Power Station

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Even the corpus of information that we call facts are being renegotiated on digital spaces Aug 29, 2022

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It is shocking, but no longer surprising, that the hate and disinformation which permeates social media provokes real-life harms. Conspiracy theories promulgated by a small cadre of hatemongers persuaded thousands to reject life-saving vaccines leading to preventable deaths. Children persecuted by anti-LGBTQ groups have succumbed to suicide. White nationalist groups breached the Capitol on January 6, based on an internet-based lie, that the presidential election had been stolen. This is the unsafe social media ecosystem that the Center for Countering Digital Hate, led by Imran Ahmed, intends to end. In 2016, Imran experienced the brutal murder of his colleague, member of Parliament Jo Cox, attacked during the referendum on whether the United Kingdom should remain in the European Union. The far-right Britain First party targeted MP Cox as a "traitor to white people," setting her murder in action. CCDH counters social media companies' failure to enforce their own code of ethics, a legislative framework that is woefully outdated and a business model that rewards hate. Imran suggests nonprofit leaders talk to staff about how social media induced hate impacts the implementation of their mission. As Imran says, this is our collective generational struggle.

You cannot negotiate your way out of discrimination, sexism and racism Aug 22, 2022

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The year was 1881 when 17 women gathered for an unprecedented meeting called by recent college graduate Margaret Talbot and her mentor, Ellen Swallow Richards. Having defied social norms by attending college and pursuing careers they were determined to increase women's access to higher education. Their persistence led to the founding of the American Association for University Women, which has championed the civil, educational, and economic rights of women for 140 years. AAUW is devoted to achieving equal pay for women and to closing a pay gap, that disproportionately harms Black women and Latinas. Gloria Blackwell, who started her career educating girls in sub-Saharan Africa, led several of AAUW's signature initiatives, including its celebrated Fellowship program and trainings in salary negotiations, before becoming its President and CEO. She honors the women who came before her by engaging a new generation of girls in fighting stereotypes to excel in STEM, advocating for paid family leave, affordable childcare, and student loan forgiveness. She is supported by a community that includes 170,00 members, donors, and supporters. Like Gloria, they want all women to know their rights and their value.

If we over-rely on punishment and state violence we actually breed more crime in our communities Aug 15, 2022

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Words are powerful. Whether Patrice Sulton is telling the story of Washington DC's criminal justice system or drafting legislation to overhaul it, she uses hers to advance bold changes in its policing, courts, and jails. For years, as a criminal defense and civil rights attorney, Patrice saw first-hand what the data confirms: virtually all criminalized people in this city are poor, Black, and native Washingtonians. In 2020, she founded DC Justice Lab to reimagine failed systems through research, legislation and litigation tailored to this city's specific issues, including having among the worst jails in the nation. As Patrice explains, DC Justice Lab is laser-focused on DC-centric solutions. And she is equally committed to drafting bills in-house and not outsourcing this role to national organizations without deep community roots. Moving policy makers and city residents who see themselves as progressive to act on their stated values is an ongoing challenge. At DC Justice Lab, Patrice is building a movement for functional and equitable criminal justice systems so that we can start to heal the multi-generational impacts of over policing and incarceration.

I am so proud to able to create this safe space for our Two Spirit kids Aug 08, 2022

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Every great organization has a compelling origin story. In the case of Native American Youth and Family (NAYA) Center, parents and elders came together in the 1970s, concerned about the low graduation rate, only 24%, of Native students in the Portland, Oregon school system. Their organizing generated after-school programming and eventually, in 1994, led to the nonprofit incorporation of the NAYA Center, which now serves the entire community from infancy to elders. And the needs are profound, from housing to hunger, a legacy of broken treaties and the displacement of 381 tribes from their land starting in the late 1800s. Paul Lumley (Yakama), executive director of the Naya Center, is proud that its Many Nations Academy for 9th to 12th graders, embraces all students and supports them in seeing the value in themselves. Many of the students are homeless, some because they identity as Two Spirit, the indigenous term for LGBTQ, and have been rejected by their families. Paul's next step is to build a residential hall for homeless students, a welcoming gateway to defining the future of their dreams.

When you get tired you have to rest, not quit Aug 01, 2022

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What would your nonprofit be able to achieve with a law firm on its side? This question was tested when, in the wake of the 2016 presidential election, a small group of experienced litigators launched Democracy Forward, taking on the Trump administration's assaults on the voting, environmental, immigration, reproductive, and health care rights of low income and communities of color. They quickly mobilized a team of legal, communications and policy experts and partnered with nonprofits working on the frontlines of civil and human rights advocacy. Democracy Forward prevailed against attempts to undermine the Affordable Care Act, terminate Teen Pregnancy Prevention Programs, and halt illegal investigations of individual's voting histories. And since the election of President Biden in 2020, the drumbeat of right-wing antagonism towards democratic policies and institutions continues. Democracy Forward is expanding its staff and array of legal interventions, including deep engagement in the regulatory process, to meet the demand. President and CEO Skye Perryman starts every new project by listening to what community leaders have experienced and the solutions they seek. She and Democracy Forward are in this battle for democracy for the long haul.

Jeff Bezos wants to get to space and Elon Musk wants to build a colony on Mars; they do not care about this world Jul 25, 2022

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The seeds of America's subjugation of low income, indigenous, and people of color were planted at our founding. Ever since, public leaders have codified policies that strip these communities of wealth and power. It has taken social movements, including bold nonprofits, to demand equal rights and structural change. This divisive moment in history calls for collective action rooted in 21st century strategies. Media Justice, led by exceptional change maker Steven Renderos is laser focused on democratizing our media and technology sectors, largely unregulated industries with outsized influence on our culture and politics. News outlets and tech companies are willing purveyors of racist and misogynistic tropes that spill over into policy making. Media Justice believes there is a pathway to shaping the material conditions of people of color only when communities tell their own stories, with depth and nuance, and tech companies are held accountable for the disinformation they amplify. We have experienced, in the actions of January 6, the consequences of disinformation that cultivates violence and disrupts democracy. Media Justice and its network of grassroots organizations are telling authentic stories, and we all need to listen.

There is a pattern and practice of scapegoating Asian Americans when America feels threatened Jul 18, 2022

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If you are despairing about the rise of racial hatred and the anti-democratic direction this country is embracing, consider what it takes to build a more just future. For marginalized communities, nonprofit organizations are essential to becoming visible, attaining legal rights, and exercising electoral clout. Asian Americans Advancing Justice Southern California exemplifies how organizational expertise, vision, and infrastructure make systemic change achievable. Led brilliantly by Connie Chung Joe, AAAJ SoCal was founded by civil rights titan Stewart Kwoh following the 1983 murder of Chinese American autoworker Vincent Chin by aggrieved white co-workers. Since then, it has evolved into the nation's largest legal aid and civil rights organization serving Asian Americans. A conversation with Connie Chung Joe is a masterclass in how to implement a multi-layered strategy. The agenda includes direct services to community members facing eviction, bystander intervention training in response to rising hate crimes, advocating to end transfers from prison to deportation by ICE and expanding accreditation of Asian American teachers. Connie grounds her leadership in a deep commitment to racial equity for all communities of color. In the majority minority state of California, she is fortifying a new playing field.

NOW places marginalized women at the center of our policy solutions and advocacy Jul 11, 2022

Show notes

Since its founding in 1966, the National Organization for Women has been on the frontlines of dismantling both sexism and racism. Its founders, including Betty Friedan, Shirley Chisolm and Pauli Murray saw these systems of oppression as inextricably linked, fortified by policies enacted to marginalize women, particularly Black women, and other people of color. NOW's president, the immensely talented Christian Nunes is leading in another tumultuous time in America. And she is taking an intersectional, rather than a siloed approach, to meeting historical threats to bodily autonomy, mental health, and economic independence. Intersectionality, a term coined by legal scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw, describes a framework for understanding how overlapping forms of oppression codify injustice. NOW's organizational structure includes its 501c3, a 501c4, a political action committee and hundreds of grassroots chapters in 35 states. All are at the heart of fortifying the rights of women and girls to reproductive and LGBTQ rights, constitutional equality, and racial and economic justice. Christian is unbowed and highly motivated in the wake of the Supreme Court's dissolution of reproductive rights. She asks us to bring our passions and skills to this pivotal moment.

Rising to the yell is not the answer Jul 04, 2022

Show notes

We are reminded daily, in every scroll through social media, disputed election, tense family function and divisive school board meeting that America is a fractured nation. The polarization is so extreme that increasing numbers of our public leaders no longer identify democracy as a core value. In this episode of Power Station, we learn how the humanities (the arts, history, and philosophy) can be instrumental in creating a safe space for challenging conversations. Adam Davis, executive director of Oregon Humanities, describes what happens when people come together with a common purpose, leaving titles, biases, and egos behind. Oregon Humanities, one of 56 councils launched in 1971 by the National Endowment for the Humanities, uses poems, visuals, and stories to prompt non-combative dialogue. They train nonprofit leaders how to facilitate discussions that build bonds among people with disparate views and lived experience. Oregon Humanities is generating measurable impacts, most importantly a sense of agency among those who engage in these events. And the movement is growing, a hopeful sign for bridging gaps in a tenuous democracy.

I never imagined myself going to college; I am an immigrant and I am undocumented Jun 27, 2022

Show notes

Why are farmworkers, who provide our food security system, so marginalized by the nation they feed? They work in conditions that are unlawful in other sectors and have skills that American born workers lack. On this episode of Power Station, we hear from two guests who know that farmworker parents want more for their children. This aspiration is made possible by scores of migrant Head Start centers serving the educational, safety and emotional needs of farmworker children from 3 months to 5 years old. Cleofas Rodriguez, a son of immigrants who worked in cotton fields, leads the National Migrant and Seasonal Head Start Association, and created its unparalleled internship program. He advocates for these centers to be fully funded, for passage of the Farm Workforce Modernization Act and is a passionate champion of farmworker children. His belief in them is validated by, among others, Jose Castellano, the son of a single farmworker mom who struggled until a Head Start center changed their lives. Jose now attends Tufts University. And he is a proud NMHSA intern, standing up for his community and telling his story on Power Station.

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