Overview

Established in 1999, Activist San Diego (ASD) describes itself as “an information, communications and mobilization organization networking for social justice.”  Through its “Activist Center, the Internet, media, and educational programs,” ASD “links volunteers with community organizations and facilitates the growth of grassroots efforts to grow a progressive movement for social change.”

The ASD website provides the following resources:

• a Community Calendar of local events of interest to the political left, such as speeches and rallies;
• a Flier Distribution forum by which “progressive organizations can get their fliers to their members in a timely fashion and not burn up gas or funds for postage”;
• a Networking, Coalition Building, & Membership Recruitment service whereby ASD acts as a “central clearinghouse for progressive organizations and activities [to make] base-building or coalition-building much more effective”;
• a New Member Outreach section targeting people who have recently joined, or are considering the possibility of joining, ASD;
• an Emergency Response Network section that serves as “a central place to look for the latest news and information updates.”

In the early 2000s, ASD became a member organization of the Abolition 2000 and United for Peace and Justice coalitions.

ASD’s most prominent longstanding partner organization is the American Friends Service Committee.

Events Promoted by ASD

Over the years, most of the on-the-ground events promoted by ASD have taken place in or near San Diego. A few notable examples:

• In 2003, ASD enthusiastically supported local anti-war rallies sponsored by Code Pink for Peace, an organization co-founded by pro-Castro radical Medea Benjamin and communist activist Jodie Evans.
• In July 2004, ASD urged locals to see The Corporation, an anti-corporate documentary film that was being shown at a San Diego-area movie theater. According to ASD, this production examined “the far-reaching repercussions of the corporation’s increasing preeminence”—and included “insight[s]” from such prominent leftists as Noam Chomsky, Michael Moore, and Howard Zinn.
• In February 2006, ASD promoted an upcoming 2006 speech titled “Women and Social Justice Movements: Then, Now, Tomorrow” by UC Santa Cruz professor (and lifelong communist revolutionary) Angela Davis, whom the organization: (a) described as “a living witness to the historical struggles of the contemporary era,” and (b) lauded for “her ongoing work to combat all forms of oppression in the U.S. and abroad.”
• In early 2006 as well, ASD publicized an upcoming “Black Liberation and Socialism” event examining not only “the continued legacy of racism and poverty in our society,” but also the “contribution” that Marxism could make toward resolving those problems.
• Also in early 2006, the ASD website featured previews of an upcoming local appearance by Cindy Sheehan, the founder of Gold Star Families for Peace.
• In 2012 and 2013, ASD held local events commemorating the 2011 launch of the anti-capitalist Occupy Wall Street movement.
• In 2013, ASD supported a Los Angeles-based Ecosocialism Conference organized and “inspired” by members of the Democratic Socialists of America, the Green Party, the International Socialist Organization, the Los Angeles Socialist Party USA, and the Valley College Socialists.
• From the beginning of the second Trump administration which began in 2025, ASD actively promoted rallies titled “Justice in Palestine & Everywhere” — events that emphasized Israel’s alleged oppression of the Palestinian people. The organization also promoted protests calling for the abolition of the Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency, which, on President Trump’s direction, was deployed in cities nationwide to apprehend and deport illegal aliens residing unlawfully in the United States.

Supporting Bob Filner, the Corrupt Mayor of San Diego

In July 2013, when allegations began to surface that San Diego mayor (and former congressman) Bob Filner had sexually harassed numerous women during his long tenure in political life, ASD promoted a pro-Filner event—titled “Standing W/Mayor Filner & Due Process”—which was slated to take place on August 19. In Filner’s defense, ASD quoted his supporters who: (a) lauded the Democratic mayor for having “stood side by side with many of our displaced communities for decades,” and (b) charged that the widespread calls for Filner’s resignation were being “motivated and orchestrated by the conservative elements in San Diego that fear the Mayor’s progressive agenda of including all people in the future direction of the city.”

Executive Director

ASD’s executive director is Yusef Miller, a black Muslim American who, through various vehicles including “Interfaith teams,” has focused on “fighting disparities on all fronts: Race, Religion, Gender, Immigration Status to name a few.” Some specific aspects of his work as a self-identified “social justice advocate”:

• Police Reform: Miller has met with police chiefs and sheriffs in several cities “to discuss de-escalation policy and other critical reform legislations” designed to “improve transparency and accountability in law-enforcement oversight.”
• Breast Health Awareness: Miller founded “Pink Crescent,” a breast-health awareness organization “which aims to increase the [breast cancer] survival rate of women of color and increase inclusion in clinical trials, by visiting and educating women’s groups on the seriousness of testing and prevention.”
• Fighting Human Trafficking: Miller founded Mosques Against Trafficking in October 2016, a Muslim organization dedicated to “fighting human trafficking in San Diego County.”
• Environmental Equity: Miller has served as: chair of the Environmental Climate Justice Committee of North San Diego County’s NAACP; equity advisor for Clean Earth For Kids and Clergy For The Coastline; and co-chair of Interfaith For Climate And Earth Justice. From these platforms, he has focused on “educating the community on clean air, clean water, and clean soil in a manner and does not neglect environmental injustices particular to communities of concern.”