Author Archive
Sep
18
JRC Talking To Voters in South LA Sat Sep 19!
Posted by: | Comments| Join Equality California, Vote for Equality, and Jordan/Rustin Coalition (along with other groups like Stonewall Democrats, Stonewall Young Democrats, Love Honor Cherish and Equal Roots) on Saturday, September 19th for a voter canvass to win marriage back.Jordan/Rustin Coalition has been partnering with Vote for Equality and Equality California in a ground-breaking canvass operation in an effort to spark more dialogue about same-sex marriage in communities of color. Specifically, we will be working together to talk to primarily African-American and Latino communities in South Los Angeles about why equal access to marriage is important for everyone.
You will be trained on how to talk to voters one-on-one and do the hard work of changing hearts and minds. The most effective way of persuading voters is through one-on-one face-to-face conversations. This is exactly the work all of us need to do in order to restore marriage equality in California. Please come out and join us this Saturday. And bring a friend! VOTER CANVASS
Saturday, September 19th, 10am-3pm Holy Faith Episcopal Church 260 N Locust St
Inglewood, CA 90301 For more information (or to RSVP) please contact: Milton Davis OR Mike Ai If you can’t make it to this one, the next South Los Angeles canvasses are scheduled for Saturday October 17th and Saturday November 7th. Put the dates in your calendar and we will look forward to seeing you then! |
Sep
05
OUTwest Boot Camp September 12-13!
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| EVENT DETAILS: Saturday September 12th and 13th Saturday: 8:30am - 5:30pm Sunday: 8:30am - 5:15pm LOCATION: University of Southern California Registration fees are $11.00. This includes continental breakfast and a lite lunch both days. You must pre-register for this event and you must commit to attending both days of the training. Space is limited, sign up now to reserve your spot. |
| Dear Friends and Colleagues,
You are invited to attend OUT West Campaign Boot Camp, an interactive 2-day workshop geared toward grassroots activists who are interested in becoming effective leaders, organizers, and candidates.OUT West, a broad coalition of marriage equality groups, is proud to offer this unique experience that will train activists in fundamental campaign skills and offer them a campaign manager’s view of how a solid campaign is run. Committed activists will gather for two days of training at USC that will prepare them to be leaders in the next campaign for marriage equality.
You must pre-register on the OUT West registration page to attend. We hope you will join us! |
| Only7 days to Boot Camp! Space is filling up quickly, so please REGISTER NOW! |
How is this different?
OUT West Boot Camp will enhance skills learned from the wonderful trainings our brother and sister organizations have put on. Camp Courage trainings teach people how to speak with voters, friends and family about marriage equality to effectively change their hearts and minds. The Vote For Equality trainings teach essential campaign skills like voter registration, volunteer recruitment, putting together house parties, etc.
The OUT West Boot Camp is about learning what it takes to win a campaign from a strategic stand point.
- How you can reach voters with effective messages and through different mediums.
- How you can fundraise in a variety of manners and where does that money need to go.
- How you can organize a field team and what specific targets need to be accomplished in order to secure a region for your side.
- How you can respond to a viscous attack from the other side with an effective counter-message.
These are critical skills our activists and grassroots groups need to be aware of, so we can out maneuver Frank Schubert, Ron Prentice and the rest of the Yes on 8 leadership in the next campaign.
Please email us at campaignbootcamp@gmail.com if you have questions about Campaign Boot Camp or need information about lodging or carpools. Remember, you must pre-register and space is limited!
Sep
04
Congratulations to Assemblyman Steve Bradford!
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Steve Bradford was elected to the California Assembly on Tuesday September 1st, representing the 51st District. Bradford is an African American champion of LGBT rights, and replaces Curren Price, who was elected to the State Senate (26th District) in a special election on May 19th.
Both Bradford and Price opposed Proposition 8 and support full marriage equality for same-sex couples. We look forward to working with Assemblymember Bradford and State Senator Price to educate and inform them of the needs of their Black LGBT constituents.
It is important that we congratulate African American leaders who stick to their principles of believing in equality for all even when they get flack from their political opponents for their positions.
Jul
28
Meet MA Gov. Deval Patrick Sunday August 2nd!
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Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick
The Struggle for Marriage Equality:
What I’ve Learned on the Front Lines
Massachusetts Governor Deval L. Patrick
Sunday, August 2
2 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Home of Danny Gibson and Bill Weinberger
829 Keniston Avenue
Los Angeles
Sponsored by the Jordan/Rustin Coalition, Equality California Institute,
and the Liberty Hill Foundation
Optional contributions to the Jordan/Rustin Coalition encouraged
Dear Friend,
Please join us for a very special gathering Sunday August 2nd.
Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick will join us for reflections and discussion on the struggle for marriage equality for same-sex couples. From his first day in office, Governor Patrick put his personal reputation and political capital on the line to protect marriage equality. His leadership allowed Massachusetts to avert a referendum fight similar to the Proposition 8 battle.
As only the second African-American governor elected since Reconstruction, and as the Clinton Administration’s assistant attorney general for civil rights, Governor Patrick will offer his unique perspective on the subject.
Please RSVP to Milton Davis: Milton@eqca.org
Governor Deval Patrick—Biography
Hoping for the best and working for it, as his grandmother used to counsel him, Deval Patrick’s life has traced a trajectory from the South Side of Chicago to the U.S. Justice Department, Fortune 500 boardrooms, and now the Massachusetts State House, where he was elected Governor in 2006, one of only two African-Americans elected governor since Reconstruction.
Having grown up in poverty on the South Side of Chicago, Patrick was selected to attend boarding school at Milton Academy in Massachusetts, and then went on to Harvard, the first in his family to attend college. After spending a post-graduate year working on a United Nations youth training project in the Darfur region of Sudan, Patrick returned to Harvard where he earned his J.D. in the fall of 1979.
Following law school, Patrick served as a law clerk to a federal appellate judge before joining the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund and later the Boston law firm of Hill & Barlow. In 1994, President Clinton appointed Patrick Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, the nation’s top civil rights post, where he worked on a wide range of issues, including prosecution of hate crimes and abortion clinic violence, and enforcement of employment discrimination, fair lending and disabilities rights laws. During his tenure, Patrick led the largest federal criminal investigation before September 11th, coordinating state, local and federal agencies to investigate church burnings throughout the South in the mid-1990s.
In 2001, Patrick joined The Coca-Cola Company as Executive Vice President and General Counsel. He was elected to the additional role of Corporate Secretary in 2002, and served as part of the company’s senior leadership team as a member of the Executive Committee.
As governor, Deval Patrick has done more to advance equality for LGBT people than any other chief executive in the country. Immediately after his election, Governor Patrick expended tremendous political capital to persuade legislators to vote down a ballot initiative to undo marriage equality. Without his unwavering leadership, Massachusetts would have faced a referendum fight similar to the Proposition 8 battle.
In addition to marriage equality, Governor Patrick has been a pioneer on health care reform, ensuring Massachusetts’ lowest-in-the-nation rate of uninsured people. He also has championed clean energy laws; passed and implemented an historic Life Science Initiative; and extended the buffer zone to protect the safety of women seeking reproductive health services. Among the cadre of governors, Governor Patrick is one of President Barack Obama’s most trusted advisors and closest confidantes.
Diane and Deval Patrick have been married for over twenty-five years and have two adult daughters, Sarah and Katherine. In June of 2008, with her father by her side, Katherine—then 18—came out of the closet publicly. The next weekend, Deval, Diane and Katherine marched together in Boston Pride.
Jul
14
Q*POC LA Meeting Set For TUE JUL 21
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Q*POC-LA Flyer for Tuesday July 21st
Jun
01
JRC Celebrates Juneteenth!
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The Barbara Jordan / Bayard Rustin Coalition will be holding its first annual Juneteenth Celebration and Awards Ceremony at the lovely home of Bill Weinberger and Danny Gibson in Hancock Park from 2-5pm on Sunday June 21st.
The Barbara Jordan Award will go to Vallerie Wagner.
The Bayard Rustin Award will go to Doug Spearman.
Tickets are available, starting at $50 ($100 VIP).
$50 tickets click here: http://healthjustice.net/Pages/ticket50.php
$100 VIP tickets click here: http://healthjustice.net/Pages/ticket100.php
About JUNETEENTH
Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, the day Union General Gordon Granger and 2,000 federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, to take possession of the state and enforce the emancipation of its slaves. Former slaves in Galveston rejoiced in the streets with jubilant celebrations. Juneteenth celebrations began in Texas the following year. Former slaves (and their descendants) across the country soon did the same.
About PRIDE
The word pride is used in this case an antonym for shame, which has been used to control and oppress LGBT persons throughout history. Pride in this sense is an affirmation of ones self and the community as a whole. The modern “pride” movement began after the “Stonewall riots” in June 1969. Instead of backing down to unconstitutional raids by New York City Police, gay men, lesbians and transgender people in local bars fought back. In 1970 a parade that commemorated the anniversary of the Stonewall riots began a national grassroots movement. Today many countries around the world celebrate LGBT pride.
May
26
Prop 8 Upheld
Posted by: | CommentsPress Release
May 26, 2009
Contact:
Anne-Marie Williams, JRC Organizer
213.618.9468
Williams@jordanrustincoalition.org
THE JORDAN/RUSTIN COALITION VOWS TO STAY ENGAGED IN THE FIGHT FOR MARRIAGE EQUALITY.
(Los Angeles, CA, May 26, 2009) The Barbara Jordan/Bayard Rustin Coalition (Jordan/Rustin Coalition or JRC), the primary organization devoted to organizing the African-American community’s commitment to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) equality in greater Los Angeles , expressed profound disappointment in the court’s decision to uphold Proposition 8. Last November Proposition 8 stripped LGBT citizens of marriage equality originally granted by the California Supreme Court in its May 2008 decision (In re Marriage Cases).
JRC Board Chair Ron Buckmire stated, “While we celebrate the decision of the Court to uphold marriages by same-sex couples performed before November 4, 2008, JRC will continue to work to secure marriage equality so that once again same-sex couples will be able to enjoy the same rights and responsibilities as all other married couples in California.”
“We have to look at this as we lost the battle but we will win the war,” said Jordan/Rustin Coalition’s staffer Anne-Marie Williams. “We will be even more focused on having one on one conversations about marriage equality with our friends, neighbors, co-workers and community to make sure the public support of equality for all remains a steadfast principle here in California. The court’s decision is not good for California. Instead of living up to California’s reputation of being on the cutting edge, California now takes a back seat to more progressive states like Iowa, Vermont, Massachusetts and Connecticut, who have extended marriage equality to same-sex couples.
In the wake of Proposition 8 the Jordan/Rustin Coalition has engaged in a number of important partnerships and educational efforts to engage the entire state of California in an open dialogue about marriage equality and its relevance to communities of color. JRC will join other groups in Fresno, CA for the “Meet in the Middle” event on Saturday, May 30, 2009 in a show of solidarity on behalf of the marriage equality cause.