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Metro Organizer July 29, 2009 |
Event I Southwest LRT Open House Announcement I Photo Contest Deadline Extended to August 14 Training I Housing Policy Training Video I HIRE Minnesota Presents Missing Persons Report to MnDOT Video/Event I Reverse Racism: Concept Ignores the Problem of Systemic Racism Resource I The Intersection of Transportation, Health and Equity Resource I Better Connections: Linking Low-Income Minnesotans with Transportation Options Article I Conservation Minnesota: Green Jobs Issue Article I By The Color of Their Skin: The Myth of the Postracial Society Job Opportunity I Program Assistant -- League of Women Voters Minnesota Job Opportunity I National Field Director -- Blue Green Alliance Event I Southwest LRT Open House 6:30 - 8 pm The Southwest LRT open house will feature the release of the evaluation results for the three potential Southwest LRT routes. The evaluation includes ridership forecasts, cost estimates, cost-effectiveness calculations, transit mobility measures and an inventory of potentially affected critical environmental resources. This information will be used to select the preferred LRT route, which is called the locally preferred alternative. For more information, visit the Transit for Livable Communities web site. Announcement I Photo Contest Deadline Extended to August 14 We are getting lots of good images of the Twin Cities region submitted to our in/stability photo contest. And there's still time to submit photos! We extended the deadline to August 14. Show us what the Twin Cities looks like through your lens! Photographers of all skill levels are invited to participate. Go to the Alliance web site to find out how to submit a photo. Training I Housing Policy Training 6:30 - 9 pm The Public Policy Project invites you to participate in a free 16-week training on how and where housing policy decisions are made, and how to effectively engage the policy making process. The Housing Policy Training program prepares participants to make their voice and views on housing issues heard through direct participation in nonprofit or advocacy organizations and city, county, regional and state governments. The program consists of eight evening training sessions and a six-week field work experience. Video I HIRE Minnesota Presents Missing Persons Report to MnDOT Last week, a delegation from HIRE Minnesota presented a missing persons report to the Minnesota Department of Transportation, reminding them that women and people of color are missing from road construction crews across the state! Check out what happened in this video captured by the Twin Cities Daily Planet.  You can also view a summary of all the media coverage of the event on the Alliance web site, including more video from KSTP news, audio from Minnesota Public Radio and articles from several local papers. Video/Event I Reverse Racism: Concept Ignores the Problem of Systemic Racism Ever since Sonia Sotomayor, a Latina woman, was first mentioned as a contender for the Supreme Court, we’ve heard a lot from some quarters about how her success has been nothing more than the result of ‘reverse racism.’ In this video, the Applied Research Center’s Terry Keleher digs into the term and explains that ‘reverse racism’ is nothing more than a way for those in power to change the subject away from systemic racism, a system that puts people of color at a disadvantage from birth until death.
You can learn more from Terry Keleher and local experts about how to alleviate the effects of structural racism at our 2009 Regional Equity Series Event: Measuring the Racial Impact of Public Policies. Join us to lend your voice to the conversation! Resource I The Intersection of Transportation, Health, and Equity Traditional U.S. transportation policy has been crafted to move cars faster and further. Missing from the discussion is how transportation, or lack thereof, has affected people’s quality of life: their health, their opportunities and their vitality. The consequences of these policies are felt today with high levels of air pollution, injury, and lack of access to critical goods and services. All of these impacts are felt particularly strongly in low-income communities and communities of color, adding to rampant health disparities in our nation. A recent report by PolicyLink analyzes the intersection of transportation, health and equity. It provides key policy and program recommendations that can improve health outcomes in vulnerable communities, create economic opportunity and enhance environmental quality. Resource I Better Connections: Linking Low-Income Minnesotans with Transportation Options Transportation issues for low-income Minnesotans and those with limited transportation options rank high in importance because of their magnitude and impacts. Transportation costs consume a large share of the budgets of low-income residents across Minnesota. Often, low-income travelers face the problematic choice of high-cost car ownership or dependence upon transit service that may be very limited or not available at all. Low-income workers in the state’s urban areas face a trend toward job growth in outlying areas that are hard to reach by transit. Minnesotans with disabilities need access to key destinations, including jobs and health care facilities. All Minnesotans benefit from better access to important destinations, but better connections are particularly important for Minnesotans with low incomes and limited transportation options. This report by Growth and Justice (PDF) explores transportation issues for low-income residents and Minnesotans with limited options. Article I Conservation Minnesota: Green Jobs Issue A growing number of jobs in Minnesota are being created in businesses that improve and protect the environment. Minnesota, according to one study, has more than 52,000 green jobs. But we can do even better. In this month's edition of Conservation Minnesota, explore the stories and visions of Minnesotans who are making their living in industries that sustain and enhance our natural resources, and others who are leading the way to a future in which our prosperity is derived from more green jobs. Article I By the Color of Their Skin: The Myth of the Postracial Society In the fall of 1968, six months after civil-rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated on a hotel balcony in Memphis, Tennessee, Tim Wise was born to lower-middle-class white parents down the road in Nashville. Wise, who would later commit himself to carrying on King’s fight for a racially just society, grew up in a nation struggling to redefine itself: sweeping reform legislation had been passed, ending legalized segregation, but people of color remained largely shut out of decent jobs, housing and education. David Cook of the Sun Magazine recently sat down with Wise to discuss the myth that we live in a “postracial society.” Job Opportunity I Program Assistant -- League of Women Voters Minnesota League of Women Voters Minnesota (LWVMN) is a non-partisan grassroots political organization that encourages informed and active participation in government through public education forums, non-partisan election activities and community outreach. LWVMN is seeking a program assistant to play an integral role in the success of state programs. LWVMN seeks a passionate, creative and enthusiastic person interested in public policy and organizing around public policy issues. Job Opportunity I National Field Director -- Blue Green Alliance Blue Green Alliance (BGA) is a national partnership of the United Steelworkers, Sierra Club, Communications Workers of America, Service Employees International Union, Natural Resources Defense Council, Laborers International Union of North America and the Utility Workers Union of America focused on promoting programs and policies that result in the development of the green economy. BGA seeks a national field director to work in its Minneapolis headquarters. The national field director will coordinate BGA’s field staff in 8-10 states and manage the field organizing elements of BGA’s issue education and advocacy programs. 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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