Protests and informational sessions support immigrant communities Chico State's faculty union says it's developing a training session

photo by Julian Mendoza
Kassandra Ramondo (left) and Lizette Pilar

by Julian Mendoza
posted Feb. 12

Hundreds of people gathered on Chico State’s campus Feb. 5 for a peaceful march in what was one of several recent local protests advocating for immigrant rights.

“I think it’s super important that people understand and know that immigrants do make the backbone of our country,” said Lizette Pilar, program coordinator at Chico State’s Gender & Sexuality Equity Coalition. “Especially in agriculture, a lot of our pickers are illegal immigrants or undocumented.” read more

President’s executive orders endanger LGBTQ people Advocates sound alarm as Trump targets transgender community

photo by Leslie Layton
A Stonewall Alliance Chico flier circulates during this Black History Month seeking support for queer and trans people of color.

by Natalie Hanson
posted Feb. 9

LGBTQ advocates from Chico and beyond say that the Trump Administration’s jump to “criminalize and erase” transgender people will worsen an ongoing rise of hate and violence toward a marginalized community.

Stonewall Alliance Chico, a nonprofit that has served LGBTQ people for decades, told ChicoSol in a statement that Trump’s anti-trans campaign — recognizing only “biological men and women” — is the latest in an “ongoing wave” of policies attempting to erase the transgender and gender non-conforming community. read more

Viewing the world with empathy A first-hand experience with Point-in-Time

photo by Yucheng Tang
Elvert Richardson checks for homeless people or encampments under a bridge near the Chico State campus.

by Yucheng Tang
posted Feb. 4

It was not a normal stroll.

“We need to check the lower part of the slope next to the creek. The homeless always set up their camps there,” Elvert Richardson said to me on a recent sunny Wednesday morning, while we were walking along Big Chico Creek on the north side of Chico State campus.

I was one of the 280 registered volunteers for the Point-in-Time count in Butte County on Jan. 29, there to learn about homelessness as a reporter. Every team, usually consisting of three to four people, was sent out by the Butte County Homeless Continuum of Care (CoC), a local planning body, to count unsheltered people and conduct the survey in an assigned area. read more

Protesters: Immigrants built America 'Un Día sin Inmigrantes' spurs protests in Butte County and elsewhere

photo by Yucheng Tang
Magdalen Riestra (middle in photo) organized a same-day protest for the Day without Immigrants. Some Chico State students stayed home from work or class.

by Yucheng Tang
posted Feb. 3

More than 100 people participated in a peaceful protest to show solidarity with immigrants today in Chico, and more hit the streets in Gridley and elsewhere in the state.

Participants marched around Chico State, danced spontaneously in City Plaza, and stood on the sidewalk next to the plaza, holding signs and shouting at passing vehicles.

Magdalen Riestra, 21, a public health student at Chico State, organized the protest. read more

Activist shops for empathy at Saturday market Changemaker: Charles Withuhn rolls the boulder uphill

photo by Yucheng Tang
Charles Withuhn is president of the North State Shelter Team.

by Yucheng Tang
posted Jan. 28

Editor’s note: This is the first story in a series called “Changemakers” that ChicoSol will run monthly in an effort to highlight some of the remarkable work underway in our community.

Standing in front of his booth at the Chico Certified Farmers Market, Charles Withuhn greets passersby on this winter Saturday.

He shakes hands with some and passes out newsletters or fliers produced by the North State Shelter Team (NSST). Some people stop to listen and some barely show interest. Even though some people ignore him, Withuhn — like the mythological Sisyphus who relentlessly rolled a boulder up to a mountain top only to have the boulder roll down — just keeps making attempts at conversation. read more

Hmong elders may face isolation, animosity California hotline and Oroville's cultural center offer assistance

photo by Yucheng Tang
Seng Yang, director of Butte County’s Hmong Cultural Center.

by Yucheng Tang
posted Jan. 21

Among more than a thousand reports received by the California vs Hate hotline in the first year, the most commonly cited form of hate was based on race and ethnicity.

Anti-Black bias was the most common, followed by anti-Latino and anti-Asian, said Kevin Kish, director of the California Civil Rights Department, during a Jan. 17 briefing organized by Ethnic Media Services (EMS). read more