Partnership for Working Families
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John,

Our communities deserve a voice in shaping the policies that affect their everyday lives. Only then can we build a more equitable democracy in which all people can thrive and live free from the threat of state violence. We’re writing to share our new report — People-Powered Budgets: A Case for Democratizing Local Budgets to Transform Our Cities and Care for Our Communities [[link removed]] — which explores how building deeper, more inclusive democracy, starting with our budgets, can grow our movements for justice and help us meet the multiple crises of this moment.

Today, we’re launching PeoplePoweredBudgets.org [[link removed]] to support the powerful organizing happening around the country. You can share findings from the report, explore case studies of people building deeper democracy across the country, and access our new Organizer’s Toolkit to democratize city budgets. Will you help us spread the word? [[link removed]]

Now is the time to remake our local democracies with an ethic of justice, equity, and care at the center. Our movement and communities are fighting against deep budget cuts, an inequitable COVID response, and over-policing. These forces are harming and killing Black, Indigenous, immigrant, and other people of color each day. We have just endured another week of heartbreak and rage after the police killings of Daunte Wright and Adam Toledo and as we anticipate a verdict in the Derek Chauvin trial.

From the 2020 uprisings against racial injustice and state violence, to the 2020 election cycle, our political power is clear and our demands for progressive change are gaining ground. Because of the visionary leadership of Black organizers and activists all across this country, demands to #DefundThePolice have become a rallying cry that is making space for all of us to restructure our budgets so we can save lives and prioritize care.

On Monday, May 3, we will be holding a virtual panel discussion on the possibilities for building deeper, more inclusive participatory democracy through our organizing as a counter to the corporate power in our government. Please save the date and be on the lookout for more details in the coming days.

We are in this for the long haul with you. We need and deserve a democracy that will help us secure freedom and safety for all people — that will be stronger in the face of racist, sexist and authoritarian threats now and in the future. We believe creating people-powered budgets [[link removed]] is one way our movement can do both and seek transformation for the long term.

In solidarity,

Kathryn Cai, PhD
Public Goods Policy Strategist and Mellon/ACLS Public Fellow
Partnership for Working Families



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Partnership for Working Families
1305 Franklin St.
Suite 501
Oakland, CA 94612
United States

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