ABMoC NEWSLETTER – APRIL 2025

Friends,
On behalf of the many leaders, organizers, and grassroots groups in the Alliance for Boys and Men of Color (ABMoC) network, we’re proud to share our 2025 ABMoC Policy Agenda—shaped by directly impacted people and rooted in our collective vision for racial and gender justice, self-determination, and community healing.

This year’s agenda meets the urgency of the moment: dismantling systems that criminalize, exploit and displace our people, while investing in what truly keeps us safe—housing, healing, education, economic opportunity, and community-rooted infrastructure.

In the face of backlash and uncertainty, we remain grounded in community, bold in our demands, and ready to move forward—alongside the partners who built this agenda with us.

We’re advancing campaigns and policies to reduce harm in prisons, expand alternatives to punishment, protect immigrant communities, and deepen investment in youth leadership, education equity, and economic freedom.
Below are some of the bills we’re co-sponsoring this year.

YOUTH LEADERSHIP AND JUSTICE

• AB 1279 (Sharp-Collins) – Pathways to Justice: End Juvenile Three-Strikes
  Prevents juvenile adjudications from being used to enhance adult sentences and allows resentencing for impacted individuals. Co-Sponsors: ABMoC, Prison FTIO, Reversion 36, C.H.A.N.G.E.S, CURYJ, FLY, The Place For Grace, LSPC
• AB 1376 (Bonta) – End Endless Probation
  Limits probation for young people to six months unless proven necessary and ensures conditions are age-appropriate and tailored. Co-Sponsors: ABMoC, Young Women’s Freedom Center, Burns Institute, National Center for Youth Law (NCYL)
• SB 824 (Menjivar) – The SHIFT Act
  Centers youth rehabilitation by strengthening reentry planning, services, and placements that support successful return to the community. Co-Sponsors: ABMoC, Pacific Juvenile Defender Center, The California Alliance for Youth and Community Justice (CAYCJ), National Center for Youth Law (NCYL), Fresh Lifelines for Youth (FLY), Burns Institute

COMMUNITY SAFETY AND JUSTICE

• AB 800 (Ortega) – Reducing Vending Machine Food Prices in Prison
  Lowers food prices in CDCR visiting rooms and ensures healthy food options are available, easing financial burdens on incarcerated people and their families. Co-Sponsors: ABMoC, The Coalition for Family Unity
• Advocacy to Keep Families and Communities Together
  As the state with the largest immigrant community in the country, California has an ethical and moral obligation to step up our leadership and take action to protect the rights of immigrants.  ABMoC will educate elected officials on the importance of stopping local and state law enforcement from assisting federal immigration agencies in the detention and deportation of our community members.

EDUCATION EQUITY

• AB 7 (Bryan) – Legacy of Harm & Exclusion Consideration Act
  Allows public colleges and universities to offer admissions preference to descendants of American slavery. Co-Sponsors: ABMoC, BARHII, Western Center on Law and Poverty, UC Student Association, California Faculty Association, BLM Grassroots
• Power Building for Education Justice
  Over the next year, ABMoC will be focused on strengthening the capacity of our partners and community members to engage in the legislative process at the Capitol and district offices, ensuring that community wisdom shapes policies that combat systemic racism and transform school climates. ABMoC is also focused on educating elected officials on the importance of standing firm against punitive disciplinary practices while advancing community-centered solutions through strategic advocacy. In addition, ABMoC is convening an Education Power Summit in the spring, where partners will participate in workshops and strategy sessions to coordinate education justice efforts statewide and regionally to help identify priorities, gaps, and opportunities for collaboration, ensuring a more powerful, united movement for education justice.

ECONOMIC FREEDOM

• SB 592 (Smallwood-Cuevas) – Strengthening Limited Equity Housing Cooperatives Act
  Helps tenants—especially in communities of color—buy their buildings and create long-term housing stability by removing property tax barriers to community ownership. Co-Sponsor: ABMoC, Community Land Trust Network, Sustainable Economies Law Center
• SB 423 (Smallwood-Cuevas) – Enhancing Workforce Development for Incarcerated Firefighters
  Creates pathways for incarcerated firefighters to enter public service through job training, certifications, and civil service preference points—while reinvesting state savings into reentry, mental health, and workforce programs. Co-Sponsor: ABMoC, Incarcerated Firefighters Workforce Coalition, All Of Us Or None, CCWP, Pillars Of The Community, C.R.O.P, Starting Over Inc., Legal Services for Prisoners With Children

HEALING TOGETHER AND GENDER JUSTICE

• $20M for Healing-Centered Violence Prevention Programs
  Calls for significant investments in culturally rooted, community-led programs focused on nonviolence, accountability, and transformative justice.
• Expansion of the Call for Change Helpline
  Expands access to a innovative free, confidential helpline offering prevention tools and support for those at risk of harming a partner—outside the criminal legal system. We hope you’ll continue building with us this year. Whether it’s making a call to your legislator, signing a support letter, or showing up for a hearing—this work takes all of us.Together, we’ll keep building the power needed to transform the material conditions of boys and men of color—and all of our communities. (Helpline number 877-898-3411)

In solidarity,
The Alliance for Boys and Men of Color Team

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Raising resources and people power is a critical part of building a strong organization, so if you want to engage in the work or would like to pitch in resources, you can do so here.