June 18 Mass Poor People's & Low-Wage Workers' Assembly and Moral March on Washington and to the Polls

 

Dear Peoples Center Family and Friends,

The Peoples Center is excited to sponsor two buses and invite you to join the Mass Poor People’s & Low-Wage Workers’ Assembly and Moral March on Washington and to the Polls, on June 18th 2022. We are partnering with the Poor Peoples Campaign and are called to assemble and march in the nation’s capital as a broad coalition in response to the pain caused to all of us when there are 140 million poor and low-wealth people in this country. We are called to join together to shift the moral narrative, build power, and demand a national agenda that can realize the nation we have yet to be for so many.

Click on this link to get detailed information and sign up for the Peoples Center buses - first come first served. Deadline to sign up is June 15:  https://forms.gle/ZVuHK5fjWSb3KHFG8.

Together, we must challenge the lies of scarcity and the notion that this is the best we can do. Today, America has to guarantee living wages and adequate income, healthcare, affordable housing, quality public education, expanded voting rights and access to democracy, fair taxation, debt relief, just immigration, a climate where we can all thrive, and a world committed to peace rather than violence and war. 

For far too long our people – poor people, people of color, Indigenous nations, immigrant families, women, children, the disabled, and LGBTQ communities – have been under attack, pitted against each other, and blamed for society’s problems. But we are building a movement that brings people together across race, gender and sexuality, ability, faith, region, and more to turn our pain, fear, and anger into a united force to reconstruct the nation from the bottom up. 

On June 18, we will put a face and voice on the shameful conditions confronting this nation. Together, we will build a massive stage for our people to speak and force the nation to hear the truth. From this stage, we will not simply curse the darkness, but demonstrate our compelling power to right the wrongs of society. 

We invite you to join us because we can’t and won’t be silent anymore. Rather than being demoralized by the crises of our times, we must intensify and embolden our agitation at the ballot box, through the courts, and in the streets. Forward Together!

Click on this link to get detailed information and sign up for the Peoples Center buses - first come first served. Deadline to sign up is June 15.:  https://forms.gle/ZVuHK5fjWSb3KHFG8. 

For those who cannot come to Washington DC, the Peoples Center will host a live stream of the event on Sat June 18th from 11 am to 2 pm at 37 Howe Street, New Haven.  If you would like to attend please reply to: peoplescenter@pobox.com.

Thank You for Your Support of the New Haven Peoples Center During Great Giv

 

Appreciation to the 43 contributors who participated in the Peoples Center Great Give which raised a total of $7686! (Donations at the Great Give page totaled $3936 and checks totaled $3750.)

Your contributions carry forward the social justice mission of the New Haven Peoples Center and are a tribute to Art Perlo's outstanding leadership over decades. Together we are making a collective response to the attacks underway on democratic rights by supporting the New Haven Peoples Center and its unity building role.

Support the New Haven Peoples Center during Great Give May 4-5, 2022

The Great Give will take place on May 4-5, 2022. This year the New Haven Peoples Center dedicates all contributions to carry forward the magnificent legacy of Art Perlo who was always in the fore of the Peoples Center social justice, workers' rights and equality mission.

Please visit the PERA d-b-a New Haven Peoples Center Great Give page on May 4-5 and contribute as generously as you can. https://www.thegreatgive.org/organizations/pera-d-b-a-new-haven-peoples-center

Our Story: 

 The New Haven Peoples Center has been an all volunteer beacon for social justice, labor organizing, education, culture and peace for 85 years. During the pandemic we have provided human solidarity to all generations and communities even while our building has only been open on a limited basis until it is safe. In this past year food distributions, N-95 masks, rapid COVID tests and other relief and mutual aid has been provided to the immigrant community by Unidad Latina en Accion, as well as women's health workshops and workers' rights education. Assistance navigating social service and rent relief has been offered through the Jobs and Unemployed Committee. Capoeira Esperanza expanded the Peoples Center cultural offerings with regular classes in the martial art with freedom struggle roots from Brazil. We have served as a union meeting hall for 32BJ SEIU and others. We have joined in coalitions for a just Recovery For All and mobilized for virtual and in-person rallies, events and on-line petitions with the many organizations that call the Peoples Center home, as we continued our partnerships with the CT Alliance for Retired Americans and New Haven Rising. We are committed to carry on the magnificent legacy of Art Perlo who contributed so greatly to the Peoples Center, and look forward to opening our doors for the full array of unique programming that serves New Haven and Connecticut once the pandemic has settled. The Peoples Center is a proud site on the Connecticut African American Freedom Trail.

Peoples Center Jobs & Unemployed Committee

• Organizing with the unemployed for immediate relief during COVID-19

• Demanding a livable wage job with access to PPE and the right to a union, or full pandemic unemployment benefits with rent and mortgage forgiveness.

JOIN WITH US:

e-mail: peoplescenter@pobox.com

phone: leave a message at 203-624-8664

37 Howe Street, New Haven CT 06511

UNITE CT - emergency housing and utility pandemic assistance

Funds from American Recovery Plan we fought for and won

Toll Free Number: 1-844-864-8328 e-mail: DOH-UniteCT@ct.gov

website: https://portal.ct.gov/DOH/DOH/Programs/UniteCT

El Comite de Empleos y Desempleados del Centro del Pueblo

• El objetivo del People’s Center Jobs & Unemployed Committee (El Comité de Empleos y Desempleados del Centro del Pueblo) es reconocer las necesidades materiales  inmediatas de los que son afectados por la pandemia y presionar para un cambio legislación significamente mejor.

• Nosotros demandamos trabajo socialmente útil con un salario soportable, acceso a PPE, el derecho a un sindicato, mejor acceso a viviendas asequibles y cuidado de salud para todos.

ÚNETE CON NOSOTRAS:

e-mail: peoplescenter@pobox.com

telefono: deja sun mansaje 203-624-8664

37 Howe Street, New Haven CT 06511

UNITE CT – un programa emergencia de asistencia de renta

Usted puede calificar para esta oportunidad y recibir

pagos para fracturas atrasadas de luz y gas y renta

Telefono: 1-844-864-8328 e-mail: DOH-UniteCT@ct.gov

web: https://portal.ct.gov/DOH/DOH/Programs/UniteCT

Dear Peoples Center Community,

Hoping you are safe, well and supported in this COVID-19 crisis.

This is to invite you to be part of the Peoples Center team during the GreatGive 2021 fundraiser for non-profits, and to ask if you can consider donating a portion of your stimulus check to the Peoples Center so that we can continue to help those in need in our community, and be there for our many activities once the pandemic subsides.

Advance giving opens on April 23. The official Great Give days are May 4-5. During those days, the nonprofits that receive the largest number of donations will be awarded bonus funds.

Here is the link to the Peoples Center GreatGive donation page: https://www.thegreatgive.org/organizations/pera-d-b-a-new-haven-peoples-center

Our Work During the Pandemic

While the Peoples Center remains closed for gatherings, we have been a site for food distribution to the immigrant community and other mutual aid. We have instituted the Jobs and Unemployed Committee to assist in navigating relief funds, and distributed masks and diapers.

We have issued a resource newsletter and joined in coalition actions to demand that all people be covered with relief including low wage, front line and immigrant workers. We are part of the Recovery for All coalition and are mobilizing for the virtual rallies, events and on-line petitions of the many organizations that call the Peoples Center home.

We have also collaborated with the New Haven Free Public Library to host a book talk with Dr. Gerald Horne, and have continued our partnership with the CT Alliance for Retired Americans.

We look forward to opening our doors once the pandemic subsides for the full array of organizing, educational and cultural events and use of space.

How You Can Help

The Peoples Center survives on the basis of contributions for use of space. Even during "physical distancing" the bills still have to get paid.

Here are the ways that you can help:

1. Contribute as much as you can

2. Send the link to your family, friends and contact lists and ask them to join you in donating

3. Share the link to the Peoples Center GreatGive page on social media

The New Haven Peoples Center has been a beacon for multi-racial and multi-cultural social justice organizing, education and cultural opportunities in our community for 84 years, and is a site on the Connecticut African American Freedom Trail. The COVID-19 crisis makes clear that, despite new economic hardships, the New Haven Peoples Center and organizations that address inequality and work for unity of low-income working class people of color and immigrants are essential for our state to survive and thrive. We are fundraising to make that possible.

Looking forward to hear back from you with ideas, suggestions and commitments to help!

In solidarity,

Joelle Fishman Coordinator

Ben McManus Treasurer

Website: peoplescenter.blogspot.com/  

E-mail: peoplescenter@pobox.com

Facebook: New Haven Peoples Center

Dr. Gerald Horne to Speak on Paul Robeson: The Artist as Revolutionary

 

The Peoples Center is proud to co-sponsor with the New Haven Free Public Library an author talk "Paul Robeson: The Artist as Revolutionary," with Dr. Gerald Horne on Wednesday, September 9 at 7 pm.  The discussion of Paul Robeson is very timely today.  Robeson was a fierce defender of democracy against fascism. Zoom link below.

Author Talk: Dr. Gerald Horne

Paul Robeson: The Artist as Revolutionary

Wednesday, September 09
7:00pm - 8:30pm  

Part of the Summer @ 7: An American Experience Virtual Series

Join Dr. Gerald Horne for a discussion of his book, Paul Robeson: The Artist as Revolutionary.

A world-famous singer and actor, a trained lawyer, an early star of American professional football and a polyglot who spoke over a dozen languages: these could be the crowning achievements of a life well-lived. Yet for Paul Robeson the higher calling of social justice led him to abandon both the NFL and Hollywood and become one of the most important political activists of his generation, a crusader for freedom and equality who battled both Jim Crow and Joseph McCarthy.
 
In Paul Robeson, Gerald Horne discovers within Robeson’s remarkable and revolutionary life the story of the twentieth century’s great political struggles: against racism, against colonialism, against poverty—and for international socialism. This critical and searching biography provides an opportunity for readers to comprehend the triumphs and tragedies of the revolutionary progressive movement of which Robeson was not just a part, but perhaps its most resonant symbol.

Dr. Horne holds the Moores Professorship of History and African American Studies. His research has addressed issues of racism in a variety of relations involving labor, politics, civil rights, international relations and war. He has also written extensively about the film industry. Dr. Horne received his Ph.D. in history from Columbia University and his J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley and his B.A. from Princeton University.

Teaching

Dr. Horne's undergraduate courses include the Civil Rights Movement and U.S. History through Film. He also teaches graduate courses in Diplomatic History, Labor History and 20th Century African American History. Dr. Horne uses a variety of teaching techniques that enrich his classes and motivate students to participate

Research Interests
Dr. Horne is the author of more than thirty books and one hundred scholarly articles and reviews. His current research includes an examination of U.S.-Southern African relations since the so-called “Anglo-Boer War” at the end of the 19th century and an analysis of the Political Economy of the music called “Jazz” from the late 19th century to the present.

Link to Join Zoom Discussion:

https://zoom.us/j/93439736169

This event cosponsored with the New Haven Peoples Center
https://www.blogger.com/blog/posts/288856170790189937

COVID-19 Solidarity Update April 9, 2020

New Haven Peoples Center

COVID-19 SOLIDARITY UPDATE April 9, 2020

While we "STAY SAFE, STAY HOME" except for essential needs or work shifts, the New Haven Peoples Center will share a regular compilation of links to mutual aid, actions, information and on-line cultural and organizing opportunities

We stand together in solidarity and demand inclusion and protection with full civil and human rights for every person no matter immigration status, race, gender, age or income.

ACTIONS

Undocumented Workers Relief Fund. Attached is a letter from a broad array of organizations including the Peoples Center to the Governor, legislators, and the federal delegation calling for a special fund to cover immigrant workers.  Please sign-on here: http://chng.it/ZFsWGNhqLk

Civil and Human Rights During COVID-19. The Peoples Center is one of 43 organizaations that sent a  letter  to the Governor demanding priority action during COVID-19 to include and protect those disproportionately affected.

VIRTUAL EVENTS

April 22 from 4:00 to 5:30 pm On-line Earth Day rally for a Green New Deal RSVP at: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSejntBVXtmdRIeycYJZaZbquvDmWJgj8mfCIjkXKWbo6ftISQ/viewform

April 23 from 11:30 am to 1:00 pm Insure our future - Not fossil fuels https://actionnetwork.org/events/connecticut-stop-the-money-pipeline-insure-our-future-not-fossil-fuels

INFORMATION

Know Your Rights in the Workplace (English and Spanish)

Know Your Rights in the Workplace: COVID-19 in English and Spanish is a resource to help workers navigate different state and federal programs, including Unemployment Insurance, paid sick leave and FMLA. Haga clic aquí para la version en español. Issued by CWEALF.

Guide To Filing Unemployment ClaimsThe State Department of Labor has created a guide to filing unemployment claims in light of the COVID-19 outbreak with specific instructions for individuals who suffered job losses due to the outbreak. Following this guide will result in the most efficient claim possible.

Access Health CT

Access Health CT has extended the deadline to April 17 for the special enrollment period due to the COVID-19 pandemic. To get covered starting May 1st you must call 855-365-2428.

School Meals

School meals 7 days' worth of food distributed on 3 days/week New Haven Schools Grab & Go Meals for students 18 years old and younger

Mutual Aid New Haven Area Mutual Aid Fund Semilla Collective of New Haven for labor and immigration justice! Funds raised go towards direct financial assistance or essential items supporting New Haven area community members who are disproportionately affected by this crisis

CT Mutual Aid - sign up for offerings and/or needs https://ctmutualaid.com/en/home

Hotlines

If you, or someone you care about, feels overwhelmed with sadness, depression or anxiety, call the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s Disaster Distress Helpline at 1-800-985-5990 or text TalkWithUs to 66746. Posted by Sen. Gary Winfield.

Food, shelter, and other needs statewide: call 211 or visit  https://www.211ct.org/ 

State, City Updates

• State of Connecticut  ct.gov/coronavirus.
  
• Sign up for City of New Haven updates:: mailchi.mp/newhavenct/signup and New Haven alerts (www.newhavenct.gov/gov/depts/emergency_info/alerts.htm). 
  

EDUCATION AND THE ARTS

Student Learning

The CT Board of Education has prepared Resources to lSupport Student Learning during the COVID crisis. https://storage.googleapis.com/pt06-1/messages/attachments/d8e398cdb0906a769124dc23ee866ad8bac47cd0/Connecticut-Covid19-Resources-to-Support-Student-Learning-002-final.pdf

Creative Arts Workshop

Creative Arts Workshop is offering many online classes, demonstrations, and other events through its website under the heading “Creating Freely.”

Music Jeff Fuller's trio recordings, with Darren LItzie on piano and Ben Bilello on drums, are available online here, here and here.
Listen to Yale School of Music performances at the YSM Facebook page

New Haven Museum

The history of the City of New Haven is alive and well. We welcome you to learn more about it at the New Haven Museum.

Black History Month Film, March, Event

46th Black History Month "Voting Rights are Worth the Fight" Event begins with a "Dump Trump" Unity March and Motorcade Sunday February 23.

"Voting Rights are Worth the Fight," is the theme of this year's 46th Annual People's World African American History Month celebration, to be held Sunday February 23, 2020.

The day will serve as a call to action and unity against rising open racism and white supremacy, making the 2020 elections crucial for the future of the African American freedom struggle and the freedom struggle of all peoples and the planet.

A Black History Month "Dump Trump" Unity March & Motorcade will leave at 2:30 pm from the New Haven Peoples Center 37 Howe St. and proceed to Troup School 259 Edgewood Ave. where there will be a program at 4:00 pm.

The program will feature a panel discussion opening with a 1963 Video by the SNCC Voter Project in Mississippi and remarks by Brian Steinberg, a participant in Mississippi Freedom Summer; Barbara Vereen,, Staff Director Local 34 Unite Here at Yale; Sulemy Cordova, Connecticut Students for a Dream,Wilbur Cross High School; and concluding remarks by Judge Clifton Graves, Professor of African American History.

Also on the program will be presentation of prizes in the Arts and Writing Competition Grades 8 to 12, "Harriet Tubman and The Right to Vote." and a tribute to Lula White, freedom rider and former competition judge. Also, drumming by Brian Jarawa Gray and Friends and music selections by Kompozure and Ice the Beef youth,

The march and event will bring together groups organizing against heightened racism, militarism and exploitation in the elections and beyond, toward a future of solidarity, justice, peace and sustainability where all persons can reach their full potential.

In advance of the march, the feature length documentary "Freedom Summer" will be shown at the Peoples Center on Friday, February 21 at 7 pm. Released in 2014, the film tells the story of the courageous students who came to Mississippi in the summer of 1964 to work with local organizers and African American residents to claim their right to vote and shatter the foundations of white supremacy Poster making for Sunday's march will also be part of the evening.

Solidarity Film Series - Global Climate Strike

 
Solidarity Film Series

Global Climate Strike

Movies and Pizza

Discussion led by John Harrity, Chair, CT Roundtable on Climate & Jobs

Friday, Sept 20 @ 7 pm

New Haven Peoples Center 37 Howe St

1.5 STAY ALIVE:

Science Meets Music in the Caribbean

Popular Caribbean musicians sing about rising seas and climate change and their vision of how to confront it. Intertwined with insights by local climate experts from Belize, Costa Rica, Trinidad & Tobago, Miami, Louisana. Lucian Segura 2016

PLUS

A Message from the Future

with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Short film about the Green New Deal. 2019

After the 4 pm Climate Rally on the Green

Solidarity with Stop & Shop Strikers

From the moment workers at Stop and Shop started walking the picket line at 43 stores on April 11, there was a spontaneous outpouring of support from other unions, elected officials, customers and the community. As drivers honked their car horns in support and many refused to go into the store, the courageous workers knew they were not alone.

The 31,000 members of United Food and Commercial Workers in Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts are striking as a last resort to win wages, benefits, healthcare and fairness. The multiracial workforce includes many women and youth. They are courageously fighting for their livlihoods against a greedy multi-national company with profits last year of $2 billion.

"We have been at this for months," said one member of the negotiating committee who works at the Whalley Avenue store in New Haven. "We serve the community and we need to be able to support our families. They just don't care."

The Stop and Shop workers are part of a national rising tide of working class militancy and unity.

At the Dixwell Avenue store in Hamden, U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal stood arm in arm with a striker named "Richie" and pledged support along side Lt Governor Susan Bysiewicz who was representing the Governor. Blumenthal told the striking workers, "This is bigger than you. This is about corporate greed."

Dutch retailer Royal Ahold NV, operator of supermarket chains Stop & Shop and Giant, is merging with its Belgian counterpart Delhaize Group, creating a company that will serve more than 50 million customers in the United States every week.
Delhaize forced the strike by refusing to back off of the profitable company's proposal to cut pay and pensions and substantially increase healthcare coverage premiums for Stop and Shop workers. The company's final offer at the bargaining table represents a massive step back that cuts workers earnings.
Scott Barry, produce manager and shop steward at the West Hartford store told the People's World that for his family "the co-pay on my weekly check for my family insurance is going to go from $30 to $140 a week and they want to drop our pension benefit about 30%."
Barry added, "It seems like the company is taking dignity, decorum, integrity and fairness and dragging it through the mud while claiming that they are offering a good contract when in truth they are not."

The response to the Stop&Shop strike is inspiring.

When they got news that the workers had walked out, Local 34 UNITE HERE activists recessed their day-long conference and headed straight to the picket line on Whalley Avenue in New Haven.

At the same time, Local 34 and 35 retirees were finishing their monthly executive board meeting. They fanned out to Stop & Shop stores in New Haven and surrounding towns, bringing solidarity and the high spirits learned on their own picket lines over the last 40 years. At least 19 participated, and gleefully shared photos of the picket lines by text and facebook.

Solidarity was hardly limited to the large Yale locals. Members of the railroad unions, CWA, teachers, carpenters and operating engineers were among the many union members who spontaneously came by to show support.

The evening following the walkout, the New Haven Democratic Town Committee met. A resolution pledging to honor the picket lines and support the workers was adopted with enthusiastic support.
The next day, many State Representatives and Senators, as well as New Haven Mayor Toni Harp, walked the picket lines.

Unidad Latina en Accion, an immigrant rights organization in New Haven, is planning a support rally.

Parking lots at area Stop & Shops are empty. On Palm Sunday, the Hamden Shop-Rite, a union store which competes with the Stop & Shop across the street, was jammed, while the Stop & Shop parking lot was almost empty. Two customers said they live next to a Stop & Shop five miles away, but they came to Shop-Rite because "We have to support our neighbors on strike."

An AFSCME retiree in Waterbury who lives within walking distance of Stop & Shop drove across town to a different store. It was so jam packed the supervisor had to call in more workers. Standing in long lines, customers explained, ' I usually shop at Stop and Shop but I don't cross picket lines'.

The Connecticut AFL-CIO has called on all members and families to support the strikers in three ways:

1. Sign UFCW's petition to Stop & Shop. Click here to sign the petition to Stop & Shop management to let them know you stand with the workers as they fight for a fair contract.
2. Join the workers on a picket line. The workers need your help and solidarity as they picket at over 90 stores across Connecticut. Join them whenever you have time and bring them coffee and doughnuts.
3. Continue to shop union. UFCW represents workers at a number of other grocery stores across the state. Click here for a list of union grocery stores in Connecticut. If you can't shop at a union store, please shop elsewhere, but do not cross the picket line at Stop & Shop.
   

Solidarity Film Series: The Revolution Will Not Be Televised

Solidarity Film Series:  Friday April 19 at 7:30 pm at the Peoples Center  The Revolution Will Not Be Televised

In April 2002, the democratically elected Venezuelan president, Hugo Chavez, faces a coup d'état by an American-backed opposition party. The two-day coup fails to topple Chávez, but the tumultuous event proves to be great dramatic material for two Irish filmmakers who happen to be making a documentary about Chavez as the coup erupts. They capture footage of the massive opposition and pro-Chavez crowds and analyze how Venezuelan TV manipulated images for propaganda purposes. Released 2003. New Haven Peoples Center 37 Howe Street. Free.

The Great Migration: Then and Now - 45th People's World African American History Events

"The Great Migration: Then and Now -- Fleeing Terror, Searching for Jobs and Equality," is the theme of the 45th People's World African American History Month celebration on Sunday, February 24 in New Haven. The day includes a march, arts and writing competition, guest speaker, drumming and dance.

Some stories will be told of the many African American families in New Haven who trace their roots in the city to the great migration from the South in the 1930's and 40's when companies like Winchester recruited workers to come up from North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama and Georgia. They were fleeing Klan terror and looking for a better life.

Stories will also be told of the migrants from Central American countries coming to New Haven and the United States today, fleeing terror and economic devastation in their countries and hoping to find new opportunities for their families.

The "Jobs for Youth - Jobs for All" march will call on Yale to meet its signed commitment to hire from neighborhoods like Dwight, Dixwell, Newhall, Fair Haven and the Hill with high unemployment. The march leaves the New Haven Peoples Center, 37 Howe Street, at 2:30 pm and will wind through the Dwight neighborhood to Troup School, 259 Edgewood Avenue, for the 4:00 pm program.

Guest speaker Chauncey K. Robinson, journalist and social media editor of peoplesworld.org from Los Angeles, California believes that writing and media, in any capacity, should help to reflect the world around us, and be tools to help bring about progressive change. She says she seeks to make sure topics that affect working class people, peoples of color, and women are constantly in the spotlight.

The program will include drumming by Brian Jarawa Gray and African dance with Ice the Beef.

Prizes and acknowledgments of entries to the Arts and Writing Competition grades 8 to 12 will be presented. Students are asked to reflect in artwork, essay, poetry, rap or song about grandparents or great grandparents who came up from the South in the past, or about someone who came up from Latin America or elsewhere recently. "What did they find? How can we continue the struggle for good jobs and equal rights to fulfill the dreams of those who came and made New Haven home?  What are your dreams for a better life?" Entry deadline is February 14. For information e-mail ct-pww@pobox.com

During the Great Migration (1916 to 1970), six million African Americans left the South. They moved to cities like New Haven in the North and the West. They were fleeing discrimination, lynchings, denied rights and a lack of jobs. They were searching for a better life for themselves and their children.

As they settled they found that segregation and racism were not just in the South. The migration gave rise to the Civil Rights Movement and before that to the art, literature and music of the Harlem Renaissance that stirred the country and the world.

Artist Jacob Lawrence created a series of paintings about the Great Migration in 1940. He said, "And the migrants kept coming...their struggles and triumphs ring true today. People all over the world are still on the move, trying to build better lives for themselves and for their families."

In 2018 famed activist and scholar Angela Davis said, “I believe that the major civil rights issue of the 21st century is the issue of immigrant rights.”

People's World Amistad Awards 2018
United in Struggle for a Better World
Unidos en La Lucha por un Mundo Mejor
Saturday, December 8, 2018 at 4 pm
First & Summerfield Methodist Church 425 College St New Haven
Awardees:
Eva Bermudez Zimmerman
First Puerto Rican candidate for Lt Governor and SEIU union organizer
Shellye Davis
President Hartford Labor Coalition and AFT Paraeducators
Louise Simmons
Acclaimed educator and labor-community social justice activist

Special Recognition: CHAZ CARMON, Ice the Beef Youth
Solidarity Tribute: NELSON PINOS in sanctuary, and his family
Community Potluck to benefit Nelson & Family - bring a dish!

Performance by St. Luke's Steel Band
$10 or what you can
Info: ct-pww@pobox.com FB: People's World Amistad Awards 2018
https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=peoples%20world%20amisatd%20awards%202018

Reconocimientos 2108, El Mundo del Pueblo
Unidos en la lucha por un mundo mejor
Sabado, 8 de Diciembre de 2018 a las 4:00 pm
Iglesia "First & Summerfield Methodist Church" 425 College St New Haven
Reciben el premio:
Eva Bermudez Zimmerman
Primera candidata originaria de Puerto Rico para "Lt Governor" y además dirigente sindical de SEIU
Shellye Davis
Presidenta de la coalicion laboral de Hartford y "AFT Paraeducators"
Louise Simmons
Educadora aclamada y activista comunitaria pro justicia laboral y social

Reconocimiento especial: CHAZ CARMON, Ice the Beef Youth
Tributo solidario para: NELSON PINOS quien continua en santuario y a su
familia
Cena comunitaria para apoyar a Nelson, y su familia, por
favor traiga un platillo!

Presentacipn artística de St. Luke's Steel Band
$10 o lo que usted pueda aportar
Info: ct-pww@pobox.com FB: People's World Amistad Awards 2018
https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=peoples%20world%20amisatd%20awards%202018

SEPT 8: Thousands of Doors for Justice - New Haven

Activists across the country know that 2018 is one election year we can't afford to sit out, with our most fundamental values of justice, equality, and dignity on the line.

That's why we're gathering together in solidarity on September 8th for Thousands of Doors for Justice (TDJ).

TDJ is a day of action for activists and volunteers across the state to step up and fight for issues of economic, racial, social, women's, environmental, and immigrant justice.

Advocates will take action in many forms, including knocking on doors, making calls, registering voters, training volunteers, recruiting new activists, and more. As a broad spectrum of volunteers and organizations, we will each contribute in the best ways we can and embrace our collective struggle.

NEW HAVEN:  New Haven Peoples Center, 37 Howe Street.  Doors open 8:45 am.
9 am Gather.  9:30 - 10 am: Livestream with Linda Sarsour and local sepakers.  10 am: Information sharing from organizations present before heading out to the streets.
Contact:  peoplescenter@pobox.com

https://www.facebook.com/events/2157442214543589/

Solidarity Film Series at the New Haven Peoples Center
THE GREAT DEBATERS
Friday, August 17, 2018 at 7:30 pm

Special Guest Speaker:
Edward Carson, Boston Club CPUSA

Denzel Washington portrays Melvin Tolson a teacher and sharecropper organizer in segregated Texas in the 1930s. His students break racist barriers and win a competition with Harvard. Based on a true story. Released 2007.

New Haven Peoples Center 37 Howe St New Haven 06511
Free admission Refreshments

Progressive Education and Research Associates, Inc. d/b/a

New Haven Peoples Center

A site on the CT African American Freedom Trail

37 Howe Street, New Haven CT 06511

peoplescenter.blogspot.com/

e-mail: peoplescenter@pobox.com

Facebook: New Haven Peoples Center

July 12, 2018

To the Family of Lois O'Connor,

With love and solidarity to the family of the wonderful Lois O'Connor, a beloved warrior for the people. She was fearless and knew how to fight for the rights of women, working people, and all disenfranchised. Her leadership improved the lives of countless people across our state and nation.

Lois always kept her family at the center of her life.

We cherish the many occasions when Lois participated in events and activities at the Peoples Center and all her support and wisdom. On a personal note I will always remember the steadfast support that she gave to me in every endeavor and the wonderful lunches we enjoyed together.

In the name of Lois O'Connor we carry on today to protect and expand the basic human rights to which she dedicated her life.

Joelle Fishman, Coordinator

New Haven Peoples Center

Support the Poor People's Campaign in Connecticut

The Peoples Center is part of the Poor People's Campaign network.  We will be participating in the weekly actions every Monday from May Day to the Summer Solstice and will be offering some livestreams of the national events.  For the latest information e-mail: peoplesworld@pobox.com  Here is what happened at the launch at the state capitol on Monday May 14:

Holding signs and banners calling for an end to poverty, over 100 union, faith and community leaders marched from the Legislative Office Building at the state capitol in Hartford down the street to Capitol Avenue on Monday, May 14.

Sixteen people carried their banners into the street and locked arms, blocking traffic, in the first of six weeks of nonviolent actions across the country organized by the Poor People's Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival.

The 40 days of protest reignites the poor peoples' campaign that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was organizing when he was assassinated while supporting striking sanitation workers fifty years ago.

Under the leadership of Rev. William Barber coalitions have formed in 39 states to fight systemic poverty and racism, ecological devastation and militarism and the war economy.

Fast Food workers in the Fight for 15, teachers union leaders and faith leaders were among those who took part in the civil disobedience in Hartford. As they blocked the street police arrested them one by one and loaded them into two police vehicles.

“This campaign may have been inspired by historic events fifty years ago,” said AFT Connecticut President Jan Hochadel, who previously taught in the state's technical high schools. “Yet, in 2018, we're witnessing the lessons of non-violent, civil disobedience across the country, from West Virginia to Arizona and Oklahoma to Puerto Rico. Union members are putting themselves on the line — and winning."

"They’re winning not just for themselves — they’re winning justice for their students, their patients, the residents they serve and their communities,” Hochadel concluded in a speech prior to taking arrest along with several of her union colleagues.

“Our commitment is to keep our issues front and center in the public discourse.  No more will we allow statewide elections to happen without real dialogue regarding the poor, the disenfranchised and marginalized.”  says Bishop John Selders, Tri Chair of CT Poor People’s Campaign and director of Moral Monday CT, the state's campaign coordinator.

Protests will be held each Monday through mid-June. For information visit poorpeoplescampaign.org

Celebrate May Day in the streets and by supporting the place for workers' rights during The Great Give 2018 from 8 am on May 1 to 8 pm on May 2!  Just go to our donation page: Progressive Education and Research Assoc d/b/a NEW HAVEN PEOPLES CENTER
https://www.thegreatgive.org/organizations/progressive-education-and-research-assoc-d-b-a-new-haven-peoples-center

THANK YOU FOR THE WONDERFUL SUPPROT FOR THE GREAT GIVE.  ALL TOGETHER WE RAISED $2600.  THANK YOU TO NEW HAVEN FOUNDATION FOR ORGANIZING THIS OPPORTUNITY TO SUPPORT MANY WONDERFUL ORGANIZATIONS!

End of Year Giving....and Premiere of 80th Anniversary Video

Progressive Education and Research Associates, Inc. d/b/a

New Haven Peoples Center

37 Howe Street, New Haven CT 06511

(203) 624-8664 peoplescenter.blogspot.com/ peoplescenter@pobox.com

A site on the Connecticut Freedom Trail

December 17, 2017

Dear Peoples Center Friends,

Now more than ever we ask you to invest in our future with an end-of-year gift to the New Haven Peoples Center.

The Peoples Center's 80th year has been a big one. Phase two of our restoration project was completed even as we participated in the growing resistance and organizing in our country for democratic rights, equality and peace.

The Peoples Center organized a bus to the Hartford Women's March in January, held Resistance Thursdays potlucks through the summer, sponsored a film series in the fall, and participated in public hearings and actions for many issues including immigrant rights, health care and peace.

Unions, Dreamers, educators and neighborhood groups all filled the building with meetings and events. New Elm City Dream, Free 2 Spit, the Peace Council, People's World and Unidad Latina en Accion continued to keep the building in full use.

The Peoples Center relies on the generous contributions of those who use and appreciate this vibrant, all-volunteer center for social, cultural and educational organizing.

The Peoples Center has invested its commitment and vision to countless movements and causes. Your gift to the Peoples Center restoration fund is an investment in return to this precious resource in our community. We depend solely on the contributions of friends who share our ideals.

We hope you consider an end of year gift to this important progressive institution.

Contributions are tax deductible and can be made to PERA and mailed to 37 Howe Street, New Haven Connecticut 06511.

In solidarity,

Alfred L Marder, President

William P Morico , Treasurer

Joelle Fishman, Secretary and Coordinator

Harold Person, Building Manager

PS - We are proud to announce the premiere of "Peoples Center at 80," a video created by Neal Thomassen featuring the recent activities and organizations in our extraordinary community. You are cordially invited to the video premiere fundraising reception on Friday, January 5, 2018 at 7 pm at 37 Howe Street, New Haven. For more information contact peoplescenter@pobox.com or leave a message at 203-624-8664.

LIVE Stream -- Poor People's Campaign

LIVE Stream at New Haven Peoples Center 37 Howe St Thursday October 19, 2017 at 7:00 pm Poor People's Campaign : Moral Revival Mass Meeting in Boston

Facebook Event Page:

https://www.facebook.com/events/287003168471502/

Live Stream of the New England Mass Meeting for the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival
Co-Convenors Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II and Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis will lead the New England Mass Meeting at Trinity Church in Boston starting at 7:00 pm. Hear about the inspiration, vision and strategy for the national Campaign and sign up to get involved.

Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival aims to build a broad and deep national moral fusion movement – rooted in the leadership of the poor, marginalized and moral agents and reflecting the great moral teachings – to unite our country from the bottom up. The call for a Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival has emerged from more than a decade of work by grassroots community and religious leaders, organizations and movements fighting to end systemic racism, poverty, the war economy, environmental destruction & related injustices and to build a just, sustainable and participatory society. We draw on the history, vision and unfinished work of the 1968 Poor People’s Campaign.

There is a resounding call to save the very soul of this nation: We need a Poor People’s Campaign for a Moral Revival in America. It is time to become a new and unsettling force in our complacent national life.

Solidarity Movie Nights

Solidarity Movie Nights

Solidarity Movie Nights Three Fridays: Sept 8 Salt of the Earth; Sept 15 PRIDE; Sept 22 10,000 Black Men Named George.  All at 6 pm at 37 Howe Street, New Haven.  Discussion to follow.

Free.  Refreshments

Newhallville to March for Youth Jobs and to End Violence

A neighborhood march on Saturday, September 23 will highlight the need to end gun violence and create opportunities and jobs for youth in Newhallville.

The march reflects the results of a youth survey this summer in the Newhallville neighborhood. When 14-year old Tyriek B. Keyes, a leader of Ice the Beef Youth was killed, the survey campaign was dedicated to him. 

 

Organizers of the march are New Elm City Dream / YCL, Ice the Beef and New Haven Rising.

Participants will gather at Ivy and Shelton Sts at 9:30 am and begin the march at 10:00 am following brief remarks. The march through the streets of Newhallville will end at the now vacant former state welfare building on Bassett St.. 

 

A short rally will support efforts to open the building for youth needs and job placements, working with local and state elected officials, community and clergy representing the neighborhood. 

 

Six years ago with a record number of homicides in New Haven, the New Elm City Dream/YCL launched a youth survey and campaign for "Jobs For Youth, Jobs For All." Several large marches supported the priorities of good jobs, safe communities, and youth needs. 

 

This summer's door to door youth survey and the march on September 23 continue that commitment.

Contact: Jahmal Henderson 207-440-8116