When Kissy Coakley was denied a job at Target Corporation after a criminal background check, she didn’t give up. Instead, she decided to take on the massive corporation and fight for equitable policies.
She worked to Ban the Box at Target Corporation in 2012, becoming an active leader in TakeAction Minnesota’s Justice 4 All program. Together, we won that campaign.
It was that same determination and organizing that Kissy brought to the campaign trail when she decided to run for Minnetonka City Council. We knew Kissy had the grassroots game needed to mobilize Minnetonka voters, one door at a time. And that’s exactly what she did.
TakeAction Minnesota members and community leaders reflect on what Kissy’s campaign has meant to them.
FATU MAGASSOUBA
I met Kissy over three years ago when we both worked with survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault at a local nonprofit organization. I saw her leadership firsthand and over the years watched as she fought for survivors in courtrooms and helped them navigate the system to attain housing and other necessities to rebuild their lives.
One of the challenging aspects of that work was working with prosecutors to prevent victims from being criminalized in the criminal justice system.… Continue reading »
When I testified on behalf of the
renter’s rights ordinance in City Hall back in August, I wasn’t planning on
mentioning my criminal record. I showed up because I just believed people
deserve to have a place to stay. They deserve a place to call home.
But when one landlord
mentioned that people with multiple felony convictions wouldn’t be good renters,
I thought, “That’s not true.” And it just came out. I said—I’m one of those
people.
The last place I rented, I paid
$54,000 in rent. I was a tenant for 54 months. I never paid my rent late and I
never had any problems. When I finally left that apartment, it was to buy my
own home.
When I heard that the city had
agreed to pass
the renter’s rights ordinance, I thought, “Wow, this is awesome.” It’s a
step. Hopefully one day it won’t be necessary to do a background check, period.
Housing has nothing in my mind
to do with a person’s criminal background. Housing is a necessity that should
be available to everyone.
Most people who are in prison will come back to our community. We have to ask ourselves: How do we want them to come home?
We know that together, our community can thrive. We need elected officials who will work with us to lift up our stories and our hopes.
Kissy Coakely is running for Minnetonka Ward 4. She is a leader in our Justice 4 All program, an active member of her community, and – if elected – she would be one of the only Woman of Color elected to the city council in Minnetonka’s history. Join our Women of Color table, Justice 4 All, and friends as we knock doors in Minnetonka to get Kissy elected.
At TakeAction Minnesota, we’re imagining a future where everyone can live joyful, dignified lives. No exceptions.
In this year’s Locked Up, Locked Out, Justice 4 All will discuss how the criminal justice system violates our values around housing, employment, and care. Together, we’re building a society to ensure everyone — including people with criminal records — can freely access housing, jobs, and care in order to thrive. Join us and discover how we can TakeAction together! A light lunch will be provided.
Everyone should have access to the care they need. When police departments respond to mental health calls, the first person on the scene should be a mental health professional — not a cop. Join our campaign to push for more mental health co-responders in the Twin Cities because no one should be treated harshly when they are asking for help.
Join our team to make phone calls for a phone bank to talk to our neighbors about why we need mental health rapid responders in our city.
Register to meet with your legislators at these drop-in legislative meetings with TakeAction Minnesota.
We believe in a democracy where everyone is in, and no one is out. No exceptions. This is our opportunity to find legislators on a schedule that works for us, take up space in the Capitol, and have our legislators to listen our hopes and dreams for the future.
You must register to attend these drop-in legislative meetings. Meet TakeAction staff and leaders at the staircase outside the front entrance of the Capitol. And bring a friend. … Continue reading »
Register to meet with your legislators at these drop-in legislative meetings with TakeAction Minnesota.
We believe in a democracy where everyone is in, and no one is out. No exceptions. This is our opportunity to find legislators on a schedule that works for us, take up space in the Capitol, and have our legislators to listen our hopes and dreams for the future.
You must register to attend these drop-in legislative meetings. Meet TakeAction staff and leaders at the staircase outside the front entrance of the Capitol. And bring a friend. … Continue reading »
Register to meet with your legislators at these drop-in legislative meetings with TakeAction Minnesota.
We believe in a democracy where everyone is in, and no one is out. No exceptions. This is our opportunity to find legislators on a schedule that works for us, take up space in the Capitol, and have our legislators to listen our hopes and dreams for the future.
You must register to attend these drop-in legislative meetings. Meet TakeAction staff and leaders at the staircase outside the front entrance of the Capitol. And bring a friend. … Continue reading »
Register to meet with your legislators at these drop-in legislative meetings with TakeAction Minnesota.
We believe in a democracy where everyone is in, and no one is out. No exceptions. This is our opportunity to find legislators on a schedule that works for us, take up space in the Capitol, and have our legislators to listen our hopes and dreams for the future.
You must register to attend these drop-in legislative meetings. Meet TakeAction staff and leaders at the staircase outside the front entrance of the Capitol. And bring a friend. … Continue reading »
We believe we can live in a Minnesota that is for us, by us. Join us for a phone bank to connect constituents with their legislators. We will be calling Minnesotans, connecting constituents with their legislators to support bills protecting and expanding our health care and restoring the vote.
We believe we can live in a Minnesota that is for us, by us. Join us for a phone bank to connect constituents with their legislators. We will be calling Minnesotans, connecting constituents with their legislators to support bills protecting and expanding our health care and restoring the vote.
We believe we can live in a Minnesota that is for us, by us. Join us for a phone bank to connect constituents with their legislators. We will be calling Minnesotans, connecting constituents with their legislators to support bills protecting and expanding our health care and restoring the vote.
We believe we can live in a Minnesota that is for us, by us. Join us for a phone bank to connect constituents with their legislators. We will be calling Minnesotans, connecting constituents with their legislators to support bills protecting and expanding our health care and restoring the vote.
We believe we can live in a Minnesota that is for us, by us. Join us for a phone bank to connect constituents with their legislators. We will be calling Minnesotans, connecting constituents with their legislators to support bills protecting and expanding our health care and restoring the vote.
We believe we can live in a Minnesota that is for us, by us. Join us for a phone bank to connect constituents with their legislators. We will be calling Minnesotans, connecting constituents with their legislators to support bills protecting and expanding our health care and restoring the vote.
We believe we can live in a Minnesota that is for us, by us. Join us for a phone bank to connect constituents with their legislators. We will be calling Minnesotans, connecting constituents with their legislators to support bills protecting and expanding our health care and restoring the vote.
We believe we can live in a Minnesota that is for us, by us. Join us for a phone bank to connect constituents with their legislators. We will be calling Minnesotans, connecting constituents with their legislators to support bills protecting and expanding our health care and restoring the vote.
At TakeAction Minnesota, we believe in a people-centered democracy where everyone is in and no one is out. No exceptions. That’s why TakeAction Minnesota and partner organizations have worked on a bill these past 7+ years that will restore voting rights to over 52,000 Minnesotans who can’t vote due to their criminal record. More than ever, we need leaders like you to join the movement at the State Capitol this year to achieve this vision.
Join us for an evening where we will take action on our legislators and fight for Restore the Vote!
Restore the Vote Coalition is hosting a Press Conference to support the Voter Restoration Bill (HF40) on Tuesday, March 7th.
The Minnesota state constitution bans people from voting despite the 1965 Voting Rights Act. We must hold our government accountable and demand for voting rights that includes everyone.
Join Rep. Ray Dehn, Sen. Bobby Joe Champion and over fifty organization fighting for criminal justice reform on the fiftieth anniversary of the March on Selma. Show up to support restoring the vote.
The bill to restore voting rights to formerly incarcerated people just passed its first committee hearing. The second hearing is coming up, and we need the room packed with supporters like you. Let’s restore voice and dignity to all.
Let’s pack the room and hold legislators accountable to restoring dignity and voice in our democracy.
Chair: Rep. Raymond Dehn
Location: Capitol 120 (NOTE LOCATION CHANGE)
HF40 (Dehn)
Civil right to vote restored to an individual released from incarceration or upon sentencing if no incarceration is imposed, notice required, and county attorney obligation to investigate voter registration and eligibility.
If you would like to testify, please contact Amanda Rudolph at amanda.rudolph@house.mn.
The Restore the Vote Coalition has a list of speakers for the hearing and welcome everyone to testify.
Join us in this exciting workshop where we will share powerful stories about why restoring voting rights to formerly incarcerated people must happen. You will get an opportunity to take action right away by enclosing your story into a letter sent to your representatives.
Save the date for TakeAction Minnesota’s Lobby Day!
We believe in a politics grounded in joy, collective liberation, and co-governance. And that’s a future worth celebrating. Join us on February 28 and put into practice the politics we want to build. Our Party at the People’s House isn’t your typical lobby day. Sure, we’ll be training on legislative visits, building relationships with elected officials, and meeting with legislators to talk about the policies that affect our daily lives. But we’ll be doing more than that. We’ll be taking up space, sharing our stories, and demonstrating what joyful, courageous, and powerful action looks like. Share your collective vision for health care for all, paid time to care, and criminal justice reform—and the real stories that ground you in these fights. Take action with us. Party at the People’s House and let’s win the policies our communities deserve.
We will follow-up with participants in the coming weeks with details, including schedule and location. Lunch will be provided. Contact Sabrina Mauritz at sabrina@takeactionminnesota.org for more information about accessibility and other concerns.
Join Justice 4 All (J4A) in this monthly member meeting and storytelling training. In J4A, we believe that people-made problems in the systems we live in can be solved by people. However, it takes all of us coming together to make that happen.
Come learn how to share your lived experiences in a powerful way that will move the hearts of legislators and your neighbors to champion criminal justice reform this year. We welcome everyone and anyone who cares deeply about fighting for criminal justice reform. A light dinner will be provided.
“As Minnesotans, we value participation, fairness, and inclusion. But we still have Jim Crow-era voting laws. It’s no accident that 50,000 Minnesotans have been locked out of our democracy. There’s nothing to be gained from silencing tens of thousands of voices. In 2019, we can change this. It’s time for Minnesota to join 14 other states that have restored voting rights to people living and working in the community. We share the Secretary’s vision for our democracy and call on the legislature to restore the vote this session.
A. Yang from St. Paul, a leader with TakeAction’s Justice 4 All program stated:
“Every voice matters. Every vote counts. If we restore the vote, then a lot will be different. Our democracy will have more voices. You get to hear more sides of the story. I’m glad our secretary of state is fighting to restore the vote.”… Continue reading »
At TakeAction Minnesota, we believe our liberation is tied to each other. Our Justice 4 All campaign is fighting for safety and mass liberation. We aim to move away from cycles of mass incarceration and toward healing and liberation through civic engagement and reintegration. We believe everyone can change and that our communities are safer when people have real opportunities to heal and be restored to community.
Justice 4 All is focused on removing barriers to employment and democracy for individuals and families impacted by the justice system. We develop leaders from the community to educate policymakers and employers about the reasons we have some of the worst racial disparities in country, and why safety and liberation matters to all of us.
We are looking for people who know what it means to be #LockedUpLockedOut. Family members, and neighbors who have been rejected by employers and turned away at voting polls because of sanctions called for by the justice system. Ready to join the fight? Get in touch today, we’d love to sit down with you.… Continue reading »
Contact: Kenza Hadj-Moussa, 612-386-9556
We are looking for people who know what it means to be #LockedUpLockedOut. Family members, and neighbors who have been rejected by employers and turned away at voting polls because of sanctions called for by the justice system. Ready to join the fight? 
