North Star Fund Blog

Reports from the Forum

2010-08-06T19:06:44Z

Late this spring, North Star Fund issued travel grants that allowed groups to send representatives from New York City's vibrant social justice movement to the U.S. Social Forum held in Detroit. According to the Social Forum's website, "[The Social Forum] is not a conference but it is a space to come up with the peoples' solutions to the economic and ecological crisis."

North Star Fund's travel grants allowed more than 200 people to attend from the following groups:

Adhikaar for Human Rights and Social Justice
Community Voices Heard
DAMAYAN Migrant Workers Association
Domestic Workers United
Families for Freedom
Families United for Racial and Economic Equality
La Union
Make the Road NY
Mothers on the Move
Movement for Justice in El Barrio
New Immigrant Community Empowerment
People's Production House
Picture the Homeless

Want to know what it was like? Read these reports:

Rob Robinson from People's Production House, on From the Forum to the Streets

Sophia Bryant from Picture the Homeless, on Reflecting the Social Forum

Kyra Lawson from People's Production House, on A Pagentry of Protest

People's Production House, On the Ground at the Social Forum

Did you go? What happened? Tell us about it in the comments section below.

Tenants Take To The Streets For Rent-Law Reforms

2010-08-04T20:06:06Z

The tenant movement raised the stakes in the fight for rent-law reforms in July 2010, when members of the Metropolitan Council on Housing, alongside other groups in the Real Rent Reform (R3) campaign, took part in a civil disobedience direct action protest. Our target was the leadership of the New York State Senate, which has failed to act on a package of bills to strengthen the rent laws and stop the loss of rent regulated and subsidized housing.

First we held a rally of 200 tenants mid-day at City Hall Park in Manhattan, and then marched across the street to block the entrance to 250 Broadway - a building where many state senators have their offices. When the crowd was told to disperse, 13 tenant activists remained, linked arms, and sat down in front of the building, and for doing so, we were arrested. Our message to the senators: "Don't come home until you pass our bills!"

I'm happy to share the video evidence:

What Led Up to This

Engaging in civil disobedience is a significant escalation of tactics in our campaign for stronger tenant protections. In part it is a recognition that we need to raise the stakes to counter the powerful landlord lobby, which is willing to spend nearly limitless amounts to influence politics and prevent the passage of tenant bills that would put a dent in their profits.

More importantly, however, our move toward more dramatic direct action events was a way to empower ourselves and energize our organizing. Direct actions can be immediately transformative, giving power to people who have long felt on the defensive. The tenant movement set the housing agenda in New York City in the mid-20th century, enacting and preserving the nation's most sweeping rent regulation system and the largest and most reputably run public housing program. The 1990s and 2000s, however, saw a string of setbacks - most notably the loss of hundreds of thousands of rent regulated apartments through 'vacancy decontrol', a law that allows landlords to push out tenants and remove vacant apartments from regulation entirely - and the loss of tens of thousands of Mitchell-Lama and other subsidized buildings as landlords 'opted out' of programs that kept rents affordable to low-income tenants.

Many tenants put their hopes in Democrats, who assured that once they took control of the New York State Senate they would push through bills to restore and strengthen the rent laws. After over 40 years in the minority, Democrats narrowly took the majority in the State Senate in 2008 - owing in part to the tremendous work of tenant groups. We had a package of bills ready, promptly got the Assembly to pass them, and we shifted into lobbying mode, mobilized members for dozens of rallies in the city and trips to Albany to pressure our Senators.

Promises were made dozens of times over the past two years that votes on our legislative package were imminent, and these promises were broken over and over. We were told to wait, to keep playing the party politics and help expand the majority. Met Council's members, however, were feeling helpless and at the mercy of politicians who let us down.

The erosion of New York's affordable housing stock is a crisis, and for thousands of tenants who worry about being able to afford to remain in the city, patient lobbying has become unacceptable as a primary strategy. Civil disobedience direct actions convey the urgency of the situation, and we hope to build on this energy to grow a movement of tenants who can increasingly move towards our vision of a city where housing policies are designed to meet the needs of people, not profit.

Met Council on Housing is a North Star Fund grantee. It's most recent award was for the Spring 2010 grant cycle.

LatinoJustice Takes On Arizona

2010-07-20T18:57:23Z

Though the federal government is charged with setting this country's immigration policies, states and localities across the country have begun creating their own immigration policies. Though they have done so under the guise of simply trying to aid the federal government in enforcing its laws, they in fact are often motivated by hopes of driving out Latinos and other immigrant communities, newly arrived or not.

Arizona recently passed legislation that goes far beyond any previous effort. Not only has Arizona fashioned its own draconian immigration policy explicitly designed to expel from the state those families with members who lack lawful status, but it chose to do so by empowering anti-immigrant advocates the power to hijack law enforcement agencies and force their officers to turn every encounter with possible immigrants into an immigration raid. Given the fact that every Latino in Arizona is "presumed" by such advocates to be an undocumented immigrant, this law sets the stage for a bitter confrontation along racial lines. Hundreds of Latino families have already fled the state, often pulling their kids out of school before the school year was finished. If the law is actually implemented, tens of thousands of Latinos will be driven out of the state.

For these reasons LatinoJustice PRLDEF, with the assistance of the firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher, & Flom, filed an amicus brief opposing the July 30, 2010 implementation of this law on behalf of several major national Latino organizations: the National Council of La Raza, the Hispanic National Bar Association, and the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. The brief explains to the court how the law, if implemented, will impact Latinos: that it will:

Deprive undocumented Latino immigrants of essential medical, educational, nutritional, and other benefits to which they are entitled under federal law and the Constitution,
Foster discriminatory animus against Latinos and lead those motivated by such animus to harass Latino residents and businesses
Subject Latinos to racial profiling and other civil rights violations by state and local law enforcement officials.

These arguments are made in support of the claim that the implementation of this law will irreparably harm Latinos across the state and that the public interest is best served by granting a stay of the implementation of the law until a full trial has been held.

Reflecting the US Social Forum

2010-07-15T16:10:58Z

Activists and artists, grassroots community organizations and unions, farmworkers, immigrants, senior citizens and youth, from the U.S. and around the world--altogether 20,000 people, gathered at the convention center in downtown Detroit, June 22-26 for the historic 2nd U.S. Social Forum. It started with a rousing march of 10,000 through the city--and we represented Picture the Homeless with our banners, chants, and New York City spirit!

Here's a couple links to on-the-spot documentation of our participation:

Over the next few days, the forum held a thousand workshops. The workshops were organized to share ideas and experiences, to network and organize, to build a movement. We talked about strategies and solutions to social issues including truly-affordable housing and the lack thereof, homelessness in shelters and on the street, the evictions and foreclosures that are creating many more homeless, cuts in vital services, including education, healthcare, ecology, jobs, peace, and civil and human rights.

The days of the forum also featured a handful of protests rooted in local Detroit struggles. Detroit is at the epicenter of the economic crisis in the United States, due to decades of policies of disempowerment, exploitation, and racism. I was astounded at the number of boarded-up homes sitting empty, while the city apparently has a large homeless population.

The solidarity and feeling of camaraderie with humanity was prevalent. I felt part of the solution, something much bigger than myself, alongside positive, like-minded sisters and brothers who want to bring about necessary and true and positive permanent change. I had goosebumps from one workshop to the next. I now have real hope for the future of this country and the world--especially for our children and generations to come.

This U.S. Social Forum sets the stage for us for next year's World Social Forum being held on the African continent, in Senegal.

Sophia Bryant is a member of Picture the Homeless, a North Star Fund grantee since 2001.

From the Forum to the Streets

2010-07-14T20:47:10Z

Detroit: On Friday June 25th, a couple of protests took place at the U.S. Social Forum. The larger of these protests, focused on the financial giant J.P. Morgan Chase, was organized by the Bail Out the People Movement. Several hundred protesters comprised of community activists, organizers, religious leaders and union representatives were on hand to voice their grievances with Chase for taking a government-sponsored bailout while continuing to foreclose on properties around the country.

Sandra Hines, a long time Detroit resident and Social Worker by trade, spoke of how elected officials ignore the cries for help coming from the community. Ms. Hines has been unemployed for several years and now volunteers as a community organizer and activist. She expressed skepticism when a smaller group went inside to meet with Chase executives.

"Whenever a group goes into a meeting like that, nothing ever becomes of the promises made."

For her a more effective strategy would include greater turnout at these protests, more city residents in foreclosure standing together on Chase's doorstep voicing their collective dissatisfaction with the bank.

Ms. Hines spoke passionately to the crowd expressing her love for the city while at the same time clearly delivering the message that the city needs jobs.

The protest ended when the smaller group that had entered to talk with Chase staff emerged saying Chase promised to bring the protesters' concerns to high-level management within the bank.

A spontaneous protest by the Southwest Farm Workers and other immigrants rights groups broke out about 12:15pm in the main lobby of Cobo Hall, site of the US Social Forum.

The protest was called in response to a rumor that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), a part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, had arrested a Mexican immigrant at the Canadian border. The rumor was not entirely accurate -- the young man, who was questioned by border patrol on Wednesday evening, and asked for his documents, was eventually released.

Protesters used the occasion of the mass gathering to speak out against Arizona SB1070, a law that many have assailed for its severe immigration provisions. Under the law police can detain individuals they reasonably suspect are without authority to be in the country.

Rob Robinson is the Outreach Coordinator for the CNPI program of People's Production House.

Taking Back Public Space

2010-07-13T19:59:15Z

Just like they have been for the last 200 years, most street vendors in New York City are immigrant entrepreneurs. They do not ask for government funding or city subsidies. They pay taxes and put up with intense regulation. All they want are a few square feet of public sidewalk to sell their delicious food and quality merchandise to the public.

But even those few feet can be hard to find. Over the past twenty years, real estate interests in the form of Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) have lobbied the city to declare many streets and areas off-limits to vending. Other regulations -- for example, the prohibition against vending within 20 feet of any building entrance -- further limit available public space for vending.

Worst of all, property owners sometimes use illegal methods to exclude street vendors from the public space. One way is by placing large planters on the sidewalk, under the guise of "beautification," to physically displace vendors. Though these planters are usually unauthorized, the city typically takes months, if not years, to remove them or ticket the property owner. In this case, the Street Vendor Project organizes direct collective actions to reclaim public space for our members. In this way, we are gradually taking back space for hard-working immigrant vendors and the customers who love them. This video tells the story of one such recent action:

Sean Basinski is the director of the Street Vendor Project, a North Star Fund grantee since 2002.

A Pageantry of Protest

2010-07-05T19:19:44Z

When I first arrived in Detroit on Friday the seventeenth of June 2010, I was amazed at the number of abandoned buildings. Everywhere I looked there were empty buildings and broken windows. The streets were desolate, a trickle of people here and there, maybe one person for every three blocks I walked.

As the Social Forum approached, I began to notice a substantial difference in the scenery. On the first day of the gathering, people from several different ethnicities and groups replenished the streets of Detroit, creating a colorful ambience -- a striking contrast to the dispirited atmosphere I had originally noticed. Activists, social groups and locals all came together to demonstrate and march in support of human rights issues like affordable or free healthcare, bringing the troops home from Iraq, a racist-free society, and many other causes. The atmosphere was hopeful yet purposeful, as people waved banners and carried coffins commemorating the lives lost in the global struggle for justice.

The protest then led to the Cobo Hall convention center, the enormous arena where the forum was taking place in downtown Detroit. Most people at the gathering shared a common interest, to share their knowledge and experiences while building upon the strengths of the many groups represented. Many of the workshops were filled to capacity, and throughout the forum it was difficult to find a vacant seat in the Cobo Hall's cavernous lobby. Small circles of people sat on the floor selecting workshops from their program guides, community journalists and bloggers huddled by electrical outlets to power computers and post their latest reports, youth groups rehearsed their chants as social justice activists reunited with friends and allies they had not seen since the last convergence.

The experience has been inspiring. Observing and socializing with people fighting for the same causes we fight for on a daily basis is not only reassuring, but a life-changing experience.

The US Social Forum 2010 has impacted me because through interviewing and talking to such incredible people, I am strengthening my beliefs and values. Just knowing that so many of us care about issues in our communities, issues often neglected or forgotten, provides the motivation to keep fighting and moving forward.

A Fair Chance for Families Separated by Prison

2010-06-30T14:52:00Z

Co-authored by Sam Streed

On June 15, incarcerated parents and their children received long sought-after and critical support in their efforts to maintain ties to each other and protect parental rights.

On that day, after years of advocacy by the Correctional Association of New York's Women in Prison Project, the Coalition for Women Prisoners, and allies statewide, Governor David Paterson signed into law the Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) Expanded Discretion Bill.

This bill amends New York's ASFA law, which almost always requires foster care agencies to file termination of parental rights papers if a child has been in care for 15 of the last 22 months. The median sentence for women is 36 months, far exceeding ASFA's timeline. Moreover, incarcerated parents face barriers in meeting legal responsibilities required to preserve their parental rights, like maintaining contact and finding children a non-foster care home. The result? ASFA inadvertently tips the scales in favor of terminating parental rights of incarcerated parents, even when not necessarily in the long-term best interests of the child and family.

The new law--which applies to both mothers and fathers--allows foster care agencies to delay filing for termination if a parent is in prison or residential drug treatment. For the first time, agencies will also be required to inform incarcerated parents of their rights and responsibilities and to provide referrals to social services and family visiting programs. Because mothers in prison are much more likely to report having children in foster care than fathers, the new law has particular importance for incarcerated women.

Working with Assemblymember Jeffrion Aubry, the Women in Prison Project and Coalition for Women Prisoners drafted the bill and secured its passage in the Assembly every year since 2007. With the Senate majority change in 2009 and strong sponsorship by Senator Velmanette Montgomery, the groups mounted an intensified campaign for the bill, including: organizing a series of advocacy days in Albany; creating a user-friendly one-pager and photo slideshow; securing support from key organizations and the State Office of Children and Family Services; and stepping up efforts to facilitate the leadership of women directly affected by ASFA. Mothers shared their experiences in written documents, public forums, and press conferences.

I'm here so that what happened to me doesn't happen to other people. My parental rights were terminated while I was in substance abuse treatment. Just because I was an addict, doesn't mean I didn't want to be a good mother. At the time I just couldn't be. I think people need to be given more time. Just because you're incarcerated or you're in substance abuse treatment doesn't mean that you don't want to be a mother to your child... I am his mother biologically, but the law says I'm not his mother. The decisions that I made I of yesterday are not my decisions of today. Today I want to be a better person and constructive member of society and I also want to be my son's mother.

--Sharmaine, graduate of WIPP's ReConnect Program, speaking out at a February Coalition press conference sponsored by Senator Montgomery in support of the ASFA Bill

One-by-one, the Women in Prison Project and Coalition for Women Prisoners secured the commitment of Democratic senators. By April, all but four had pledged their support. With Rapid Response funding from the North Star Fund, eight advocates--including six formerly incarcerated women, five of whom were mothers--travelled to Albany on April 27 to meet with the remaining Democratic hold-outs.

The action was a success. Two of the four legislators pledged their support that day and the two others agreed shortly after. After a vigorous floor debate, the Senate passed the bill three weeks later.

The new law places New York among the most progressive states in the country for child welfare laws that recognize the special circumstances of families separated by the criminal justice system. In the months to come, the Women in Prison Project and the Coalition for Women Prisoners will work to ensure that the new law is implemented effectively and that it succeeds in changing practice and preventing the devastation of permanent separation for families that can, if given the chance, rebuild safe, loving and life-long relationships.

On the Ground at the U.S. Social Forum

2010-06-23T18:28:05Z

People's Production House will be reporting for the Community Blog from the U.S. Social Forum in Detroit, June 22 - 25. This is their first dispatch.

Detroit: Over eight hundred social justice groups from around the US, comprised of over ten thousand activists and organizers, have converged in the Motor City for the 2010 US Social Forum. Houses of worship have opened their doors to provide shelter for many of the visitors and a tent city has been built on an empty lot to accommodate the crowds. The energy is palpable in a city that has fallen on difficult times in recent years.

Detroit, once a metropolis of two million people just over twenty years ago, is now a city of less than one million residents. Organizers of the conference, along with elected officials, hope that by bringing the Social Forum to Detroit new life would infuse and invigorate the city. Detroit has lost not only population but manufacturing jobs which had been its economic core for years.

On Monday evening, residents and visitors of the city were treated to a traditional summer kick-off, a fireworks display along the downtown riverfront. Detroit's skies were lit up with thousands of colorful bursting effects. Members of People's Production House enjoyed the pyrotechnic display as they got ready for the Social Forum. PPH was on hand to greet groups arriving from New York City and document their stories. Long lines filled the lobby of the Cobo Hall convention center in downtown Detroit. The massive arena was packed with participants waiting to register for the four day long event.

Christopher Baez of the lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transgender, and queer organization FIERCE (Fabulous Independent Educated Radicals for Community Empowerment) asserts how important it is for an organization like FIERCE to attend convergences like the Social Forum. "The forum offers opportunities to connect with folks that have similar goals and objectives as my organization." FIERCE is an organization building the leadership of LGBTQ youth of color in New York City.

Similarly, Juanita Louis of Community Voices Heard highlights what it means to the fifty-member contingent of her organization to come to this social gathering. "We can share stories and experiences with those that have the same struggles throughout the US."

Members of People's Production House will continue to blog throughout the remainder of the Social Forum, detailing and documenting the stories of social justice groups from New York City and around the country.

- People's Production House

Who Says You Can't Win Big in a Bad Economy?

2010-06-04T20:46:25Z

They work for some of the deepest pockets in the global economy--Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan/Chase and other Wall Street firms. But when the stock market crashed, the commercial movers who do the heavy lifting on Wall Street got hit with pay cuts and lost their medical benefits.

Now activists from NY-NJ Teamsters for a Democratic Union have led a winning campaign to save workers' healthcare and win wage increases for some of the lowest-paid and hardest- working New Yorkers on Wall Street.

They did it by restoring grassroots activism to their union. But this victory didn't come overnight.

With the support of the North Star Fund, NY-NJ Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU) conducted a multi-year activism and leadership development program--including trainings on the nuts and bolts of organizing and waging effective campaigns.

Last year, TDU leaders organized a grassroots campaign to elect reformers to lead their union, Teamsters Local 814. And they won.

From day one, the reformers set out to put the 'movement' back in the labor movement.

"We mobilized. We held rallies. We were more united than ever before--and our bosses knew it," said Walter Taylor, a TDU leader.

When it came time to negotiate over the restoration of workers' wages and heatlhcare, the bosses demanded even more cuts--and said "Take it or leave it." The workers decided to leave it. They packed up their things, got up from the bargaining table and prepared to set up picket signs on Wall Street.

The employers blinked--and re-opened negotiations. By 4 a.m., the workers had won an agreement that restores all of the health benefits that had been taken away. It also delivers major wage increases of $1 to $4.55 an hour.

The highest wage increases will go to the lowest-paid workers--who are disproportionately workers of color.

"This victory shows that workers can win justice even on Wall Street if we mobilize and believe in ourselves," Taylor said "The North Star Fund's support made it possible for us to take our destiny in our own hands. And we did it."

DWU Gears Up for Senate Vote on Domestic Workers Bill of Rights

2010-05-28T18:31:36Z

For six years, domestic workers and supporters have worked tirelessly to move New York State to pass the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights. The bill provides key protections and basic rights for nannies, housekeepers, and elder caregivers who are privately employed in households throughout New York. Working without a safety net, isolated and excluded from existing labor laws, domestic workers face harassment, abuse and violence in the workplace.

The time has finally come for domestic workers to get justice. On Tuesday, June 1, the New York State Senate will finally take a vote on the landmark legislation. Members and supporters of Domestic Workers United (DWU) will travel to Albany early in the morning to urge senators one last time to vote YES to protect and recognize the workers who make all other work possible.

We invite everyone to join us in taking our rallying cry far into the halls of the state capitol building. Call or email your senate representatives: http://www.nysenate.gov.

Let them hear from you wherever you are.

Passing the Senate bill will take us one giant step closer to securing rights and protections long denied to domestic workers. We will still have a Domestic Workers Bill of Rights to get signed into law, however. Last year, the Assembly passed an historic measure to grant domestic workers coverage under existing labor laws. We must bring the two bills together and get the state legislature and governor to agree on a bill that establishes basic labor standards for the domestic work industry. The rights included in the Senate bill - paid sick days, paid vacation, paid holidays, and notice - are rights that isolated domestic workers have no hope of negotiating on their own.

As the first legislation of its kind nationally, the New York Domestic Workers Bill of Rights will set a precedent for labor standards for domestic workers in the entire United States. We have an opportunity now to bring our labor laws up to speed with the reality of workers in the 21st century and to correct generations of exclusion and injustice.

Todos Somos Arizona-- We Are All Arizona

2010-05-21T17:42:33Z

"I hate racial discrimination most intensely and all its manifestations. I have fought all my life; I fight now, and will do so until the end of my days."

-- Nelson Mandela

In the last month as the state of Arizona passed one of the worst racial profiling laws in U.S. history, these words spoken by Mandela decades ago takes on a new relevance and call for us here in the U.S. as social justice advocates.

On April 23, 2010, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer signed into law SB1070, proclaiming racial profiling the law of the land and overturning decades of civil rights struggle. SB1070, if it takes effect as mandated on July 29, 2010, will require all police officers to stop anyone who 'looks' like an immigrant, ask them to show identification, and arrest and jail them if they are unable to do so. This law undoubtedly will affect most of the large immigrant population across Arizona, whether undocumented or not, but will also have a parallel chilling effect on all communities of color across the state. As the National Immigration Law Center describes it, "Were this new bill to be enacted, Arizonans of all backgrounds would suffer a major blow to their civil rights. Arizona Senate Bill 1070 would require local authorities to racially profile the men, women, and children in their jurisdictions. All people of color would be at risk for being detained. This means that a mother taking her children to school, members of a family walking to church, or a man making a quick trip to the convenience store could be arrested for not carrying their birth certificates." (http://www.nilc.org/pubs/news-releases/nr007.htm)

Moreover, the law will allow any civilian or organization to file suit against police officers if they are not profiling and making arrests under this law. The consequences of SB1070 are chilling, not just for the people of Arizona, but also for the whole nation. SB1070 has ushered in a new era of Jim Crow laws and racial segregation -- this time based on race and immigration status. The racist hate mongering of the Klu Klux Klan has been replaced by the anti-immigrant vitriol of the Minute Men. The core issue of race has been expanded now to 'immigration status'- the new code word for race in small towns and big cities across the country.

Yet, the extreme move to the right in immigration law has sparked a concurrent national movement led by young people and families across many communities that is full of inspiration and hope. High school students led the way again by conducting massive school walkouts and protests across Arizona, just as in 2006 after the introduction of the similar Sensenbrenner bill in Congress. Scores of young leaders are emerging as they chain themselves to the doors of the Arizona state legislature to usher in a new era of civil disobedience and non-compliance hearkening to the days of the freedom rides and struggle across the South. Only this past week, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer signed a new law banning ethnic studies in Arizona public schools. Without a doubt, this new law is targeting the thousands of young activists and leaders emerging from this movement. The law would also ban African-American and Native American studies in many schools. Last Wednesday, the Coalicion de Derechos Humanos protested in Tucson. Fifteen people, almost all students, were arrested protesting this new law outside the state education offices in Tucson.

Scores of civil and immigrant rights organizations, Latino, African-American, Arab, Muslim, South Asian communities are expressing their strong solidarity and condemnation of the law. The city of San Francisco passed a resolution in protest of SB1070. National legal, immigrant rights, labor, civil rights, and other organization have issued statements denouncing the law and calling for national pressure to the Obama administration to overturn SB1070. The ACLU, Mexican American legal Defense and Education Fund, and the National Immigration Law Center have filed a lawsuit challenging the legality of SB1070. Communities across the country are joined by elected leaders such as Congressman Raul Grijalva of Arizona who is calling on the Obama administration to turn his verbal condemnation of the law into a federal legal intervention to prohibit the law from taking effect. Even celebrities like Shakira have vocally joined the movement to end SB1070.

This new spark to the movement for immigrant rights again brought millions across the country out into the streets again on May 1st for real legalization. Here in NYC, over 20,000 marched from Union Square and thousands gathered with labor unions in Foley Square. DRUM led local New York City support in calling for unity with Arizona and caution in the call for Comprehensive Immigration Reform proposals that can result in many more Arizona's across the country. Last week, DRUM traveled to Washington D.C. with our members for the Rights Working Group national meeting. We met with Senators Schumer, Grijalva, and others to discuss challenging the Arizona law and to pass immigration reform that does not include harsh enforcement measures, as Schumer's current proposal does. Nationally, we have also worked with South Asian organizations to take a stand in solidarity and issued a national statement in support.

Coincidentally, on April 16th, days before the Arizona Governor signed SB1070, DRUM and VAMOS Unidos, two New York organizations, united Latino and South Asian immigrants here in New York on Arizona's border laws by bringing Isabel Garcia of the Coalition de Derechos Humanos from Tucson to speak at Judson Memorial Church. The event was entitled, "The Border and the Movement: A New York City Forum on Immigration Reform" and brought together diverse communities (Latino, Muslim, Sikh) in a joint dialogue with border communities on the need to end racial profiling and anti-immigrant enforcement programs spreading here in New York City such as Secure Communities (which place immigration agents in jails) and '287g' programs that deputize local police as immigration agents. What became clear from this event is that Arizona has intentionally been created as a testing ground for passage of the worst immigration enforcement laws in the last two decades, which are then exported to the rest of the country. It is clear that all of us must keep our eyes open and stand in solidarity with communities in Arizona because what happens today there can surely happen tomorrow here.

People across the U.S. are being asked to support the campaign to boycott Arizona. Many people will travel to Arizona and hold local events on May 29th to end SB1070. Yet, we know that our efforts must continue long after May 29th and must inform our day-to-day local education and organizing locally. Arizona's racist SB1070 has shown us that the U.S. is at a critical juncture on one of the biggest civil rights struggles of our times. It is our task as advocates for social justice in this moment to expand community organizing in every part of our city and nation to hold our leaders to task and win the real changes we need. Organizing is even more vital than ever.

For more information on how to take action and get resources, visit:

National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights

Coalición de Derechos Humanos/The Human Rights Coalition

Alto Arizona.com

Monami Maulik is the Executive Director of DRUM-Desis Rising Up & Moving, a South Asian immigrant and workers rights organization in New York City, and a board member of the National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights. She can be contacted for more information at monami@drumnyc.org.

What Is Fair Taxation?

2010-04-23T15:17:20Z

During this "tax season" some wealthy people are advocating to increase their own taxes. A growing network of high-income individuals and business people are calling on Congress and the President to say, "Let my tax cut go!"

This dialogue was the focus of a Wealth for the Common Good event hosted by North Star Fund on April 7th, Leveraging Privilege: Transforming the Debate about Taxes & Philanthropy. Eric Schoenberg, a former investment banker and Columbia Business School professor made the case for why high-income individuals, like himself, have a responsibility to help reframe the debate on taxes that far too frequently ends with "no new taxes for the rich." Vanity Fair blogger and filmmaker Jamie Johnson reflected on the growing wealth divide, which was the focus of his documentary The One Percent.

With the Bush-era tax cuts for high-income households set to expire at the end of this year - but plenty of Republicans and even some Democrats trying to extend these cuts - now is a particularly important time for all of us to speak up for fairness in our tax system. During the past 50 years, our tax code has become unbalanced, shifting the responsibility for raising revenue from wealthy people to everyone else. American's wealthiest taxpayers have seen their tax rate drop enormously, while the share of income that middle class Americans pay has increased slightly. These policies are exacerbating the wealth divide.

Progressive tax reform needs to be an integral part of ongoing work for economic justice:

Sign the petition to allow the tax cuts for high-income households to expire.
Tax Day has come and gone, but the debate continues! Read the Institute for Policy Studies Tax Day Talking Points and join the public conversation. Then call your local talk show. Debate your neighbor. Write an op-ed.
Check out the report, Shifting Responsibility: How 50 Years of Tax Cuts Benefited the Wealthiest Americans. It includes key facts and statistics about the Great Tax Shift of the past half-century.

Alison Goldberg coordinates Wealth for the Common Good. She was the Donor Education Coordinator at Resource Generation, and co-authored Creating Change Through Family Philanthropy: The Next Generation. Email Alison.

My light bulb went on ...

2010-04-20T16:00:05Z

Last Thursday morning I experienced an empowering shift in my understanding of what continues to motivate my work at North Star Fund--and indeed why North Star Fund needs to exist.

Every year, in preparation for our Community Gala [click to your right for more info], we host a breakfast for Honorees receiving our North Star and Frederick Douglass Awards. It's a chance for all of us to get to know each other, and to reflect on the shared work of the social justice movement. We asked Honorees to tell us why they agreed to be honored.

Members from Brandworkers and Women on the Rise Telling HerStory (WORTH) spoke about having gotten fed up with being treated badly and being afraid. At that point, members of these groups said "Enough!" ("¡Basta!" in Spanish). They stood up for themselves, and in the process, requested and received resources from North Star--resources contributed by donors throughout New York City, including myself and many who will read this-- to stand up to the system and the individuals who were doing them wrong.

Listening to their amazing stories, I realized that while our work is about helping marginalized communities to gain ground through activism, it's also about something even more important. The members of WORTH and Brandworkers helped me see that at North Star Fund, we are helping people overcome fear.

It was powerful to hear it directly from a formerly incarcerated woman who had been bound in a five point shackle while she gave birth and during her recovery. And it was powerful to hear it from an immigrant worker who endured bosses' using racist insults to keep him in check. These same bosses refused to pay for basic safety equipment as workers processed fish that the upwardly mobile folks-- like yours truly-- eat at fancy white tablecloth restaurants.

Our grantee members stopped being afraid to stand up for their rights.

I frequently speak about grassroots democracy and why it's so important. What I realized this morning is that no one stands up to abuse the first time because of an abstract commitment to the ideal of democracy. We stand up when we are tired of being insulted and feeling scared.

The stakes are high for our grantee groups. Will authorities arrest and/or deport them? What will happen to their kids because they have to work so much, or because they are in prison, or because they get injured on the job due to shoddy working conditions?

The commitment to the ideals of democracy, the desire to help others organize--these come afterwards, when we see how the strength of many, united for justice, helps each of us transcend the fear of standing up for ourselves alone. North Star Fund is here for donors and grantees alike when these moments of truth arrive.

Limiting Executive Pay by Proxy

2010-04-07T17:08:43Z

Almost everybody disapproves of the outlandish pay packages that corporations give their chief executive officers (CEOs)--except, perhaps, the CEO's with the supersized pay checks. In 2007, the income of CEOs working for corporations in the S&P 500 averaged $10.5 million annually. That's 344 times the pay of typical American workers. Excessive executive pay practices distort stock prices, destabilize the economy, and deter responsible growth. The Obama Administration took the issue head-on when it created the office of the 'pay czar' to set executive compensation for companies that received bail-out money. But for most companies, it's the board of directors who set up and vote on compensation for top management. And, ultimately, boards of directors are accountable to their corporations' shareholders.

After three years of shareholder pressure, more than 50 companies have now voluntarily adopted giving their shareholders an annual advisory vote on executive compensation, colloquially known as "Say on Pay."

North Star Fund has participated in this landmark victory by voting our proxies every year since 2007. We have consistently supported the right of investors to weigh in on executive compensation, voting for shareholder resolutions 26 times in the past three years, because we believe the wide chasm between the highest and lowest paid at America's corporations is bad for workers, bad for democracy and ultimately, bad for shareholder returns.

According to a press release from AFSCME and Walden Asset Management:

This milestone comes in the midst of the continued public debate focusing on executive compensation and Wall Street's $20 billion bonus payouts. Legislative efforts to initiate this reform passed the House of Representatives and are currently before a Senate Committee.

"Say on Pay holds corporate leaders accountable for unjustifiable CEO pay," said AFSCME President Gerald W. McEntee, whose 1.6 million members participate in public pension funds with combined assets worth more than $1 trillion.

A unique network of investors - comprised of public pension funds, labor funds, asset managers, individual investors, foundations and religious investors, who are members of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) and organized by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO (AFSCME) Employees Pension Plan and Walden Asset Management, a division of Boston Trust & Investment Management Company - have been pushing for annual advisory shareholder votes on executive compensation since 2007. The campaign at the corporate level and at the SEC has been so effective that President Obama has required any company receiving TARP (bail-out) money to include this resolution.

You can be part of this dynamic form of activism. If you are an investor and would like to learn more about how to vote your proxies and participate in shareholder activism, please consider attending our workshop entitled Proxy Time on Wednesday, April 21.