There is so much more to Mother’s Day than flowers and chocolates. The modern-day celebration of motherhood traces its roots to a 19 th -century women’s disarmament movement. Today, women are joining forces to tackle a wide array of issues, including growing economic disparity. Poverty among women is at historic levels, significantly higher than those for men. The numbers are even higher for...
Ashley Shelton launched the Louisiana office of One Voice, an organization created in response to housing, education, civil rights, and policy advocacy needs in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. One Voice fosters public engagement, provides access to data for policy analysis and builds alliances with partners and supporters committed to building a strong, informed electorate.
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At age 16, Mayra Rangel walked through the desert for six days to escape poverty and find a job to support her family back in Mexico. Her activism began in 2011 when the Alabama legislature passed HB56, the nation’s strictest immigration law. She helped the Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice defeat many parts of the bill. Since then, she has continued to volunteer, organize, register...
The voting booth is a powerful place. Just look at how much effort has gone into keeping people away from it – and not just in the distant past. A cursory scan of recent headlines reveals various incarnations of modern-day struggles over suffrage.
Take the Voting Rights Act (VRA), the ink on which will be 50 years dry this August. It’s been lauded as the most effective piece of civil...
Maureen O’Connell worked at SOCM for 35 years, 16 as Executive Director. During her tenure, SOCM expanded from a five-county grassroots community organization focused on coal (Save Our Cumberland Mountains) to a statewide organization working on a host of local, statewide, regional, and national issues of environmental, social and economic justice (Statewide Organizing for Community...
