Pushback Network » Nevada

Pushback Network at the US Social Forum

Brigid Flaherty — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 14:51:17 +0000

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:

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.

Nevada Does the Happy Dance!

Brigid Flaherty — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 03:09:30 +0000

Nevada leaders from a diverse array of partner organizations, including the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony, TRENDz, Nevada Immigrant Coalition and PLAN, comprised an enthusiastic delegation to the Pushback Convening. Together, we are excited to report on the concrete nuts-and-bolts that occurred for our movement in the Silver State as a result of Pushback’s historic event in Nevada. Thanks to the workshops and conversations with our peers from across the country, the Nevada State Alliance is moving forward on creating a 501C4 and deepening our work in the census and redistricting process!

For several years, staff has recommended to the PLAN board to create a 501c4 organization. For various reasons, the board demurred. This time, we recruited a critical mass of PLAN leaders to take the 501c4 workshop at the Pushback convening. Directly following the convening, this delegation took the information to the PLAN annual meeting. The board unanimously approved the proposal and we will soon hit the ground running with this powerful political organizing tool! Furthermore, we have other Pushback partners, whose friendship and advice we truly value, in SCOPE and Neighbor to Neighbor to turn to for support!

We are especially pleased with the outpouring of support by Pushback delegates for our action against insurance giant Wellpoint, which is funding the anti-health care reform effort. One hundred Pushback Network participants, and an equal number of local activists, agitated near the offices of the WellPoint-Blue Cross franchise in Nevada to call attention to the need for health care reform—specifically around advocating for the public health care option.

Several state elected officials participated, including Assemblywoman Peggy Pierce, who gave a rousing speech. The media also turned out and prominently noted WellPoint’s hypocrisy and antagonism to needed reforms. This is the kind of thing that serves as a model for both the Nevadans and our visitors!
Here are links to media generated by the event:
Desert Beacon
Public News Service
Las Vegas Sun
And a Sun photo slide show

Prior to the convening, our alliance drew a blank on how to get involved in the census other than “partner with the government effort” or “make sure everyone’s counted!” We wanted to involve ourselves in the census due to the critical impact the count has on our communities, however we lacked ideas on meaningful avenues for participation. Participating in the Census and Redistricting Track at the National Convening changed all of that. Thanks to Southern Echo and the maps and other materials they presented at the workshop, we have already made plans for furthering this work in a big way in Nevada.

The Pushback Convening was a bold demonstration of how different this national network is in our movement. There has never been a convening like it in Nevada, and we were grateful to host such an opportunity. We have nothing but the deepest respect and appreciation to all those who participated from other states. Finally, a special HAPPY DANCE to the Pushback staff for the amazing job they did!

Pushback Network Announces new Executive Director!

Brigid Flaherty — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 18:09:17 +0000

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.”

Investing in Nevada’s Working Families for a Secure Economy

Samiya Bashir — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 20:42:47 +0000

300-350 people who have been on the receiving end of the billion dollar cuts, including people with disabilities, teachers, state workers, and parents of autistic children, protested at Nevada’s state capitol building to tell the Governor and Legislators that further reductions in the state budget are unacceptable.

Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada (“PLAN”) presented a “Nevada Budget Planning Tool kit” comprised of band aids, bailing wire, duct tape and a beggers cup to the Governor, who speaker after speaker condemned for his lack of leadership in dealing with this crisis.

Everyone pulled together with signs, banners, rousing speeches and good spirits so they could hear us “a mile away”, as one reporter told said. PLAN, along with the hundreds of demonstrators, demanded the Governor and the Legislature invest in Nevada’s working families to bolster the state’s economy, an economy which depends on well-educated Nevadans, safe communities, a sound transportation infrastructure and affordable health care and housing.

Nevada’s political structure is deeply resistant to fixing Nevada’s dysfunctional tax structure. PLAN’s event at the Legislature–the largest since 2003–proved that citizens will fight harder to force state leaders to make the tax system more fair and more stable in order to adequately fund services. This is our fight; we’re in it to win. We look forward to working with you.

In January, PLAN will release a comprehensive report detailing its plans for investing in Nevada’s working families or a secure economic future. Sign on to their email list to stay informed!

Read more about this event, widely covered in the media, by clicking on the links below:

Ten Tips for Effective Collaborative Organizing

Samiya Bashir — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 14:00:07 +0000

DO: Approach key local and regional groups before the strategy is set. Tailor efforts to the culture and politics of individual communities. No state is one community. Incoming organizers should seek synergies with existing work.

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.

Download the Tip Sheet!

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The days up to, through, and beyond November 2nd will be tracked using PBN’s Tumblr blog, its website, and online social networks.

Collateral Damage

Samiya Bashir — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 14:00:22 +0000

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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Follow The Project on:

The days up to, through, and beyond November 2nd will be tracked using PBN’s Tumblr blog, its website, and online social networks.

Keep up with The Project!

Samiya Bashir — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 01:01:21 +0000

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:

The days up to, through, and beyond November 2nd will be tracked using PBN’s Tumblr blog, its website, and online social networks.

Election 2008 – Live from a Neighborhood Near You

Samiya Bashir — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 18:07:09 +0000

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.

Welcome PBN’s New Interim Director, Larry Parachini

Brigid Flaherty — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 15:39:38 +0000

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

Nevada Fights to Restore the Right to Vote

Brigid Flaherty — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 19:52:40 +0000

People with histories of legal trouble can restore their right to vote in this year’s presidential election with assistance from the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada.

Under Nevada state law, men and women with a felony record can vote if they were honorably discharged before July 1, 2003, or have a single non-violent felony after that date. The law applies to people convicted in Nevada or any other state.

In order to prove these rights have been restored, people must provide documented proof of honorable discharge or completion of sentence from prison, probation, or parole. PLAN hired Voter Restoration Advocate Meredith McGhan to help men and women get copies of those documents from Nevada, the federal government or any other state and register to vote in the upcoming general election.

Many people in Clark County and statewide have received letters from local elections departments informing them that they cannot vote because of past legal trouble. McGhan said many, perhaps most, of them can restore their right to vote.

“We can help them through the process,” she said.

PLAN works to restore the right to vote because helping people participate in the civic life of our communities makes it much less likely that they will re-offend, McGhan noted.

“This is something that works for the people involved, for our communities and for the democratic system,” she said.

McGhan said there are thousands of people in Clark County alone who could restore their vote. PLAN registered 400 men and women in the 2004 election with a similar program.

PLAN is a coalition of three-dozen groups working for social, economic and environmental justice in the Silver State, with offices in Las Vegas, Reno and Carson City.

For assistance in restoring the right to call PLAN’s dedicated phone line for the program at (702)383-0079

Click Here to Download PLAN’s Voting Info Sheet.