Pushback Network is fired up about the US Social Forum!

From June 22-26^th, over 200 members from the 9 Pushback State Alliances are uniting in Detroit to strengthen our collective efforts and craft visions of liberation and justice.

Seeing as the time has come for us to build collective power in this milieu of massive unemployment, SB 1070, the oil spill, de-funding of public education, foreclosures and the bank bailouts, Pushback has constructed a strong program that highlights the diverse, multi-issue, multi-region, multi-constituency nature of our network.

You can catch us in Detroit sponsoring the following workshops, convention, and party:

• DTE Protest on Tuesday, June 22
• Workshop: Why Get in The Game? on Wednesday, June 23rd at 10am, Cobo Hall M3-32
• Workshop: Grassroots Participation in the Redistricting Process on Wednesday, June 23rd at 1pm, Cobo Hall D3-26
• Inter-Alliance Dialogue Convention-Grassroots Responses to the Economic Crisis and Critical Issues of our Time on Fri, June 25th at 1pm
• Grassroots Global Justice 5th Anniversary/Leftist Lounge Party on Friday, June 25th at 9pm

You can download the entire Pushback program here: Pushback Network Schedule at USSF

We eagerly look forward to the Detroit for it opens up greater possibilities for creative resistance and transformation.

As a network, we see the forum as a crucial component to building a bottom-up, sustainable movement in the US that has the teeth to fight back against the current neo-liberal system that places profits over people.

We’ll see you in the streets!

Another World is Possible. Another US is Necessary. A New Detroit is on its Way.

We arrived in Las Vegas, 18 members strong representing 4 organizations and were quickly struck by the lights, activity on the strip, and of course, the warm weather. By the time we got the hotel, we had already begun to deepen existing relationships and build new relationships within the alliance.

The conference began with a wave of excitement and anticipation. There were many ice breakers and relationship building exercises throughout the convening which MA alliance members loved. In fact, Carlos of Neighbor to Neighbor (N2N) wished we could have done more!

Benito of Ex-Prisoners Organizing for Community Advancement (EPOCA) built many new relationships and was proud that, “we shined as an alliance.” He was also happy to report that he’s already in communication with many of the leaders from all over the country that he met at the convening.

Ashley of Hyde Square Task Force presented her youth organizing work in the Voter Engagement Strategies workshop but also commented on what she took home. “It was a rare opportunity to bring us together and interact with so many amazing people from across the country. The convening gave us valuable information to help us carry out our agenda.”

Agustina of N2N returned to Lynn, MA with a clear understanding of Pushback. She reported, “Pushback was new to me and after going to the convening I discovered its strength. We’re now connected with grassroots organizations at the national level and I hope we continue to grow strong and gain electoral and legislative power.”

Rosa Aviles from Coalition Against Poverty (CAP) found the convening “uplifting and inspiring, culturally diverse and was surprised to see states with similar obstacles and same passion for effecting change”. She concluded with a simple statement, “We’re not alone.”

Maria Carrasco of N2N agreed. “One organization isn’t enough to do this work. This convening demonstrated that we are all in this together, that we’re smart, but we’re also learning new tools. We build coalitions. We all share the same vision. This is what makes us strong and that is what’s powerful about Pushback. The most important goal for me was to make connections with other organizations and build relationships and we all met that goal!”

Delia of EPOCA left the convening wanting to know more, wanting to know how organizations got to the point that they’re at, what’s working and what’s not. She said, “There were so many people there sharing their work that I learned a little bit about each organization. Now I want to hear more.”

Missy and Janet of CAP also wanted to dig deeper but was inspired by the possibility of coming together again with other Pushback organizations to build a national movement and make change.

The MA State Alliance is eager to continue building relationships and to create time for continued peer-to-peer learning with groups across the country. Many of our members highlighted individuals and organizations that we hope to connect with soon and dig deep into allied organizations strategies, tactics, and lessons learned. Watch out fellow Pushback organizations, we will be knocking on your door very soon!

Pushback Network (PBN) proudly welcomes accomplished social justice leader Peter Hardie as its new Executive Director.

Emphasizing community organizing and voter engagement strategies to empower underrepresented constituencies, PBN continues to grow as an organization assisting people in defining their mutual interests and working together to improve their lives.

“Peter is ideally poised to help lead the Pushback Network as a facilitator and as a leader in the national and local struggles for justice and democracy,” said PBN Chair Robby Rodriguez. “Currently, PBN is developing and implementing voter engagement and other civic participation strategies in eight states: New York, Massachusetts, Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico, and California. We foster collaborative efforts to increase the effectiveness of groups doing community organizing and non-partisan electoral work on the ground. Peter Hardie is an ideal fit for PBN because his career has combined organizing, advocacy and activism with significant experience and practice in organizational assessment and development. He has worked side by side with coalitions across the country and internationally to build grassroots political power from the bottom up. Peter has coached and advised a diverse range of organizations and knows how to encourage the best outcomes from them.”

Hardie comes to PBN most recently from his role as consultant to accomplished and emerging social justice organizations such as Right to the City, an alliance of base building organizations from cities across the country fighting gentrification, and Leadership Conference for Civil Rights, another national coalition of social justice advocates. He has demonstrated effectiveness in hands-on alliance-building and melding the practices of organizational development with the dynamic needs of grassroots organizing and coalition building. Hardie previously served as Executive Director for the Roxbury Youth Works, where he demonstrated a deep knowledge of, and commitment to, the principles of community organizing as focused particularly on building the power of young people and communities of color. With this impressive skill set, Hardie will work as Executive Director to facilitate the Board’s strategic planning and decision-making, manage a national staff, and take on and help guide the staff’s planning, program support, fundraising, financial management, and other key Network responsibilities.

“When all is said and done, the invitation from the Pushback Network was impossible to resist,” said Hardie. “My work life has centered on building community and building bridges between communities. This opportunity at the Pushback Network is about growth and renewal for the country and an opportunity for me to join an alliance of people with tremendous potential for change and impact on many levels”

“Peter has a great understanding of base building organizations,” continued Rodriguez. “His vision aligns perfectly with our own of a democracy where ordinary people, who have been historically pushed to the political margins, move and guide our political process by organizing from the bottom up.”

“The recent bailout on Wall Street reinforces the powerful necessity for political organizing among bedrock communities. The nation has elected a President who has asked Americans to roll up their sleeves and re-make this nation.” Hardie said, “The Pushback Network, with its diverse mix of communities and organizations, is the model for exactly the kind of civic engagement and genuine democracy that the new president and these times demand of us.”

DON’T: Bait and switch. Be clear and honest with grassroots organizers about intentions and objectives.

DO: Share information and resources. Provide complementary funding, where appropriate, through clear accountable agreements to build long-term capacity that keeps working between election cycles.

DON’T: Come in with an agenda already in place. A useful ally’s agenda is informed by ongoing work on the ground.

DO: Work in areas where local leaders have identified existing gaps. Collaborate on strategies that strengthen long-term capacity to target demographics where local capacity is weakest.

DON’T: Employ messaging that is in conflict with ongoing campaigns. Design media strategies with long-term social change work in mind.

DO: Build on existing strengths and capacities on the ground.

DON’T: Poison the base and burn up turf. Work with grassroots organizations to extend their base, and yours, and share credit for shared work.

DO: Extend training opportunities to local organizers. Even when resources are left with local groups, those groups are too often left without the training to maintain them. Offer local organizations the training needed to maximize collaborative resources before you head home.

DON’T: Take the infrastructure and run. Hand-off what the campaign has built; hand off local volunteers and staff. Take the time for evaluation and debriefing with local partners.

]]> http://pushbacknetwork.org/2008/11/02/ten-tips-for-effective-collaborative-organizing/feed/ 0 http://pushbacknetwork.org/2008/11/01/collateral-damage/ http://pushbacknetwork.org/2008/11/01/collateral-damage/#comments Sat, 01 Nov 2008 14:00:22 +0000 Samiya Bashir http://pushbacknetwork.org/?p=160 Follow The Project, PBN’s live, daily, multi-media civic engagement project every day through November 7th. To lead us off, PBN is publishing a few critically important pieces that look at the importance of sound investment in effective civic organizing. Click here for updates.

During the 2006 electoral season, PBN partner Kentuckians for the Commonwealth learned first hand how paratrooper tactics disrupt years’ worth of work in their communities. According to nationally based, numbers-centric guidelines, national groups did a better job targeting the KFTC’s population, and reached more people.

But a closer look shows that while KFTC contacted a third of the people the national paratrooping group reached, they did it for a tenth of the money. KFTC’s numbers, unlike those of the paratroopers, reflected three person-to-person contacts for each individual counted. KFTC’s contacts included civic education and leadership development on a personal level – a crucial benefit that lasts, and one that you can’t get from mailings or robocalls.

This was achieved despite having to constantly firefight to battle the bull-in-a-china-shop blunders of the national organizers. “Last November, on election day, our Lexington organizer was flooded with phone calls from people all over the state asking for a ride to the polls,” said KFTC director Burt Lauderdale. “Somebody at a national organization had contacted our office months before and asked, in general terms, if we provide rides to the polls. We said yes and gave them the info for the local guy.”

“What happened next,” said Lauderdale, “without our permission or notification, was that 36,000 letters were sent to a targeted selection of voters from all over the state. The letters were a mildly threatening attempt to increase turn out by intimidating voters who stayed home for the last election. The organization didn’t identify itself in the letters, listing only a P.O. Box. What they did say was, ‘If you need a ride, call this number.’ That number was the direct line to our lone organizer who was inundated with calls from hundreds of miles away. KFTC had nothing to do with this direct mail piece, but communities across our state were left with negative feelings about us and our work.”

“Now, when I talked to the director of that organization in the days after he was embarrassed,” Lauderdale continued. “He apologized for the miscommunication, then turned around this Spring and did it again. This same group sent another huge mailing to their database encouraging them to register to vote; only it was sent out to them after the voter registration deadline. This was all very expensive to do. It’s frustrating because it’s an ineffective waste of money. Plus, it creates a mountain of mess that we’re left to clean up.”

This organization was knowledgeable enough to locate KFTC and put their phone number onto its direct mail outreach. The next logical step is to find ways to connect with their work in a complementary way. This is where paratrooper tactics fail, and where effective bottom-up collaboration wins.

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]]> http://pushbacknetwork.org/2008/11/01/collateral-damage/feed/ 0 http://pushbacknetwork.org/2008/10/29/keep-up-with-the-project/ http://pushbacknetwork.org/2008/10/29/keep-up-with-the-project/#comments Thu, 30 Oct 2008 01:01:21 +0000 Samiya Bashir http://pushbacknetwork.org/?p=153

Follow The Project, Pushback Network’s Election 2008 Multi-Media Project online through your social networks, at our Project Updates Blog, or on Friend Feed and watch history happen with updates all day, every day through Election Week!

We’re going to the battlegrounds of New Mexico and Mississippi November 1-7, 2008, to show what the work our partners are doing to fuse community organizing and voter engagement and mobilize people of color, poor people, and young people looks like — in action and in near-real-time using photos, videos, micro-bloggging and more. Check back each day to see where we are with preparations, and see the organizing work happen through the post-election wind-up November 7th.

We’ll also be sharing work from our other state-wide partners to showcase how, from New York to California, integrated voter work builds and strengthens organizations, creates leaders from contacted voters, and shifts public consciousness towards an agenda that supports progressive social values.

Subscribe to our feed here and don’t miss a thing!
Follow The Project on:

]]> http://pushbacknetwork.org/2008/10/29/keep-up-with-the-project/feed/ 0 http://pushbacknetwork.org/2008/10/29/election-2008-%e2%80%93-live-from-a-neighborhood-near-you/ http://pushbacknetwork.org/2008/10/29/election-2008-%e2%80%93-live-from-a-neighborhood-near-you/#comments Wed, 29 Oct 2008 18:07:09 +0000 Samiya Bashir http://pushbacknetwork.org/?p=141 Kicking off in New York City on October 24th and preparing to stretch through non-traditional battlegrounds of Mississippi and New Mexico, Pushback Network (PBN) is getting down on the ground with the people pushing civic engagement to new heights. From November 1st through November 7th, 2008, Pushback Network staffers Brigid Flaherty and Jason Cooper are pairing up again with Samiya Bashir for a live and direct multi-media project.

Through this project, PBN will capture the non-partisan, on-the-ground, electoral field programs in two of our states: Mississippi and New Mexico. “The truth is that the electorate is changing,” said Cooper, “and people are getting involved in record numbers not just in voting, but in educating themselves and their neighbors about the issues at stake in their communities. Pushback Network partners drive the ground game locally in eight states across the country. We’re going where history is being made in civic engagement and putting it on the record not just for Election Day, but for what’s next.”

The Project will track Flaherty and Cooper as they traverse the states documenting efforts live through in-person interviews using photo, video, and the latest micro-blogging tools. The days up to, through, and beyond November 2nd will be tracked using PBN’s Tumblr blog, its website, and online social networks.

Follow The Project on:

“Democracy doesn’t end on Election Day,” said Robby Rodriguez, executive director of South West Organizing Project. “We’ve got to invest in local groups that are doing the work before, during, and after the election season. Pushback understands that the changes we make in New Mexico bubble up to change the country.”

Cooper will be traveling from the Delta through and across Mississippi working with groups like Southern Echo, Parents and Youth United for a Better Webster County, Activists with a Purpose, Action Community Education Reform, Citizens for a Better Greenville, Concerned Citizens for a Better Tunica County, Sunflower County Parent Student Organization, and Fired Up! Flaherty will be traveling through battleground hot-spot of Albuquerque across New Mexico with leading community organizing groups of South West Organizing Project and SAGE Council.

“This system is so often about tearing people down,” said Leroy Johnson, executive director of Southern Echo. “They tell us we’re too poor; that the system is too sophisticated and complicated for us to comprehend. We tell our community that we believe in them. We give them the skills and allow them to do it. From there they can do it better than anyone else.”

PBN has grown in two years to eight states, Alabama, California, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Mexico, New York, and Nevada, by creating opportunities for increased networking, training, funding, and resources to help the best community-based organizing groups grow to the scale needed to do their work better. Organizers and communities around the country have heard PBN’s mission. The Project will show what PBN’s work to fuse community organizing and voter engagement work to mobilize people of color, poor people, and young people looks like in action.

Check back each day to see where we are with preparations, and see the organizing work happen in near-real-time through the post-election wind-up November 7th. Don’t miss the work we’ll be sharing from other state-wide partners who we’ll be keeping up with every day as well to see how integrated voter work builds and strengthens organizations, creates leaders from contacted voters, and shifts public consciousness towards an agenda that supports progressive social values.

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Download the Press Release here.

August 4^th, 2008

Dear Allies and Supporters of Pushback Network:

On behalf of the Pushback Network, we would like to inform you of the impending departure of our current Coordinating Director, Rodney McKenzie, Jr. Rodney’s official last day at PBN is August 31, 2008. We have been very pleased with his commitment to our goals and significant accomplishments as Coordinating Director. Rodney has been of enormous help in Pushback’s growth and development, and we are sad to see him leave.

Given this news, we would like to take the opportunity to introduce you to our Interim Director, Larry Parachini. Larry is a highly qualified consultant, with previous executive leadership experience, who served as PBN’s Interim Director from our inception in 2005 until Rodney was hired. Beginning August 1^st, Larry will manage and work closely with PBN’s staff and several consultants to continue day-to-day operations in support of our state efforts and to advance Pushback’s organizational and program priorities. We expect to hire a permanent director in the next five to six months. Larry will continue in the Interim Director role until that time and contribute to the transition to the new director when she or he is hired. We expect the transition to be fairly smooth given the current status of the Pushback Network, namely our excellent financial situation, our top-notch staff – Program Director, Jason Cooper and Program Associate, Brigid Flaherty – and the remarkable progress of our programmatic work that PBN anchor organizations and state alliances are currently demonstrating in eight states.

In terms of securing a new permanent Director, we will soon engage an experienced job search consultant, knowledgeable about the kind of work we do and committed to PBN’s values, to provide guidance and assistance with the hiring process. Interviews of priority candidates will be conducted by the special committee and finalists will be interviewed in person and selected by the Steering Committee. We are committed to hiring a permanent Director as soon as we identify the right candidate.

Until then, we are confident that Pushback Network will continue to operate at a high level of performance. We sincerely look forward to continuing to work with our allies during this transition process. Maintaining these relationships forged within the spirit of collaboration for the purposes of achieving an authentic, participatory democracy remains a top priority for PBN. Should any questions arise before we select our new director, we most certainly welcome them. For this and all other inquiries, please feel free to contact Larry Parachini at 301-587-2510 or larry@pushbacknetwork.org.

Respectfully,

Robby Rodriguez, Chair

Sondra Youdelman, Vice-Chair

Leroy Johnson, Treasurer

Hill Carmichael, Secretary

“Jason brings a fresh perspective to our growing team that is based on hands-on work tested in high profile political and public education campaigns, combined with leadership, organizational and training expertise,” said PBN Director Rodney McKenzie, Jr. “Organizers in state after state are seeing the Pushback model of building progressive power from the bottom up and they want to be a part of it. PBN provides organizations that are anchoring eight state alliances, including in Alabama, California, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico, and New York, with critically needed financial resources, technical support, and training. Jason Cooper is a perfect match to help us meet their needs. He has worked side by side with state and local leaders across the country to build grassroots political power from the bottom up. Jason has coached and mentored staff and volunteers through 13 campaigns in 11 states and trained thousands of activists in grassroots organizing, fundraising, multiracial team building, grassroots lobbying, and developing and running winning campaigns.”

Seasoned campaigner Jason Cooper brings leadership and progressive organizing expertise to PBN team

Cooper comes to PBN most recently from his position as Deputy Director of External Relations with Young People For (YP4), a program of the People for the American Way Foundation, where he was responsible for helping to create and implement the YP4 vision, directing leadership development and education programming, and managing, with key progressive movement leaders, an extensive network of nationwide organizing partnerships. Cooper previously served as Senior Field Organizer for the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force, one of the oldest and largest LGBT civil rights organizations in the country, where he recruited, coached and mentored organizing teams, including thousands of volunteers, working on a variety of issues ranging from immigration to marriage equality to affirmative action.

“I am both honored and privileged to be working alongside the individual and collective actions of people working to steer America toward social and economic justice,” said Cooper. “In communities across the country, there is the growing consensus that the status quo isn’t good enough. People are looking for ways to come together to demand that those elected to public office address the real issues that matter to them most.”

“Jason has developed the tools and experience critical to our efforts to achieve a democracy powered by the diverse skills, talents and cultures of the American people, rather than solely the wealthy and privileged,” continued McKenzie. “His vision aligns perfectly with our own of a democracy where grassroots communities, who have been historically pushed to the political margins, lead toward social change rooted in progressive values.”

“Upon the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act,” Cooper said, “Bayard Rustin wrote that ‘the goal of protest and social reform necessitated political participation–itself the mark of inclusion in a society.’ Today, as then, it is crucial that communities living on the margins of society, including people of color, women, poor and working-poor, and young people, continue to “Pushback” to help America achieve the healthy and true democracy that is its beacon to the world.”

]]> http://pushbacknetwork.org/2008/05/12/pushback-network-makes-perfect-match/feed/ 0 http://pushbacknetwork.org/2008/05/04/n2n-organizes-50-mile-walk-for-criminal-justice/ http://pushbacknetwork.org/2008/05/04/n2n-organizes-50-mile-walk-for-criminal-justice/#comments Sun, 04 May 2008 16:27:52 +0000 Samiya Bashir http://pushbacknetwork.org/?p=122 Long Walk to Freedom: Neighbor to Neighbor organizes a 50-mile walk to break the chains of criminal injustice

Worcester to Boston, MA — From Sunday, May 18th through Thursday, May 22nd, Neighbor to Neighbor members from across the state will join a grassroots coalition on a historic 50-mile walk for freedom. Marchers will join local officials in calling on the State Legislature to pass a package of reforms at the local and state levels to end discrimination based on criminal records, and alleviate the crisis of jobs and housing throughout the Commonwealth.

The walkers will cover 11miles a day, stopping in towns along the way to hold vigils with local community residents. Once they reach Lexington on Tuesday, May 18, the walkers will follow the route that Paul Revere rode when he organized citizens of the Commonwealth to defend their freedom in 1775.

Weaknesses in the current CORI laws allow for blanket discrimination based on the existence of a criminal record. This creates enormous obstacles for people trying to obtain jobs, housing, and acceptance into licensure and educational programs. Over 20,000 people are released from incarceration in Massachusetts every year. When criminal records prevent people from earning an honest living, families suffer, crime increases, and the State loses revenue.

With low-income single mothers as the face of criminal record reform, the movement is gaining momentum: Governor Patrick signed an Executive Order earlier this year to establish fair hiring guidelines for state agencies, and numerous cities and towns adopting similar policies.

“The overuse and misuse of CORI information traps tens of thousands of Massachusetts families in poverty and fear,” says Carmen de los Santos, Neighbor to Neighbor member and Springfield resident. “CORI is not tough on crime or criminals, only on people who are trying to work and support our families.”

WHERE / WHEN

• Sunday, May 18, 9:30 am – Send-off and Press Conference at Worcester City Hall
• Monday, May 19 5:30 p.m. – Vigil and Speak-out at Peace Lutheran Church in Wayland
• Tuesday, May 20 7:30 p.m. – Vigil and Speak-out at Church of the Redeemer, Lexington
• Thursday, May 22 9:00 a.m. – Rally at Bunker Hill Community College, Charlestown
• 2:30 p.m. – Press Conference on steps of the State House, Boston

Partial List of Supporters: The Boston Workers Alliance, AFL-CIO of Massachusetts, Action for Boston Community Development, Rosa Parks Human Rights Committee, Boston School Bus Union, City Life / Vida Urbana, Community Change Inc., Community Church of Boston, Criminal Justice Policy Coalition, Democracy Center, Dorchester People for Peace, Ex-prisoners & Prisoners Organizing for Community Advancement (EPOCA), Jobs With Justice, Juvenile Justice Center, Massachusetts Alliance to Reform CORI (MARC), Massachusetts Law Reform Institute, Massachusetts Mothers On the Move, Massachusetts Organization for Addiction Recovery (MOAR), Neighbor to Neighbor, Massachusetts, Oiste!, Partakers Inc., Prisoner Re-entry Working Group, Rosie’s Place, SEIU Local 509 Human Service Workers, SEIU Local 615 Building Service Workers, STRIVE, Inc., Student Labor Action Movement, Teen Empowerment, Urban League of Eastern Mass., United Food & Commercial Workers Local 1445, & United Youth and Youth Workers of Boston, Veterans Benefits Clearinghouse, Inc
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