Every month People’s Action shares the latest victories,
campaigns and events from our member groups
“To get action, you gotta get active!” That’s how Rafael Smith describes Citizen Action of Wisconsin’s mission and approach. “You gotta get out there, talk to your neighbors, knock on doors. Participate. And vote!”
We couldn’t agree more. This month, we celebrate Citizen Action of Wisconsin’s “Badger state of mind,” as they celebrate their 40th anniversary all across the state. CAWI’s tenaciousness has made them leaders in the national fights for health care and climate solutions, and innovators in many areas that are essential to the People’s Action Organizing Revival. We share CAWI’s deep belief in the transformative power of organizing and relentless desire to engage with our neighbors. All grounded in love.
Read on to learn more about CAWI four decades of history, and make sure to watch the special documentary film they’ve produced. We are proud that CAWI is part of the People’s Action family!
We’re also grateful that CAWI shares our commitment to the Organizing Revival, to cultivate new leaders, build our base and share the best practices of community organizing as far and as wide as we can.
This spring, CAWI’s entire organizing staff participated in People’s Action’s 12-week Organizing Bootcamp training series and attended our first-ever Movement Politics Training for Trainers, to deepen and expand the training and leadership development they offer to their own members.
But wait – there’s more! People’s Action member groups are championing ballot initiatives in states like Arkansas and Missouri, expanding training programs in West Virginia, and leveraging federal resources to get long-needed environmental and climate solutions in Ohio, North Carolina and Texas. The Organizing Revival is alive and well.
And don’t forget to watch two documentaries which recently premiered on PBS about two of People’s Action’s “founding mothers”: Gale Cincotta, who led the fight for fair housing in Chicago, and Lois Gibbs, who organized to make polluters pay for the cleanup of toxic waste.
Read on!
In solidarity,
Amanda Weaver
People’s Action
Organizing Stories
Ohio: Cufa Scores FEMA Funding for Cincinnati’s Sewer Crisis
Residents of the Table Mound Home Park in Dubuque are taking action with Iowa CCI to fight their rising costs since a corporate takeover in 2017, part of a national wave of buyouts of mobile home parks by private equity. Read more
West Virginia: Fundamentals Training, Powerbuilding Retreat
West Virginia Citizen Action Group (WVCAG) hosted a free fundamentals of organizing training and a three-day powerbuilding retreat, as they commit to the Organizing Revival goals of expanding their base and leadership development. Read more
Missouri: MOJwJ Delivers 210,000 Signatures for MinWage and Paid Leave
“We did it!” That’s what MOJwJ members exclaimed after they delivered 210,000 signatures to Missouri’s Secretary of State, way more than they’ll need to get an initiative on the ballot in November to raise the minimum wage by 20 percent and fund paid sick leave. Read more
North Carolina: Leveraging Federal Funds to Lower Energy Bills
Members of Down Home North Carolina in Johnston County have launched a new campaign to secure federal funds so communities can adapt to climate change and lower their energy costs through weatherization and the transition to green energy. Read more
Texas: Workers’ Defense Scores $249.7m Solar Grant for Harris County
Solar power may be coming to roofs across Houston soon thanks to an initiative championed by The Workers’ Defense Project, which helped score a $249.7 million grant to Harris County for residential solar, to reduce the region’s reliance on an unreliable corporate-run energy grid. Read more
Arkansas: APPP Rallies Support for Pre-K, Equal Education Amendment
More than 40 rural and small-town leaders from across the People’s Action network recently gathered ot build a shared path to defeat the rise of white supremacy and corporate power in rural communities.. Read more
Recent Media
WATCH: We’ve Found The Enemy & It Isn’t Us
Gale Cincotta, a homemaker in the Chicago neighborhood of Austin, created an interracial group of working-class homeowners with organizer Shel Trapp to fight unscrupulous realtors and bank redlining on Chicago’s west side, then led them to Washington, D.C., where they forced the passage of groundbreaking legislation. This episode, the fourth in filmmaker Bruce Orenstein’s groundbreaking Shame of Chicago, Shame of the Nation series for PBS, chronicles Gale’s efforts, which led to the creation of National People’s Action. Watch it on PBS.
WATCH: Poisoned Ground: The Tragedy at Love Canal
Lois Gibbs, who created the Center for Health and Environmental Justice, a People’s Action founding partner, was a young mother living in the Niagara Falls communtiy of Love Canal when toxic chemicals bubbled up through her front lawn, endangering the lives of her children and neighbors. Lois’s fearless organizing led to the creation of Superfund, which forced polluters to pay for the cleanup of toxic wastes, and more consumer protections. Watch it on PBS.
