Western New York
From Momentum to A Movement
This past weekend, Citizen Action leaders from all across the state gathered in Kerhonkson, NY for our Annual Leadership Conference. The time together is meant for discussion, planning, and –yes–simply enjoying each others company. Shanna Goldman, our Organizing Director, and Chris Scoville, our Capital District Organizer, opened the conference with a dynamic discussion on far [...]
Jobs – New York Has a Choice
While New York’s official unemployment rate is continuing to rise and statewide is now near 9%, the “real” unemployment rate is: 27.2% for Black men 18.8% for Hispanic Women 18.1% for Black women 17.4% for Hispanic men 14.1% for Asian and other men of color 11% for Asian and other women of color New York [...]
One Person, One Vote
The principle of ‘one person, one vote,’ is a sacred component of our democracy in the United States. But, here in New York, when it comes to counting people in prison, representation is anything but equal. Last Thursday (January 28th), we kicked-off a new campaign to end prison-based gerrymandering, the undemocratic system for using people [...]
Faces of Change: Osman Muse
Osman moved to the US from Somalia with his parents when he was in the 6th grade. He remembers that when he got here, he felt like he was “trapped in outer space” because he had no way to communicate with people.
Osman couldn’t speak English, and his parents couldn’t speak English either.
On the heels of winning a new education funding formula in New York, which provided high-needs school districts with fair funding, in May 2007, Citizen Action volunteers collected surveys from over 270 parents in Buffalo. The surveys asked parents about how the new money coming into the school district should be spent. Read More…
What We’re Up Against
by Diana Cihak, Western New York Organizer
I just got back from a meeting with Senator Gillibrand’s staff and they told me a sick, sad story. One of the staffers was returning to the office the other day when she was very physically confronted by two women at her office door. They immediately started yelling at her with irrational comments about health care reform including how this was not only going to “destory their lives, but the lives of their children.”
All Politics is Local
by Diana Cihak, Western New York Organizer
We are getting closer to winning real health care reform than we have ever been before. It’s not perfect, true – but we are going to win something. It’s a major battle that we are about to win, with a bit more work!
Scene of a Crime in Buffalo
by Diana Cihak, Western New York Organizer
On Friday, activists gathered in downtown Buffalo to call out the private health insurance industry and their practices of denying coverage in order to increase profits.
Buffalo: District Wide Uniform Works to Reduce School Violence
Do a search for school violence on Google News and the number of results, which span the continental United States, is disheartening. The history of school violence begins for most Americans with Columbine and is bracketed by the deaths at Virginia Tech. In recent days, reports of continuing violence involving Chicago school children highlight the [...]
Big Insurance is the Problem
On Tuesday, activists in dozens of state across the US protested the unfair, profiteering, and crisis-causing practices of big private insurance companies in America. In New York, Citizen Action focused on two of our state’s worst: United Healthcare and GHI/HIP. We held protests in New York City, Long Island, Albany, Binghamton, and Buffalo, and used [...]
My Visit with the President
by Diana Cihak, Western New York Organizer
So I got the call last week asking me if I could be in Albany on Monday for a very special event. I had some hints before that so I knew what was going on – the President was going to be in town. I worked many, many, many hours as a volunteer on his campaign and I have seen him speak in Cleveland, at the Convention where I was a delegate, and also at the Inaugural in DC, but I had never seen him speak in a small crowd, much less have had the opportunity to meet him or shake his hand. So I was eager to say “yes, I can make it.”
