Anjali Taneja

Last week the fifth and final White House Regional Forum on Health Reform took place at the California Endowment in downtown Los Angeles. Speakers included California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Director of the White House Domestic Policy Council Melody Barnes, Childrens Defense Fund President Marian Wright Edelman, and the event was... continue reading on LAist

photo by ansik via flickr Does your company encourage leadership, transparency, democracy and creativity in the workplace? Do your co-workers participate in company decisions on an ongoing basis? WorldBlu -- a social enterprise that champions the ideas of "organizational democracy" -- compiled its list of the forty most democratic... continue reading on LAist

In honor of Dr Martin Luther King, Jr, unprecedented numbers of Americans served their communities today in beautiful ways. And President-Elect Obama’s Renew America Together service forged new means of connecting Americans (and Los Angelenos) with local volunteering opportunities. However, Dr. King’s honorable work and messages to America have... continue reading on LAist

Photo by SFBart via Flickr For the first time in U.S. history, a marching band comprised of Americans identified as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and queer, will perform in the Presidential Inaugural Parade. Of the 177 musicians from twenty six states representing the Lesbian and Gay Bands Association (LGBA),... continue reading on LAist

1 in every 9 homeless people in the United States live in Los Angeles County, and just this past year, 393 of them died. The Los Angeles Coalition to End Hunger and Homelessness (LACEHH), along with other advocacy and service organizations, are holding candlelight vigils to memorialize those who died,... continue reading on LAist

Photo by tao_zhyn on Flickr Today marks the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UHDR), adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations. The 30 articles of this declaration were written after the Second World War and represent the first global expression of human rights... continue reading on LAist

Photo by Waldo Jaquith via Flickr Yesterday a panel of hospital and government officials voiced concerns over overcrowding in Los Angeles emergency rooms and called for the creation of more community health clinics in the county.ER overcrowding is a growing problem in California for a number of reasons. 11... continue reading on LAist

Photos by jbhangoo via flickr; graphic and videos from Students for Bhopal Today marks the 24th anniversary of the world's worst industrial disaster--one that has been called the "Hiroshima of the chemical industry" and that took place in Bhopal, India. Around midnight on December 3rd, 1984, a Union Carbide... continue reading on LAist

Photos of the exhibit/gallery by Von Edwards/Used with permission | Drawing by Ryan Griffis Jessica Lawless and Sarah Ross are both artists and educators. They met in graduate school at UC Irvine. Because they share a similar sensibility about art making and politics, they decided to collaborate on a... continue reading on LAist

Daniel Abrahamson, co-author of Proposition 5 and Director of Legal Affairs at the Drug Policy Alliance Network, publicly called out California Attorney General and former governor Jerry Brown on his motives behind opposing Proposition 5, the Nonviolent Offender Rehabilitation Act. No on Prop 5 is heavily financed by California's prison... continue reading on LAist

For politicians who suffer from "fear of losing your election" Incarcerex might just be what the spin doctor ordered for the treatment of Chronic Re-Election Paranoia (CREEP): This brilliant pharmaceutical spoof by the Drug Policy Alliance is now an ad for the Yes on Prop 5 campaign (and against Proposition... continue reading on LAist

Rick Jacobs, Chair of the Courage Campaign, accompanied by Reverend Eric Lee, President of the Southern Christian Leadership Council of California, held a press conference outside the Los Angeles Mormon Temple this week. They attempted to peacefully deliver a petition with nearly 17,000 names of Californians opposed to the... continue reading on LAist

This ad is the first Yes on Prop 5 spot and is entitled "Warden." It features Jeanne Woodford, former warden of San Quentin State Prison and former Director of the California Department of Corrections. Against a backdrop of images of San Quentin, she speaks of her 25 years working... continue reading on LAist

Father Greg Boyle is the director and founder of Homeboy Industries, a well respected Los Angeles organization that works to educate and provide job training for at-risk youth and former gang members. Connie Rice is the director of the Advancement Project Los Angeles and is a prominent civil rights... continue reading on LAist

Photo by adshaw80 via Flickr Whether you're sitting in front of your absentee ballot or you're readying yourself for voting in person on November, you're looking at national and local elections as well as a slew of California ballot propositions -- 12 to be exact. Well, over the course... continue reading on LAist

Alicia Dwyer, a filmmaker from Los Angeles who has directed, edited and produced an Academy award winning documentary and an Emmy-award winning series, recently travelled to Ohio not to film a documentary but to direct and produce advertisements. She produced ads for Local Voices for Obama, an innovative campaign... continue reading on LAist

Photo by kr4gin via Flickr Proposition 5, the Nonviolent Offender Rehabilitation Act, on the California ballot this year, significantly expands on Proposition 36, the Substance Abuse and Crime Prevention Act, passed in California in 2000 by 61% of voters. In this regard, it is quite timely that this month,... continue reading on LAist

INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence organized SisterFire, a national women of color multimedia arts tour that traveled across the country. INCITE! members organized SisterFire because they recognized the transformative power of creative cultural work. In recent years, SisterFire performances have been organized in several cities and towns across the... continue reading on LAist

What is Proposition 6? Prop 6, also known as the Runner Initiative or the Safe Neighborhoods Act, is a move to increase funding for police and prisons and toughen penalties on "gang-related" and drug crime . It has been introduced by George Runner (Republican state senator) and his wife... continue reading on LAist

Several of California’s ballot propositions this year could have wide-ranging national ramifications. Among them is the less talked about Proposition 5, the Nonviolent Offender Rehabilitation Act (NORA). This proposition aims to fundamentally reform California’s drug-control policy by providing resources for rehabilitation and treatment of drug users a priority of... continue reading on LAist