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For 6 years, the League has built bridges between our country's least
represented communities and the political establishment. Although many
times it seemed we would never get to cross those bridges, we worked
tirelessly to nurture the young minds of America who were fed 8 years
of missed opportunities. Last week, I got a call from the Obama transition team's Youth Liaison to discuss the League's priorities in 2009. As we talked, I realized that the pressure has never been greater for all of us to embody the ideals we have espoused for so long. The community based change that is the pinnacle of League activism is now the only way we will reshape American politics. The Green Jobs and Juvenile Justice movements are central to our work, and the League stands at the forefront of American innovation because our constituents, the working class backbone of our nation, have tasted the fruits of activist labor. Every contact we made in 2008 is a person, and every person is an opportunity that we at the League are not
going to miss. In the new year we are going to be working hard to
ensure that 2009 is the year our constituents cross those bridges to a
better future.
-Biko
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The Campaign Against Violence, as LYVEF is locally known in Milwaukee, is one of the most respected and sophisticated electoral and community organizations around. With deep roots in the community and a committed long-term vision, CAV is laying the groundwork for long-term empowered community change.
Check out this powerful story about one of CAV's talented young canvassers, Valentino Gray, who uses the combination of his powerful personal experiences and his artistic talent to engage people into this important work.
Valentino came to the CAV via our close local partner Running Rebels, where he is the director of their music program.
You might have heard about some of the misinformation campaigns going on in Pennsylvania. It's ugly stuff, like fliers telling people that if they have outstanding parking tickets or child support payments, they could be arrested at the polls.
It's infuriating.
And we're not going to accept it! The League is preparing to launch a big election protection campaign to fight back. We're raising money to hire and deploy 120 poll monitors for election day to cover the most densely African American and youth-heavy precincts in Allegheny County.
Help us ensure every vote is counted on election day.
Donate on facebook: http://www.causes.com/donate
or
Donate online: http://www.youngvoter.org/donate/electionprotection
The Power Vote campaign is harnessing people power locally so that we can have clean power nationwide! Check out their comprehensive and informative new toolkit and find out how you can mobilize young voters in your area. You can even use the lessons learned to organize people for other issues as well.
So get involved! Sign the Power Vote pledge or you can download the organizing toolkit.
After losing your home and perhaps people you love, you'd think
you'd get some justice. But in the aftermath of Katrina, Black and
lower-income people have been pushed out and watched as their former
neighborhoods have been replaced by whiter and wealthier residents. Three years after Hurricane Katrina, there's finally a bill in
Congress that will give all Katrina survivors a fair chance to rebuild
their lives. Our friends at ColorofChange.org have setup a petition to
support the Gulf Coast Civic Works Act. You can sign it here.
Shady politicians around the country are rushing to pass terrible legislation that would prevent honest people from voting.
They claim they want to prevent voter fraud and keep voter rolls
accurate. But we can see these laws for what they really are: an
attempt to disenfranchise voters by placing barriers every step of the
way.
We need to take a stand and demand that our elected officials respect everyone's fundamental right to vote!
We wanna thank you all!!!
Check out the full list of our heroic 2007 donors.
For people who live amongst toxic smells and poor air quality, it
may seem like that's just a part of living in a big city, right? Wrong.
These teens took evidence to their local
governments and fought for the right to breathe better air. So if you're tired of choking on smog, take it from these teens, and make your voice heard at City Hall!
The League's Tunnel Builder Institute held a training w/ young organizers in Tallahassee recently. Check it out a testimonial from attendee Szor-Danner Jones:
"TBI was a wonderful experience not only for myself, but for the entire Community Empowerment Organization and our guest. Our passions about informing voters of their options in the Tallahassee community have been re-ignited. With the information obtained from the training we have already strategically planned GOTV and social events to aid us in recruitment as well as selected are target areas and demographics for the upcoming election season.
I would recommend TBI to anyone who is serious about organizing and helping communities find their voice in the political arena. The sessions are informative, fun and are organized in a way that participants can easily adapt the information to what is going on in their area. TBI really put in perspective the goals of the new administration and helped me as an organizer, realize the impact myself and particularly the Community Empowerment Organization has on the areas we target.
Thank you for the experience!"
The League just made history in Maine.
Remember a couple months ago, when we told you that the League in Maine was working to get an initiative on the November ballot to get rid of debt for college students?
This week the state legislature voted overwhelmingly to pass the "Opportunity Maine" initiative as a bill. Now, students who stay in Maine after they graduate will be able to receive up to $32,000 towards their college debt.
Read the full story -- or -- visit the Opportunity Maine website
Let's own this movement!
When we found out last week that we had lost nearly a third of our budget in funding we were hit hard with a fact we already knew: we can’t depend on big funders to build our movement. If we are this movement, we need to own this movement.
So we're asking you to step up right now and get your friends involved. Can you ask your friends and family to throw down to make sure the League survives?
Hell yes.
As of early April, Milwaukee's Mayfair mall isn't letting young people in by themselves without government issued ids. They say they want the mall to be "family friendly" but the League's Milwaukee affiliate -- the Campaign Against Violence -- knows it's really just haterism.
"It's like adults don't get. We cruise because there is nothing to. We go to the mall because it's the last safe place for us to go," says 18 year-old Lanisha Colfax. "If people were really concerned about the violence, they would provide opportunities for us. But I really think adults don't want to listen to us."
Watch the video above from Fox News in Milwaukee. And click here to see Fox News cover the rally CAV organized on the day the the new id-check began.
Khari Mosely, the League's Pennsylvania State Director, speaks at the Port Authority rally.
Members of the Pittsburgh League joined a rally in mid-January to protect public transit from major cuts. "The elected officials are making sure the Pittsburgh Penguins stay in the city," said DeShauna Ponton. "I can't afford to go to a Penguins game. I'd rather they worry about whether people can go to work."
Read the whole story at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
Generations of cool
"Tag, Brother. You're it."
Check out this article from the April 2007 issue of Ebony Magazine for this "conversation between a legend and a legend in training."
"We have to stand up and represent our issues and our interests," says Bobby Drake of the Campaign Against Violence. Watch the coverage from Milwaukee's Fox 6 above.
Check out this sample from the beginning of the Election-Edition Mixtape from the Milwaukee League (a.k.a. "Campaign Against Violence").
When Cincinnati City Council voted to spend $20 million on a temporary jail and 100 new police officers the city didn't even ask for, the Nati League/Campaign 4 Youth organized thousands of letters and phone calls demanding relevant youth programs. Listen to the League's hot radio spot!
The Campaign Against Violence, the Milwaukee chapter of the League, registered more than 2,000 young voters with their nontraditional strategy and is pushing for change in the streets this November. Listen to their radio ad.
When talk-jock Tom Barnard of the "KQ Morning Show" broadcast racist comments against the hip hop and Hmong communities, the Minnesota League showed up to call him out. "We can't let people get away with things like this," said MN League member Sam Buffington. "They are equating killings to hip hop and hip hop to black people and their insensitivity takes away from the tragedy of events when young people are being killed."
Read the full front-page story from the Hmong Times.
When the Pittsburgh Port Authority refused to place ads in city buses informing former felons of their voting rights, they told us it wasn't illegal censorship. Now the Pittsburgh League is getting mad media hype for teaming with the ACLU to set the record straight.
