Two out of three kids who drop out of Oakland, CA's, public schools come into contact with the criminal justice system, according to an Oakland Unified School District report. In some of Oakland's poorest neighborhoods, more than half of high school students do not graduate.
Almost 50 years ago, a notorious church bombing in Birmingham, Ala. killed two of Fania Davis's closest friends—and launched Davis, then a teenager, into a lifetime of social justice work. Today, the well-known Oakland resident directs Restorative Justice for Oakland Youth (RJOY), an innovative organization that aims to turn teenagers accused of crimes or troublemaking into responsible citizens.