PNN’s mission is to engage, educate and empower our neighbors to make our City a better place to live. Here’s what’s coming up in each of these areas:
Engage: Budget Hearing, Canvass Opportunities for Primary
Educate: Our Primary Endorsements
Empower: Media Blitz the Governor, Direct Action Training
Join Our Media Blitz of PA Leadership on Act 40!
Tuesday, April 16th, 6:30PM, Virtual
Thursday evening activists from the Coalition to Defend Democracy delivered a petition to the State Attorney General's office to protest the implementation of Act 40. That law nullifies the votes and voices of black and brown residents of Philadelphia. While this made a clear moral statement, the truth is that politicians don't often pay attention to protests unless we do something that lands right in the middle of their path.
So, that's what we're going to do on April 16th, starting @ 6:30PM. We’ll provide training and then we're going to blitz the phones, emails and social media of Governor Shapiro, Speaker Joanna McClinton, and Acting State's Attorney General Michelle Henry so they get our message loud and clear.
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Mail-In Ballots are Arriving Now!
Check Out Our PNN Primary Endorsements
The City Commissioners have begun to send out mail-in ballots to everyone who asked for one. Check out PNN's endorsements and recommendations as you complete your mail-in ballot. Click here for more information on the reasons for our endorsements.
Our Endorsements for Federal & Statewide Offices
President: JOE BIDEN
US Senate: BOB CASEY
PA Attorney General: EUGENE DePASQUALE
PA Auditor General: MALCOLM KENYATTA
PA Treasurer: RYAN BIZZARO
PA Legislators
Senate District 1: NIKIL SAVAL
District 10: CASS GREEN
District 181: MALCOLM KENYATTA
District 182: BEN WAXMAN
District 184: ELIZABETH FIEDLER
District 188: RICK KRAJEWSKI
District 200: CHRIS RABB
District 201: ANDRE CARROLL
For Vote by Mail: Deadline to apply for a mail-in ballot is April 16, by 5 PM. Apply online at pavoterservices.pa.gov. Your completed ballot must be received (not postmarked) by April 23, at 8 PM. Drop boxes available at City Hall, Room 142 (1400 JFK Blvd), Dorothy Emmanuel Rec Center (8500 Pickering Street), and Pleasant Playground (305 Slocum St.)
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Canvassing Opportunities for the Primary Election
As the PA Primary election is just around the corner, here are some canvassing opportunities:
Sunday Canvasses, 11 AM at Lovett Library - PNN will be partnering with the Ward 22 Open Caucus to target certain divisions in Mt. Airy. We will be canvassing for our diverse slate of endorsed candidates which include important state wide offices such as Attorney General, Auditor General, and Treasurer. We have canvass dates for April 7th, 14th and 21st.
April 14 and 20 Canvassing for Cass Green - Cass is in a very competitive race for PA House District 10 located in West Philly. She needs all the help she can get. Come out for a few hours so that PA 10 can get the progressive legislator that they deserve!
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Non-Violent Direct Action Training
Five-Week Course, starts Monday, April 8th, 7PM-8:30PM
Our friends at March on Harrisburg have led more than 40 non-violent direct actions over the last seven years to advance pro-democracy, anti-corruption bills.
Starting on Monday, they will lead a five-week course on nonviolent direct action. The remaining sessions will take place on Mondays from 7:00 - 8:30pm on 4/15, 4/29, 5/6, 5/13 (we will skip 4/22). Participants will study and practice the core tactic of nonviolent direct action.
Nonviolence is the art of forcing the encounter between we the people and our government, and insisting that they serve us instead of the idolatrous urges of concentrated greed and power. If you would like to participate, please click on the link below.
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Council Budget Hearing: Let's Fill the Room!
Wednesday, April 24th, 1:30PM-4PM, City Hall, 4th Floor
City Hall is currently deciding on the city's budget. As you know, a budget is a moral document and it needs to reflect the priorities of our communities, families, and all Philadelphians.
So join PNN and our allies on April 24 from 1:30-4pm to pack City Council chambers and call for a People's Budget. We need our elected officials to make a choice: will they invest in our demands for the common good of all Philadelphians?
This is the first time budget public testimony will be in person in years. With a new Council and Mayor, join us to fill Council Chambers to the rafters and make our voices heard! Click the link below to let us know you'll be in attendance.
If you would like to be part of the team that will present public testimony in this hearing, then click the link below and check the box. If you want it, we'll help get you ready to testify.
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Black Wealth Grows Under Biden Administration
Did you know that black business ownership during the Biden Administration is growing at the fastest pace in 30 years, and the share of black households owning a business has doubled since he took office? As a result, black wealth is up a record 60% from before the pandemic and black unemployment has reached historic lows.
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This Week in History
April 5, 1933 – FDR Creates CCC. President Roosevelt established the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), an innovative federally funded organization that put tens of thousands of Americans to work during the Great Depression on projects with environmental benefits.
April 8, 1993 – Latina in Space.Astronaut Ellen Ochoa became the first Latina in space when the shuttle Discovery lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center.
April 9, 1947 – First Freedom Ride. The Congress of Racial Equality sent 16 Black and white activists on a bus ride through the American South to test a recent Supreme Court decision striking down segregation on interstate bus travel. The so-called Journey of Reconciliation, which lasted two weeks, was an important precursor to the Freedom Rides of the 1960s.
Tim Brown, Organizing Director
Thanks for your activism!