Labor Community Strategy Center

EDUCATION OF THE LOW-INCOME COMMUNITY AROUND THEIR SPECIAL ECONOMIC NEEDS AND EDUCATION ON URBAN ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS AS THEY IMPACT ON LOW-INCOME COMMUNITIES.

THE STRATEGY CENTER CURRENTLY HAS THE FOLLOWING PROGRAM PROJECTS:1. VOICES FROM THE FRONTLINES RADIO ? FEATURING FRONTLINE MOVEMENT ORGANIZERS, AUTHORS, ACTIVISTS AND REVOLUTIONARIES FROM AROUND THE WORLD. BROADCAST LIVE ON MONDAYS AT 4PM (PST) ON PACIFICA RADIO KPFK 90.7 FM, ONLINE AT WWW.KPFK.ORG (STREAMING LIVE), AND TO ARCHIVES AT THE ABOVE LINK. 2. BUS RIDERS UNION (BRU) - FEATURES CREATIVE TACTICS, FROM A GROUNDBREAKING CIVIL RIGHTS CONSENT DECREE TO DIRECT ACTION AND CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE, DRIVE A MULTIRACIAL DYNAMO OF 200 ACTIVE MEMBERS, 3,000 DUES-PAYING MEMBERS, AND 50,000 SUPPORTERS ON THE BUS. THE BRU HAS LITERALLY SAVED PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION IN LOS ANGELES AND BECOME THE LARGEST MULTIRACIAL, MASS TRANSPORTATION GRASSROOTS ORGANIZATION IN THE U.S.3. TRANSIT RIDERS FOR PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION (TRPT) - THE STRATEGY CENTER IS INITIATING A NEW NATIONAL CAMPAIGN, TRPT ,THAT WILL BE FOCUSING ON MOBILIZING LOW-INCOME COMMUNITIES AND THE MOST TRANSIT DEPENDENT TO IMPACT THE FORTHCOMING FEDERAL TRANSPORTATION BILL, T4, WHERE HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS OF DOLLARS ARE AT STAKE AND NEW OPPORTUNITIES MUST BE SEIZED.4. CLEAN AIR CLEAN LUNGS CLEAN BUSES / PUBLIC HEALTH AND GLOBAL WARMING CAMPAIGN - WE ARE LEADING A GROWING COALITION OF ENVIRONMENTAL AND PUBLIC HEALTH GROUPS AND DIRECTLY IMPACTED LOW-INCOME COMMUNITY RESIDENTS AND BUS RIDERS IN AN INTERNATIONAL CAMPAIGN TO GO FAR BEYOND KYOTO IN THE WORLD'S CAR CAPITAL. WE ARE SHOOTING TO CUT L.A.'S 7 MILLION AUTOS IN HALF AND REDUCE L.A.'S GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS BY 50% OVER THE NEXT DECADE.5. COMMUNITY RIGHTS CAMPAIGN - WE ARE CONFRONTING AN EPIDEMIC OF CRIMINALIZING LOW-INCOME YOUTH, ESPECIALLY BLACK AND LATINO YOUTH, IN THE URBAN CORE COMMUNITIES WHERE WE ORGANIZE. INSTEAD OF TEACHING PRE-MED AND PRE-LAW, SCHOOLS HAVE BECOME PRE-PRISONS WHERE HUGE NUMBERS OF STUDENTS ARE WAREHOUSED, "ENROLLED AND "DATA-BASED" INTO THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM FROM EARLY ON. WE HAVE OPPOSED EXPANDED FUNDING FOR POLICE THROUGH THE 1,000 MORE BUSES, 1,000 LESS POLICE CAMPAIGN, AND ARE WORKING IN FIVE LA HIGH SCHOOLS.6. NATIONAL SCHOOL FOR STRATEGIC ORGANIZING - ONE OF THE BEST-KNOWN "GRADUATE SCHOOLS" IN MOVEMENT BUILDING IN THE U.S. MORE THAN 80 ORGANIZERS HAVE GRADUATED SINCE 1991, COMPLETING 6-12 MONTHS OF RIGOROUS 60-HOUR WEEKS IN THE CLASSROOM AND ORGANIZING ON THE BUSES. THEY NOW COMPRISE A NATIONAL NETWORK OF "LONG DISTANCE RUNNERS" WHO WILL COMMIT YEARS AND HOPEFULLY A LIFETIME TO HIGHLY PROFESSIONAL AND EFFECTIVE ORGANIZING WORK, WITH THE STRATEGY CENTER AND MANY OTHER GROUPS.