The event featured keynote speakers, live music, dance performers, and an award presentation to an emergency student leader, pointing to one cohesive theme: Claiming dignity.
The city’s historical center of Black culture and politics has been undergoing a demographic shift for decades that has meant fewer Black people have been able to stay in the district – and in the city of San Diego as a whole.
What Cindy Marten’s Rise Tells Us About the State of Education Politics
Cindy Marten embodies a new guiding principle in national education politics: The way to a better public school system does not lie in criticizing its faults, but relentless positivity about its promise.
Illustration by Adriana Heldiz
In October 2013, Cindy Marten had been superintendent for fewer than four months. She stood in Kearny High School’s auditorium and made a case for a shining new world of public education that would sweep away the past era of reforms.
“I think 20 years from now we might look back on this past decade and wonder what happened – wonder how could we have allowed this to happen to our children and nation, when we became mesmerized by a single score as the one and only measure of a quality public education,” she said.
SAN DIEGO
Rev. Shane Harris, founder of civil rights organization The People’s Alliance for Justice, will step away from the local group to open an eastern branch of the nonprofit in Washington D.C., which will focus on advocating for equitable federal legislation.
Harris’ departure will leave the organization in the hands of a new 15-member commission tasked with continuing local racial justice advocacy efforts in San Diego.
“I’m proud of the work that is going to happen in San Diego in my absence,” Harris said.
The newly appointed commission is made up of local lawyers, activists and political leaders. Each commissioner will focus on equity movements in housing, education, health, foster care and the justice system.