Pushback Network (PBN) is proud to announce a new State Alliance Partnership with Neighbor to Neighbor Massachusetts (N2N-MA). N2N-MA’s leadership as Massachusetts anchor organization makes the Bay State the eighth state in PBN’s growing coast-to-coast network. NWN-MA grew out of Neighbor to Neighbor, a national organization which focused on organizing in Central America in the 1980s, and on health care reform in the U.S. in the early 1990s. In the mid-1990s, N2N-MA re-evaluated our mission to focus on building power in low-income communities around an economic justice agenda. N2N-MA formed the Working Family Agenda Coalition and works to build a progressive majority in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
[Read more]
All. Together. Now.
SCOPE is fighting to create green jobs in South Los Angeles. Through their LA Apollo City Retrofit Program, they are working hard to provide construction, operations, maintenance, and manufacturing jobs for the residents of South Los Angeles and other Los Angeles inner-city communities.
For SCOPE, the access to green jobs serves multiple purposes. Not only will these jobs provide South LA residents with comprehensive training and employment services which will offer concrete pathways out of poverty and into good paying green careers. It will also improve the quality of life for the communities, since the LA Apollo City Retrofit Program addresses the impact of environmental degradation on communities of color and seeks to redress the deteriorating public infrastructure in South LA. [Read more]
New Statewide Anchor Organization, PLAN, Brings 7th State into Pushback Network
PBN is proud to announce a new State Alliance Partnership with the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada (PLAN), making Nevada the seventh state in its growing coast-to-coast network. PLAN was formed in 1994 to bring people and organizations together to build a better Nevada and includes more than two-dozen member groups dedicated to working for social, economic, and environmental justice.
“Pushback Network’s model is centered on building progressive power from the bottom up,” said PBN Coordinating Director Rodney McKenzie, Jr., “and PLAN will contribute a great deal to our learning and strategies. PBN focuses on developing and strengthening broad-based state alliances and supporting their community organizing and voter engagement strategies to greatly increase the knowledge base, level of participation and influence of those most underrepresented in the electorate – people of color, poor and working class communities, and young people. PBN provides organizations like PLAN, that are anchoring state alliances, with critically needed financial resources, training, and technical support. We also bring together experienced and talented staff and leaders from all of our states to learn from each other, determine and shape our overall strategies, and contribute to national goals. As our other partners, PLAN is grounded in a long history of progressive achievement. We are extremely pleased and proud to now have them join with us to achieve our common vision.” [Read more]
In Los Angeles, California labor and community organizations have long-recognized the need for a joint campaign training program — a program that would include both in-class and field training components.
That’s exactly what took place the weekend of April 5-6, 2008, when over 25 community and labor activists, including PBN reps, gained the skills needed to run an efficient electoral field program at this year’s Campaign School.
The Campaign School successfully engaged and activated everyone who attended through helpful skills-building trainings facilitated by staff and leadership from the LA County Federation of Labor, UCLA Labor Center, LA Trade Tech Labor Studies Center, and PBN California partner, SCOPE. [Read more]
A new Green Economy is emerging in California that will create thousands of jobs through
new technologies to clean our communities and the environment.
Join the State Lawmakers and Grassroots, Labor and Environmental Leaders to explore:
- What is the Green Economy?
- How do we ensure South LA and other inner-city communities benefit from these jobs and new technologies?
- What are best practices in legislation and programs to shape an equitable new economy?
For more information, or to RSVP, please call SCOPE at 323-789-7920.
Alabama took a step toward lower grocery taxes and a higher threshold for income tax Wednesday when legislative committees approved HB 274 and SB 431, the Tax Fairness Amendment of 2008. The House Education Appropriations Committee gave the plan a favorable report by voice vote.
Meanwhile, the vote in the Senate Finance and Taxation – Education Committee was 15-1. The bills, sponsored by Rep. John Knight, D-Montgomery, and Sen. Hank Sanders, D-Selma, respectively, now move to the full chambers for consideration. If both the House and Senate approve the amendment by a three-fifths vote, Alabamians will vote on the measure in November. [Read more]
The full Voces Unidas Magazine is now available to download online! Just click the picture of the cover to download. The SWOP Blog shared this message from PBN Co-Chair Robby Rodriguez:
Message to Readers: We are Winning!
The theme of this edition of Voces Unidas is “Electoral Politics and Community Power.” In this issue you will find stories about how SWOP and our allies are making the dream of democracy in this country a reality.
2008 is a big election year nationally and especially in New Mexico. On the federal level, people in New Mexico will vote for a new president, senator and all three representatives—possibly influencing the balance of power nationally. On the local level, we will be electing all 42 of our state senators as well as some of our county commissioners and other municipal level positions. [Read more]