Hi John, 

TOMORROW as part of our Spring Redistribution Pledge and Membership Drive, come get to know RG's National Campaign partner the Center for Popular Democracy and their affiliates about how they are building power in working-class and communities of color to win on the issues impacting people’s everyday lives. We’ll dive into what CPD is, why it exists nationally, their Power in Place program, and how RGers can be partners in this work. Giving powerfully to our campaign partners, including CPD, is a way to collectivize our redistribution work and to resource movements that are fighting to end wealth inequality, beyond what voluntary redistribution can do.

Power In Place: Building Base to Win in Key States with CPD

Wednesday June 2nd 7-8:30pm EST/ 4-5:30pm PST

This conversation will be led by Damareo Cooper (bio below) and will have time for a Q and A. Regardless of if you can make it tomorrow we invite you to:

• Include CPD or a Local Affiliate in your redistribution pledge at 10% of your overall giving
• Fundraise others in your chapters and communities to give big to movements and CPD
• Join your chapter’s campaign team and talk with your organizer about starting or deepening a relationship with your local CPD affiliate 
• Take action right now for systemic change to raise the minimum wage and get a tax on wealth 

Damareo Cooper is the Director of Place-Based Power at the Center for Popular Democracy. The place-based power project is a team located within CPD’s Base Building Department with the goal of working with CPD affiliates to build 3-5 year power plans confronting the historical impacts of racist economic laws and policies.  The project will align the core capacities of the Base-Building to help strengthen affiliate bases, train leaders and organizers, and raise money to execute power plans. The Place-Based Power project is one part of “building the million” - a network of one million activists across the country committed to ending racialized capitalism.  

Formerly the National Organizing Director of BlackPAC, a political action committee dedicated to engaging and mobilizing Black voters across the country, he helped contact over six million Black voters in the 2020 Presidential election and the Georgia Senate run-off election. Before that, Damareo was the Executive Director of the Ohio Organizing Collaborative (OOC) and Stand Up for Ohio, statewide organizations dedicated to improving everyday Ohioans’ lives through base-building, policy advocacy, and civic engagement (registering over half a million voters in the state).  For fifteen years, he has played an integral role in developing and implementing statewide electoral and grassroots organizing campaigns, ranging from housing and healthcare to criminal justice reform and economic opportunity access. 

A deep passion for building power with people closest to the negative impacts of racist exploitative economic and criminal justice policies has guided his career, primarily in communities of color.  He has focused his energy on creating effective campaigns making structural changes at the intersection of race and economic inequity. Damareo holds a Bachelors of Arts and Science from Kent State University, focusing on Pan-African Studies and Anthropology. He has been a professional organizer for over 13 years, primarily helping build the Ohio Organizing Collaborative. He’s run local and statewide organizing campaigns and been a canvasser, canvassing lead, organizer, lead organizer, organizing director (local and statewide), executive director, and national organizing director. Damareo resides in Akron, Ohio. 

See you tomorrow!

In Solidarity, 

Yahya Alazrak, Campaign Director on behalf of the RG Team