¡Felices Fiestas y Feliz Año Nuevo! Para ESPAÑOL This is a moment of closure and new beginnings. Above all, it is a time for celebration of life, family and culture. We are thankful for your friendship, partnership and collaboration throughout 2022 and invite you to accompany us as we expand our horizons and embark on new learning and teaching opportunities in 2023.  Our work is interwoven into family and community life. In the spirit of our elders’ storytelling tradition, we wish to share with you a few stories and many photos that emerged from our journey. Many family members, friends, and neighbors answered the call to service and joined us at COVID-19 vaccine clinics, food distributions, ciudadanía classes, civic engagement events and cultural celebrations to ensure that community members received life-saving services.   We welcome 2023, a year of rejuvenation and growth, and look forward to continue serving our community - addressing COVID-19 pandemic’s impact, preparing for disasters and emergencies, accessing healthy food, increasing civic participation, assisting new citizens, and advancing environmental and economic justice - all while embracing our gente and honoring our cultural celebrations.  Below are a few stories from our work in 2022. Continue reading

¡Féliz Verano! Para español. Signs of great progress made in our fight against COVID-19 are evident in the hustle and the bustle of everyday activity around us. However, community members who live and work in the hardest hit neighborhoods remain weary and on high alert. They have been disproportionately disadvantaged due to their socio-economic status and many fear getting and spreading COVID-19 to their loved ones. They comprise a large sector of the essential and frontline workforce, live in larger extended family units, are the least uninsured or underinsured, have the lowest levels of workplace protections and already suffered the greatest loss of life due to COVID-19. For these reasons and many more, Universidad Popular remains vigilant and immersed in the strategic COVID-19 response. We are providing direct services to community members and advocating for equitable recovery from the pandemic. Below we are sharing several snapshots from our current work and are excited to tell you about new projects and initiatives. Continue reading

On Tuesday December 14, 2021, the County of San Diego Independent Redistricting Commission (IRC) adopted the new supervisorial districts map. We are proud to report that the IRC heard our voices and our Latinx community of interest was kept together in a North County district (D5). The 2021 County of San Diego redistricting process provided us a unique opportunity to learn about county government, to be civically involved and to experience democracy in action. Along with thousands of community members, Universidad Popular stood in front of the County of San Diego IRC, submitted written comments, and called-in to share stories about the places that matter to us, our families, and our neighbors and the values that glue our communities together. We traveled from Fallbrook, Oceanside, Vista, San Marcos, Escondido, Valley Center, Pauma, Pala, and other North County neighborhoods to participate in every in-person meeting held across the county.  Continue reading

Message from our Co-Director Arcela Nuñez: Friends, It is a fact rarely acknowledged in public discourse that Whites have controlled power within the San Diego County Board of Supervisors since the body was founded in 1850 and the residents and communities they represent have enjoyed the full privileges afforded under representative democracy. This officially nonpartisan body, as required by the Constitution of California, was nonetheless dominated by Republicans until 2020 when Democrats took the majority of the seats.  Although this partisan transfer of power signaled a political shift in county politics and government, racial/ethnic underrepresentation persists and is a major issue of equity. Nora Vargas’s electoral victory last year as the first Latina Supervisor is monumental.  Mexicans have lived in San Diego County since before it became part of the United States and Latinxs make up 1.1 million people, the largest non-White group living in the county. Despite the large population, Latinxs have had zero representation in county government for almost 170 years. Supervisor Vargas overcame the status quo and the institutionalized practice of gerrymandering that has diluted the power of Mexican/Latinx voters. She broke through a brick wall forging a new pathway for increasing Latinx representation on the County Board of Supervisors and other elected positions for generations to come.  REPRESENTATION MATTERS!  We are amid a dramatic demographic transformation in San Diego County with people of color increasing in numbers across the county. Latinxs account for 30 percent of the total population in the county and in cities such as Escondido they have been the majority of the population since 2010. However, numbers alone do not automatically translate into political influence. As a community of interest, Latinxs continue to face gross political underrepresentation at every level of government.  Continue reading