URBAN LA July 19, 2014 Meeting Highlights

Attendees:  Dayna Cunningham, Phil Thompson, Penda Hair, Gerry Hudson, Devra Weber, Kelly Lytle Hernandez, Alvaro Huerta, Liliana Vasquez, Veronica Montes, Claire Hirschberg, Diana Zuniga, Kent Wong

Minutes:  Kent Wong

1. URBAN LA was fortunate to have four out-of-town guests, including Dayna Cunningham and Phil Thompson from MIT, two of the founders of URBAN, who presented an overview of the national work.  There are currently five URBAN “nodes” in L.A., San Francisco, New York, Boston, and Philadelphia.  There are also three URBAN caucuses attached to national professional networks, including the American Sociological Association.  There are plans for a National URBAN convening for 2015.
2. Liliana Vasquez presented the research she and Miriam have conducted on Detention and Deportations.  The research was well received, and is still being developed.
3. Attendees discussed the Central America child refugee crisis.  Pablo Alvarado from the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON) will be participating in a delegation to El Salvador leaving July 19th.  Kent Wong will be traveling to Honduras to meet with labor unions on July 20th.
4. Diana Zuniga and Claire Hirschberg announced the action that Californians United for a Responsible Budget (CURB) is planning on August 16th linking the issue of deportations and incarceration.  URBAN LA will explore ways to support through media outreach, and op-ed articles to highlight the action.
5. Kelly Lytle Hernandez presented the class she is teaching on incarceration and deportations in Fall 2014 at UCLA.  Devra Weber is also teaching a similar class at UC Riverside.  Kent Wong reported on the possibility of a Spring graduate seminar with inter-faith leaders also on the issue of incarceration and deportation.  Meeting attendees discussed the value of sharing syllabi, readings, bibliographies, and coordinating potential guest speakers on various campuses.
6. The next meeting of URBAN LA will be held on Saturday, September 20th from 10am-12pm at the UCLA Downtown Labor Center.