The local Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union held their annual awards luncheon Sept. 27 in Santa Cruz.
Santa Cruz County School Superintendent Faris Sabbah was featured speaker for the catered event that included the presentation of the ACLU Bell of Freedom award to the group Your Allied Rapid Response (YARR) and the Hammer of Justice award to the Watsonville Law Center (WLC).
The Paul Johnson Lifetime Achievement Award was handed to local attorney Ben Rice.
Sabbah, a native of Iraq, addressed immigrants’ rights and what local schools are doing to support their families, among other issues.
“The work that you (ACLU) are doing has never been more important than now for us as we stand together locally, regionally and nationally,” he said.
Sabbah also spoke of the ACLU’s efforts to help those being challenged by the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, a loss of critical medical care and cuts to education.
“It’s extremely important for us to get the message out that our schools will never cooperate with immigration enforcement and every superintendent in our county has made a commitment … to keep ICE agents out of our schools,” he said.
Stephanie Barron Lu, executive director of Watsonville-based Positive Discipline Community Resources, accepted the Bell of Freedom on behalf of YARR of Santa Cruz.
YARR’s website states their mission includes monitoring and documenting “actions by ICE or other oppressive forces that would harm our fellow human beings.”
Lu described the organization as unique, in that members ebb and flow with “what we’re able to give when we’re able to give it” and that “we have to be able to organize to promote human dignity, kindness and compassion.”
Program director Adriana Melgoza accepted the Hammer of Justice award on behalf of WLC.
“When immigrants are denied justice we are all diminished; when civil rights are violated, we are all impacted,” she said. “Let’s keep advocating for policies that reflect not fear, but fairness. Let’s keep choosing respect over exclusion and solidarity over silence…We’re honored to be part of this fight and we’re not done yet.”
Rice was awarded “for his decades of work fighting for the underdogs and outcasts, and for progressive causes,” the ACLU said.
Peter Gelblum of the ACLU said the gathering is important in that “it recognizes people and organizations in our community for their work defending and advancing civil liberties, be it for a year or a lifetime. The people who do this work generally do not seek recognition; they do the work because they are passionate about helping others. Even though they don’t seek recognition, the work is difficult and everyone likes being appreciated, and this event might just make them keep going a little longer or feel better about what they do. If hearing these amazing stories inspires just one person in the audience to start or continue doing this work, we’ve achieved a lot.”
