Stanford University Urban Studies &
Urban Summer Fellowship
Student perspectives of community-engaged learning and research across the United States
This summer, I worked for Causa Justa::Just Cause, a Bay Area based nonprofit organization dedicated to fighting for housing justice and political unity between Black and Brown working class communities. The majority of my time was spent doing client intake work in the Fruitvale Tenants’ Rights Clinic. My daily responsibilities when working at the clinic included welcoming tenants into the clinic, referring tenants to legal resources, especially Centro Legal de la Raza, educating clients on Oakland city ordinance pertinent to tenants’ rights, making appointment reminder calls, advising walk-in clients on whether their landlord has legal cause to evict them, calling tenants to learn more about their situation and scheduling appointments with our tenant counselors when necessary, sharing letter templates with tenants to help them communicate with their landlords in case of an unlawful eviction or refusal to make repairs in a timely manner.
In general, I’ve always thought of organizing as something that must be done on the streets at a large scale, talking to dozens of people a day & hoping to strike a chord with some of them when discussing the issues. I never considered that while providing an in-office service, such as what we do at the Tenants' Rights Clinic where I spent much of my time on the job, can be an ideal opportunity for political education because you already have knowledge that the community member you're speaking with has personal stake in x issue. For example, when tenants come into our clinic & do not qualify for just cause for eviction or rent control for some reason, tenant counselors take the opportunity to ask tenants whether they have interest in getting involved in political campaigns that can benefit them personally such as closing the just cause for eviction loophole in the Oakland city ordinance that excludes duplexes & triplexes or the fight to repeal Costa Hawkins, which limits the scope of rent control for many. I definitely expanded my vision of organizing after spending so much time in the tenants’ rights clinic this summer. In addition, I gained a newfound knowledge of Oakland tenancy law and a clear understanding of my working style (I do best with teamwork/constant human interaction). My supervisor, Molly, pointed out that collective rather than an individual outlook to completing projects is a strength of mine since I was constantly looking for ways to share work with my two fellow interns & remain accountable to one another. One of my favorite project assignments outside of the clinic this summer was collecting signatures for the 2020 ballot initiative Schools & Communities first, which would get rid of Prop 13 property tax exemptions for corporations & reappropriate them to schools, libraries, hospitals, homeless services, and other public benefits. It felt meaningful to go out to the community and talk to folks about this immensely important measure. It gave me the opportunity to look people in the face & connect with them based on the shared understanding that public works, especially in a barrio neighborhood like Fruitvale in a city like Oakland, are underfunded & undervalued, while wealthy corporations reap the benefits of lavish tax breaks. Some people seemed skeptical of my intentions when I first approached them, but almost immediately became supportive & grateful once I explained the cause I was working for was better-funded schools & libraries, etc. In my experience, Latinx folks really value education & rightly view it as an investment in their children's future. Signature gathering in the neighborhood was one of the most fulfilling parts of the summer, and reaffirmed my desire to go into a career that will allow me to work towards empowering working-class Latinx people on a daily basis. The work I did for Causa Justa was not without its challenges, though. As much as I enjoyed contacting and coordinating local immigration experts on behalf of the Oakland Unified School District for their Sanctuary district event, I found it quite challenging to work offsite from the other people engaged in the same work. Many times, I was in the Causa Justa office doing OUSD work, and that felt alienating. On the other hand, I felt much more fulfilled and empowered when doing work that involved interacting with people face-to-face, such as working with clients in the tenants’ rights clinic or signature gathering on the streets of Fruitvale. Confirmation that the type of work that I find personally fulfilling involves meaningful interpersonal interaction and has to do with helping working class Latinx populations is one of the most valuable takeaways I’ve gained from working at Causa Justa, as it will serve me well when I am thinking about what career path I want to go into. Getting a stipend to live independently in a brand new city over the summer was an invaluable learning opportunity. As much as going off to college is lauded as a young adult’s first undertaking of adulthood and independence, it cannot compare to living and working in a much more unstructured environment. This summer helped me to understand the level of responsibility, planning, and funds that it takes to live independently. The chance to fend for myself and figure out my own housing, food, & transportation is something I’ve never had the opportunity to do in the past given that I was raised in a household that attends to all my needs and attend an institution that also makes sure I’m provided for. I learned firsthand that adulting is no joke and that it takes a high level of dedication and intentionality to plan a life that doesn’t feel chaotic. A reflection upon this summer would be incomplete without mentioning my unique & special housing situation that was a learning experience in itself. During the second month of my internship, my roommate Annie & I stayed in an amazing attic full of native relics and hundreds of books related to countless social justice topics belonging to an indigenous Mexica man named Samuelín. Samuelín truly made us feel like part of his family and even allowed us to participate twice in the community sweat lodge ceremony of which he is the spiritual leader. Taking part in the sweat ceremony was an extremely intense and deeply impactful experience |
AuthorThis blog is authored by Stanford University students engaged in summer fellowships through the Cardinal Quarter and the Program on Urban Studies. All writings and thoughts belong to the Fellows and do not represent the opinion of the sponsoring programs. Archives
September 2018
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