Progress made on community schools initiative
LAS CRUCES - Las Cruces could get its first community school as early as this fall, if a New Mexico State University grant is approved and all of the pieces fall into place. Pending the approval...
LAS CRUCES - Las Cruces could get its first community school as early as this fall, if a New Mexico State University grant is approved and all of the pieces fall into place. Pending the approval of a U.S. Department of Education 21st Century Community Learning Centers grant, which organizers say would help fund an on-site coordinator, Lynn Middle School could be transformed into the district’s first community school.
The initiative is being spearheaded by the SUCCESS Partnership, a collective of Las Cruces nonprofits, education advocates, health and service providers and representatives from the business community. The SUCCESS Partnership is organized by Ngage New Mexico, a Las Cruces nonprofit committed to improving educational outcomes in Doña Ana County.
Susan Brown, an associate professor at NMSU's STEM Outreach Center in the College of Education, helped the group apply for the grant.
The vision is to bring improved access to health and social services, youth and community development and educational opportunities into neighborhoods around Las Cruces by converting each of the district’s 41 school sites into community schools, open to everyone — all day, every day, including nights and weekends.
The community schools project is not an LCPS initiative, Chief of Staff Tim Hand told members of the school board during a presentation on the project Tuesday. The project will rely on the support of numerous community stakeholders and a variety of funding sources.
“We want this for every single school in Doña Ana County,” said David Greenberg, an organizer with Ngage New Mexico.
Soon, organizers will begin working on outreach initiatives to determine the needs of staff, students and parents at Lynn Middle School.
The SUCCESS Partnership will be bringing Kyle Serrette to Las Cruces next week. Serrette, the director of education justice campaigns for the Center for Popular Democracy in Washington, D.C., will give a presentation on community schools from 4 to 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Hilton Garden Inn, 2550 S. Don Roser Dr. The presentation is free, and open to the community.
By Damien Willis
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The Growing Realization That Our Individual Struggles Are All Connected Makes This “Our Moment”
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AlterNet - December 7, 2013, by Kevin Zeese & Margaret Flowers - The above photograph from the NYC Light Brigade came at the end of an incredible day of action on December 5 when fast food workers in 100 cities walked off their jobs and joined with supporters in their communities to protest poverty wages. The photo proclaims “ALL OF US” with people holding signs that identify different members of the community; and proclaims “THIS IS OUR MOMENT.”
The solidarity at the fast food worker protests on December 5 echoed the solidarity seen on December 3 when people throughout the United States and around the globe protested toxic trade agreements especially the World Trade Organization (WTO) and Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). And, that “ALL OF US” solidarity was seen last Friday, November 29 when workers walked out at 1,500 Walmarts with widespread community support at their rallies.
We are moving toward becoming a movement of movements that cannot be ignored because more people are coming to the realization that our individual struggles are all connected to a larger struggle and that we have more strength when we act together rather than alone. As the unity shown in that photograph becomes a reality, we will succeed in creating the kind of solidarity that will make this era “OUR MOMENT.”
Lessons From Nelson Mandela
South Africa is mourning the death of Nelson Mandela. His vision for South Africa was of a rainbow – uniting all people, no one race white or black dominating others. The liberation he sought was not only ending the racist and abusive apartheid system but also ending an economic system which allowed the white minority to profit while the black majority was impoverished. He believed in human rights and democracy, questioned capitalism and was a socialist. His vision of a country without poverty, with adequate housing for all and equal opportunity has not yet been realized. But he saw the whole and today the country is united around his legacy.
Mandela said, “The most vital task facing the democratic movement in this country is to unleash such struggles and to develop them on the basis of the concrete and immediate demands of the people from area to area. Only in this way can we build a powerful mass movement which is the only guarantee of ultimate victory in the struggle for democratic reforms.” In other words, Mandela saw the need to build a movement of movements connected in purpose but organized around the immediate needs and demands of various communities.
Such a united movement is growing in the United States and around the world as people organize around the issues that affect them directly but recognize they are working toward a common goal of ending the rule of money and putting the needs of the people and protection of the planet first. In Wisconsin, Occupy Community Organizing has been reaching out to work across issues at the local level and they are now sharing what they’ve learned with people in other communities.
Recent reports expose that a growing number of people are struggling due to a rigged economy and austerity spending which further fuels the movement. Philadelphia and other cities are hurting from school closures. Pensions are under attack in Detroit which a court ruled was bankrupt this week; pensions of public workers are also threatened in Illinois. And while our public institutions are being dismantled, our public dollars are subsidizing CEO profits. A report by the University of California at Berkeley’s Labor Center finds that poverty wages of bank tellers require $900 million in public assistance, while a report from the Institute for Policy Studies found the same for low wage fast food workers. We all pay for this unjust business model.
Extreme methods of energy extraction such as the tar sands, mountaintop removal and fracking have also spurred a larger and more aggressive movement to stop them. This past week, students from the University of Chicago protested fracking at a public hearing. New blockades and occupations have sprung up and the Elsipogtog and Mi’kmaq in New Brunswick continue to try to protect their land from drilling.
According to leaked Stratfor documents, the energy industry’s worst nightmare is coming true because of the actions that environmentalists are willing to take to nonviolently protect the land, air and water. In fact, one oil CEO revealed that the Department of Homeland Security is now placing community members who oppose fracking on the terrorist watch list, revealing their fear of mobilized people.
The Urgent Need For Unity To Stop Transnational Corporate Power
In addition to fighting back in communities, people across movements are connecting their struggles and working together on specific campaigns. This was demonstrated best over this past week in the Global Day of Action against Toxic Trade Agreements on December 3 which coincided with the first day of the World Trade Organization (WTO) meetings in Bali, Indonesia. Hundreds of civil society members gathered in Bali to protest provisions in the WTO package that jeopardize food and climate security as well as including other threats to human rights and wellbeing.
There were colorful actions outside of the meetings in Renon Square and creative surprise actions on the inside such as this flash mob by women leaders from the Philippines for climate justice. Indian farmers, laborers and their allies alsoprotested inside as they monitored whether their representatives would compromise the needs of the people. They reminded WTO members that “aggressively upholding the rights of its citizens is not tantamount to collapsing the ministerial talks. On the contrary, such pressure tactics [of the negotiators] must be exposed as a conspiracy to keep people hungry and poor.”
Civil society groups from around the world held their own Global Peoples Tribunalin which testimonies of those affected by the WTO’s policies were heard. The Tribunal issued its findings which concluded with this statement: “We recognize that the struggle of resistance goes hand in hand with the construction of alternatives of an economy for the people and the planet, with initiatives such as the indigenous knowledge systems, seed banks, food sovereignty, and a new paradigm for trade and investment, as well as a new juridical system that will deliver justice.”
Likewise, civil society groups in North America joined the Global Day of Action on Dec. 3 with actions in 35 cities focused on stopping the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). And thousands of farmers in Japan protested the TPP during Vice President Joe Biden’s visit to Japan. In Washington, DC, we joined local activists to deliver thousands of petition signatures to US Assistant Trade Representative Stan McCoy at his office to tell him to stop bullying negotiators from other countries into accepting harmful provisions. McCoy who is in charge of intellectual property rights has been pushing policies that would deny lifesaving health care to many around the world in order to prop-up pharmaceutical profits as well as policies to restrict Internet freedom. He refused to meet with us.
Due to our persistence, we did meet with Jewel James, the public liaison, and told her of our serious concerns, especially the reality that many will die due to lack of access to necessary health care if the patent protections for medications and other treatments are passed as currently written. We told Ms. James that we wanted Stan McCoy to know he is being watched. She told us “He is well-aware that he is being watched.” He only knows because the movement has exposed his actions. We hope that the knowledge that the TPP is literally trading away lives for corporate profits will motivate a brave person in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to release the text of the TPP.
Analysis of text that has been leaked to date finds that the language being pushed by the United States on intellectual property rights violates international norms. Last month, more than 80 law professors and academics sent a letter to President Obama and Congress criticizing the secrecy with which the TPP is being negotiated and calling for the text to be released to the public and for a new negotiation process that is more inclusive and democratic.
This weekend, TPP negotiators are meeting in Singapore in an attempt to complete the agreement. And pressure is being put on Congress to give the President Fast Track Trade Promotion Authority to sign the TPP into law himself. This would prevent a transparent and democratic process in Congress and a full review of the potential impacts of the TPP. Members of Congress are pushing back against this executive power grab, including more than three-quarters of Democrats in the House. Labor unions released a statement to let the TPP negotiators know that opposition to the TPP is broad and deep in the United States.
Frustration is building among corporate trade advocates like Senator Max Baucus (D-MT) and Rep. David Camp (R-MI). They know they must pass Fast Track Trade Promotion Authority to serve the transnational corporate interests, without Fast Track these rigged trade agreements will never become law. A few days ago Baucus and Camp leaked to the press that they were almost there, even started rumors they were introducing a Fast Track bill for a quick vote. But, then the push back from the people and opposition in Congress responded and they pulled back. They are pushing hard so we need to push back, now is the time to act –we have an opportunity to put a nail in the coffin of Fast Track and the TPP. Act now, here’s how.
Lessons from the Success of the Battle of Seattle
Since the mass protests in Seattle in 1999, the WTO has not been able to move forward with its agenda and it looks like the current meeting did not accomplish much. The TPP and its European sister, TAFTA which began negotiations in July, are thought to be attempts to advance the WTO agenda through another path. As we go to press, news reports that the WTO reached a scaled down deal have come out. While much will be made of this by corporate trade advocates, it looks like a minimalist deal that still may never come to real fruition. If this is the best they can do since their founding in 1995, it is evident that we are nearing the cusp of a new age of trade as this approach is not working. The opportunity is rising for us to push away from corporate-dominated rigged trade that allows transnational corporations to exploit people and the planet with impunity to an era that is transparent, inclusive and democratic and that puts the needs of people and the planet before profits.
This week was also the 14th anniversary of the Battle of Seattle, David Solnit wrote about the “Lessons for Today” from that success. He interviewed Paul deArmand, a researcher and activist; and a giant who passed away this year. This article brought up many important points for a movement of movements to succeed, but first he highlighted one we should not forget “the unexpected political power of ad-hoc, even accidental, coalitions.” Seattle was a success because it brought people together across issues in a focused effort to stop the WTO. Let’s not forget the success of working together. He also points out that “Movements grow by expansion and recruitment” and that after Seattle there was too much looking inward, contracting, not expanding (we agree this was true until recent years).
Another lesson of Seattle was the value of networks, rather than institutions. Networks confuse the opposition: “Networks operate by ‘swarming’ their opponents, approaching stealthily and from many directions in offense . . . leaving opponents unclear about what is occurring and how to respond.” Networks have multiple centers of power “all moving toward a shared general goal.” The energy for the network comes from sharing information; the goal is to grow the network, not just one node of it. Further, by spreading our values widely, we make some in the power structure question themselves and their values thereby weakening the pillars that hold the status quo in place.
Making ALL OF US Real
When we make the “ALL OF US” photo on the top of this article a reality, and become an inclusive movement that spreads its values widely, communicating not just with each other but more broadly, we will unite our base and create a foundation to build a mass movement on and grow to a point that cannot be ignored. A mobilized mass movement can erase the artificial political limitations of today and change the political culture of the nation. When that happens, things that seem impossible to change, like apartheid in South Africa, become remnants of history.
The immediate priority of stopping Fast Track for the TPP, TAFTA and other corporate trade rigging, is an opportunity for us to act in unity. It is an “ALL OF US” moment. The rigged trade of the TPP is stalling and united we can stop it.Find out what you can do here.
Let’s take advantage of the opportunity to stop this transnational corporate power grab – let’s swarm them, come from many directions and confuse them. Let us move from our multiple centers of power toward the common goal of building the power of the people. We have a common goal, together we can achieve it; and then we can build from that success as we will have shown that this is indeed, OUR MOMENT for transformation.
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Martin Luther King, institutions and power
Jared Bernstein, a former chief economist to Vice President Biden, is a senior fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and author of the new book 'The Reconnection Agenda: Reuniting...
Jared Bernstein, a former chief economist to Vice President Biden, is a senior fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and author of the new book 'The Reconnection Agenda: Reuniting Growth and Prosperity.'
The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. gestures during a speech at a Chicago Freedom Movement rally at Soldier Field in Chicago on July 10, 1966. (Afro American Newspapers/Gado/Getty Images)
When the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in 1968, he was in Memphis, supporting striking sanitation workers. By that time in his crusade for racial justice, he had elevated full employment to a key plank in his platform. The full name of the March on Washington was the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. A common placard held up that day read, “Civil Rights Plus Full Employment Equals Freedom,” a powerful economic equation indeed.
In my experience, too few people remember this aspect of King’s movement, instead emphasizing his stirring spiritual commitment to racial inclusion. But King was of course thoroughly versed in the reality of the institutional barriers blocking blacks and his unique genius was to combine deep spiritual awareness with an equally deep understanding of the role of power in economic outcomes. That’s one reason he was in Memphis, supporting the union.
In 1967, King called for “a radical redistribution of economic and political power.” He particularly understood the power, for better or worse, of American institutions, most notably of course, the institution of racism, which so successfully blocked African Americans from decent homes, jobs, schools and opportunities.
But countervailing institutions existed within his vision as well, including the church and the union, and, if it could be forced to live up to its promise, the government. Even the institutions of the consumer economy and the job market could, with the right force and strategy, including boycotts that flexed black consumer muscle and equal opportunity laws, be nudged in the direction of racial justice.
To some readers, this “institutional” framework may be confusing. What do I mean by referencing the consumer or job markets or racism or unions, as “institutions”? This certainly doesn’t square with the classic economic explanation of how the economy works: profit-maximizing individuals achieving optimal social welfare by each individual pursuing their goals.
The institutional framework, with its emphasis on historical, legal and cultural practices (norms) embedded in economic systems, stands in stark contrast to the market forces framework. Surely no one could question whether the legal system or the housing market black people faced in King’s time, not to mention our own, promoted objective, blind justice. Discrimination in schools, the economy, and almost every other walk of life could not and cannot possibly be viewed as a fair or merit-based system.
Honoring King’s vision and legacy thus requires not simply remembering his most well-known dream: a racially inclusive society very different from the one that existed in his, or sadly, our own time. It requires recognizing the need to redistribute the power from the oppressive, exclusionary institutions, many of the same ones — housing, schools, criminal justice, the economy — he fought for until the day he was taken from us.
What does honoring that vision mean today?
Although I certainly don’t advocate giving up on President-elect Donald Trump’s administration before it has started, all signs suggest that it and the Republican-led Congress will hurt, not help, the economically less advantaged. Republican budgets threaten to undermine the safety net, Trump’s proposed tax policy squanders fiscal resources on tax cuts for the rich, undermining opportunities for those stuck in places without adequate educational or employment opportunities. There’s talk among Republicans of trying to get more states to pass “right to work” laws that undermine unions and cut workers’ pay. Listening to Ben Carson’s hearing for secretary of housing and urban development quickly disabuses one of hope that he’ll tackle the legacy of segregated housing that remains a serious problem. As far as reforming the institutionalized racism the remains embedded in our criminal justice and policing systems, again, it’s awfully hard to be hopeful.
There are, however, many levels of institutional norms, laws and practices. The Fight for Fifteen has been immensely successful in raising minimum wages at the state and sub-state levels. I can’t prove this, but I’d bet that without Black Lives Matter, there would be no “blistering report” from the Justice Department on the racial practices of the Chicago Police Department. The activist group “Fed Up” has had great success elevating the issue of economic justice as regards Federal Reserve policy, a policy area that even liberal presidents have avoided getting into.
As I recently wrote regarding “ban the box,” a policy designed to give job-seekers with criminal records a fairer shot at employment:
Nineteen states and over 100 cities and counties have already taken similar action for government employees, and seven states (Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, Oregon and Rhode Island) plus Washington, DC and 26 cities and counties have extended ban the box policies to cover private employers. Some private businesses, including Walmart, Koch Industries, Target, Starbucks, Home Depot, and Bed, Bath & Beyond, have also adopted these policies on their own.
This last part about the private businesses is instructive. The Selma bus boycott was, of course, in no small part an economic action: Black people would not pay for discrimination. Regarding full employment, King realized that at high levels of unemployment, it’s costless to discriminate against a significant swath of potential workers. But when the job market tightens up, discriminating against a needed worker means leaving profit on the table.
Especially in the age of Trump, when so many Americans feel as if representative democracy is seriously on the ropes, it seems a no-brainer to channel King and once again tap the power of boycotts and leaning on businesses to do the right thing. It makes no sense at all to cede this field to Trump as he nonsensically claims (and gets) credit for job creation that already was happening.
My intuition is that many businesses, as in the ban-the-box example, would be willing to help push back on the institutional injustices that persist. Higher and more equal pay scales, implementation of the updated, higher overtime threshold that was wrongly blocked by a Texas judge (in fact, many businesses, to their credit, have gone ahead with this change), not blocking collective bargaining if their workers want to exercise that right, flexible scheduling policies that help parents balance work and family — there’s no reason for progressives not to fight for these ideas at the sub-national level and the private sector.
Although these sub-national fights are more likely where the action is for the next few years, meaningful action is developing at the national level as well. King would have easily recognized the Trump phenomenon as the work of exclusive institutions once again grabbing the power and would have organized accordingly and effectively. As we speak, many of us are trying to block the repeal of health-care reform in this spirit. The Indivisible Movement and the Women’s March would also have been highly familiar to Dr. King.
But on whatever level or in whatever sector the fight takes place, as we celebrate King’s indelible contributions, let us recall his understanding of power, the institutions that power supported and his admonitions to us not to rest until much more of that power lies in the hands of those who still command far too little of it.
By Jared Bernstein
Source
Kashkari says Fed has ‘luxury’ of keeping rates low to spur job growth
Kashkari says Fed has ‘luxury’ of keeping rates low to spur job growth
Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari said Wednesday that he doesn’t see much inflationary pressure building, arguing that means the central banks has the “luxury” of keeping...
Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari said Wednesday that he doesn’t see much inflationary pressure building, arguing that means the central banks has the “luxury” of keeping rates low to help boost continued job growth.
The comments came at a meeting between Kashkari and black community activists in Minneapolis, Minn. to discuss economic disparities between black and white communities. “When I look at the data, I don’t see much inflationary pressure, so we have the luxury of taking time to let the economy keep creating jobs,” Kashkari said to the group. “Everybody at the Fed wants the job market to keep healing and we would love to see more people getting back to work.”
Kashkari isn’t a member this year of Fed’s interest-rate setting committee, which has kept rates near zero since the financial crisis. Since raising its benchmark federal-funds rate to between 0.5% and 0.25% at the end of 2015, the central banks has held rates steady. Its next meeting is Sept. 20-21.
The event was organized by Minnesota Neighborhoods Organizing for Change, part of the Center for Popular Democracy’s Fed Up coalition, which advocates for keeping interest rates low to help boost employment in low-income communities.
An expanded version of this report appears on WSJ.com.
By SHAYNDI RAICE
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Wall Street, listo para lucrar con el muro de Trump
Wall Street, listo para lucrar con el muro de Trump
Buena parte de la discusión sobre el muro fronterizo del presidente Donald Trump se ha enfocado en su costo e impracticabilidad, así como en la retórica antiinmigrante y racista que encarna. Sin...
Buena parte de la discusión sobre el muro fronterizo del presidente Donald Trump se ha enfocado en su costo e impracticabilidad, así como en la retórica antiinmigrante y racista que encarna. Sin embargo, se le ha prestado poca atención a quién específicamente podría beneficiarse de la construcción.
Lea el artículo completo aquí.
Why are former Toys R Us workers planning to protest CalSTRS’ investments of private equity?
Why are former Toys R Us workers planning to protest CalSTRS’ investments of private equity?
Supporting the workers are Rise Up Retail, the Center for Popular Democracy and the Organization United for Respect.
Supporting the workers are Rise Up Retail, the Center for Popular Democracy and the Organization United for Respect.
Read the full article here.
Major donors consider funding Black Lives Matter
Some of the biggest donors on the left plan to meet behind closed doors next week in Washington with leaders of the Black Lives Matter movement and their allies to discuss funding the burgeoning...
Some of the biggest donors on the left plan to meet behind closed doors next week in Washington with leaders of the Black Lives Matter movement and their allies to discuss funding the burgeoning protest movement, POLITICO has learned.
The meetings are taking place at the annual winter gathering of the Democracy Alliance major liberal donor club, which runs from Tuesday evening through Saturday morning and is expected to draw Democratic financial heavyweights, including Tom Steyer and Paul Egerman.
The DA, as the club is known in Democratic circles, is recommending its donors step up check writing to a handful of endorsed groups that have supported the Black Lives Matter movement. And the club and some of its members also are considering ways to funnel support directly to scrappier local groups that have utilized confrontational tactics to inject their grievances into the political debate.
It’s a potential partnership that could elevate the Black Lives Matter movement and heighten its impact. But it’s also fraught with tension on both sides, sources tell POLITICO.
The various outfits that comprise the diffuse Black Lives Matter movement prize their independence. Some make a point of not asking for donations. They bristle at any suggestion that they’re susceptible to being co-opted by a deep-pocketed national group ― let alone one with such close ties to the Democratic Party establishment like the Democracy Alliance.
And some major liberal donors are leery about funding a movement known for aggressive tactics ― particularly one that has shown a willingness to train its fire on Democrats, including presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders.
“Major donors are usually not as radical or confrontational as activists most in touch with the pain of oppression,” said Steve Phillips, a Democracy Alliance member and significant contributor to Democratic candidates and causes. He donated to a St. Louis nonprofit group called the Organization for Black Struggle that helped organize 2014 Black Lives Matter-related protests in Ferguson, Missouri, over the police killing of a black teenager named Michael Brown. And Phillips and his wife, Democracy Alliance board member Susan Sandler, are in discussions about funding other groups involved in the movement.
The movement needs cash to build a self-sustaining infrastructure, Phillips said, arguing “the progressive donor world should be adding zeroes to their contributions that support this transformative movement.” But he also acknowledged there’s a risk for recipient groups. “Tactics such as shutting down freeways and disrupting rallies can alienate major donors, and if that's your primary source of support, then you're at risk of being blocked from doing what you need to do.”
The Democracy Alliance was created in 2005 by a handful of major donors, including billionaire financier George Soros and Taco Bell heir Rob McKay to build a permanent infrastructure to advance liberal ideas and causes. Donors are required to donate at least $200,000 a year to recommended groups, and their combined donations to those groups now total more than $500 million. Endorsed beneficiaries include the Center for American Progress think tank, the liberal attack dog Media Matters and the Democratic data firm Catalist, though members also give heavily to Democratic politicians and super PACs that are not part of the DA’s core portfolio. While the Democracy Alliance last year voted to endorse a handful of groups focused on engaging African-Americans in politics ― some of which have helped facilitate the Black Lives movement ― the invitation to movement leaders is a first for the DA, and seems likely to test some members’ comfort zones.
“Movements that are challenging the status quo and that do so to some extent by using direct action or disruptive tactics are meant to make people uncomfortable, so I’m sure we have partners who would be made uncomfortable by it or think that that’s not a good tactic,” said DA President Gara LaMarche. “But we have a wide range of human beings and different temperaments and approaches in the DA, so it’s quite possible that there are people who are a little concerned, as well as people who are curious or are supportive. This is a chance for them to meet some of the leaders of the Black Lives Matter movement, and understand the movement better, and then we’ll take stock of that and see where it might lead.”
According to a Democracy Alliance draft agenda obtained by POLITICO, movement leaders will be featured guests at a Tuesday dinner with major donors. The dinner, which technically precedes the official conference kickoff, will focus on “what kind of support and resources are needed from the allied funders during this critical moment of immediate struggle and long-term movement building.”
The groups that will be represented include the Black Youth Project 100, The Center for Popular Democracy and the Black Civic Engagement Fund, according to the organizer, a DA member named Leah Hunt-Hendrix. An heir to a Texas oil fortune, Hunt-Hendrix helps lead a coalition of mostly young donors called Solidaire that focuses on movement building. It’s donated more than $200,000 to the Black Lives Matter movement since Brown’s killing. According to its entry on a philanthropy website, more than $61,000 went directly to organizers and organizations on the ground in Ferguson and Baltimore, where the death of Freddie Gray in police custody in April sparked a more recent wave of Black Lives-related protests. An additional $115,000 went to groups that have sprung up to support the movement.
She said her goal at the Democracy Alliance is to persuade donors to “use some of the money that’s going into the presidential races for grass-roots organizing and movement building.” And she brushed aside concerns that the movement could hurt Democratic chances in 2016. “Black Lives Matter has been pushing Bernie, and Bernie has been pushing Hillary. Politics is a field where you almost have to push your allies hardest and hold them accountable,” she said. “That’s exactly the point of democracy,” she said.
That view dovetails with the one that LaMarche has tried to instill in the Democracy Alliance, which had faced internal criticism in 2012 for growing too close to the Democratic Party.
In fact, one group set to participate in Hunt-Hendrix’s dinner ― Black Civic Engagement Fund ― is a Democracy Alliance offshoot. And, according to the DA agenda, two other groups recommended for club funding ― ColorOfChange.org and the Advancement Project ― are set to participate in a Friday panel “on how to connect the Movement for Black Lives with current and needed infrastructure for Black organizing and political power.”
ColorOfChange.org has helped Black Lives Matter protesters organize online, said its Executive Director Rashad Robinson. He dismissed concerns that the movement is compromised in any way by accepting support from major institutional funders. “Throughout our history in this country, there have been allies who have been willing to stand up and support uprisings, and lend their resources to ensure that people have a greater voice in their democracy,” Robinson said.
Nick Rathod, the leader of a DA-endorsed group called the State Innovation Exchange that pushes liberal policies in the states, said his group is looking for opportunities to help the movement, as well. “We can play an important role in facilitating dialogue between elected officials and movement leaders in cities and states,” he said. But Rathod cautioned that it would be a mistake for major liberal donors to only give through established national groups to support the movement. “I think for many of the donors, it might feel safer to invest in groups like ours and others to support the work, but frankly, many of those groups are not led by African-Americans and are removed from what’s happening on the ground. The heart and soul of the movement is at the grass roots, it’s where the organizing has occurred, it’s where decisions should be made and it’s where investments should be placed to grow the movement from the bottom up, rather than the top down.”
Source: Politico
Pagaría el Gobierno de NY abogados a ilegales en juicios de deportación
Vanguardia – July 19, 2013 - Nueva York planea pagar abogados de oficio a los migrantes que se encuentren en una corte de migración y enfrenten la deportación.
Algunos migrantes con o sin...
Vanguardia – July 19, 2013 - Nueva York planea pagar abogados de oficio a los migrantes que se encuentren en una corte de migración y enfrenten la deportación.
Algunos migrantes con o sin papeles en la ciudad que enfrenten la expulsión de EU podrán a partir de finales de este año o 2014 presentarse frente al juez de migración con un abogado de oficio pagado con fondos municipales, reduciendo así sus posibilidades de ser deportados porque ya no estarán solos en la corte.
Activistas, un Magistrado federal y funcionarios locales planean anunciar el viernes que la ciudad ha destinado 500 mil dólares a financiar un programa piloto que ofrecerá representación legal a migrantes.
Brittny Saunders, de la organización Center for Popular Democracy, dijo que esta es la primera vez que un programa así se implementa en una municipalidad de EU.
“La intención que tenemos a través de este programa piloto es lograr información sobre los beneficios que la representación legal supone tanto para un individuo en detención y enfrentando la deportación como para su familia, su comunidad y la ciudad entera’’, dijo Saunders.
“Esperamos que este programa sea un modelo para otras comunidades alrededor del país’’.
Migrantes que acaban en las cortes de migración y que enfrentaban la deportación no tienen derecho a ser defendidos por un abogado de oficio. Pueden contratar a un abogado privado pero muchos migrantes no tienen el dinero para pagar por ese servicio. Es por ese motivo que la ciudad, varios activistas y un juez federal interesado en el tema llamado Robert Kaztmann han unido esfuerzos para ofrecer ayuda a migrantes en esta situación.
Saunders dijo que en el Estado de Nueva York una media de 2 mil 800 migrantes se encuentra anualmente en proceso de deportación sin acceso a asistencia legal.
Source
Death Cab for Cutie Kick Off Anti-Trump Campaign ’30 Days, 30 Songs’
Death Cab for Cutie Kick Off Anti-Trump Campaign ’30 Days, 30 Songs’
A group of musicians will be using their music to help convince voters not to support Donald Trump. Titled “30 Days, 30 Songs,” the project will release one track each day between now and the...
A group of musicians will be using their music to help convince voters not to support Donald Trump. Titled “30 Days, 30 Songs,” the project will release one track each day between now and the election in the hopes of creating a “Trump-Free America.”
Related: Roger Waters Trashes Donald Trump at Desert Trip Festival
Death Cab for Cutie begins the project today (Oct 10) with the original track “Million Dollar Loan.”
Ben Gibbard said of the song, “Lyrically, ‘Million Dollar Loan’ deals with a particularly tone deaf moment in Donald Trump’s ascent to the Republican nomination. While campaigning in New Hampshire last year, he attempted to cast himself as a self-made man by claiming he built his fortune with just a ‘small loan of a million dollars’ from his father. Not only has this statement been proven to be wildly untrue, he was so flippant about it. It truly disgusted me. Donald Trump has repeatedly demonstrated that he is unworthy of the honor and responsibility of being President of the United States of America, and in no way, shape or form represents what this country truly stands for. He is beneath us.”
This week, Jim James, Aimee Mann, Thao Nguyen, clipping., and Bhi Bhiman will all share songs, and R.E.M. will premiere a never-before-heard track. New songs will be available every day at 9am PST on Spotify, and will appear 24 hours later on Apple Music.
Fans can also purchase individual songs with proceeds benefitting Center for Popular Democracy (CDP), which aims for Universal Voter Registration.
By Amanda Wicks
Source
Campaign regulatory board stymied by Legislature
Minnesota’s campaign finance regulatory board heads into election season with its slimmest possible board membership for taking action after the Legislature failed to confirm two appointees before...
Minnesota’s campaign finance regulatory board heads into election season with its slimmest possible board membership for taking action after the Legislature failed to confirm two appointees before adjourning its session.
Two appointments before lawmakers got hung up over concerns raised by Senate Republicans about the DFL political background of Emma Greenman. Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board appointments require confirmation from the House and Senate on a three-fifths vote; the House supplied sufficient votes to confirm Greenman and former Republican state Rep. Margaret “Peggy” Leppik during the session’s final day.
Board chairman Christian Sande said Friday that it could be August before the board is back to full strength. That’s because of the legal steps Gov. Mark Dayton must take to fill the slots, by which time election contests will be in full swing and campaign finance complaints will be streaming in.
“It means for the board to take any action the votes have to be unanimous,” Sande said. “I don’t know that it handicaps us. But it certainly does indicate that where in the past with six active members of the board it might be easier to arrive at four votes to achieve something.”
Absence of a single member would deprive the board of the quorum it needs to even meet.
The remaining members would have to be in complete agreement to impose any penalties, issue any advisory opinions or take other substantive action because state law requires four votes in favor when the typically six-member board makes decisions.
Campaign finance board appointments always have come with more political sensitivity and scrutiny than most agencies. In fact, state law dictates a specific political makeup and that some members be former lawmakers.
Greenman and Leppik had been serving on the board pending confirmation but their appointments were considered null when the Legislature adjourned without positive votes.
A Dayton spokesman says the governor plans to resubmit their names once the openings are posted, which would allow them to serve again until the Legislature returns next year and takes another look. It’s not clear when that could happen.
Sen. Scott Newman of Hutchinson said he and his Republican colleagues weren’t willing to confirm Greenman because of past and present political activity.
“Is this someone who would be able to set aside partisan politics and render judgment as to violations of campaign finance laws? We really doubted it,” Newman said in a phone interview. “We were very concerned about it because of the degree of involvement in political partisanship.”
He added, “This is not a personal attack on her. It is simply a realization of her past activities. She was a very politically active person.”
Greenman, a 36-year-old Minneapolis lawyer, is director of voting rights and democracy for the Center for Popular Democracy. Past stints include work for the Wellstone Action organization formed after the death of Sen. Paul Wellstone and for a Minnesota unit of the Service Employees International Union. In her appointment materials, she lists her political affiliation as with the DFL.
Greenman didn’t immediately return a call or email inquiring about her intentions moving forward said in an email Friday that the lack of a vote was disappointing. She said she is considering reapplying and has been encouraged to do so.
“I have had the pleasure of of serving on the board since January and believe it plays an important role in supporting and protecting Minnesota’s democracy,” she wrote.
In a packet compiled in connection with her earlier appointment, Greenman disclosed details about her past political involvement and her present job, which she said posed no conflict with a campaign board role and didn’t encompass campaign finance matters.
“At this point in my career I am able to serve on the board without any direct conflicts of interest. I do not work for any candidates or any political campaign committees. I do not currently represent the Minnesota DFL or any party official or political candidate,” she wrote in a November letter to Dayton seeking the appointment.
By Brian Bakst
Source
2 months ago
2 months ago