GROWING EQUITY MOVEMENT WINS BIG IN CALIFORNIA, POINTS WAY FOR ADVOCATES NATIONWIDE
By Chione Flegal and Marc Philpart
California’s legislative session has come to a close with significant victories for equity. As we pause to celebrate this achievement we thank the thousands of people — racial justice advocates from all walks of life — whose years of organizing led to this moment. Their work — and the resulting victories in California to protect renters, curb police violence, and benefit students — light a path forward for how we as a nation can win on equity.
A series of new laws signed by Governor Gavin Newsom over the last few weeks will help the state to overcome its troubled racist and xenophobic history. While considered by many a progressive beacon for the country, California is also home to some of our country’s most harmful narratives and policies of exclusion. Grassroots leaders and people directly impacted by the injustice of these policies and systems have been harnessing their power to advance their vision of a more just and inclusive California for decades.
California movement leaders are grateful for the spirit of solidarity that drives the actions of advocates throughout the state. We honor them and those across the nation whose efforts are essential to winning on equity. In the spirit of building a national movement, we laud the wins in California to highlight how the equity movement is growing here. We urge others across the nation to share their wins as well far and wide.
In California, recent legislation — led by coalitions that include renters, families suffering from police violence, and students — defeated special interests and raised the moral and political standard for justice in our state.
