Winner of the California Book Award

Ten years after the initial publication of the first-ever account of the struggle to develop and protect social justice in a bellwether state, the award-winning Wherever There’s a Fight is as relevant as ever for “navigating the slogan-riddled civil rights issues of the day” (Publishers Weekly, starred review). ACLU veterans Elaine Elinson and Stan Yogi tell the sweeping story of how freedom and equality have grown in California, from the gold rush right up to the precarious post-9/11 era, despite waves of fear, bigotry, exploitation, and ignorance. The swiftly paced yet detailed narrative covers many disparate struggles for equity, but from each case a pattern emerges: whether fighting for workers’ free speech rights, protesting the Proposition 8 ban on same-sex marriage, asserting the right of people with disabilities, or challenging race- and ethnicity-based legislation, it is Californians themselves who transform lofty ideals into practical realities through activism and legal action. Wherever There’s a Fight paints vivid portraits of these change makers, from well-known figures like Fred Korematsu and Dolores Huerta to people who in this book finally receive the attention they deserve; and it shows how these pushes for progress have reverberated far beyond the Golden State.