CPD Network Welcomes Back Congress With Week of Action |
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From September 9-13, the CPD Network held a week of action to Welcome Back Congress from its summer recess. Birddoggers and CPD affiliate members from over 20 states greeted elected officials as they arrived at the airport to demand that they move on legislation we need in this country, advocated for affordable housing, protested the nomination of more ultraconservative judges, and put their bodies on the line for criminal justice reform. The key message: Members of Congress must work for the people who elected them to office. These series of actions made headlines in the Philadelphia Inquirer, Reuters, Curbed, NowThis, The Huffington Post, Newsweek and many more.
A few key highlights from the week of action include:
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CPD affiliates gathered with over 300 people to attend a hearing on housing policy. After, activists and tenants visited the offices of some of Congress’s worst perpetrators of the affordable housing crisis. More recently, presidential candidate and U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders introduced his housing platform that is largely based on the federal housing platform that CPD affiliates spent over a year crafting. A few days following Sanders’ announcement, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez introduced the Just Societies package to Congress which includes CPD’s historic housing bill that, among other provisions, calls for the Federal government to implement universal rent control for the first time since World War I and for a massive investment in affordable housing.
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Hundreds joined CPD affiliates to read from Ady Barkan’s book, Eyes to the Wind, in several offices of progressive Congressional members and senators, including Elizabeth Warren’s and Sanders’s offices. The group delivered thank you letters from Ady for its support of his healthcare and financial reform activism and asked those who have not signed on to Medicare for All to do so. Activists also shared their own stories of battling an ineffective and inaccessible healthcare system.
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Immigration activists from Make the Road NY, PA, NV, and CT all lobbied their members of Congress followed by a visited to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) headquarters to protest and share stories of family separation. The group then made its way to the home of Amazon founder and CEO, Jeff Bezos, to shut down the street, deliver him flowers, and demand that he stop supporting ICE.
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The CPD Network is gearing up for more sustained action throughout the remainder of the year and leading into 2020. Our communities are on the front lines of the fight to legislate a progressive agenda that can create needed structural change in our country and motivate people to engage civically. From immigration justice to workers’ rights, universal healthcare to affordable housing, climate justice to justice transformation, CPD’s affiliates and allies will not stop until our federal agenda becomes reality. Please make a donation now to support this critical work.
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The New York Times, 09/25/2019
"“She’s a lightning rod,” said Dianne Enriquez, a director at the Center for Popular Democracy, a liberal advocacy group. “I think the boldness, the ability to be innovative, the willingness to go out on a limb for what she believes is right is really what makes her an ideal champion for a lot of the issues that have gone largely ignored at the federal level.”” Read more.
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Time Magazine, 09/09/2019
“Just over a year later, in December 2017, I was in a wheelchair in the Russell Senate Office Building, with organizers from Center for Popular Democracy, as well as close friends who had joined us from all over the country. I had been working with CPD advocating for social and economic justice since long before I received my ALS diagnosis. What was new was the way I was using my newfound disability to gain increasing attention for the cause. In this case, I had flown into D.C. to protest the Republican tax bill, which would trigger enormous cuts to Medicaid and other crucial programs.” Read more.
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Next City, 09/17/2019
“The Center for Popular Democracy and a network of grassroots activists from around the country spent most of last week in Washington, D.C., welcoming Congress back to the capitol with a series of protests, campaign launches, and direct actions. On Tuesday, the Brooklyn-based nonprofit, which has affiliate groups in 34 states plus Washington and Puerto Rico, launched a new housing campaign called “A Home to Thrive.” They marked the occasion by handing “eviction notices” to representatives who are known for taking lots of money from the real estate industry while their constituents suffer from unstable housing conditions.” Read more.
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The Intercept, 09/24/2019
“López Varona also pushed back on the idea of a new PROMESA. “We as a coalition of groups in Puerto Rico and the U.S. continue to oppose PROMESA and any other legislation that imposes federal oversight in Puerto Rico, because it hasn’t worked,” he said, referring to a coalition...”” Read more.
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PUERTO RICO RECOVERY: The Next Phase of the Maria Fund |
In 2017, CPD launched the María Fund (MF) to provide emergency funding to Puerto Ricans devastated by Hurricane María and raised over $7 million to help community-based groups. Earlier this year, the MF Advisory Committee, MF staff, Puerto Rico affiliate Taller Salud, and CPD leadership met to celebrate the accomplishments of the fund and to discuss its future. There, a decision was made to transform the fund from a short-term project housed at CPD to a stand-alone, Puerto Rico-based, permanent organization—a long-term resource mobilization vehicle for the Puerto Rican people. The fund was launched in partnership with, and at the request of Puerto Rico CPD affiliate Taller Salud, and allies on the ground in Puerto Rico on the anniversary of the day that Hurricane María hit Puerto Rico. Their vision was to build the kind of fund that’s desperately needed in moments such as these, and based on extensive climate disaster experience throughout the years in the CPD family of organizations. Read more on our blog.
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NEW REPORT Connects Private Equity to California's Housing Crisis
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Last month, CPD, Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE), and Hedge Clippers released a report which showed how corporate landlords are contributing to and profiting from California’s housing crisis. Titled Billionaire Corporate Landlords: Exacerbating California’s Housing Crisis, the report focuses on two of the largest and wealthiest corporate landlords in California: Invitation Homes, which is controlled by The Blackstone Group, one of the largest private equity and asset management firms in the world, and Equity Residential, which is also the third largest apartment owner in the United States. Millions of Californians are rent burdened, or paying over 30% of their income on rent, which often means not having enough money for food or health care and can put people at risk of housing instability, eviction, and homelessness. Read more on our blog. |
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TAKE ACTION: Sign Up for a New Online Journal for Organizers
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Leadership from CPD are connecting with allies from the community, labor, and movement organizing sectors to launch a new, online journal for organizers. The Forge: Organizing Strategy and Practice went live September 27 and features articles, videos, and interviews from an array of organizers from across the country. To get connected, you can follow The Forge on Twitter at @ForgeOrganizing or click here to be added to our list. Built by a committee of organizers, The Forge will tackle questions of strategy, methodology, movement history, and more. But in the digital age, publishing is no longer a one-way street. To foster interaction, The Forge also aims to help organizers build community, share ideas, and strengthen their practice. Read more on our blog.
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CANVASS FOR POWER: UNE Hosts Organizing Blitz with Make the Road NV
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During the first week of September, CPD’S Canvass for Power program worked with Colorado affiliate United for a New Economy (UNE) to organize and expand their base through several intensive days of door-to-door meetings in Denver. As part of the Canvass for Power program, four Make the Road Nevada staff members traveled to Denver to support UNE’s efforts to build campaigns and chapters in Westminster and Commerce City, and help increase the number of community members reached through door-knocking.
UNE members are focused on holding landlords accountable for affordable housing, as well as fighting for paid family leave. Read more on our blog.
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AFFILIATE HIGHLIGHT: RAD Launches New Social Contract Tour in New Hampshire
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CPD affiliate Rights & Democracy Institute (New Hampshire and Vermont) hosted the launch of the New Social Contract national tour with local and national movement leaders on September 15, 2019. National speakers at the event included Linda Sarsour and Jennifer Epps-Addison, CPD Network President and Co-executive Director, both of whom will be speaking at New Social Contract tour events throughout the country. Learn more about the tour by visiting newsocialcontract.org.
At the event, RAD released a new national report, The New Social Contract for Workers, calling on elected leaders and candidates to embrace a slate of new public policies to promote workplace democracy and human rights for America’s workers. Read more on our blog.
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SAVE THE DATE: NYC Major Event on Tuesday, December 3
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Mark your calendars! Buy a ticket! Join over 300 philanthropists, frontline activists, strategic partners and allies of the progressive community on Tuesday, December 3, 2019 as we come together to plan for our most important fight yet—and for an evening of fun, food and festivities. We’ll be honoring exceptional individuals, campaigns, and organizations for their role in supporting the movement and advancing a popular democracy.
CPD’s Guiding Light Awards is our signature fundraiser and a chance to strengthen our efforts together. We lift up the brave and the intrepid members of our community—progressive pioneers and disruptors, champions for racial equity and economic and gender justice, and protectors of a participatory and popular democracy.
Tickets start at $250. Reserve your seat today! Please contact Beth Slade at [email protected] for more information or to become a host or sponsor the event.
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IN THE NEWS
Continued From Above
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WNYC, The Takeaway, 09/26/2019
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Latino Rebels, 09/25/2019
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The New York Times, 09/22/2019
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Metro New York, 09/19/2019
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CNN en Español, 09/18/2019
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Inside Philanthropy, 09/16/2019
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Rolling Stone, 09/15/2019
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The New Republic, 09/10/2019
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Washington Post, 09/08/2019
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Real Clear Politics, 09/05/2019
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The New Republic, 09/05/2019
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New York Daily News, 09/02/2019
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Help us bend the arc of history toward justice and invest in our work. |
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