Don’t worry– we captured the whole event on video and you can watch by clicking below. Join the CIRS community in raising $25,000 to carry forward Don’s work!

In honor of CIRS co-founder and legendary activist researcher, Don Villarejo, we gathered to celebrate the past, present and future of research for action in Rural California. This online event– which happened on December 7th, at 5:00pm– featured memories of Don’s life and work, music, a tour through the CIRS photo archives– and a discussion on the role of research in movements for justice that includes early CIRS organizers Izzy Martin and Luis Magaña, current CIRS staff, and rural changemakers Oralia Maceda and Nikiko Masumoto.

As Don knew so well and said so often, this work wouldn’t be possible without the support, trust, and power of rural communities. The CIRS community came together to pay tribute to Don’s tremendous work for good– and to celebrate the thousands of seeds of change which he planted and tended through more than eighty years of life.