Daily Bruin - Alternative Breaks Works with Underserved Communities

The following feature appears in the Daily Bruin, the University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA) campus newspaper. Written by Nataly Rezek, the feature discusses Alternative Breaks, a UCLA program within the Community Service Commission (CSC) which sends small groups of UCLA undergraduate students to communities within the United States to engage in meaningful service during their academic year breaks. Also featured in the piece is Emme Rackham, who works closely with Felony Murder Elimination project on data gathering and also involved in the DropLWOP Coalition.

Excerpts from the feature appear below.

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This year, four UCLA students were given an opportunity to learn about and provide assistance to a disadvantaged community during spring break.

Emme Rackham, a Latin American studies graduate student who served as a site leader for the Alternative Breaks trip to Oakland, California this past spring, said Alternative Breaks is a nationwide program that provides students with opportunities to gain first-hand experience with underserved communities.

The program searches for students who are interested in service and have the time and emotional capacity to dedicate themselves to service organizations, Rackham said. She added that the program is fully student-led, often with students returning as site leaders to organize and plan trips.

Four students went to Oakland in April after submitting an application to participate in Alternative Breaks, Rackham said. This year’s trip focus was on incarceration, reimagining the criminal justice system and public safety while learning about alternatives to prisons and punitive justice systems, she added.

Gabriela Hernandez, a rising fourth-year American literature and culture student who participated in the trip, said the trip involved legislative training at the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, sending a newsletter to incarcerated people and researching the constitutional rights of prisoners with children.

Hernandez said the trip also involved eating lunch with members from the California Coalition for Women Prisoners and discussing the prevalence of sexual abuse against incarcerated women. “They were really open to us asking questions – even the people that have been formerly incarcerated were like, ‘Ask me questions. I’m not going to be offended. I want you guys to help,’” Hernandez said.

Despite the funding challenges, Rackham said her most important memory from the trip came from participating in a restorative justice circle at the Ella Baker Center. Through the circle, she learned about instances where women are charged with child abuse or neglect because of the actions of their partners, she said. “There’s also a large majority of women whose crimes directly are related to the violence or trauma that they’ve suffered but they are criminalized for that,” Rackham said.

“We’re going to these places to learn and engage, and we’re adding as much to their lives in their organization that they’re adding to ours,” Rackham said.

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You can read the full feature "Alternative Breaks offers first-hand experience with underserved communities" at the Daily Bruin website to learn more about these inspiring future leaders who are certain to continue the work of bringing about a fairer criminal justice system and building safer communities.