NEWSMAKERS JAN-JUNE 2018
Together Baton Rouge Notches big win on education funding
As they have at several previous meetings, employee groups — Louisiana Association of Educators, the Louisiana Federation of Teachers, Service Employees International Union and the East Baton Rouge Bus Driver’s Association — pressed once again for raises for all the district employees.
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East Baton Rouge Parish Schools Superintendent Warren Drake
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The groups have joined forces with the faith-based group Together Baton Rouge to press the issue as well as to push the school system to reject all future requests from manufacturers for property tax breaks via the state’s 80-year-old Industrial Tax Exemption Program. They want the school system to use any ITEP savings to increase employees pay.
IAF Network Blasts Trump zero tolerance policy: Cruel, Government Sanctioned Child abuse
The Industrial Areas Foundation, the nation’s oldest network of Broad Based Community Organizations, with over 75 organizations throughout the United States representing hundreds of thousands of families, issued this statement:
“The Trump Administration needs to immediately stop and desist from further separation of immigrant children and their parents, quickly reunite those 2,000 family members, and begin a humane approach to border security and immigration reform.
While the president may soon reverse part of this policy, it is important that the victimized children be cared for respectfully and appropriately, including inspection of the detention facilities by local clergy and health providers.” Rio Grande Guardian story here.
“The Trump Administration needs to immediately stop and desist from further separation of immigrant children and their parents, quickly reunite those 2,000 family members, and begin a humane approach to border security and immigration reform.
While the president may soon reverse part of this policy, it is important that the victimized children be cared for respectfully and appropriately, including inspection of the detention facilities by local clergy and health providers.” Rio Grande Guardian story here.
A Christian Nation?
Metro IAF In News: New York City to Build Thousands of Senior Housing Units on Public Land
“If you can get seniors living now in two-, three-bedroom apartments in NYCHA to move into new apartments, you make room for folks who are on the waiting list,” said the Rev. David Brawley, pastor at St. Paul Community Baptist Church in Brooklyn’s East New York section and member of the Metro Industrial Areas Foundation.
There are 207,000 families on the wait list for public housing, and addressing that number could help reduce homelessness, Mr. Brawley said. There are currently more than 58,700 people living in shelters across the city, according to the latest data. Story here.
There are 207,000 families on the wait list for public housing, and addressing that number could help reduce homelessness, Mr. Brawley said. There are currently more than 58,700 people living in shelters across the city, according to the latest data. Story here.
Culinary 226 in Las vegas: One of America's Best Unions; No Excuses!
"Yet the Culinary has found a way to thrive in Nevada. The union now represents 57,000 workers at the majority of casinos and hotels on the strip and all but one casino downtown. (Its sister union, Bartenders Local 165, accounts for 3,500 of those members.) Even though the right-to-work law means none of those workers can be required to support the union through their paychecks, more than 95 percent of those workers choose to pay full union dues anyway, keeping the union on strong financial footing. That is an astounding rate by any measure." Story here.
Can Jackson Be saved? Yes And it must be
Clarion Ledger Backs IAF's Together Jackson
"Thank God not everyone has given up on Jackson. We see a renewed interest in development in downtown. The District at Eastover is a topnotch development. And we have the swanky Fondren area.
Recently, I attended the Working Together Jackson meeting at New Horizon Church International. The diverse community organization came together to work toward making Jackson better.
This group of black, white and various ethnicities gives hope for a better Jackson." The Clarion Ledger story here.
Recently, I attended the Working Together Jackson meeting at New Horizon Church International. The diverse community organization came together to work toward making Jackson better.
This group of black, white and various ethnicities gives hope for a better Jackson." The Clarion Ledger story here.
America loves to vilify and dehumanize Mexicans, despite their historic contributions to US
My family history is deeply rooted in the reason why I am a community organizer who works with the Southwest Industrial Areas Foundation. I know the struggle for all people who face discrimination and persecution continues. IAF Organizer Josephine Lopez Paul in The Hill.
How Monica is making it happen this week
Metro IAF Pressures NYCHA, Mayor De Blasio To Fix Public housing mess
NEW YORK — Ten-year-old Emma pleasant lives at the Castlehill Houses and says she struggles to get ready for school, because her apartment doesn’t have hot water.
“I can’t take a bath. I want hot water. Fix it now,” Pleasant said.
Milagros Arzuaga, also lives at the development, and says it’s a struggle everyday to bathe her toddler.
“We still don’t have hot water and it’s been two or three weeks,” complained Arzuaga. Pix 11 story here.
“I can’t take a bath. I want hot water. Fix it now,” Pleasant said.
Milagros Arzuaga, also lives at the development, and says it’s a struggle everyday to bathe her toddler.
“We still don’t have hot water and it’s been two or three weeks,” complained Arzuaga. Pix 11 story here.
The gold standard of leadership training
IAF in Colorado
THE POLITICS OF CRUELTY, THE THEOLOGY OF INDIFFERENCE AND THE INDECENT SOCIETY
BY IAF Organizer RAMON DURAN
Church in Texas issues IDs to help the undocumented navigate police encounters; America magazine recognizes DAI/IAF
Drivers of IAf Political Creativity
Colorado IAF Accelerating
Big School Sign Up and Take Charge Action in Commerce City Outside Denver
225 parents, teachers and students assembled to ratify an agenda of issues and approve their organizing strategy to build a powerful voting constituency - Sign Up, Take Charge!
COPS/Metro Fight For Road Improvements; They're so Bad School buses can't travel on them
Photo: JERRY LARA /San Antonio Express-News
Four-year-old Makayla Navaeh Navarro, 4, plays as her grandfather, Cornelio Navarro Gonzalez, 59, work on the family house in the Highland Oaks neighborhood in South Bexar County in 2016. The subdivision is located in far south Bexar County and lacks paved roads, which means children have to trek to school bus stop in the mud. A road improvement project has been delayed.
It was only after intervention by COPS/Metro Alliance and the Southside Independent School District administration, and a slew of adverse media publicity about the hazards the road conditions presented that commissioners decided to fund the project.
In an unprecedented move, commissioners determined the roads in such terrible shape that they constituted a public safety hazard. That finding allowed them to allocate public funds to fix what they considered were private roads. Story here.
In an unprecedented move, commissioners determined the roads in such terrible shape that they constituted a public safety hazard. That finding allowed them to allocate public funds to fix what they considered were private roads. Story here.
Rio Grande Guardian on Valley INterfaith Congressional Accountability Action
The Rev. Kevin Collins is pastor at St. Eugene de Mazenod Catholic Church and a Valley Interfaith leader
“Instead of our parishioners coming to listen to what the candidates have to tell us, we have the candidates come and listen to their needs. We have met with the candidates ahead of time and we have told them what our issues are. We want them to respond to these issues,” Collins said.
“Given the direction the state took last session with regards to issues that affect our families, this is an important opportunity to get our candidates’ commitments to fight for our communities. We want them to come back to the center and legislate on issues that directly impact our families.” Story here.
“Given the direction the state took last session with regards to issues that affect our families, this is an important opportunity to get our candidates’ commitments to fight for our communities. We want them to come back to the center and legislate on issues that directly impact our families.” Story here.
Washington INterfaith Network/REv H Lionel Edmonds Challenge Amazon HQ2 DC Location:
How can the D.C. region absorb an Amazon headquarters if it can’t cope now with gridlock and housing costs?
The Rev. H. Lionel Edmonds, a founder of the Washington Interfaith Network, warned against creating “a millennials’ oasis, a little Amazon island of these folks making $100,000 a year, surrounded by people making less than half of that, or even a third of that.” Washington Post story here.
HOW WE GOT THE GUN INDUSTRY TO RECKON WITH ITS DEADLY TOLL
By SISTER JUDY BYRON and RABBI JOEL MOSBACHER
| NEW YORK DAILY NEWS |
Earlier this week in the Arizona desert, the shareholders of a major American gun company took a modest step toward responsibly addressing the unacceptable levels of gun-related deaths and crime in our nation. Shareholders of Sturm, Ruger & Co. passed a resolution requiring the company to issue a report on its actions to mitigate harm associated with its products.
The resolution was drafted and introduced by leaders of the Interfaith Center for Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) — with the support of Metro Industrial Areas Foundation (Metro IAF) — at the company's shareholders' meeting Wednesday in Prescott, Ariz. Management asked shareholders to vote against it. A team of religious and civic leaders from our groups, who have purchased Sturm Ruger shares, was there urging a "yes" vote and seeking dialogue with CEO Christopher Killoy. Story here.
The resolution was drafted and introduced by leaders of the Interfaith Center for Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) — with the support of Metro Industrial Areas Foundation (Metro IAF) — at the company's shareholders' meeting Wednesday in Prescott, Ariz. Management asked shareholders to vote against it. A team of religious and civic leaders from our groups, who have purchased Sturm Ruger shares, was there urging a "yes" vote and seeking dialogue with CEO Christopher Killoy. Story here.
3 candidates for Nevada governor pledge to protect Medicaid at Nevadans for the common good accountability action; 600 Applaud multiple issue commitments
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Tax hike, no layoffs in Jersey City school district's $660M budget; JERSEY CITY IAF DELIVERS
Battle rages for more senior housing in New York; Metro IAF organizes inspection tour
This week, New York City Housing Authority tenants who are leaders of Metro Industrial Areas Foundation and New York City council members will launch an inspection tour of NYCHA properties citywide to highlight dangerous conditions in their homes and apartment buildings. NY Daily News Reports
Organized citizens have a lot to do with Metro’s progress
Metro IAF/NYCHA residents to give council members tour of properties
Project Quest: an economic development story
Interfaith is affiliated with the Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF) Network, the oldest and largest community organizing/training institute in the country. IAF organizations across Texas began meeting and worked to develop a job training model that was employer-driven, recruited participants from the community and provided a counselor for those in training.
In 1991, Project Quest was created as a new paradigm for workforce development. Quest is a labor-market intermediary, the connector between employers, training providers and those in training. The story.
In 1991, Project Quest was created as a new paradigm for workforce development. Quest is a labor-market intermediary, the connector between employers, training providers and those in training. The story.
Arizona IAF Organizations Plunge into fight for education dollars; back initiative to raise income tax for wealthy; PCIC and Southern Arizona Interfaith in the lead
Rev Ravin Gaston signs initiative petition to increase income tax on high wage earners to benefit public education. Opposition already voiced by Arizona Chamber of Commerce. Koch Bros likely to weigh in with millions against grass roots drive.
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Supporters were undaunted by Chamber of Commerce opposition, and the Pima County Interfaith Council pledged to gather more than 55,000 of those signatures in Southern Arizona.
Ernie Galaz, the head cleric at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Nogales and a member of the Southern Arizona Interfaith Council, said as a former school principal, he knows firsthand how the “systematic stripping of resources from our schools has negatively affected teaching and learning in our community.”
“As a man of faith, and a priest in the church, I cannot stand by silently any longer. This is a moral issue,” he said.
Ernie Galaz, the head cleric at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Nogales and a member of the Southern Arizona Interfaith Council, said as a former school principal, he knows firsthand how the “systematic stripping of resources from our schools has negatively affected teaching and learning in our community.”
“As a man of faith, and a priest in the church, I cannot stand by silently any longer. This is a moral issue,” he said.
Aurora library officials apologize for displaying poem that board president says encouraged violence
Santori hugged Aliya Husain, representing the Metro Industrial Areas Foundation, a consortium of 85 religious and civic institutions in Cook, Kane, DuPage and Lake counties. Husain herself is civic engagement chairwoman for The Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago, a member of Metro IAF. About 15 people rose as members of the group at the meeting.
Chicago Tribune story here.
Chicago Tribune story here.
Arizona Educators On Strike - Massive Turnout at State Capitol
IAF ORGANIZER JOSEPHINE LOPEZ PAUL IN THE HILL:
addition of the citizenship question to 2020 census: another way of terrorizing immigrants
NYCHA residents tired of being treated as ‘second-class citizens,’ demand money for repairs
“We had trash and roaches and mice for weeks. Birds have made their home in our home. Every morning, it’s like a journey through a wild kingdom,” Pia Horton, resident of Breukelen Houses in Canarsie, Brooklyn, said. She outlined problems within her home that scores of NYCHA tenants have complained of for years — water leaks leading to puddles in hallways, power outages, mold, lead paint, etc. Newsday story here.
Durham CAN/IAF Big push for affordable housing
Who's the Citizen?
​170 SPANISH-SPEAKING CATHOLICS TRAIN FOR LEADERSHIP IN NEVADA, LAY FOUNDATION FOR HOUSE MEETING CAMPAIGN
Dallas Area Interfaith ID Strategy Is In Full Swing: protecting families and rebuilding churches
Building on a groundbreaking accord between Dallas Area Interfaith (DAI) and the Police Departments of Dallas, Carrollton and Farmers Branch -- in which the police agreed to accept parish identification cards as alternative ID -- upwards of 800 parish ID cards have been issued since the campaign was launched four weeks ago. With some parishes requiring active membership from applicants for at least six months before issuing the card, the waiting list of submitted applications has, so far, exceeded 2,000 applicants and is expected to grow. Full story here.
Rev. H. Lionel Edmonds
Mt. Lebanon Baptist Church and WIN Leader
Congratulations!
January 28, 2018
Reverend H. Lionel Edmonds
Mt. Lebanon Baptist Church
1219 New Jersey Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20001
Dear Reverend Edmonds,
The Washington DC Hall of Fame Society takes great pleasure in congratulating you on your selection for induction into the Washington DC Hall of Fame for the year 2018. You were chosen to receive the Legacy Award in the area of Religion. This award honors persons and/or establishments in Washington who have contributed immensely to its growth and development. The Hall of Fame judges were unanimous in selecting you, based on your accomplishments and your commitment to the District of Columbia. We would appreciate your response to this high honor by Monday, February 5th.
We request you be present in order to be inducted in The Washington, DC Hall of Fame Society. The Black Tie Program and Gala will be held on Sunday, April 15th in the Grand Ballroom at the Liaison Capitol Hill Hotel, 415 New Jersey Avenue, Northwest, Washington, DC 20001. We have reserved you two complimentary tickets. As an honoree, you will be seated on the dais and your guest will sit at a prominent table. Invitations will be forthcoming in February.
If you accept this prestigious honor, we are requesting a one page biographical summary and an official black and white photograph by Wednesday, February 7th. Please email your information to: jhharrisassoc@aol.com. I can be contacted on my cell phone at 202-744-4098.
Again Congratulations,
Sincerely,
Janette Hoston Harris, Ph.D.
President and Founder
Reverend H. Lionel Edmonds
Mt. Lebanon Baptist Church
1219 New Jersey Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20001
Dear Reverend Edmonds,
The Washington DC Hall of Fame Society takes great pleasure in congratulating you on your selection for induction into the Washington DC Hall of Fame for the year 2018. You were chosen to receive the Legacy Award in the area of Religion. This award honors persons and/or establishments in Washington who have contributed immensely to its growth and development. The Hall of Fame judges were unanimous in selecting you, based on your accomplishments and your commitment to the District of Columbia. We would appreciate your response to this high honor by Monday, February 5th.
We request you be present in order to be inducted in The Washington, DC Hall of Fame Society. The Black Tie Program and Gala will be held on Sunday, April 15th in the Grand Ballroom at the Liaison Capitol Hill Hotel, 415 New Jersey Avenue, Northwest, Washington, DC 20001. We have reserved you two complimentary tickets. As an honoree, you will be seated on the dais and your guest will sit at a prominent table. Invitations will be forthcoming in February.
If you accept this prestigious honor, we are requesting a one page biographical summary and an official black and white photograph by Wednesday, February 7th. Please email your information to: jhharrisassoc@aol.com. I can be contacted on my cell phone at 202-744-4098.
Again Congratulations,
Sincerely,
Janette Hoston Harris, Ph.D.
President and Founder
COPA/IAF: Business and religious leaders meet in Salinas to talk about immigration reform.
IAF's Brawley blasts NYcha Systemic rot
Resignation of Chairwoman Olatoye won't fix problems. Only Mayor de Blasio can do that.
A leading community organizing group also blasted Olatoye on Monday — but said de Blasio is also to blame for the “rot at NYCHA.”
“Chairwoman Olatoye might be gone, but the systemic rot at NYCHA won’t end with her,” said the Rev. David K. Brawley, leader of Metro Industrial Areas Foundation.
“She may have failed, but she’s not the failure. Mayor de Blasio has talked big about making NYCHA fixes, but over the last four years the mayor has continued to treat hundreds of thousands of black and Latino New Yorkers like second-class citizens.” Full story here.
“Chairwoman Olatoye might be gone, but the systemic rot at NYCHA won’t end with her,” said the Rev. David K. Brawley, leader of Metro Industrial Areas Foundation.
“She may have failed, but she’s not the failure. Mayor de Blasio has talked big about making NYCHA fixes, but over the last four years the mayor has continued to treat hundreds of thousands of black and Latino New Yorkers like second-class citizens.” Full story here.
IAF Organizer Josephine Lopez Paul on Job Training that Works; Success stories put naysayers to shame
Skill Quest and its sister job training programs across Texas such as Quest in San Antonio, Capital IDEA in Austin, Project ARRIBA in El Paso, Capital IDEA in Houston, andProject Vida in the Rio Grande Valley have been developing a skilled workforce for more than 40 years. We have a proven track record of developing middle-skilled workers.
Mark Elliott, president of the Economic Mobility Corp. and co-author of the gold-standard study on this topic said: "This model not only increased participants' earnings, it enabled graduates to reach the middle class. Few workforce development models anywhere have had as powerful as an impact. This is a stunning achievement." Story here: https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2018/04/06/success-stories-like-one-show-dallas-can-help-residents-pull-poverty
Mark Elliott, president of the Economic Mobility Corp. and co-author of the gold-standard study on this topic said: "This model not only increased participants' earnings, it enabled graduates to reach the middle class. Few workforce development models anywhere have had as powerful as an impact. This is a stunning achievement." Story here: https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2018/04/06/success-stories-like-one-show-dallas-can-help-residents-pull-poverty
NYCHA agrees to appoint independent ombudsman to push repairs, impose fines
Metro IAF Strengthens Prior agreement to remediate dreadful conditions
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"This is a positive step for NYCHA and our residents. We appreciate the parties coming together to agree on real goals and science-based solutions that will help public housing residents," said NYCHA General Manager Vito Mustaciuolo. "Mold is a serious issue and we are committed to resolving it, not only on the surface, but also to uncovering and resolving root causes and educating tenants on how to work with us to prevent mold."
“We have been completely disappointed by NYCHA’s performance over the past four years,” said Metro IAF member Maria Nieves, a leader with St. Cecilia’s Holy Agony Roman Catholic Church. “With the kind of independent supervision NYCHA has agreed to, there is now a much greater chance that residents will see real relief soon.”
Full story here.
“We have been completely disappointed by NYCHA’s performance over the past four years,” said Metro IAF member Maria Nieves, a leader with St. Cecilia’s Holy Agony Roman Catholic Church. “With the kind of independent supervision NYCHA has agreed to, there is now a much greater chance that residents will see real relief soon.”
Full story here.
The Ugly Truth of Deportation Schemes And How Families, Church and DAI/IAF Are Fighting Back
https://www.dallasnews.com/news/immigration/2018/04/05/deported-us-citizen-kids-face-loss-immigrant-parents
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Notes on organizing: iaf v. collaboration:
the Immigration reform experience
After a decade 220-unit “abandominium”, Parkway Overlook, gets redeveloped. Listen in to all those who helped make this possible!
Determined, decisive, relentless: New Life Ministries and Washington Interfaith Network/IAF
Providers raise the bar for opioid treatment on Long Island; IAF Organization in the lead
MARCH 20, 2018
Often when doctors are called upon to help curb the opioid epidemic, they're told simply to prescribe fewer opioids. In fact, that's a key component of the plan President Donald Trump announced Monday. But a group of medical professionals and advocates on Long Island, which accounts for a disproportionate share of the state's overdose deaths, are pushing for clinicians from all disciplines to also take on a greater role in treating opioid-use disorder and advocating for evidence-based solutions.
At an event in Cold Spring Harbor hosted by Long Island Congregations, Associations and Neighborhoods, or LI-CAN, Saturday, attendees were particularly critical of the shortage of doctors with waivers to prescribe buprenorphine and the fact that only a few emergency departments offer the medication. Story here: http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20180320/PULSE/180329997/providers-raise-the-bar-for-opioid-treatment-on-long-island
Often when doctors are called upon to help curb the opioid epidemic, they're told simply to prescribe fewer opioids. In fact, that's a key component of the plan President Donald Trump announced Monday. But a group of medical professionals and advocates on Long Island, which accounts for a disproportionate share of the state's overdose deaths, are pushing for clinicians from all disciplines to also take on a greater role in treating opioid-use disorder and advocating for evidence-based solutions.
At an event in Cold Spring Harbor hosted by Long Island Congregations, Associations and Neighborhoods, or LI-CAN, Saturday, attendees were particularly critical of the shortage of doctors with waivers to prescribe buprenorphine and the fact that only a few emergency departments offer the medication. Story here: http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20180320/PULSE/180329997/providers-raise-the-bar-for-opioid-treatment-on-long-island
Very Good News on IAF Job Training: Vida in South Texas praised for top ranked retention, graduation, employment
VIDA Training Effectiveness Recognized by National StudyOne of nine workforce development programs evaluated under the Pathways for Advancing Careers and Education (PACE), the Valley Initiative for Development and Advancement (VIDA) was selected as one of the most effective programs as measured by retention, graduation and employment. Findings from the study were revealed at South Texas College’s Pecan Campus and celebrated by Senator John “Chuy” Hinojosa and leaders from VIDA and Valley Interfaith. The study was a blind study — essentially comparing what happened to 500 students who enrolled in VIDA and 500 students who enrolled in other programs.
VIDA is a long-term workforce development program established by Valley Interfaithand modeled after the nationally renowned Project QUEST in San Antonio. In video above, San Juanita Sanchez describes how VIDA helped her return to college after 20 years to finish her degree in social work.
National Study Shows Impact of VIDA, Valley Central [pdf]
Editorial: RGV Education Program for Low-Income Gets Worthy National Praise, The Monitor [pdf]
VIDA is a long-term workforce development program established by Valley Interfaithand modeled after the nationally renowned Project QUEST in San Antonio. In video above, San Juanita Sanchez describes how VIDA helped her return to college after 20 years to finish her degree in social work.
National Study Shows Impact of VIDA, Valley Central [pdf]
Editorial: RGV Education Program for Low-Income Gets Worthy National Praise, The Monitor [pdf]
Really Big Senior Housing Win For Metro IAF
CITY COUNCIL SPEAKER COREY JOHNSON IS PROPOSING SPENDING $2 BILLION TO BUILD 15,000 NEW AFFORDABLE APARTMENTS FOR SENIORS ON NYCHA LAND. THE COUNCIL WILL INCLUDE $500 MILLION IN ITS BUDGET RESPONSE FOR THE COMING FISCAL YEAR, JOHNSON SAID MONDAY NIGHT. "I'VE MADE MY COMMITMENT AND MY COMMITMENT IS REAL," HE SAID AT A RALLY HOSTED BY THE METRO INDUSTRIAL AREAS FOUNDATION AT OUR LADY OF MERCY CATHOLIC CHURCH IN BROWNSVILLE, BROOKLYN.
Read The Story In The New York DAily News
Seniors push for affordable housing in NYC, say they shouldn’t have to pick between food or homes | WPIX 11 New York
http://pix11.com/2018/03/12/seniors-push-for-affordable-housing-in-nyc-say-they-shouldnt-have-to-pick-between-food-or-homes/
http://pix11.com/2018/03/12/seniors-push-for-affordable-housing-in-nyc-say-they-shouldnt-have-to-pick-between-food-or-homes/
civic and religious leaders from four counties in Illinois, organized by local affiliates of the Metro Industrial Areas Foundation, met with all ten candidates for Illinois Attorney General in primary election
Key Questions: “Will you agree to meet with our organizations within 30 days of your election to address issues of fundamental importance to our families and institutions?” (Citizen leaders from 85 churches, synagogues, mosques, and civic agencies presented strategies pursued locally in Cook, DuPage, Kane, and Lake counties.) Each candidate then had three minutes to respond.
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IAF in Northern Illinois gathers 1300 strong to back locally developed agenda. Broadbased leadership steps forward in powerful action.
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“This is the first time in fifteen years that the office of Attorney General is truly up for grabs in the state of Illinois,” said Rev. Jay Risk, a leader from St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Park Ridge, a member of United Power for Action and Justice. “As the top law enforcement official in the state, the next Attorney General can have significant impact on the four matters we have been working on for several years: reducing incarceration of people with addiction and/or mental illness; affordable and accessible housing; protecting immigrants, refugees and vulnerable groups; and accountability from gun manufacturers.”
In the New York Times:
When the Dollar Is Mightier Than the Gun
Rabbi Joel Mosbacher, of Temple Shaaray Tefila on the Upper East Side, is co-chairman of a national campaign to get law enforcement and investors to use their purchasing power to nudge gunmakers to take steps to curb violence. Photo by David Gonzalez, New York Times
Metro IAF Strategy To Address Gun Violence Combines An Acute Understanding Of Firearm Markets With Public Political Pressure For Change:
Framed Inside “The Do Not Stand Idly By” Campaign, Citizen Leaders Of IAF Are Fleshing Out A Multi-Dimensional Initiative That Bypasses The NRA In Favor Of Market Leverage
Photo by David Choy curtesy of Washington Interfaith Network/IAF
BlackRock, the world's largest asset / fund manager and owner of 17% of Sturm Ruger shares and owner of 11% of American Outdoor Brands Co (Smith & Wesson) shares, used questions from Metro IAF's Do Not Stand Idly By request for information in their announcement of what information they would request from gun manufacturers.
This is primarily due to work by IAF leader Rabbi Joel Mosbacher. It establishes a standard that IAF organizations and allies can now press Vanguard and other majors shareholders to also adopt.
https://www.blackrock.com/corporate/newsroom/press-releases/article/corporate-one/press-releases/blackrock-approach-to-companies-manufacturing-distributing-firearms
Got connections with other major shareholders? Contact the DNSIB Campaign.
This is primarily due to work by IAF leader Rabbi Joel Mosbacher. It establishes a standard that IAF organizations and allies can now press Vanguard and other majors shareholders to also adopt.
https://www.blackrock.com/corporate/newsroom/press-releases/article/corporate-one/press-releases/blackrock-approach-to-companies-manufacturing-distributing-firearms
Got connections with other major shareholders? Contact the DNSIB Campaign.
Rev. Jeff Krehbiel
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IN MEMORIAM: A REMEMBRANCE OF IAF LEADER JEFF KREHBIEL BY MARTIN TRIMBLE |
Smart Gun Battle Heats up
National Shooting SPorts Foundation peddles bad information; blocks negotiations With Conect/iaf
"So our Do Not Stand Idly By campaign has pursued a market approach to smart guns and curbing illegal guns with zero help from the NSSF. It was our fellow leaders in New Jersey who persuaded state legislators to initiate repeal of that state’s mandate law. We want market forces to work: to deliver badly needed capital to innovators with promising smart-gun designs and other safety technologies so these products can get to market and succeed or fail on their merits." Read the rest.
Radical intervention!
iaf proposes:
"superfund" to address opioid crisis
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"The polluter, in this case, is the opioid industry. Let the manufacturers of addictive pain pills like Purdue Pharma pay for the opioid cleanup they made necessary by falsely marketing their products. Let the distributors and retailers — which reaped enormous opioid profits and then successfully lobbied to undermine government’s authority to regulate their operations — put some of those profits toward a solution." Read it all in the NY Daily News.
Neto's Tucson: Ana Chavarin is a single mom, an immigrant and a success...and a PCIC/IAF organizer
Ana Chavarin
Her Story in the arizona daily star.
IAF Going Local In Northern and Central Louisiana:
Challenge tax give aways that sell out community needs for insider deals
Shreveport-Caddo Has New Power Over Tax Program Which Gave Away Over $680 Million, Shreveport Heliopolis
Advocacy Groups Seek Answers Regarding Costly ITEP Discrepancies from Two Local Companies, Shreveport Sun
Caddo Interfaith Coalition Expresses Concerns on Industrial Tax Exemption Programs, Red River Radio [pdf]
Letter from Caddo Parish Sheriff Regarding Tax Exemptions for Inferno Manufacturing
Advocacy Groups Seek Answers Regarding Costly ITEP Discrepancies from Two Local Companies, Shreveport Sun
Caddo Interfaith Coalition Expresses Concerns on Industrial Tax Exemption Programs, Red River Radio [pdf]
Letter from Caddo Parish Sheriff Regarding Tax Exemptions for Inferno Manufacturing
Better Call Saul: The U.S. Needs Radicalism, Not Extremism
Alinsky is one of the most misunderstood figures of the 20th century. Let’s set the record straight. Michael Gecan in the Wall Street journal.
"IF YOU DON’T STAND FOR SOMETHING, YOU’LL FALL FOR ANYTHING"
BLOG POST BY RAMON DURAN
Growing power in Louisiana
Together Baton Rouge and Together Louisiana
A force to be reckoned with
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"But perhaps the biggest reason a lot of people don’t like TBR is because it has become so effective in fighting back against big business and industry. Not since Victor Bussie’s AFO-CIO of the 1970s and 1980s has business and industry in Louisiana had to deal with such an organized opposition. Though TBR’s activism springs from different roots and impulses than did the union’s, it speaks for those who don’t feel as though they have a voice against the powers that be, and it has demonstrated that it, too, has the ability to become a powerful force."
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"It’s been a long time since big industry has faced credible opposition in Louisiana. TBR and the IAF didn’t set out to take the place of unions, but there was a void and the role the community organizing groups are now playing effectively fill that void—and with an added advantage. Unlike the unions, TBR is neither tainted by scandal nor corrupted by politics."
The rest of the story from Business Report.
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"It’s been a long time since big industry has faced credible opposition in Louisiana. TBR and the IAF didn’t set out to take the place of unions, but there was a void and the role the community organizing groups are now playing effectively fill that void—and with an added advantage. Unlike the unions, TBR is neither tainted by scandal nor corrupted by politics."
The rest of the story from Business Report.
james e coleman decisive on nunes memo
Nicholas Von Hoffman
Died 2/1/18
Worked ten years with Saul Alinsky
Saul Alinsky and Nicholas Von Hoffman
"Von Hoffman got his start as an activist, not a journalist, and in the '50s he was a lieutenant of sorts to the Chicago-based organizer Saul Alinsky. (My review of Radical, von Hoffman's memoir of his Alinsky days, is here.) From there he drifted into reporting, filing lively dispatches for the Chicago Daily News and then The Washington Post. He wrote sympathetically about the counterculture and the civil rights movement, unsympathetically about Nixon and the Vietnam War; he developed a reputation as the Post's in-house New Leftist. And that he was, more or less. But like the more anarchistic New Left types—and like his old boss Alinsky—von Hoffman didn't have much faith in big government." Read the rest from Reason.
Dallas Area Interfaith Drives BiG Push for Citizenship
“The reasons so many don’t take the final step [to citizenship] is they feel disenfranchised,” Lopez-Paul said. “But they can make democracy work for them.”
Lopez-Paul and Perales have worked in the churches, grooming leaders and forming groups that tackle everything from citizenship issues to lobbying for better housing. Citizenship and greater political participation rose to the top last year.
The rest of the story in the Dallas Morning News.
Lopez-Paul and Perales have worked in the churches, grooming leaders and forming groups that tackle everything from citizenship issues to lobbying for better housing. Citizenship and greater political participation rose to the top last year.
The rest of the story in the Dallas Morning News.
CONECT and Metro IAF drive Smart gun technology
Smart guns offer hope of reduced fatalities
WASHINGTON — Connecticut has become ground zero of sorts for spurring development of smart guns that use technology to prevent accidental or unauthorized discharge of firearms, particularly by children.
The state government is one of 122 jurisdictions in the nation to join in a “request for information” to gun manufacturers on what steps they are taking to develop smart-gun technology. The RFI has been orchestrated by an ad hoc group, Do Not Stand Idly By, made up primarily of religious leaders. Read the rest of the story here: http://www.newcanaannewsonline.com/local/article/In-Washington-state-advocates-push-for-smart-guns-12525863.php
The state government is one of 122 jurisdictions in the nation to join in a “request for information” to gun manufacturers on what steps they are taking to develop smart-gun technology. The RFI has been orchestrated by an ad hoc group, Do Not Stand Idly By, made up primarily of religious leaders. Read the rest of the story here: http://www.newcanaannewsonline.com/local/article/In-Washington-state-advocates-push-for-smart-guns-12525863.php
Business Group targets Together Louisiana with attack vid; Eddie Rispone seeks to bring IAF organization down as citizen leaders shrug
Eddie Rispone
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Louisiana powerhouse
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Eddie Rispone gets one and only one thing right: Together Louisiana is a power to be reckoned with in Louisiana. Business Report story here
The biggest big Mistake in US politics:
Underestimating the scale, scope and emerging power of the resistance
Near Central Park before the launch of the Women's March (Getty images)
Indivisible Copper Corridor team, Casa Grande, AZ
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Park City Utah
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VP Pence pierced by the arrow of truth
Courageous Rev Maurice Watson delivers the message at MLK service
Pastor denounces President Trump's 's--thole' comments with red-faced Vice President Pence in pews |
“I stand today as your pastor to vehemently denounce and reject any such characterizations of the nations of Africa and of our brothers and sisters in Haiti,” Watson said at the Metropolitan Baptist Church in Largo.
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