of having committed a "deportable offense". Judge Bolton's injunction is only temporary, which means that each of these provisions can still go into effect if the judge decides, after fully hearing the case, that they are acceptable.

Locally demonstrations in solidarity with those in Arizona impacted by the new law were held. One civil disobedience in the mid Wilshire area resulted in 10 arrests. Reports from the Newswire 75-100 Rally Against SB1070 in Pomona by Cameron H. | | Lockdown at Highland and Wilshire

Are you going to Arizona? Are you staying in L.A.?

Dozens of actions are happening this week to protest the implementation of AZ SB1070, the state law that, according to opponents, will violate civil rights and is unconstitutional. The law is presently being challenged by the Federal government, but whether an injunction against the law is passed or not, thousands of people from across the country will converge on Phoenix, AZ, to join in the massive protests already taking place at the state capital.

LA events: Demo at Macarthur Park.

See: Alto Arizona, Southern California Immigration Coalition, The Sound Strike, Interfaith Worker Justice National Weekend of Prayer & Action for Immigrant Justice, Resistance to SB 1070: No Borders, No Papers, No State, El Gran Paro.

The Immigration Coalition may still have seats available on their bus. If you're in a labor union, there's a bus caravan, but it's full LA County Fed. of Labor.

On the 29th, read news and post information to Arizona Indymedia, and promote it on the various social networking sites and in comments.

Hashtags in use are #arizona #sb1070 #1070 #july29 #altoarizona #fucksb1070

Social media pages: Against SB 1070, Repealing 1070, Shame on Arizona, 1 Million Strong, Todos Somos Arizona. SB1070 on Photobucket, SB1070 at Google Video, SB1070 at Flickr, SB 1070 at Wordpress.

Local immigrant rights organizations: CHIRLA, IDEPSCA, MIWON, PWC, Thai CDC, NILC, KIWA, CARECEN, NISN.

Miscellaneous blogs and news sites: ColorLines, Phoenix New Times Blog, Blog for Arizona, AZ Central.

Across America, daily incidents of police brutality and state terrorism occur. One of many the cold-blooded killings occurred January 1, 2009 with the murder of Oscar Grant - unarmed, offering no resistance, thrust face-down on the ground, shot in the back, and killed. The event captured on video by at least four individual cameras.

His killer: Bay Area transit officer, Johannes Mehserle was tried for the killing. The jury was told to consider four possible verdicts: innocent, second-degree murder, voluntary manslaughter, or involuntary manslaughter, jurors decided the latter.

Grant's family will appeal the verdict and is suing the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) for $25 million, his mother Wanda Johnson saying "My son was murdered (and) the law has not held the officer accountable." It rarely does for Black, Latino, or other minorities, no matter the injustice. Civil rights lawyer, John Burris, representing Grant's family in the civil suit, said: "The system is rarely fair when a police officer shoots an African-American male." Full article: Police Brutality in America by Stephen Lendman

Also from the Newswire:Statement on Johannes Mehserle Verdict by LA Coalition for Justice for Oscar Grant | | PHOTOS: Oscar Grant Verdict Reaction Photos by Robert Stuart Lowden | | Los Angeles Solidarity with Oakland: Justice for Oscar Grant After Verdict Rally by LA-IMC | | VIDEO: Rally in support of Oscar Grant day of verdict. by GamepitDee

Related state repression incident: Black Riders Liberation Party Being Raided

COSTA MESA, Monday June 14, 2010 – Recently, the Costa Mesa city council passed an ordinance declaring the city a "Rule of Law" city, a label they use to indicate their status as a city that is hostile to undocumented immigrants, unlike the "Sanctuary Cities" where the paperless can find refuge.

The Costa Mesa community has been battling its city council and its anti-immigrant mayor, Alan Mansoor, for years. Last week, Monday, immigrant rights activists engaged in civil disobedience to shut down a busy intersection for several hours in Costa Mesa. Activists set up a table in the middle of the intersection and chained themselves together around the table. A total of 12 immigrant rights activists were arrested as a result of this action. From the Newswire: The People Against The "Rule of Law" Of Costa Mesa City! Lady Madonna | | VIDEO: Costa Mesa action against the "Rule of Law" by NouvelleMaude

LOS ANGELES, June 14,2010 - Hundreds of people demonstrated outside the Los Angeles Superior Court at 210 W. Temple to demand justice for Oscar Grant on Monday. Angelenos made it very clear that the significance of the trial of Johannes Mehserle is bigger than just Oscar Grant's case, and that police brutality is part of systematic oppression. Connections were drawn between police killings in Los Angeles and the Bay Area, as well as in New York.

From the Newswire: Hundreds Demand Justice for Oscar Grant Outside L.A. Courthouse by ~Bradley | | Justice for Oscar Grant Courthouse Protest by Anna Kunkin | | Mass Rally for Justice for Oscar Grant on June 14th! by LA Coalition for Justice for Oscar Grant

See: IndyBay for back story and more detailed information

SAN DIMAS, California - Jueves, 10 de junio, 2010 - Unas treinta personas, entre ellas electores, activistas por los derechos de los inmigrantes, estudiantes, y miembros de la comunidad, entraron a la oficina del congresista David Dreier para pedir una reunión con él y para preguntarle sobre su postura hacia la reforma migratoria. Cuando su personal no rehusó a recibir la petición, los activistas declararon que no iban a partir hasta que se les concedieran sus demandas. Mantuvieron su presencia en el despacho por alrededor de una hora, y se retiraron después de negociar con oficiales del departamento del alguacil de Los Ángeles. Sit-in at Rep. Dreier's office Protesta en la oficina del congresista Dreier by Rockero