Our Past Work
Pennsylvania
Be there when our country elects a new president
On a historic day like this one, don’t you want to be with your friends and countrymen?
Election Results Party! Doors open at 8pm, no cover, 21+ to drink, 18+ to vote!
Hosted by Ezra and Chassity “yah lioness”, and Open mike with Hambone Jenkins. @ The Shadow Lounge, 5927 Baum Blvd, www.shadowlounge.net
Help Trick Out the Vote!
Love wearing a costume?
Feeling too old to trick or treat?
Care about the future of our democracy?
Get out the vote, Halloween-style!
Wear a costume and help trick-or-treat new and unlikely voters Friday, Oct 31st!
Sign up you and your friends for Trick-or-Vote!
We have a Poster Contest Winner!
(click on image for larger version)
Janel Ganaway, age 12, submitted the winning design for the PA League of Young Voters “Unlock the Vote” poster contest.
Pittsburgh student programs held through Mission Discovery and the MGR Foundation were asked to design a poster that said why it was important to vote. The winner was selected by our attendees at the last PA League Presidential Debate Watch Party.
Way to go, Janel! One thousand copies of your poster have been printed and distributed throughout the city in selected neighborhoods. The poster contest was part of the PA League’s ongoing Unlock the Vote program, which encourages inmate and ex-offender communities to know their rights, get registered, and vote.
Janel Ganaway, in front on the far right, with fellow Mission Discovery students and local hip-hop favorites, Wiz Khalifa (left) and Jasiri X (far right).
County Jail: Registered!
We had great success registering new voters at the Allegheny County Jail, with help from many other organizations and volunteers. Read how it’s done in the Post-Gazette article!
Return of the HOTSHEET
The fabled “Hotsheet” weekly email blast, where we skewered or praised local legislation and government actions (or inaction, as the case may be), told you where to find the most happening local events, and kept you up-to-speed on what the League was doing ’round here.
Well, it’s back, but in a new format — now you can check out the Hotsheet online, see it’s archives, get the RSS feed, or if emails are your first love, sign up for an email digest where the Hotsheet content is delivered right to your inbox.
What it was like on Election Day
Amy from the Coro Program and about 70 other volunteers hit the streets and the phones today to remind new and unlikely voters to DO IT.
The PA League participated in the VideoYourVote project, and so we got a sample of voters responses about their experience. Click above to check it out!
WANTED: Graduation Project Coaches!
Do you know how to throw an event?
Do you know how to plan a marketing campaign?
Have you ever worked on an election?
If you answered “yes” to any of those questions above, you could help local high school students with their senior graduation projects!
All Pittsburgh public school students must complete a senior project to graduate. This project must engage the community in some way and the student must create and execute an original product.
The PA League finds a Project Coach for a few students each semester to do a project in one of the following areas:
- develop a marketing plan to promote voting and create a promotional product
- plan and orchestrate an event to raise money for a non-profit organization in the area
- create a plan and organize others to collect voter registrations and promote civic engagement
Senior high school students need adults to help them with their projects int he following ways:
- Be a Project Coach - provide guidance and weekly one-on-one check-ins on the project’s progress
- Be a Project Resource - be interviewed, donate the use of a space, provide materials, or provide another resource for a student’s project
Coaches are needed for projects Sept to Dec and Feb to May
Click here to sign up to contacted to be a mentor
http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/315/c/2328/t/4749/signUp.jsp?key=3491
It’s Election Day!
Local election time folks! Here’s all the info you need to do the deed right!
We exceeded our goals with voter registrations for this election. Now let’s just make sure everyone has what they need to do the deed!
Click here for election results! http://alleghenycounty.us/elect/
Click here to find your polling place http://apps.county.allegheny.pa.us/VoteDistricts/Lookup.aspx
Click here to learn more about the local candidates
http://www.pavotesmart.com/
Pass it on!
When the Cemetery Sizzles
A hot day for a hot topic — we staged a protest and demanded action from our Congressman on the Iraq War with a sign honoring all those Pennsylvanian soldiers who have already died in Iraq.
Not only are they working with local sponsoring groups (Iraq Vets Against War, Thomas Merton Anti-War Committee, Pittsburgh Vets Tour, and The American Friends Service Committee), but they welcomed our help at their event too.
We asked Representative Murphy to take a stand on the Iraq War that we can LIVE with.
Don’t call us a mob. We’re fighting for justice!
Paul Abernathy, Mid-Atlantic Regional Coordinator of The Iraq Vets Against the War and local native, stands strong with Nish, and Rory Casey and Caleb Payne of the AAEI.
The League under surveillance. It wouldn’t be the first time…
Because not only is Iraq part of the war on terror, so is domestic spying, according to this man.
Multitasking as always, we demonstrate while simultaneously gossiping and listening to Paul Abernathy speak.
Shepherding the city children in front of a suburban cemetery.
Lou and Carl point out that this is a grave matter.
A number of us marched in with Paul Abernathy…
…who tried again to make an appointment with Rep. Murphy. After a year of being refused, the frustration and indignation were coming off him in waves.
Everyone but Paul (including the cameraman from Channel 11) got kicked out of the office with the absurd claim that it wasn’t a publicly funded office. After that, it was time to roll, so we all looked to the road…
Go here to the city website to find out (each councilmember page lists what neighborhoods are in their district), as well as information about what’s on the city council agenda and the rules they abide by.
…but they couldn’t keep us away.
Who said young people don’t care?
Strength in unity was definitely the tone:
Our State Board member, and State Representative, the Hon. Chelsa Wagner spoke to celebrate the first Pennsylvania Transit Workers Appreciation Day:
Another successful rally to Stop the Bus Cuts and send a message to our legislators in Harrisburg that they should give the people what they want — what we want is dedicated funding for our public transit!
Politics Gone Wild!
Where you ask the questions, and they answer!
We went around town asking YOU what you would like to know about from your candidates and local elected officials.
Then we asked them.
Some episodes also available from iTunes as a video podcast.
We won! We won!
Primary election day success
Much love to everyone who helped out!
The Gathering is coming to Pittsburgh!
Local site - www.myspace.com/pghgatheringFriday, August 3, 2007 - 7:00pm -12:00am
The Pittsburgh Regional Gathering Kick Off Concert
Featuring Wise Intelligent of Poor Righteous Teachers, Minister Jasiri X, Cynik Lethal,
Ya Lioness, Classic 1824, M-Team, Blessed music. Hosted by Paradise Gray (X-Clan)
and Luqman Abdus-Salam.
Shadow Lounge
5972 Baum Blvd
Pittsburgh, PA 15206
*SPECIAL OUT-FROM-RETIREMENT HIP-HOP PERFORMANCE BY KHARI MOSLEY
Saturday, August 4, 2007 - 9:00am - 3:00pm
“The Pittsburgh Gathering”
Take Action to Save Our Youth Conference
Keynote Speaker Fred Hampton Jr
Panels on Education, Economics, Politics, the Role of the Church, the Role of Media,
and Criminal Justice
Hosted By The Metro Urban Institute
Pittsburgh Theological Seminary
616 North Highland Avenue
Pittsburgh, Pa 15206
Saturday August 4th, 2007 - 9:00 pm
Tribute to the life and times of the X-Clan’s Lumumba “Professor X” Carson
(August 4th 1959 - March 17th 2006) . Hosted by Paradise “The Arkitech” Gray
NYOil and special guest Black Dot author of “De-coding The Hip-hop Matrix”.
The Undaground Lounge
607 East Ohio Street
Pittsburgh, PA. 15212
Sunday, August 5, 2007 - 3:00pm-5:00pm
Service in the Streets
The Pittsburgh Regional Gathering
Encourages all Churches, Mosques, and Synagogues to have Service Outside in the Community. Interfaith Service and Community Walk
Bethesda Presbyterian Church
7220 Bennett Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15208
***
Iowa Youth Vote Triples!
Check it out!
56,000 Iowans Under the Age of Thirty Participate in the Caucuses
By David Roscow
Washington, DC - Eleven percent of eligible Iowans under the age of 30 participated in
last night’s Iowa caucuses, according to preliminary analysis by CIRCLE (The Center for
Information & Research on Civic Learning & Engagement). The youth turnout rate rose
to 11 percent in 2008 compared to 4 percent in 2004 and 3 percent in 2000.
Read the full article (with stats) here [pdf format]
Read below for the Baltimore Sun’s report on the Iowa Caucus:
Obama and Huckabee take Iowa caucuses
From wire reports
January 4, 2008
DES MOINES, Iowa
Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, a first-term Democratic senator trying to become the nation’s first black president, rolled to victory in the Iowa caucuses last night, lifted by a record turnout of voters who rejected the criticism that he did not have enough experience.
Mike Huckabee, a former governor of Arkansas who was barely a blip on the national scene just two months ago, won the Republican caucuses.
“We are choosing hope over fear,” Obama told supporters after his victory, as a raucous crowd chanted, “Obama, Obama.”
“We are choosing unity over division and sending a powerful message that change is coming to America.”
Huckabee sounded a similar theme.
“Tonight, what we have seen is a new day in American politics. … Tonight, it starts here in Iowa, but it doesn’t end here,” he said. “It goes all the way to the other states and ends at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue one year from now.”
Obama’s victory was a major setback for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, who just months ago appeared to be the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination.
The result also left uncertain the prospects for John Edwards, a former senator from North Carolina, who had staked his second bid for the White House on winning this state.
On the Republican side, Huckabee defeated Mitt Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, delivering a serious setback to Romney’s high-spending campaign and putting pressure on Romney to win Tuesday in New Hampshire.
Nearly complete results showed Huckabee in first place, followed by Romney, then former Sen. Fred Thompson of Tennessee and Sen. John McCain of Arizona.
Among Democrats, with almost all precincts reporting, Obama was well ahead, followed by Edwards and Clinton. Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico was a distant fourth.
The Democratic caucuses attracted an estimated 220,000 voters; the Republicans, nearly 115,000.
Read the rest at baltimoresun.com
Copyright © 2008, The Baltimore Sun