Born in Dubai, Fatima’s family immigrated to Canada and eventually to the United States to find a safe haven away from the Gulf War. As a Muslim, immigrant and woman of color, Fatima learned from a very young age what it felt like not to belong. However, she also learned the power that comes from fighting for her rights and building community. Fatima continued her medical studies, but found her passion as an educator and turned to become a teacher. She began training a cross-country team, obtained her teaching credentials and began working as a teacher at Watts.
Our schools and other vital buildings are breaking down, our roads and sidewalks need major renovations, and our aging water pipes have cost families their health and their money. Our families want to enjoy the basic human right of sustainable, functional infrastructure.
California’s democratic system does not reflect the voices of its everyday people. There are too many barriers in the way of regular, everyday people being able to inform the work of their government. Elected officials have little incentive to engage with the everyday voter and often vote in favor of corporations over people, and we deserve better.
Let’s call it like it is: District 65 is experiencing environmental racism. With the presence of a large oil refinery, many natural gas refineries, chemical waste sites and lack of enforcement of building codes in this district, we have leaders who don’t have the political will or courage to say enough is enough. Clean air, clean water and clean food are basic human rights, and I won’t back down from this fight until we have achieved each of these priorities.
Public education should be the great equalizer and provide a path to upward mobility. However, the primary school education system has not traditionally supported our low income Latinx and black students. I will be your strongest advocate for increased public education funding, including free & universal pre-K, through any means necessary.
We are at a moral crisis. The rate of homelessness in our communities is the worst in the nation. Gentrification is happening in communities all around us. Being homeless is criminalized by lawmakers. Enough is enough. Home ownership is a key path to wealth and it is time for leadership that builds the wealth in the communities of our district, not reduces it.
Our criminal justice system is racist, cruel, and beyond repair, draining resources from our community and breaking apart families. We must push for comprehensive criminal justice reform that divests from prisons and policing, invests in restorative justice and alternatives to incarceration, and that truly values our communities.
Immigrants are our family, friends, coworkers, and neighbors; for many of us, we are immigrants. We help create the backbone of the community, yet we are denied access basic rights and resources that would allow us to thrive. Immigration reform can’t wait.
California has built the world’s fifth largest economy of the backs of everyday people who are now barely able to make ends meet. Our leaders are throwing band-aid solutions into our communities, demonstrating their continued allegiance to big business by making backdoor deals with real estate developers, the oil and gas industry and many more. There is a clear lack of upward economic mobility for residents in our district, and we deserve better.
No one should have to decide between visiting the doctor or buying food. Everyone deserves access to high quality medical care, including reproductive health, mental health, and substance abuse coverage.
It’s time that our health is valued over profits.
COVID-19 has dramatically changed many of our lives, and we deserve a government that will respond swiftly and justly to ensure we all receive the support we need and deserve.
We can’t wait any longer for plans for both a quick response and long-term recovery to COVID-19.