Short Bio

Ishmael Tarikh was born in the segregated former capitol of the Confederacy. Shortly after birth he and his family moved to Compton, CA. In 1978 he graduated from Alain Locke Senior High School, a school that was founded in the aftermath of the Watts Rebellion of 1965. That summer he was a member of the inaugural class of the Summer Bridge Program  at the University of California, San Diego. After his freshman year of college, he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps.

In 1980 Ishmael Tarikh transferred to the University of California, Los Angeles, and immediately began a lifetime of "giving back" through community service. He was conferred a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science in 1983. In 1986 Ishmael was conferred a Master of Arts degree in Afro American Studies from UCLA.

In 2001 Ishmael was conferred a Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law. While at Hastings Ishmael was active in the Black Law Students Association; he directed basketball intramurals; he sat on the Admissions Committee for the Legal Education Opportunity Program (where he was also a T. A.); he was an instructor in "Street Law"; and he was an intern who was certified to practice law at the San Francisco Public Defender's Office.

Since law school Ishmael has maintained his personal commitment to community service in the capacities as an Instructor for the Center for Youth Development through Law at Boalt Hall; Scorer for Alameda County's Mock Trial Competition; Coach of McClymonds (West Oakland) High School's Mock Trial Team; Interviewer for the Legal Advice and Referral Clinic of the Volunteer Legal Services Program of the Bar Association of San Francisco; and as the Director of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights' Bay Area PoliceWatch. It is as an organizer/activist with EBC that Ishmael co-authored successful legislation [Proposition H, passed by the voters of San Francisco in November, 2003] in San Francisco to hold the San Francisco Police Department more accountable for their excesses. During those advocacy struggles Ishmael appeared frequently in the media of radio, newsprint, and television interviews. His viewpoints on police accountability have been broadcast throughout the nation, and via AP, Reuters, and the Internet, they have been noted worldwide.

Ishmael has taught compulsory public education, community college, and has been academically appointed as a Lecturer at the California State University at Chico, the University of California at Santa Cruz, and San Jose State University. He also taught UC, Berkeley undergraduates for one year in field studies of Urban Education.

Ishmael is an attorney at law who is currently the sole proprietor of Tarikh Consulting Services. He has been a consultant for the University of San Francisco Law School's Street Law Program; the Boalt Police Review Advocates; the June Jordan Small School for Equity; McClymonds High School Mock Trial Team; Making Waves Education Program; the California State University at Chico; the City of San Francisco's Department of Children, Youth, and Families; Prentice-Hall Publishers; and the Educational Testing Service.  He is currently a member of the Bay Area Know Your Rights Coalition, and is a published author.