Blog

Off of the main yard at Avenal State Prison, fenced off, is their garden – one of the garden sites that the Ella Baker Center had a chance to visit a few months ago to see the Insight Garden Program (IGP) in action.

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There’s something hopeful or resolute about giving life the space to thrive behind prison walls. Prisons are really desolate constructions. The people living and working there are far away, behind metal and stone.

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I wrote a book, WE KEEP US SAFE: Building Secure, Just, and Inclusive Communities, that talks about how we can cultivate public safety and wellness in our neighborhoods.

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Currently, 50,000 Californians on parole cannot vote because of their criminal history. Between 1976 and 2016, the percentage of people barred from voting as a result of felony disenfranchisement laws increased by more than 500%, from 1.17 million to a record 6.1 million.

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As The Alameda County Board of Supervisors convened for their annual October retreat, Ella Baker Center members, advocates and family members who have lost loved ones inside Santa Rita jail marched down the block, repeating calls for a full and transparent audit of the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office (ACSO).

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Community members held a candlelight vigil for Dujuan Armstrong and his family October 2, 2019 at the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights in Oakland.

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After lobbying with our members, allies, advocates and formerly incarcerated Californians at the State Capitol last month, calling our legislators, and sharing stories of the people most impacted by sentence enhancements, the California State Assembly passed SB 136!

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If you follow the Ella Baker Center on social media you may have seen the amazing graphics created by Communications Intern Emma Li.

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On Tuesday August 6, 2019, we brought together over one hundred community members for live music, food, dancing, community building and activism as a part of our seventh annual Night Out for Safety and Liberation.

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On a bright sunny afternoon in June, community members joined staff and supporters of the Ella Baker Center to celebrate our new, permanent home at Restore Oakland.

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This post is a part of our series, Beyond Bars. Beyond Bars blog posts are pieces sent to us from people who are currently incarcerated. These posts are not written by Ella Baker Center staff and we try to keep them in their original form.

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California has one of the highest rates of police violence in the country, and people of color are disproportionately the victims of violence at the hands of law enforcement.

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