Have some time to help us with a data entry project? Email Tim@phillynn.org
This week we begin our planning for the upcoming Primary Election and talk about our strategy and tactics; a number of our Action Committees and Working Groups are meeting to decide which issues we’ll be taking on; we’ll be joining our allies for a march in support of PILOTS at the end of the month; and don’t miss the Budget Teach-in on Taxing the Rich. We’re also happy to announce that our resident poet Susan Windle has just released her second book of poems.
Join Our Election Planning
Will You Walk a Mile for Larry Krasner? Join us on Saturday, March 20th at 1PM for an update on all the important work we have underway this year to advance the cause of justice.
We’ll start off by catching you up on the progress of our Action Committees and our Division Captain program.
Then we’ll talk about the Primary. We’ll lay out the political landscape and the path to victory for our endorsed and recommended candidates, in particular Larry Krasner for District Attorney (thanks to everyone who helped us gather petitions!).
Then we’ll map out the strategies and tactics we’ll use, the metrics to measure our progress, the tools we’ll have available to us. See you tomorrow at 1PM!
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How We Fund Our Communities: Budget Teach-in March 24 @ 6 PM
How does the city budget work? How does it affect your community? What percent of the budget goes towards public services and what percentage goes to the police? Join an educational meeting and discussion focused on budget basics and how to make the rich in Philadelphia pay their fair share. Join us to attend this Budget Teach-In on Wednesday, March 24, 6-7:30 PM, Live on Zoom!
The teach-in will include a crash-course on the budget and progressive revenue models, stories from community advocates, and breakout rooms where we can discuss collective advocacy efforts.
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Join an Action Committee or Working Group Action
Committees meet to discuss the broad range of issues we should work on within a variety of categories, and our Working Groups develop specific campaigns to take on and develop plans. Take this opportunity to join any of our Action Committees and Working Groups as we begin to decide our work for the year.
Here are our scheduled meetings:
:: Waste Working Group Meeting, Sun, March 21st, 4PM
We’ll be looking for ways to reduce and dispose of waste in our City; we’ll talk about recycling and the BYOBag Bill and how to challenge the state legislature to have the right to make decisions within our borders. Get the Link
:: Healthcare Action Committee Meeting, Wed, March 24th, 7PM
Dr. Walter Tsou, the Chair of the Healthcare Action Committee will catch us up on the work he’s been doing. He’ll give us a hot take on an important healthcare bill in Congress, and a short presentation on “Healthcare as a Public Good”. We’ll also talk about a variety of healthcare issues. Get the Link
:: Energy Working Group Meeting, Sat, March 27th, 4PM
Discussion of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), next steps on fracking and protecting our waterways, renewables and community solar will be on our agenda, along with other energy initiatives. Get the Link
:: Environmental Outreach Working Group, Thurs, April 1st, 7PM
Come join our discussion on how to use community outreach to promote good environmental behavior from each of us and what that might mean as a collective action. We’ll also talk about how to encourage our younger members to engage in community work. Get the Link
:: Economic Justice Action Committee, Thurs, April 15th, 7PM
We had some good conversation in our last meeting, including how to promote an Impact Fee, extend paid sick leave for workers and Public Banking, among others. Join us as we continue our discussion and hone in on actions we can take. Get the Link
Isn’t it Time You Joined an Action Committee?
Join an Action Committee for Economic Justice, Education, the Environment, Healthcare, Housing and Electoral Politics. To get started, email Tim@phillynn.org
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Join a March For PILOTs, March 30th @ 4:30PM
Some of wealthiest institutions in our city still aren’t paying their fair share of taxes; instead, our students are paying the price! Join our allies Jobs With Justice With Justice and OCOS at 4:30PM at 3800 Walnut St. for a socially-protocoled march right through the heart of two of the biggest offenders – Penn & Drexel.
Parents, educators, students, and activists and organizers across Philadelphia are calling for these wealthy nonprofits to contribute 40% of the property taxes through Payments In Lieu of Taxes (PILOTs) they don’t pay to the School District for safe and healthy facilities.
Penn & Drexel use their non-profit status to fund multi-million dollars construction projects, while our City faces a budget crisis that ends up with public schools having to do without libraries, rec. centers and other critical resources.
Our students could thrive in a properly-resourced educational environment, but they’re going to need the funds to do this. It’s time for these educational giants to build the next generation of our country’s leaders and innovators by paying their fair share of taxes.
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Check Out the New Book by One of Our Members!
PNN Steering Committee member and poet Susan Windle announces publication of her book Through the Gates: The Second Omer Journey. The volume follows the first in her series, Through the Gates: A Practice for Counting the Omer, a book of letters and poems that guide the readerthrough forty-nine days of the spring calendar, the seven weeks between the Jewish festivals of Passover and Shavuot.
Both books are deeply spiritual and deeply political. They are for Jews and non-Jews alike, for the religiously oriented and for the secularly leaning, for anyone who enjoys poetry and a bit of quiet time to receive the gifts of each day, each hour, in which they find themselves alive and growing.
In the new book Susan is walking through her life in Northwest Philadelphia in the year 2017. PNN played an important role in Susan’s life that year, as it does now, and so shows up in the pages, along with some of the poems Susan has offered at PNN events. On April 10 at 4 PM, Susan will honor Philly Neighborhood Networks in the second of two on-line book launch events and hopes to see many of you there! Please register here, if you can make it.
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This Week in History
Mar. 19, 2003 – U.S. Invades Iraq. On this day, G.W. Bush declared a war on Iraq by a “Coalition of the Willing” on the charge that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction and was working with those behind 9/11 attacks.
Mar. 20, 1852 – Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Harriet Beecher Stowe’s anti-slavery novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, was published. The novel was so widely read that when President Abraham Lincoln met Stowe in 1862, he reportedly said, “So this is the little lady who made this big war.”
Mar. 24, 1989 – Exxon Valdez. On this day, Exxon’s oil tanker ran aground off Prince William Sound in Alaska, dumping 11 million gallons of oil along 700 miles of coastline.
Mar. 25, 1911 – Triangle Shirtwaist Fire. In one of the darkest moments of America’s industrial history, this clothing factory in New York City burned down, killing 146 workers who were locked inside. The tragedy led to the development of a series of laws and regulations that better protected the safety of workers.
Thanks for your activism!
Tim Brown, Organizing Director