Please see our Newsletter January 2020 for photos and details about the October 26, 2019 Social Justice Awards and 30th Anniversary of the Club
For information about the 2019 30th Anniversary and Social Justice Awards Reception, please click here. To purchase tickets/be a sponsor, please click here.
These awards are given every two years to people we think deserve recognition for their progressive activism. See more information about award recipients at the bottom of this page
Photos from 2017 Awards held at Everett & Jones restaurant October 18, 2017
Clockwise: Walter Riley and Alona Clifton, Pamela Price, Sandra J Simon and Margaret Gordon, Gabrielle Henry, La Peña Community Chorus led by Lichi Fuentes and Jan Thyer, Assemblymember Rob Bonta, John Jernegan and Dorothy King with Walter Riley and Bronnie Hazelwood
2015 Social Justice Awards photos:
2015 JG Social Justice Awards–(from top left)–Asiay Johnson and Sandra Johnson Simon (co-chair), Robbie Clark, Carol Tolbert, Walter Riley (co-chair), Boona Cheema, Cat Brooks, Youth essay and art award winners, Rob Bonta (Assemblymember District 18) and Tony Thurmond (Assemblymember District 15 and keynote speaker). Center photo of Black Friday 14 protesting at West Oakland BART
2013 JG Social Justice awards–Jack Lucero Fleck (Club secretary), Stephen Pitts (keynote speaker), Eva Jefferson Patterson, Ellen Hutchinson, Marisa Jolivette, Pierre LaBossiere, Sandra Johnson Simon (membership chair), Alona Clifton (co-chair)
2011 John George Social Justice Awards–Walter Riley (co-chair), Kriss Worthington, Stephen Bingham, David Roach, Laura Rivas, Shaquea Pratt, Alona Clifton (co-chair)
2009 John George Social Justice Award recipients and Club officers–(from left) Geoffrey Pete, Alona Clifton, Walter Riley, Lorie Hill, Kitty Epstein, Keith Carson, Ise Lyfe and Brandon Price (Award recipients Geoffrey Pete, Kitty Epstein, Keith Carson, and Ise Lyfe)
2007 JG Social Justice Awards–Margaretta Wang-Ling Lin, Jackie Howell (Steering Committee), Barry Luboviski, Alona Clifton (co-chair), Clarence Thomas (keynote speaker)
John George Social Justice Award recipients
2007—Barry Luboviski, Secretary-Treasurer of the Alameda County Building and Construction Trades Council
Margaretta Wang-Ling Lin, Director, Community Economic Justice Practice, East Bay Community Law Center
2009–Kitty Epstein, education and housing activist, KPFA programmer
Geoffrey Pete, owner of Geoffrey’s, used by many progressive organizations and events as a meeting place
Keith Carson, Supervisor, Alameda County, long time supporter of John George Democratic Club and many progressive causes
Ise Lyfe–socially conscious musician
2011—
David Roach, Mo’ Better Foods, food justice in West Oakland
Laura Rivas, National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights
Kriss Worthington, Berkeley City Council staunch progressive since 1996
Shaquea Pratt, East Oakland Youth Development Center young leader
Stephen Bingham, lifetime service award providing legal aid and political organizing
2013—
Pierre LaBossiere, Haiti Action Committee, Haiti Emergency Relief Fund
Eva Jefferson Patterson, Equal Justice Society, Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights
Marisa Jolivette, San Lorenzo High School senior, Think China 2013 cultural exchange
League of Women Voters, recognizing 90+ years of educating women and men about public policy
2015—
Boona Cheema, Building Opportunities for Self Sufficiency (BOSS) homeless services in Berkeley
Black Lives Matter Activists—the Black Friday 14 who shut down West Oakland BART to demand and end to the war on Black Lives
Asiay Johnson—Graduate of Envision Academy, East Oakland Youth Development Council young leader
Carol Tolbert—Executive Director, Oakland’s Civic Pride since 1989
2017–
Alona Clifton–former Club Co-Chair for over 20 years; activist with BWOPA and many other organizations; former Peralta Colleges Board member
Margaret Gordon–co-founder of West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project working for a clean environment for West Oakland and beyond
Jan Thyer and Lichi Fuentes–co-directors of La Peña Community Chorus since 1994. Leading the chorus in songs of peace, justice, and hope in the Bay Area and throughout Latin America
Gabrielle Henry–Scholar athlete at Oakland High; president of the NAACO Imani Youth Council
Dorothy King & John Jernegan–owners of Everett and Jones serving the homeless and progressive community by opening their doors to many events
John George Democratic Club 