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Hi John,
As the dust starts to settle from the elections earlier this month, my feelings are still a bit mixed, as I'm sure is the case for many of you. But I’m a glass-half-full kind of person, and I am both inspired by and reminded of the power of deep and sustained local organizing.
Across the nation, we saw far higher voter turnout than is typical in midterm years, particularly among young people. There are many reasons why people turned out, from abortion rights to defending the integrity of our elections. One part of the story that I think isn’t getting enough attention right now is the long-term organizing that builds relationships and connects elections to the everyday conditions of people’s lives. In states like Georgia, Pennsylvania, California, and Colorado, our network has been seeding deep, meaningful relationships for years. That set up our affiliates in those states to make over 390,000 phone calls, knock on over 450,000 doors, send over 800,000 texts, and help turn out huge numbers of underrepresented and low-propensity voters to the polls.
Long-term organizing also means putting items on the ballot that people are excited about voting for, not just against. For example in Chicago, our affiliate Grassroots Collaborative has been co-leading a multi-year Treatment Not Trauma campaign. The measure they placed on the ballot to reopen and fund community mental health clinics was overwhelmingly supported by voters, adding momentum to the effort to shift away from police responses to mental health crises. Similarly, across the country we saw advocates successfully champion initiatives to expand voting access, raise the minimum wage, and increase workers’ freedom to organize.
By working to unite communities across race, income, issue, and more, we can win things that people care about. Core to this work is building durable institutions — from tenant unions [[link removed]] to worker centers to movement organizations — that can bring different people together over shared issues, provide a space for them to practice wielding power, and set them up with tools and strategies that will carry over to other parts of their lives. Power-building and political education happens in these kinds of spaces so that people can make change not only come election time or on a national scale, but year-round and in a way that they can truly feel in their communities.
Time and again, we can see the value and power of building deep community relationships as a way to transform our cities. As we wrap up this year, take a look at some exciting tenant wins from across our network [[link removed]] and keep an eye out for even more good news in our upcoming annual report.
Lauren Jacobs [[link removed]] In solidarity,
Lauren Jacobs
Executive Director
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Spotlight On: How renters are organizing to take on corporate landlords and win tenant protections! [[link removed]]
Whether we live in big cities or small towns, we all need a safe, affordable place to live. But right now, corporate landlords have outsized power over our homes — to increase profits they jack up rents, cut back on maintenance, and spend millions to block pro-renter legislation.
That’s why a key priority for our network is growing the power of renters to rein in abusive corporate landlords and collectively steward our homes. Our affiliates are helping renters join together, realize their power in numbers, and advocate for change.
Read some of this year's exciting wins [[link removed]]
In Case You Missed It [[link removed]]
Amazon Must Address Injury Rates at Its Warehouses | Opinion [[link removed]] [link removed] [[link removed]]
The holiday season means extra stress, pressure, and an increased risk of injury for already over-burdened Amazon workers. Sheheryar Kaoosji (Warehouse Worker Resource Center) and Eric Fruman (Strategic Organizing Center) explore the ways Amazon skirts OSHA requirements and how they can be held accountable to workers and consumers.
[link removed] [[link removed]] Op-Ed: Referendum results show Chicago wants treatment, not trauma [[link removed]]
In the midterm, Chicago voters in the 6th, 20th, and 33rd Wards voiced overwhelming support for the Treatment Not Trauma referendum, which urges the city to reopen mental health clinics and send care workers instead of police to crises. Asha Ransby-Sporn, a community organizer and field director for Treatment Not Trauma, writes about the history of the campaign and what the solutions could mean for Chicagoans.
Planting the Seeds for Movement Building [[link removed]] [link removed] [[link removed]]
In a new series from The Forge and New America spotlighting successful stories of co-governance models, Georgia STAND-UP CEO Deborah Scott talks about building civic power, creating trust within communities, and training new leaders.
[link removed] [[link removed]] Lessons from Chicago Coalition Building [[link removed]]
After leading Grassroots Collaborative for 15 years, last month Amisha Patel stepped down as Executive Director and shared four powerful lessons that she has learned along the way.
WHAT WE'RE READING
[link removed] [[link removed]] Ten-Year Legacy of the Fight for $15 and a Union Movement: Reducing the Racial Wealth Gap and Generating Tens of Billions in Additional Economic Activity [[link removed]]
To commemorate the landmark 10-year anniversary of the Fight for $15, the National Employment Law Project (NELP) has analyzed the movement’s impact on the racial wealth gap, unions, and on the overall economy.
[link removed] [[link removed]] Lights On, Water Flowing: Ensuring Access to Power and Water Through a No Shutoffs Policy for Low-Income Residential Angelenos [[link removed]]
RePower LA, Strategic Concepts in Organizing and Policy Education (SCOPE), and Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy (LAANE) have released a report examining how Black, Latinx, and low-income ratepayers face the brunt of utility shut-offs, and how their needs can and should be prioritized in policy recommendations.
[[link removed]] Fueling Obstruction: The Fossil Fuel Networks Undermining Climate Action in New York State [[link removed]]
Little Sis and Public Accountability Initiative examine how corporate power networks in New York State have mobilized to delay, water down, and otherwise frustrate the implementation of the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (Climate Act).
Support Our Work
This past year has been busy -- both on the PowerSwitch Action national team and across our network! We've supported workers organizing in Amazon warehouses, joined together with renters to confront corporate landlords, grown our team and our capacity, and more.
We're going into 2023 excited and energized for the work ahead, and we hope you'll support us in building people power in cities across the US.
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Our affiliates are hiring! Check out open positions across our network here [[link removed]] . Did someone forward you this email? Sign up to receive updates directly to your inbox here [[link removed]] .
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