Eva Bluestein

When 82 year old Eva Bluestein was called to tell her she’d been selected as a 2007 California Senior Leader, she was delighted but couldn’t talk because she was chairing a meeting. When we connected with her later, we learned that that busy afternoon was typical for Ms. Bluestein, who said that as a Holocaust survivor, “I realized I have to spend my life doing good for humanity.”
Part of doing good means working tirelessly on prison reform, from one-one-one advocacy for inmates to policy advocacy that tries to change the prison system.  But Ms. Bluestein is also an active member of the Organization for Rehabilitation through Training, the Berkeley Gray Panthers, a North Berkeley Senior Center group called “Curious Minds” which she chairs, The El Cerrito Committee on Aging, and another group aptly called “Raging Grannies.”
Ms. Bluestein mentioned that she gets 20-40 pieces of mail a day in conjunction with her many activities and said, “I feel terrible about all the trees wasted.”  But we are convinced Eva Bluestein is worth a whole forest in her commitment to social justice.

Marvin Burrows

71 year old Marvin Burrows is described by his nominator as “A special package of remarkable energy, disarming charm, human courage and public charisma, and after hearing about Marvin’s community contributions, we couldn’t agree more.
Mr. Burrows was one of the founders of Lavender Seniors of the East Bay, creating social services and friendly visiting for LGBT elders all over the Bay area.  But he also works with Meals on Wheels, the Safer Schools project of Hayward, and as a speaker and mentor for Gay Straight Alliance Clubs and other organizations, teaching about diversity, and breaking down homophobia and stereotypes of older gay people.
Finally, Mr. Burrows shares his personal story to help fight for equal rights for LGBT people. After a 50 year relationship with partner Bill Swenor, they were finally allowed to marry in 2004 in San Francisco, only to have this official recognition revoked a few months later. And the soon-after tragedy of Bill’s untimely death was exacerbated by Mr. Burrow’s subsequent loss of his home and financial security because he didn’t have a marriage license.  In memory of his cherished life partner, Mr. Burrows has promised to speak out whenever someone asks him to promote Gay Marriage or anything that gives LGBT people of any age greater equality and a happier life.

Margaret Gordon

Margaret Gordon has been a staunch crusader for social, economic and environmental justice for more than 20 years.  She was a major force in a grassroots effort to secure jobs for low income people of color in West Oakland from firms benefiting from lucrative contracts downtown.  She’s worked on improving the schools, and safety in the streets.  And she too has connected personal struggles to public issues.  Ms. Gordon has spent a lifetime battling asthma, as has her son and 5 of her grandchildren.  But she was motivated by this experience to spend countless hours studying and exposing the fact that this condition is 7 times more common in the children of West Oakland than it is in those of Oakland as a whole. 
Based in part on her work with the widely respected West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project, Ms. Gordon has been asked to sit on numerous important task forces, advisory committees and planning groups on the local and state levels.  And she’s been in the streets too, participating in protests like the “Don’t Sit Idle” Day of Action that attracted media attention eventually leading to the passage of cleaner air policies by the California Air Resources Board.        
Ms. Gordon’s ability to tell West Oakland’s story in forums all over the country, have helped cement her reputation as an authentic and impassioned voice of the people.