Latest News:
New Date for Portland Regional!
See Below!
Meeting
Calendar
Let us know if you
host a
gathering by emailing us at afd@thealliancefordemocracy.org
Tuesday, Oct.
6, Blue Hill, ME
Blue Hill Public Library
7:00 pm
AfD
national council member Bonnie Preston hosts panel on water with
Emily Posner, Defending Water for Life in Maine on bottled water; Sarah
Bigney of Maine Fair Trade Campaign on trade and water; Antonio Blasi,
a member of Maine Water Allies, active in eastern Hancock County, on
ground water; and Nancye Files, of Alliance for Democracy Downeast
Wedesday, Oct. 21, Sacramento, CA
The Crest Theater, 5:30 and 8:00 p.m.
AfD
Defending Water for Life Campaign hosts with other co-sponsors the
movie “Tapped” on bottled water. View trailer and Ruth Caplan here.
Nestlé is coming to Sacramento and we’re fighting back!
Saturday, Nov. 7 (New Date!), Portland, OR
First Unitarian Church
SW 12 and Salmon
Time 1 p.m.
Presenters include Nancy Matela on water privatization, Cascade
Locks and Nestlé; Barbara Dudley on the economic crisis, and Margaret Butler of Jobs with Justice on single payer health care. Elections and politics will feature public interest lawyer Dan Meek on Citizens United v. FEC and Janice Thompson of Common Cause on the upcoming vote on Portland's Voter-Owned Elections. Co-sponsor: Economic Justice Action Group, 1st UU Church. More info from David Delk, or at the Portland chapter website.
7:00 p.m., First Unitarian Church
Tapped, documentary exposing the environmental, social and health harms done by the bottled water industry. Doors open at 6:30.
Convention is free. Donations accepted for Tapped; no one turned away if they can't donate.
Sunday, Nov. 8
Concord, Massachusetts
Boston/Cambridge
Alliance and North Bridge Alliance potluck focuses on
corporate personhood and Citizens United v. FEC
Thursday, Nov. 12
Davis, CA
Time/Place
TBA: Potluck and discussion of the corporate voice vs. the
people’s voice in local land-use development campaigns
Thursday, Nov. 12
Pittsfield or Rochester, NY
Time/Place TBA
Local
Potluck Dinner and discussion on “Do Corporations
Rule the World?”
Saturday and Sunday,
Nov. 14 -15
Ukiah, CA
Bi-annual
Convention of Northern California Alliance for Democracy
“Rethinking
Rights of Corporations in Northern California: What Can
Local Communities Do Now?” Details coming!
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What's
required for a regional meeting?
First,
your meeting does not have to be more elaborate than you need! It might
be a simple potluck get-together to affirm AfD
friendships and build solidarity. Invite other friends to join you and
talk about making a difference in your community, where results may be
easier to achieve and more rewarding. Just writing a group Letter to
the Editor or an Op-Ed on climate change, single payer health reform,
or another issue makes an important contribution.
The only requirements
for your meeting are:
•
that you encourage current members to run for
regional representative—we would like at least one candidate per region.
•
that you encourage current AfD members to run for
the AfD National Council, and forward their names to our nominating
committee (Jean Maryborn, Jim Tarbell, Vikki Savee and Barbara
Clancy)--you can contact the committee through the AfD office.
•
that you encourage current AfD members to put their
names forward for a national nominating committee for 2011—again, one
committee member per region is the ideal.
•
that you hold your meeting between October 1 and
November 21, so that all candidates for regional representative and
national council can be presented to the full membership by a mail-in
ballot vote before the end of the calendar year.
For more information on Alliance governance, please see our bylaws,
here.
Ideas for organizing meetings and proposals
for action
Beyond the potluck, you might want to:
- Plan a night at the movies, either at your local
(independent!)
theater for Michael Moore's Capitalism: A Love Story,
or at a house
party. Screen Tapped, or Health, Money and Fear,
available from AfD.
- Use the Alliance's GANE document to launch a
discussion on how to
rebuild the local economy. GANE--the General Agreement on a New
Economy--outlines a new model for growth emphasizing full employment,
sustainable development,
economic equity and community federalism, a systemic approach to
development that centers on the local community and builds outward to
regional and national levels. GANE is a work-in-progress, and it
depends on you to read it
(www.greenecon.org) and share your
ideas. Answers to our economic
problems should come out of a broad public dialogue. and the discussion
that starts at a regional meeting can grow into an active coalition to
address sustainable, relocalized economic development. The
"Deglobalization/Relocalization"
and "Money for People Not Corporate Plunder" issues of Justice Rising
are also good study
resources.
- Break out of the corporate economy and create a local
currency or a
local bartering network. Start a "buy local" campaign or investigate
the possibility of instituting community-based business zoning.
- Reduce the carbon footprint: Create a Car-Share or
Bike-Share Program
- Local issues are often good ground for reframing a
specific problem
--a big-box development, ads for junk food in your public schools,
privatization of a public resource--as an issue of community rights or
rights of nature. See these reframing worksheets, and open a discussion
of how to move away from regulated harms.
- State level campaign finance reform is not dead--the
San Fernando
Valley AfD chapter is working hard on behalf of California Fair
Elections, and a referendum next year to publicly fund certain
state-level offices. What started as a study group has grown into a
powerful grassroots movement with broad support for ending pay-to-play
democracy. What's possible in your state or city?
We
look forward to sharing the fruits of these discussion
with others in the December e-News!
How can we help?
We can discuss program events with you, make suggestions on possible
local speakers, and send relevant issues of Justice Rising. We can also
help contact other local and regional members, if you are not already
connected with AfD'ers in your area.
Call
for candidates!
If you'd like to take a more activist role in the Alliance for
Democracy, why not run for the Alliance national council?
The council meets once a month by conference call to discuss ongoing
and potential new campaigns and approve budgets. Any member in good
standing is welcome to run. We invite you to contact the office and
find out more if you're interested, or if you have questions about
Alliance for Democracy structure and governance in general.
Candidates for all posts on the council are welcome, as well as
at-large members and regional representatives. Candidates should expect
a minimum time commitment of 10 hours per month, or more if you take a
leadership role in a campaign or in coalition-building--which we hope
you do! Regional reps should be prepared to do some outreach to members
and allied groups in their area. All potential candidates need to be on
email, as much pre-conference call discussion takes place online.
We welcome regional representative candidates from all regions (see
this page of our website to see what the regions are) , but especially
welcome regional representative candidates from New York state and the
Southeast Region (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Missisippi,
North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee).
We look forward to seeing your hat in the ring!
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