On the Ground: Los Angeles

Here I am on sitting in a room with people from 15 different Marguerite Casey Foundation grantee organizations, all of whom are based in Los Angeles.

These grantee organizations are working on issues from transportation justice to educational equity to immigration reform. A broad range of issues, to be sure, but they are all here today to figure out the best way that they can participate in the Equal Voice for America’s Families Campaign.

Everyone here can be divided into three different groups.

The first have been involved in our campaign since the beginning — initial planning, mobilizing people for town halls, and sending their members to the Chicago Gathering.

The second group may have sent some staff to one of our more than 60 town halls, but they may have done so reluctantly, watching to see if this Campaign truly had legs. Would regular people really come out and talk about their issues with other strangers on a Saturday, when they could be doing all sorts of other things?

(We now know the answer to that question. It's yes.)

And then there's the third group: the organizations that did not participate at all at the beginning, but now want to… because they can see that this campaign is making a difference in the lives of working families across America.

Earlier, I gave some opening comments about the Campaign, about where the Campaign has been and what the next steps will be. I can see folks are ready to pepper me with questions about everything from childcare, to buses, to key note speakers, to language translation, to interactive activities. I only hope I have enough answers to satiate them!

But before my colleague Sally and I take questions, we put in the The Journey So Far DVD.

The DVD tells the story of the Campaign in a way that my Campaign charts and fact sheets cannot. The film highlights town hall participants throughout the country, telling their stories — whether it be a Black man in New Orleans talking about the plight of the homeless, which is his plight; or a Latina mother talking about immigration reform; or a teenager in Chicago discussing the disinvestment in urban schools. The stories are as moving as they are true.

After the short film, the questions about logistics, key notes, child care and language translation seem less important to the group. What is important is that the organizations now see themselves as part of the Equal Voice for America’s Families Campaign, a Campaign that is broader than any one issue or organization, a Campaign that is about all of us.

You can get involved, too. Click here to watch the Journey So Far video, and here to sign up for our email list.

Charles Fields is a program officer for the Equal Voice for America's Families Campaign.

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