| Metro Organizer July 29, 2009 |
Events Movements and Values vs. Political Power HIRE Minnesota Action at MnDOT Metro Organizer Networking Session for Suburban Organizers Legislative Hearing on Transportation Issues Resource Free Citizen Journalism Classes Community Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Seed Grants Articles Climate Change is a Poverty Issue Volunteer Opportunities Organizer - African American Action Council Other Opportunity There is still time left to vote! To submit an item to the next Metro Organizer, please contact Tracy Babler Event I Movements and Values vs. Political Power 11 am Minnesota's long tradition for spawning progressive politics and movements, often regardless of party, has been so severely eroded over five decades that the systems we have relied on to preserve the commons and common good may be coming to an end - certainly to a crawl. The very words "commons" and "common good" have been challenged as subversive, in service of socialist indoctrination. What are the core values that could drive the resurrection of the commons, of progressive thought and deed, of public policy that serves the maximum good while inspiring political engagement and community-based problem-solving? What are the tensions between movements for change and the power needed to make them happen? Are those tensions fatal to reviving the values that drive policy for the common good? Tune in to KFAI Radio's Truth to Tell program as guests Julie Ristau of On the Commons, Dan McGrath of TakeAction Minnesota, Tom O'Connell of Metropolitan State University and Tom Vellenga of Heartland Democracy discuss the commons in which we all reside. Event I HIRE Minnesota Action at MnDOT 11:30 am - 1 pm The Alliance is a member of the HIRE Minnesota coalition, which is organizing this important action to highlight the Minnesota Department of Transportation's (MnDOT) 17 years of failure to meet its hiring goals for people of color. HIRE Minnesota also invites everyone to come to our next quarterly coalition meeting. Coalition meetings are a chance to hear updates on what HIRE Minnesota is working on, and help set the agenda for our future work! Please RSVP on the HIRE Minnesota web site. Event I Metro Organizer Networking Session for Suburban Organizers 3 - 4:30 pm Suburban Organizers this Metro Organizer Networking Session is for you! This session is a follow-up to our August Organizer Roundtable: Community Organizing in the Suburbs, where participants emphasized the power of connections with other organizers as a key to successful efforts. Event I Legislative Hearing on Transportation Issues 10 am This Transportation and Transit Policy Oversight Division hearing chaired by Rep. Frank Hornstein will feature testimony Central Corridor issues, the Northstar Commuter Rail launch, MnDOT's Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Program, ARRA transportation equity issues and more. HIRE Minnesota and the Stops for Us coalition will each be giving testimony between 1 and 3 pm. Resource I Free Citizen Journalism Classes The Twin Cities Media Alliance has a great program of citizen journalism and media skills classes coming up this fall – including a four-part introduction to Citizen Journalism (starting October 1) , a two-session class on Reporting 101 (starting September 24), as well as classes on how to be a better blogger, an introduction to podcasting, how to create free WordPress web sites and Twitter as a news tool. Go to www.tcdailyplanet.net/classes to see all the details. The classes are all free, and they are a great opportunity to develop new skills and make new friends. Resource I Community Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Seed Grants The Minnesota Clean Energy Resource Teams (CERTs) seek to provide limited financial assistance for energy efficiency and/or renewable energy projects. Project funding can support technical assistance services (labor costs only, such as for a consultant, design professional, installer or student labor) for projects across the state. CERTs offers seed grants with two primary objectives in mind: to encourage implementation of community-based clean energy projects across the state, and to provide an educational forum for energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies and their economic, community and ecological benefits. Each region has a $40,000 pool of funding. Generally CERTS has funded projects in the $5,000 range. Proposals must be submitted no later than November 2 by 4:30pm. Resource I Community Art and Organizing Community Art and Organizing is a class offered by Articulture that will allow participants to learn to combine formal artistic principles and techniques with community organizing philosophy. Participants will democratically decide upon an issue and a strategic artistic method for engaging the community on that issue. In the end, participants will create a piece and gain real-world experience with community-based art that supports campaigns and involves the public. This is a 10-week course beginning on October 7, with a sliding fee scale (scholarships available). To register, call ArtiCulture at 612-729-5151, email info@articulture.org or visit the website at www.articulture.org. Article I Climate Change is a Poverty Issue Climate change is an economic-justice issue. Regardless of how our government ultimately decides to handle climate change policy, poor people will be affected. They can be included in the new clean energy economy or they can be further pushed out in the cold. Doing nothing on climate will only make things worse for the poor and people of color in this country. The result of decades of inaction on this issue has already dramatically affected the lives of people: from more intense hurricanes that disproportionately hit people who cannot escape the rising tide, to the higher cost of food in a fossil fuel–driven economy, to heat waves that often trap the elderly in stifling apartments. Volunteer Opportunity I Organizer - African American Action Council The African American Action Council (AAAC) is a community-based organization designed to empower disenfranchised people and people of color in the northwest suburbs of Minneapolis. While AAAC was organized by African Americans, the organization was designed from the outset to be inclusive of all people. AAAC's goal is to build racial and social justice and to secure inclusion of the African American and minority voice in the decisions that impact their lives. Other Opportunity I There is still time left to vote! Hundreds of people have already voted for their favorite photos in our in/stability photo contest. Have you? We want to know which photos you think represent the progress we've made in the Twin Cities region over the last 15 years, and the work we have left to do. Voting is quick, easy and online. Vote by October 2!
Alliance for Metropolitan Stability I 2525 Franklin Ave E, Suite 200 I Minneapolis, MN 55406 I 612-332-4471 | |
