Citizen Action Weekend E Newsletter, July 21st – 23rd
Citizen Action is hiring Deep Canvass Field Organizer in Milwaukee.
For more information contact Priscilla Bort at [email protected]
Unmasking Power Through Political Education“
If you wanted to design a way to hurt, bankrupt or kill as many Americans as possible using monopoly power, you might dream up the American healthcare industry. Or perhaps the global fossil fuel industry, a club of polluters, funded by big finance, that works as a machine to destroy democracy, health and stability.” So begins Fordham law professor Zephyr Teachout’s bold, persuasive analysis of healthcare and fossil fuel monopolies. The solutions she identifies in her book, Break ‘Em Up, lie in breaking up monopolies and using the power of government in the interest of people and planet, rather than corporate profits.
Last week, Citizen Action staff devoted two hours to discussing Teachout’s work and the specific ways that corporate monopolies “hurt, bankrupt and kill.” This conversation was part of our ongoing analysis of how power works in this state and this country.
One of the emphases of the People’s Action Organizing Revival is building shared understandings of power within and across organizations. If we are going to create a stronger democracy, we need to know who benefits from diminishing democracy. We need a strategic understanding of what we’re up against.
At Citizen Action, we’re working toward affordable, quality healthcare for everyone and fighting for governments at all levels to take bold and equitable steps to respond to the climate crisis. When we understand how powerful actors are benefiting from the status quo, it can help us develop strategies to shift power to the people, hold bad actors accountable, and work for the well being of our planet and the people who depend on it.
Where do you go for political education? What websites, books, articles, poems, documentaries etc. have been important to you in your political education? Emily Anderson, Movement Communications Specialist at Citizen Action, ([email protected]) would love to know!
Citizen Action Northwest Organizing Cooperative holds Summer Social in Eau Claire
Thanks to all the Citizen Action members (and future members) who attended this week’s Summer Social in Eau Claire hosted by the Citizen Action Northwest Wisconsin Organizing Cooperative!
Special thanks to members Kristin Deprey and Julia Bennker who helped organize the first event by the Coop’s Member Events Committee!
Join a Citizen Action Organizing Cooperative near you if you are not currently a member!
To get involved in the Citizen Action Northwest Organizing Cooperative contact: [email protected]
Join Citizen Action North Side Rising and take action in your community!
To get involved in the Citizen Action North Side Rising Organizing Cooperative contact: [email protected]
Attend Clean Energy Green Bay Open House, Tuesday, July 25, 4pm – 7pm
Green Bay is working on a comprehensive energy plan and the city is hosting an open house next week to provide more information about the plan. There will be an overview of the planning process, two brief presentations, and an opportunity for community feedback.
The open house will take place on Tuesday, July 25th from 4-7pm at the Green Bay Water Utility. Come on out to learn more about sustainability efforts in Green Bay!
To get involved in the Citizen Action Northeast Organizing Cooperative contact: [email protected]
Big Ideas fighting climate change with energy efficiency
Southeast Wisconsin Co-op Organizer Kat Klawes has hit the ground running on creating action around green energy and climate. Kat attended Big Ideas Day hosted by the Milwaukee Commons. Big Ideas day brought together Milwaukeeans to work group on solutions of awareness and education around energy efficiency. Kat connected with residents about their thoughts on environmental education and access.
To get involved in the Citizen Action Southeast Organizing Cooperative contact: [email protected]
Nearly a decade of activism and organizing in North Central Wisconsin leads to a victory for the planet and people.
A grassroots effort, led by neighborhood residents of Thomas Street in Wausau, for nearly a decade, has resulted in the remediation of contaminated soil. A grassroots group, called Citizens for a Clean Wausau, along with members of the Citizen Action Action North Central Organizing Co-op have supported the efforts in this neighborhood to expose the contamination from years of industrial pollution, and advocate for proper remediation. This is a huge victory!
Advocates faced opposition from City leaders from the two previous administrations, as well as staff. Yet, they’re attendance at committee and City meetings never wavered. People who were personally affected by the contamination spoke, as well as residents who were urged or pushed out of their homes for the purpose of redeveloping Thomas Street.
You can read more about these efforts, as well as the way that they plan to deal with the contaminated soil in the Wausau Pilot and Review. This publication (the image above is from their article) played a central role in educating the public on the issues facing this neighborhood as well as the responses from elected leaders and City staff over the years.
Thank you to everyone that helped to make this happen.
To get involved in the Citizen Action North Central Organizing Cooperative contact: [email protected]
Attend the 9th Annual Wisconsin Public Education Network Summer Summit, August 10, 9am – 5pm
This one-of-a-kind event offers a deep dive into the theme ACCOUNTABILITY IN ACTION: how we can hold ourselves, our schools, and our leaders accountable for making sure every child in every public school has what they need to thrive. The Summit gives everyone — from administrators and board members to parent advocates and educators and more — a safe, productive space to learn, share, and leave ready to make a difference. We’ll dig into urgent topics, from toxic politics to student mental health & navigating school board engagement, protecting students’ freedom to learn, understanding how privatization and school funding really work, organizing to take action, and much more. Experts and advocates will lead deep discussions focused on the ways we can put accountability into action in our everyday advocacy.
Citizen Action in the News
Citizen Action’s Robert Kraig was on the Earl Ingram Radio Show for the full hour to discuss the MAGA threat to democracy. The program is broadcast statewide on the growing Civic Media radio network.
Robert is on Wednesday from 9 AM to 10 AM each week.
Listen to “Public Schools Unite Us: A Special Interview with Wisconsin Public Education Network’s Heather DuBois Bourenane” Battleground Wisconsin Podcast
We welcome Wisconsin Public Education Network’s Heather DuBois Bourenan to discuss public education in Wisconsin following a state budget that saw the largest expansion of private voucher schools as part of a “deal” that blindsided supporters of public education.
Former President Trump revealed this week he is a target of the special counsel’s Jan. 6 investigation, as multiple Wisconsin election officials are interviewed by federal investigators. Meanwhile, MAGA Republican lawmakers introduce another sham bill to add watermarks to absentee ballots that only serves to feed their conspiracy driven base to question all electoral defeats in the future. We speculate whether the Michigan AG’s prosecution of fake electors in their state will get Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul off the fence and reconsider prosecuting Wisconsin’s fraudster fake electors. We also review the Wisconsin Policy Forum’s new report trumpeting over $1 Billion in tax cuts in the state budget, however we highlight its failure to point out the only large BIPOC majority city in Wisconsin gets a huge tax increase with a regressive sales tax increase.
Listen to the show!
Learn more about and Join Wisconsin Public Education Network (WPEN).
Attend the 9th Annual Wisconsin Public Education Network Summer Summit, August 10, 9am – 5pm
Social media post of the week
