San Diego Continuing Education announced Thursday it will donate $10,000 to Black Lives Matter to fund a justice summit, aimed at developing young adults as social justice activists.
“Our SDCE community came together and made the decision to take immediate action in solidarity with Black Lives Matter,” said Carlos O. Turner Cortez, president of SDCE. “The donation supports political engagement, civic discourse and social justice education on college campuses in San Diego.”
SDCE is the top sponsor and will host the Justice Summit for Generation Z and Millennials this fall alongside Black Lives Matter, Generation Justice, the NAACP, SDCE’s Gateway to College and Career program, Youth Will, and the San Diego Chapter of the Black American Political Association of California. The event will feature education and art to raise awareness and advocacy around systemic racism and injustice.
San Diego Continuing Education is not new to social activism. Its campus in the Mountainview neighborhood — the Educational Cultural Complex — has served San Diegans since 1972. In 1983, Coretta Scott King spoke at the complex, which helped influence President Ronald Reagan to create the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday.
SDCE’s Historic Preservation Committee is working with the city of San Diego and state officials to have the complex awarded a Civil Rights Landmark Designation.
“ECC’s Historic Preservation Committee has been advancing the work of equality for all people,” said Laurie Coskey, executive director of the SDCE Foundation. “We are not just out there talking about what can be done to support BLM, we are walking the walk. We are putting our resources into action.”
Stevie Wonder and Maya Angelou have performed at the ECC as well.
SDCE serves 40,000 students annually at seven campuses in San Diego, which remain temporarily closed to in-person classes due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Fall semester classes will be offered remotely through online instruction. Registration begins in mid-July.
–City News Service