SJA Campaigns 2020-2021 Justice for Steven Taylor SJA March Out for Mental Health: Remembering Steven Taylor on March 18, 2021 The video below is the recorded live stream of the March Out for Mental Health: Remembering Steven Taylor event. It was a virtual action organized by the students of SJA, where they encouraged students and teacher allies to virtually walk out of their Zoom classes and walk into a virtual town hall on Zoom that was live-streamed on the SJA Youtube channel. Community members and supporters also joined the virtual town hall. This was in coordination with and in support of Justice 4 Steven Taylor. SJA Student Demands OUR DEMANDS TO THE CITY OF SAN LEANDRO AND SAN LEANDRO UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT 1. ADVOCATE FOR THE CONVICTION OF OFFICER FLETCHER. 2. FIRE OFFICER OVERTON. 3. DIVEST FROM SLPD, REINVEST IN PROGRAMS, POLICIES, AND SERVICES FOR THE PEOPLE. 4. INVEST IN MENTAL HEALTH RESPONSE AND SUPPORT PROGRAMS IN THE COMMUNITY AND IN SL SCHOOLS. 5. ESTABLISH A POLICE OVERSIGHT COMMISSION. 6. COMMIT TO AND FOLLOW THROUGH WITH ANTI RACIST CURRICULUM, POLICIES, AND PROCEDURES IN SL SCHOOLS. 7. LISTEN TO BIPOC YOUTH, FAMILIES, AND COMMUNITY MEMBERS. 8. REIMAGINE SAN LEANDRO AND SAN LEANDRO SCHOOLS. CHALLENGE AND DISRUPT CAPITALISM, WHITE SUPREMACY, CISHETEROPATRIARCHY, ABLEISM, AND XENOPHOBIA. 9. FIGHT FOR JUSTICE. 10. STAND WITH THE COMMUNITY. SJA and Justice 4 Steven Taylor Campaign Watch the video below to see how SJA has worked in transformative solidarity with Addie Kitchen (Steven Taylor's Grandmother) and community members in the Justice 4 Steven Taylor organizing group, from vigils to city council meetings to letter-writing campaigns to marches to car caravans, there have been victories and disappointments along the way, but the fight for justice continues!  Class of 2020 Campaign & Quest Projects Justice for Steven Taylor and Black Lives Matter Campaign and Actions  SJA Senior Campaign: Think Outside the Bombs SJA Supports Yes on Measure N Campaign for SLUSD Schools Class of 2019 Campaign & Quest Projects Campaign #NoMore, Rest in Power Mariah Davis Campaign Addressing Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault, Rape Culture, and Toxic Masculinity The SJA class of 2019, seniors ran a campaign in memory of Mariah Davis and Mryna Umanzor, and all victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, rape culture, and toxic masculinity.   Quest Projects SJA Supports Measure I Students in SJA went precinct walking in support of Measure I, a bond measure that will bring much needed funding into SLUSD schools.  From Sundown to Safe Town Campaign: Make San Leandro a Sanctuary City! Make San Leandro Unified School District a Sanctuary District! The scholars of the Social Justice Academy participated in a successful campaign alongside community members and organizations and allies that made all schools in the San Leandro Unified School District "safe havens" and San Leandro a sanctuary city. Educate to Liberate, Know Your Vote Campaign by the Senior Class of 2017 The seniors led the academy in educating the campus and wider community about the election. They focused most of their attention on getting Measure J1 and Proposition 55 passed. They were a big part of the passage of Measure J1 in San Leandro that would fund much needed repairs in our school district, most especially, the elementary schools, where some of the facilities are over 100 years old with basic structural and electrical problems. The youth tabled, phone banked, went precinct walking, and held rallies on a near daily basis for this campaign! Their efforts were not in vain! Senior Quest Projects In their 3rd year of the program, SJA seniors engage in a year long independent project called Quest. Essentially, it is a mini campaign where they seek to answer their proposed essential question by engaging in research, inquiry, cultural work, outreach, direct experience, networking, and so forth. Feel free to see their projects by clicking on the following links to their websites that documented their projects. Past SJA Campaigns 2010: Pass AB 540! This campaign was in support of Assembly Bill 540 that would place an extraction fee on oil corporations in California. The money would then be used to alleviate the budget cuts in California public schools. The Class of 2010 with the help of the other SJA students, collected over four thousand petition cards, registered over one hundred people to vote, ran workshops, invited Assembly Member Alberto Torrico to speak, and so forth as part of the campaign. 2011: We are not your toy soldiers! This campaign sought to decrease military recruitment on campus and educated youth and adults about the effects of war. The SJA class of 2011, along with the other two SJA classes, brought in Iraq Veterans Against War (IVAW) and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to speak to students, facilitated workshops, collected opt out forms, participated in the Ethnic Studies Conference, and ran a mock funeral illustrating the impact of war. 2012: Reclaim Our Education! Monday, March 12, 2012 RECLAIMING OUR EDUCATION Students Hunger Strike to Stop the Cuts! SAN LEANDRO, CA— The senior class of the Social Justice Academy (SJA) in San Leandro High School (SLHS) have been organizing the Reclaim Our Education campaign to address the budget cuts to education in the San Leandro Unified School District (SLUSD). After weeks of teach ins, informational meetings, outreach, and a demonstration in front of their school, the students of the academy were able to organize and mobilize 200 students to the capitol for the state-wide rally and march for education on Monday, March 5th. The students of SJA hoped to draw attention to Jerry Brown’s inadequate budget proposal and pressure congress to author a bill that places an extraction tax on California oil companies, which can potentially refund public education. They were one of the only high schools to have attended amongst the thousands of college students present. This is due to the fact that the students of SLUSD have been and will continue to suffer from the underfunding of California public schools. The youth of SJA have also made valiant attempts to pack the last two SLUSD school board meetings with students, parents, and teachers. They made passionate pleas to the school board begging them to utilize the district’s rainy day funds to mitigate the effects of the devastating cuts that they outlined. These cuts include massive layoffs to staff such as counselors, elementary specialists, and librarians and cuts to sports, music, and art across all levels. This has created tremendous uproar in the school and community. “I worry not only about my wanting to pursue higher education, but the state of k-12 education in California. I refuse to sit back and watch our teachers get laid off, programs like music and sports be cut, and for class sizes to reach these unbelievable numbers, we can’t survive these cuts“ said SJA senior Yusra Oweis. On March 6th, three academy students, Veronica Mandujano (18), Kayla Ely (17), and Anai Rosales (18), all graduating seniors, started a hunger strike in response to the district’s refusal to dip into the reserve money. Mandujano announced at the board meeting, “Hopefully, I draw to your attention, just like my body cannot function on the bare minimum, neither can the student body." The hunger strike was not an activity planned within the campaign, and the students were not encouraged or coerced into this huge undertaking. However, the academy as a whole supports and respects the students’ courage and sacrifice and would like to see the strike end sooner than later. Despite pleas from academy teachers and their parents to reconsider or modify the strike, Mandujano, Ely, and Rosales have chosen to participate and are now in day six of the strike. Ely also stated that, “I will be starving myself in solidarity with all of the schools in California starving for funding.” SJA has planned a demonstration afterschool at 3:00pm on Thursday the 15th in front of the school to address the cuts and the ongoing strike. WHAT: Reclaiming Our Education Youth Demonstration & Action lead by SJA WHEN: Thursday, March 15, 2012 at 3:00pm WHERE: San Leandro High School Press Start of the Hunger Strike, KTVU 2013: Restrict the Drones! Excerpt from student petition: What are drones? Drones are aircrafts without a human pilot aboard, primarily used for surveillance or mission specific duties such as: finding a missing person, detecting wildfires, searching for suspects, etc. Many times, drones are also called UAVs, or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles. Drones come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, configurations, and characters. What do we want? We, the students of the Social Justice Academy, are taking action against the use of drones in the city of San Leandro. We plan on setting a limit to the usage of drones and implementing specific guidelines for what drones can, and cannot do. We want to solidify the fact that the rights of San Leandro residents will not be violated, as a trade off for public safety. Our goals:
The SJA class of 2012 authored and presented the following resolution at a San Leandro City Council Meeting (click on the picture below to access the full resolution): 2014: We want ethnic studies! This campaign sought to bring back Ethnic Studies to SLHS and revitalize it. Some of the goals included: educating students on what Ethnic Studies is, making it a graduation requirement, and hiring a new teacher with a strong background in Ethnic Studies to teach the classes. This campaign ran into many bumps, and unfortunately, Ethnic Studies sign ups on campus remain low and a teacher ready and willing to teach the course has not been hired. 2015: Local and National Police Accountability Peace in the Streets, March 12, 2015   Thanks, But No Tanks Demonstration, February 2, 2015: A demonstration against the militarization of the San Leandro Police Department. The SLPD purchased a BearCat vehicle. Black Lives Matter March to City Hall, December 16, 2014 Jennifer Torres commanded the crowd during the 4 minute die in honoring Michael Brown. Campaign Development Resources for Educators SJA Campaign Development Packet http://tinyurl.com/SJACampaignDevPacket School of Unity of Liberation (SOUL) http://www.schoolofunityandliberation.org Doing Democracy! |
