roundup | Not in Our Town

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“This is our moment for healing. We all stand here, we all sit here as a school, as a community.” UCSB students gathered for a candlelight vigil on Saturday, May 24 2014 Photo Credit: University of California Santa Barbara   The Isla Vista community in Santa Barbara has come together after the shooting rampage last week that took the lives of six students and injured 13 other people. Memorial shrines with flowers, messages, candles and photos were placed at the scenes where the violence was perpetrated, according to UCSB’s student newspaper, The Bottom Line. A candlelight vigil was held at the school on Saturday, May 24.
The San Jose State University-appointed task force assigned to study discrimination in the school’s dorms has issued a list of recommendations to improve diversity and inclusion in their on-campus community, according to the San Jose Mercury News. The task force was established in the wake of a series of incidents against a black student by his three dormmates, who are now being charged with hate crime offenses. The roommates’ alleged abuse included referring to the student by a racist nickname, putting up a Confederate flag in the dorm, and barricading him in his room after they fastened a bike lock to his neck. Three of the four students involved in the alleged abuse have been expelled. 
Redding honors community leader Eddie McAllister The president of the Shasta County Citizens Advocating Respect (SCCAR)—a Not In Our Town group—was honored by Leadership Redding with its Alumnus of the Year Award. Eddie McAllister was selected for his outstanding community involvement, according to the Redding Record-Searchlight. McAllister’s community involvement includes serving on the advisory board for the Salvation Army, working with PlusOne Mentors and the Youth Violence Prevention Council. He’s also helped organize the Local National Night Out, the Multicultural Celebration and the Martin Luther King, Jr. celebration. In 2013, McAllister helped organize Redding’s Global March for Peace and Unity, making his city one of 16 California cities that participated in the March. He is the recipient of the Redding Mayor’s Proclamation for his work in a program honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. called See the Vision Live the Dream Day. As a Vietnam veteran, Eddie McAllister also helps organize programs to serve the veteran community. "Dr. King said, ‘Life's most urgent and persistent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’” McAllister said after receiving his award, “And this is something I picked up on."
Queens community rallies after subway attack Residents of  Queens, NY, are asking the police department and the city’s transportation leaders to both step up enforcement of hate crimes and soften their tone against Muslims. The call for tolerance from New York City leaders comes after Sunando Sen, a Hindu-Indian immigrant who was mistaken for a Muslim, was pushed to his death from a subway platform in front of an oncoming train last week. About 50 people demonstrated in the Jackson Heights neighborhood of Queens this week. Police representatives and local councilmen joined the group in solidarity. Protesters held signs displaying messages like “Stop normalizing racism and violence,” and “NYPD and MTA, racial profiling and hateful ads have consequences.” “I saw and talked with Sunando just moments before the incident,” Ranjit De Roy, a friend of Sunando, said to the group. “He was a quiet and gentle man who never harmed anyone. How many more lives must we lose to this racism?”