COMMUNITY FORUM AND SUMMIT
ORGANIZING FOR THE COMMON GOOD:
PROMOTING PROGRESSIVE VALUES
Saturday, April 16, 2005
9 AM to noon
Registration and coffee: 8:30 AM
Wallenburg Auditorium, Denkmann Hall, Augustana College
7th Avenue and 35th St., Rock Island
KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Tom Higgins
Former Iowa State Legislator, Aide to President Jimmy Carter,
Health Care Policy Maker, AIDS Activist, Political Leader
FOLLOWED BY ISSUE WORKSHOPS
Education (Look for Istoodforu here.)
Health Care
Civil Rights/Anti-Hate
(City Council, School Board Issues)
Corporate Power vs. Democracy
Economic Development/Riverfront/Environment
Media (bringing a progressive radio voice to the QC)
Campaign for Commercial-free Childhood QC
Reclaiming Faith and Values from a Progressive Point of View
Social Security
Poverty and Housing
Energy Independence
Peace and Non-Violence
Buy Local QC
Women’s Issues
This will give you the opportunity to:
• To develop strategies for local action to promote progressive change in our communities
• To network with other progressives throughout the QC
PROGRESSIVE ACTION FOR THE COMMON GOOD
is a group of Quad Cities citizens who are committed to working together to rebuild in our communities an active citizenry interested in promoting progressive values for the
common good.
Musical entertainment provided by Meridian Green.
OUR KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Tom Higgins, is currently the President of Prosetta Corporation, an early stage biotechnology company in San Francisco. Tom grew up in a labor household; his cousin was the great champion of labor, Msgr. George Higgins. Tom began his illustrious career as a student at St. Ambrose College where he organized and led countless protests against the War in Viet Nam there and in graduate school; he was one of the lead organizers for Gene McCarthy's campaign in Iowa and later for Harold Hughes' Senate campaign. Tom helped to found and lead the first drug treatment program in the Q-C and after being elected to the Iowa legislature, chaired the Human Resources Committee, where he helped to pass more progressive, sweeping legislation in healthcare, housing, civil rights, corrections and social services in those years than any other state in the Union. Tom was deeply involved in the campaigns of Dick Clark and John Culver for the US Senate; served President Jimmy Carter at HEW and then in The White House. Tom then moved to Portland, Oregon where his work led to innovations in Mental and Community Health care and regional financing for the uninsured, which became national models of service delivery.
During the 80’s, Tom co-founded two of the largest AIDS services organizations in the country, in Portland (Cascade Aids Project) and in San Francisco (Continuum HIV Services). He has been involved in various health care, energy concerns, and business ventures since that time. He believes it is imperative that we be involved at a local level, not just for the sake of our neighbors, but so that we don't get discouraged as well.
OUR MUSICAL ENTERTAINMENT
Meridian Green is a folk singer, songwriter and radiantly entertaining performer. Green's diverse collection of songs creates a lively neighborhood where the deeply personal lives next door to the purely fictional and flirts with the downright political. Her Americana folk fusion moves down the back roads of contemporary country to the secret rhythms of hoe downs, Motown, Brazilian jazz, and Celtic jigs. Recent solo shows have featured an all new repertoire.
The daughter of folk legend Bob Gibson, Meridian Green grew up in Greenwich Village and came of age on the north coast of California. In 1986 she was joined by ex-Byrd Gene Parsons on what was to have been her first solo tour, beginning a legendary musical partnership. Green has been featured in the New York Times, BBC Radio, Sing Out! and Dirty Linen. She has performed in the UK and Europe as well as the US both solo and as part of the Parsons Green duet and band.
A review of her first solo album In The Heart Of This Town says "Meridian Green skillfully rides that fine line between folk and country, rendering it invisible. That lovely voice opens the door and one is drawn into the music itself, not so much folk as a refined blend of country, pop, and jazz with a solid folk centre." Green has recorded two duet albums with Parsons, Birds Of A Feather and Live From Caspar. She is also the co-creator of Fender's Parsons/Green B-Bender which was featured in Vintage Guitar Magazine (April 2004).
Full Version: PROMOTING PROGRESSIVE VALUES
Looks like a great program. I wish I could attend.
I've started a topic on the Online Cafe which is a synopsis of Tom Higgins' keynote address:Promoting Progressive Values
The conference was quite well attended. I'm excited about this group. People are planning specific local actions throughout the summer and fall. This may be a workable model---but boomers outnumber students and 20 somethings. We got to work on that.
You can find out more about this ongoing progressive at Quad-Cities Progressive Action
The conference was quite well attended. I'm excited about this group. People are planning specific local actions throughout the summer and fall. This may be a workable model---but boomers outnumber students and 20 somethings. We got to work on that.
You can find out more about this ongoing progressive at Quad-Cities Progressive Action
Cathy Bolkcom was the chief organizer for the event last Saturday. She's a high energy activist who reminds me of Sally Field in Norma Rae
Reclaiming Democracy
Story by Cathy Bolkcom
Article Posted Wednesday, April 13 2005 ~ 10:10am
When exactly did our leaders stop referring to us as “citizens” and start calling us “consumers”? When did the “public square” get replaced in political discussions by the “marketplace”? These are questions I have been pondering for the last several years as a community activist. Clearly, our culture has been overtaken by concerns of materialism, consumerism, and the so-called “free-market.” In the midst of all this, we have become obsessed with working harder, being more productive, making more money, and buying more stuff. It is harder and harder for people at the lower end of the economic scale to keep up with the cost of living. This has all led to less involvement in our communities, evidenced by, amongst other things, declining participation in civic groups. Our political leaders pander to us, telling us we can have all the services and benefits we want from government, while assuring us that they will make cutting our taxes their top priority.
Where do the interests of the larger community fit into all of this? We allow ourselves to be distracted by arguments about issues of “morality” as defined from a very narrow religious point of view, that of the Religious Right. In the meantime, the current administration seeks to dismantle government as we have known it under both Republican and Democratic presidents for the last 60 years. The political labels have become meaningless. Our current administration is the most radical we’ve seen – eliminating the lines between church and state, between the executive branch and the judicial branch, trying to legislate away the separation of powers. Corporate power and influence have overwhelmed the ability of average citizens to have a voice. We watch as our civil rights seem to be eroding away before our very eyes.
Many Quad Citians are concerned about the loss of our democracy, about the erosion of civil rights and the marginalization of minority groups. We are concerned about a preemptive war based on misinformation, about intolerance, about the desecration of our environment. We want to reclaim what it means to be moral and patriotic citizens.
A group of us have been meeting over the past three months – well over 100 people – to organize citizens to work for the common good of our communities. We value peace; social, racial, and economic justice; diversity; civil rights; civil liberties; human rights; a preserved environment; and a reinvigorated democracy. We seek to empower people to take action for positive change and to advocate for fundamental change when necessary.
We call ourselves Progressive Action for the Common Good, and we are already working on issues including protecting and saving Social Security; challenging corporate power, which is weakening our democracy; advocating for affordable housing; supporting the civil rights of all people; working for a health-care system that serves everyone; and reclaiming what it means to have faith or be moral, amongst other issues. Progressive Action is nonpartisan. We will not speak with one voice; rather we will work to bring together all of these voices to empower average citizens again.
We are having a public summit on Saturday, April 16, at Augustana College to gather as a community to talk about organizing and taking action for the common good. Tom Higgins, a former state legislator from Iowa, will travel from California to give the keynote address, and musical entertainment will be provided by Mike Wallace and Chris Dunn. We will be strategizing in issue workshops for local action to promote needed changes. We will be working over the next months and years to make our democracy strong again.
We need to progress to a point in this country where we examine public and corporate action not from the standpoint of “How will this affect/benefit me?” but “Is this what is best for my community/state/nation?” We ask not “What will this cost me?” but “What is the greatest good for all concerned?” Let’s put aside our own personal agendas long enough to consider the needs of others. We need to rebuild our democracy from the ground up by taking responsibility for being active citizens again. Progressive Action is bringing together small-business owners, community group members, retirees, students, clergy, public servants, union workers, educators, all kinds of people from all walks of life to strengthen our communities through community action and to advocate for corporate policies that allow profit making as well as protection for our environment and our workers. We need a new community, moral, and political ethic that promotes quality of life for all of the people who live amongst us. Let’s remember that we are not consumers. We are citizens. Please join us.
Cathy Bolkcom
LeClaire
Reclaiming Democracy
Story by Cathy Bolkcom
Article Posted Wednesday, April 13 2005 ~ 10:10am
When exactly did our leaders stop referring to us as “citizens” and start calling us “consumers”? When did the “public square” get replaced in political discussions by the “marketplace”? These are questions I have been pondering for the last several years as a community activist. Clearly, our culture has been overtaken by concerns of materialism, consumerism, and the so-called “free-market.” In the midst of all this, we have become obsessed with working harder, being more productive, making more money, and buying more stuff. It is harder and harder for people at the lower end of the economic scale to keep up with the cost of living. This has all led to less involvement in our communities, evidenced by, amongst other things, declining participation in civic groups. Our political leaders pander to us, telling us we can have all the services and benefits we want from government, while assuring us that they will make cutting our taxes their top priority.
Where do the interests of the larger community fit into all of this? We allow ourselves to be distracted by arguments about issues of “morality” as defined from a very narrow religious point of view, that of the Religious Right. In the meantime, the current administration seeks to dismantle government as we have known it under both Republican and Democratic presidents for the last 60 years. The political labels have become meaningless. Our current administration is the most radical we’ve seen – eliminating the lines between church and state, between the executive branch and the judicial branch, trying to legislate away the separation of powers. Corporate power and influence have overwhelmed the ability of average citizens to have a voice. We watch as our civil rights seem to be eroding away before our very eyes.
Many Quad Citians are concerned about the loss of our democracy, about the erosion of civil rights and the marginalization of minority groups. We are concerned about a preemptive war based on misinformation, about intolerance, about the desecration of our environment. We want to reclaim what it means to be moral and patriotic citizens.
A group of us have been meeting over the past three months – well over 100 people – to organize citizens to work for the common good of our communities. We value peace; social, racial, and economic justice; diversity; civil rights; civil liberties; human rights; a preserved environment; and a reinvigorated democracy. We seek to empower people to take action for positive change and to advocate for fundamental change when necessary.
We call ourselves Progressive Action for the Common Good, and we are already working on issues including protecting and saving Social Security; challenging corporate power, which is weakening our democracy; advocating for affordable housing; supporting the civil rights of all people; working for a health-care system that serves everyone; and reclaiming what it means to have faith or be moral, amongst other issues. Progressive Action is nonpartisan. We will not speak with one voice; rather we will work to bring together all of these voices to empower average citizens again.
We are having a public summit on Saturday, April 16, at Augustana College to gather as a community to talk about organizing and taking action for the common good. Tom Higgins, a former state legislator from Iowa, will travel from California to give the keynote address, and musical entertainment will be provided by Mike Wallace and Chris Dunn. We will be strategizing in issue workshops for local action to promote needed changes. We will be working over the next months and years to make our democracy strong again.
We need to progress to a point in this country where we examine public and corporate action not from the standpoint of “How will this affect/benefit me?” but “Is this what is best for my community/state/nation?” We ask not “What will this cost me?” but “What is the greatest good for all concerned?” Let’s put aside our own personal agendas long enough to consider the needs of others. We need to rebuild our democracy from the ground up by taking responsibility for being active citizens again. Progressive Action is bringing together small-business owners, community group members, retirees, students, clergy, public servants, union workers, educators, all kinds of people from all walks of life to strengthen our communities through community action and to advocate for corporate policies that allow profit making as well as protection for our environment and our workers. We need a new community, moral, and political ethic that promotes quality of life for all of the people who live amongst us. Let’s remember that we are not consumers. We are citizens. Please join us.
Cathy Bolkcom
LeClaire
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