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: Spring Shredding Events, Join Our Summer Activism
Educate: G'town Grandmother's Learning Circle, Tell State Reps to Help Students in Need
Empower: Music Fest at CHW Train Stations, "What If This Was Your Mother?"
What Are You Doing This Summer?
Sign Up to Buddy Canvass, Help with Events, Postcard & More!
This summer, we plan to do immersive community work in often-neglected neighborhoods with the goals of earning their trust and working with local leaders to build organizing capacity.
We believe this will help us increase voter turnout for the November election, as well as establish a working team of community activists - a mixture of current PNN members and new folks we hope to recruit to our work - to take on the very real, very local issues that can lead to a better quality of life for everyone.
If you'd like to get involved in the planning and implementation of our summer community work, then click the link below. (Thanks to all of you who already have signed up!)
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
"What If This Was Your Mother?" Event
Tuesday, May 14th, 11:30AM, City Hall North Apron
Brith Sholom, an affordable senior housing complex and former Philadelphia Tenants Union project, is at risk of being shut down very soon and many people have been working diligently with the tenants to avoid such a nightmare.
So, next Tuesday, we'll be joining DSA and the Philly Tenants Union to rally at City Hall to keep Brith Sholom open. If you can, please join us, or you can help with outreach and community support.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Spring Shredding Events
Both events are open to the general public. There will also be an opportunity to discuss state government-related requests or concerns with state officials. Papers only, not liquids, binders or staples.
Saturday, May 11th, 9AM-11AM, 6434 Castor Ave.
If you've collected a pile of documents that you need to securely dispose of, then you can do so this Saturday at the city's Northeast Services Hub located at 6434 Castor Ave.
Saturday, May 18th, 8AM-12PM, 7115 Stenton Ave.
If you've collected a pile of documents that you need to securely dispose of, then you can do so on Saturday, May 18th at the West Oak Lane Charter School located at 7115 Stenton Ave.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Tell State House to Vote "YES" on HB 2063
We believe that every child in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is entitled to a quality education.
HB 2063 guarantees that at least 90% of taxpayer contributions will fund actual scholarships for PA students who live at less than 200% of the Federal Poverty level. We must ensure that taxpayer-funded scholarships are properly allocated and well accounted for. You can read more about these tax credits, and what the bill would accomplish in this recent editorial in The Keystone.
Show your state representatives how much education matters to you, tell them to...
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Music Fest on the Chestnut Hill West Stations
Thursday, May 16th, Starting at 5 PM at Chelten Station
Join the Save the Train Coalition in this multi-station concert to support the ongoing efforts to get more funding in this year’s budget from the State Legislature to save the CHW Septa Line.
The Music Fest will feature local musicians at various train stations and you can hop on the train with them between sets:
Chelten Station 5PM - meet for a set by Dani Hawkins, a local cellist, then hop on the train to…
Tulpehocken Station 5:30PM - Midnight on the Water, then hop on to…
Carpenter Station 6:20PM - Koof and friends will be joined by all the musicians for the biggest set of all.
Have some fun to support your advocacy. The concerts will be in the parking lots of each station. Feel free to bring food and drinks for a post concert picnic. Rain date May 21.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
G'town Grandmother's Learning Circle
Thursday, May 23rd, 6PM-8:30PM, Virtual
Interested in education? Join Grandmother Collective for a workshop to learn tools you can use to make a positive impact in our community. They'll explore the unique roles of elders and talk about the ways these roles can help us drive local change in Philly's neighborhood schools and educational institutions. Come to meet your fellow elders on Zoom to learn how to create change and discover untapped potential. The community already has the answers.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Financing Philly's Future Redux
If you missed our last episode of Financing Philly's Future, you can click the link below to watch the 30-minute program. This time, we spoke with Geeta Minocha, a Public Banking Institute board member who focuses on the development and implementation of national initiatives that advance the notion of "democratized money" through public banking.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Did You Know? Expanded Overtime Pay!
Under President Biden's administration, a rule was introduced to increase the salary cutoff for overtime pay eligibility to $55,000, up from $35,568. This change is expected to make an additional 3.6 million workers eligible for time-and-a-half overtime pay. This policy aimed at boosting workers' wages demonstrates the commitment that President Biden has for working Americans.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
This Week in History
May 13, 1985 – MOVE Raid. Philadelphia Police evacuated Osage Ave. in preparation for a raid against MOVE HQ that ended up burning down the entire block and leaving 11 people dead.
May 17, 1954 – Brown v. Board of Ed. In a major civil rights victory, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down an unanimous decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, ruling that racial segregation in public educational facilities is unconstitutional.
Thanks for your activism!
Tim Brown, Organizing Director