Shaheed Price never imagined he’d stand at a community college podium giving a speech about voting and civic engagement to 100 of his peers, but the San Diego City College student is now at what he calls a “360 degree” turn in his life.

Price remembers his mother bringing him to the same City College campus as a child while she attended classes in the 90s. 

A couple decades later, after serving a 12-year prison sentence from his teens through his 20s, Price found Pillars of the Community, a San Diego grassroots organization focusing on advocating for people impacted by law enforcement and the carceral system.

 Pillars presented Price with a pathway to becoming their lead civic engagement organizer.

“After everything I’ve been through – my mom coming here, being in the community, being incarcerated, (having) that privilege of (presenting at City College), it’s surreal,” Price told City Times after his speech. “It’s 360 because I’m back at the same spot, however, with knowledge and with information and with resources to be of service to the community.”

The Hermanos Unidos Brothers United learning community at City invited Price and other Pillars leaders to host the “Knowledge is Power” voter education event Oct. 30.

Event speakers highlighted a range of local issues potentially impacting students, some of which are addressed in the local and statewide measures they’ll see on the November 2024 ballot.

Pillars of the Community is actively mobilizing residents not just to vote, but to use the election as a means to fight systemic inequality. 

San Diego City College Student Services Technician Bianca Guzman-Arellano, left, hands an event-themed HUBU t-shirt to a “Knowledge is Power” voter education event attendee Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024. Photo by Marco Guajardo/City Time Media

On their way to addressing the election topics promoted for the event, speakers, such as Pillars Program Director Laila Aziz, elaborated on a process students can engage in when seeking to enact change in their communities.

Aziz laid out in her speech the core elements of civic engagement, which included community building through volunteering, changing laws through policy advocacy, as well as court advocacy and police accountability for affected community members.

“Voting is one step. It takes you, what, two minutes? And we ask you, do that,” Aziz told City students. “But do the research. Every day, you’re preparing to be in the best position so when you vote it’s something that’s straight and sincerely assists your community in that vote.” 

Opening speaker and Pillars board member Danny Widener described the historic and contemporary role of students in the struggle for social justice, but argued that rising tuition, housing costs and financial pressures now act as systemic barriers that limit students’ abilities to engage as political actors. 

To put the role of the electoral process in perspective, Widener, who is a UCSD history professor, shared with City Times the analogy he offered to students. 

“If you think of political life like a nightclub, voting is the cover charge,” Widener said. “The rest of it, the activism, the organizing, that’s the dancing, right? That’s the party. You just have to vote to get in the building, you know, but not to see it as the end point.”

City Times Media reviewed the speech given by Pillars at the “Knowledge is Power,” event to identify statements that described the organization’s positions on ballot items related to the issues raised in the City College Community Agenda.

The Community Agenda is an ongoing survey of City community members, in both English and Spanish, asking what issues and questions they want candidates to address as they compete for their votes. If you have not submitted your issues and questions to the survey, please do so today.

Keep scrolling to see Pillars of the Community’s statements on Agenda issues and ballot items.

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