Who would have thought that 10,000 people from LA to Seattle to Chicago to New Orleans to Phoenix would come together in big and small gathering to discuss the issues and challenges that are impacting their communities and their hopes and dreams for the future…
Who would have thought that 50 family delegates from across the country would spend their weekend away from their family and friends to discuss, modify and ratify a peoples platform that represented the issues and concerns from their communities….
Who would have thought that 6,000 people from California, New Mexico and Washington State would travel by bus, car and plane to Los Angeles to make their voices heard on behalf of poor families and communities across the country….
Who would have thought that those 6,000 people in LA would be joined, by the miracle of technology, by 4,000 people in Chicago and 4,000 more in Birmingham on the same day…
Who would have thought that community-based organizations big and small from every region of the country would set aside their egos and organizational priorities to support and implement a campaign that they may or may not have had a hand in creating, but ultimately wanted a part in supporting…..
Who would have thought a Foundation in Seattle would have the audacity to inspire, cajole, and nurture a movement of and by families….
Who would have thought?
It has been quite a ride, and it is not over yet.
We still have 16 days till September 6th, and a lot of bus routes, brown bag lunches, name tags, child care activities, translation services and hotel rooms to ensure before then, but if the proceeding paragraphs prove anything, they prove:
We Can Do This!
Charles Fields is a program officer for the Equal Voice for America's Families Campaign.
Technorati Tags: activism, economy, politics, poverty, families, working+families, 2008 elections, barack obama, john mccain, social justice, current affairs, current events, immigration, online video, lifecasting.
Showing posts with label On the Ground. Show all posts
Showing posts with label On the Ground. Show all posts
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Thursday, July 31, 2008
On the Ground in the Rio Grande Valley
Last week, I spent some time speaking with residents of the Rio Grande Valley of south Texas, where people were waiting out Hurricane Dolly.
Dolly arrived with severe rain and wind, destroying or damaging hundreds of homes in the area and forcing residents to evacuate. (Later, Texas Governor Rick Perry declared 14 south Texas counties disaster areas as a result of the storm.)
The big question on everyone's mind as the storm approached was whether the levees would hold.
The levees have needed repairs since 2007, and experts predicted if the levees failed, flooding could have devastated more families than were impacted by Katrina. That's why local groups have been asking for resources to repair the levees -- to avoid an instant replay of New Orleans.
Just two weeks ago, local delegates went to Washington but were told they won’t get the needed $125 million for repairs any time soon. (Meanwhile, the Department of Homeland Security is still pushing ahead to construct the border wall to the tune in the billions.)
Luckily, the levees held. But hurricane season isn’t over yet, and Dolly's torrential rains have caused flooding in various parts of the region.
Working families have felt the effects of Dolly acutely, with many who live in mobile homes or poorly constructed housing have suffered the worst damage.
Now, while flood waters slowly recede, many families are still without electricity and are being exposed to disease.
Yet the storm has not dampened the resolve of more than 500 families in the area who plan to mobilize in Birmingham for the National Family Convention in September. In spite of the hurricane, families are cleaning up this week, trying to resume their lives -- and committed to moving forward.
Peter Bloch Garcia is a program officer for the Marguerite Casey Foundation.
Technorati Tags: activism, economy, politics, poverty, families, working+families, 2008 elections, barack obama, texas, social justice, current affairs, current events, immigration, flooding, Hurricane Dolly.
Dolly arrived with severe rain and wind, destroying or damaging hundreds of homes in the area and forcing residents to evacuate. (Later, Texas Governor Rick Perry declared 14 south Texas counties disaster areas as a result of the storm.)
The big question on everyone's mind as the storm approached was whether the levees would hold.
The levees have needed repairs since 2007, and experts predicted if the levees failed, flooding could have devastated more families than were impacted by Katrina. That's why local groups have been asking for resources to repair the levees -- to avoid an instant replay of New Orleans.
Just two weeks ago, local delegates went to Washington but were told they won’t get the needed $125 million for repairs any time soon. (Meanwhile, the Department of Homeland Security is still pushing ahead to construct the border wall to the tune in the billions.)
Luckily, the levees held. But hurricane season isn’t over yet, and Dolly's torrential rains have caused flooding in various parts of the region.
Working families have felt the effects of Dolly acutely, with many who live in mobile homes or poorly constructed housing have suffered the worst damage.
Now, while flood waters slowly recede, many families are still without electricity and are being exposed to disease.
Yet the storm has not dampened the resolve of more than 500 families in the area who plan to mobilize in Birmingham for the National Family Convention in September. In spite of the hurricane, families are cleaning up this week, trying to resume their lives -- and committed to moving forward.
Peter Bloch Garcia is a program officer for the Marguerite Casey Foundation.
Technorati Tags: activism, economy, politics, poverty, families, working+families, 2008 elections, barack obama, texas, social justice, current affairs, current events, immigration, flooding, Hurricane Dolly.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
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.
Technorati Tags: activism, economy, politics, poverty, families, working+families, 2008 elections, barack obama, john mccain, social justice, current affairs, current events, immigration, online video.
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.
Technorati Tags: activism, economy, politics, poverty, families, working+families, 2008 elections, barack obama, john mccain, social justice, current affairs, current events, immigration, online video.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Report from the Equal Voice for America's Families Summer Gathering
It has been more than 280 days since we kicked off of the Equal Voice for America's Families Campaign in Atlanta, Georgia.
In that time, we convened 63 town halls across the country, bringing more than 10,000 people together to talk about the issues impacting their communities, and we compiled the issues raised by working families into a "Family Platform," to be unveiled prior to our National Convention on September 6, 2008.
In order for the Family Platform to truly represent real families, it needed to be vetted by real families.
That's why, last weekend, I joined about 50 family delegates in Chicago, Illinois for the Equal Voice for America’s Families Summer Gathering.
(Click here for more pictures from the Summer Gathering and here for a news report on the event.)
The family delegates had come to Chicago from near and far, including Los Angeles, Chicago, New Orleans, Seattle, Atlanta, the Rio Grande Valley, Oakland, Spokane and Santa Fe.
The task at hand was to review, modify (if necessary), and ratify the Family Platform.
The family delegates here demonstrated a real sense of purpose. They were passionate and talkative, determined to create a positive platform on behalf of the communities and families they represented. “We are here to represent our communities,” one woman said to me. Another woman said, “I am here to make a difference." Delegates consistently commented on a shared sense of ‘linked futures’.
As my friend Charles from Chicago said, “We’re all in this together.”
After the Platform was ratified, Luz Vega-Marquis, President and CEO of the Marguerite Casey Foundation, which created the Equal Voice campaign, ended the Gathering with a call to action.
“Take this platform and spread the word and talk about it with your family and friends, your neighbors and community members," she said. "Use this platform to mobilize your communities. This is your platform. Your Voices Have Been Heard!”
Next Stop: the September 6th Conventions in Chicago, Los Angeles, and Birmingham!
The writer, Charles Fields, is a program officer for the Equal Voice for America's Families Campaign.
Technorati Tags: activism, economy, politics, poverty, families, working+families, 2008 elections, barack obama, john mccain, social justice, current affairs, current events.
In that time, we convened 63 town halls across the country, bringing more than 10,000 people together to talk about the issues impacting their communities, and we compiled the issues raised by working families into a "Family Platform," to be unveiled prior to our National Convention on September 6, 2008.
In order for the Family Platform to truly represent real families, it needed to be vetted by real families.
That's why, last weekend, I joined about 50 family delegates in Chicago, Illinois for the Equal Voice for America’s Families Summer Gathering.
(Click here for more pictures from the Summer Gathering and here for a news report on the event.)
The family delegates had come to Chicago from near and far, including Los Angeles, Chicago, New Orleans, Seattle, Atlanta, the Rio Grande Valley, Oakland, Spokane and Santa Fe.
The task at hand was to review, modify (if necessary), and ratify the Family Platform.
The family delegates here demonstrated a real sense of purpose. They were passionate and talkative, determined to create a positive platform on behalf of the communities and families they represented. “We are here to represent our communities,” one woman said to me. Another woman said, “I am here to make a difference." Delegates consistently commented on a shared sense of ‘linked futures’.
As my friend Charles from Chicago said, “We’re all in this together.”
After the Platform was ratified, Luz Vega-Marquis, President and CEO of the Marguerite Casey Foundation, which created the Equal Voice campaign, ended the Gathering with a call to action.
“Take this platform and spread the word and talk about it with your family and friends, your neighbors and community members," she said. "Use this platform to mobilize your communities. This is your platform. Your Voices Have Been Heard!”
Next Stop: the September 6th Conventions in Chicago, Los Angeles, and Birmingham!
The writer, Charles Fields, is a program officer for the Equal Voice for America's Families Campaign.
Technorati Tags: activism, economy, politics, poverty, families, working+families, 2008 elections, barack obama, john mccain, social justice, current affairs, current events.
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