By Nancy T Hoch

The current economic crisis has graphically illustrated the complexity of issues that keep our national ship of state afloat.  Recovery is not just about the stock market and the soundness of our banks.  Productivity is connected to our immigration policies.   Personal solvency is connected to our healthcare systems.   Jobs are connected to foreign markets.  Foreign markets are connected to diplomatic relations.  And on and on.  It is impossible to focus on one issue without focusing on another.

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By Ron Achelpohl and David Warm

This Could Be the Start of  Something Big
How Social Movements for Regional Equity are
Reshaping Metropolitan America
By Manuel Pastor, Jr., Chris Benner, and Martha Matsuoka
255 pages, Cornell University Press, paperback

“This Could Be the Start of Something Big” by Manuel Pastor, Jr., Chris Benner, and Martha Matsuoka is an effective and sympathetic overview of the current state of the regional social-equity initiatives, and it strongly suggests that these regional efforts are forming the basis of a national movement.  This book rings true as it argues that the metropolitan scale is a particularly effective space for social change through community organizing.  It should be of special interest to Gamaliel Foundation affiliates as it thoroughly documents Gamaliel’s leadership in the regional equity movement.

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Evening Leader
Wrexham, Wales, UK

18 June 2009.  GUESTS from home and abroad attended a special event to mark the excellent achievements of a well-known organization over the last 12 months.

As many as 165 supporters of the Wrexham-based Together Creating Communities (TCC) attended the event.

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This newsletter is very intentionally called  “Organizing:  The Gamaliel International Newsletter.”  We’ve had thriving South African affiliates for a number of years now.  Many of you have met representatives from there who traveled around the world to attend the ILA.  We are also building a presence in the United Kingdom.  Together Creating Change (TCC) in Wrexham, North Wales is an established organization in the Gamaliel UK Network.   (See related story.)  We also have organizers on the ground in Glasgow (Scotland),  Brandford , Manchester and Stockton (England).   It gives us great pleasure to report on UK activities.

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July 6, 2009.  The Make Health Happen Campaign, of which ISAIAH has been an integral member, has passed historic health care legislation in the midst of the worst budget crisis in recent Minnesota history.

This legislation called the Cover All Kids bill includes a “public option” for those who cannot afford private health insurance for their children. This is the only state level policy of its kind in our country and we were a part of making it happen. It actually de-links health care insurance from employment and gives people the option of having a public plan for their kids.

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In response to a fatal shooting of a young  Latino male on July 14, JONAH (Battle Creek, MI) organized a “March Against Violence, Walk for Peace” on Sunday, July 19. More than150 people from a dozen churches and community groups came together to walk and pray against violence. We promoted the importance of strong neighborhoods, as we recognized that the sharing of information by neighbors and the quick response of the police resulted in the arrest of three suspects in this shooting. The people that gathered also included in their prayers and focus during the walk a young African American man, who was shot in his driveway on Friday evening and died from the wound on Saturday. The group included Latino-Hispanics, African Americans, and Caucasians. Public officials were also present from the city and the county.

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The recent surprising and disappointing move by Janet Napolitano and the Obama administration to approve 11 more 287(g) Memorandums of Agreement (MOA’s) with law enforcement agencies across the country, including one in Gwinnett County, has kept Atlantans Building Leadership for Empowerment (ABLE) on their toes and working harder than ever.

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The Gamaliel Foundation invites you to be on a phone call with President Barack Obama in an urgent faith conversation about health care reform on Wednesday, August 19.

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