Tag: Community Organizing
California bill to establish Nation’s second Public Bank applauded as ‘Historic challenge to Wall Street domination’
“If California is serious about addressing racial and income inequities, we must create a banking system that centers people not profits.” by Jake Johnson, staff writer Friday, July 10 In a move advocacy groups celebrated as…
Stone Mountain, Georgia: The flashpoint now at center of Confederate monument removals
The mountain, known for its massive Confederate memorial carving, was the location of the rebirth of the Ku Klux Klan in 1915. by Common Dreams staff Sunday, July 5 The planet’s largest Confederate monument—Stone Mountain outside…
Thinking outside the box for worker power
by Wade Rathke Pearl River In organizing unions, captive audience meetings are the scourge of organizing drives. The employers have the right to make the meetings mandatory in order to deliver their anti-union screeds, but…
How social media amplifies political activism and threatens election integrity
TikTok teens and the Trump campaign by Anjana Susarla, Michigan State University Thursday, July 2 The lower-than-expected attendance at President Trump’s rally in Tulsa on June 20 was attributed, at least in part, to an online…
Living and dying on the numbers
by Wade Rathke Pearl River A lesson close to the heart for every organizer is the importance of numbers. An organization can live and die on the numbers. Rising numbers are a sign of health,…
We are all protesting in Hong Kong now
We need to follow the lead of our brothers and sisters in Hong Kong and make masks, hats, and even googles semi-standard wear for protests and demonstrations. by Wade Rathke Pearl River The big reveal…
Protests disrupt, no duh!
“Power concedes nothing without struggle and once the vigilance of struggle subsides, will seek to re-impose the comforts it once enjoyed.” The kumbaya of revision and co-optation later can’t alter the reality of disruption inherent in the…
Small contributions make a huge difference
by Wade Rathke New Orleans Whether it’s a moment or a movement, some things are different this time than they have been in the past. One encouraging and crucial difference is the fact that the…
Pushed by national uprising, Democratic lawmakers unveil legislation to overhaul policing
The new measure includes provisions to ban chokeholds and no-knock warrants and limits transfers of military-grade equipment to local law enforcement. by Andrea Germanos, staff writer Monday, June 8 After two weeks of nationwide protests over…
Mutual aid and governmental responsibility
by Wade Rathke New Orleans Mutual aid or solidarity work has long been a feature of political activity in times of crisis and often at all times. ACORN affiliates around the world have been involved…
Foretelling labor’s future in the cloudy crystal ball
Pearl River Roughly 39 million Americans have applied for unemployment, not even counting gig and self-employed workers, workers who have abandoned job search, or couldn’t access the benefits, which means real unemployment is over 50…
A passion for equality
by Wade Rathke Pearl River The other day I read a belated obituary on Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, Nick Kotz. He had passed away at 87 on his cattle farm in Virginia of a freak accident…
Putting the fist on the wood again
by Wade Rathke Pearl River The sports pages are full of discussion about whether or not baseball players will be putting the wood on the ball soon in huge, empty parks, or whether basketball players…
Riding the Zoom to link global voices for governance
by Wade Ratke New Orleans I witnessed something of a miracle yesterday as thirty leaders and staff from more than fifteen ACORN affiliates were successfully able to hold a board meeting for two hours on Zoom….
Masks and food for the people
by Wade Rathke May 14 Pearl River ACORN and its affiliates are direct action, mass-based organizations. Some now ask, how do we explain the fact that we also, especially now, deliver what many would only expect…
New progressive coalition organizes ‘to form common front’ in global struggle for justice and a better world
by Eoin Higgins, staff writer A coalition of left-leaning thinkers, activists, organizations, and political leaders from around the world on Monday officially launched the Progressive International, a new global effort aimed to provide the world with…
Tens of thousands take part in Covid-19 rent strike across US on May Day
“People aren’t striking because they don’t feel like paying rent. They’re striking because they can’t pay rent.” by Jake Johnson, staff writer Friday, May 1 Tens of thousands of people across the United States are expected…
May Day for workers and the vast army of the unemployed
Pearl River May Day traditionally has been marked around the world with workers marching under the banners of their unions and labor-friendly political parties. In the USA, Labor Day marks the end of the summer,…
Birthed by HBCU students, this organization offers important lessons for today’s student activists
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) founded 60 years ago today. Jelani Favors, Clayton State University April 15, 2020 marks 60 years since the founding of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, perhaps better known as SNCC,…
Housing is healthcare!
Pearl River At ACORN we like the slogan, “Housing is Health Care.” We saw it or picked it up somewhere. I wish I could remember, so I could give proper credit, but in the meantime,…
Defanging community organizing, what’s in a job title?
Pearl River There’s something happening to community organizing, and it’s not a good thing. The job is being expropriated and defanged of its critical content and its bottom-up push for peoples’ power by corporate and…
From street demos to solidarity work ACORN members are in the community
Pearl River What do mass-based organizations and social movements do when their tactics of mass action, disruption, and street protests are impossible due to stay-at-home orders and social distancing? Do collective actions simply devolve into…
