On August 29, 1970, thousands of Chicanos marched in Los Angeles to protest and demand an end to the war in Vietnam. It would be the first major upheaval of the Chicano community against U.S. [...] Continue Reading
Economy
Grassroots: Profiles of Local Activist Leaders
My colleagues on the Community Alliance Editorial Board said, “Interview Cindy Quiralte; you’ll be impressed.” I had never heard of her, but I said okay, and she said okay—and guess what—I’m [...] Continue Reading
Walmart Expanding at Our Expense
“If I think too much about all of those Chinese factories where all the stuff in a Wal-Mart is made, I get that woozy feeling you get when you see ducks covered in crude oil.” —Douglas [...] Continue Reading
A Fair Farm Bill = Job Creation, Infrastructure and Family Farms
The sun is finally out, heating up the fields and bringing much need nourishment to the abundance of Mediterranean crops that grow here in the Central Valley. Politics are heating up too: The federal [...] Continue Reading
California Banks Take $21 Million from Welfare Families Yearly
(Author’s note: Thanks to the Coalition of California Welfare Rights Organization (CCWRO); Jessica Barthalow, Western Center on Law and Poverty (WCLP); Lydia Velasco, Central California Legal Services [...] Continue Reading
Homeless Evicted With No Place To Go
By Serena Cervantes James Walsh (not his real name), a 38-year-old parolee with gray peppered black hair and a calm demeanor, smokes a “roly” cigarette outside the window of his second-story [...] Continue Reading
Proposed Ballot Propositions
The following propositions (summarized herein) have been cleared by the Attorney General’s office for signature gathering. Many of these would be disastrous for our state. Read and review the complete [...] Continue Reading
Dictatorship by Corporations in Benton Harbor, Michigan
On May 23, 2011, I had the privilege of interviewing the Reverend Edward Pinkney and his wife Dorothy in Chicago. Rev. Pinkney has gained national recognition for his leadership in galvanizing [...] Continue Reading
Opinion and Analysis from the Grassroots
Freedom and the 4th of July By Leonard Adame On this 4th of July, hot dogs will blacken on a grill sending smoke signals to people with beers stuck in their hands. A few Americans will invoke, as [...] Continue Reading
Letters to the Editor
Was it Worth It? Bin Laden is dead. Saddam is dead. Our invasions have caused tens of thousands of deaths and trillions of dollars to get rid of these two bad guys. 9/11 is avenged. Yay, U.S.A. Was it [...] Continue Reading
California Budget Crisis
(Note: The data herein were taken from a number of public sources. Not all of these sources were in agreement on the specific cuts or the precise amounts of those cuts, but there is general agreement [...] Continue Reading
Crossroads with Carla
Life is a journey that has the power to take us places we may never expect to end up. Many people may take a look at homelessness and conclude it to be one of life’s issues that they will never have [...] Continue Reading