Community Forum: Alternatives to Youth Incarceration

Wednesday • November 20 • 6:00 – 8:00PM • Wheelchair Accessible • FREE
PVPSA • 411 East Lake Avenue • Watsonville.

(Note that there is a related, educational event on Tuesday, November 19. Details here.)

Recent initiatives by Santa Cruz County Probation to convert part of the juvenile hall into a SYTF and CAMP prompted the community to come together and advocate for a more equitable and inclusive approach to juvenile justice. This forum is intended to provide an alternative dialogue with community members and their families who have been impacted by the Juvenile Justice system as well as invite other partner organizations of various sectors who are or wish to develop a comprehensive community response that effectively serves our youth. 

Objectives:

  • Foster partnerships among local organizations, stakeholders, and community members to create a unified approach to supporting young people in the justice system.
  • Discuss and strategize on advocating for policy changes that promote a more equitable and inclusive juvenile justice system in Santa Cruz County.
  • Gather input from community, young people and their families to inform the development of programs and initiatives that directly address their needs and experiences within the justice system.
  • Get commitments from attendees to advocate either Nov 25th probation meeting and/or Dec 10th BOS meeting

Register here.

Let’s Talk Juvenile Justice – SB823 Virtual Overview & Learning Session

Tuesday • November 19 • 6:00 – 7:30PM • ONLINE • FREE

Join MILPA and Laura Ridolfi from The Burns Institute on Tuesday, November 19th, from 6 pm – 7:30 pm to learn about the implementation of SB 823 Juvenile Justice Realignment at the local level and how YOU can support making a change in your county.⁠

Register here.

And then join a Community Forum in person on November 20. Details here.

SURJ Post Election Mass Meeting – In Person!

Sunday • November 17 • 2:00 – 4:00 • Wheelchair Accessible • FREE
Address Private • Santa Cruz

Across the country and in our local communities, we are facing the truth of the devastating reality that Trump will be our next president. This is a time to reach for each other, to feel together, and to recommit to our values: community care, solidarity, and justice for all.

In the midst of your grief, rage, and fear– come together with other people in your community who care. To our fellow white people: we play an important role right now to show up, fight white supremacy, and recommit to organizing our own people away from the far right. There have always been white people who rejected racism and chose solidarity and justice. It is our calling to step into that legacy in the days, months, and years ahead.

Join SURJ for a community meeting to get grounded together, get clear on our analysis of how we got here – and then get organized for the work ahead.

Register HERE

Redistribute Wealth: Center for Farmworker Families Holiday Gift Drive & Farmworker Support

This holiday season the Center for Farmworker Families is partnering with other community-based organizations to provide over 2,000 gifts and gift cards to farmworker children. Hundreds of those gifts come from direct donations from people like you!

If you have the capacity to contribute a gift before the year’s end, your generosity would be truly appreciated! You can make your donation directly through their website. Your support makes a significant difference!

Looking ahead, there’s so much more to be done to support farmworker families. Whether you’d like to go on a farmworker reality tour (next tour Sunday, Nov 10, 2-6pm, click here to register via Eventbrite), make a donation, or inform yourself and become an advocate, we invite you to participate!

Native American Heritage Month

Native Stories by and for Native People
Mondays • Nov 11 & 25 • 7:00 PM x • FREE
Subrosa Community Space  • 703 Pacific Ave • Santa Cruz • Wheelchair accessible

Celebrate Native American Heritage Month with Subrosa! Watch films written and/or directed by Native American creatives. Popcorn and refreshments will be offered for $2+ donations. All proceeds will be donated to the Amah Mutsun Tribe and Uniting Natives Culturally & Intertribally (UNCI).

Monday, Nov 11, 2024: Lakota Nation vs the United States (2022)  Trailer

Monday, Nov 25, 2024: Fancy Dance (2023)  Trailer

Re:Collect: Remember Your Cosmic Roots

Art Forum Gallery
Oct 18, 2024 – Mar 2, 2025 • Thurs – Suns 12 – 6 PM • $10 or FREE on First Fridays
705 Front St • Santa Cruz • Wheelchair accessible

Re:Collect emerges as an immersive AfroSpeculative art space, transcending conventional boundaries to explore the intersection of cosmic memory, ancestral narratives, and visionary imagination.

Subverting the typical museum experience, Re:Collect invites visitors to immerse themselves fully, engaging with art that pushes the boundaries of what is remembered from the past and imagined for the future. Through sound, visuals, layout, and even smells, Re:Collect envelops visitors in a holistic sensory experience, inviting them to journey inward and outward simultaneously.

Re:Collect is guest curated by Luna High-John Bey and features artists Dynasty Ogun, Alim Smith, Zoe Boston, Timothy B, Witch Prophet, Zuzu, Soull Ogun, and Shogun Shido.

Learn More

Young, Gifted and Black

from the Lumpkin-Boccuzzi Family Collection of Contemporary Art
Solari Gallery
Aug 22 – Dec 29, 2024 • Thurs – Suns • 12 – 6 PM • $10 or FREE on First Fridays
705 Front St • Santa Cruz • Wheelchair accessible

(Picture credit: Image: A Mother Who Had No Mother. Chiffon Thomas)

Young, Gifted and Black showcases works by emerging artists of African descent, alongside works by established artists who have paved the way for the younger generation. The exhibition champions a generation of artists who are exploring identity, politics, and art history as they engage with the work of their predecessors across various media.

This exhibition is courtesy of the Lumpkin-Boccuzzi Family Collection of Contemporary Art and is curated by Antwaun Sargent and Matt Wycoff.

Learn More

MAH x Indexical

Zekarias Musele Thompson – spatial facilitation #10
Presented in Partnership with Indexical
Saturday • Nov 9 • 7:30 – 8:30 PM • $20 General, $15 MAH Member
705 Front St • Santa Cruz • Wheelchair accessible

(Picture credit: Portrait of the Artist Just in Front of their Favorite Place, Photo credit: Ástríður Jónsdóttir)

Spatial facilitation, a term of art in physiology, refers to stimuli that contribute to the accurate processing of visual information. That is to say, there are certain things that we see, that help us see more precisely. Spatial facilitation is an ongoing project of mapping clearer vision through walking, noticing, the breath, and the saxophone. Analog solutions for analog problems. For Spatial Facilitation #10, the audience will visit the exhibition Young, Gifted, and Black with Thompson  and look for the tethers that bind, and release.

About the Artist

Zekarias Musele Thompson (b. 1983, they/them/their) is an artist based in Oakland, CA, and Reykjavik, Iceland, often working in sonic composition, mark-making, photography, collaborative group practice & performance, and writing. Their practice is concerned with humanity’s conceptual and emotional organizational structures—and how we bring them into material form. Zekarias has presented solo exhibitions and projects at the Museum of the African Diaspora, the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, The Lab, and the Center for New Music and Audio Technologies. They have performed at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Gray Area in the Bay area — as well as Associate Gallery, Ásmundasalur, and Open in Reykjavík.

Get Tickets Here

Amah Mutsun Speakers Series: We Will Protect Juristac

Saturday • Nov 9 • 1:30 – 3:30 PM  • FREE
Merrill Cultural Center • UCSC • Santa Cruz • Wheelchair accessible

The Amah Mutsun Tribal Band of Costanoan/Ohlone Indians and the University of California-Santa Cruz’s American Indian Resource Center and other distinct departments invite our UCSC affiliates and the greater community to the Amah Mutsun Speaker Series – Protect Juristac Project Community Gathering.

Juristac (Huris-tak), a mountain in the southern Santa Cruz Mountains, is home of the Amah Mutsun’s creator, Kuktsui.  It has served as a sacred ceremonial site for thousands of years.  Now this mountain is being threatened by a proposed sand and gravel mine. For years the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band and the greater regional community have worked under the leadership of Chairman Val Lopez to keep this from happening which would decimatie this precious and sacred landscape.  

Chairman Lopez and three other tribal leaders will share past and current information regarding the progress of the Protect Juristac campaign. Please join us in the discussion to learn what you can do to support us all in the journey.
 

RSVP HERE 
DIRECTIONS HERE

White People’s Work: A Post-Election Mass Meeting with SURJ National

Wednesday • Nov 6 • 5:00 PM  • Online • FREE

No matter what happens on November 5, there will be important work for all of us to do in the days following. 

Join SURJ at a mass public meeting, “White People’s Work After the Election,” on Nov. 6 at 5 pm PT where we’ll make meaning of results and be celebrating, mobilizing or taking action to ensure that every vote gets counted. 

It will be critical for white people who care about justice to show up and show out in any election outcome scenario. Get your marching orders with us next Wednesday.

In the meantime, the best election protection we can do is increase the margin of victory for Harris. Join our ongoing phonebanks through election day.