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Metro Organizer March 31, 2009 |
Action Alert I HIRE Minnesota Needs Your Help Tonight! Event I Organizer Roundtable: Pedagogy and Theatre of the Oppressed - A Powerful Organizing Practice Event I 2009 Regional Equity Series: Resisting Gentrification and Displacement Event I Reflections on Racial Dialogue Training I Undoing the Silence: Writing for Social Change Resource I Shrinking the Carbon Footprint of Metropolitan America Resource I Achievement in Environmental Justice Awards Article I Building A Bridge to Race Equity Article I HUD and DOT Announce Partnership for Affordable, Sustainable Communities Job Opportunity I Northside Community Reinvestment Coalition - Community Organizer Job Opportunity I Grassroots Solutions - Interns Action Alert I HIRE Minnesota Needs Your Help Tonight! HIRE Minnesota is working to ensure that low-income people, communities of color and women are afforded meaningful access to the jobs that will be created through the federal stimulus bill. Your help is urgently needed! Please attend the Senate Energy, Environment and Natural Resources Budget Division hearing tonight to demand real opportunities for low-income people in the weatherization bill! Please help us ensure low-income people, people of color and women have access to the jobs and services created through this bill. We need your help to tell our leaders that Senate File 657 must include language about community outreach, training and accountability measures. Please also save the date for the HIRE Minnesota rally at the capitol at 3 pm on April 20 and spread the word (PDF) about the rally! Event I Organizer Roundtable: Pedagogy and Theatre of the Oppressed - A Powerful Organizing Practice Noon - 1:30 pm Come learn about the organizing practices of Twin Cities Pedagogy and Theatre of the Oppressed (PTO). PTO uses pedagogy and theater to work with oppressed peoples of the world to develop critical thinking and actions to overcome social systems of oppression. The session will be led by Victor Cole and his colleagues from the Twin Cities Pedagogy and Theater of the Oppressed. Come join with your peers to learn new and innovative organizing techniques and to discuss how they can be applied in your own campaigns. Organizer Roundtables are free, but registration is required. Light snacks will be provided, and please bring your lunch! Event I 2009 Regional Equity Series: Resisting Gentrification and Displacement 2 - 5 pm The explosion of growth and reinvestment in our inner cities has been a double-edged sword. It can bring economic revival to once languishing neighborhoods and corridors, yet it often pulls affordable housing out of the reach of long-time residents. The gentrification effect is a predictable consequence of large-scale public infrastructure and private investment projects, but is it preventable? Join us to hear Sushma Sheth from the Miami Workers Center and the national Right to the City Alliance discuss the leading strategies for mitigating the negative impacts felt by low-income communities when redevelopment activity occurs - and for capturing the positive outcomes that could help lift people out of poverty. A reactor panel of local leaders will discuss gentrification and displacement issues in the Twin Cities region. Please RSVP if you plan to attend. Event I Reflections on Racial Dialogue Friday, April 17 Carlson School of Management Room L-110, University of Minnesota West Bank Campus, Minneapolis Community dialogue groups are often used as a strategy for addressing racial injustices and improving race relations. At this forum, a diverse panel organized by the Humphrey Institute Diversity Committee will answer questions related to the implementation and impact of racial dialogues, including how we should think about the limitations and possibilities of dialogue groups as a strategy for improving race relations. The group will explore ways to find common ground, while recognizing and respecting differences as elements of the dialogue process. Panelists include Katherine Cramer Walsh, associate professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin–Madison; Judie Cutler, elder from the St. Croix Band of Ojibwe; Anita Patel, YWCA director of racial justice and public policy; and George T. Stephenson, Ramsey County District Court judge. A reception with light refreshments will follow the panel discussion. This event is free and open to the public. Training I Undoing the Silence: Writing for Social Change 6 pm What can you write to defend the earth, world peace and social justice? Everyone has a piece of the solution, and now is the time to make your voice heard! Louise Dunlap, activist and author of "Undoing the Silence: Six Tools for Social Change Writing" will lead this workshop. Small group activities will give activists tools for writing in the face of the division and conflict that mark the present moment. Dunlap will also read from the book, sign copies and answer audience questions. This event is free and open to the public, and no pre-registration is required. Call the Loft education office at 612-379-8999 with questions. Resource I Shrinking the Carbon Footprint of Metropolitan America America’s carbon footprint is expanding. With a growing population and an expanding economy, America’s settlement area is widening, and as it does, Americans are driving more, building more, consuming more energy and emitting more carbon. Rising energy prices, growing dependence on imported fuels and accelerating global climate change make the nation’s growth patterns unsustainable. Metropolitan America is poised to play a leadership role in addressing these energy and environmental challenges, and federal policies could play a powerful role in helping metropolitan areas shrink their carbon footprints. This report from the Brookings Institution examines the problems America faces and federal policy solutions for metropolitan America and the nation. Resource I Achievement in Environmental Justice Awards The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is accepting applications for the 2009 Achievement in Environmental Justice Awards (PDF). National awards for achievements in environmental justice will be given to multi-stakeholder partnerships for their achievement in addressing environmental justice issues or achieving the goals of environmental justice in a manner that results in positive impacts to a community. Nominations must be postmarked by May 13, 2009. Article I Building a Bridge to Race Equity As a state, the face of Minnesota is changing. By the year 2035, one in four Minnesotans will be a person of color or American Indian. This growth will not be concentrated simply in the urban core, but as we’ve seen in the last 10 years with the Latino community, our growth is occurring in rural parts of the state as well. In the next 15 years, Latinos and African Americans will be the largest “minorities” in the state. It’s clear that the future prosperity of Minnesota is tied to communities of color and American Indian communities. Yet today Minnesota’s racial disparities are among the worst in the nation across issues like education, civil rights, health care and economic equity. Issues which can be systematically addressed through public policy but which require the explicit attention and leadership on the part of our elected officials. Read more from this commentary by Steven Renderos in the Twin Cities Daily Planet. Article I HUD and DOT Announce Partnership for Affordable, Sustainable Communities U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan and U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced a new partnership to help American families gain better access to affordable housing, more transportation options and lower transportation costs. The average working family spends nearly 60 percent of its budget on housing and transportation costs, making these two areas the largest expenses for American families. Donovan and LaHood want to seek ways to cut these costs by forming a joint task force that will focus on creating affordable, sustainable communities. Click here to read the announcement of the partnership. Job Opportunity I Northside Community Reinvestment Coalition - Community Organizer The Northside Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC) is seeking an organizer to play a lead role in helping existing and emerging resident leaders in North Minneapolis connect with each other and access resources, training and allies in order to defend and build community wealth. The organizer will also have opportunities to expand his/her own organizing and leadership skills, as well as to acquire more advanced knowledge and skills regarding community reinvestment and issues of fair lending. NCRC strongly urges North Minneapolis residents to apply for this position. Job Opportunity I Grassroots Solutions - Interns Grassroots Solutions, a Minnesota-based consulting firm specializing in grassroots advocacy, organizing and training, has summer internship openings. Intern responsibilities fall into three primary categories: administration and data management, marketing and research, and organizing. Resumes will be accepted through Friday, April 10. To contribute a news item for the next Metro Organizer, please contact Tracy Nordquist Babler at tracy@metrostability.org. Like the Metro Organizer? Donate to the Alliance. Get this from a friend? Subscribe to the Metro Organizer. Alliance for Metropolitan Stability I 2525 Franklin Ave E, Suite 200 I Minneapolis, MN 55406 I 612-332-4471
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