A presentation with Cesar A Cruz, human rights activist, author and
founder of Homies Empowerment of Oakland, CA. Employing music, video,
spoken word, and more, Cruz electrifies audiences and motivates them
to engage socially and politically to create the world in which they
want to live.

Cesar A. Cruz is an internationally renowned poet, educator and human
rights activist. From marching 76 straight miles to hunger striking
for 16 days, Cruz has dedicated his life to fighting injustice. His
relentless drive and passion has touched the lives of many, and his
writings have received praise from activists and scholars throughout
the world. Author Rodolfo Acuna sees "Cesar as one of the new martyrs
of our people." Acclaimed author and activist Luis Rodriguez depicts
Cesar's writings as filled with "fierce insight and righteous rage."
But Cruz shrugs off the accolades with a humble smile and a thought.
"I'm not important; we're but seeds of social change. Our role is a
simple one;' To comfort the disturbed, and to disturb the
comfortable.' Nothing more, and nothing less!”

Based out of Homies Empowerment, Cruz argues that Bay Area youth are
constantly caught in the crossfire between things like inadequate
schools and zero resources. In order to really protect the people, he
says the city needs to redefine crime: “In Oakland it’s easier for
kids to buy cocaine, a gun, pills or weed than it is to get a Raza
history book…So we do want to have an injunction on liquor stores; we
want to have an injunction on false history; we want to have an
injunction against cocaine and guns in our neighborhood.”

Cruz has spoken to audiences of youth, educators, and politicians
throughout the Bay Area, the state, and the country.

Presented by MIP, Coleman Advocates for Children and Youth, and
Students Making a Change.

• Lead attorney in the historic Korematsu v. United States Supreme Court case - considered to be one of the most controversial cases in the 20th century.

• A partner with San Francisco-based Minami Tamaki LLP

• He has been involved in significant litigation involving the civil rights of Asian Pacific Americans and other minorities.

• He was a co-founder of the Asian Law Caucus, Inc.,         a community-interest law firm

• A co-founder of the Asian American Bar Association of the Greater Bay Area, the first Asian American Bar Association in the United States