Tony Guan’s campaign against Prop 16 got national attention and he helped rally for the victorious plaintiffs in a US Supreme Court victory against racial preferences. In this Opportunity Now exclusive Q&A, he talks about the personal cost of activism, ongoing challenges, and the need to build networks and scout for local leaders, to have an even greater impact on state and local policy.
A couple decades after Prop 209 protected non-discrimination rights for all Californians, Prop 16 tried to re-impose racial quotas. Local grassroots organizer Tony Guan worked tirelessly to defeat Prop 16 by showing how affirmative action actually hurts the Asian community and erodes the rights of all Californians. An Opportunity Now exclusive Q&A.
Cristabel Cruz can't help but play therapist and try to help Dem candidates escape their denial, cognitive rigidity, and constrained worldview when it comes to CA's chronic problems. An OppNow exclusive.
In 1879, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow explored, in The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls, how a wanderer's mindset can travel through and beyond stasis and repetition: "nevermore/The traveler returns to the shore."
Political parties and politicians change positions regularly--and sometimes dramatically. Sage Journals explains how successful volte-faces employ clever techniques of reframing.
A worldview isn't just a casual set of beliefs, says Nora Williams on Medium. It's a deep-rooted mental framework that creates cognitive patterns of behavior--or in the case of politicians--policy choices. So what to do when that worldview no longer aligns with reality? Step one: realize that our worldview has been taught—not chosen. Then we can begin the difficult work of reshaping it.
This year’s June ballot will once again ask voters to take out a loan, says Mark Hinkle, President of the Silicon Valley Taxpayers Association & Vice Chair of the Santa Clara Libertarian Party. He says bonds can cost twice the borrowed amount over 30 years, for technology that becomes obsolete in just five years. An Opportunity Now exclusive warning for 2026.
San José resident and former candidate for state Assembly Ted Stroll offers his take on how to stay safe from violence and mayhem during protests against immigration enforcement. An Opportunity Now exclusive op-ed.
When new flight routes started to rattle the skies above Sunnyvale and Cupertino, one local activist led the charge to push back. A voice for residents who felt helpless, Tony Guan and his grassroots team spent years fighting federal bureaucracies, to restore some measure of peace and quiet. An Opportunity Now exclusive Q&A.
