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Community & Groups meet to "Organize Ohio", create "The Peoples Platform
by patrick t.
Saturday April 17, 2004 at 08:01 PM
Community and Groups meet to "Organize Ohio" and create "The Peoples Platform". A brief account of the community organization event that happened Saturday April 17, 2004 at St. Ignatius High School on the west side of Cleveland.
Saturday April 17, 2004 - Cleveland
Local and national groups teamed up today to present "GRASSROOTS AMERICA SHAPES THE DEBATE: The People's Platform" at St. Ignatius High School on the west side of Cleveland. The organizers of the event were able to mobilize over 100 people on relatively short notice to participate in discussions on issues such as Jobs, Housing, Education, and Healthcare and develop strategies to address these issues at the local, state and national levels of government.
The event consisted of mainly discussion in the form of speakers from various groups and working group sessions focusing on the four main issues. Panelists and facilitators led the working groups with an opportunity for interaction from those in attendance. The results of the working group sessions were then presented to all in attendance and elected officials and/or their representatives. These results will also shape what organizers of the event are calling "The Peoples Platform of Cleveland" and may provide points of unity for many groups and individuals to organize around. Many of the officials present took the opportunity to show their support for the discussions and results of the four working sessions.
The results of the event will be made available to those who attended as well as the general public via many of the group websites and independent media sources like this one. Those who attended the event are encouraged to publish your own account on this site's newswire, and those who didn't can continue the discussions using the comment feature of this website.
Speakers, panelists, and facilitators who participated came from many diverse groups including Organize! Ohio, Cities for Peace, Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign, The Center for Community Solutions, Cleveland Voter Registration Coalition, Policy Matters Ohio, Council for Economic Opportunities, Cleveland Jobs with Justice, Cleveland Day Laborer's Organizing Committee, AFL-CIO, Spanish American Committee, Alliance of Cleveland HUD Tenants Organization, East Side Organizing Project/NPA, Chicago Rehab Network, Alliance for Children's Education, Ohio Fair Schools Campaign, Catalyst, National Universal Health Care Action Network, Community Partners for Affordable Accessible Health Care, Merrick House, Cleveland AFL-CIO, an activist/councilperson from Detroit, and an Ohio senator.
Co-Sponsors of the event included Merrick House, Interact Cleveland, May Dugan Multiservice Center, Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless, and Cleveland Tenants Organization.
More information on the event contact
Organize! Ohio
3615 Superior Ave.
Building 31, 4th Floor
Cleveland, OH 44114-4131
216-431-6070
For additional info, why not visit...
http://www.organizeohio.org/home.html
http://www.citiesforpeace.org/
http://www.grassroots-america.org/
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