South Bay Racial Justice Groups Get Grants From District Attorney

SANTA CLARA COUNTY, CA — Thirteen South Bay organizations working against racial injustice received grants of up to $5,000 via District Attorney Jeff Rosen’s “Bend the Arc” initiative, the district attorney’s office announced on Thursday.

The grant recipients include the local NAACP organization, a Gilroy culinary academy and an after-school and weekend soccer program.

“Our work is not just in the courts,” Rosen said in a speech in San Jose announcing the grants. “It is in the parks, in the classrooms, in the playgrounds working side-by-side with parents who are just trying to do the things they need to do. What do we need to do? We need to make the criminal justice system better for all. “

Funding for the grants will come from the district attorney’s Asset Forfeiture Fund, which consists of cash seized from drug dealers and criminal street gangs.

“People everywhere want safety, and they want fairness,” Rosen said. “Some people say they are in the fairness camp. Others say they are in the safety squad. The fact is – just like all us - one can’t exist without the other. People want good parks and schools, safe streets, caring cops in their neighborhoods and dangerous people out of them. We have issues, but none are beyond the strength of a neighborhood that works shoulder to shoulder with the women and men who are dedicated to protect and serve them. That is why we are all here today.”

Click here to read Rosen’s full remarks and here for more information on the grant recipients.