Like many of you, we have been moved by the shooting death in Ferguson, Missouri of unarmed black teen Michael Brown by a white police officer, the decision by a grand jury not to indict the officer, and the resulting protests around the country. As one response, we found this commentary by Sandy Holman, founder of The Culture Co-op and CRC Regional Advisory Committee member, to be relevant and we wanted to share it with the CRC community. 

The Verdict by Sandy Holman

As an African-American Woman who has African-American brothers, cousins, uncles and elders in her life, I have had to face the fact that there is a cost to having dark skin. Countless men and women have been harmed, beaten, and murdered while interacting with our criminal justice system, and these phenomena have had devastating impacts on people of color and America in general. I know not every police person is bad, but we as a country need to examine what has been a history of significant violence against black and brown men under suspicious or questionable circumstances. As I ponder yet another known case of a young black male having his life cut short, my heart goes out to all the mothers and fathers who wonder: when will our lives matter? When will we realize that when evil is done to one, it will ultimately affect us all? Regardless of what your views are about the Ferguson case, I encourage you to view things from a historical perspective as far as violence and the police when it comes to men and woman of color. It is only when you view things through this lens that you begin to understand that we have a huge problem which is disproportionately affecting men of color with deadly consequences.  To read the entire commentary, click here.

Save the Date - CRC Book Launch Forum

How can we improve conditions in some of the country's most distressed places? What Counts: Harnessing Data for America's Communities , a new volume of essays addresses this question. What Counts: Harnessing Data for America's Communities challenges policymakers, funders and practitioners across sectors to rethink how they use data to address social issues such as poverty, health, and education. CRC affiliates Alex Karner, Dana Rowangould, Catherine Garoupa-White and CRC Director Jonathan London will present "Putting Data into Action for Regional Equity in California's San Joaquin Valley" based on their work on integrating social equity into regional planning.

Date: January 28, 2015

Time: 2:00pm - 5:00pm

Place: UC Davis Campus, Memorial Union King Room

To order a free paper or digital copy, email the CRC.  

Event sponsored by the UCD Center for Regional Change and Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.  Refreshments will be served - additional details to follow at a later date.

UC Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC ANR) Offers GIS Series

In honor of Worldwide Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Day, the UC ANR Informatics and GIS Statewide Program is pleased to announce that it will be offering a series of four-hour sessions on GIS, remote sensing and Global Positioning System training workshops across California between January and June 2015.  To see detailed descriptions of these workshops, click here. To help assess demand for the training curriculum and to determine when and where these workshops will be held, please participate in a brief web survey by December 15. 
 

Patient Hot Spotting - How GIS Helped Cut Healthcare Costs by 50%

Dr. Este Geraghty, Chief Medical Officer & Health Solutions Director for Esri (the world leader in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) software) and CRC faculty affiliate, is presenting a webinar on the use of GIS and public health.  The health care system in the US is burdened by patients that account for up to 30% of health care costs. These patients are admitted through the emergency room, hospitalized, and then discharged - only to return seeking care again. To fix this growing problem, providers are mining clinical data to identify these patients and find cost-effective solutions to decrease their need for emergency care. They are increasingly turning to "hot spotting," a new process that helps organizations focus on patients with a history of preventable utilization. By combining electronic health records and community data with GIS technology, providers can create "hot spot" maps that characterize the geographic extent of the problem, possible causes, and potential intervention plans.

Date: December 3, 2014

Time: 11:00 am

Place: Webinar 

Reimagine! Issues First Journal of RP&E

The first issue of Race, Poverty and the Environment (RP&E) by Reimagine! is going to press. The newly designed RP&E journal will be packed with articles addressing environmental and climate justice, racial and gender justice, economic justice and urban justice.  It will also feature inspiring reflections on developments in Ferguson, the Climate Justice Alliance, and more. Reimagine! is an integrated platform for a movement to make and distribute its own media. You are invited to join Reimagine! at its journal release party.  

Date: December 11, 2014

Time: 6:30 pm

Place: Joyce Gordon Gallery, 406 14th Street, Oakland, CA

Community Water Center (CWC) Program Assistant Position Available