Contra Costa NOW

Message from National NOW President Kim Villanueva

January 9, 2026

January is Human Trafficking Prevention Month, and January 11 is the National Day of Human Trafficking Awareness.  

The day is marked by #WearBlueDay, when people wear blue clothing or a blue ribbon to show solidarity with victims and survivors. As noted by The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, this is an important time to educate ourselves about the realities of human trafficking and modern-day enslavement. We need to understand what’s happening in our communities – and what we can do to prevent it.  

Human trafficking is a modern form of slavery that involves force, fraud, or coercion to obtain some type of labor or commercial sex act.  Trafficking can happen in any community, and victims can be of any age, race, gender, or nationality. 

In 2025, human trafficking was once again the fastest growing and second largest criminal industry in the world.   Children account for half of all trafficking victims; the average age that a child is first exploited is 12 years old.  

According to National Network for Youth, one in five runaway and homeless youth is a victim of human trafficking. LGBTQIA+ youth, and youth who have been in foster care, are experiencing trafficking at significantly higher rates than their peers. 

If the victim is a minor, no force, fraud, or coercion is necessary to prove trafficking. Any youth under the age of 18 who is involved in a commercial sex act is considered a victim of trafficking. 

This month NOW members are learning what we can all to do prevent sex trafficking. The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children has good information on ways to keep youth safe. 

Until justice is ours,

Kim Villanueva 

Halena Neyazi from Antioch has been attending Los Medanos College and plans to continue her studies as a Psychology Major at University of California Berkeley in the fall. As a first generation college student of Muslim and Afghan descent she understands the importance of activism. While President and Founder of the Muslim Student Association at Los Medanos she used her own struggles as an outsider to build a club that empowered her and educated other students. In her Brentwood Community she helped girls aged 10-17 as the Youth Girls Program Coordinator at the Muslim Community Center. She also served as a Student Trustee for the Contra Costa Community College District, representing over 50,000 students.

Kaleena Fowler of Pleasant Hill has been attending Howard University in Washington,D.C. and plans to graduate in 2026 with a degree in Political Science and Communications. As a twice elected Senator for the College of Arts and Sciences she collaborated with the non-profit organization “Beyond the Teal” to combat sexual assault, Kaleena worked to demystify Title IX, educate students on consent, and direct them toward trauma informed resources including the Student Health Center. One of the ways she did this was by hosting a panel discussion titled Breaking the Silence where she brought together “Rights4Girls”, the Howard Student Health Center and the University title IX office. As a result of her work Kaleena also co-authored a proclamation The Breaking of the Silence: Addressing Sexual Assault at Howard University which was passed by the University Student Association Senate.

Click on the link below to find out if your representative has cosponsored HJ Resolution 80 – Establishing the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment.

Cosponsors

Events Through Mobilize:
mobilize.us

Local Indivisible Chapters:

Indivisible TriValley
https://www.indivisibletrivalley.org/

Indivisible West Contra Costa County
https://equalrights4all.us/iwccc/

Indivisible ReSisters Contra Costa
https://indivisibleresisters.org/

Dear Rainbow Community,

We are thrilled to introduce ourselves as the new Co-Executive Directors of Rainbow Community Center. It is an honor to serve this incredible community and to continue building on the vital work that has been done to uplift, support, and empower everyone we serve.

Together, we’re committed to fostering inclusivity, creating safe spaces, and expanding the programs that make a real impact in people’s lives. We look forward to working with you, listening to your ideas, and continuing to grow as a community.

Thank you for your unwavering support, and we are excited for what lies ahead!

En comunidad,

Jorge & Cori

Co-Executive Directors

Rainbow Community Center Mental Health Services

If you or someone you know is seeking mental health services, Rainbow Community Center offers sessions with licensed professionals specializing in LGBTIQA2S+ affirming therapy.

To register, please visit our webpage and complete our intake form.

Rainbow Community Center offers immediate appointments with our dedicated mental health clinicians. Your support in sharing this information with those who may benefit is greatly appreciated.

NOW Hear This: September 13, 2024 Newsletter

Message from National NOW President Christian F. Nunes

Greetings Feminists,

One of the most important conversations NOW chapters can have with members right now is about what’s at stake in this election.  I wrote an article for Newsweek this week about this, and you can read it here. 

“When women are elected,” I wrote, “we see more public policy decisions made that benefit everyone, closing gender gaps, advancing economic growth, and strengthening workplace protections, making it easier to live and work in a society where opportunity is available for all.”

I believe we’re seeing a shift in our politics away from pure partisanship, and more towards what’s being called “values-based voters,” motivated by their most deeply held beliefs and the threats they see to their basic rights.  We need to talk about this election in terms of what it means to the core issues that unite us as NOW members, and how we can elect leaders who will fight alongside us for racial justice, reproductive rights, economic justice, LGBTQIA+ rights, ending violence against women and constitutional equality.

We’ve been talking in recent weeks about how “women will save democracy,” and in part that’s because women are the largest group of registered voters in America—and turn out in the highest numbers at the ballot box.  That’s because women know how important it is to solve the most urgent problems that keep us from achieving our goals and securing our future.

This week, NOW joined civil rights and issue-based advocacy groups to storm the halls of Congress for a lobbying day to demand action on the Freedom to Vote Act, the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act, DC Statehood and the Native American Voting Rights Act, to  ensure that every American has an equal opportunity to make their voices heard at the ballot box.

This new survey from Glamour/YouGov shows that the top three issues for women in this election are the economy, health care, and the cost of housing.

“Across the board…” the survey found, “women spoke about the economy in personal terms: what it cost them, what they could or couldn’t afford. And it often included issues like paid leave and affordable childcare. Health care, too, was seen in terms of prescription costs, though the Black maternal health crisis was a major issue.”

Another conclusion?  “Paid family leave continues to be one of the most popular—and unifying—policies in the country.”

NOW’s intersectional feminist agenda is on the ballot this fall.  Voters

can make their voices heard on the issues that matter to them by turning out in record numbers.    That’s the conversation we need to be having with NOW members—and they in turn can have it with others.  

In Solidarity
Christian F. Nunes
President

Haley Solis is an undergraduate student at Stanford University, where she is pursuing a degree in Environmental Systems Engineering.  She attended Hercules High School where she founded their Environmental Club.  One of her accomplishments while she was in high school was to implement a composting program.  This was no easy feat as it required her to coordinate with the school district’s unionized custodial staff.  She also set up composting programs for several small businesses in her community. 

One of our previous winners in 2021 Thyra Cobbs earned her Baccalaureate Degree in African American Studies at UCLA.  At UCLA she currently is a McNair Scholar and also serves as Chairperson of the African Student Union.  Thyra has been accepted to continue her studies at UCLA in their African American M. A. Program.  Thyra is from the Brentwood area of Contra Costa County.

Each winner received a $1,000 scholarship.

NOW Celebrates Juneteenth

June 19, 2024

Juneteenth, the day that marks of the end of slavery in the United States after the Civil War has been celebrated by African Americans since the late 1800s, but it wasn’t until 2021 that it became a federal holiday.

President Biden signed legislation to make June 19th a federal holiday that year, following the renewed demand for attention to be paid following the death of George Floyd the previous summer.  Standing beside him was 93-year old Opal Lee, “the Grandmother of Juneteenth,” who as this NPR story explains, had waged a decades-long fight to make Juneteenth a U.S. holiday.

After decades of working on Juneteenth celebrations in her home state of Texas, with the Tarrant County Black Historical and Genealogical Society, at the age of 89 she decided to “spread the word about Juneteenth to everybody.” She set out on a walking campaign from her home in Forth Worth to Washington, D.C.

“I was thinking that surely, somebody would see a little old lady in tennis shoes trying to get to Congress and take notice,” she said. What became annual walks culminated in a trip to the Capitol to deliver a petition signed by 1.5 million Americans supporting a federal holiday.

You can learn more about Opal Lee, and about today’s Opal’s Walk 2024 here.  And you can meet Opal Lee in this  video from just this past Friday showing her recent Forth Worth homecoming.

Of course, having a federal holiday to commemorate the date that enslaved Africans and African Americans in Texas learned of the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation doesn’t mean that white supremacy has been put to rest. Black Americans are continuously mistreated and harmed by systemic racism, discrimination and denial of opportunity at every level. 

Vice President Harris has declared this Juneteenth as one of three National Days of Action on Voting. With a focus on voter engagement, these National Days of Action on Voting aim to ensure all Americans have the information they need to vote, promote voter participation for students, protect election workers, and fight voter suppression laws. Other National Days of Action on Voting are the anniversary of the Voting Rights Act on August 6, 2024 and National Voter Registration Day on September 17, 2024.

Juneteenth has always been a family celebration with an eye on history.  This November, we can change the course of history and keep the spirit of Juneteenth alive by electing more Black women!  And more leaders who will fight for equality.

In solidarity,
Christian F. Nunes
President

Thanks to indivisible… this chart gives us a reason to get up each morning and keep fighting for our rights, our dignity, our autonomy and our democracy.

What Could We Lose in 2024?

What Can You Do?

VOTE!