Get Active in 2015

Let’s kick-off a year of activism!

A week into the new year and our calendars are already filling up with great, progressive events all over the state. Below you’ll find a listing of some events that should interest you.

First up is an event organized with the always-inspiring Reverend William Barber as part of the Moral Mondays movement. Moral Mondays began in North Carolina and are expanding all over the nation as a social justice movement. Greater NYC for Change is proud to support this incredibly worthy campaign in New York.

And SAVE THE DATE! On Thursday, January 29th, Greater NYC for Change will be celebrating the new year with a Manhattan happy hour. Details to come, but mark your calendars – it’s going to be a blast!

UPCOMING EVENTS

Monday, January 12th

Moral Monday with Rev. William Barber to Fight for Fairness in Education

Buses depart from Brooklyn and Manhattan starting at 6:45 am.

Million Dollar Staircase, State Capitol Building, Albany.

Join Rev. Barber, the powerful voice leading Moral Mondays in North Carolina, and thousands of parents, students, workers, and clergy to take back our democracy! Information on transportation to and from Albany here.

Monday, January 19th (Martin Luther King, Jr. Day)

#DREAM4JUSTICE March

Noon

110th Street and Lenox Avenue, NYC.

We’ll march alongside the families of victims of injustice and our elders, youth, activists, students, and clergy to #DREAM4JUSTICE in 2015! Will you join us? RSVP here.

Tuesday, January 20th

Injustice: It’s Not Just Us

7-9pm

National Black Theater, 2031 5th Avenue (125th St), NYC.

Join the Manhattan Young Democrats for a nonpartisan panel event that aims to address the administration of fair and equal justice. Following the recent events in Ferguson and Staten Island, we’ll provide an opportunity to learn about what we can do to tackle racial injustice from experts in politics and social and criminal justice. RSVP.

Wednesday, January 21st

State of the State Demonstration for Transgender Rights

1pm

State Capital (The Egg), Albany.

The Long Island Transgender Advocacy Coalition (LITAC) is organizing a demonstration in support of transgender civil rights before and after Governor Cuomo’s “State of the State” Address. We believe this is the first GENDA-specific demonstration organized by a transgender-led advocacy group to be held at the Capital. More information here.

2014: Year in Review

The motto of Greater NYC for Change is “everyday people for social and political change.” We’re committed to bringing together people from all walks of life around the common aim of building a better society, a stronger tomorrow, and solutions to our most intractable problems.

We’re also committed to an ideal of grassroots leadership–to helping those who can lead us toward social justice and to developing new leaders from the creative collaboration of innumerable activists.

This year, we extend thanks to the numerous anti-fracking activists who led and inspired is in demanding and securing a ban on hyrdrofracking in New York State. We express admiration as well as gratitude to the brilliant young organizers who mobilized New Yorkers and millions nationwide in peacefully demanding justice for Mike Brown, Eric Garner, and others like them, and respect and dignity for our communities of color.

We’re deeply thankful to the many who worked with us on our initiatives and coalition projects in 2014, among them:

Get Covered New York: Huge thanks are due the 120 volunteers and our partners at Health Care for All New York, who helped insure almost 4,000 people in our city’s medically underserved communities.
Register New York: Kudos to those who joined us and the New Latino Movement to register hundreds of people to vote in the 2014 elections.
UPK-NYC Coalition: We celebrate the advocates and volunteers who made universal early education programs a reality for our city’s young children and families.
Fair Wages for New Yorkers: We applaud the members of RaiseUpNew York, FastFoodForward, and the collective Fight For $15 and a Union, along with our colleagues in the Living Wage Coalition, who helped secure this year’s victory to limit tax-subsidized structural poverty in New York City.
Protecting New York’s Homeless: Gratitude is due the many who joined us in our important panel on the plight of New York’s many homeless children and the blight of homelessness–and also committed to action. We extend grateful appreciation to Pastor Mark Erson of St. John’s Church for providing a space for discussion and a place for assistance to the many homeless youth (including LGBT youth) in Lower Manhattan.
The People’s Climate March: Admiration and respect for our colleagues and fellow organizers for the brilliance of the largest worldwide gathering for a secure planet in history, and for their ongoing work for climate justice
Fair Elections: We thank the many who continue to fight with us in demanding publicly financed elections, with oversight, to limit corruption and strengthen the people’s voice–and to secure the kind of locally reflective, disinterested representation that New York City’s campaign finance reform has provided for all New York residents.
Get Out the Vote NY: We continue to be awed by all those who joined us in our massive, four-month-long voter contact effort, including multi-candidate phone banks and canvasses, to help attain stronger political representation for the people of our city and state.

We enjoyed working with New York’s many outstanding progressive elected representatives in 2014.

We extend our gratitude to the remarkable organizing groups and institutions we worked alongside this year, including ACT NOW, Brooklyn Young Democrats, Chelsea/West Village for Change, Citizen Action of New York, Community Health Advocates, Democracy for New York City, Health Care for All New York coalition, Interfaith Assembly on Homelessness and Housing, Make the Road-New York, Manhattan Young Democrats, New Latino Movement, New York Communities for Change, New York State Young Democrats, Putnam County Young Democrats, Raising Women’s Voices for the Health Care We Need, 350.org, 350.nyc, Strong Economy for All Coalition, United for Action, Village Independent Democrats, VOCAL-NYC, Westchester Young Democrats, WFP Manhattan, and more.

New York is the better for all our efforts. We look forward to working together, every day, in 2015! === Dale Corvino, Maki Isayama, Kate Linker, Kim Moscaritolo,Yuridia Peña, Aliya Quraishi, Brett Saffer, Sara Valenzuela, Tasha Williams

#BlackLivesMatter

Marchers on 14th Street

On Saturday, December 13th, Greater NYC for Change gathered with people across the nation in a Day of Resistance. We demanded an end to police brutality, particularly of unarmed members of our communities of color, and recognition of the vital importance of black humanity in our society.

We joined in the demand to engage in civil disobedience and #ShutItDownfrom the conviction that out of this peaceful crisis can emerge the reform of the criminal justice system and the promise of the equitable and just society that #AllOfUs require.

Go to fergusonaction.com for information about events in your area.

Ferguson: A National Call to Action

#BlackLivesMatter

This Saturday, December 13th, Greater NYC for Change will gather with people across the nation in a Day of Resistance. We’re demanding an end to police brutality, particularly of unarmed members of our communities of color, and recognition of the vital importance of black humanity in our society.

We urge you to join us here in New York City. But your participation is essential, wherever you are. Go to fergusonaction.com for information about events in your area.

We join in the demand to engage in civil disobedience and #ShutItDown this Saturday from the conviction that out of this peaceful crisis can emerge the reform of the criminal justice system and the promise of the equitable and just society that #AllOfUs require.

SIGN THE PETITION to Governor Cuomo demanding that AG Eric Schneiderman be appointed to investigate and prosecute cases involving unarmed civilians killed by police officers, now!

EVENTS IN NEW YORK CITY:

Friday, December 12th, 5:15 pm: Uptown Lie-Down in Harlem in front of the Apollo Theater, 253 W. 125th Street. Info and RSVP.

Saturday, December 13th, 2 pm: Millions March NYC from Washington Square Park. Info and RSVP.

EVENTS IN WASHINGTON, DC:

Rally Against Police Brutality/For Reform: Bus, courtesy of Democratic County Leader Keith L.T. Wright, leaves the Harlem State Office Building (163 W. 125th Street) at 5:30 am and returns to NYC at 8:30 pm. Free transportation with box lunch is limited to the first 50 people who RSVP with name and contact information to manhattandems@gmail.com or call 212.687.6540.

ACA Open Enrollment, Part II

On November 15th, the second season of general enrollment in health insurance under the landmark Affordable Care Act opens across the nation. All New Yorkers can find a range of affordable options for literally life-changing care at our state exchange or marketplace, NY State of Health, through February 15th. This means big things: low-cost or free comprehensive coverage for members of underserved communities, affordable options for young people and part-time workers, help for those with pre-existing conditions that require regular attention, and, for the undocumented, information on emergency Medicare and enrollment in comprehensive coverage for children.

This is for all of us–that’s how the system works best, for our health and our economy. Last year, almost 1.2 million New Yorkers enrolled. Yet, hundreds of thousands remain without insurance. And that’s where you come in.

In 2013 Greater NYC for Change, which was formed out of the struggle for universal health care for Americans, joined with the Health Care for All New York coalition (HCfANY) to develop and implement Get Covered New York. Using the field, data, and analytic models we’d learned on campaigns and an all-volunteer force (you!) we helped almost 4,000 fellow New Yorkers, many from medically underserved communities, move to enrollment during the first Open Enrollment Period.

This year, New York City’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, along with its Human Resources Administration, is developing a program, including a similar field model, under the name Get Covered NYC or Covered NYC. Given these similarities and the need to avoid confusion for both volunteers and the uninsured, Get Covered New York will be absorbed into HCfANY and operate under the name Health Care for All New York; its website will continue to operate for sign-ups. The new operation is geared to have a wider reach as more organizations join in the effort. We’re delighted—and proud, too.

We’ll be working with Health Care for All New York, and we urge you to join us at events in all five boroughs in the three months ahead. Help give the gift of health to our communities this holiday season, and build a stronger, healthier society. Find out mo
re about HCfANY and the campaign here or contact Lois Uttley at lois@mergerwatch.org to volunteer.

Primary Day is tomorrow!

“Elections belong to the people. It’s their decision. If they decide to turn their back on the fire… then they will just have to sit on their blisters.”

―Abraham Lincoln

Your vote matters more than ever.

Our sixteenth president was right–turnout matters. Your vote tomorrow, including in local district races, can have consequences for our city and state. The polls are open from 6 am to 9 pm. You can find your polling location here, along with sample ballots. More helpful information is available at NYCVotes.

Don’t forget Abe’s words. Get out and vote!