American Civil Liberties Union

Jun 8 2011

American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California

LOS ANGELES, Calif.—A coalition representing homeless veterans sued the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs today, alleging the federal agency failed to provide stable housing at its West Los Angeles facility for vets suffering from mental disorders.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California filed the proposed class-action lawsuit in U.S. District Court in downtown Los Angeles on behalf of four homeless veterans, the Vietnam Veterans of America and Carolina Winston Barrie, a descendant of one of the property’s original owners.

Lisa Olivia Fitch  |   OW Contributor
Mar 24 2011

Author contends legal system is most pressing racial issue

We’ve all heard the sad statistics before and wondered about the future of our community; with so many men and women incarcerated. For years, conspiracy theorists have pointed to the same statistics and claimed that people of color are purposefully targeted and how the prison system is akin to the old Jim Crow system.

“For a long time I resisted the comparison,” author Michelle Alexander said. “I thought people who made those kinds of claims were doing more harm than good. 

Feb 23 2011

ACLU and the Council on American-Islamic Relations

LOS ANGELES, Calif.—A suit filed by the ACLU and the Council on American-Islamic Relations accuses the FBI of violating the 1st Amendment rights of hundreds of Muslims by using a paid informant to monitor several Southern California mosques.

The mosques were targeted based solely on religious grounds, according to the suit, which was filed in federal court Tuesday on behalf of three Muslims and seeks damages, class-action status and the destruction of all materials collected by an FBI informant.

Gregg Reese  |   OW Staff Writer
Dec 9 2010

Echoes federal concerns

“LAPD presently engages in no systematic, proactive effort to identify whether biased policing is a problem or to identify and correct the behavior of individual officers who show significant racial disparities in their stops and post-stop actions.” —Jessica Price, on behalf of the ACLU of Southern California

Apr 16 2009

African American barbers decry racially targeted police raids

Moreno Valley, CA -- Several African American barbershop owners recently expressed their outrage over a string of racially targeted raids that occurred at their places of business on April 2, 2008 by Moreno Valley Police.

Barbers Kevon Gordon, Ronald Jones and Raymond Barnes held a press conference on April 8 with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Seyfarth Shaw LLP law firm. The barbers have filed a lawsuit in United States District Court.

Across Black America

Here’s a look at African American people and issues making headlines throughout the country.

California
San Diego college students and volunteers will carry out their sixth home restoration project on Wednesday, July 10 through Sunday, July 14. as part of the “Healing our Heroes’ Homes” (H3) program created by the nonprofit Embrace. The five-day effort will take place at the home of medically retired Marine Corps Capt. Sarah Bettencourt. Bettencourt served with many different units across the country during the Global War on Terrorism and developed a rare neurological disorder in 2008. With a focus to restore the homes of disabled veteran homeowners, H3 falls in line with Embrace’s mission to mobilize college-student volunteers and community members to serve less fortunate members of civilian and veteran communities. The project for the Bettencourts’ home includes kitchen and bathroom remodeling, building ADA-compliant disability ramps, widening their driveway to ADA standards, widening doorways and landscaping.
 
District of Columbia
The 2013 Smithsonian Folklife Festival will showcase its five-year community research project on African American identity with the program “The Will to Adorn: African American Diversity, Style, and Identity.” This multicity collaboration examines the history and culture of the aesthetics of African Americans. The festival will be held June 26-30 and July 3-7, outdoors on the National Mall between Seventh and 14th streets. “Whether we realize it or not, we are all dress artists. The way we compose our look is a creative expression of our ideas about who we are and who we aspire to be,” said Diana N’Diaye, program curator. “This program explores the diversity of African American traditions of style, but also teaches young people the importance of documenting their own culture and saving that information for themselves and future generations.”