Finally, the Social Justice Summit has come back to Cal State Fullerton! Okay, so the all-day activist event only had a one-year hiatus, but in this reactionary county of ours, that can seem like an eternity.
The summit returns for its 10th anniversary with its familiar slew of workshops, cool t-shirts, social justice swag bags and vegan luncheon sure to draw hundreds this Saturday. The lineup of keynote speakers is superb with civil rights icon Reverend James Lawson, Cal State Fullerton's own Dr. Berenecea Johnson Eanes and undocumented activist extraordinaire Abraham Medina all on deck.
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“The social justice summit is part of a project from the Volunteer Service Program,” Students ACT,” says Eloisa Amador, a Project Director for Students Act. She's also a Human Services and Chicano Studies Major at Cal State Fullerton. “Last year, due to the all the transitions happening at the university we didn't have a coordinator,” she adds
But with Alisia Kirkwoood filling the position, the Summit is ready to return full force after it downsized to a handful of workshops throughout the week last year.
“The coordinator made sure all the programs came back to what they were before,” says Amador. “That's what we put a lot of emphasis to bring the Summit back because it creates a lot of awareness for students that are not involved or engaged in issues happening in our community.”
To that end, event organizers put together 25 workshops on an array of issues including immigration, domestic violence, human trafficking, the prison system, bullying, animal cruelty on factory farms, unions, civil disobedience, and human trafficking.
Participating progressive groups include, among others, UFCW Local 324, Orange County DREAM Team, RAIZ, Project Hope Alliance, Cal State Fullerton's Women's Center and Diversity Initiative Program.
As for this year's “Think Global, Act Local” theme?
“We want students to think about issues on a global scale, but act for small change in our communities,” Amador says.
See you there!
The Annual Social Justice Summit takes place at Cal State Fullerton's Titan Student Union, Sat., 8 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Free and open to the public. Registration online is encouraged.
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Gabriel San Román is from Anacrime. He’s a journalist, subversive historian and the tallest Mexican in OC. He also once stood falsely accused of writing articles on Turkish politics in exchange for free food from DönerG’s!