Institutions of Change

The Peace Monument in Timbuktu

Where are our institutions of change? Our institutions of justice, our institutions against war and those against poverty? Where are our institutions for freedom and human dignity? Where are our institutions of caring and love?

I have found no such institutions; only hard working organizations hustling day to day trying to make these principals a reality. However our society is replete with institutions of war, greed, profit, and torture. The Department of Defense (The irony!), Wall Street, and the School of the Americas provide testament.

It's time we put our efforts together to create institutions that mirror our hopes and our dreams. Erect them from the soils of iniquity to stand tall against the horrors of humanity. Let us not create false institutions which extol the aspirations of humanity only in name. We need not more Schools of Public Service which serve only themselves, "radical" student organizations that do nothing radical, political groups which expropriate and defile the name of democracy, multi-million dollar nonprofits driven only by profits, or justice systems which provide the most vivid examples of injustice. We can call it whatever we want. But let's erect an institution constructed with the fibers it seeks to create. An institution that speaks of democracy and is democratic, and institution that studies service and serves, and institution that writes about justice and seeks it, an institution that extols freedom and breaks chains. Transform America - this is our attempt to build such an institution. Join us.

Moving

We're recruiting. We're going to be attending events, programs, businesses, and shows to find committed, real organizations in NYC. We're looking for principled organizations, socially conscious businesses and artists to join this formation of social justice. Why wait for injustice to slap us in the face before we join forces? Why wait for an escalation in the war, another innocent black man shot dead in the streets, more horrible educational statistics, or more injustice from our so called justice system? Let's be proactive, pull up our sleeves and work together to set an agenda and achieve it. Contact us to come to your event or program.

This Saturday we're going down to Brooklyn for a "Party for the People" in order to educate ourselves on the Brooklyn social justice scene. Maybe we'll see you down there. 1pm-9pm at The Yard located at 388-400 Carroll Street (between Bond & Nevins)

We AFFIRMed our willingess to collaborate and ACTed.

What does LUCHA, GQ, immigrant rights groups, anti-war groups, AIDS centers, legal justice organizations, sororities like Omega Phi Beta, and Fraternities like La Unidad Latina, the Hispanic Scholarship Fund, cultural organizations, Queer Union, and businesses like Beeing all have in common? They all work for a better tomorrow. They all see the interconnectedness of their related struggles. They are all willing to take a chance to start a new movement that can transform our society.

A Call for Activists! “If we always wait for injustice before we act we will forever be limited. For once the injustice subsides the movement is over. The movement can only grow to the extent of remorse and reform of the perpetrators of injustice. Such an approach abdicates our roles as responsible human beings and reduces us to that drop of water that bounces back after a turd has been dropped into the bowl, doomed to serve as a check on the system rather than a creator of it, afterthoughts perpetually contained to responses, but never freed for self-determination. But when we dream... When we dream nothing limits us but our creativity. We can put the nation right without being beaten to do so. We can fight for health care before we're sick, we can fight for a cleaner environment before the world melts, we can fight against police brutality before we're brutalized, we can fight to end poverty before we're poor. Let's become activists because we smell the stench in the world and have the vision and bravery to clean it up. Let's take AFFIRMative ACTion!”

The first annual AFFIRMative ACTion Social Justice Party in the Park kicked off with Jimmy Hendrix’s version of the Star Spangled Banner. In the spirit of the group, Transform America, which pulled together these organizations, the participants of AFFIRMative ACTion, as well as the anthem’s rendition were not intended to be anti-American, but transformative. The event was intended to inspire people to create a different America, a more equitable one, a better one.

Through out the day hundreds of attendees were able to learn about a wide array of issues – some related to the Latino community, some related to the immigrant community, and some related to the Black community, however all related to our shared human community. People graffitied their vision of a better New York and a better America. A social justice agenda was created which highlighted the work that some of these organizations would address this year. LUCHA spoke of its efforts this year to rebuild communities of color, GQ spoke about it’s work to build our youth through mentorship, the Hispanic Scholarship Fund and La Unidad Latina spoke about their work to increase minority enrollment here at NYU and elsewhere, and the New York State Leadership Council spoke about their efforts to pass the DREAM Act and fight for immigrant rights. Beeing, a socially responsible clothing line paraded through with a tantalizing fashion show, and DJs kept people dancing as they ate, networked, and reflected on the opportunity for a better tomorrow. The day concluded with the Harlem Drum Line providing the beat of social justice and inspiring us to march on through out this year with commitment, with purpose, and with the belief of our own power for significant social change.

Transform America, LUCHA, GQ, and many of the other organizations which attended plan to continue this new wave of collaboration. Individually we may make a difference, united, we can transform our society. If you’re not already part of LUCHA, GQ, Transform America or one of its Wings, make sure you sign up. Don’t miss this wave of change.

www.transformamerica.org

AFFIRMative ACTion

A senior White House advisor was quoted in the New York Times Magazine. He said that guys like the interviewer were...

“in what we call the reality-based community,” which he defined as people who “believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality.” I nodded and murmured something about Enlightenment principles and empiricism. He cut me off. “That’s not the way the world really works anymore,” he continued. “We’re an empire now, and when we act, we create reality. And while you are studying that reality – judiciously, as you will – we’ll act again creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that’s how things will sort out. We’re history’s actors … and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do.” Excerpts from Politics in an Age of Fantasy by Stephen Duncombe [published in Turbulence: Ideas for Movement]

Despite our complete belief in the lawless, wily, and Orwellian manner in which the Bush administration has governed this country, we have to admit that they are bold. Whatever their faults in character, of which there are many, they are brazen and determined. They say they are going to follow the law, then they break the law, and then add signing statements, issue memos, and appoint judges to change the law. They conduct their illegal and immoral activities in broad daylight, with cameras, lights and all of the major television networks watching.

Surely those of us on the so called left, can muster up enough courage to do the right thing in daylight, with cameras, lights and all of the major television networks watching. Our politicians have abandoned their principles and sense of righteousness for a run at the White House in 2008. They may exchange policies and their concience like trading cards but we don't have to. We have the opportunity to set our own agenda and to follow through. We have the opportunity to make history.

WE'RE CALLING FOR EVERYONE TO COME TO WASHINGTON SQUARE PARK ON THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 13TH FROM NOON TILL 6PM. Social justice organizations will converge on this date in order to

1. recruit activists. let me reiterate: "activists." Activists are not those who come for a day of service, they are not those who clean up some trash, go home, and pat themselves on the back. An activist is one who works for the bigger change, one who is unapologetic about their principles and seeks with passion a better tomorrow.
2. publicize social issues: From education to homelessness organizations will speak about why such issues are important AND what they are doing to address them.
3. Set the social justice agenda: Politicians are running around talking about what they are going to do. They may, they may not, but we don't have to wait around. We'll decide what we think is important
4. Invigorate the public to start a transformative movement: There are many that seek change. They can almost see it like the lingering memory of a forgotten dream. They may not have known what they could do about it. But after this event. They will know how they can become involved in siginificant social change.
   

Many of us concerned about social justice respond to injustices. Many of us respond when idiot college organizations play racist games, many of us respond when we hear about the injustices in the south like the Black 17-year old sentenced to 10 years for consensual oral sex with his 15-year old girlfriend, many of us respond when punitive and racist immigration laws are passed, and many of us respond when young unarmed black men are shot dead in the street. And we should!

But will we respond to our conscience? One of the most frequently used plots in movies is the vengeful protagonist that seeks justice by catching the killer of a family member, like in Spider Man or Braveheart. But must we always play the part of Peter Parker or whatever the hell Mel Gibson's name was in that movie? Will we initiate action simply because things aren't the way they're supposed to be? Or must we always wait to be slapped before we stand and say, "they ain't gonna be no more slapping around here."

If we always wait for injustice before we act we will forever be limited. For once the injustice subsides the movement is over. The movement can only grow to the extent of remorse and reform of the perpetrators of injustice. Such an approach abdicates our roles as responsible human beings and reduces us to that drop of water that bounces back after a turd has been dropped into the bowl. Doomed to serve as a check on the system rather than a creator of it. Afterthoughts perpetually contained to responses, but never freed for self-determination.

But when we dream... When we dream nothing limits us but our creativity. We can put the nation right without being beaten to do so. We can fight for health care before we're sick, we can fight for a cleaner environment before the world melts, we can fight against police brutality before we're brutalized, we can fight to end poverty before we're poor. Let's become activists because we know what is wrong in the world and we have a vision of what it can be like if we make it right. Let's take AFFIRMative ACTion!


Organizations sign up at

http://transformamerica.wufoo.com/forms/transform-america/

THINK!

Excerpt from Dr. Seuss' Oh, the Thinks you can Think!

"Think of black water.
Think up a white sky.
Think up a boat.
Think of BLOOGS blowing by.

You can think about Night,
a night in Na-Nupp.
The birds are asleep
and the three moons are up

You can think about Day,
a day in Da-Dake.
the water is blue
and the birds are awake.

Think! Think and wonder.
Wonder and think.
How much water
can fifty-five elephants drink?

THINK! You can think
any THINK
that you wish...
Think
a race
on a horse
on a ball
with a fish!

Think left and think right
and think low and think high
Oh, the THINKS you can think up if only you try!"

We once used to be able to think up colorful creatures and non-existent places. Hell, some of us would even get into cardboard boxes and actually go to some of these places. Many of us have forgotten how to think, how to wonder, and how to dream.

We may all be able to learn something from Dr. Seuss. Surely we can think up a different tomorrow. A tomorrow with no homeless people on the corner; a tomorrow where police officers help old people cross the street; a tomorrow where all kids have the opportunity to learn; a tomorrow where sick people go to the doctors and pay for their services with a smile; a tomorrow where people are seen by doctors before they get sick; a tomorrow...


Think.

Excerpt From, "Letter to a Young Activist During Troubled Times," by Clarissa Pinkola Estes

"Ours is not the task of fixing the entire world all at once, but of stretching out to mend the part of the world that is within our reach. Any small, calm thing that one soul can do to help another soul, to assist some portion of this poor suffering world, will help immensely. It is not given to us to know which acts or by whom, will cause the critical mass to tip toward an enduring good. What is needed for dramatic change is an accumulation of acts, adding, adding to, adding more, continuing. We know that it does not take "everyone on Earth" to bring justice and peace, but only a small, determined group who will not give up during the first, second, or hundredth gale.

One of the most calming and powerful actions you can do to intervene in a stormy world is to stand up and show your soul. Soul on deck shines like gold in dark times. The light of the soul throws sparks, can send up flares, builds signal fires, causes proper matters to catch fire. To display the lantern of soul in shadowy times like these - to be fierce and to show mercy toward others, both, are acts of immense bravery and greatest necessity. Struggling souls catch light from other souls who are fully lit and willing to show it. If you would help to calm the tumult, this is one of the strongest things you can do. There will always be times when you feel discouraged. I too have felt despair many times in my life, but I do not keep a chair for it; I will not entertain it. It is not allowed to eat from my plate. The reason is this: In my uttermost bones I know something, as do you. It is that there can be no despair when you remember why you came to Earth, who you serve, and who sent you here. The good words we say and the good deeds we do are not ours: They are the words and deeds of the One who brought us here. In that spirit, I hope you will write this on your wall:

When a great ship is in harbor and moored, it is safe, there can be no doubt. But that is not what great ships are built for. This comes with much love and a prayer that you remember who you came from, and why you came to this beautiful, needful Earth."

Set sail. Transform America.

It's Time

What happened to college activists? What happened to cats shutting down student union buildings, taking over classes, teaching their own classes, leading movements and campaigns that spanned the country? Did we give up freedom rides, takeovers, and sit-ins for blogs, emails, and websites created in the safety and comfort of our dorms, apartments and homes? I think we must make room for both. In this new age of technology and institutional oppression Transform America is long overdue.

Come to the Transform America Launch, September 19th, at NYU's Puck Building second floor at the corner of Houston and Lafeyette starting at 6pm. Officially 295 Lafeyette St.

It's Time

One of our Heroes

"Did you ever talk to Brother Malcolm? Did you ever touch him or have him smile at you? Did you ever really listen to him? Did he ever do a mean thing? Was he ever himself associated with violence or any public disturbance? For if you did, you would know him. And if you knew him, you would know why we must honor him: Malcolm was our manhood, our living, black manhood!" Ossie Davis

In the spirit of such people who were unafraid to dream of a new world. In the spirit of such people who worked for a new world. May the spirit of such people reincarnate themselves in the activists of today to Transform America.

One of Tranform America's first actions. It was a very different organization, but still retained the same principals of justice

Release Date: 07/01/2006

“Seeds of Change”

Why we must retell the past to change the present and the path to our future.

The East Harlem Youth Council & Action Network, has joined with Transform America in a campaign to change the name of Thomas Jefferson Park and Community Center located in our community, between First Avenue and the FDR Drive, from 112-114^th Streets. Thomas Jefferson Park/Center, operated by the NYC Department of Parks, represents and acts as a tribute to a person whose deeds and words upheld the lasting legacy of racism in America.

Thomas Jefferson’s racism comes down to us in his writings. In the early 1780s, in his Notes on the State of Virginia, he writes:

“They [African-Americans] are more ardent after their female: but love seems with them to be more an eager desire, than a tender delicate mixture of sentiment and sensation

In the same publication, Jefferson goes on to speak about African-Americans’ “disagreeable odor,” their inferior intellect and inability to write poetry or produce works of art, and his racist ideas that the “improvement of the blacks in body and mind, [is noticed] in the first instance of their mixture with whites,”

It would be inconceivable to dedicate a Park and Recreation Center in a Native American community to Martin A. Van Buren, the man responsible for the “Trail of Tears” in which over 4000 Cherokee died. Nor would the Jewish community tolerate dedicating a Park and Recreation Center to Henry Ford, an unremitting anti-Semite, who wrote The International Jew: the World’s Foremost Problem.

Should we honor Jefferson, who said, “blacks are inferior to whites in their endowments both of body and mind?” Should we continue to honor him by allowing his name for a Park and Recreation Center in the heart of El Barrio-East Harlem, a Latino and African–American- community?

America expects us to tolerate the aftermath of a Katrina. America expects us to tolerate lower life expectancies, poorer quality health care, poorer education, police violence and profiling, racism where it shows its ugly head, discrimination, dehumanization, and poverty. America expects that we will tolerate memorials to racists.

America must change! We must start to change America now, starting in our own community. Thomas Jefferson’s name must be removed from our Park and the Community Center with a name that reflects the struggles and aspirations of its people.

Join the campaign! Get involved. Contacts:

Say you’re interested in change at: chester@transformamerica.org,

Chester Asher at 646-918-4616, or William Gerena-Rochet, gerena339@earthlink.net

In the beginning

Haby and I were just some seriously peeved college students. We were dismayed with poverty, with the government's response to Katrina, with the murderous war in Iraq, with the lack of educational opportunity for Blacks and Latinos, and a canyon of other injustices which plague our country. We were both part of organizations that did really meaningful work. My organization, the Gentlemen of Quality, led four mentoring programs for students in Harlem and the Bronx, we volunteered to clean parks, distributed food at homeless shelters, and wraped toys for kids. We wore ourselves thin and still had a burning desire for greater more systemic social change. Call us greedy, ambitious, or idealists, but we wanted more. We wanted to Transform America. We saw other organizations like ourselves doing really good work, making little ripples of social change. We started to think, what if all these ripples came together? Could we make waves? Could we initiate a tsunami? Could we make the type of change that movies are made about, the type of change that changes ways of thinking, the types of change that changes how people treat each other, the type of change that changes us in the process and produces a better tomorrow? From these questions sprung Transform America. A group of social justice organizations that realize their own power, and the power of like-minded, committed, unapologetic, sincere organizations. By working together we will Transform America.