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FEBRUARY 12, 2025

Today, Food Chain Workers Alliance published a new and critical resource on the state of work in our food system. Food ​Chain Worker​s ​i​n 202​5: Labor and Exploitation in the Food System analyzes data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Census Bureau, and U.S. Department of Labor to find that food workers fare worse than nearly all other U.S. workers by basically any measure. 

Low wages, high rates of injury, high rates of food insecurity, and low unionization are just some of the trends that continue to make the food industry one of the most exploitative employers in the country. 

Right now, FCWA members are organizing to challenge ramped up immigration enforcement and other Trump administration policies that will hurt workers. This new data attests to what our members already know: our food system runs on worker exploitation, propped up by racist anti-immigrant sentiment. Share this report to uplift the critical need to support worker power in the food system, and use it as a resource for further analysis of the food system:

Download this report as a PDF

Press Inquiries: Elizabeth Walle, elizabeth@foodchainworkers.org
Data Inquiries: Winston Moore, winston@foodchainworkers.org

The post New Report: Food Chain Workers in 2025 appeared first on Food Chain Workers Alliance.

Hello Coalition of Communities,

In times of crisis, it's those who stay calm, think clearly, and remain determined who often emerge stronger. As the Coalition of Communities of Color, we believe that both we and the communities we serve must embody this steadiness and resolve, especially now, as we face escalated attacks to our rights and livelihoods. Together, we can navigate the noise and uncertainty with purpose and clarity.

Local and state racial equity and justice matters—while the onslaught of federal actions will have profound impacts on the lives of Oregonians, we remain hopeful because so many of the policies and programs that shape the lives of BIPOC Oregonians are implemented at the local level. Mandates and political pressure to eliminate Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion means it’s all the more important that we protect these values here in Oregon.

CCC is existentially committed to protecting and advancing those values, always. One modest way we're doing this is through releasing a video series that will highlight key actions from our research justice report, Cultivating Belonging in Clackamas County. We will continue to work alongside our partners to inform and share and involve you, the community and our constituents, about efforts that will protect and empower our communities.

Taking care of yourself, your loved ones, and your community is just as important as staying informed. We hope we can all find ways, big and small, to feel connected, protected and cared for.

Warm regards and ever at your service, 

Marcus C. Mundy,

Executive Director

February is Black History Month

Black History Month is a time to celebrate, uplift, and honor the rich contributions of the Black community. Join us this month in celebrating in meaningful ways—by supporting Black-owned businesses, joining local events, donating to organizations making an impact, and diving deeper into the incredible stories and history that have shaped our country, including Oregon. For more than 30 years, Oregon Black Pioneers have dedicated themselves to preserving the history of Black Oregonians. Read their stories on their website and check out their upcoming events for Black History Month across the state.

Introducing Community Data 

Community-driven data is a powerful tool for shaping policies that reflect the unique needs of diverse communities, but how exactly do we identify it and understand its value? Read our new report, Introducing Community Data, to learn the principles of community data and how you can use it to improve your data systems. Targeted at a broad audience, this is an accessible primer intended for anyone interested in how to approach community data. You can download the report on our website.

Learn the principles of community data in our new report.

Community-data is at the forefront of many of our projects, including the Modernized Anti-Racist Data Ecosystem (MADE) tool we are building with local government and community partners to impact health and climate equity policies. Watch this video to learn more.

Save the Date: Summer Soirée 2025

Our Summer Soirée returns on Friday, June 13th at the OHSU Robertson Collaborative Life Sciences Building atrium, as OHSU is our Venue Sponsor this year. Stay tuned as we share more information on what to expect, and how you can purchase tickets, or become a sponsor. If you have any questions regarding our event, please contact our Development Manager, Lucero at lucero@coalitioncommunitiescolor.org.

To take a look at last year’s Summer Soirée and get a glimpse at what is to come in June. Click the link here to view our full gallery of photos from 2024.

Thank you for supporting CCC!

We want to extend a heartfelt THANK YOU to everyone who made our 2024 end-of-year giving campaign such a success. Our 2024 theme, "Celebrating Stories," spotlighted the groundbreaking work happening across our programs. We're grateful to have shared this journey with you, offering a glimpse into the collective effort driving racial justice and systems change. Click here to donate and read our stories of impact of 2024.

Support Systems Change Work

On November 5th, Portland made history. With ranked-choice voting, we now have the most representative city council in Oregon’s history—one that is more reflective of Portlanders than ever before.

For the first time, East Portland, which has had little representation at the city, now has three councilors representing their diverse communities and unique concerns. The diversity of the new council is unprecedented: 5 people of color, 6 women, 3 renters, with ages ranging from 28 to 70.

Following the success of the 2024 election, we are proud to report that 91% of Portland voters found this system easy to use and that it has achieved our goal of greater representation.

This achievement didn’t happen by chance. It is the result of years of community-driven organizing, advocacy, and mobilization for systemic change.

Back in 2018, as the city prepared for its 2020 charter review, the Coalition of Communities of Color (CCC) advocacy staff began participating in research and policy development. As more established stakeholders expressed interest in building a new system, we quickly realized that if Portland's communities of color weren't at the table, no one would ensure the system worked for us and not just the status quo.

So, we stepped up. As a coalition of culturally specific organizations deeply affected by Portland’s governance, we set out to build a system that better reflected all Portland residents. In the years that followed, we held over 20 workshops to hear from BIPOC Portlanders about representation and the policy changes they wanted. We learned that a more equitable system was needed, so we advocated for an expanded city council and a new voting system where voters could rank candidates in order of support.

Working alongside many incredible partners, we successfully led the campaign to pass Measure 26-228 in November 2022, bringing these reforms to reality.

When we began, we had no dedicated grant funding for the project: donors made the launch of this work possible. We relied on grassroots contributions to fuel our work of breaking down systemic barriers for communities of color.

But this was just the beginning. We quickly pivoted to focus on the implementation of the new system, ensuring that BIPOC voters felt confident using it in the November 5th election.

As part of a comprehensive voter education effort led by our outstanding partners at Next Up, over 20 staff and volunteers canvassed neighborhoods, knocking on over 677 doors to directly connect with voters about the new system.

After we returned to the office, our group reflected on the canvassing experience. Story after story highlighted how strongly voters believed in the power of their ballot to bring about change. In a time when so much of politics is met with cynicism, these conversations were a powerful reminder of hope, especially from young BIPOC canvassers who had meaningful, real conversations with voters.

At CCC, we carry that hope forward through our mission of advancing racial justice through cross-cultural action. We know our work goes beyond a single victory or a single election—it is rooted in creating meaningful, long-lasting systemic change.

We invite you to join this legacy by contributing to this work and supporting CCC today.

Dear Friends,

Five years ago, we were excited to step up as Co-Directors of the Food Chain Workers Alliance, taking the reins from longtime leaders Joann Lo and Jose Oliva. FCWA had just celebrated its tenth anniversary, and it was an opportune moment for a transition to ensure the organization’s long-term health and vitality.

As Co-Directors, we’ve remained committed to FCWA’s founding mission to bring worker voices into the food movement and fight corporate consolidation. We’ve also worked with staff and members to further prioritize member-led, worker-led organizing and economic, racial, and gender justice. From responding to the pandemic to expanding educational programs and creating new spaces for members to collaborate and seed collective work, we’re proud of the work FCWA and our members have accomplished in the past five years.

Today, the Alliance is ready for a new chapter, and it is bittersweet to announce that we will step down from our roles as Co-Directors in early 2025. We know that FCWA will continue to build power for food workers under new leadership, and we are embarking on a process to find that leadership with staff, the board, and a newly-formed transition committee. Stay tuned for updates in the coming months.

In this transitional moment, we hope you’ll support FCWA Member Funds so food workers are ready to spring into action in 2025. This program started as a one-off drive in 2019 to provide direct assistance to poultry workers impacted by ICE workplace raids. As part of our priority to support member organizing, we now have three ongoing funds making grants of $500 – $5,000 to members for Immigration Rapid Response, Language Justice, and Organizing & Capacity Building. Our goal is to raise $10,000 to replenish these funds by December 31, and we’re more than halfway there!

Thank you for supporting the Food Chain Workers Alliance, and most importantly, for supporting workers’ rights across the food chain and beyond.

Suzanne Adely & Sonia Singh
Co-Directors, Food Chain Workers Alliance

The post Leadership Update & Preparing for 2025 appeared first on Food Chain Workers Alliance.

Thank you to our Steering Committee for championing equity and inclusion efforts in Clackamas county.

On an early fall night, a diverse group of community leaders, local government officials, institutional partners, and members of the Coalition of Communities of Color (CCC) gathered at Clackamas Community College for a powerful evening of connection and celebration.

Cover art by Annie Hoang/ Instagram: @annie.hng

The event marked the launch of the “Cultivating Belonging in Clackamas County,” a research justice report led by the Research Justice Institute at CCC. This collaborative effort, developed over four years and guided deeply by community, focused on engaging Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) in the county to gather insights about their experiences, needs, and desires. What we found was a strong desire to have places and spaces where BIPOC communities can connect with both their own communities and cross-culturally.

This night was about much more than the completion of the report—it was about building personal connections, sharing insights, and reaffirming our collective commitment to advancing equity and inclusion in Clackamas County, despite the recent setbacks they’ve faced.

Today, we are continuing to move this work forward through a series of community-driven calls to action that support and strengthen racial equity efforts while fostering new initiatives for greater inclusion. If you’re interested in getting involved, take our mobilization survey for opportunities to advance these efforts collaboratively in Clackamas County.

TAKE further ACTION:

• Download Cultivating Belonging in Clackamas County
• Watch the Cultivating Belonging Intro Presentation
• Donate to CCC

Dr. Mira Mohsini, PhD, CCC Senior Researcher

Read our Q&A with CCC’s Dr. Mira Mohsini, PhD, lead author of “Cultivating Belonging”:

Can you share why was this report is necessary?

We often hear statements like “Oregon is so white,” “Portland is the whitest large city in the country,” “Clackamas county is the least racially and ethnically diverse county in the tri-county region.” While these statements are not false, and often spoken with good intentions, they can erase the presence of communities of color and Indigenous communities from these places. Taken as fact, these statements can stop us from asking why there are relatively fewer people of color here. This report challenges these narratives by centering the experiences and histories of communities of color in Clackamas county. 

The report is the first of its kind to tell the stories of people of color from across Clackamas county – what they care about, what changes they want to see in their communities and the institutions meant to serve them, and what a thriving present and future looks like for them. It’s  an essential body of knowledge that comprehensively takes stock of the needs and desires of communities of color, as understood and articulated on their own terms. It’s a culmination of over four years of research guided by deep relationships and led by people of color who are closest to, and have lived experiences of, some of the most pressing issues the county faces. Finally, the report turns a diversity of evidence – stories, lived experiences, and relevant statistical and geographic data – into a set of community-desired calls to action that can support existing organizing efforts for racial equity and justice and catalyze new ones.

What are some challenges that BIPOC community members expressed to you?

As we developed more and stronger relationships with Clackamas county residents, we kept hearing how disconnected people of color are from each other. They often travel to other counties to find community, to access services in their languages, to worship, and to buy culturally appropriate foods, for example. We heard that there just aren’t the opportunities and spaces to connect. We heard from youth and students of color about how adults, teachers, and school administrators don’t take their experiences of hate and discrimination seriously or don’t respond in supportive and meaningful ways. We heard about the challenges that newly arrived immigrants face with finding work, navigating bureaucratic systems, and accessing culturally responsive services. We heard from employees of color working within dominant institutions and across the county about their unaddressed and persistent experiences of discrimination, othering, and intimidations. But despite these challenges, we heard so many people of color say that they want to stay in Clackamas county and be a part of its future where everyone feels like they belong.  

Personally, what challenges did you face when completing this report?

Honestly, the hardest part was writing it. After spending four years being in relationship with so many generous and amazing people, hearing their stories, going to community events, hosting meetings with community-based organizations and dominant institution partners, organizing data collection engagements, and working to accurately interpret all this data with our steering committee members, we, the researchers, were faced with the huge responsibility of translating all this knowledge and wisdom onto the written page. The pressure was amplified because we knew we were not just writing a technical report that is driven by dominant forms of evidence, like statistics and other quantitative data. Rather, we were committed to writing the report in ways that center lived experiences and stories as trusted evidence for understanding realities and for making better decisions to address community needs and desires. This is not to say we don’t value dominant quantitative data – we understand its role in exposing disparities and holding dominant institutions accountable – but we wanted to write the report in a way that doesn’t privilege dominant data at the expense of people’s lived experiences. In writing up a research justice study – where the research is led by those most impacted by the issues being researched – we wanted to demonstrate how lived experiences and stories have the power to illuminate concerns and desired solutions. I believe we succeeded in this, but it was definitely the hardest part of this process. Ultimately, the learning that this process reaffirmed for me is to let the stories, the lived experiences, speak their truths. 

Why is this issue important to those outside of Clackamas County?

Partners and community members gathered at Clackamas Community College earlier this year to celebrate the completion of the report.

Most of us recognize the power of stories and the power of sharing our lived experiences to build and strengthen relationships, community, and a sense of belonging. We care about stories because they’re fundamentally about how people have experienced the world, continue to experience it, and desire to experience it. In other words, stories can tell us about “what was,” “what is,” and “what should be.” The power of stories is why folks should care about this report. It details what it takes to design a community-led process that centers stories in all of their complexities – telling us what’s working, what’s not, and what repair and healing mean for different communities; how to gather stories using a diversity of methods and approaches; what it looks like to pair stories with other kinds of evidence; and how to use stories responsibly to create meaningful changes. If you’ve ever wondered how to uplift the power of stories, and qualitative data broadly, this report provides one model for doing this. 

What are we doing to move the calls to action forward and how can people get involved?

We’ve been hosting calls with folks working in dominant institutions and community-based organizations and coalitions to provide guidance on what calls to action they can advance and how. Each conversation is tailored to the organization’s specific needs, access to resources, and experiences. 

We’ve also launched a mobilization survey for Clackamas county community members who are both unaffiliated and affiliated with organizations in the county. In the survey, folks can tell us which calls to action they are most interested in advancing and what (if any) organizing experience they have. We’ll use this information to organize community gatherings in 2025 to discuss strategies for mobilizing around one or several calls to action. These are also spaces to grow and strengthen community, since the lack of connection was one of the main concerns that people of color in Clackamas expressed.  

The antidote to fear is grassroots organizing.

In the weeks since the disastrous results of the 2024 election were announced, I’ve had the opportunity to sit down and strategize with grassroots leaders across movements for climate, environmental justice, and indigenous liberation, among others.

In space after space, something beautiful is happening: instead of isolating or playing the blame game, people in our movements are turning toward each other. In the face of violence and repression, what is heartening to me is how we keep coming back to our values and our connections with one another.

In the coming years, all of us will need to deepen our connections and practice solidarity to build strong, resilient movements that can defeat the far right and keep our communities safe. At APEN, building solidarity and connection across people and movements is at the core of our work.

APEN members at our Leaders Advance last month. Photo by Joyce Xi.

One place I’ve found strength and hope these last few weeks is in the herstories and resilience of our communities — from my own family to our APEN members.

When the future seems dark, I remember our Asian immigrant and refugee ancestors. I think of my own family — from my parents, who experienced and eventually fled the Marcos dictatorship in the Philippines to my cousins, who live there today under a new and brutally repressive regime yet keep showing up for their families and communities even when it puts their own lives at risk.

I think of our members who fled war, repression, and refugee camps to build a new life in California, only to face racism, pollution and displacement here. Who found each other in this new country and helped each other find housing, buy groceries and get their kids to school. Who have shown up again and again—from testifying at city council to running community meetings and marching in the street—to fight for a world where all of us have what we need to thrive.

It’s no secret that the threats we face are growing. Far-right politicians have weaponized fear, isolation, and misinformation to turn people against each other. Now, they are preparing to dismantle our few remaining environmental and climate protections while threatening deportation on a scale that would tear apart immigrant and refugee communities like ours.

But here’s the thing: our members know the antidote to fear. The antidote to fear is grassroots organizing.

Organizing is simply the practice of building power through connection across difference. Organizing is about having intentional conversations with your neighbor or coworker, even if you don’t agree with them about everything – because you know that through connection, you can find shared values and begin to work toward a shared vision for the future. Our organizers help members with housing applications, know their cousins’ names and their favorite boba spots, and check in to make sure our members are safe when there is a flaring incident or heat wave. 

As law-and-order rhetoric flooded the media in Oakland this year, our organizers responded by listening to and building deep relationships with working-class elders in Chinatown who felt unsafe in their neighborhood. We listened to what makes people feel safe, developed trust, and built support for real, community-led solutions – which we’re excited to share more about in the coming weeks.

We know that grassroots organizing works – because we’ve seen it happen. This year, our members and other communities living near the Chevron refinery in Richmond won a historic $550 million settlement from Chevron – building on decades of grassroots organizing in the community and becoming a model for refinery communities across the country.

APEN members at our Leaders Advance last month. Photo by Joyce Xi.

The years ahead will be tough, but this is how we will get through them: by investing in grassroots organizing and building solidarity for the long haul. 

To do that, we need your support. Your donation will help us hire organizers, pay for food and supplies at member meetings, and bring our members to Sacramento.

In the words of our Richmond member Richelle, who spoke at APEN’s 30th anniversary celebration this year:

Since joining APEN, I find myself feeling consistently supported and valued by other APEN leaders and have felt called to step into my own leadership, to use my voice and unique skill sets to create ripples towards a healthier future for Richmond.

Donate TODAY to help us fight back against the far right and invest in grassroots organizing for the long haul.

 

DONATE

Christine Cordero is one of APEN’s two Co-Directors. Raised by a Filipino immigrant family in the working class town of Pittsburg (no “h”), CA, Christine acts from the deep belief that we are stronger together and can go farther together than we ever could alone.

The post The antidote to fear is grassroots organizing. appeared first on Asian Pacific Environmental Network.

Donate to CCC

On a bright summer day, the Coalition of Communities of Color’s (CCC's) Climate and Health Coordinator stands in the blistering heat of East Portland. With barely a tree in sight—an unusual scene for a state like Oregon—it's a stark reminder of the environmental inequities that exist and vary by neighborhood. As we walked around Portland, we couldn’t help but wonder who were our communities really designed for?

At CCC, our mission is simple yet powerful: to advance racial justice through cross-cultural collaboration.

We work closely with 18 diverse and culturally-specific member organizations and a broad group of partners on a shared goal of driving meaningful change for our communities. 

One of the key ways we’re making progress collaboratively this year is through the Modernized Anti-racist Data Ecosystem (MADE) for Health Justice initiative.

MADE for Health Justice seeks to create an ecosystem rooted in community data—data that reflects the lived experiences of those most affected—to influence decision-making and address racial, health and environmental inequities in Multnomah County.

By centering the lived experiences of the community, we’re not just gathering data—we’re shaping a future where decisions are informed by those who have been historically marginalized by dominant systems.

Supporting CCC means you’ll be helping to bring this vision to life and making a real impact for climate and health justice. 

Join our mission this Giving Tuesday and make a donation today.

This year, we’re proud of the progress we’ve made, including:

• Convening an Advisory Council composed of 19 community-based organizations, alongside the City of Portland’s Bureau of Planning and Sustainability and Multnomah County’s Office of Sustainability and Health Department.

• Gaining a deeper understanding of local data resources and enhancing our knowledge of how government data systems operate.

• Drafting our first-ever values-based data charter.

• Supporting the City and County in preparing their systems to expand the use of community data and foster a cultural shift in how this data is viewed and utilized.

We’ve got exciting things in store for 2025, starting with the technical design and creation of our data ecosystem! Join our mailing list to stay updated for upcoming gatherings in the new year.

While many white nationalists believe they have allies in the White House, early indications are that the general direction of white nationalist mainstreamers will be to attempt to push the Trump administration and its base in a more fascist direction – much as the white nationalist “Groyper” movement during the first Trump administration.

Make American Renaissance Again

One of those allies inside the White House is Stephen Miller, a senior advisor in the first Trump administration, who is expected to serve as White House deputy chief of staff for policy in the second term. Miller is the architect of Trump’s militarized mass deportation plans.

Previously, Miller drew national attention for having promoted white nationalist and racist material, including the white nationalist VDARE and crassly racist fiction book Camp of the Saints. Alongside praising the racist Immigration Act of 1924, Miller suggested to a Breitbart reporter that she utilize information from white nationalist Jared Taylor’s American Renaissance.[1]

American Renaissance [8,166 Telegram subscribers, 1,056 Twitter (X) followers] hosted the first major white nationalist gathering in the post-election period – an annual event held at Montgomery Bell State Park near Nashville, Tennessee, on November 19-20. (We will be examining this conference in the coming weeks.)

In the lead-up to the event, longtime American Renaissance writers Kevin DeAnna, aka Gregory Hood, and Paul Kersey dedicated an episode of Hood’s View From The Right broadcast to a likely central issue at the conference – an assessment of the future of “white identity politics,” aka white nationalism, under the coming Trump regime.

Kersey kicked off the show white nationalist-style, declaring,

“We’ve said all along this year, we, the American People, white America, deserves a country of their ancestors for our posterity, and I think that on November 5th, remember, remember the 5th of November, Mr. Hood, I think something very, very big happened. And I think it’s only getting more obvious how big that victory really is, with Mr. Trump’s first few appointments.”[2]

Hood lauded,

“What are Donald Trump’s first two actions in regard to personnel in the White House? Tom Homan is going to be the border czar, who has said, you know, ‘What do you say to the idea of breaking apart families with deportation?’ he said ‘Hey, we can…deport families together.’ He is now the border czar and Steve Miller is the Chief of Staff. Exactly what I, literally the two things that I wanted.”[3]

Kersey corrected that Miller has actually been announced as a Deputy Chief of Staff, claiming that the Trump advisor is now “more powerful than ever,” having established a base of support independent from Trump through such projects as this litigious America First Legal. Gleefully stating that the racist “great replacement theory” was a core theme of the Trump campaign, Kersey asserted it was now “clearly a time for mainstreaming as opposed to taking an independent position, and saying, you know, white homeland now, and forever. That would have been a very easy thing to say if Trump had lost.”[4]

This claim comes from Kersey’s view that “President Trump, in many ways, and this is one of the things, sort of a sneak preview of what I’m going to say at AmRen [American Renaissance], he’s moved the ball forward on white identity politics in a lot of ways,” even as Trump moderated his positions on abortion and social security.

In the context of such mainstreaming opportunities, Kersey argues that white nationalists do need to re-frame their politics in a more publicly palatable manner. Arguing that the term “white nationalism” is “political poison” and “would be the wrong frame,” he applauds the increasing attention given to opposing “explicit anti-white discrimination,” concluding that,

“It’s time for white identity politics to be a real-world political movement, but it’s going to take a bit of subtlety, it’s going to take a bit tact, and its [sic] going to be very different than the kinds of things that we are expressing online.”

Per usual, the event will feature American Renaissance regulars Sam Dickson and Kevin DeAnna. Dickson, who has “addressed every American Renaissance conference,” is a close ally of the deeply antisemitic, white nationalist and secessionist League of the South. A one-time fixture at events held by the Holocaust-denying Institute for Historical Review, Dickson once admitted that the German Nazis persecuted Jews but stated that “to the extent to which six million of them were killed, is something I do not know.”

The event will also host academic racists, long a feature of a group that aims to shroud its racism behind a veneer of “science.” This includes Penn Carey Law Professor Amy Wax, fresh off receiving a one-year suspension from the University of Pennsylvania for “a history of making sweeping and derogatory generalizations about groups by race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, and immigration status; breaching the requirement that student grades be kept private by publicly speaking about the grades of law students by race and continuing to do so even after cautioned by the dean that it was a violation of University policy; and, on numerous occasions in and out of the classroom and in public, making discriminatory and disparaging statements targeting specific racial, ethnic, and other groups with which many students identify.”[5]

Another announced speaker, former professor and dean at Tulane University, Richard Marksbury, will discuss “Why the Big Deal About Ethno-Nationalism?”[6]

The American Renaissance event will also feature the group’s international connections, long a feature of organized white nationalism, announcing appearances by Austrian Identitarian leader Martin Sellner and Guido Taietti of the Italian neo-fascist group CasaPound. Radio personality Anthony Cumia of the “Opie and Anthony Show” and a “mystery guest” are also slated to appear – the latter hinted at by the phrase “Everything is Fake and Gay,” indicating that it could be Nick Fuentes.

Friendly Opposition

A look across the white nationalist movement echoes themes in the American Renaissance assessment – that while the Trump administration may open opportunities, particularly in the realm of the potential mass deportation of immigrants and opening up political space for white nationalism, the aged MAGA leader will need to be pushed to advance the cause.

As during the rise of the “Groypers,” white nationalist and neo-fascist mainstreamer Nick Fuentes [65,292 Telegram subscribers, 444,721 Twitter (X) followers] is staking out a position critical of the Trump administration – but in the love-hate (or at least dislike) relationship Fuentes’ has long exhibited toward Trump.

In the wake of Trump’s victory, Nick Fuentes went viral by tweeting a message declaring, “Your body, my choice. Forever.” – a mocking attack on women and reproductive rights and assertion of the far-right Catholicism that accompanies his brand of fascism. In a rejoinder to the national attention garnered by this display of misogyny, Fuentes mocked women in crass misogynist terms and declared that women supporting the upbeat temperament of Kamala Harris’ campaign, alongside advocating abortion rights, is “one among many reasons that women should not have the right to vote.”[7]

On the one hand, Fuentes dubbed Trump and Elon Musk’s victory “a blessing for this country” because “everything that you see was built by men, invented by men…Yes men should be running the country. God bless Trump for winning and for starting this whole movement…They talk about women’s rights, I’m sorry, what rights are you talking about, what rights do women not have…I don’t apologize for what I said.”[8]

Boasting that he “did not vote at all this time” and “did not support Trump this time,” Fuentes praised Trump, Musk, and Joe Rogan for pushing back against women, though he noted, “these guys are imperfect, I have my criticisms of them, but…They represent the white man coming home, and good.”

Fuentes, who had dinner with Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago, criticized the snake-oily reality TV personality for, among other things, backing down when his first administration’s vicious family separation policies drew controversy and, more recently, when the orange-tinged racist publicly distanced himself from both the draconian Project 2025 [despite a slew of connection to the project’ authors] and a national abortion ban in the face of criticism.

Fuentes continued that Trump is an “aging president” who is “not energetic…not a good operator…and doesn’t have a vision.” And, he predicted that if Trump “tries to do anything extreme,” his funders will push back against him, Fuentes arguing that they are not “for mass deportations,” but instead working to get the Department of Defense contracts for Elon Musk and Peter Thiel.

“Are there some exciting opportunities,” he continued. “I think so. I think certainly there are. But this is not going to be a successful administration running on auto pilot. There’s no guaranteed victory here. If anything, the odds are that it’s going to be a generic Republican presidency, and it’s going to lead to even worse things when the heir-apparent takes over in four years…We have to be thinking in the long term.”[9]

Fuentes attacked several announced Trump appointments. He referred to expected Trump DoD transition team member Brian Hook as a “lunatic neocon.” He called expected appointments as Elise Stefanik (UN Ambassador), Marco Rubio (Secretary of State), and Kristi Noem (Homeland Security) as “absolutely horrible picks. Each worse than the last.”[10]

White Nationalist Parties Respond

In a November 6 press release, the white nationalist American Freedom Party [2,491 Telegram subscribers] signaled its aims to press the Trump Administration in a more white-ist and antisemitic direction. “With Trump appearing to have secured the presidency,” AFP Executive Director John Fassbinder [602 Telegram subscribers] wrote, “we must recognize a sobering truth: no matter which of the two candidates won, America has lost.”  The AFP mini-fuehrer continued,

“Trump is not the solution to our challenges, and his win does not signify salvation for Our Nation or Our People…These figures will never prioritize the future we envision so long as they place the interests of foreign lands such as Israel first…[T]he Dissident Right must focus forward…The path to Victory lies in only one resolute course of action: the full rejection of the Zionist Occupation.”[11]

The group is continuing its alliance with the Patriot Front [26,606 Telegram subscribers], announcing that the group’s Texas-based leader, Thomas Rousseau, will be a featured speaker at the AFP’s March 2025 conference.[12]

In a May 2023 interview with the South Dakota-based Amerikaner, AFP’s Fassbinder made clear that one basis of the group’s alliance is that they are both fascist:

“Patriot Front frames themselves as the same thing that they are, and it’s what we are, which is ultimately, a sort of American fascist political party organization, you know, we do use the fasces and the torch for a reason.”

Other announced speakers include antisemite and AFP Director Kevin MacDonald, League of the South leader Michael Hill, and announced American Renaissance speaker Sam Dickson.[13]

While the AFP has made moves to step up its ground game since the rise of former Identity Evropa activist John Fassbinder to the helm, it will likely continue to lag behind even a weakened Patriot Front on that front. We can expect such groups to target immigrants in propaganda as the Trump administration moves to roll out its planned deportations.

The national socialist National Justice Party [7,562 Telegram subscribers], still hobbling from recent in-fighting, is also signaling an opposition position vis-à-vis Trump. Assessing the place of racism in the election of Donald Trump, NJP leader Warren Balogh [3,156 Telegram subscribers] wrote on Telegram that,

“Even though I’m against Trump, I’m actually one of his most enthusiastic students. Lessons I’ve learned from him…The masses of White Americans are ready for National Socialism. Trump offered them a watered down, bastardized form of Jewish pseudo-NS, and they grasped for it like a drowning man. The fact that they haven’t expressed this up to now is not because they don’t want it, but because they haven’t been presented with the choice.”[14]

Balogh lists his other “lessons” from Trump include using “oratory and mass meetings,” [an NJP weakness], using “simple, direct language” because the “great masses of Whites (sic) are not intellectuals,” being “brash” and “rude” to “ruthlessly push your own agenda and shove competition out of the way,” and using leverage to achieve your goals (e.g., by not voting for Trump automatically). Balogh continued that,

“You win not by following the rules, but by breaking the rules. Catering to conservatives, chasing after the approval of the establishment, trying to present as fake and polished, worrying about what people will say and think, gets you nowhere fast. Our people want authenticity, guts and passion. Respecting the conventions of American politics means we lose every time.”[15]

At white nationalist Identity Dixie, in the lead-up to the election, “Kaiser” offered that “Trump and Kamala are both horrid, disgraceful options,” declaring he would not vote in the presidential race because “I am not sure that a Trump presidency will be less damaging than a Kamala one.”[16]

“Kaiser” walked through his possible scenarios in the event of a Trump victory, writing, “There is not a scenario where Trump is suddenly a rogue dissident warrior. Because that is not going to happen. Listen to his speeches. He’s the same man as before, whether anyone wants to admit that or not. At best, we get a repeat of half-alright 2016 Trump. At worst, we get limp-wristed 2020 Trump.” [17]

In his first scenario, “Trump wins, and nothing happens (we get a repeat of half-okay 2016 Trump) [italics in original].” He laments that “this option still is not great for a dissident. If this repeat happens, the 2020 fraud gets completely swept under the rug…Trump 2016 did nothing to stem the tide of our pathway to annihilation; Trump 2024 won’t be any different.”[18]

In scenario 2: “Trump wins, and nothing happens (we get a repeat of complete-failure 2020 Trump) [italics in original].” In “This option,” Kaiser writes,

“[I]nstead of being the old 2016 Trump, we get the 2020 Trump. You know, the Trump that brought us Operation Warp Speed, the COVID lockdowns, started the massive inflation with free money checks, created the greatest peacetime disaster of all time, and the guy that was hiding in the White House as the blacks destroyed everything…Arguably, the only two good things Trump could do is 1) reduce the border crossings, and 2) help our guys out that are getting reamed in the criminal justice system. This 2020 Trump would deny to resolve either of them. Just like he did nothing to help in 2020, when he had the power to do so. Some people assume Trump can stop the inflation wave (“save muh economy!”) but people forget he is the one that started it with the stimulus payments.”[19]

Following the election and Trump’s victory, Identity Dixie’s Kaiser offered that the election was a “short-term win,’ but that white nationalists must think “long-term.”

“If we go into these next four years knowing that Trump is not going to save us,” he writes, “but is going to give us the time to build and potentially slow down the demographic change, then we are going in with a long-term winning mindset.” Kaiser fears that “everyone will become complacent once again,” and “So we risk everyone falling asleep like what happened in 2016 once again.” Stressing that “more than ever, we need to be activated, he concludes that,

“A Trump win very well could be a gift from God to give us these extra few days during the downfall of the American empire. To give us enough time to get ready…Granted, I do realize all of this relies on if Cataclysm X does not happen. But hey, if that happens, we won’t have the time anyway no matter who won…The election of Trump solves nothing by itself.”[20]

For Kaiser, Cataclysm X refers to a “catalyst for the major disaster that we all feel is coming—something leading to geopolitical strife like a Middle East War, World War, a major financial crash, etc.).”[21] He explains, “I think they are planning something big. Some type of major worldwide destabilization. Why? Well, to acquire more hegemony, and secondarily to reduce the population. Also, simply because they are being led by Satan and he wants to destroy.”[22]

These dynamics will continue to play out as the Trump Administration rolls out its announced draconian policies. IREHR will have more to say in the coming months about the white nationalist movement, including both mainstreamers and the vanguardist wing.

NOTES [1] Michael Edison Hayden. Stephen Miller’s Affinity for White Nationalism Revealed in Leaked Emails. Southern Poverty Law Center. November 12, 2019. https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2019/11/12/stephen-millers-affinity-white-nationalism-revealed-leaked-emails#link

[2] Gregory Hood. View From the Right. The Return of the King. American Renaissance. November 12, 2024. https://www.amren.com/podcasts/2024/11/the-return-of-the-king/

[3] Gregory Hood. View From the Right. The Return of the King. American Renaissance. November 12, 2024. https://www.amren.com/podcasts/2024/11/the-return-of-the-king/

[4] Gregory Hood. View From the Right. The Return of the King. American Renaissance. November 12, 2024. https://www.amren.com/podcasts/2024/11/the-return-of-the-king/

[5] University of Pennsylvania. Final Determination of Complaint Against Professor Amy Wax. University of Pennsylvania Almanac. Vol 71, Issue 7. September 24, 2024. https://almanac.upenn.edu/articles/final-determination-of-complaint-against-professor-amy-wax; Emily Change and Abby Cruz. Penn imposes major sanctions against controversial law professor Amy Wax, including a 1-year suspension. ABC News. September 24, 2024. https://abcnews.go.com/US/penn-imposes-major-sanctions-controversial-law-professor-amy/story?id=113955753

[6] Tulane professor tied to pro-Confederate groups. The Tulane Hullabaloo. April 29, 2021. https://tulanehullabaloo.com/56703/news/tulane-professor-tied-to-pro-confederate-groups/; Tulane University. SoPA’s History. https://sopa.tulane.edu/about-sopa/why-sopa/history. Accessed November 12, 2024; American Renaissance. 2024 American Renaissance Conference. https://www.amren.com/2024-american-renaissance-conference/. Accessed November 18, 2024.

[7] Nicholas J. Fuentes. Your Body, My Choice. Rumble. November 8, 2024. https://rumble.com/v5na9cq-your-body-my-choice.html

[8] Nicholas J. Fuentes. Your Body, My Choice. Rumble. November 8, 2024. https://rumble.com/v5na9cq-your-body-my-choice.html

[9] Nicholas J. Fuentes. Your Body, My Choice. Rumble. November 8, 2024. https://rumble.com/v5na9cq-your-body-my-choice.html

[10] Nicholas J. Fuentes. Telegram. November 10, 2024.  https://t.me/nickjfuentes/13752; Nicholas J. Fuentes. Telegram. November 12, 2024. https://t.me/nickjfuentes/13756

[11] American Freedom Party. Telegram. November 6, 2024. https://t.me/AmericanFreedomParty

[12] American Freedom Party. Telegram. November 12, 2024. https://t.me/AmericanFreedomParty/822

[13] American Freedom Party. Telegram. November 12, 2024. https://t.me/AmericanFreedomParty/822

[14] Warren Balogh NJP. Telegram. November 5, 2025. https://t.me/ahab88/16992

[15] Warren Balogh NJP. Telegram. November 5, 2025. https://t.me/ahab88/16992

[16] Kaiser. The 2024 Election: Final Thoughts And Six Scenarios. November 1, 2024. https://www.hiddendominion.com/the-2024-election-final-thoughts-and-six-scenarios/

[17] Kaiser. The 2024 Election: Final Thoughts And Six Scenarios. November 1, 2024. https://www.hiddendominion.com/the-2024-election-final-thoughts-and-six-scenarios/

[18] Kaiser. The 2024 Election: Final Thoughts And Six Scenarios. November 1, 2024. https://www.hiddendominion.com/the-2024-election-final-thoughts-and-six-scenarios/

[19] Kaiser. The 2024 Election: Final Thoughts And Six Scenarios. November 1, 2024. https://www.hiddendominion.com/the-2024-election-final-thoughts-and-six-scenarios/

[20] Kaiser. Identity Dixie. The 2024 Election Results: First Thoughts. November 8, 2024. https://identitydixie.com/2024/11/08/the-2024-election-results-first-thoughts/

[21] Kaiser. Cataclysm X. Identity Dixie. October 9, 2024. https://www.hiddendominion.com/cataclysm-x/

[22] Kaiser. Cataclysm X. Identity Dixie. October 9, 2024. https://www.hiddendominion.com/cataclysm-x/. In Kaiser’s conspiracism-addled mind, ‘The action could include, he writes, a “cyber attack from Russia. Maybe it is a false flag attack from Iran. Or maybe it is a disease being unleashed. Heck, it could be major assassinations… A disease that allows for actual harsh lockdowns. A world war that allows for silencing all opposition internally. Even a market crash that demands us all surrender to the state to get food.”

The post “A Time for Mainstreaming” – White Nationalists Respond to Trump Victory appeared first on IREHR.

Support Environmental Justice

At a community meeting earlier this year, we met with and heard from different Portland residents about their experiences coping with extreme weather events: 

• A mother bundles her children in layers of clothing—long sleeves, thick sweaters, and fleece pants—while grabbing every blanket she can find to keep them warm in their home during the winter time.

• Someone else is shutting all their doors and windows, restricting themselves to only specific areas of their home to stay cool, and drawing curtains all day to block out the heat on a record-breaking summer day.

• Another person moves all their food from the fridge to their car outside when the power goes out, trying to save whatever they can.

What do these experiences have to do with environmental justice policy?

While all Oregonians are experiencing the effects of climate change, Black, Brown, and low-income communities are disproportionately enduring the consequences of more extreme weather, increasing energy costs, and growing environmental hazards. 

That’s why we are committed to amplifying the voices of those on the frontlines of the climate crisis and ensuring that community input drives policymaking decisions.

CCC’s Environmental Justice team presenting at the Environmental Grantmakers Association Retreat.

This year, we made significant strides in advancing energy justice. We remained committed to centering community voices by partnering closely with BIPOC leaders and the City of Portland to advocate for prospective tenants to have access to critical information about potential energy costs, indoor air quality risks, and access to cooling, and plan to continue our efforts in the coming years. 

CCC Climate & Health Coordinator, Santi Sanchez, presenting at the intergeneration climate justice panel hosted by the Kresge Foundation.

As a result of this collaborative work, we are now sharing best practices for deep, community-driven environmental justice policy development with other jurisdictions across the state and working to show that equitable policies must be grounded in the lived experience of the most impacted communities.

Join us: Your generosity will strengthen our efforts so that the voices of frontline communities and their experiences shape how policies are formed and resources are distributed. Make a contribution to our end of year giving campaign. Thank you!

Donate to CCC

Donate to CCC

We’re excited to launch our 2024 giving campaign: Celebrating Stories. From now through the end of the year, we’ll be sharing powerful stories that highlight our ongoing efforts to advance racial justice and drive meaningful, transformative change.

We invite you to join us on this journey. By reading, sharing, and contributing an end-of-year gift to CCC, you can help sustain and strengthen our mission. Come back every week for a new story shared!

Together, we are shaping our story for generations to come. 

Read the stories:

• CELEBRATING STORIES: REPRESENTATION MATTERS, PORTLAND MADE HISTORY
• Beyond a report, building belonging together
• Shaping a healthier future through a community-led data ecosystem
• Amplifying Community Voice in Environmental Justice Policy

Come back every week for a new story shared!

“Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us,

Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us;

Facing the rising sun of our new day begun,

Let us march on till victory is won.” 

Lift Every Voice and Sing by James Weldon Johnson

Tuesday left me numb, Wednesday barely functional, but today I feel resolved.

For the past few months, I had allowed myself to hope in the promise of America’s better angels. I believed that America could not and would not choose to go backwards. 

Sadly, I was wrong. But not defeated. 

Yesterday was spent in shock like many fellow Americans, who were shaken by the anxieties of the future and the unsettling reality that so many would support an agenda that will work directly against their own interests. 

Today, we exhale. It’s important to remember not all is lost. Here in Oregon, we saw positive change: a diverse group of community-focused candidates were elected locally, with real geographic representation for the first time in the City of Portland. And Portland voters made history using ranked-choice voting to fully express their choices on their ballot, strengthening our democratic system. This is the song we sing today.

At the Coalition of Communities of Color, we are reminded that our strength, wisdom and resilience will move us forward, no matter the challenges ahead. We remember how our ancestors faced even more cruelty and injustice in their lifetimes, and still pushed ahead. We all have a shared responsibility to resist, recharge, and organize so that we can turn these next challenging years into the start of a better, more unified future for all of us. The work continues and our commitment remains unwavering. 

The Coalition has been in the fight since 2001, and though the path has never been easy, we’re here for the long haul. 

Let us march on, till victory is won.

In Solidarity,

Marcus C. Mundy

Executive Director

More Voice, More Choice with Ranked-Choice Voting

The Coalition of Communities of Color has worked since 2018 to advance democracy in the City of Portland through the adoption of more representative electoral systems that will help ensure the voices of BIPOC community members are more fully reflected in our city government. In 2022, we worked as part of the Portland United for Change coalition to pass Measure 26-228, moving Portland’s democracy forward.

Now, in this election, Portland voters will be using ranked-choice voting to elect its Mayor, Auditor, and City Councilors for the first time. By ranking candidates, your voice will be more powerful.

Here’s a quick guide on ranked-choice voting. Go to bit.ly/pdx-votes for full information on our new system!

With ranked-choice voting in Portland, you can rank up to 6 candidates in order of preference. 

Rank your favorite candidate 1st.

You can only have one candidate be your #1. Do not rank more than one candidate as your first ranking, or that ranking won’t count.

Select any other candidates you like and rank them in order of preference, up to 6.

Once you’ve selected your 1st choice candidate, you can then choose a 2nd choice in the second column, then a 3rd, and keep making choices up to 6. Rank only one candidate per column. 

Ranking all 6 of your choices is the most powerful way to use your ballot, but it’s okay to choose fewer. Ranking more candidates will never hurt your 1st choice. 

Key tips:

• Don’t rank a candidate that you do not support.

• You will be voting in a geographic district and 3 City Council candidates will win. Ranking at least three people will help make sure you have a say about the winners. But remember, you can only rank one candidate #1.

• If you make a mistake, it’s okay! Simply mark an X over the incorrect choice. You can also call 3-1-1 for help between 7:00 AM–8:00 PM every day.

You can find tips, instructions, and more information on how to fill out your ballot at bit.ly/pdx-votes.

Why rank candidates?

• If your 1st choice candidate doesn’t get enough votes, your vote can still help determine the winner. 

• You can vote for your favorite candidate, without worrying about wasting your vote.

• You can support candidates with different backgrounds and ideas.

Return your ballot by TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 5. Drop your ballot off at any official drop box location by 8:00 pm (find a location here) or by mail (no stamp required). Ballots must be postmarked by November 5. 

If you have not yet received your ballot or have any problems, call 3-1-1 if you need help.

Portland voters, it’s time to make your voices heard in this election! Go to bit.ly/pdx-votes for all the information you need on ranked-choice voting.

Since Ammon Bundy officially launched the far-right People’s Rights Network (PRN) website in early 2020, the site has been an important indicator of the group’s size and scope. To members, the site highlights the local leaders and the total number of members in each of the 470 self-defined “areas” across the country.

The Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights (IREHR) has tracked this membership data regularly since the site launch. Data collected by the IREHR research team in October indicates the People’s Rights Network has collapsed in the wake of the July 2023 $52.5 million defamation and harassment verdict against Ammon Bundy, Diego Rodriguez, and the organization.

People’s Rights Network membership remains at 44,925 as of October 7, 2024. Washington has the most members (7,595), followed by (Oregon (6,425), Idaho (4,548), California (2,955), Utah (2,767), and Florida (2,272).

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StateMembers - Oct 2024 Washington7595 Oregon6425 Idaho4548 California2955 Utah2767 Florida2272 Colorado1938 Texas1820 Arizona1277 Montana1124 Michigan878 Nevada758 Pennsylvania724 Missouri632 North Carolina609 Georgia575 New York539 Indiana513 Illinois487 Ohio451 Tennessee417 New Jersey387 Kentucky370 Oklahoma343 Nebraska329 Kansas312 Wisconsin307 Virginia276 Minnesota265 Arkansas248 Maryland230 Massachusetts226 South Carolina218 New Mexico217 Iowa185 Louisiana167 North Dakota165 Hawaii151 Wyoming148 Maine148 Mississippi143 Alaska126 Alabama124 Connecticut121 New Hampshire109 West Virginia105 South Dakota84 Delaware61 Rhode Island60 Vermont33 District of Columbia10

Due to the website’s structure, it appears few people have gone through the trouble of removing themselves from the system. As a result, membership growth is a more useful indicator of activity than the overall membership number. An examination of membership data indicates two divergent periods of membership growth: before the St. Luke’s defamation trial and after the trial verdict.

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From the initial People’s Rights network gatherings in April 2020 to March 2023, the group identified 40,682 members in 470 different areas across the country. Membership growth was not uniform, often spiking with related on-the-ground activity.

While real-time tracking data is unavailable, in the pre-trial period (April 2020 to March 2023), the group added an average of 1,769.7 new members each month.

Post-Verdict

After the trial verdict in July 2023, the PRN website showed 43,925 US members. As of October 7, 2024, the PRN website identifies 44,982 members.

Membership growth has plummeted since the defamation trial verdict. The post-verdict monthly new member growth average has dropped to just 75.5, a decline of 95.73% from the pre-trial period. In fact, in the most recent period tracked (March-October 2024), the monthly new member average is down to 52.5, a decline of 97% from the pre-trial period.

A precipitous decline in online activity on the organization’s website matches the lack of membership activity. Posted events, articles, and comments have virtually dried up.

The membership site played an important role in real-world mobilizations through the use of its unique text-message rapid response system. The lack of activity on the site mirrors a lack of on-the-ground activity outside notable pockets in Oregon and Southern California.

In recent documents filed by Ammon Bundy in his bankruptcy case, Bundy again raised the specter of violence, “Mr. Bundy believes that men should appeal to the civil law for redress of wrongs and grievances, where personal abuse is inflicted or the right of property infringed, but he believes that all men are justified in defending themselves, their families, their friends, and property, from the unlawful acts and encroachments of all persons, including those who act in the color of law.” Though it was in a document related to his personal finances, Bundy went so far as to suggest that secession might be a necessary remedy.

People’s Rights Network membership data suggests the number of people willing to take up arms alongside Ammon Bundy is diminishing. IREHR will continue to monitor the situation for changes or developments in the future.

The post The Status of People’s Rights Network Membership – October 2024 appeared first on IREHR.

Land is Life: Three Lessons from Bai Bibyaon Ligkayan and the Lumad Community

October 2024. Here we are: one full year since the genocide in Gaza ignited, the presidential elections are a month away, and people across the country are grieving and rebuilding in the wake of life-threatening wild fires and hurricanes.

Some days, I feel overwhelmed by devastation after devastation, injustice after injustice. It feels like nothing we do is enough to make a difference.

In times like this, I look to my kapwa, family and community in the Philippines.

Our people have prevailed against land grabs by colonial powers and big corporations, periods of martial law declared by authoritarian presidents, and horrific climate disasters sweeping our homes and villages. This year, we celebrated the 38th Anniversary of the EDSA People Power Revolution where kasamas, students, workers, people of faith, families, activists, rallied to end the 20 year dictatorship of former President Ferdinand Marcos Sr.

We are courageous in the face of adversity. We take care of one another. Together, we create new possibilities for our future.

 

Bai Bibyaon Quote, from Sabokahan Unity of Lumad Women’s Instagram

This Filipino American History Month, I honor the revolutionary legacy of Bai Bibyaon Ligkayan Bigkay, the first woman chieftain of the Lumad Talaingod Manobo tribe. The Lumad people span many different sectors and language backgrounds — 18 tribes all throughout Mindanao, the southern region of the Philippines. Bai Bibyaon helped unify the tribes during the 1986 Assembly of the Mindanao Peoples Federation.

She passed away November of last year but has left an undeniable mark in my homeland’s history. She fought against the logging of the ancestral lands, advocated for the self-determination and rights of the indigenous, and reshaped the future of not only the Lumad women and children but of all of the Philippines.

These are three lessons I‘ve learned from Bai Bibyaon Ligkayan and the Lumad Community:

1. Land is Life

The Lumad people continue to be stewards of the land. They cultivate their own crops and make food from their harvest. They practice many sustainability measures in their agriculture: from using coconut husks to slope the land to recycled bottles for insect attractants with molasses and vinegar.

Excerpts from Scent of Rain, Sun and Soil: Stories of Agroecology by Lumad Youth in The Philippines, design by Ali Wright

I am in awe of their partnership with nature, their surrounding environment. Working in the South Bay & Harbor Region of Los Angeles, I am saddened by how the residents here are not able to access their own coasts and beaches. The Ports of Long Beach and LA instead pollute the area alongside the refineries of Marathon, Phillips 66, and Valero. The Lumad fight to protect their land against logging and mining by companies such as Alcantara & Sons. They make their own fertilizers, tend to the seedlings daily, and not only preserve the land, but strengthen its nutrients and fruits. How can we do the same?

“Everything that we need to create a sustainable future is already here. We have to learn to build with nature and not against it.” — Mai Thi, APEN LA Academy 2023 participant and APEN Action Statewide Member

Mai’s words remind me of our work to clean neighborhoods and decommission refineries. How we can protect our land, water, and people. How we can foster an accessible, affordable and green community. How we are doing this work with our members and coalition partners all throughout the state.

2. Culture is a Source of Strength

T’boli, Bisaya, Cebuano, Manobo, and Subanen are just some of the many languages that the Lumad tribes speak. They come together to share recipes on how to make delicious Filipino dishes such as Tinola and Pinakbet. They have beautiful intricate colors and patterns in their clothing. They show great pride in their traditions, and their culture is a source of strength in resisting the increasing land grabs, militarization, and policing of their people.

I wish I was taught more and knew more about my own indigenous roots. I moved from the Philippines when I was 11. Like so many Asian immigrants and refugees in the Los Angeles area, my parents wanted me to have a brighter future here in America, to have more job opportunities. But those opportunities meant separating from our family and community in the Philippines, and it was hard to know that while we were building a life here, our relatives back home were struggling to get their basic needs met. For the Philippine government, Overseas Filipino Workers are seen as commodities, exported to generate money to send back home. In Filipino communities here, working for a better life often means losing connection to the land and ways of living that sustained our communities historically.

By learning from our culture, we can return to practices that build stability and resilience in our neighborhoods.

When I was young, my mom would make food for our whole block of neighbors, we would deliver food to each of them, and we would check in on how they were doing. A beautiful practice I had learned growing up in Mindanao.

In our APEN LA organizing, we experience great joy in sharing our cultures during our member meetings. We envision a future for our neighborhoods where all people have what they need, where our cultural foods and practices are celebrated, and there are community cultural centers and spaces to continue these traditions.

Here are some snapshots of what APEN LA members have shared as part of their vision for the future of their communities:

3. Youth are Our Future

Bai Bibyaon and the Lumad people built entire educational systems for the Lumad youth. At a time when the Philippine government was trying to rewrite history to prop up the existing power structure, the Lumad people established over two hundred schools where young people could learn about their history as indigenous people, and build the skills they would need to sustain land and life in their communities. The Community Technical College of Southeastern Mindanao (CTCSM) was the biggest in Mindanao, graduated over 90 midwives, teachers, healthworkers, and farmers, and educated over 300 elementary to high school students.

Sadly the schools have been raided and shut down by the government. Students like Kuni Cuba a Dulangan Monobo have been killed by paramilitary forces and many others have been jailed like the Talaingod 18.

However, the Lumad tribes continue to fight for their young people. They have successfully gotten charges dropped against Lumad leader Datu Benito from a raid on Lumad Bakwit School Cebu, held more paralegal and rights trainings to protect further persecution of their communities, and are reporting abuses to United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Importantly, more and more Sabokahan Lumad youth are graduating from the national universities and shedding light on the Philippine government’s oppression of the country’s indigenous peoples.

Lumad youth are shaping the future of their tribes and demanding an education that serves their communities.

As we build our environmentally just future here in LA, we are learning from the Lumad peoples.

Our members have developed a values statement that will shape our future projects and campaigns:

The Los Angeles South Bay & Harbor area is and will be an abundant, and tenacious community that shares culture through food, stories, traditional knowledge and joy. This community centers family, trust, and sustainability that honors our uniqueness, creates fun community spaces, and connects with the land and water. It will be an accessible, affordable and green community where immigrants, refugees, workers, students and people of all ages feel safe, resourced and cared for.

We honor Bai Bibyaon’s legacy by defending the land and growing our community.

APEN LA and Richmond youth members exchange February 2024.

Join us and be a part of the movement for environmental justice in LA!

Get Involved with APEN LA

More resources and information:

• More about CTCSM and Scent of Rain, Sun, and Soil
• Listen to a radio interview with a delegation of Lumad People on KPFA
• More about Lumad Youth’s Recent Graduation from the University of the Philippines
• Lumad’s Solidarity with Palestine
• More about Filipino American History Month and the Filipino Migrant Center’s Current Campaigns
• List of Hurricane Helene Relief & Mutual Aid
• Bai Bibyaon and other Asian notable icons featured in our APEN LA Mural

Janielle Torregosa is APEN’s Los Angeles Community Organizer. She is mixed Filipina, Chinese, and Spanish and moved here from Ozamiz City, Philippines. She graduated from CSULB with a Spanish major and International Studies minor.

The post Land is Life: Three Lessons from Bai Bibyaon Ligkayan and the Lumad Community appeared first on Asian Pacific Environmental Network.

Our 2024 Ballot Measure Endorsements

This election, the stakes couldn’t be higher.

While the presidential election is top of mind for many voters, in California working-class communities of color are leading bold campaigns for a better future – a future where all of us have the resources we need to thrive.

This election, we have an opportunity to invest in affordable housing, schools, and climate justice. To finally end slavery in California. To expand rent control and keep people in their homes.

However, the rich and powerful are trying to use this election to buy our democracy and turn back the clock on so much of what our communities have fought for.

Super-rich donors, landlords, and big corporations are funding ballot measures that would expand mass incarceration, cut funding for housing and mental health services, unfairly target progressive organizations, and skew future elections toward candidates with more money in their pockets.

Luckily, they don’t decide California’s future – we do. 

That’s why we are excited to share APEN’s endorsements for key ballot measures in the Bay Area, Los Angeles and across California this year.

California Los Angeles Oakland Richmond

Photo by Joyce Xi Photography

CALIFORNIA NO POSITION on Proposition 2 Your Title Goes Here

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$10 billion for public schools

This $10 billion bond would pay for repairs and upgrades at CA public school buildings, some of which have languished with rot, mold, leaks, and other hazards due to lack of funds. K-12 schools would receive $8.5 billion and $1.5 billion would go to community colleges.

Vote YES on Proposition 3 Your Title Goes Here

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Reaffirm the right of same-sex couples to marry

This constitutional amendment would remove outdated language from Proposition 8, passed by voters in 2008, that characterizes marriage as being between a man and a woman.

Vote YES on Proposition 4 Your Title Goes Here

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$10 billion for climate programs

This $10 billion bond would pay for water projects (to provide safe drinking water, recycle wastewater, store groundwater, control floods), wildfire protection, protection from sea level rise, create parks, protect wildlife and habitats, and address extreme heat events.

Vote YES on Proposition 5 Your Title Goes Here

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Lower approval requirements for housing & infrastructure

This would lower the supermajority vote requirement from two-thirds (66.67%) vote to 55% for local jurisdictions to issue bonds or impose special taxes for affordable housing and public infrastructure projects.

Vote YES on Proposition 6 Your Title Goes Here

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Ban slavery in state prisons

This constitutional amendment would end indentured servitude in state prisons, one of the last remnants of slavery.

Vote YES on Proposition 32 Your Title Goes Here

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Raise the state minimum wage to $18/hr

This would increase the state minimum wage to $18/hr from $15/hr for all employees in California.

Vote YES on Proposition 33 Your Title Goes Here

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Allow local governments to impose rent controls

This would repeal the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act (1995) which prevents cities and counties from limiting rents in many properties in California.

NO POSITION on Proposition 34 Your Title Goes Here

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Require AIDS Healthcare Foundation to use revenue from a federal prescription drug program on patient care

This is a CA Apartment Association-backed attack on AIDS Healthcare Foundation, meant to prevent the organization from funding rent control measures in the future.

NO POSITION on Proposition 35 Your Title Goes Here

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Permanent tax on managed healthcare insurance plans

This initiative is sponsored by California’s health care industry to raise more money for Medi-Cal and block lawmakers from using the money raised for purposes outside of supporting Medi-Cal.

Vote NO on Proposition 36 Your Title Goes Here

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Mass Incarceration Initiative: Increase penalties for nonviolent drug and theft crimes

This initiative would undo Prop 47, which voters decided in 2014 to reclassify nonviolent felonies to misdemeanors and redirect funds toward schools. This measure would further criminalize addiction and poverty, increase mass incarceration, and reduce funding for education, mental health, and homelessness prevention.

LOS ANGELES COUNTY Vote YES on Measure A Your Title Goes Here

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$10 billion for public schools

This $10 billion bond would pay for repairs and upgrades at CA public school buildings, some of which have languished with rot, mold, leaks, and other hazards due to lack of funds. K-12 schools would receive $8.5 billion and $1.5 billion would go to community colleges.

OAKLAND Vote YES on Measure MM Your Title Goes Here

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Wildfire Prevention Zone Tax

Creates a “wildfire protection zone” in the Oakland Hills to protect our communities from wildfires and smoke. Paid for through a parcel tax that only applies to Oakland Hills residents.

Vote YES on Measure NN Your Title Goes Here

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Citywide Violence Reduction Services

Extends and increases property and parking taxes to fund fire, police, vital violence prevention services, 911 dispatch, and more. Measure NN isn’t perfect, but our public safety services depend on it.

Vote YES on Measure OO Your Title Goes Here

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Modernize and Strengthen Ethics Oversight

Updates the procedures of the Public Ethics Commission to ensure stronger government transparency and fairness.

RICHMOND Vote NO on Measure J Your Title Goes Here

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Create Municipal Primary Elections

This measure would create municipal primaries for City of Richmond elections. This would create an extra step in our election process, allowing a smaller group of citizens voting in Primary elections to potentially decide our election outcomes. Working-class voters of color are less likely to turn out for primary elections, and adding primaries would make campaigns more costly — giving an upper-hand to corporate-backed candidates.

Vote YES on Measure L Your Title Goes Here

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Institute Ranked-Choice Voting Elections

This measure would create rank choice voting elections for Richmond, allowing voters to rank their top candidates in order of preference.

A Rank Choice Voting election process delivers more representative and equitable election outcomes, as it elects a majority-supported candidate, increases voter participation, and gives voters more power to express their preferences.

The post Our 2024 Ballot Measure Endorsements appeared first on Asian Pacific Environmental Network.

“It was always our intention to set a precedent.”

Richmond refinery communities made the front page of the internet this week with a Politico feature on our Polluters Pay campaign and the local organizing that made it possible. Read that article here.

Building on decades of organizing against Chevron, this year our communities came together behind a new idea: a #PollutersPay tax that would make big polluters pay for the damage they’ve caused.

By forcing the oil giant to offer up $550 million with the threat of losing at the ballot box, working families made history here in California.  

We got creative, and Chevron got scared — to the tune of $550 million. Together with our long-time partners Communities for a Better Environment and the city-workers’ union, SEIU 1021, our coalition fought and won a model for other refinery communities.

 

APEN youth members and Senior Youth Richmond Organizer Katherine Lee at a #PollutersPay rally. Photo by Denny Khamphanthong.

Let’s be clear: we wanted to go all the way to November. We know you were ready to knock doors, join us at phone banks, and get out the vote for the Polluters Pay campaign.

We wish we could have gone to the ballot, but we’re clear: refinery communities can take on multi-billion dollar corporations with huge results. If Richmond can do it, we know others can, as well.

From here, our Richmond team is organizing to ensure that Chevron’s millions actually invest in priorities for working families – like essential services and a fund to clean up Chevron’s toxic mess.

Can you take two actions today to amplify our work?

1. Send this article on to a friend.
2. Sign up to organize for a Richmond beyond oil.

SIGN UP NOW

The post “It was always our intention to set a precedent.” appeared first on Asian Pacific Environmental Network.

With the far-right pro-paramilitary group CSPOA holding its “large scale event” in Orlando later this week, IREHR has alerted law enforcement across the state of Florida about the CSPOA “Plan.”

 

Dear Sheriff:

It has come to our attention that a notorious group with ties to insurrectionists and white nationalists is attempting to recruit law enforcement in Florida, potentially including you and your deputies.

We are reaching out to your department with a sense of urgency and concern regarding the upcoming plans by the so-called Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association (CSPOA) for a two-day event in Orlando, Florida on September 6-7, 2024. For details about the event, see the IREHR special report, The Plan: A New Far-Right Blueprint for the Next Insurrection is Taking Place in Florida. We have also alerted Florida media and the venue about this event.

In addition to the concerns of our organization, it is important to note that both the Anti-Defamation League and Southern Poverty Law Center categorize CSPOA as an “anti-government extremist” group. This classification should raise serious concerns and prompt a cautious approach towards any involvement with the CSPOA.

The far-right pro-paramilitary group promotes the long-discredited idea derived from the violently racist and antisemitic Posse Comitatus that sheriffs can usurp the judicial branch’s role in interpreting the Constitution and unilaterally override federal, state, and local laws. The sheriff’s job is challenging enough without being saddled with these unconstitutional burdens.

Here are some facts about the group’s founder, the current CEO, the advisory board, and members for you to consider.

CSPOA Founder Richard Mack

The CSPOA was founded by former Arizona Sheriff Richard Mack—a longtime militia movement figure and founding board member of the insurrectionist paramilitary group, the Oath Keepers. Six Oath Keepers leaders were convicted of seditious conspiracy for their part in the January 6th insurrection. According to the Department of Justice, the “manners and means” used by defendants convicted in two separate Oath Keepers trials included “using force against law enforcement officers while inside the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.”

While Mack told Reuters that he left the Oath Keepers’ board around 2016 because the group became too militant, he and other CSPOA leaders maintained a relationship with the insurrectionist group. In fact, on January 5, 2021, CSPOA CEO Sam Bushman had Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes on his radio program the day before the insurrection to encourage others to join his insurrectionary plans. Bushman continues to defend Rhodes on his program.

Mack has also made clear that he would support using private militias against government officials, writing, “People get all upset when they hear about militias, but what’s wrong with it? I wouldn’t hesitate for a minute to call out my posse against the federal government if it gets out of hand.”

Before returning to efforts to infiltrate law enforcement, in 2021, Mack toured the country with an antisemitic conspiracy theorist spreading misinformation about COVID-19.

While Mack spends considerable time stressing his devotion to Constitutional rights, his record and that of other law officers affiliated with CSPOA has too often been wanting in this regard.

Richard Mack’s history in law enforcement is also worthy of consideration. In 1985, while serving in the Provo, Utah, police department, Mack’s apparent misconduct landed a man on death row and in prison for nearly 30 years. As described in a 116-page federal court ruling, during the investigation into a high-profile murder case, Mack arranged to pay the rent, heat, and phone bills of two key witnesses and give them cash – totaling some $4,000 across several months. As a result, a Fourth District Court Judge overturned the conviction and death sentence of the man based on the misconduct of Mack, other officers, and the prosecutor. One witness also “testified that Officer Mack threatened her and [her husband] with arrest, deportation, and loss of their son, and that this occurred three times.” In addition, witnesses testified that they were coached to lie about having received gifts and about the defendant planning to rape the murder victim. The judge wrote, “Officer Mack’s inconsistent statements—all aimed at painting the police and his own conduct in a more favorable light— seriously undermined his credibility.”

CSPOA CEO Sam Bushman

When Richard Mack took a $20,000-a-month position on the board of a group spreading COVID misinformation, Sam Bushman was promoted to CEO of CSPOA. Sam Bushman never served in law enforcement. He has, however, been involved with promoting troubling white nationalist organizations, including groups advocating secession and killing law enforcement.

Already facing growing pressure for ties to white nationalists, last October, Bushman appeared on the podcast of a Hitler-loving white nationalist. On that program, Bushman confessed that he’d been a longtime reader of and remains a supporter of the white nationalist publications Spotlight and American Free Press.

CSPOA CEO Sam Bushman has used his radio show to promote and build a relationship with the white nationalist, antisemitic, and secessionist League of the South. In 1990, League of the South Chief of Statt Michael Tubbs pleaded guilty to stealing M-16 rifles from Fort Bragg in North Carolina, serving four years in prison. In 2017, Tubbs was named commander of the League of the South’s paramilitary branch, the Southern Defense Force.

Identity Dixie leader Jim O’Brien, aka Padraig Martin, a guest on Bushman’s radio show, League of the South ally, and co-editor of a pro-secessionist book promoted by Bushman, wrote this troubling passage about murdering law enforcement:

“The lesson of the egregious Stewart Rhodes prison sentence – as well as every other J6 Protester languishing in a prison, – is the following: if you are going to start a revolution of any kind, even if your purpose had legal or Constitutional merit, you better not stop at the gates. You better go all in. Do not leave a single police officer, Congressman, judge, or any other functionary of government alive…[T]he next time you take part in a rightwing protest be prepared to kill them all. Half measures are no longer an option.”

Bushman also recently announced on his radio show that he is a member of fugitive paramilitary figure Ammon Bundy’s People’s Rights network. While the group is most well-known for threatening hospitals and public health officials, one People’s Rights network member is serving an 18-year sentence for a northern Idaho shootout with law enforcement. Another is awaiting trial in Nevada for threatening law enforcement.

CSPOA Advisory Board

Mack and Bushman aren’t the only CSPOA figures of concern. The group’s advisory board includes a former member of a white nationalist secessionist group and a sheriff involved in an attempt to seize voting machines.

Michael Peroutka was a national board member of the white nationalist secessionist group, the League of the South, a group that seeks a whites-only ethnostate in the U.S. South, promotes vicious antisemitism, and has forged alliances with neo-Nazis. Peroutka has denounced the Union’s victory in what he calls the “War Between the States.” Peroutka even led the League of the South convention in singing what he called the “national anthem” – “Dixie.” While Peroutka later backed away when his ties were exposed, he stated, “I don’t have any problem with the organization.”

Peroutka currently leads the Institute on the Constitution (IOTC). This group promotes anti-Muslim bigotry and state nullification. It has distributed material stating that “We see no reason why men should not discriminate on grounds of religion, race, or nationality if they wish.” Peroutka even pledged to use the Institute on the Constitution to aid the League of the South and advance the cause of imposing biblical law.

CSPOA Advisory Board member Barry County, Michigan, Sheriff Dar Leaf was an unindicted co-conspirator in a Michigan voting machine tampering case. Emails obtained by Bridge Michigan show that Sheriff Leaf tried to enlist fellow “constitutional sheriffs” to seize Dominion voting machines at the heart of the election conspiracy promoted by then-President Donald Trump.

In May 2020, Sheriff Leaf shared the stage with members of the Michigan Liberty Militia, including one of the men arrested in the plot to kidnap the governor.

Other CSPOA-Affiliated Sheriffs

CSPOA ranks are filled with members who have tarnished the image of law enforcement and harmed communities. Multiple CSPOA-affiliated law officers have engaged in intimidation and illegal and potentially illegal practices.

• Former Edwards County (TX) Sheriff Pam Elliot, a CSPOA member featured on the cover of Mack’s book, Are You a David?, and her department engaged in activity that intimidated political opponents and voters, including Edwards County deputies appearing at polling stations. Election attorney Buck Wood described the latter as “pure and simple intimidation.”
• In 2022 Real County (TX) Sheriff Nathan Johnson, who attended a Texas CSPOA training, was put under criminal investigation for repeatedly seizing money from undocumented immigrants, even if they were not charged with a state crime – actions to which he admitted.
• Culpepper County, Virginia, Sheriff Scott Jenkins, a featured speaker at CSPOA’s 2020 conference, was indicted in June on a slew of corruption charges related to a scheme that offered police badges and gun permits in exchange for payments or political contributions.
• CSPOA member Frederick County, Maryland Sheriff Charles “Chuck” Austin Jenkins was indicted in April by a federal grand jury for breaking federal gun laws. Jenkins is alleged to have defrauded the United States by interfering with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) by making false statements and representations in paperwork submitted to the ATF to obtain machine guns that were used by campaign supporter Robert Justin Krop’s firearms business, The Machine Gun Nest.
• Riverside County, California Sheriff Chad Bianco, is not only a prominent CSPOA member, he’s also been a member of the insurrectionist group, the Oath Keepers.
• Joe Arpaio, the former Maricopa County (AZ) Sheriff who received a 2012 CSPOA award, was convicted of criminal contempt in 2017 after refusing to end his department’s racial profiling practices. As of 2015, taxpayers had paid $8.2 million for the case.
• In 2019, CSPOA presented former Republic, Washington Police Chief Loren Culp with its “Police Chief of the Decade” award. On April 3, 2024, the Washington Association of Sheriffs & Police Chiefs issued Loren Culp a “notice of…proposed expulsion” from the Association because of “numerous offensive public social media posts and comments” deemed to be “unbecoming of a WASPC member.”

We could go on, but I think you get the idea. At a time when law enforcement and community relations are already strained, efforts of a far-right group to infiltrate law enforcement pose a grave and growing threat to both officers and department credibility. I think we can all agree that groups like CSPOA have no place in law enforcement. We urge you to speak out to make it clear that CSPOA has no place in American law enforcement. As this issue is time-sensitive, we would appreciate a rapid response. If you have any questions or concerns, don’t hesitate to contact us.

Sincerely,

Devin Burghart
Executive Director
IREHR

 

The post IREHR’s Letter to Florida Sheriffs appeared first on IREHR.

70+ volunteers. 4 hours. 5,800 kits.

70+ volunteers. 

4 hours. 

5,800 emergency starter kits packed with life-saving essentials like flashlights, first aid kits and masks. 

We did that!

Thank you to all of the volunteers, staff, members, and partner organizations who joined us in Chinatown earlier this week to assemble 5,800 emergency kits for working-class families in Oakland.

At Lincoln Rec, a cornerstone of the Oakland Chinatown community, participants from eight community organizations shared their hopes and dreams for what a resilient Oakland could look like as we prepared to pack the kits. Participants dreamed up a future where our communities have the resources they need to thrive before, during, and after disasters strike. A future where indigenous leadership is honored; where working families can access housing, green space, clean water, medical care and transportation; where our youth are invested in, not punished.

Fourth-graders from Lincoln Elementary assembled kits side-by-side with elders from Chinatown and young adults from East Oakland, working together to keep our community safe. This is what community care looks like.

All images by Joyce Xi, @joycexiphotography

At APEN, we believe that resilient communities are organized communities. When wildfires, blackouts, and pandemics threaten our neighborhoods, we come together — sharing information and resources, picking up trash, delivering food, and walking with our elders so they don’t need to walk alone. 

Time and time again, people like you have stood with our community in these moments. Thank you.

–Caitlyn He, Oakland Community Organizer

P.S. — Looking for more ways to practice community care and keep our community safe? Safety is still a major concern for many of our seniors, and having someone to walk with makes a big difference. Sign up to be a volunteer walking buddy to seniors in Oakland who could use an extra hand and company to run their errands. 

BECOME A WALKING BUDDY

The post 70+ volunteers. 4 hours. 5,800 kits. appeared first on Asian Pacific Environmental Network.

APEN Night Market: Celebrating 30 Years

Our APEN Night Market was a beautiful event – thank you to everyone who attended or supported our 30th anniversary celebration from afar! Together, we celebrated 30 years of grassroots organizing, power building, and transformation.

This event wouldn’t have been possible without our Asian immigrant and refugee members that drive our vision and work, our staff and board who planned the event, our generous sponsors, and our community of supporters near and far. Thank you.

We also want to acknowledge that this has been a challenging year for many of us, as rising fascism and climate catastrophes threaten the people and places we love. In times like these, it is more important than ever to celebrate what we have built together – and forge powerful connections as we fight for a Just Transition.

All images by Ryan Sin.

The Night Market was a chance to celebrate our cultures, our intergenerational legacy, and our love of food, fun, and connection. If you have cravings for any of these, make sure to check out our digital program booklet (designed by the incomparable Innosanto Nagara) for a full list of the amazing vendors and performers featured on Saturday.

To keep growing our grassroots organizing for environmental justice over the next 30 years, we need your support. If you haven’t already, please consider becoming an APEN monthly donor today.

BECOME A MONTHLY DONOR

The post APEN Night Market: Celebrating 30 Years appeared first on Asian Pacific Environmental Network.

Thank you to everyone who made CCC’s 2024 Summer Soirée a wonderful success, with a record-breaking $269,000 raised for racial justice, 82 sponsors, over 400 guests, and one mission to bring it all together. This year’s Summer Soirée was a major success, and it is all thanks to you, our wonderful supporters, our member organizations, sponsors, partners, and the entire community.

We celebrated our annual Summer Soirée gala at Avenue Portland on May 31. The dynamic and charismatic Poison Waters charged the room with her charisma and energy. We had the pleasure of featuring two local BIPOC owned restaurants, Plant Based Papi and Hapa Barkada. Devil’s Food was our lead caterer and also provided guests with three signature cocktails. DJ Just Jeff helped us wrap up the night in style with all the best tunes, and Feddy Torres from FTJPhotograpy, and Conrad McKethan captured the night's essence in images you can find here and here. Relive the fun or see what you missed.

Thank you for being a part of this year’s Summer Soirée, and we hope to see there in 2025! Keep a look out for our save the date coming soon.

We are grateful to all of our sponsors who showed up and showed out at our event, and a special thank you to our Diamond Sponsors: