SAVE THE DATE!

Youth Leadership Institute Summer Program

AROC in collaboration with ACCC and Alef B, is proud to present: a summerYouth Leadership Institute

happening Monday July 9th – Saturday July 14th! Read the rest of this entry »

Yesterday, the Mayor signed into law the Safe San Francisco Civil Rights Ordinance which was unanimously passed by the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, May 8th, 2012.  It was only after strong community pressure through advocacy, testimonies, meetings, and rallies, that the Mayor and other Supervisors agreed to a compromise on the Ordinance.  AROC is glad to see a step in the right direction passed into law — an Ordinance that will provide some real protections for all of San Francisco’s communities. Read the rest of this entry »

By Ali Issa, Originally Posted on Jadaliyya.com ~ Iraqi unions demonstrated yesterday on May Day 2012 at a difficult historical moment. Still operating without a labor law that sanctions their organizing, and under the consolidation of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s growing police/military powers, their movement faces an array of antagonistic forces. In this wide-ranging discussion with Ali Issa, Basra-based Hashmeya Muhsin al–Saadawi, president of the Electrical Utility Workers Union in Iraq, and the first woman vice-president of the General Federation of Iraqi Workers in Basra, discusses Iraqi security after the US withdrawal, the legacy of the US occupation, the state of union organizing and electricity, and finally the Iraqi protest movement – one of the least covered of the Arab uprisings. Read the rest of this entry »

Tarik Kazaleh shores up individual identity in the guise of Palestinian activism.  By Rachel Swan, East Bay Express

Anyone who knows Tarik Kazaleh as the bartender and cocktail-menu conceiver at The Layover would have a hard time believing that he was once an outcast — the kid who got beat up for being Palestinian in a Detroit Catholic school, and felt ostracized after moving in with his mom in Walnut Creek (where he was relegated to the dork crowd), or whose sense of humor was initially more of a defense mechanism than an art. Read the rest of this entry »

Militarism abroad and a growing police state internal to the US have been fueled by an increasingly an anti-immigrant, Islamophobic, and racist climate domestically. This has resulted in increasingly repressive laws policing immigrant communities, militarization of the border, the swelling of prison and immigrant detention populations, intense surveillance and racial profiling, and a general stripping away of rights.  Poor people, immigrants, and people of color have been the primary targets of these attacks.  On Tuesday, May 1st, people will stand up around the world for worker rights, and in the US we will again put a special focus on migrant communities.  JOIN AROC IN AN ARAB, AFRICAN, MIDDLE EASTERN, MUSLIM, AND SOUTH ASIAN CONTINGENT, AS WE HIGHLIGHT THE IMPACTS OF MILITARISM AND POLICING ON MIGRANT AND WORKER COMMUNITIES.  Continue reading for more information. Read the rest of this entry »

AROC participated in the sixth annual Immigrant Family Day in San Francisco on April 17th.  This day was a huge success, bringing together members and clients of the 13 member agencies of the SF Immigrant Legal and Education Network.  Five of AROC’s members participated in the day and provided key testimony to Supervisor Sean Elsbernd and a staff representative of Supervisor Christina Olague. Read the rest of this entry »

After 2 years of service, AROC’s Immigration Attorney, Nour Chammas, will be leaving the organization.  We are working to find another highly qualified Immigration Attorney to take this position.  We will be working with an interim attorney to ensure that our clients’ needs continue to be met.  Please continue reading to see a letter from Nour or contact us for more information about this transition. Read the rest of this entry »

Today, new legislation was introduced by Supervisor Jane Kim at the San Francisco Board of Supervisors that is the result of a compromise between community advocates and the Mayor’s office on the issue of San Francisco Police Department’s (SFPD) engagement with the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF). This could not have happened without community mobilization!! Read the rest of this entry »

Friday, March 30th, hundreds of community members rallied and prayed in Civic Center Plaza to tell Mayor Ed Lee to support the Safe San Francisco Civil Rights.  Despite repeated requests to listen to community needs, Mayor Lee has not yet met with the Coalition for a Safe San Francisco, which hosted today’s rally.

Please come out on Tuesday, April 3rd at 2pm to San Francisco City Hall Room 250 to make sure that all Board of Supervisors members who stand for civil rights also stand for this Ordinance! Read the rest of this entry »

The Asian Law Caucus, CAIR, Arab Resource and Organizing Center, Black Alliance for Just Immigration, and 80 other organizations in the Bay Area are co-sponsoring an Ordinance that will protect our civil liberties.  Join us for a rally Friday 3/30/2012 at 12:30pm! Read the rest of this entry »