santacruz coalition

A fascinating account of an organization dedicated to promoting peace and justice and ending gang warfare.
This is the compelling story of Barrios Unidos, the Santa Cruz-based organization founded to prevent gang violence amongst inner-city ethnic youth. An evolving grass-roots organization that grew out of the Mexican-American civil rights and anti-war movements of the 1960s and 1970s, Barrios Unidos harnessed the power of culture and spirituality to rescue at-risk young people, provide avenues to quell gang warfare, and offer a promising model for building healthy and vibrant multicultural communities.
Co-founder Daniel “Nane” Alejándrez spent his childhood following the crops from state to state with his family. His earliest recollection of “home” was a tent in a labor camp. Later, he was drafted in to the Army and sent to Vietnam. “Flying bullets, cries of anguish and being surrounded by death have a way of giving fuel to epiphany. This war made as little sense to me as the war raging on the streets of the barrios back home.” He decided that when he returned home, he would dedicate himself to peace. Nane Alejándrez’s story of personal transformation, from heroin-addicted gang banger to social activist and youth advocate, is closely tied to that of Barrios Unidos.
Through interviews, written testimonies, and documents, Frank de Jesús Acosta re-constructs the development of Barrios Unidos—or literally, united neighborhoods—from its early influences and guiding principles to its larger connection to the on-going struggle to achieve civil rights in America. Today, Barrios Unidos chapters exist in several cities around the country, including San Francisco; Venice-Los Angeles; Salinas; San Diego; Washington, DC; Yakima; San Antonio; Phoenix; and Chicago.
With a foreword by Luis Rodríguez, former gang member and author of La Vida Loca: Always Running, the book also includes historical photos and commentaries by leading civil rights activists Harry Belafonte, Dolores Huerta, Tom Hayden, Manuel Pastor, and Constance Rice. Mandatory reading for anyone interested in peace and social justice, The History of Barrios Unidos gives voice to contemporary inter-generational leaders of color and will lead to the continuation of necessary public dialogue about racism, poverty, and violence.
“Barrios Unidos follows in the positive spiritual traditions of Gandhi, Dr. King, César, and Malcolm following his pilgrimage to Mecca. The story and example of Barrios Unidos is an inspiration to everyone in the movement.”—Harry Belafonte
FRANK DE JESUS ACOSTA was born and raised in East Los Angeles. He has worked with a number of non-profit organizations in California, including the United Methodist Social Service Center, Downtown Immigrant Advocates, the Coalition for Humane Immigrants’ Rights of Los Angeles, and the Center for Community Change in Washington, DC. Most recently, he served a five-year tenure as Senior Program Officer directing a California Wellness Foundation grant-making program, the Violence Prevention Initiative. He lives and works in Whittier, California.

For 12 years we’ve run a Peace Camp for one precious week each summer. We picked the first week of August–the anniversary of Hiroshima and Nagasaki–with a purpose, since that’s when many people reflect on the threat of nuclear annihilation.

The camp is supported by Santa Cruz and Watsonville WILPF, as well as the Resource Center for Nonviolence and the Center for Nonviolent Communication.

It is with intention that we choose to work peaceably and for peace in the world. The volunteers who organize the Jane Addams Peace Camp believe that the place to start is with children. We serve 60 children each summer, ages six to 17. Campers come from diverse backgrounds and every corner of Santa Cruz County. We fundraise and provide scholarships for all children who want to participate. Our goal is not to discriminate in any way, including ability to pay. We’ve even traded a sushi meal with a parent for a scholarship.

The generosity of many community members and organizations make scholarships available. We conduct the camp at Orchard School, a private school in Aptos, CA. We also have many artists and community activists who come to camp as guests.

Each year we choose a theme such as “Every Voice Counts” or “Extending Hands” to inspire our curriculum. In January we start looking for counselors, contact the facility we use for the camp and start our letter-writing campaign for donations of money, food, supplies and volunteers. We prepare a brochure promoting the camp. The camp’s mission is to foster an understanding of peace and justice through art, music, drama, games, stories and discussion. The WILPF branches help distribute our brochures and spread the word about the camp.

Two Iraqi labor leaders are featured speakers at a program offering local residents the chance to hear from workers who are struggling to end the occupation, sectarian violence, and the repression of women and working people in Iraq. Hashmeya Muhsin Hussein, the first woman to head a national Iraqi labor union, is President of the Electrical Utility Workers Union, and Faleh Abood Umara is General Secretary of the Southern Oil Company Union.
They will explain why unions oppose the proposed privatization law favored by the Bush administration and oil corporations. They will also address the role of unions in rebuilding Iraq, and the prospects for a stable, democratic, non-sectarian future.
The event is part of a national tour sponsored by U.S. Labor Against the War, United for Peace and Justice, and the American Friends Service Committee. Local sponsors include Central Coast Workers Against War, Monterey Bay Central Labor Council, Resource Center for Nonviolence, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, Santa Cruz Peace Coalition, Families Against War, UC-AFT 2199, UPTE CWA-9119, and the Pajaro Valley Federation of Teachers. The event is endorsed by the Santa Cruz Green Party.
A sliding scale donation is requested—no one turned away.

Dear Progressive Caucus Member:

The undersigned organizations and concerned individuals have worked closely with the Progressive Caucus to prevent and to end the Iraq War. We appreciate your leadership on this issue and your continued efforts to ensure the removal of all U.S. troops from the country. We are also grateful for all that the Caucus, collectively and individually, has already done to speak out against the widening war in Afghanistan, which contradicts both our national security and our national values.

At this critical moment, your continued leadership to help reverse the downward spiral of the security situation in Afghanistan is urgently required. We urge you to oppose the expansion of the war in Afghanistan; require the Obama administration to present and implement an exit strategy; and to press for a greater investment in Afghan-led development efforts and regional diplomacy to stabilize the country.

We also urge you to press for an immediate end to U.S. air raids that continue to kill and maim Afghan civilians and destroy Afghan property. What is euphemistically termed ‘collateral damage’ not only takes civilian lives but also inflames Afghans’ hostility to the U.S. and wins new supporters for the Taliban. According to the UN Assistance Mission, U.S. strikes produced 64% of all civilian deaths caused by the U.S., NATO, and Afghan forces in 2008. Just this week, ‘collateral damage’ from U.S. air strikes took another 100 innocent lives, according to Afghan officials.

Secretary of Defense Gates, Secretary of State Clinton, National Security Advisor Jones, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mullen, and even President Obama himself, have each acknowledged that the internal conflict in Afghanistan cannot finally be won by military means. They have publicly agreed that it will have to be won — if it can — by dramatic improvements in the economy, the political system, government services, and the courts.

The President’s FY 2009 supplemental funding request would clearly widen the war in Afghanistan. We urge Congress to restructure the package to focus funding on the expanded diplomacy, development assistance, and international cooperation that are key to ending these conflicts and promoting a stable peace in the wider region. To defeat the Taliban and stabilize the country, the U.S. must enable the Afghan people to develop public services and an effective justice system essential to create political stability and support for the government; to develop agricultural alternatives to drug crops; and to root out corruption.

Given these objectives, the ratio of military to non-military funding in the Administration’s $83.4 billion supplemental budget makes little sense. More than 90% of the funds allocated for Afghanistan in the supplemental is for an escalation of war-fighting by U.S. military units. It would widen — not wind down — the war there. That contradicts the Administration’s own admission about how the ‘war’ will be won or lost.

President Obama has agreed that the U.S. must convince Afghans we have “no interest or aspiration to be there over the long term.” Yet our troop escalation, increased operational tempo, and expansion of large bases suggests just the opposite.

In light of these concerns, we believe that the Congress should restructure the supplemental spending in several critical ways:

Require the administration to set a date certain for withdrawal.
Prohibit any further Predator and other missile strikes and aerial bombing likely to result in civilian casualties in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Approve the $7.1 billion in funding for the international affairs budget, including: $3.7 billion for humanitarian aid, development initiatives, and diplomatic support in Afghanistan.
Oppose all new funding for combat in Afghanistan and, at a minimum, dramatically change the proportion of funds for war-fighting compared to those for development, stabilization, and diplomatic cooperation.
Now is the time to reverse direction in Afghanistan so that the U.S., as President Obama envisioned, “forge a hard-earned peace” there.

Signed (as of 6:00PM ET, May 11, 2009):

United For Peace and Justice