Sharon Miller and half a dozen CAA members attended the March 3 service of the Unitarian Universalist Church of the Monterey Peninsula to talk about the Caste Action Alliance scholarships and to give away copies of Isabel Wilkerson’s book.

The church had selected the CAA scholarship fund as its social justice charity for the month of March 2024.  

Sharon’s words:

“How can we each take a concrete and personal act toward reparations for long-standing systemic racial inequalities?  Members of the small but growing Caste Action Alliance (CAA)——which includes a number of this church’s members and friends— have been inspired by Isabel Wilkerson’s book Caste to establish a fund through the Community Foundation of Monterey County to award scholarships to the Black descendants of enslaved people.   CAA has been able to award 14 scholarships in the last two years. The goal for this year is $20,000 to help pay tuition for 12 students, a goal attainable with the help of the UUCMP.  

Here are what some of these scholarship recipients have told us:

Carlos, Reed College:  “My goal to become a geoscientist and work in environmental preservation is only made possible with your support.” 

Zola, UCLA:  “I aim to obtain a law degree to seek justice for my community.”

Johanna, UC Berkeley: “Having faced discrimination and depression, I plan to help people overcome the effects of trauma and mental illness.” 

Allison, MPC:  “I aspire to become an FBI investigator to ensure fairness in the criminal justice system.”

Javier, UC Berkeley:  “My goal is to apply my economics studies to government programs that reduce economic imbalances.”  

Since 2021 CAA has distributed hundreds of copies of Caste, held in-depth discussions of anti-racist books, and participated in community, political, educational, and artistic endeavors with an antiracist focus.  Please visit our table in the welcome hall after this service for more info or to pick up one of the editions of Caste we are giving away:  the original hardback, the paperback with an updated afterword, or the Young Readers version now in some of our local schools.  For more information, please visit https://casteactionalliance.net – especially the Scholarship and Actions sections.