Ep. 74 - The Collective Freedom Project, Pt. 4: California & #Budget2SaveLives ft. Sandy Valenciano

Bourbon 'n BrownTown

BrownTown listens, learns, and breaks down California's state-wide efforts for a just budget, to resist immigrant detention, and advance alternatives to incarceration, especially on the onset of COVID-19 with Sandy Valenciano. Watch the micro-docs, listen to the series, and take action at CollectiveFreedomProject.org/Multimedia.

Similar to Part Three of the CFP series with Austin, Texas, Sandy debunks the myth of California as progressive bubble it's often painted from the outside. She breaks down some of the socio-political geography of the state and the reasoning behind putting energy into state-wide legislative battles. Her and BrownTown unpack the role electoral organizing plays in budget and decriminalization fights as well as unpack the power of district attorneys. Sandy explains the threat to AB 32 (California's private prison ban) from Biden's DOJ as the group analyzes and uplifts the #DignityNotDetention and #Budget2SaveLives campaigns and what it takes to win a decriminalization agenda.

GUEST
Sandy (she/they) is crimmigration strategist, who organizes at the intersection of criminal justice and immigrant rights with an abolition framework. Sandy is an immigrant from Zacatecas, Mexico, who has spent most of her life in the Bay Area. Sandy graduated from Sonoma State University, where she obtained her Bachelors in Psychology. Sandy led leadership development and campaign strategy while at the California Immigrant Youth Justice Alliance (CIYJA), where she served as the Executive Director. She has organized grassroots efforts to build community defense models to stop the criminalization, detention and deportation of immigrant communities.

THE COLLECTIVE FREEDOM PROJECT
This episode is Part Four in the Collective Freedom Project four-part series with Bourbon 'n BrownTown. The Collective Freedom Project (CFP) is a movement media and resource hub that tells the stories of the local and regional efforts where people — both U.S. citizens and non U.S. citizens — are coming together to fight unique campaigns against criminalization in their communities. From Chicago to California, Atlanta to Texas, activists, organizers, and communities are rising up to fight against criminalization and violence in varied yet connected forms.

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Mentioned in the episode:

• Chicago Votes
• Oakland Police Department re-allocating funds away from police and towards communities over time (1, 2)
• Defund Oakland Police Department - Anti-Police Terror Project (Oakland, CA)
• 2019 Chicago City Council meeting - pastor's speech (starts at 2:24)

Follow the Collective Freedom Project on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

Follow Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC) on their site, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Follow Dignity Not Detention - California on Facebook, Twitter, and read their guide here. Follow Freedom for Immigrants on their site, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter; and the #Budget2SaveLives campaign here.

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CREDITS: Intro/outro music by Genta Tamashiro with excerpts from the California CFP video; outro song California Love by Tupac ft. Dr. Dre. Audio engineered by Genta Tamashiro and Kiera Battles.

This series is sponsored by the Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC) and the Four Freedoms Fund (FFF).

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