As a movie fanatic, I finally encountered a movie — Black Panther — that validates some of my thoughts as a Black individual in the U.S.

The Schools and Local Communities Funding Act of 2018 – a November 2018 ballot initiative will restore over $11 Billion annually to California’s schools, community colleges and local services. “As California leads the resistance, we must also fight proactively for the future we deserve – the best schools, health care for all, safe neighborhoods, justice and opportunity for all Californians.”

The cannabis industry is estimated to reach $20 Billion annually by 2020 — let’s make sure that our Black and Brown communities that were attacked by the war on drugs are the first to benefit from the policy change.

As we turn ten years old in 2018, our staff is expanding. With excitement, we hired a well-seasoned Oakland organizer and relationship builder as our first ever Political Director, Reverend Damita Davis-Howard. Additionally, this past fall we hired Nemo Curiel as Movement Technology Manager and Elly Rhee as Operations and Executive Manager.

Proving that our youth are game changers for a revolution, it was a young Martin Luther King Jr. who started to tackle inequality and demand change. Building on that legacy as Youth Organizer, I’ve been working on expanding the political involvement of millennials of color here in Oakland by registering young voters and educating them on the history of the struggle of our people to gain voting rights and in the importance of exercising this right.

Victory was ours last week as the Peralta College Board of Trustees decided to side with the community and end negotiation talks with the A’s.

Voters of color matter and make the difference, especially in close races, as election results in Alabama reminded us this week. In a state plagued with voter suppression, Black voters overcame disenfranchising barriers and showed up in larger numbers. Similarly, here in Oakland we want to increase civic engagement among our young people of color. Learn about our fall 2017 voter registration campaign, and plans for 2018.

Albuquerque does not look anything like the East Oakland neighborhood in which I grew up, yet the lessons that I learned from touring their International District apply just the same. When you can bring people together who care about their community, change can be accomplished regardless of who is in power.

Speaking with over 2,200 Oakland voters, our latest voter outreach effort shows that 4 in 5 Oaklanders want the A’s to stay at the Coliseum and invest in East Oakland.

Last week Assemblymember Rob Bonta honored Oakland Rising’s Executive Director, Jessamyn Sabbag, with the Local Hero Award, calling her a “true moral compass for Oakland.” A number of Oakland Rising allies also received awards for their work in the social justice movement, too.