“Citizen Legislative Advocacy in Minority Communities” Professional Fellows from Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, and Slovakia in the USA October 1 - November 10, 2012 EUROPEAN FELLOWS PARTICIPATION IN DIRECT ACTIONS 16 European fellows spent six weeks in the U.S. to learn different community organizing methods in engaging citizens as active participants in solving problems in their own communities. They also ex-
plored how to build power and leadership in minority communities that can contribute to positive changes in legislation that make a difference in their community. They gained hands-on experience at civil society
institutions and participated in their daily activities. This report with highlights from the European fellows focuses on their participation in direct actions across the U.S.
DIRECT ACTION IN QUAIL HOLLOW STATE PARK, HARTVILLE, OHIO The event included a hike in the park where a biologist explained the flora and the habitat found there. Afterwards, the walk was
Vlad Catuna: “On October 21st, Sunday morning, along with Gwen Fischer, from Concerned Citizens of Ohio I attended a rally that took place in Quail Hollow State Park located in Hartville, Ohio. Around 50 people participated at the event with the purpose to protest Park. Quail Hollow Park is to be the first State Park in Ohio where companies would start the drilling process.
against the legislation that would permit the lease of the land and would give companies the right to start the fracking process in the
followed by a discussion forum, where organization members from Buckeye Forest Council, Ohio Environmental Council, Sierra Club of Ohio and Mohican Advocates talked about their concerns, regarding the legislation and the fact that the public, that actually owns the park, has nothing to say in the process.”
More information about this direct action at www.ecowatch.org/2012/fracking-state-parks/
*/ Sponsored by the U.S. State Department Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs Organized by the Great Lakes Consortium for International Training and Development with WSOS Community Action Commission, Inc. – Contract Agent and Manager Website: http://www.glc-teachdemocracy.org/ Facebook: GLC_Teach Democracy Contact: glc_teachdemocracy@hotmail.com
DIRECT ACTION IN TOLEDO, OHIO Zsolt Peter Fugg: “On October 13, Saturday I participated in two different actions, both in the morning hours.
At 10:00 AM, I took part in the Nuns on the bus campaign at the Assumption Outreach Center (219 Page Street, Toledo, OH). The campaign was trying to put pressure on the presidential candidates not to make budget cuts that affect poor people, while shielding the
wealthiest. They have an alternative budget put together by Christian, Jewish, Muslim and other faith communities and organizations. And there I am on the street (photo to the right) with Karen Krause and Peter Ujvagi.”
DIRECT ACTION IN SYLVANIA, OHIO “One hour later, at 11:00 AM I participated in the rally to keep public transportation in Sylvania Township conducted on a parking lot in Sylvania Township. The aim of the rally was to persuade people to vote NO on Issue #15, in other words, to vote in support of spend-
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ing property tax on public transportation (TARTA, TARPS, and TARTA Call-A-Ride). Some of the elected representatives from Lucas County were there, along with many people with disabilities and local business owners, who are all affected by this issue.”
“Citizen Legislative Advocacy in Minority Communities”
DIRECT ACTIONS IN CHICAGO, ILLINOIS Monika Bandurova: “On October 12, Radu Raileanu and I took part in the “Chicago Housing Initiative” rally that was held in front of the City of Chicago Mayor office.
still collects federal founding on houses that have been demolished. The aim of the campaign was to raise community voice on spending federal money on affordable houses that were already demolished or are vacant. Mary Nelson from Marah's Place and LAC are holding
Mayor Emanuel accountable for the thousands of units of vacant public housing.”
Lakeview Action Coalition (LAC) with other organizations based on the available data discovered that (Chicago Housing Agency (CHA)
Lakeview Action Coalition leaders dropped off the Progress report card
“On October 23 we participated in the Chicago Temple in a campaign “Stable Jobs, Stable Airport” organized by LAC and UNITE HERE in support of O’Hare and Midway airport workers to protect their jobs.
Members of the Aviation Committee convened a community forum with religious leaders and hundreds of airport workers to press the City of Chicago to adopt measures to protect hundreds of jobs in Chicago airports. In the coming months more than 1,500 airport workers could be thrown out of work or see their wages cut as the City undertakes a massive redevelopment at these airports Following the forum, we marched with workers and city leaders to the Chicago City Hall for an action to press leaders to protect airport jobs. More than a year ago, city leaders introduced the “Stable Jobs, Stable
Professional Fellows program in the U.S. (October 1 - November 10, 2012)
Communities” ordinance which would ensure a smooth transition and a living wage for airport workers. Such measures have been adopted in other major cities nationwide, but Chicago, thus far, has failed to implement such measures.
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DIRECT ACTIONS IN NEWBURGH, NEW YORK
“On October 21, Sunday, I participated in the Statewide Meeting organized by Community Voices Heard (CHV) in Newburgh, NY.
leaders, increasing understanding on the different issues they are working on in their communities and building a sense of solidarity among the 4 chapters.
The meeting reunited all the 4 chapters of CVH, namely NY, Newburgh, Yonkers and Poughkeepsie through various community leaders. The meeting aimed at facilitating interaction between community
At the end of the meeting, a common direct action planned by the Newburgh leaders took place in the form of a Protest March in order to raise awareness on the housing conditions the Newburgh community members are struggling
Andreea Buzec:
with (high rent, bed bugs, mice, mold, leaks, etc) and the constant struggle for responsibility and accountability for the owners.
I was deeply impressed by the solidarity and support that members from different chapters expressed for each other and, also, by their capacity to mobilize and take action: numbers, carefully planned steps, itinerary and speech, songs were all decided under consensus.”
PREPARATION FOR A DIRECT ACTION IN NEW YORK Balint Vojtonovszki: “On October 23, Andreea Buzec and I met Melissa Mark-Viverito, the Member of the New York City Council at a meeting of Community Voices Heard (CVH) - our host organization. The meeting was about informing the Council Member about the Housing Campaigns and plans of CVH, as well as to exchange ideas about next steps. The meeting was facilitated and mostly run by CVH members, who live in local public housing themselves. We are in the middle on this photo along with activists of CVH and Mr. Kflu Kflu, the organizers with Councilwoman Melissa MarkViverito.
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“Citizen Legislative Advocacy in Minority Communities”
DIRECT ACTION IN WICHITA, KANSAS
“On October 18, Thursday, Milena Kacmarcikova and I participated in a KanVote Action to protest at the Sedgwick County Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). Sunflowers Community Action supports this initiative, so we could participate in
this action. This protest is an attempt to stop disenfranchising voters. In Kansas you need a driver license to vote. If you don't have one, the state offers an alternative of getting a free voter I.D. card. With this KanVote action people protested against voter I.D. re-
quirement at the DMV, and how those processed because many people have not received their voter registration card, and the process can take a very long time. KanVote will contact the Secretary of State office again, to see if all the DMV people are properly trained.”
economically, politically, and socially from immigration. Recognizing what immigrants give to this country is one step closer to accepting diversity.”
“We joined in the campaign “I am Kansas” that the Sunflower Community Action organization is involved in. This is a statewide organizing initiative to combat racism
and increase cultural acceptance. The I am Kansas project seeks to help Kansans to understand how immigrants positively contribute to their state. We visited Ulysses to make a presentation on the campaign to the local Mexican community. We were involved in distributing informational materials and questionnaires of the participants in this event. During this meeting, I realized how important it is to believe in yourself, in your rights and fight for them, because it is the foundation of freedom. The country benefits
Kaloyan Damyanov:
The event was hosted by the Wichita West High School and organized Pioneers for Peace and Justice and Students United. It took place at the Keeper of the Plains near the Mid-American All Indian Center in Wichita, Kansas.
“This Sunday, on October 21, we participated in the Rally asking elected officials to support the passage of the “DREAM Act”.
The students said they were hoping to help friends they have grown up with who were brought to the United States illegally.” More information about these actions: www.sunfloweract.org/
Professional Fellows program in the U.S. (October 1 - November 10, 2012)
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DIRECT ACTIONS IN SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS Nicu Dumitru: “On October 24, Henriett Dinok and I participated in “STOP PERSECUTING PEOPLE IN POVERTY" rally hosted by the Homeless
United for Change (HUC) and Illinois People Action with homeless people.
The homeless community is being banned for panhandling in more and more areas of Springfield. However, the Police only fine homeless people holding a sign. They think they are being discriminated against on a poverty basis.
against the City decisions regarding panhandling.
The Police say that the panhandling is bringing a bad image on the city of Springfield. This is why the local Church, homeless people participated in the rally to protest
DIRECT ACTIONS IN NORMAL, ILLINOIS “On Tuesday, October 30 from 12:00 Noon we participated in the fight against fracking in McLean County. “Ban Fracking Zombie” direct action in Normal was connected to Halloween, and we had some fun at this event as we were dressed up like zombies, to highlight the dangers of drinking nasty contaminated fracking water.
“You can't drink money!” Anti Fracking Campaign at ISU campus, IL” Page 6
Supporters and community leaders got together one hour before the action to bet “zombified” with appropriate make-up provided by the organizers.”
More information: www.illinoispeoplesaction.org/
“Citizen Legislative Advocacy in Minority Communities”
DIRECT ACTIONS IN LEWISTON, MAINE Nedka Taneva and Krisztina H. Molnar: “We participated in Fair Share Economy Campaign. The campaign is against Republican controlled state legislator who has passed some of the most damaging legislation in Maine history: health care rate hikes for small businesses in rural areas, tax cuts for the wealthy broken promises to the state worker retirement system, and tens of thousands of lowincome Mainers denied the health care they need and the fact that
they have attempted to gut environmental regulations, go backwards on issues important to women and strip away voting rights.
amounts of money to spend against the interests of middle class, but united the people can win.�
This campaign is about making sure that the right leaders are elected and sent as State Representatives for Main to fight for a Fair Share Economy. They wealthy and large corporation have huge
DIRECT ACTIONS IN TOLEDO, OHIO On Friday, October 5 the 16 professional fellows accompanied Ramon Perez, community organizer of One Village Council to learn about the issues at the Greenbelt Place Apartments in Toledo. Residents have complained about the unacceptable conditions (infestations of cockroaches, bedbugs, and mice, unlocked exterior doors, missing fire extinguishers) and demands by management for rent that's been paid. They claimed management has been unresponsive to their concerns and they were upset that the management of the building also getting federal support for providing housing to low-income people. They followed resident Simmie Lassiter and Ramon Perez when they went to Congresswoman Kaptur's office to request assistance in looking into this issue at the HUD on the federal level.
Simmie Lassiter and Ramon Perez with our delegation in Toledo
Professional Fellows program in the U.S. (October 1 - November 10, 2012)
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SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR U.S. MENTORS WHO HOSTED OUR FELLOWS AT THE FOLLOWING ORGANIZATIONS ACROSS THE U.S.:
Balint Vojtonovszki and Andreea Buzec (New York) - Community Voices Heard, New York Monika Bandurova and Radu Raileanu (Illinois) - Lakeview Action Coalition, Chicago Henriett Dinok and Nicu Dumitru (Illinois) - Illinois People’s Action, Bloomington Jolana Natherova and Marcela Beresova (West Virginia) - Step by Step, Charleston Anda Lupusor and Mihaela Grigoriu (Oregon & Washington) - Sisters of the Road, Portland - Bread & Roses, Olympia Nedka Taneva and Krisztina Molnar (Maine) - Maine People’s Alliance, Portland & Lewiston Kaloyan Damyanov and Milena Kacmarcikova (Kansas) - Sunflower Community Action, Wichita Vlad Catuna (Ohio) - NEOGAP, Lake County - Concerned Citizens of Ohio, Portage County - Ohio Environmental Council in Columbus Zsolt Peter Fugg (Ohio & Michigan) - One Village Council, Toledo - Harriet Tubman Center in Detroit and ACCESS, Dearborn
GREAT LAKES CONSORTIUM for International Training and Development (GLC) — GLC is a collaborative effort of the Bowling Green State University, Lourdes University, The University of Toledo, and WSOS Community Action Commission, Inc - Contract Agent and Manager. Established in 1999. Dr. Elizabeth Balint, Project Manager Barbara Dennis, Viktoriya Maryamova, Program Coordinators GLC Toledo Office: P.O. Box 352424, Toledo, OH 43635, Phone: 419-725-0440, Cell: 419-973-8007 Email: GLC_teachdemocracy@hotmail.com Website: www.GLC-Teachdemocracy.org www.gl-consortium.org Page 8
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