Rising Voices: for a New Economy 2014 National Conference Report Just a short time ago hundreds of folks were hitting the road to join NPA members and our allies at NDWA for "Rising Voices for a New Economy." We came together because we know it will take a broad movement to move toward and economy that works for all of us. And we stand together, just a short time later, utterly transformed. The power of the alliance we're building with NDWA was evident as our stories, campaigns and actions revealed the truth about the old economy and we carved a new path forward. The stories we hear in the news, about economic recovery and growing opportunity are myths. We shared the truth with one another: inequality is growing, corporations are buying our democracy, and people are getting pushed out and left behind. Last weekend, we affirmed that we are the changemakers who will build the new economy and that radical progressive change doesn’t come from the topdown. It comes when all of us stand together across our geographies and differences to demand more for ourselves, for our families, and for our communities. Instead of letting corporations, bosses, and the wealthy rig the rules, hoard the wealth, and hurt working people, we’re on a path to fundamentally reshape our nation. Read more about how we are demanding shaping an economy that works for us, everyday people, instead of corporations and the rich. And thank you, to everyone who helped make "Rising Voices" an enormous success. ACTIONS REPORT: General Electric Takeover From 2008 to 2012 GE made $30 billion in profits but paid no taxes. In fact, they received a $3 billion refund! So on Monday morning NPA and NDWA leaders from across the country took over the DC General Electric offices and demanded a change of course. Hundreds of activists flooded the building and called for a meeting with GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt.
Transcript
Rising Voices: for a New Economy 2014 National Conference Report
Just a short time ago hundreds of folks were hitting the road to join NPA members and our allies at NDWA for "Rising Voices for a New Economy." We came together because we know it will take a broad movement to move toward and economy that works for all of us. And we stand together, just a short time later, utterly transformed. The power of the alliance we're building with NDWA was evident as our stories, campaigns and actions revealed the truth about the old economy and we carved a new path forward. The stories we hear in the news, about economic recovery and growing opportunity are myths. We shared the truth with one another: inequality is growing, corporations are buying our democracy, and people are getting pushed out and left behind.
Last weekend, we affirmed that we are the change-‐makers who will build the new economy and that radical progressive change doesn’t come from the top-‐down. It comes when all of us stand together across our geographies and differences to demand more for ourselves, for our families, and for our communities. Instead of letting corporations, bosses, and the wealthy rig the rules, hoard the wealth, and hurt working people, we’re on a path to fundamentally reshape our nation. Read more about how we are demanding shaping an economy that works for us, everyday people, instead of corporations and the rich.
And thank you, to everyone who helped make "Rising Voices" an enormous success.
ACTIONS REPORT:
General Electric Takeover
From 2008 to 2012 GE made $30 billion in profits but paid no taxes. In fact, they received a $3 billion refund! So on Monday morning NPA and NDWA leaders from across the country took over the DC General Electric offices and demanded a change of course. Hundreds of activists flooded the building and called for a meeting with GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt.
Meanwhile, nine stories up, a tactical team of leaders was able to access GE offices and begin negotiations to deliver the message. Employees exited their offices to hear our stories: GE's tax dodging hurts all of us. Though they refused to take our meeting request, they heard everyone loud and clear-‐ the voices of the people below rose to the highest rungs.i
Koch Brothers Industries Occupation The Koch brothers are worth $82 billion dollars, and they spend millions of that every year promoting ideas that help the ultra rich at the expense of everyone else. They seek to eliminate social security, Medicaid, and the minimum wage – programs that working people need – which is why NPA members from Michigan United, Maine People’s Alliance and Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement occupied their offices.
In a super charged scene, affiliate members gave heart-‐wrenching testimonies exposing the Koch Brothers lies about the need-‐based programs: Patricia Fuller, a factory worker, described her struggle to survive on minimum wage in Michigan, and asked why the Koch Brothers would spend millions advocating to make it even harder. Susan Alexa, relayed her story of losing Medicaid and no longer being able to afford heart medication when the state of Maine moved to cut back funding. And Verne Tigges, of Iowa CCI, shamed the Koch Brothers for trying to undermine Social Security, which has made it possible for him and his wife to survive the financial burden of a disastrous car accident that nearly took their lives earlier this year.
Koch officials refused to meet and forced us to leave, but we will be back. The fight will not be over if programs for the most needy are restored, and even then it will only have just begun.
Immigration Action at the White House In the ongoing struggle to stop deportations, NDWA leaders along with NPA affiliates IPA, SCA, and RAP developed an intense plan of action taking the fight all the way to the White House. Following an march joined by hunger strikers already engaged in struggle, the action kicked off with a mic-‐check to demand President Obama halt the deportation machine. 12 NDWA and NPA affiliate leaders, half of whom are undocumented, performed a sit-‐in at the White House gates.
Throughout the demo, the crowd repeatedly sung “We Shall Not Be Moved” and “Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around,” echoes resounding in all directions.[video footnote] Each arrestee was highlighted with an impassioned call-‐and-‐response chant from the crowd. The leaders reported later how touched they were to hear their name called out in solidarity, and seeing hundreds of people jumping up and down shouting “La lucha sigue, sigue!” The arrestees were later released but their mark remains.
Battle for the Capitol: A March for Economic Justice
In a powerful move, NPA and NDWA joined up with Restaurant Opportunities Center (ROC) to take the streets and march for economic equality. A crowd numbering well over a thousand filled the avenues of Washington DC and marched toward the capitol demanding that Congress side with us, not greedy corporations who are driving inequality. Days prior, Congress returned from a two-‐week recess so we made sure they heard our call as the decision on whether or not to continue billion dollar corporate tax breaks for companies like GE, or to raise the minimum wage came to a vote. Rep. Keith Ellison joined us and together we addressed rampant income inequality plaguing the US and demanded an economy that works for all of us, not corporations.
PLENARY REPORT:
Rising Voices for a New Economy: Saturday Plenary
Moving from Defense to Offense
Last year we unveiled our Long-‐Term Agenda for a New Economy and this year we put it into practice with ambitious local, state and national campaigns that move us from defense to offense. NPA affiliates opened the
conference by breaking down their inspiring campaigns to take the fight to the doorstep of corporations and the 1%, change the landscape, and win bigger structural victories!
Rising Voices for a New Economy: Sunday Plenary The movement for a new economy will begin with us, or not at all. This plenary featured Barb Kalbach from Iowa CCI, Bobby Tolbert from VOCAL NY, and NDWA leaders Juana Flores and Shirley Murphy, who knocked it out of the park with talks about our vision and strategy for a new economy. Philanthropist Peter Buffet, DEMOS President Heather McGee and AFL-‐CIO Executive VP Tefere Gebre responded by pledging to ally with our movement!
[Feat. musical performances by Cecily Bumbray and Mirian Mijangos.]
WORKSHOP & TRAINING REPORT:
Victory! Breaking the Debt Trap: Building a Financial System That Works for
Everyone On Sunday morning more than 100 folks joined together to celebrate our victories, learn new strategies, and tease out next steps in breaking the banks' grip over our financial lives. We celebrated big national victories, including Dumping Ed DeMarco -‐ to get new leadership at FHFA -‐ and driving every single bank out4dz of the business of making predatory payday loans. The workshop itself was a big leap forward: we were joined by Barry Wides from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) -‐ the big banks main regulator. In a strategic move, Rev. Cliff Parks of IL People’Action asked, "Will the OCC work with us to get the banks out of this bad business?" and he affirmed. Mr. Wides also agreed to hold local meetings
with NPA affiliates and bring along banks to work to build good, quality credit alternatives for our communities. Together, NPA and affiliate are building the new economy and laying out the stepping-‐stones towards a financial system-‐ that works for everyone, not just a few.
Creating the People First Economy Hundreds of leaders learned how inequality is the driver of the jobs and revenue crisis in this country. Powerful testimony was heard from 11 affiliates who are on the front lines of this fight -‐ taking on hiring discrimination, closing tax loopholes, ending wage theft and creating new ways to raise revenue.
Exciting new opportunities to collaborate on reconceiving the future of work from our allies at Jobs with Justice and the National Guest Workers Alliance were developed and discussed. Leaders committed to hold candidates accountable, dig into the policies presented, join NPA in fighting for federal legislation and push their jobs and work organizing to the next level.
The New Jim Crow: Ending Mass Incarceration The United States has the world’s highest prison population, a disproportionate number of those prisoners are people of color. And of course big corporations and the 1% on the outside are profiting from this crisis. NPA affiliates are fighting back. Marc Mauer, Executive Director of The Sentencing Project, briefed us what we can do at the national level. NPA furthermore can deepen and change the narrative about mass incarceration in the US as we work together to fight the structural racism which sustains it.
Environmental Justice: Organizing for Our Communities and Our Planet
Unless we stop big corporations and the 1% from destroying people and the planet, winning our other issues will be like rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. NPA affiliates shared how they are taking on big corporations to put environmental justice at the forefront of the conversation, while shifting the economy toward good jobs that help people, communities and the planet. We set the stage for NPA to bring tough community organizing to the environmental movement.
Campaigns that Advance our Long-‐Term Agenda for a New Economy
NPA is moving from checkers to chess. We are using the Long-‐Term Agenda Framework to build campaigns that carve a path to winning. In these workshops, affiliates delved into the Long-‐Term Agenda framework to illuminate how to reorient our local and national campaigns to win long-‐term structural reform.
Breakout Sessions: Rising Voices for a New Economy
Across eleven rooms and the languages of four continents, leaders and organizers from NPA and NDWA forged relationships and deepened our ability to tell OUR story about what is wrong with the economy in America: The Battle of Ideas. The story of the Long-‐Term Agenda for a New Economy is about power first and foremost, and if we can shift the conversation about the economy from that of big corporations and the 1% to one of everyday people, then we can win.
Mass Canvass Learning & Practice for a People-‐Powered Politics
In the NPA conference workshop Mass Canvass: People Powered Politics the goal was to learn how to build a member-‐leader led canvasses that will have conversations with 100,000's of people on our issues; recruiting them to our movement and motivating them to take action to enact NPA’s Long Term Agenda. Over 80 NPA affiliate members were trained to call over 1,000 Mainers over a hot campaign. Hundreds of conversations happened around Maine People's Alliance's anti-‐corporate tax haven bill, which is facing a veto override vote in the Maine legislature on Thursday. We patched them through to have direct conversations with their legislators: filling the voicemail of legislators whose votes we need. Dozens of conference attendees committed to taking on active roles, making NPA's first ever Mass Canvass a success!
The People First Economy Campaign Workshops In a split session-‐sequence, over 100 participants learned to recast their jobs and revenue work in a frame of inequality, and to affirm and commit to the principles of the unified campaign on work and revenue. National wins to combat inequality were covered, namely taking down Fix the Debt, and securing elected official support for the Robin Hood tax. Affiliate’s local campaign victories including that of VOCAL, ONE Northside, Iowa CCI, TAMN, POWER, Fuerza Laboral, IIRON, MPA, CVH, and PUSH Buffalo were highlighted. These sessions allowed for a fresh collaboration between NPA, NDWA, NGA and JWJ on reshaping the future of work.
CAPITOL HILL REPORT:
NPA Takes our Message Directly to the Halls of Congress
NPA leaders from California to Maine fanned out across the Capitol to meet face to face with their elected representatives and staff. NPA affiliates brought the message that we need our Congress-‐people and Senators to stand with us, not with corporations like GE, the Koch Brothers and the National Restaurant Association. We told Congress to take action to close corporate tax loopholes to create jobs and build the 21st century safety net; to increase the amount of safe, affordable housing units; to raise the wage, pass immigration reform and end mass incarceration. Over 2 dozen meetings were held on Monday afternoon and more reports are coming in. THIS is what democracy looks like!
Battle for the Capitol March: https://storify.com/streetactionnpa/rising-‐voices-‐takes-‐action
Joint plenary: https://storify.com/streetactionnpa/a-‐day-‐of-‐rising-‐voices National People's Action Videos: Opening plenary: http://youtu.be/5ylzCtEegr4
Immigration action: http://youtu.be/iSkAJm0RgKI
Battle for the Capitol March: http://youtu.be/XatUdDCQ5pw
GE action: http://youtu.be/NsPXbGxIIHE
Koch action: http://youtu.be/fcf0pOie87s Press: Immigration Action: Immigration activists turn the tables on Obama Dana Milbank, Washington Post 12 Deportation Protesters Arrested at White House
Julia Preston, New York Times Obama on track to deport more immigrants that previous presidents Christin Roby, McClatchy DC (via Medill News Service) Protesters Back Obama on Wage Hike, Oppose Him on Deportations Suzanne Gamboa, NBC National News Arrestan a 12 que exigían freno a deportaciones frente a Casa Blanca Spanish AP -‐-‐ Reprinted 50 times across Latin America Deportaciones: 12 detenidos ante la Casa Blanca El Tiempo Latin Hill March & Rally: Rally in DC Over Minimum Wage Hike Alyona Minkovski, Huffington Post Live Hundreds Rally to demand hike in minimum wage Lisa Ruhl, Washington Examiner Hundreds rally for minimum wage hike in Washington DC Lauren Adams, ABC -‐ Aired in Flint MI, Erie PA, Toledo OH, Elmira, NY Demanding 'Just and Sustainable' Economy For all, Thousands March on Congress Lauren McCauley, Common Dreams RISING VOICES SUMMIT: Inequality in America: A Tale of Two Stories Ai-‐Jen Poo & George Goehl, The Huffington Post How to Really Rein In The Super Rich Sally Kohn, The Daily Beast Organizers Come Together To 'Move from Checkers to Chess' Sarah Jaffe, In These Times It's Time to Change Who is in the Room When Decisions are Made About the Economy Anna Lekas Miller, Alternet Rising Voices for a New Economy Connects the Dots Sam Knight, Truthout
