The New Year is Here and it’s time to Make Your Resolution to get actively involved in the work of Philly Neighborhood Networks. If you’re not sure how, this newsletter will give you lots of clues on what you can do. Read on to see some great news about our effort to create a Public Bank for our City, and how, together, we can make the Bank a real thing. A few weeks from now, we’ll be conducting our first Environmental Action Forum, so let us know you’ll be there. If you’re looking for something worthy to do on MLK Day, check out the Facebook Live event on Raising the Minimum Wage. If you weren’t able to make our All-Hands meeting, then you’ll find select clips from it below from Kendra Brooks and Larry Krasner.
Let’s Tell City Council: We Want a Public Bank!
After years of hard work, we are proud to announce that on Jan. 28th Councilman Derek Green will introduce legislation to create a Philadelphia Public Bank!
But, we need your help to push this bill over the finish line. Our first job is to get all the other Council Members to sign on as co-sponsors for the bill. So, we are going to use a Social Media Storm to get the attention of the other members of City Council, and to tell them why they should lend their names to this great legislation. We need their signatures by Jan 26th, so we have about a week to get them on board.
Here’s how we’re going to do it –
On Tuesday, Jan 19th, at 5PM, we are going to conduct a Public Bank Advocacy Training. Sign up to learn more about how you can play a part in making this Public Bank a reality!
We’ll send you the toolkit on Tuesday morning for our Advocacy Workshop
If the City owned its own bank to hold and invest its own money, it would be a game changer: the City and School District could borrow infrastructure funds at low rates, underserved black and brown communities could get out from under the plague of redlining, every aspect of the Green New Deal could get financing, and many other public interests could get a major boost. So, sign up to take part in this workshop.
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All-Hands Meeting Recap and Videos
Thanks to everyone who attended our All-Hands Virtual Members Meeting on Saturday. More than 150 members watched as Kendra Brooks and Larry Krasner recounted their experience as first-time elected officials, the challenges faced, and what they plan to take on in 2021.
Attendees also heard our Organizing Plan for 2021, work that includes our Division Captain program and our Action Committees which will be tackling economic justice, education, the environment, healthcare, housing and racial justice issues.
Now is the time that people make a resolution for the New Year. If you’re reading this, then we both know that you have an interest in this work. So take a moment to click the link. and make a commitment to doing something in your community with PNN. We’ll get you plugged into our workshops and actively engaged in making positive change.
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MLK Day Action to Raise the Minimum Wage
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. fought tirelessly for the rights of workers — honor him this MLK Day by doing the same. At 11AM, join the Facebook Live event press conference with Senator Art Haywood, POWER and other community partners, to demand an end to preemption by state lawmakers on our City’s Minimum Wage laws.
Pennsylvania is the only state in our area that has not raised the minimum wage. In 2021, the minimum wage went up to $12 in New Jersey, $12.50 in New York, $9.25 in Delaware, and $11.75 in Maryland, but no change to the $7.25 here.
Preemption prevents local PA municipalities from setting their own minimum wage! This event will be followed immediately by phone banking to local lawmakers.
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Join Our Environmental Action Forum, Feb 6th @ 4PM
Please join us for the 2021 Environmental Action Forum. We’ll have a great speaker providing an overview of environmental actions needed in Philadelphia. There will be opportunities to talk in groups about action-ready projects that could make a real difference, and explore how you can become involved, individually or working with other like-minded people in working groups.
You’ll receive the Zoom link and updates about the Forum!
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This Week in History
Jan. 15, 1929 – MLK, Jr Born. Martin Luther King, Jr. was born in Atlanta, GA on this day. His contributions to Civil Rights and human rights are the reason he has a national holiday named after him. That holiday is celebrated on Monday, so be sure to find something to do to commemorate the day.
Jan. 16, 1919 – Prohibition is Ratified. The 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, prohibiting the “manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors for beverage purposes,” was ratified.
Jan. 20, 1981 – Hostage Crisis Ends. Minutes after Ronald Reagan’s inauguration as the 40th president of the United States, the 52 U.S. captives held at the U.S. embassy in Teheran, Iran, are released, ending the 444-day stand-off.
Thanks for your activism!
Tim Brown, Organizing Director
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