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Unapproved Minutes Our meeting was scheduled
for 11:00 AM 2/21/09 Bordeaux Branch Library 3711 Village Drive
Fayetteville, NC 28304-1530
Call to order:
The meeting was called to order by Roderick
Lewis, Chair at 11:15 AM due to technical problems with electronic equipment.
The purpose of the meeting: Was to discuss
whether the Cumberland County Progressives should join the North Carolina Progressives Democrats.
Welcome Given Roderick Lewis, Chair
Round table introduction:
Members, guest, and speaker
Today in History:
Malcolm Little
May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965
Malcolm X
El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz
Old Business reports for the today’s meeting:
Progressives TV
Show date moved due to water damage to studio
Broken water pipe caused
a spill into the studio
Show tape date March 17 2009
Guest Speaker: Richard Wark
He will speak on Israeli resettlement
in Gaza
Lively open discussion of the war in the Middle East
New website
Launch date March 21 2009
Stacey is working on our new site
Activism 2009
Members and guests remarked on their involvement with other groups and political parties?
Round table discussion on how activists will act and react to issues this year
Homelessness
Report
Andrew Bryant
Open ended discussion of the reasons for homelessness in our county
and how we can politically link concerned citizens with homes with homeless citizen in the county. The
main cause of homelessness is the lack of affordable housing.
The homeless believe the City of Fayetteville laws and
policies are aimed at pushing the homeless away from the city center.
Citizens in the county make a real effort to help
the homeless during the Thanksgiving & Christmas but help declines after the holiday season.
Is racism a component
in the problem of homeless in the county? A high number of the poor in our city are non-white
Could race be one of the reasons why help has been unfocused in our city? This question sparked lively debate.
Our overall conclusion: Fayetteville residents are unaware of the true
face the homelessness in our city is children according to its point in time survey.
Groups helping the homeless
Feed the 5000
Muslim Groups
NAACP
River Restoration group
Triangle Residential Options for Substance
Abusers (TROSA)
Lafayette Market Cooperative
Table Measures Web
Radio-Report due March 21
Progressive Authors Series - Report due March 21
New Business: Presentation by Hedie Rose Kober, President of Progressive Democrats of NC
She gave a history of the organization
and stated their mission
the mission of the Progressive Democrats of North Carolina is to promote economic, social,
global and environmental justice, and peace and sustainability in North Carolina.
Additional goals is to work with the North Carolina Democratic Party to maximize the democratic process,
to advocate for the days’ most pressing issues, and to serve as a voice of conscience. Founded
in June 2004 in Greensboro, the Progressive Democrats of North Carolina is composed of a broad array of grassroots activists.
From progressive civil rights and issue movements, as well as many who were mobilized by the 2004 campaigns of Dennis Kucinich
and Howard Dean, and motivated by groups such as Progressive Democrats of America and Democracy for America.
We stand
for those without a voice or with little in the way of financial resources, and advocate open and transparent government.
Among our ongoing goals are to increase progressives’ presence and influence in the NC Democratic Party, and to help
usher progressive policy through the legislative process in the NC General Assembly. Since 2004, we have developed and proposed
progressive legislative and other resolutions that have been adopted by the state Democratic Party, sponsored candidate’s
training, have been influentially involved in election campaigns around the state, and contributed toward the victories of
several progressive candidates. How to join
Membership in the
Progressive Democrats shall be open to any voter registered in North Carolina as Democrat or Unaffiliated who openly espouses
the PDNC Statement of Purpose and actively supports the policy agenda of the organization. The State Organization of PDNC
shall be composed of the members who have paid the prescribed dues as outlined in these Bylaws. (See Bylaw button for the
Statement of Purpose and see the Platform button for the PDNC policy agenda.)
At large membership is $10 a year but is
included in Convention registration. If you can’t come to the convention, you can join on line by ….(and here
make a way to do this on the donate piece.) You can also join by paying dues
to your local chapter. Local chapters now exist in Guilford, Orange, and Beaufort Counties Nonprofit Status There are registered non-profit, 501c4.
Epilogue
Progressives from across North Carolina came out in force to join with the NAACP and other members
of the NC progressive and civil rights community to demonstrate their support for the HK on J project and the PDNC involvement
with Progressive Democrats of America
Progressive Democrats of America was founded in 2004 to transform the Democratic
Party and our country. We seek to build a party and government controlled by citizens, not corporate elite’s -- with
policies that serve the broad public interest, not just private interests. There was a Q&A
period
Meeting ended and reconvened @ K&W restaurant
For Bylaws discussion Meeting concluded 4:25 PM
Next meeting:
3-28-09
2:00 PM
Bordeaux
Branch Library 3711 Village Drive
Fayetteville, NC 28304-1530
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MISSION
Our mission: to promote within the North
Carolina Democratic Party issues of sustainable development, as well as economic, social, and environmental justice. | |
| Individually many unions, non-profits, civic
and faith-based organizations have sought to improve the quality of life for North Carolinians. Yet our efforts are continually
frustrated by an increasingly undemocratic and unresponsive political process.
Well-paying jobs continue to be lost, wages and benefits are
dropping, the health of our environment is in peril, the healthcare crisis is worsening, and quality of life in general is
declining for middle and lower income people. All the while, expensive political campaigns prevent average North Carolinians
from gaining representation and affecting change. Only special interests with large campaign contributions have real access.
Progressives and reformers from all issues and movements share
a wide range of common, interconnected goals: decent wages, affordable healthcare, livable communities, and building a better
future for our children. At the national level, we share a strong commitment to peace, and a moral and internationally cooperative
approach to world affairs. To insure we are heard, and our voices have power, we have to pool our votes and apply them more
effectively to the political process. To that end, we are proposing a strategy of concentrating our forces within the North
Carolina Democratic Party as an important avenue toward building political power for a broad reform agenda.
We propose to establish a strong and active formal “auxiliary
organization” within the North Carolina Democratic Party to be called the PROGRESSIVE DEMOCRATS (PDNC) as a way of increasing
our clout in the political decision making process.
According to the North Carolina Democratic Party Plan of Organization,
auxiliaries will have a seat on each county executive committee in which they are organized. The PDNC would also be entitled
to a seat on the State Executive Committee, once chartered statewide. We will therefore have access to and formal representation
in, the internal process. Additionally, we will have a seat on the Resolutions and Platform Committee, and will seek access
to the Legislative Policy Committee, and the Issues Committees. We envision this formation as working closely with other caucuses. | |
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