Alabama Organizing Project

Social Media Training for Equal Voice Convention

admin — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 18:18:14 +0000

On May 20th, youth from around the country will come together to use social media to report on the Equal Voice 2012 Online Convention. Young people will discuss the issues facing their community and the solutions needed for their futures. If you are interested in joining the Social Media Team for the 2012 Convention, email Kate (kate.shuster[at]gmail.com) by May 2nd.

Through a 1-2 hour group or individual online training (you choose), you’ll learn:

How to use Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Facebook to report on a live event like a journalist.
How to use social media to influence public opinion and reach journalists and decision makers.
How to engage in a nationwide conversation about the issues facing your community.

You can report on the Convention from Birmingham or from your home – all you need is a smartphone or a computer.

Download a flyer about the social media team (PDF).

Power Analysis Worksheets Posted

admin — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 19:53:21 +0000

March 17, the 2012 GLD class attended a training on Power Analysis. The training was in Birmingham, and facilitated by Greater Birmingham Ministries organizers Tari Williams and William Blackerby. The handouts for homework due at our next meeting April 21 are now online, in two parts. Each is a PDF. They are archived on the GLD Documents page.

New ACPP Health Care Fact Sheet

admin — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 20:44:33 +0000

Arise Citizens’ Policy Project has released a new fact sheet about heath care reform. It shows how the Affordable Care Act is helping Alabama’s seniors. Download the fact sheet as a PDF by clicking here.

HICA Seeks Legal Services Director

admin — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 20:40:57 +0000

The Hispanic Interest Coalition of Alabama (¡HICA!) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that facilitates the social, civic and economic integration of Hispanics in Alabama. ¡HICA! is seeking a highly motivated person who speak both English and Spanish and is a licensed attorney to head up the Immigration and Access to Justice Program. The IAJ Program works in two ways with immigrants in Alabama – through assisting low income immigrants who are eligible to move along the citizenship continuum and to connect low income immigrants with quality legal services to increase their access to justice through the legal system. ¡HICA! is located in Birmingham, Alabama and works across the state with immigrants from across the world. If you are a person who is passionate for justice, enjoys a stimulating work environment, embraces challenges and desires to make a difference, please send resume’s to Isabel Rubio irubio@hispanicinterest.org. We will be accepting your resume through March 23, 2012.

Download the job description here.

HICA Seeks Northern Alabama Organizer

admin — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 19:55:54 +0000

AOP partner HICA, the Hispanic Interest Coalition of Alabama, is seeking a community organizer for Northern Alabama. Here’s an excerpt from the job description:

The Organizer- North Alabama – for the Community Engagement and Education Program is a fulltime position for a bilingual-bicultural Spanish/English individual who will work flexible hours to build leadership in the immigrant Latino community, educate our host community on the Hispanic culture and advocate for the social, civic and economic integration of Latino immigrants in Alabama. This position spends about 50% of the time outside the ¡HICA! office.

Download the job description here. Please help them find a great person for this important work.

Rally for Disability Services

admin — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 19:41:07 +0000

Budget cuts are endangering critical services for the disabled. Beth Blalock (GLD ’12) is organizing people for Alabama’s 2012 Disabilities Advocacy Day, which will be held in Montgomery on March 8th. A flyer for the event is here.The event’s agenda is as follows:

9:15 a.m. Registration Begins
10:00 a.m. Welcome and Advocacy Training
10:45 a.m. Rally and Press Conference++
11:15 a.m. Meet and Greet with Alabama Elected Officials++
12:00 p.m. Appointments with Legislative Delegates (Please schedule these in advance for yourself and your group.)
2:30 p.m. Advocacy Day Ends

++ Please extend a personal invitation to your local delegation to attend these events. Formal invitations have been delivered.

Please RSVP by completing the registration form at www.aladan.org. Online registration will be available beginning February 20, 2012. The AL DAN website can be used as a resource to plan your day. Updates will be made periodically to the site. Either registration form may be used to request accommodations. Requests for accommodations should be made by February 27, 2012.

AL DAN is looking for individuals who would like assist in organizing local efforts to bring people to Montgomery. If you would like to assist with this, please call the AL DAN office at (205) 251-2223 Ext. 113 or email beth.aldan@bellsouth.net.

Selma to Montgomery March

admin — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 22:32:31 +0000

Groups from across Alabama and the United States are joining together to march from Selma to Montgomery March 4-9, 2012. Download the flyer here as a PDF file and read all about the plans. Each day will have a “theme,” with different groups participating in marching and mass meetings in the evening. It promises to be an inspiring event bringing people together to get serious about moving Alabama forward. In a nutshell, the agenda is as follows:

Sunday, March 4: Gather in front of Brown Chapel AME Church in Selma at 1:30 for the pre-march rally. Cross the bridge and march to mile marker 87.5.
Monday, March 5 is Education & Voting Rights day.
Tuesday, March 6 is Black Farmers & Voting Rights day.
Wednesday, March 7 is Labor & Voting Rights day.
Thursday, March 8 is Immigration & Voting Rights day.
Friday, March 9 will be a mass rally on the Capitol steps at noon.

Participants can come on any or all days, bring as many people as they can and be involved as much as possible. For more information, call 334-262-0932 or email statecoordinator[a]aol.com.

ACPP Conducting Health Care Trainings

admin — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 22:01:36 +0000

Dollie Hambrick, Health Reform Organizer for Arise Citizens’ Policy Project, is available to come to your community to educate people about the Affordable Care Act (ACA). She joined the GLD class of 2012 this past Saturday in Birmingham, teaching us a lot about the current and future state of Alabama’s health care access. Her presentation, titled “Making health care reform work for Alabama,” helped us understand the details of the ACA, including the Medicaid expansion and the coming health care exchange. The documents from Dollie’s presentation are available on our GLD Documents page here.

To contact Dollie and arrange a visit to your community meeting at no cost, call her at 800-832-9060 or email her at dollie[at]alarise.org.

Occupy our Homes

admin — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 21:31:42 +0000

Occupy Birmingham is asking for support in standing up for the rights of people to keep their homes in the face of wrongful eviction. Allyn Hudson (GLD ’12) has shared the case of the Ward Family and their struggle with Bank of America – it’s here on the Occupy Birmingham website. If you’re interested in supporting the Occupiers and the Ward Family, you can:

Sign their petition by clicking here.
Send this link to your friends, family and neighbors, and telling them about the Ward’s story.
Attend an Occupy Birmingham event (their online calendar is here)
Contact Occupy Birmingham for more information.

While we’re on the subject of Allyn Hudson, we should note that he was quoted in a recent New York Times story about the Jefferson County bankruptcies. Nice work!

Save Child Care Funding

admin — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 22:48:45 +0000

The Alabama Child Care Alliance announced this week that it is launching a petition drive. Their goal is to gather 30,000 signatures to show Alabama’s legislators that child care funding is essential for Alabama’s economic growth.

ACCA reports that funding for child care is in serious danger in the Alabama budget for 2013. The Department of Human Resources expects to have 25% less money in 2013 than it does in 2012.

For the past few years, with a commitment to child care and hard work, the Department has been able to maintain 28,000 children on the child care subsidy program. That goal will not be possible with huge cuts to the DHR budget.

Cuts in child care funding mean fewer children enrolled on the subsidy program, parents unable to work and more children in risky child care arrangements. State cuts also mean that Alabama will lose millions of dollars of federal child care money.

Take action and download a petition now by clicking here.

The petitions are due February 20. Please mail to the Alabama Child Care Alliance, PO Box 214, Montgomery, AL 36101 or bring them to the FOCAL Office, 3703 Rosa Parks Avenue, Montgomery, AL 36105. For more information, call Deborah Thomas at 334-262-3456.