Over three decades, AJS has crafted a celebrated organizing curriculum that is grounded in the core universal principles of organizing and also innovates based on contemporary ideas and tools. “The team at AJS are some of the best out there at training organizers and rooting organizing skills in an understanding of the history of socialContinue reading “Training & Education”
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What is Organizing?
Organizing is one of many approaches to social change. But organizing is special. Organizing recognizes that power is essential to making change. It’s not enough to be right. Communities can only get what they need when they have the power to achieve it. There are eight essential aspects of organizing: Organizing builds organizations. Organizing buildsContinue reading “What is Organizing?”
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Organizing and training for the public good. Organizing for the public good means building power to expand and protect public goods. In the words of K. Sabeel Rahman, “Public goods are not so much about ‘free stuff’ as they are about the ‘stuff that makes us free.’” This is why fights for public goods holdContinue reading “Home”
Racism and Capitalism are Intertwined: An interview with Libero Della Piana
Q: When so many African Americans are brutalized and murdered by the police, how do you explain the powerful wave of anger sparked by the death of George Floyd?
I think there is always a breaking point for oppression. We have reached the breaking point. Black people have learned to live with the outrage, with constant harassment, jail, and death. Often times the police killings are localized and isolated. They don’t make it to the national consciousness. The first time that reality changed was with the Rodney King beating in 1992. Black people knew the experience of police harassment and brutality, but to millions of Americans, it could be ignored or dismissed. Then suddenly it was on camera. Then as now, we assumed the evidence of police crimes on tape would lead to justice. When they didn’t in the case of Rodney King, Los Angeles erupted. Now, nearly 30 years later the killing of George Floyd has ignited the anger of the whole country in an unprecedented way.
VIDEO: COVID, Voting Rights & the Public Good
The photos of thousands of Wisconsin voters wearing masks and socially distancing while lining up to vote in last month’s primary election is one of the starkest images of the current pandemic. The image also embodies one of the main questions for the United States in the months to come: How will COVID-19 impact the NovemberContinue reading “VIDEO: COVID, Voting Rights & the Public Good”
A Call to Innovative Organizing
This is a test
Still Struggling to Make Ends Meet: A report on living wages in Washington State
Workers across the country face difficulties making ends meet; the same is true in Washington State. Two years ago, in an attempt to help the minimum wage keep pace with increased cost of living, voters in Washington State approved Initiative 1433. While that provided a much-need- ed boost to the state’s minimum wage, workers andContinue reading “Still Struggling to Make Ends Meet: A report on living wages in Washington State”
Shark Week 2016 – We’re going to need a bigger boat!
It’s Shark Week! While ocean going sharks will be in the spotlight, it’s the predatory payday loan sharks that are the real danger in our neighborhoods. This year, we’ve got a chance to build a lifeboat to keep our families out of harm’s way with new proposed rules from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. TheContinue reading “Shark Week 2016 – We’re going to need a bigger boat!”
Stop Predatory Lending
On June 2, in Kansas City, MO the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) will finally release their proposed rules for the payday loan industry. We’ve been fighting for this day for years and are thrilled it’s arrived. But this isn’t the end of the fight. It’s another beginning. Community and faith leaders from across theContinue reading “Stop Predatory Lending”
Free From Jail, Imprisoned by Debt
This opinion piece by Libero Della Piana was written for OtherWords and appeared in Truthout. At 36, Marcus White has spent half of his life in prison. Today he’s no longer behind bars, but now he’s imprisoned by something else: debt. When White was sentenced, he was saddled with $5,800 in criminal fines and fees.Continue reading “Free From Jail, Imprisoned by Debt”