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JUST NEWS 4 FAMILIES
An E-Publication by Coleman Advocates for Children & Youth
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in this first issue!
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take action for kids
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member spotlight
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"At Coleman, I learned that things aren’t going to change for the better unless someone does something about it. Sometimes you got to be that person." --Anthony, Balboa High Class of 2009, YMAC youth leader & incoming freshman at Cal State University, Fullerton. |
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Coleman Families Win Historic Victory for SF Schools & Racial Equity: School Board Says Yes to College & Career For All |
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| On Tuesday, May 26, low income and working class families of color packed the San Francisco School Board meeting with a powerful message of hope, opportunity, and justice: we have the right to a secure future in our own city. To get a good job here, we know we need a high quality education that prepares us for college, career, or union trade - not poverty or prison.
After a year of campaign research, organizing with thousands of families across the city, mobilizing hundreds of parent and youth members, and collecting 3,000 postcards in just six weeks, our idea that a college and career path should be for everyone, not just a select few, became school district policy. This sets the stage for a systemic change in our public schools that could dramatically improve the lives of tens of thousands of students of color over the next few years. This new school board policy might be one of the most important steps toward racial equity in a generation. Coleman members and staff will have to stay on top of the district for years to come. Monitoring the implementation of this new "A thru G Policy" will be intense, to ensure that students get the resources they need to succeed with the new, higher expectations. But the work is long overdue. For too long our public schools have institutionalized low expectations for Black, Latino and Pacific Islander students, and high expectations for most white and Asian students - and the result is high drop-out rates instead of high college-attendance rates for thousands of young people. But all students have a right to the rigorous, quality coursework that they need to succeed in the 21st century economy. Join our work to make San Francisco public schools a vehicle of economic opportunity, racial justice and democracy. Email Pecolia at pmanigo@colemanadvocates.org to get involved. For a fact sheet on the A-G Policy, check out our website at www.colemanadvocates.org. For more information click here to read the SF Examiner Article and to check out photos from this historic night, find us on Facebook, under Coleman Advocates! |
“I was so worried they weren’t going to pass it…but they did! People may stereotype us but we all have the right to go to college, and that’s why we need A thru G!" -Fa, a Pacific Islander Thurgood Marshall HS Student from Hunters Point 
Photo Caption: SF School Board Commissioner Norman Yee and the next generation of San Francisco at the 'A-G for All" Rally
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| Coleman supporters, youth and parent members, and funder allies raised over $21,000 for the Mothers for the Next Generation' Spring Fundraising Drive in three months during the Mother's Day Season. We received eight times the number of donations compared to last year's campaign and raised five times the amount of individual donations compared to last year's spring drive. Many supporters also honored special moms for Mother's Day - reminding us that mothers truly are our greatest inspiration to keep fighting for a more peaceful and just world for our children.
Coleman donors honored the following mothers: Joyce Shortt, Ayoka Turner, NTanya Lee, Rosario Ramirez, Pecolia Manigo, Audrey Ingalls, Rebecca Gonzales, Catherine Chung, Sandra Fewer, Elaine Bachrach, Patt Rodgers, Colette Ament, Maury Polk, Leonicia Sebastian, Susan Speyer-Boilard, Eleanor Hammer, Laura Lanzerotti, Lolita Obmerga, Cathy Dow, Kaaren Alvarado, Megan Matteoni, Sue Sohn, Jumoke Hinton Hodge, Victoria Lingbanan, Betty Alberts, Huli Milanese, Olga Padilla, In Memory of the mother of Terry Koch, In Memory of Etta Biblowitz, In Memory of Beatrice Gendel, In Memory of Margaret "Peggy" Roche and In Memory of Louise Lee. This campaign demonstrates that Coleman Advocates is going to weather the recession through the strength of the support of people who believe in our work to make San Francisco a city of justice, hope, and opportunity for all children. There is still time to support Coleman and it's easy! Click here and make an online donation today. |
Photo Caption: Coleman's unique and effective brand of leadership development provides Mothers, public school parents, and guardians the skills and support to lead city-wide campaigns that will secure a future for all children in San Francisco.
Photo Caption: Everyone is a fundraiser! Coleman intern Taiwo makes a sale at a Coleman community event.
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SF National Lawyer's Guild Honors Board Member Stephen Bingham |
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On April 18th in Downtown Oakland over 400 people attended the SF National Lawyer's Guild Dinner and our very own, Stephen Bingham was honored with the 2009 Champion of Justice Award. Stephen Bingham is a legendary legal services attorney with a remarkable 4 decade-long track record as a champion of poor people. After work in Mississippi in the 1960's doing voter registration work, he became a legal services lawyer in 1969 but had to flee from politically motivated criminal charges. He was finally acquitted in 1986 and returned to legal services work at Bay Area Legal Aid, where for 19 years he has represented people with disabilities, welfare recipients, domestic violence survivors, and homeless people. He founded and directs the Legal Barriers to Employment Project that helps people on welfare overcome legal barriers to getting a job. He also has been a member of Coleman's Board of Directors for over 7 years and remains committed to the plight of low income communities and the movement for equity and social justice. For more info about Stephen Bingham's remarkable achievements click here. |
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*459 Vienna Street, San Francisco, CA 94112 *www.colemanadvocates.org *info@colemanadvocates.org *(415) 239-0161 *(415) 239-0584 fax