2nd inbound actions 2012
DESCRIPTION
The Great Lakes Consortium – through WSOS Community Action Commission, Inc. – as Contract Agent and Manager – received a grant for a two-way exchange between September 2011 and May 2013 from the U.S. Department of State for the “Citizen Legislative Advocacy in Minority Communities”TRANSCRIPT
*/ 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: [email protected]
“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
DIRECT ACTION IN QUAIL HOLLOW STATE PARK, HARTVILLE, OHIO
Vlad Catuna: “On October 21st, Sunday morning,
along with Gwen Fischer, from Con-
cerned Citizens of Ohio I attended a
rally that took place in Quail Hol-
low State Park located in Hartville,
Ohio.
Around 50 people participated at the
event with the purpose to protest
against the legislation that would
permit the lease of the land and
would give companies the right to
start the fracking process in the
Park. Quail Hollow Park is to be the
first State Park in Ohio where com-
panies would start the drilling proc-
ess.
The event included a hike in the
park where a biologist explained
the flora and the habitat found
there. Afterwards, the walk was
followed by a discussion forum,
where organization members
from Buckeye Forest Council,
Ohio Environmental Council, Si-
erra Club of Ohio and Mohican
Advocates talked about their con-
cerns, regarding the legislation
and the fact that the public, that
actually owns the park, has noth-
ing to say in the process.”
More information about this direct action at www.ecowatch.org/2012/fracking-state-parks/
16 European fellows spent six
weeks in the U.S. to learn different
community organizing methods in
engaging citizens as active partici-
pants in solving problems in their
own communities. They also ex-
plored how to build power and lead-
ership 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.
wealthiest. They have an alterna-
tive budget put together by Chris-
tian, Jewish, Muslim and other
faith communities and organiza-
tions. And there I am on the street
(photo to the right) with Karen
Krause and Peter Ujvagi.”
DIRECT ACTION IN TOLEDO, OHIO
Page 2 “Citizen Legislative Advocacy in Minority Communities”
Zsolt Peter Fugg: “On October 13, Saturday I partici-
pated 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 pres-
sure on the presidential candidates
not to make budget cuts that affect
poor people, while shielding the
ing property tax on public transpor-
tation (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.”
“One hour later, at 11:00 AM I par-
ticipated in the rally to keep pub-
lic 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-
DIRECT ACTION IN SYLVANIA, OHIO
DIRECT ACTIONS IN CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
Monika Bandurova: “On October 12, Radu Raileanu and
I took part in the “Chicago Hous-
ing Initiative” rally that was held
in front of the City of Chicago
Mayor office.
Lakeview Action Coalition (LAC)
with other organizations based on
the available data discovered that
(Chicago Housing Agency (CHA)
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 leaders
dropped off the Progress report card
Page 3 Professional Fellows program in the U.S. (October 1 - November 10, 2012)
Members of the Aviation Commit-
tee convened a community forum
with religious leaders and hun-
dreds of airport workers to press
the City of Chicago to adopt meas-
ures 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 redevel-
opment at these airports Following
the forum, we marched with work-
ers 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 intro-
duced the “Stable Jobs, Stable
“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.
Communities” ordinance which
would ensure a smooth transition
and a living wage for airport work-
ers. Such measures have been
adopted in other major cities na-
tionwide, but Chicago, thus far, has
failed to implement such measures.
leaders, increasing understanding
on the different issues they are
working on in their communities
and building a sense of solidarity
among the 4 chapters.
At the end of the meeting, a com-
mon direct action planned by the
Newburgh leaders took place in the
form of a Protest March in order
to raise awareness on the hous-
ing conditions the Newburgh
community members are struggling
Andreea Buzec: “On October 21, Sunday, I partici-
pated in the Statewide Meeting
organized by Community Voices
Heard (CHV) in Newburgh, NY.
The meeting reunited all the 4
chapters of CVH, namely NY, New-
burgh, Yonkers and Poughkeepsie
through various community lead-
ers. The meeting aimed at facilitat-
ing interaction between community
with (high rent, bed bugs, mice,
mold, leaks, etc) and the constant
struggle for responsibility and ac-
countability for the owners.
I was deeply impressed by the soli-
darity and support that members
from different chapters expressed
for each other and, also, by their
capacity to mobilize and take ac-
tion: numbers, carefully planned
steps, itinerary and speech, songs
were all decided under consensus.”
DIRECT ACTIONS IN NEWBURGH, NEW YORK
Page 4 “Citizen Legislative Advocacy in Minority Communities”
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 or-
ganization. The meeting was about
informing the Council Member
about the Housing Campaigns
and plans of CVH, as well as to ex-
change ideas about next steps.
The meeting was facilitated and
mostly run by CVH members, who
live in local public housing them-
selves.
We are in the middle on this photo
along with activists of CVH and
Mr. Kflu Kflu, the organizers with
Councilwoman Melissa Mark-
Viverito.
PREPARATION FOR A DIRECT ACTION IN NEW YORK
Page 5 Professional Fellows program in the U.S. (October 1 - November 10, 2012)
More information about these actions: www.sunfloweract.org/
Kaloyan Damyanov: “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 Sunday, on October 21, we
participated in the Rally asking
elected officials to support the pas-
sage of the “DREAM Act”.
this action. This protest is an at-
tempt to stop disenfranchising vot-
ers. 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-
“We joined in the campaign “I am
Kansas” that the Sunflower Com-
munity Action organization is in-
volved in. This is a statewide orga-
nizing initiative to combat racism
DIRECT ACTION IN WICHITA, KANSAS
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 cam-
paign to the local Mexican commu-
nity. We were involved in distribut-
ing informational materials and
questionnaires of the participants
in this event.
During this meeting, I realized how
important it is to believe in your-
self, in your rights and fight for
them, because it is the foundation
of freedom. The country benefits
quirement at the DMV, and how
those processed because many peo-
ple 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.”
The event was hosted by the Wich-
ita 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.
The students said they were hoping
to help friends they have grown up
with who were brought to the
United States illegally.”
economically, politically, and so-
cially from immigration. Recogniz-
ing what immigrants give to this
country is one step closer to accept-
ing diversity.”
“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 con-
nected to Halloween, and we had
some fun at this event as we were
dressed up like zombies, to high-
light the dangers of drinking nasty
contaminated fracking water.
DIRECT ACTIONS IN SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS
Nicu Dumitru: “On October 24, Henriett Dinok
and I participated in “STOP PER-SECUTING PEOPLE IN POV-
ERTY" rally hosted by the Homeless
United for Change (HUC) and Illi-
nois People Action with homeless
people.
The homeless community is being
banned for panhandling in more
and more areas of Spring-
field. However, the Police only fine
homeless people holding a sign.
They think they are being discrimi-
nated against on a poverty basis.
The Police say that the panhan-
dling is bringing a bad image on
the city of Springfield. This is why
the local Church, homeless people
participated in the rally to protest
against the City decisions regard-
ing panhandling.
Supporters and community leaders
got together one hour before the
action to bet “zombified” with ap-
propriate make-up provided by the
organizers.”
“You can't drink money!”
Anti Fracking Campaign at ISU
campus, IL”
More information:
www.illinoispeoplesaction.org/
Page 6 “Citizen Legislative Advocacy in Minority Communities”
DIRECT ACTIONS IN NORMAL, ILLINOIS
On Friday, October 5 the 16 profes-
sional 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 unac-
ceptable 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 con-
cerns and they were upset that the
management of the building also
getting federal support for provid-
ing housing to low-income peo-
ple. They followed resident Simmie
Lassiter and Ramon Perez when
they went to Congresswoman Kap-
tur'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
Nedka Taneva
and Krisztina H. Molnar: “We participated in Fair Share
Economy Campaign. The cam-
paign is against Republican con-
trolled state
legislator who
has passed
some of the
most damag-
ing legislation
in Maine his-
tory: health
care rate hikes
for small busi-
nesses in rural
areas, tax cuts
for the wealthy broken promises to
the state worker retirement sys-
tem, and tens of thousands of low-
income Mainers denied the health
care they need and the fact that
they have attempted to gut envi-
ronmental regulations, go back-
wards on issues important to
women and strip away voting
rights.
This campaign is about making
sure that the right leaders are
elected and sent as State Represen-
tatives for Main to fight for a Fair
Share Economy. They wealthy and
large corporation have huge
amounts of money to spend against
the interests of middle class, but
united the people can win.”
DIRECT ACTIONS IN LEWISTON, MAINE
Page 7 Professional Fellows program in the U.S. (October 1 - November 10, 2012)
DIRECT ACTIONS IN TOLEDO, OHIO
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: [email protected]
Website: www.GLC-Teachdemocracy.org
www.gl-consortium.org
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Page 8 “Citizen Legislative Advocacy in Minority Communities”