Report: Twin Cities minorities have longer commutes
Fox 9 - 05-12-2015 - A new report says minorities in the Twin Cities have longer commute times than white people, and...
The 12-page report is called, "It's About Time: the Transit Time Penalty and its Racial Implications," and was released Tuesday by Neighborhoods Organizing for Change, TakeAction Minnesota, ISAIAH and the Center for Popular Democracy.
According to the report, black people using transit in Twin Cities spend 146 hours or about 3 and a half weeks more of their time commuting than white drivers taking their cars.
“If you are Latino it's closer to five weeks -- every year when you are on a bus when you could be with your family, when you could be at work, other things than literally being on a bus on public transportation,” Neighborhoods Organizing for Change spokesman Anthony Newby said. The report cites 173 hours for their "transit time penalty."
Part experiment, part social awareness, several lawmakers took the transit challenge themselves. One found it took him two hours to get to the Capitol from Golden Valley.
"My experience shows first hand that the transit time penalty is real,” Rep. Mike Freidberg (DFL-Golden Valley) said.
The groups involved with the report aren't bashing Metro Transit, but rather, they emphasized the agency has a good plan for more arterial transit routes. They just say it needs more funding.
Source: Fox 9
What does it mean to be an American?
What does it mean to be an American?
The climate in the U.S. hasn't changed much since that incident four years ago. Fulbright still fights for the same...
The climate in the U.S. hasn't changed much since that incident four years ago. Fulbright still fights for the same causes, helping people in marginalized communities, but she has taken a more policy-based approach. Fulbright is the Texas state coordinator for Local Progress, a project under the New York-based nonprofit Center for Popular Democracy.
Read the full article here.
Left-Wing Group is Investing $7 Million in Grassroots for November General Election
Left-Wing Group is Investing $7 Million in Grassroots for November General Election
What is the GOP and the conservative Right doing in response? A leading left-wing community organizing group is...
What is the GOP and the conservative Right doing in response?
A leading left-wing community organizing group is building a massive grassroots advocacy and voter turnout operation in battleground states that could decide November’s presidential and Senate elections, documents obtained by the Washington Free Beacon reveal.
The Center for Popular Democracy is working to raise more than $7 million to support local and state-level organizing work that it hopes will translate issue-oriented advocacy into political power in November.
Documents detailing those efforts shed new light on how the left’s organizing apparatus is collaborating with prominent progressive groups such as MoveOn.org, labor unions, and foundations to build a campaign apparatus that can win short-term policy victories and translate those victories into a lasting political operation.
By Spencer Irvine
Source
What working moms really need for Mother's Day this year
What working moms really need for Mother's Day this year
When Mother's Day became a national holiday in the U.S. more than a century ago, women were a relative rarity in the...
When Mother's Day became a national holiday in the U.S. more than a century ago, women were a relative rarity in the workforce. Today's mom, by contrast, is largely a working mom.
In half of American households, women are either the primary breadwinner or contribute more than 40 percent of the income. For most families, the added income from women going to work is the only thing that's kept family income steady, as individual worker wages have stagnated for the better part of four decades.
Read full article here.
Bill to offer state citizenship for undocumented immigrants
NY Daily News - June 16, 2014, by Erin Durkin - Undocumented immigrants in New York could become “state citizens” with...
NY Daily News - June 16, 2014, by Erin Durkin - Undocumented immigrants in New York could become “state citizens” with a slew of benefits from driver’s licenses under a new bill to be introduced Monday.
Advocates are set to announce a bill that would allow immigrants who aren’t U.S. citizens to become New York state citizens if they can prove they’ve lived and paid taxes in the state for three years and pledge to uphold New York laws, regardless of whether they’re in the country legally.
“The path to achieving opportunity and equity and dignity for immigrants through Washington seems blocked by Washington’s general dysfunction,” said Andrew Friedman, executive director of the Center for Popular Democracy and a founder of Make the Road New York. “States should push for full equality and inclusion.”
The bill will face long odds in Albany, where even more modest immigration reforms have failed to get through the legislature.
The bill would apply to about 2.7 million New Yorkers who lack citizenship, including those in the country legally and illegally.
People who secured state citizenship under the bill would be able to vote in state and local elections, and run for state office.
They could get a driver’s license, a professional license issued by the state, and Medicaid and other benefits controlled by the state.
Immigrants would also be eligible for in-state tuition and financial aid, and would be protected from discrimination based on their status. And the bill would sharply limit state authorities’ cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.
The legislation would not grant legal authorization to work or change any other regulations governed by federal law.
It’s destined to be a longshot in Albany, where the DREAM Act, which would help undocumented students afford college, and efforts to offer driver’s licenses have failed so far.
But backers say it will prompt similar efforts in other states, similar to how states led the way on gay marriage, with talks on bills already underway in Illinois, Oregon, and Maryland.
“Obviously this is not something that’s going to pass immediately, but nothing as broad as this or as bold as this passes immediately,” said Sen. Gustavo Rivera (D-Bronx), the sponsor in the Senate.
The bill is estimated to cost taxpayers $106 to 173 million a year, while generating $145 million in new economic activity and saving drivers $100 million in insurance premiums, advocates say.
SourceStarbucks Hasn’t Met Employee Promises, Report Says
Starbucks employees still endure irregular hours, insufficient rest and difficulties taking sick days, according to a...
Starbucks employees still endure irregular hours, insufficient rest and difficulties taking sick days, according to a new report, more than year after the company promised to improve labor conditions for its employees.
More than 200 baristas across the country responded to the survey that formed the basis of the report, which was released by the Center for Popular Democracy. About 25% of employees said they had been asked to close a store and open it the following morning, giving them little time to rest between shifts. Almost half said they received their schedule one week or less in advance, giving little time to plan for childcare or other needs. Two in five employees said they faced difficulties taking sick days.
Last year, the company promised to change conditions for its employees, which it calls “partners,” after a New York Times report documenting the struggles faced by many employees.
Source: Time
Chicago Activists Organize Against Massive Police Training Academy to Be Built As Schools Close
Chicago Activists Organize Against Massive Police Training Academy to Be Built As Schools Close
The city’s 2018 budget plan includes a $27.4 million investment in police reform and commitments to hire hundreds of...
The city’s 2018 budget plan includes a $27.4 million investment in police reform and commitments to hire hundreds of new law enforcement officers. According to a report by the Center for Popular Democracy, Law for Black Lives, and Black Youth Project 100, Chicago spent 38 percent of its general fund expenditures on policing last year, and has the second-largest police force in the nation.
Read the full article here.
Does Your Bay Area Neighborhood Have a High Wells Fargo Foreclosure Rate?
KQED - March 12, 2013 - California is still struggling to get back on its feet after a devastating housing crisis. And...
KQED - March 12, 2013 - California is still struggling to get back on its feet after a devastating housing crisis. And Wells Fargo is partly to blame for the sluggish recovery because it is refusing to modify home loans, according to a coalition of homeowners groups.
By foreclosing on homeowners who can't make their payments, the San Francisco-based bank will suck billions of dollars out of the state's economy, according to the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, the Center for Popular Democracy and the Home Defenders League.
In a new report, the coalition charges that Wells Fargo has been less inclined to reduce the principle of home loans than have other banks, such as Bank of America.
Wells Fargo responded that it has a low foreclosure rate compared to the industry in general.
Wells Fargo's bias toward foreclosures is disproportionately affecting predominantly black and Latino neighborhoods, the report charges.
Right now, about 65,000 California homeowners have received notice of a pending foreclosure, and about 20 percent of these loans are serviced by Wells Fargo, the report says.
The report estimates that as of February 2013, Wells Fargo had 11,616 homes in its "foreclosure pipeline."
Foreclosing on the homes will have the following effects, according to the report:
Each home would lose approximately 22 percent of its value, for a total loss of approximately $1.07 billion,
Homes in the surrounding neighborhood would lose value as well, for an additional loss of about $2.2 billion, and
Government tax revenues would be cut by $20 million, as a result of that depreciation.
If the bank were to reduce the principle on the borrowers' loans, homeowners would have more money to spend. This would boost the state's economy, the coalition says.
Wells Fargo often bundles loans to sell to other entities, such as Fannie Mae, but acts as an agent for the new lender, collecting payments and handling foreclosures. In that capacity, Wells Fargo makes more money through foreclosures than loan modifications, the report says.
Wells Fargo has had an aggressive principal reduction program for loans that we own since 2009. Wells Fargo conducts all lending and servicing activities in a fair and responsible manner without regard to race or ethnicity. We are proud to be the nation’s leading lender.
Wells Fargo issued a written statement in response to the report:
Over the last four years, Wells Fargo has: • Helped more than 841,000 customers with loan modifications. • Provided $6.3 billion in principal forgiveness—most of which has gone to borrowers in California.
Wells Fargo consistently provides assistance to customers facing financial challenges. Wells Fargo’s delinquency and foreclosure rates continue to rate below the industry average. Here are the facts: • The combined national industry delinquency and foreclosure rates are roughly 11%. Wells Fargo’s is 7.04%. • The Wells Fargo foreclosure rate in California is 1.04%*, less than half of our national rate.
*As of Q4 2012
Source
Death and democracy: How a dying activist is spending his final days
Death and democracy: How a dying activist is spending his final days
Diagnosed with ALS in 2016, activist Ady Barkan is living on borrowed time. As his body deteriorates rapidly, he’s...
Diagnosed with ALS in 2016, activist Ady Barkan is living on borrowed time. As his body deteriorates rapidly, he’s spending his last moments fighting for the causes he believes in, hoping to leave the world a better place for his young son.
Watch the video here.
Wall Street, listo para lucrar con el muro de Trump
Wall Street, listo para lucrar con el muro de Trump
Buena parte de la discusión sobre el muro fronterizo del presidente Donald Trump se ha enfocado en su costo e...
Buena parte de la discusión sobre el muro fronterizo del presidente Donald Trump se ha enfocado en su costo e impracticabilidad, así como en la retórica antiinmigrante y racista que encarna. Sin embargo, se le ha prestado poca atención a quién específicamente podría beneficiarse de la construcción.
Lea el artículo completo aquí.
6 days ago
6 days ago