Blog
I’m proof that each of us has the power to make a great difference – if we work together.
I began as an organizer for CPD affiliate the Delaware Alliance for Community Advancement (DelACA), where I learned to bring people together on the issues they care about most. I decided to run for higher office with the hopes of tangibly impacting DelACA members on issues of criminal justice reform, voting rights, healthcare, and the opioid crisis – all truly national issues that disproportionately affect communities of color like mine.
I won 35% of the statewide vote in my very first run for US Senate against an incumbent who has been in office for 42 years. My message of progressive transformation in Delaware resonated with tens of thousands of people waiting to animate our democracy through action. Now, as a member of DelACA, we are working to galvanize this excitement into a broad progressive base of activists to build real and lasting power in Delaware with the CPD Network.
I started alone. But I quickly learned that when communities act together, they build power. And when people in grassroots organizations from all across our country raise their voices in unison, they exert that power to win change. And that is why the CPD Network exists – to build power that cannot be ignored, power that is winning change with a real impact on people’s lives.
And we need your continued support more than ever. Please become a monthly sustainer and make a tax-deductible donation today.
Every person who joins us becomes more powerful and powers us. Your generosity truly helps us to go door to door, neighborhood to neighborhood.
Since 2014 the CPD Network has improved the lives of nearly 30 million people on issues of immigration, taxation, healthcare, education, climate justice and so much more.
So I ask you to continue to raise your powerful voice. Please give as much as you can to make this next year our most powerful and groundbreaking yet.
My story is just one of many within the CPD Network of working to realize our shared vision of equity and opportunity. When we join together, we know that change is on the horizon. We must not back down until it is a reality!
In solidarity, Kerri Evelyn Harris Member, DelACA
“Prison.”
That was the response a 5-year-old Black girl gave at a community meeting I attended at a church in New Orleans, more than a year ago. The question: what do you and your friends call school?
It was a devastating and unforgettable moment that animated the deep and often hidden psychological impact of the school-to-prison pipeline. What does it say about the values of society (and our education system), when such young children think of their schools and education in this way?
Every day, tens of thousands of young people of color go to schools that feel like jails. From in-school police presence to alarmingly high suspension rates, harsh disciplinary policies rooted in racial discrimination disproportionately affect Black and Brown children in our public schools. Indeed, the resulting school-to-prison pipeline is one of the most egregious manifestations of systemic racism in the United States.
The Center for Popular Democracy (CPD) continues to support Black and Brown youth from all across the country who have a clear vision of safe, inclusive, and supportive schools. Young people who are part of the CPD youth network, Youth Everywhere Rising and Resisting (YERR), have joined youth from all over the country calling for an end to the school-to-prison pipeline and police-free schools.
Youth of color reject so-called ‘school safety’ measures that criminalize them and the CPD Network is standing behind them. We are supporting the youth in demanding a focus on learning, guidance and the freedom to thrive.
Thousands of people, including many of you, showed your support for the #YouthDemand message and sent messages to the Federal Commission on School Safety demanding that it listen to this vision. Instead, the Commission has advocated for the rescission of the federal civil rights guidance on school discipline, provided a roadmap for how schools can bring more guns into school by arming personnel, and is entrenching the school-to-prison pipeline by advocating for “hardening” schools with more metal detectors,police, and military personnel.
Will you send a message to Congress that we need them to use all of their powers to end the school-to-prison pipeline now?
Young people from all across the country are saying enough. School safety is about their lives; about their daily experiences. They are calling for divestment from school policing, increased funding for more guidance counselors, mental health support and restorative justice, as well as increased pay for their teachers, among other things. They have a clear vision for their schools and they are demanding that their voices be heard.
This fight is far from over. We need your support now to continue elevating the voices and experiences of youth of color in their fight to end the school-to-prison pipeline.Your generosity allows us to work with young people and support them in realizing their vision of safe, inclusive, and supportive schools in our communities and beyond. I urge you to please make a donation to ensure that youth of color are central to the conversation about school safety.
The future of our democracy will be driven by these young visionaries. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation before the end of the year to join young people in dismantling the school-to-prison pipeline.
In solidarity, Dmitri Holtzman Director of Education Justice Campaigns, CPD
On December 19, the Center for Popular Democracy released the timely report “Bad Deal, Bad Company, Bad Billionaire: How Proposed Taxpayer Subsidies for Amazon HQ2 Can Still Be Stopped.” Co-released with ALIGN: The Alliance for a Greater New York, Make the Road New York, New York Communities for Change, and Partnership for Working Families, the report outlines New York State and City’s proposed $3 billion in corporate giveaways to Amazon in the form of tax credits, capital grants, land-use fast-tracking, and property tax abatements.
The report highlights key ways that Amazon’s proposed second headquarters (HQ2) in Long Island City, Queens would harm New York communities and exacerbate inequality in the city. Amazon’s HQ2 will threaten affordable housing, accelerate gentrification, and strap struggling public infrastructure.
The report concludes with concrete ways that elected officials in New York can stop one of the largest corporate giveaways in the state’s history. And just last week, State Senator Michael Gianaris, a vocal supporter of worker’s rights who has been critical of the proposed Amazon giveaways, was appointed by the NY State Senate to the powerful Public Authorities Control Board, which holds key approval authority. Read the full report on our website.
This has been another terrifying year for our country. As we work to achieve our bold vision of a popular democracy that empowers courageous, sustained participation by us all, we must stand up to confront the hate emanating from our nation’s capitol and inciting division across the country.
The CPD Network exists to counter this hate by prioritizing winning real change. That’s why we need your help. Please give now to invest in the future of our democracy.
Your generosity wins change – from division to unity and from a brutal economy to one that gives everyone the freedom to thrive. I’m talking about change with a tangible impact on people’s lives, so everyone has opportunity for a solid education; decent housing; a living wage with a future; and genuine dignity and respect.
And yes, our ultimate goal is winning change that turns hate into love.
Please donate to the CPD Network now. Your gift helps build grassroots power that can fight back against racism, sexism, and greed.
Since 2014, the CPD Network has been confronting sustained hate against our communities by:
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Mobilizing more than 500,000 people in hundreds of separate actions, around federal policies – defending healthcare, and countering family separation at the border and tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans;
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Changing the national conversation with 2 million media impressions around our fight to preserve the integrity of the Supreme Court – which activated tens of millions of women across the country to demand respect for women and a responsive government;
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Raising nearly $7 million for the Maria Fund for Puerto Rico, to provide immediate relief and long-term rebuilding;
And so much more.
It's clear, now, that a united and diverse movement with women and people of color in the lead, can beat the forces of greed and hate. Together, we can win quality healthcare for all, a clean environment, taxes that create equity, and a true, inclusive democracy.
What you do today, with your passion, your courage, and your generosity of spirit is breathing life into our democracy.
In solidarity, Ana Maria Archila Co-Executive Director, CPD
I used to wonder how we could keep track of the impact we have on our democracy. I mean, whenever the powerful attacked the dignity and lives of our communities, we fought back with all our heart and soul. But how could we tell if we were making a difference?
Now I know the answer. BY WINNING CHANGE – widespread change with a real impact on people’s lives, on the respect they receive, on their health, education, and futures. That’s what you help our network of partners and allies to achieve, and why we need your continued generosity.
As 2018 closes, I can look back over recent years with pride. Since 2014, we’ve been winning tangible change that has improved the lives of nearly 30 million people. For example, the CPD Network has
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Won 40 victories nationwide to raise wages and mandate paid sick time and a fair workweek for over 20 million people
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Campaigned to defend the voting and democratic rights of 8 million people
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Mobilized to protect immigrants by strengthening city sanctuary policies, keeping families together, defending Dreamers, and securing counsel and due process in 19 cities and counties, and in 11 states across the country.
But you know as well as I that the attacks on our values haven’t stopped. So we must bring our passion to the fight, show our outrage at injustice, and work to realize our dreams of a true popular democracy. We must continue building the power of the people – from training a new generation of leaders to building infrastructure for grassroots organizing – so we can empower the New American Majority.
But we can’t do it alone. We need you. Please be generous – give now to the CPD Network (click here to donate).
To win a vibrant democracy, to ensure everyone, not just billionaires, have the freedom to thrive, we must come together. And together we’ll win change to ensure a good education, safe, affordable housing, a solid job, and a healthy planet – for all.
Together we are mighty. So I’m asking you, please show your support. Help us end the year right, so we can “hit the ground running” in 2019. With your help, we can win the change our nation truly needs.
In solidarity, Jennifer Epps-Addison Network President & Co-Executive Director, CPD
I’ve been proud to lead the fight for low income workers and families in the Detroit area with Good Jobs Now.
This city has been through a lot. Sometimes, people think that the sort of economic displacement that we’ve experienced in Detroit is far away. It won’t happen to them. Puerto Rico is far away… Houston is far away… Flint, Michigan…
Well, we see it differently.
We look at ourselves as the canary in the coal mine for what is happening in America. Privatization of our common resources, poor water quality, incredible educational inequality, soaring housing prices and homelessness, and the criminalization of Black and Brown communities–these are things we’ve been dealing with in Detroit.
We have been at the front lines on these issues. So we know a lot about policies that work and ones that don’t.
But what we’ve learned that is most important and common to all of these fights–is that we need to get people passionate about these issues and get them involved.
We learned about organizing quickly in Detroit because we had to. And we had help from the Center for Popular Democracy (CPD). CPD has been with us every step of the way, helping us build Good Jobs Now, and elevating our issues on the national front.
Detroit is the biggest city in Michigan and one of the largest African American cities in the country.
We are set to organize and we are set to change our city for the better.
That’s a lesson that we think everyone needs to learn in this country. We are excited to play a part. Will you join us?
We need your help more urgently now than ever before.
I urge you to make a donation today to support the CPD Network in building power for communities like mine.
In solidarity, Branden Snyder Executive Director, Good Jobs Now
This has been a deeply troubling year for America’s democracy. From pervasive, methodical voter suppression and inhumane policies that separate children from their families, to the rushed confirmation of a Supreme Court justice with a profoundly troubling track record, it has never been clearer that we are living in a distorted democracy—one in which the rules are rigged to silence the most vulnerable and fear is nurtured to keep us divided.
This #GivingTuesday, support building power by and for the people by making a donation.
The Center for Popular Democracy (CPD), together with our network of 53 partners and affiliates in 131 cities across 34 states, Puerto Rico, and Washington, DC, has been at the forefront of the national movement to fight back against the attacks on our communities and on our values. We are building a movement to realize our vision of popular democracy where everyone has the freedom to thrive.
In 2018, the fight has become harder, but we have only become stronger. Watch the CPD Network breathing life into our democracy below!
We cannot do this work alone. But through collective action, we can resist this tide of hate and start to transform America into a country driven by popular democracy–courageous, sustained participation that empowers us all, and in which all people have equal access to safe places to live and learn; to a clean and sustainable environment; to freedom of movement and self-determination; and to full participation in decision-making for their lives and communities.
Your continued partnership with CPD has built this organization—we would not be here without you. As we gear up for 2019 and beyond, the stakes are higher, and we need your support more than ever.
Please support our vital work today, on #GivingTuesday.
In solidarity, Jennifer Epps-Addison Network President & Co-Executive Director, CPD
As we get ready for Thanksgiving, we wanted to pass along exciting news about a new win for working people and families.
Word is out that thousands of laid off Toys R Us employees and their families won a $20 million fund after their hard fight for severance. That’s welcome news after months of demanding justice when several large hedge funds and private equity firms drove the company into bankruptcy, taking away the livelihoods from 33,000 workers.
The campaign to fight back was driven by Organization United for Respect (OUR), a close national partner and affiliate of CPD.
The fund was set up following negotiations between the private equity firms and various public interest groups that organized the employees, including Organization United for Respect, Private Equity Stakeholder Project and Center for Popular Democracy. "This Fund begins to ensure the hard-working people who spent their lives building Toys 'R' Us and making children happy are not left out in the cold," said Marilyn Muniz, a New York-based Toys "R" employee for nearly 20 years. CNN: Toys 'R' Us owners will hand out $20 million severance to employees
That’s something to be grateful about over this holiday.
In the coming weeks and months, we’ll be working with our affiliates and communities across the country to continue to press for paid sick days and family leave, and for minimum wage increases. Since 2014, we’ve engaged with community groups across the country in 39 fair work campaigns and won policy victories that deeply touch the lives of over 18.5 million people across the country.
Those are many reasons to be grateful, and to be hopeful that we can together reverse the direction of our country and build a democracy that responds to the needs of all of us.
How? By elevating the voices of all the people in our country–working families, immigrants, people of color, women. And we’ve seen, today again, that when we act together, we can build power and animate our democracy.
Thanks for being part of our efforts to realize a better way.
HAPPY Thanksgiving!
In solidarity, Brian Kettenring Co-Executive Director, CPD
As the Executive Director of the New Georgia Project (NGP), I have dedicated my life to raising the voices of our communities through building power deeply rooted in community organizing. Following in the steps of Stacey Abrams who founded the organization, NGP has a vision for Georgia where equality fosters prosperity and everyone has a chance to thrive.
There are many assumptions about what is possible in this state. We have built a multi-racial, multi-generational coalition in Georgia, taking on issues that matter most like raising the minimum wage and tackling widespread voter suppression.
Connecting with the people who want to bring about a new Georgia is how we are going to realize our vision of justice and accountability.
Since 2014, NGP has submitted more than a quarter of a million registrations for young people and voters of color across the state, who we call the “New American Majority.” This year, we defended against attacks on the integrity of Georgia's elections and voter suppression that disproportionately affects our communities.
But NGP is in it for the long haul. We fought for every single vote and will continue to fight until every voice is heard – in our state and in our country.
We know that this is what true popular democracy looks like: informed and sustained participation by and for us all.
The CPD Network makes us stronger with ongoing leadership development and organizational support. CPD has been there for us at critical moments like this one. Together we are building a growing and sustainable movement for justice our communities so deeply need. With 52 other community organizations across 34 states behind us, we know we have the power to affect real and lasting change throughout the state of Georgia and beyond.
This is a pivotal moment.
I urge you to make a donation to support the CPD Network in building power for our communities.
We are all in this together.
In solidarity, Nse Ufot Executive Director, New Georgia Project
As the dust settles, there is much to celebrate and many reasons to be hopeful.
While we saw the enduring, corrosive force of white supremacy and voter suppression, we also saw that people of all colors, faiths, ages and backgrounds came together in record numbers to deliver a sharp rebuke to Trumpism and to fight for a vision of our democracy where everyone has the freedom to thrive.
Perhaps the greatest victory was the turnout of our communities and allies. The transformational organizing from CPD affiliates like ACCE in California and TOP in Texas energized old and new voters alike to make their voices heard. A huge wave of empowered Black, Brown, women, young voters and their allies heading to the polls, inspired by the possibility of real change.
CPD affiliates also made a critical impact through various ballot initiatives, demonstrating that local engagement is key to enacting policies that will support our communities:
• Organize Florida and New Florida Majority Action Fund, with a coalition of partners, restored voting rights for 1.5 million people with past felony charges. This is the largest expansion in voting access since the Voting Rights Act of 1965. • Good Jobs Now helped to pass eight voting measures to the Michigan Constitution, including automatic voter registration, same-day voter registration, and no-excuse absentee voting. • CASA worked to pass same-day voter registration in Maryland. • Step Up Louisiana passed an amendment to require the unanimous agreement of jurors, rather than just 10 of 12 jurors, to convict people charged with felonies. This amendment finally eliminates Jim Crow era laws in Louisiana’s constitution. • Arkansas Community Organization increased the minimum wage from $8.50 an hour to $9.25. • And PCUN turned out voters to uphold Oregon’s status as a sanctuary state, defeating attacks on immigrant communities.Tuesday marked a turning point.
It's clear, now, that a united and diverse movement with women and people of color in the lead, can beat the forces of greed and hate.
In the face of a system that's too often rigged against working families and communities of color, in the face of constant attacks on our communities, the CPD Network is committed to organizing like never before to build the leadership and policies that truly represent the promise of our democracy.
There is serious work ahead. But we know we are stronger together. Join us!
