Anjali Taneja

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 companies in the world based on questions like these. Two Southern California companies made the list this year: Dreamhost, the popular web hosting company, and...

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 been somewhat romanticized and Americans are quick to recall Dr King’s “I Have a Dream” speech and his peaceful ways. We often forget that his...

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), four will represent Los Angeles. In a statement released earlier this month, President-Elect Obama said of the variety of bands selected to perform tomorrow, "I...

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, and thousands across the country are doing the same, for the National Homeless Persons' Memorial Day. In Santa Monica, a vigil is planned for 4:00...

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 worldwide. The UHDR is the most translated document in the world and has inspired many international treaties and laws. Now is as good a time...

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 Los Angeles emergency rooms have closed in the last 5 years in Los Angeles County, partly because of low reimbursements from Medicare and Medi-Cal, California's...

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 pesticide plant in Bhopal leaked 27 tons of the deadly gas methyl isocyanate. Safety systems were not operational and the gas spread through the city....

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 project together. The Audacity of Desperation is the result. The exhibition is in Los Angeles from October 26th through November 16th. LAist: So, what *is*...

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 guard union, who is in turn supporting Brown's bid for Governor in 2010. Interestingly, US Senator Dianne Feinstein, another prominent opponent of Prop 5 (and...

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 Mormon Church's funding and tactics in support of Proposition 8. They simply asked that the LA Mormon Church pass on these petitions to Utah. This...