November Newsletter

Dear John, 

Today, I'm reflecting on paths to victory for our people and our communities that can weather the storms of a shifting and volatile electoral landscape. All across the country this last month, working people flexed their power: Starbucks workers are organizing for a union in Buffalo, New York; bus drivers were on strike in Reno, Nevada; as were teachers in Redbank Valley School District in Pennsylvania; healthcare workers at Mercy Hospital in New York; and distillery workers at Heaven Hill Distillery in Kentucky — to name a few. Thousands of film and television workers negotiated higher wages and safer conditions after threatening a strike, and Kellogg and John Deere employees are on strike nationwide as well.

Each movement, each group of us that stands up to the powers that be inspires ten more, and our power grows. Here at PowerSwitch Action, we envision a future in which the many – the janitor, the bus driver, the home care worker, the childcare worker, in other words, us – are the power which shapes the economy and the rules of governance, not the few. To get to this multiracial feminist democratic future, we build our collective power by organizing and growing people’s organizations: labor unions, tenant unions, neighborhood organizations, ethnic organizations. It is how we grow our skills and capacity to act together for a future where we ensure universal housing, food, and healthcare. A future where we honor the inherent value and preciousness of each life. We have to be in community with each other to build the communities we deserve. 

We can do this. This work is already happening; so many organizations and formations are leading this work in the U.S. and across the globe. I recently hosted a conversation in The Forge about existing co-governance models at the city and county level, how COVID has tested these models, and why investing in democratic decision-making processes is so critical for our future. I hope you’ll give it a read!

In the meantime, please read on for exciting updates: a new video game for the housing justice movement, video from last week’s panel on People-Powered Budgets, and campaign victories for workers rights.

In solidarity,

Spotlight On: Christina Rosales!

PowerSwitch Action’s new Housing and Land Justice Director Christina Rosales discusses 'Dot’s Home' — a new video game for the housing justice movement — with Deputy Director Felicia Griffin 

Felicia:

Christina, we are so excited that you’ve joined us here at PowerSwitch Action as our new Housing and Land Justice Director. You recently launched Dot’s Home, a video game about the housing crisis. Can you tell us more about the project, and how you got involved?

Christina:

I previously worked for Texas Housers, which is a statewide housing advocacy group. Just like PowerSwitch Action, Texas Housers was a part of the former Just Cities and Regions portfolio of the Ford Foundation. Back in early 2018, Ford started a narrative cohort, Rise-Home Stories Project, which led to the creation of this game. 

The big thesis of this cohort was that if we changed the way we talk about land and home in this country, if we uplift our community shared values and narratives to downplay the dominant narratives of scarcity and individualism, that we could move policy, and we could build and strengthen our base for the purposes of the housing justice movement. 

The reason we chose a video game as the medium, and chose to tell the story about housing issues in communities of color in America, is because so often we see this sense of inevitability about housing and land in this country. We’re told that the market decides everything. And people of color, people like me, who’ve grown up in a lot of turmoil related to land and home, are told that’s just the way it is. We’re told, “You’re going to have to deal with it, work your way up, work really hard, and you can buy a house and build your wealth.” 

And we know that’s not true. The choice set in front of us was created by policies that were intentionally made to exclude people of color. There is nothing like a video game to make you believe that you have agency and choice. We knew this was the only way to get at that theme of choice and self determination. So that’s why Dot’s Home was a video game.

To read the full conversation and play 'Dot’s Home', visit us on Medium!

In Case You Missed It

“Co-governance doesn’t just mean electing people” - The Forge
Lauren Jacobs interviews Working Partnerships USA Executive Director Derecka Mehrens and Santa Clara County Supervisor Cindy Chavez and about their decade-long experience building co-governance models.

Amazon Abandons Warehouse Plan Because San Diego Is Considering Worker Protection Law - VICE.com
Community leaders and the Athena Coalition are turning up the heat on Amazon in San Diego, California, and pushing for an end to brutal working conditions.

Building People-Powered Budgets - The Forge
Our Public Goods Strategist Kathryn Cai speaks to organizers across PowerSwitch Action’s national network about efforts to redirect public investment into community services and supports, and to assert that real public safety means caring for all of a city’s residents.

An Organizer's Roundtable on 2021 City Budget Campaigns - PeoplePoweredBudgets.org.
A recording of our recent organizer's roundtable is now available for those who missed it! We’re so grateful to the all-star panelists that made the event a huge success: Liana Molina with EBASE, jean-huy tran with Center on Policy Initiatives, Kennedy Bartley with United Working Families, and Arielle Klagsbrun with the Action Center for Race and the Economy. Thanks also to our Senior Campaign Lead Edgar Beltrán for moderating, and to The Forge for co-hosting. 

Campaign Victories

In Southern California last week, port drivers won preliminary approval in federal court of a $30 million class action settlement. Thanks to the efforts of workers and organizers across California, including our affiliate Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy, this is the largest settlement ever at California ports, and it would resolve class action suits for misclassification and wage theft, including unpaid minimum wages, for almost 800 drivers at massive global logistics company XPO logistics.

Welcome New Staff!

PowerSwitch Action
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Oakland, CA 94612
United States

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