Western States Center Blog
Get the latest news, opinions and thoughts from the Center staff and guest bloggers. Subscribe to our blog RSS.
Get the latest news, opinions and thoughts from the Center staff and guest bloggers. Subscribe to our blog RSS.
Yes we did!
Oregon Progressives Win Campaign to Preserve Public Services By Raising Taxes on Corporations and the Wealthy
Big Banks Rule
Goldman Sachs reported record 2009 profits of $13.4 billion and the U.S. Supreme Court says corporations now have unlimited rights to influence elections. Let’s see – unimaginable profits plus unrestricted ability to spend on elections. I wonder how that’ll turn out?
TRENDZ Youth invited to White House
TRENDZ interns participate in national strategy meeting December 4th to counter the rise of HIV among youth, particularly African American young people. Trendz co-founder and Center board member Kenya Pierce shares an update.
Removing Re-Entry Barriers, One City at a Time
Partnership for Safety and Justice's "Think Outside the Box" campaign had a major victory in the city of Eugene a few weeks ago. Read all about this huge step that removes re-entry barriers while making our communities safer and healthier.
Waiting for the Backlash
In the analysis of what went wrong in the fight over marriage equality in Maine, who will get blamed? Read more about race, LGBTQ equality, and ballot measure fights.
Focusing on Urban Reproductive Health
The health care debate is happening all across the country with a deafening silence in one key area, REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH. Check out this quick report back from the Urban Reproductive Health Initiative regional summit in Denver, CO.
Uniting One County At A Time
We helped make rural Oregon a force for progressive change. An article by Mike Edera and Marcy Westerling in In These Times.
Long Trek to CSTI: Was It Worth It?
Joseph Phelan of Miami Workers Center writes about his long trek to CSTI. From Miami through Houston and finally to Portland, Oregon. Was it worth it?
Making the Organizing Toolbox Accessible
What does it mean to be an organization and a movement where all languages and cultures are included? How does this look in practice? Language access at CSTI 2009.
State Immigration Policy Issues
An article in the Nonprofit Quarterly by Dan Petegorsky and Kalpana Krishnamurthy
Trans Justice & My Body
Oppression is embedded into our bodies, not just our minds or institutions. We live in an age where we’ve become increasingly reliant on blogs like this to drive social change. It’s spaces like CSTI, though, that give us our best opportunity to change the way bias writes itself into our neuro-pathways.
Uniting Communities
CSTI participants practice organizing for LGBTQ equality in communities of color...
Hard for a Trainer, Great For a Movement
CSTI workshops are difficult to prepare for and a bear to lead, since the participants can't be easily lumped together. But what's difficult for me as a trainer is great for building a movement.
CSTI Idol?
Step aside Adam Lambert and Kris Allen... here comes CSTI's very own amazing array of talent.
Real Districts Have Curves
Sunday morning begins with the Brennan Center's Justin Leavitt laying out why it's so important to Stand Up and Be Counted.
CSTI Collective Poem
During the Saturday Night Dinner, CSTI participants shared some words about what CSTI taste, feels, sounds, and looks like. Those words were put together into a poem.
Laying it on the line: Organizational Development in Tough Times
I don’t suppose you can’t get much more relevant than this topic. As I am sure I don’t need to bring to your attention, the economic downtown has many organizations struggling more than ever to make ends meet and to remain effective in their social justice organizing
Census and Redistricting - VERY Important
I just attended an all-day workshop on these topics - reminded me how crucial it is that all of our communities be counted - and that our organizations MUST weigh in on redistricting process in our states.
Global Impact of the Economic Collapse
Pancho Arguelles of Colectivo Flatlander talks about the everyday impact of the economic collapse.
