Dear Friends and Supporters,
First, thank you for your support of the Social Justice Learning Institute. Without you, we could not have done the much-needed social and racial justice work, could not have reached more than 2,000 youth through our educational programs, supported communities of color through our HEAL classes and policy and advocacy work, or expanded to serve new communities.
During this unprecedented pandemic, we have truly grown together as a community to help and support one another. As we move into our second decade, I am moved by our progress and the lives we impacted.
After 14 years of leadership, I will be transitioning out of my Executive Director and Founder role on December 14 and into a new role as the Executive Director of Racial Equity for Los Angeles County.
This new position will allow me to continue to do the racial justice and equity work I have dedicated my life to. SJLI will always be a part of who I am and I’m certain that it will continue to thrive and build the next generation of leaders.
Although I will miss the team and community members who, together, have helped build SJLI into the organization it is today, I know that I am leaving the organization in fantastic hands.
Derek Steele, Associate Director of Operations and Finance, will lead the organization moving forward and serve as interim Executive Director.
Derek has been with the organization for over 10 years and has been instrumental to its success thus far.
As a co-creator of SJLI’s Health Equity programs area, one of his many accomplishments was leading the team that implemented SJLI’s “100 Seeds of Change”, which created opportunities to transform health in the built environment and improve health outcomes within our community.
Angela Johnson Peters, Associate Director of Programs and Development, will support Derek as the Transition Action Team’s co-lead.
Angela has been instrumental in overseeing our Urban Scholars school site expansion, including our Houston site.
Their leadership, along with the support of the Board Chair and Co-Founder Dr. Omai Garner, will help make this transition period as seamless as possible.
They are true believers in what we’ve built over the years and have a clear vision for how much more we can still achieve.
Additionally, we hired The Hawkins Company, a national executive search firm, to find the next leader who will help guide the organization to even greater success and embrace our core values. We have also retained Paul C. Hudson to work with the Board on strategic direction, a communications/PR team, and Clark Souers from Expert Effect.
Thanks to your support, the organization is in a strong position to sustain and grow our programming, which means improved outcomes in our community and reaching more community members.
I look forward to our continued work together as fellow supporters. I can’t wait to see what our future holds.
With gratitude,
Dr. D’Artagnan Scorza
Executive Director and Founder
SJLI and Urban Scholar/BLOOMer Sean Jones Demand Justice for His Brother Dijon KizzeeOn Monday afternoon, August 31st, Dijon Kizzee, a 29-year-old Black man, was stopped by two deputies from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department while riding his bicycle.
Shortly after 3 p.m., Dijon was brutally fired upon on the 1200 block of West 109th Place. A burst of blazing gunshots was discharged by deputies.
Video footage shows him running away from the officers before he was struck down. Eyewitnesses report that there was no attempt at de-escalation by the officers and that Dijon had his hands up in a non-threatening posture before he ran away from them, terrified for his life.
He was reportedly shot 15 times in the back.
Before nightfall, our community was saying his name, demanding justice and declaring that his Black life mattered — adding another hashtag to an ever-growing list of lives stolen by law enforcement.
Dijon’s brother, Sean, a recent graduate from our Urban Scholars program and a Brothers, Sons, Selves Youth Leader, has dedicated more than four years to organizing advocacy campaigns and pushing for criminal justice reform while fighting to transform communities facing injustice.
He knew that what happened to so many others — Trayvon Martin, Ahmaud Arbery, Tony McDade, Atatiana Jefferson, Breonna Taylor and countless others — could happen to him and his big brother. It’s why he became a youth justice leader here at SJLI and began organizing in our community.
“I just want justice,” Sean cried.
Dijon Kizzee (Photo Credit: Family/Go Fund Me)
Loved ones of Dijon remember him as a family-oriented man, a loving son who took great care of his mother until her untimely death in 2011 due to health complications. His grandmother, Etta Clark, remembers that he was a kind, loving and respectful person who often checked in on her.
Since the death of his mother, Dijon struggled emotionally with navigating life without her, but he strove for self-improvement nonetheless.
Even though he had his own car, which he would often generously lend to family and friends, Dijon was a fervent enthusiast of bike riding. He loved it. He often engaged in this climate-friendly activity despite the hazardous conditions of South Central’s streets and sidewalks.
Community bike riding groups like Black Kids on Bikes (BkoB) and the Real Rydaz have long advocated for improved biking conditions throughout South Central.
In the area where Dijon was apprehended, Black cyclists have to be vigilantly wary of the dual hazards of both the underdeveloped biking infrastructure and the unjust realities of “Biking while Black.”
While LA County Sheriffs and the LAPD have not released statistics on bicycle stops, available data from Oakland, New Orleans, Washington D.C., Chicago and Tampa all reveal that Black cyclists across the nation are stopped, harassed and searched by law enforcement at disproportionately high rates compared to White cyclists.
Moreover, the available data on pretextual motor vehicle stops in LA reveal that Black drivers and passengers are four times more likely to be stopped, searched, and harassed by police despite the fact that White drivers and passengers are more likely to be found with illegal contraband.
With an ensuing federal investigation on the reports of abuse and misconduct enacted by deputy gangs and secret societies within the LA County Sheriff’s Department, we know that anti-Black racism permeates in policing both as an institutional practice and through the clandestine operations of these deputy gangs.
For decades, LA deputies have harmed and terrorized our communities, committed numerous civil rights violations, and they have stolen hundreds of lives away from their families. For many families in our communities, the LA County Sheriff’s Department needs to be held accountable and answer for the shooting of Black people.
Given these disturbing trends in policing, SJLI rejects the pretextual context upon which deputies claimed to stop Dijon in an attempt to justify their trivial harassment, pursuit and killing of another Black man. We call upon the Attorney General of California, Xavier Becerra to prosecute these deputies and to bring accountability to the LA County Sheriff’s Department.
While we grieve with Dijon’s brother Sean, we’re also fighting alongside him by reinforcing our stance against police violence and demanding that the officers involved in the shooting be held accountable.
We will continue to bring together leaders and allies to elevate Sean’s voice and by pooling together our resources in support of his family.
We ask that you stand in solidarity with us and commit funds to help Sean’s family cover the funeral, burial and memorial services for Dijon.
Go Fund Me: Justice for Dijon Kizzee
SJLI Launches the Youth Justice Fellowship in the Wake of George Floyd’s MurderLike many of you, we are still reeling from the murder of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Atatiana Jefferson, Ahmaud Arbery and countless other African-Americans in this country.
Contemporary police killings of unarmed black citizens in our nation illustrate the legacy of racial terrorism and inequality inflicted upon Black people for centuries.
While these devastating incidents are not isolated, there’s something unique about what’s happening at this moment. The pandemic, where African-Americans are being disproportionately affected, coupled with these injustices, has laid bare the social inequities we face. They also bring to light the violation of the social contract between the community and police, which is to “protect and serve”.
From the 1965 Watts uprising to the 1992 Los Angeles revolts to today, there have always been calls for restraint but few actions taken towards real change.
The challenge, as we see it, is that when Black folk seek freedom and equality, we are met with physical or political violence. Throughout history, there are many examples of when people of color start to make gains economically, power and privilege seek to subjugate us and subdue our progress.
From the dismantling of the Freedmen’s Bureau seven years after the end of the Civil War to the Tulsa race massacre in 1921, through the creation of the federal New Deal programs, the 1994 Crime Bill and COVID-19 today, America had an opportunity to do something different. Instead, the country put policies in place that set us back and exacerbated inequality.
The time has come for us to learn from history and do things the right way.
Many of us in the movement for justice have spent over a decade calling for change. We have said, “we need transformation”, “reform the system”, “we need review boards”, “get rid of the bad apples”, and yet change has not come.
After the recent deaths of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and Atatiana Jefferson, our youth began working on a video to capture their feelings and ideas around the continual murders of Black people. Before we could get it out, George’s death stunned the world and we had to revisit the footage from an even wider lens.
Still, we knew this would not suffice.
As a youth-serving organization, we then moved to assemble nearly 60 of our youth to discuss what this moment means to them and what we need to do in order to never return to the ways of old.
We found our youth leaders calling for Bold Solutions and Courageous Leadership. They are saying:
But even more, they are seeking basic human rights.
We heard them and are acting!
SJLI is proud to announce that we’ve decided to launch the Youth Justice Fellowship, an initiative to train our youth to be rapid responders to issues where justice is needed. These Fellows will focus on dismantling institutional racism and fighting against racial injustice at the local, state and national levels.
Youth leaders will take on justice reform, public safety, incarceration and economic justice. Additionally, they will push for voter registration and turnout to create systematic change.
While this work for us is not new—youth leaders like LeQuan Muhammad have been instrumental in changing California’s justice system—we knew it was important to elevate the voice of our youth in this moment and give them an avenue to transform lives using the momentum of this new movement.
America must boldly affirm that Black lives matter and in doing so put a knee in the neck of police brutality, systemic and institutionalized racism. We must act swiftly with courageous leadership to ensure that police brutality dies, not us.
To join the fight for justice and to support young people on the front lines, become an ally. When you donate, you become more than a donor, you become a justice warrior.
Census 2020The U.S. Constitution mandates that our country counts its population once every ten years—citizens and noncitizens, newborns and seniors, documented and undocumented, and homeowners, renters, and homeless persons. It was included to ensure that everyone is equally represented in our political system and government resources are allocated fairly.
By taking just ten minutes out of your schedule, you can have a voice in directing where we build new homes, schools, parks, new clinics and new roads as well as what services are needed for our families and community members. That is why SJLI is doing our part to ensure that all residents in our community are accounted for.
The 2020 Census is free and your information will remain secure and confidential. Help make our community even stronger by taking the 2020 Census today.
For Census assistance or questions, please contact Policy and Advocacy Director, Jelani Hendrix at (323) 952-7362 ext. 705 or jhendrix@sjli.org.
Our thoughts are with you and your loved ones during these uncertain and challenging times. Now more than ever, we can appreciate the importance of coming together and supporting each other as a community.
While it is certainly challenging to navigate the unknown, we continue to better understand how to slow the spread of COVID-19 while adapting to provide our much-needed services and resources. Our current situation has challenged us to be more thoughtful and innovative in our approaches to maintaining service continuity to our students, families, and community members.
While we “shelter in place”, home school our children, and conduct work virtually, SJLI is committed to producing and delivering our high quality of programs and services. We are continuing to update our website with helpful information and resources so please continue to check this website regularly. Most assuredly we are confident that together we will get through this difficult time. Below are details of our continuing programming.
In lieu of delivering our Urban Scholars Program at school sites, we have adapted a virtual learning environment through TalentLMS, an online learning management system. This enables us to provide the following services:
In an effort to make sure the basic needs of our students and residents are met, we have streamlined food distribution in partnership with Food Forward. SJLI is facilitating the collection and distribution of food to agency providers and families reaching hundreds of families each week. Our mobile distribution includes:
SJLI is continuing our advocacy at the highest level to ensure equitable solutions statewide. We will continue to diligently catalogue pertinent information and communicate concerns reported by our community members.
As the COVID-19 situation changes, our plans may too. In the meantime, staying connected to others is more important than ever, even when we can’t be together in person. We will continue to reach out through our digital channels to try to put a smile on your face or teach you something new while we’re all dealing with this new normal. We will get through this together! This is a very fluid situation and I thank you for your patience and flexibility.
In Solidarity,
D’Artagnan Scorza
Executive Director
Urban Scholar’s Journey to GhanaOver the Winter holiday break, the Social Justice Learning Institute traveled to Ghana with a group of 12 Urban Scholars youth and alumni. It was the second cohort of Urban Scholars that SJLI has taken to Africa. In 2018, SJLI’s Urban Scholars and alumni traveled to Ethiopia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe in what our students described as, “a life-changing experience”.
From December 26th to January 6th, the group experienced Ghana through The Year of Return, an initiative from the government of Ghana to unite Africans with African Americans and to celebrate the resilience of the African spirit and culture. They participated in a tour of Accra City, attended the Afrochella Music Festival, received traditional drumming lessons at the Accra Arts Center, and visited the slave dungeons in Jamestown.
This yearly trip to Africa expands upon the identity enhancing opportunities offered by the Urban Scholars program. Throughout the year, the Urban Scholars curriculum covers a variety of topics including Black male identity, Black history, and the African diaspora, in addition to developing leadership and community based research skills.
The purpose of our journeys to Africa is for students to connect with their roots and develop a deeper sense of self. Executive Director, D’Artagnan Scorza shares his intent for the trip as “a right of passage, so that [the students] could connect to a history that would wake them up and help them see that they are greater than what they have been defined by this society.” D’Artagnan shared that the idea for the trip came from the beginning of the Urban Scholars program, “I saw their faces light up when learning about their own history. I made them a promise that one day we’d go to visit the land from which we came.”
Students returned from the trip recognizing their privileges and abilities to make a difference. Other students also expressed their desires to one day return to Africa to live there and start a business. Jonathon from Compton Continuation High School stated, “This trip really changed me in the sense of now seeing my privilege as an American. I see my opportunity for sure and I plan to use my opportunity to change the world for the better.”
Many students had never surfed before but said that this was the most memorable part of their trip.
SJLI Health Equity Manager Collaborates on Leadership Development Program
Nicole Steele is the Health Equity Programs Manager at the Social Justice Learning Institute. Here’s her experience collaborating on the Food Leaders Lab.
What is the Food Leaders Lab?
The Food Leaders Lab is a 10 week leadership development program that empowers participants to get involved in creating equity around food access and food justice. They learn about the history of food movements, the current food environment, as well as how policy works and how policy is changed. They then have group projects where they work on current policy issues and present their plan of action. It’s really focused on building leadership around policy, advocacy and community engagement and organizing.
How did you get involved with the Food Leaders Lab?
The LA Food Policy Council piloted the program last year and as they developed it they invited various community organizations to be a part of helping develop curriculum and designing the program. SJLI also selected 2 participants to be Food Leaders. I was invited to participate and then asked to be a guest speaker as well. I was happy and honored to be invited back this year.
What elements did you feel were most important to include in the curriculum?
The curriculum was already going to cover all the “big” stuff; history, food justice in it current state, institutionalized racism and classism, what you can do to help change these things, etc. Personally, I wanted to make sure participants didn’t take on a sense of hopelessness because the system is so big and expansive. My contribution, hopefully, helped them keep an urgency around taking care of themselves as they venture into systems change and organizing. I want the Leaders to participate in self care, and care for each other because burnout is real.
What are you hoping participants take away from the program?
I hope they feel powerful. I hope they feel equipped with knowledge of history and stories of successes, big and small, of other people and organizations. I hope they leave feeling like they can, and will, make changes that matter.
Was there any new information that you learned about community health from hearing participants perspective?
I got a really great perspective about street vendors. In my day to day work I don’t usually deal with that side of the food system, but learning about the restrictions that were put upon them and then the work they did to bring justice was really encouraging.
When do participants culminate from the program?
This year, graduation is on April 11, 2020.
How else are you personally working to ensure a healthy thriving community?
Well, my day to day work centers around educating community members about food justice, how to make healthy choices, and then bringing access to healthy food and opportunities to our people. The nutrition education classes are free, held weekly throughout the community. I love being with the community and sharing space with them. Food for Thought is every 3rd Friday at Morningside High and it’s a joy to serve people in that way. The gardens continue to be a space for community building and beautiful growth, literally and figuratively. And our physical activity classes like Zumba and the Walking Clubs are so much fun and an opportunity for people to meet their neighbors and participate in healthy habits.
The pilot Food Leaders Lab launched in January 2019 in partnership with Social Justice Learning Institute, Brotherhood Crusade, American Friends Services Committee – Roots For Peace Program, and the Los Angeles Neighborhood Land Trust. To learn more visit The Los Angeles Food Policy Council
Urban Scholar Site Expansion: Antelope ValleyAt the beginning of the 2019 school year our Urban Scholars Program expanded to the Antelope Valley Union High School District! Antelope Valley is part of the northeast region of Los Angeles County and includes the cities of Lancaster and Palmdale. Urban Scholars is currently serving three school sites in the district: Antelope Valley, Palmdale, and Eastside high schools. We are working with the school district to improve academic outcomes for youth of color. Throughout the year students will receive heritage based curriculum, academic and career development, and will conduct a youth led community research project.
SJLI’s Urban Scholars Program expansion is part of a cross-sector initiative including Liberty Hill Foundation, California Community Foundation, Building a Lifetime of Options and Opportunities for Men (BLOOM), the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health and Youth Diversion and Development Division, and 11 other community organizations and coalitions.. The countywide expansion is supported in part by the Obama Foundation’s MBK Community Impact Grant.
Tykeem (TK) Brown and Dylan Gray have come full circle from starting as Morningside High School students in the Black Male Youth Academy to joining SJLI as two of our newest Educational Equity team members who are now supporting the next generation of students. The Black Male Youth Academy, otherwise known as Urban Scholars, is an educational program designed to empower youth to enable the change they want to see in the world.
TK was part of the first Black Male Youth Academy/Urban Scholars cohort in 2008 and will now be teaching the Urban Scholars curriculum as a Program and Curriculum Coach. He participated in Urban Scholars all four years of high school. TK credits Urban Scholar’s staff for inspiring him and his peers and he looks forward to the opportunity to do the same. He describes the process of transforming an un-kept empty lot into a community garden as the marker of his cohort believing in themselves. “It (the garden) went from being an idea, to on paper… We went in there, dug up gravel, got it fixed up, and next thing you knew we had a garden!.. Youth had power we didn’t know we had.”
Dylan also participated in the Urban Scholars program all four years of high school at Morningside. He will be supporting students as an Academic and Career Counselor. Dylan credits his involvement in the Black Male Youth Academy for developing his interests and budding skills as a community activist.
After graduating Morningside High School, TK and Dylan stayed connected to SJLI through the Urban Scholar’s alumni network, activities and annual retreats. Many of the alumni, including TK, expressed their desire to formalize their role as alumni and increase their engagement with the alumni network. In 2016, the Urban Leaders Council was created and officers elected. TK was a founding member and became the Council’s first president, which he served for three years. The Urban Leaders Council was founded to provide support for SJLI’s alumni network, identify activities and plans for ways that alumni could engage more deeply with SJLI and the community.
Similarly, Dylan became a strong advocate and voice for change on his college campus at Chico State. Dylan served in student government as Commissioner for Diversity his sophomore year and was elected student body President his senior year. While serving as student body president, he championed resources for students of color, co-drafting a resolution in support of Black and African American recruitment and retention across California State Universities.
In 2019, as part of the Urban Scholars expansion to several new school districts; SJLI needed to add to its Educational Equity team. Both Dylan and TK applied and interviewed successfully and joined SJLI as staff members. Starting the Spring 2020 semester, TK and Dylan will return to where the program began over 10 years ago in Inglewood. TK and Dylan will be the Ed Equity team members managing the program and supporting students at Morningside High School. Dylan shares his excitement, “I want to let our students know that there is much more opportunity out there. I look forward to helping them achieve their educational goals.” TK also expresses his eagerness to be in the classroom, “I want to help give back, to take time away from everyday life problems and teach them and be that person they can count on.”
The Social Justice Learning Institute hosts WaterTalks community forum to address water issues and health in Inglewood communityThe Social Justice Learning Institute will hosted its first WaterTalks event on September 11th in Darby Park. WaterTalks is a series of community forums happening throughout Los Angeles County for the benefit of local residents to raise questions and concerns about their water-related issues, provide crucial input regarding their community’s water needs, and to learn about the State’s most current water related topics. These meetings will hopefully inform the future of California’s water projects.
As water is part of a healthy diet, knowing where your water comes from and how it gets into your home is important for community health. Therefore, in addition to gaining community input of water issues, the Social Justice Learning Institute will be providing resources, information, and activities on the benefits and importance of drinking water and reducing sugar intake.
The event is free and open to the public. Refreshments, childcare and English/Spanish interpretation will be available. View our calendar to stay informed on our next WaterTalks meeting.
