A recent article on community organizing in Arizona in the wake of SB 1070. Check out the mentions of The Repeal Coalition at the bottom. Also check out Jordan's new book (Floodlines: Community and Resistance from Katrina to the Jena Six), more information at floodlines.org.
A Movement Rises
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jordan-flaherty/a-movement-rises-in-arizo_b_663567.html
by Jordan Flaherty
Three months ago, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer signed into law the notorious SB 1070, a bill that put her state at the forefront of a movement to intensify the criminalization of undocumented immigrants.
Since then activists have responded through legal challenges, political lobbying, grassroots organizing and mass mobilizations. More than a hundred thousand people from across Arizona marched on the state capitol on May 29. Today, hundreds more have pledged to risk arrest through nonviolent direct action. These are the public manifestations of a widespread struggle happening in this state. The organizations leading this fight offer a template of inspiring and strategic action for people around the US who want to join in resistance to these policies.
A Rogue State
Yesterday, Federal District Court Judge Susan Bolton issued a preliminary injunction against sections of Arizona law SB 1070, which is scheduled to go into effect today. The judge put a hold on some of the most outrageous parts of the bill, such as language that mandates racial profiling by officers. However, Judge Bolton left much of the rest of the law intact, including sections that specifically target day laborers.
For Arizona activists, the legal ruling represents - at best - a small respite. "It's not a victory, it's a relief," says Pablo Alvarado of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON). "We're putting a band aid on a wound."
Alvarado and the organizers with NDLON are part of a broad network of national organizations and volunteers who have joined with local organizers to fight not just against this unjust law, but also against a general climate of anti-immigrant hatred. "Arizona is a rogue state," says Alvarado. "We're going to use every single means that we have at our disposal to fight back."
Puente Arizona, a Phoenix-based organization that describes itself as a human rights movement working to "resurrect our humanity," has formed Barrio Defense Committees in neighborhoods across the city. Emulating the structure of groups founded by popular movements in El Salvador, the community-based structure work to both serve basic needs, and also build consciousness and help bring people together. The committees host regular "know your rights" trainings and ESL classes, and are organizing Copwatch projects. "We ask the community to unite and organize themselves," says Puente activist Diana Perez Ramirez. "And we are just there to support that." More than one thousand people have joined these neighborhood organizations so far, with more joining every day.
Puente has made use of volunteers from across the US, utilizing national support to help with local organizing, and initiating direct action with the support of out of town allies like The Ruckus Society, Catalyst Project, and various chapters of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS). They have issued calls to action including a Human Rights Summer (modeled after the civil rights movements' Freedom Summer) and "30 Days for Human Rights," a month of actions culminating in mass civil disobedience today, the day SB 1070 will become law.
Just after midnight, as the law took effect, the first protest of the day began. Nearly 80 people blocked the intersection at the entrance to the town of Guadelupe, a small - one square mile - Native American and Latino community just outside of Phoenix. Residents and elected leadership in the town have a history of public criticism of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who has been one of the main public faces of SB 1070, and most of the protesters (and all of the organizers) were from the community. Holding signs declaring their opposition to the new law and leading chants against police brutality, activists declared that Arpaio's officers are not welcome in their town - a point they made concrete by physically blocking the main road leading in. The stand off against police lasted more than an hour, before protest leaders in consultation with the town's mayor decided to open the intersection. Several more actions are planned for throughout today, and Arpaio has threatened mass arrests.
Working Proactively
The Repeal Coalition, a Flagstaff- and Phoenix-based grassroots organization, was formed in 2007. The group came together because they saw a vacuum in the immigrants' rights movement in Arizona. "Some of the left here were not being very audacious," explains Luis Fernandez of the Repeal Coalition. "The positions in the public debate ranged from 'kick them all out,' to 'get their labor and then kick them out.'" The Repeal Coalition has staked out a position of calling for the elimination of all anti-immigration laws, declaring, "We fight for the right for people to live, love, and work wherever they please." With this call, says Fernandez, "Now we can have a real debate."
When the coalition was founded, organizers brought in labor activists to advise them on how to build an organization along similar models to those that have built strong unions, utilizing house calls, neighborhood mapping, and group meetings. Although they are an all-volunteer group with little to no funding, they have developed a structure that has initiated large protests and provided direct service, and they are now strategizing more ways to take direct action and non-compliance in the post SB 1070 era.
Fernandez says that this struggle is ultimately about overcoming fear and moving from reaction to proactive action. "We've been in a crisis in Arizona for a long time," he explains. "Even if SB 1070 weren't implemented, it wouldn't matter. The political crisis would continue." To address this crisis, Fernandez believes organizations must build unity across race and class. "Traditionally in America, when the working class starts suffering, instead of connecting together and looking upwards at the cause of the problem, they look sideways or downwards for who to blame." Most importantly, he believes activists must take action to seize the initiative.
In this vision, he has been inspired by young organizers working on the DREAM ACT, a federal law that creates a path to citizenship for undocumented youth. "They came to Arizona and said, 'we're undocumented and we're going to commit acts of civil disobedience.'" At first, Repeal Coalition members tried to talk them out of this action, but the youth explained, "We are going to lose our fear because it is the fear of being arrested or the fear of being deported that fuels the inability of political action." The bravery and vision of these youth has inspired Fernandez to continue to search for new and bold ways to take action, rather than just continually respond to right wing attacks. "We need to set the agenda," explains Fernandez. "We have to say, 'No, you're going to react to us.'"
Despite a range of tactics and philosophies, one thing organizers here have in common is a dedication to exporting the lessons of their struggle. While Arizona's law is the first and most draconian, similar laws are pending across the country. And during this current national economic crisis, more and more politicians have found that they can score political points by demonizing immigrants. "The last two months we've had a lot of people calling us asking what they can do to help Arizona," says Fernandez. "We say, organize in your own town. You don't have to come to Arizona because Arizona is coming to you."
The Fight Against SB 1070
Posted On Tuesday, July 13, 2010 at at 8:26 PM by Dan
This isn't in the South, but it is about organizing. It's also a great essay. Fight SB 1070! Free Arizona!
Miracles, Democracy, and the Fight Against SB 1070
By Joel Olson
One by one we go around the room. We state our name and why we are here at this meeting, seeking the repeal of SB 1070 and other anti-immigrant laws. “I want to keep my family together.” “I believe in human dignity.” “I’m afraid my family will be broken up.” “I believe in freedom for all people.” “I want a resolution to this problem.” “I want a new world.”
This is what my Wednesday nights have been like since the passage of SB 1070 in April: for three hours I sit in a hot, sweaty room at the local Catholic church in Flagstaff, Arizona, with anywhere from 25 to 50 adults plus a gaggle of little kids. It’s a meeting of the Repeal Coalition, an all-volunteer, grassroots organization that is struggling for the repeal of all anti-immigrant laws in Arizona. Three-quarters or more of the participants are Latino. About that many are undocumented or related to someone who is. Women outnumber men, and they participate more. The discussion is noisy and animated, and mostly in Spanish, with people doing the best they can to translate into English or vice-versa. Often just the gist gets translated. (Someone says a joke in Spanish and three-quarters of the room erupts in laughter and the rest of us smile sheepishly, then someone says a joke in English and it goes the other way.) But somehow we feel like part of the same group. The kids in the adjacent room tear through the paper and crayons and cheap toys until someone pops in a video. By 8:30 p.m., exhausted, we clap it out, clean up, socialize, and take care of the little things we couldn’t get to in the formal meeting. Then we all go home, do the work we volunteered to do, and come back fighting the next Wednesday.
This is what democracy looks like.
In Arizona right now, this is the lull before the storm. SB 1070 is scheduled to become law on July 29. If you don’t know, SB 1070 is the notorious anti-immigrant law that makes it a state crime to be undocumented, requires everyone in the state to carry ID (“Your papers, please!”), makes it a crime to give an undocumented person a ride in your car or a meal in your home, and practically mandates racial profiling.
On July 29, if the police have “reasonable suspicion” that you are undocumented, you will be ripped from your family and thrown in jail.
On July 29, if you give a ride in your car or allow into your home a person you know is undocumented, you are “recklessly disregarding” that person’s legal status and can be arrested for “harboring” an “illegal alien.”
On July 29, if you get stopped by the cops and you don’t have identification on you, this will count as “reasonable suspicion” that you may be in the country illegally, and you are subject to arrest, no matter where you are from.
If this sounds to you like the makings of a police state, well, it does to me, too.
When Governor Jan Brewer signed 1070 into law at the end of April, Arizonans took to the streets in the tens of thousands. We organized protests, held community forums, and spoke out wherever we could: the state capitol, trailer parks in Phoenix, Flagstaff City Hall, the borders of the Tohono O’odham nation, neighborhoods in South Tucson.
After the crowds died down, the lawyers stepped in. To date at least six lawsuits have been filed that seek to prevent SB 1070 from going into effect, including one by the Obama administration.
Undocumented folks and their loved ones are holding their breath, praying that the lawsuits will succeed. But many of them aren’t putting all of their eggs in that basket. They know that ultimately, only grassroots action will defeat this evil law.
Which brings us to the meetings.
Americans generally don’t know how to run a meeting, or participate in one. We can vote, we can speechify, and we can scream at each other, but we rarely debate constructively and in a way that encourages the participation of all. Our political system simply isn’t set up for that. Instead, what typically happens is that the people vote once a year or so and the politicians do the work—with the help of lobbyists, bureaucrats, judges, and lawyers, lots of lawyers. It’s actually a really limited form of democracy, when you think about it.
But the meetings of the Repeal Coalition are entirely different. They are utterly ordinary, yet incredible. The great Marxist revolutionary C.L.R. James once wrote a pamphlet about direct democracy called “Every Cook Can Govern.” He would have been inspired to see these cooks, cleaners, servers, chamber maids, college students, linen service workers, teachers, maintenance workers, warehouse clerks, and cashiers practice democracy in Arizona. And the Coalition doesn’t just go through the motions of democracy like most American voters; we debate politics. We come together, discuss the right thing to do, develop strategy, make decisions, and carry them out. People (mostly) raise their hand to speak and (mostly) listen patiently to others. And we do all of this in two languages!
The political theorist Hannah Arendt claims that ordinary people directly participating in politics is literally a miracle. Miracles, she argues, are the spontaneous creation of something new. This, she argues, is precisely what people acting in the public sphere do: they create a new beginning, a new community, a new political possibility, something that has never existed before.
That’s what happens every Wednesday night in Phoenix and Flagstaff. At one recent meeting, for example, Flagstaff Repeal discusses the finer points of a resolution we’ve written that demands the repeal of all anti-immigrant legislation in the state of Arizona. The resolution, which we hope the city council will pass, calls for the city to proclaim itself a safe haven for all people, whether they have papers or not. We discuss and then approve the resolution unanimously, to great applause. We then move on to developing strategy for how to get the city council to pass it. From there we discuss the situation of some undocumented workers who have been unjustly treated and fired by the local Hampton Inn, and then to plans for a protest and march against SB 1070 in downtown Flagstaff for the coming Saturday. The facilitator (who is doubling as translator) gets us through the agenda so that we can end by 8:30. We all marvel at what a great job she did—and it was her first time. The meeting ends by “clapping it out,” or a slow, disorganized clap that increases in speed and synchronization, leading to a crescendo of group unity and power until it bursts into individual applause again, reminding us of how the individual and the collective are interdependent.
These meetings are inspiring, boring, disciplined, way off track, frustrating, empowering, intimidating, and awesome—often at the same time. Like I said, this is what democracy looks like.
The Repeal Coalition’s slogan is “Fight for the freedom to live, love, and work wherever you please.” But this slogan is meaningless without another: “All people deserve the right to have an equal say in those affairs that affect their daily lives.” Democracy is not voting for elites every four years while quietly fuming at the tyranny of your boss for 40 hours a week (more if you’re undocumented). It’s the ability of all people to have a say in those affairs that affect their daily life. At our meetings, we seek to live out this principle of radical democracy. It’s built into the very heart of the Repeal Coalition: the weekly meeting.
The Repeal Coalition has been meeting every week since March 2008. For the first few months there were between a dozen and 20 people. Sometimes there were four of us, staring at each other, wondering what the hell to do next. That was the case last January, for example. Thanks to an inside source, we knew the notorious bill that would soon be named SB 1070 was coming, even before it was made public. We talked about how we needed to build a movement to fight it. But there were just four of us. What the hell could we do?
And then in April the world discovered SB 1070, and we went from six people to 40 to 60 in two weeks (plus 20 kids—I spent several meetings doing childcare in the adjacent room, occasionally sticking my head in the meeting room to hear what was going on). The primary language went from English to Spanish. The college students, who were formerly a majority in the group, became outnumbered by servers and laundry workers.
Since then we’ve had at least 25 people at every meeting. We’re busy, but we’re nervous. July 29 approaches. People don’t know yet how they are going to keep their families together. They are scared to drive, so they aren’t even sure how they’ll get to work, how they’ll get their kids to school, how they’ll shop for groceries. Down in Phoenix, Sheriff Joe Arpaio calls July 29 the “magic day” when he can truly begin to sweep the streets clean of brown people.
Another political theorist, Carl Schmitt, argues that the real miracle in politics is what he calls “the exception.” This is when a ruler declares an “extreme emergency” and suspends the rule of law. SB 1070 isn’t quite a miracle in this respect, because it is the law, even if it does suspend liberty and decency. Regardless, July 29 is Arpaio’s miracle.
In the face of this, Repeal keeps meeting, planning, fighting, and conjuring our own miracle.
The question in Arizona right now, as July 29 approaches, is which miracle will win out, the miracle of grassroots democracy or the “miracle” of unrestrained state power; the miracle of a new Arizona, in which ordinary people—with “papers” or without—control the affairs that affect their daily lives, or of the old Arizona, in which nativist politicians and business interests determine how the rest of us live.
I’m not sure which Arizona will win. But I’m damn sure that I’m not going to leave it to the lawyers. I’ll see you at the next meeting.
Joel Olson is a member of the Repeal Coalition, which meets every Wednesday night. The Coalition can be reached at www.repealcoalition.org or repealcoalition@gmail.com.
May Day March for Immigrant Freedom
Posted On Thursday, April 29, 2010 at at 6:58 PM by Dan
This information is pulled from the Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights. The march is set for May Day, May 1. 10am at the Capitol Building in downtown Atlanta. Here's GLAHR's info:
MARCH FOR REFORM!
IMMIGRATION REFORM NOW!
STOP RACIAL PROFILING!
REUNITE FAMILIES!
PASS THE DREAM ACT!
STOP 287G!
MARCH WITH US!!!
Full immigration reform for all now! Stop the raids and deportations!
You are invited to march and rally in Atlanta, May 1st. at 10 AM.
Join thousands in front of the Capitol Building and urge GA Senators to take leadership and move legislation forward in 2010. Keep families together and help our American economy. :)
For info contact GHLAR or ABLE
or call: 770-457-5232
March and Rally Details:
9:30- 10:00am Prayer for ABLE
10:00 am- MARCH TOWARDS THE CAPITOL
10:30- 11:00am - Prayer
11:00-1 pm - homage to Martin Luther King Jr. during the march
1:00 - 2:30pm - RALLY IN THE CAPITOL
2:30 - 3:00pm - clean up
What you can bring:
Personal water and/or food
plastic bag for your trash
White Balloons
Musical Instruments
White Clothes or a White T-Shirt
Posters
Here are some examples:
OBAMA: STOP RAIDS
OBAMA: REUNITE FAMILIES
OBAMA: QUALITY LIFE FOR WORKERS
OBAMA: STOP DEPORTATIONS
OBAMA: FAIR JOBS FOR WORKERS
OBAMA: STOP A REIGN OF TERROR
OBAMA: RELIEF TO THE UNDOCUMENTED
OBAMA: PASS THE DREAM ACT
OBAMA: STOP 287G
OBAMA: STOP RACIAL PROFILING
(but please dont use sticks for the posters or the balloons)
What you can do during the march:
We need people to pass out the papers with the songs that will be sung during the march
Keep your cool and not respond to insults or threats
What NOT to do during the march:
NO ALCOHOL
NO GUNS
NO WEAPONS OF ANY KIND
NO GRAFFITY
NO LOITERING
NO SPITTING
NO FLAGS OF AAAAANNNNNYYYYYYYYYYYYY COUNTRY!!!!!
How you can help prior to the March:
Donations to afford cops in the area, sound equipment, etc (with ABLE and GHLAR)
Volunteers to distribute flyers to our community and stores
Volunteers to install equipment and after-march clean up
To offer your help contact GLAHR at 770-457-5232
LETS MAKE THIS HAPPEN PEOPLE!!!!!!!! WOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)
EL PUEBLO UNIDO JAMAS SERA VENCIDO ;) ;)
A Response to Sgt. Keher
Posted On Wednesday, November 11, 2009 at at 1:20 PM by Dan
The Sunday Paper recently ran an open letter from Sgt. Scott Kreher. Sgt Kreher is president of the police union and a veteran of the Atlanta Police Department. After reading the letter I had some questions I would like to ask Sgt. Kreher.
I recently read your letter to the Atlanta mayoral candidates, “Save Our Cops: An open letter to Atlanta's next mayor.” In your letter you mention that in order “save our cops” the city should implement certain changes including pay raises, tuition reimbursement, and other steps to help reduce police turnover.
1) Creating a Search Committee to conduct a nationwide search for the next Chief of Police, and guaranteeing that this committee include members of the ACRB and concerned community members;
2) Appointing a police chief who publicly commits to ensuring full cooperation with the ACRB, including the disciplining of officers who refuse to comply; and
3) Calling for, and supporting a full ACRB investigation of the REDDOG unit with a commitment to following the recommendations produced by such an inquiry.
However, I would say this is only a first step. For the APD to really show it deserves support the department, the chief, and the union will have to support a fully funded civilian review board with subpoena power. The funding for the board can come from the same sources you outline in your letter. Towing fees, license enforcement, and better contracting of supplies (quartermastering) sound like a decent way of raising the funds. Personally, I’m willing to go on trust that this will work. The Southern Center for Human Rights has a report on the Atlanta civilian review board, including recommendations to make the board effective. If you and the rest of the police are willing to accept those recommendations, I’m sure the people of Atlanta wouldn’t begrudge you a small pay raise and tuition reimbursement. What do you say? If your answer is no, then what exactly about the APD is worth saving?
APN Report on BLOCS Press Conference
Posted On Tuesday, November 10, 2009 at at 1:46 PM by Dan
The Atlanta Progressive News wrote up a story on the police accountability press conference by BLOCS (Building Locally to Organize for Community Safety). You can read the full BLOCS letter at their website. Below is the APN report.
Group Calls for Citizen Review Board Powers, Red Dog Investigation
By Jonathan Springston, Senior Staff Writer, The Atlanta Progressive News (November 09, 2009)
http://www.atlantaprogressivenews.com/news/0543.html
A coalition led by Atlanta Building Locally to Organize for Community Safety (BLOCS) sent a letter to each of the Mayoral candidates prior to the General Election, asking that each pledge to lead a nationwide search for a new police chief, strengthen the Atlanta Citizen Review Board (ACRB), and call for a ACRB investigation of the Atlanta Police Department’s (APD) Red Dog Unit.
"Having a police force that is accountable to the community it serves is a bedrock principle of community and public safety," Moki Macias of Atlanta BLOCS said. "All of our Mayoral candidates have spoken of increasing numbers on our police force. What we’re now asking is that they commit to increasing the quality of the department by supporting community involvement and strong oversight mechanisms."
Several speakers offered troubling testimonials about clashes with police.
Felicia Kennedy, a West End resident, witnessed APD officers beating an unarmed suspect in front of her house on October 15, she said. When she began taking pictures of the incident, the officers confiscated the camera and placed Kennedy under arrest "for trying to be a member of my community."
"What is happening is not community policing," she said. "We need a more responsible police force."
Robby Kelley, co-owner of the Atlanta Eagle, experienced first-hand Red Dog tactics when 25 members of the controversial squad raided his club on September 10, a story first reported by Atlanta Progressive News.
Kelley recounted how officers stormed the bar with no warrant and forced employees and patrons to lie face down on the floor while the unit searched for drugs and inspected licenses.
He remembered officers enjoying the raid and using derogatory language, with one allegedly exclaiming, "We should do this to a fag bar every week."
"Not every member of the Atlanta police force are representative of [these officers]," Kelley said. "But those responsible should be held accountable."
The Atlanta City Council created the ACRB in the wake of the 2006 APD shooting of 92 year-old Kathryn Johnston to investigate questionable police action.
But without subpoena power, the ACRB remains a toothless body that has no ability to force APD cooperation.
Macias told APN three APD officers that week had said they would refuse to cooperate with any ACRB request unless Chief Richard Pennington directs them to do so.
"There is a culture here in the APD that is not accountable and is not transparent," she said. "We call for quality of officers before we have quantity of officers."
Former mayoral candidate Kyle Keyser, founder of Atlantans Together Against Crime (ATAC), concurred that the issue is "quality and not quantity when it comes to the Atlanta Police Department."
"Not all police officers are bad," former candidate Jesse Spikes said. "There are many officers out there doing hard work and I will support those doing that work."
Mary Norwood, Kasim Reed, and former candidate Lisa Borders were not on hand but representatives from the campaigns affirmed their support of the pledge.
Norwood's campaign first learned of the Atlanta BLOCS pledge when APN contacted their organization the day before the press conference. Norwood's campaign noted that they have stated their preference for a local police chief, although Atlanta BLOCS told APN they did not think that was inconsistent with the pledge because a national search could start locally.
There were also former candidates for Atlanta City Council on hand, including Dwanda Farmer (Post 1 At-Large), Darrien Fletcher (District 3), and former ACRB member LaShawn Hoffman (District 4), each of whom support the pledge.
Macias told APN that the community should be able to judge the police by "how much they respect the community."
"We want a transparent process... because that’s going to start them on the right path to healing with the community."
Interview with Rep. Grayson
Posted On Saturday, October 03, 2009 at at 11:22 AM by Dan
I'm glad Grayson is making the distinction between a truly criminal organization, like Blackwater, and ACORN. If Congress would cut off funding to any corporation guilty of violating federal law, then that legislation would be valuable. Otherwise, it's simply a right-wing attack on community organizing. This article is taken from The Huffington Post.
It's Not Just ACORN, Says Congressman Grayson
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kathleen-wells/its-not-just-acorn-says-c_b_307999.html?view=print
Posted Oct 2, 2009.
Freshman Congressman Alan Grayson (D-FL) is making national headlines with his success in broadening the reach of a bill Congress recently passed that will preclude the controversial community organizing group known as ACORN from receiving any federal money. He believes the bill can and should also be used to stop federal funding of government contractors that he says have earned the title of "crook."
I talked with Congressman Grayson in detail about his efforts to stop the government cash flow to contractors that cheat the government and overcharge the American taxpayers.
Kathleen Wells: What do you believe was the intent behind the recently passed legislation known as the Defund ACORN Act?
Congressman Alan Grayson: I think that the Republicans' intent was to defund ACORN (the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now). But in the process, they defunded crooks all through the military industrial complex and I look forward to their inadvertent efforts in the future to bring about world peace and end hunger.
Kathleen Wells: You're convinced that Republicans were intent on specifically eliminating federal funding for ACORN?
Congressman Grayson: Yes.
Kathleen Wells: But the bill also eliminated funding for other government contractors.
Congressman Grayson: Crooked contractors, yes.
Kathleen Wells: Does ACORN fall into the category of crooked organizations?
Congressman Grayson: Well, it's for the justice system to determine that, not me. I'm not a judge. I'm not a jury. I haven't heard the evidence. I don't know how it would be meaningful for someone who hasn't heard any of the evidence to give an opinion about that. Correct me if I'm wrong, but one is innocent until proven guilty. At least, that's what I thought.
Kathleen Wells: The Congressional Research Institute has indicated that the Defund ACORN Act is likely to be ruled unconstitutional. What are the consequences with your legislative history being attached to this bill?
Congressman Grayson: I think that when the courts decide -- if it comes to whether the bill is constitutional or not -- they [the courts] will take into account the legislative history that I [have] offered.
Kathleen Wells: This bill was introduced and passed after an ACORN employee(s) in Baltimore were/was caught with a hidden camera making incriminating statements to a man and a woman posing as a pimp and a prostitute. Although ACORN has a 30-year history of helping low-income people, many Democrats voted in favor of the Defund ACORN bill. Do you think those Democrats who supported the bill are being short sighted?
Congressman Grayson: I think your question doesn't properly characterize the reason why I voted for the bill. I voted for the bill because it defunds crooks. You have to ask other people why they voted for the bill -- I can't speak for them. I voted because I saw the possibility that we could actually shut off the flow of cash to contractors who have cheated the taxpayers and hurt the troops.
Kathleen Wells: Tell me about the Project Of Government Oversight (POGO).
Congressman Grayson: Sure. POGO was [sic] a long-standing organization. We called them for help after the bill passed and before we put in our legislative history to help us identify all the different contractors who have been found guilty of fraud and are still receiving contracts from the government. They gave us their list and we also went online and received literally hundreds of tips about contractors, along with specific documentation, showing that they had cheated the government. We are in the process of putting that information together and using it. When I say using it, what I mean by that is, defunding the crooks.
Kathleen Wells: How do you specifically intend to do that?
Congressman Grayson: We are going to push to make sure the legislation is signed by the President. We are also going to take the information that we received and make sure that the agency authorities (I'm referring to debarring officials) who are in charge of making sure that contracts don't go to corrupt contractors [will] have the information that we have.
Kathleen Wells: Why is an effort to defund these crooks just being done now?
Congressman Grayson: Because I just got elected.
Kathleen Wells: Why wasn't anyone doing it before?
Congressman Grayson: You'd have to ask them - I don't know. But I've been fighting war profiteers in Iraq for five years. That's what I've been doing. I guess we all have to decide how we are going to spend our time. We have a lot of freedom in Congress to make our own priorities and this is one of mine.
Kathleen Wells: Why are you the only one speaking out on this issue?
Congressman Grayson: I don't think I'm the only one. For goodness sake, look at Congressman Waxman, who is now the Chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee. He has been speaking out about this for literally decades.
Kathleen Wells: Yet, nothing has been done?
Congressman Grayson: Well, I wouldn't say nothing has been done. But now, we are going to finally put the nail in their coffin.
Kathleen Wells: What is your position on Blackwater?
Congressman Grayson: Blackwater, like many other contractors, has already been found guilty of over-charging the government or liable for over-charging the government and I think the problem is pervasive throughout the entire military industrial complex. In the case of Blackwater, they have done far worse. They have seriously undermined the safety of the troops and undermined the [troops'] mission. But the bill, as written, applies to contractors who cheat the government whether or not it has that awful effect [like that created by contractors such as Blackwater].
Kathleen Wells: Approximately how many government contractors are included on your list?
Congressman Grayson: Hundreds.
Kathleen Wells: What does that say to you?
Congressman Grayson: It's says to me that corruption, cheating the taxpayer and hurting the troops and their mission is something that has become pervasive in government contracting.
Kathleen Wells: Tell me how hiring crooked contractors are hurting the troops? Be specific.
Congressman Grayson: I think we've all heard over and over again how that happens. They have electrocuted our troops in their showers. They have feed them poisoned water, dirtier than the Euphrates River. Time and time again, they have endangered the troops and, from time to time, even killed them.
The Army found KBR guilty of homicide. That's the Army's own finding.
Kathleen Wells: What was done about that?
Congressman Grayson: Nothing.
Kathleen Wells: You say this is something that has become pervasive in government contracting?
Congressman Grayson: Don't take my word for it. Just look at the list. Go ahead and attach our list to your report. People can draw their own conclusions. It's not a matter of what I say. That's not important. What's important are the facts that we have already collected. Look at POGO's list. POGO's list has virtually every single one of the top hundred government contractors being found guilty of over-charging the government and cheating the taxpayers. Look at the list - it's documented.
Kathleen Wells: If you are successful in defunding the hundreds of allegedly dishonest contractors on your list, will there be other, honest contractors to replace them?
Congressman Grayson: Of course. This is America. It's not that hard to find honest people.
Kathleen Wells: If it's not hard to find honest people, then why does your list total hundreds?
Congressman Grayson: Because the government has tolerated this and rewarded it by giving these people more contracts.
Kathleen Wells: You paint a picture of the government being the victim. What do you say about the government being complicit?
Congressman Grayson: The government is a big place. You should be more specific. Who are you talking about when you are talking about the government being complicit? Are you talking about the executive branch, the legislative branch [or] the judicial branch? Are you talking about specific agencies? What do you mean?
Kathleen Wells: Who is specifically in charge of hiring these crooked contractors?
Congressman Grayson: Well, it's the executive branch and, specifically, the contracting officers. And it's a phenomenon called the revolving door. What happens is: they keep giving contracts to contractors, no matter what their ethics or lack thereof, because, in many cases, they hope that one day these contractors will hire them and, in many cases, they do. In many cases, they hire them for four times their government salary and everybody is happy, except the American taxpayer.
Kathleen Wells: Is the Government Oversight Committee looking at this situation?
Congressman Grayson: Certainly, when Chairman Waxman was in charge of that Committee, they looked at it vigorously and consistently and I think that Chairman Edolphus Towns will do the same.
Kathleen Wells: Would you say there's been a pattern and practice?
Congressman Grayson: Of course. Look at POGO's list. We've reached the point now where the honest ones feel stupid.
Kathleen Wells: There have been rumblings that SEIU (Service Employees International Union) will be the next GOP target for defunding because of the relationship SEIU has with ACORN. What are your thoughts on that prospect?
Congressman Grayson: It's what I [have] said before. We live in a system of laws, not organizations. Every allegation of misconduct should be investigated thoroughly and whatever punishment is appropriate should be meted out. We can't run this country on the basis of a Republican "enemies list." We have to allow justice to take its course. In the case of these contractors, justice has already taken its course. These are contractors who been found guilty or liable for cheating the government already.
Kathleen Wells: Yet, those same contractors continue to receive government funding.
Congressman Grayson: That's right.
Kathleen Wells: Is this something you have been pursuing before?
Congressman Grayson: Government contracting - for sure. Before I was elected to Congress, I prosecuted war profiteers in Iraq and I was a government contract lawyer for 20 years.
Kathleen Wells: So, this is a continuation of that for you?
Congressman Grayson: Well, you could call it that. But really [it] is a continuation to make sure that taxpayer dollars are not wasted.
Kathleen Wells: Was addressing this issue your primary purpose in running for Congress?
Congressman Grayson: No, I specifically ran for Congress, more than anything else, to try and end the war. But I [also] ran for Congress because I thought I could do a better a job representing my people, the people of central Florida, than the four-term Republican incumbent who had done nothing.
Right Wing is Not Attacking ACORN, They're Attacking Organizing
Posted On Thursday, October 01, 2009 at at 12:47 PM by Dan
This is a great article by Rinku Sen. It puts the attacks in great perspectives.
ACORN Is the New Dirty Word
New America Media, Commentary, Rinku Sen, Posted: Oct 01, 2009
http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=e73a5389ff08d6f3779f0480ec5a5d64
Over the last 18 months, conservatives have launched a nationwide assault on the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), which is now peaking with widespread media coverage and Congressional action. This isn’t the first time that the 37-year-old organization has been under attack. With chapters in more than half the 50 states, it is arguably the largest national network that consistently organizes truly poor people, the vast majority being immigrants and people of color. In that time, ACORN has helped communities organize for desperately needed changes, from living wage ordinances to policies that protect every child’s right to a high quality education. In this time, ACORN has angered many a local politician and multinational corporation, and these folks would be perfectly happy not only to see ACORN go down, but also to deal a blow to poor people organizing for power.
There are three major accusations against the group. First, that there is widespread financial corruption; second that they engage in massive voter fraud; and finally that they have too many different entities hiding their relationship to each other to get around legal limitations. As a natural outgrowth of its organizing, ACORN has provided critical services, including mortgage counseling, voter registration and tax preparation. These services were sometimes funded through federal government contracts, and it is those contracts that Congress is now threatening to end.
The only hard fact is that there was embezzlement. Though problematic, it was addressed both within and outside of the organization. The rest is a mash-up of misinformation with a lot of red-baiting and race-baiting, as Peter Dreier, the Dr. E.P. Clapp Distinguished Professor of Politics, and director of the Urban & Environmental Policy Program at Occidental College in Los Angeles, and others have reported.
These fabrications are designed to arouse distrust of collective action. The campaign against ACORN serves as an attack on organizing as a whole, which no community of color can afford not to do. We can see it from the denunciation of President Obama’s background in community organizing to Glenn Beck’s attacks on environmental leader Van Jones, cultural leader Yosi Sergeant and FCC Diversity Chief Mark Lloyd. This attack, like those, is a warning to anyone who adopts organizing as a social change strategy.
Does ACORN need tighter internal controls? Certainly, and so do most community organizations, which are perpetually cash-strapped, in part because funders are never interested in funding “overhead” and “administration.” If the search for “corruption” among community-based organizations gathers steam, I guarantee that any number of groups will be tied up in investigative hell for years. It’s dangerous to imagine that once they’re done with ACORN, the right won’t come looking for that one mistake you made years ago that can be attached to a bunch of lies to discredit and take down your organization. Obviously, we should pay attention to our inner workings, whether someone is paying for that or not, but even the most rigorous internal scrutiny won’t save us from a well-funded opposition that is willing to lie.
The attack on ACORN isn’t about fighting corruption. If it was, then dozens of corporations with federal contracts far larger than ACORN’s would be under investigation now, or would already have been cut off. The anti-ACORN Senate bill implicates any government contractor that has fraudulent paperwork, or is accused of violating lobbying or campaign finance laws. That list includes Blackwater, the private security contractor that has been implicated in civilian deaths during the Iraq war. Florida Congressman Alan Grayson is collecting a list of such contractors.
Of course, Congress could make ACORN obsolete by passing and enforcing laws that protect poor people from being pushed to the margins of society. Instead of paying ACORN to register voters, the federal government could actually punish voter suppression, which is largely directed at people of color and immigrants. It could adopt automatic voter registration systems that would be triggered by an 18th birthday or driver’s license being issued. It could pass predatory lending laws that protect us from insane interest rates, and then ACORN wouldn’t have to counsel its members about avoiding foreclosure.
The assault on ACORN is an assault on community organizing. Organizing is essential to building the power of poor people, immigrants and people of color to protect their interests. This is the time to stand up for ACORN, not just to keep this vital part of our national infrastructure, but also to prevent the hate from tying up all of us. That’s why we must demand that our election officials and media outlets stop this unwarranted campaign against the poor and people of color.
