Celebrating HOW we won

Posted November 11, 2013

Last Friday, at our Annual Leadership Awards Celebration, we celebrated the concrete change we have all won that makes our lives and the lives of our loved ones – and our whole state better.

But last Friday wasn’t only a celebration of what we won, it was a celebration of how we won.  Look around you, and you will see a new grassroots movement that has taken hold of our state.

Who was in the room on Friday?

Elected officials like Governor Mark Dayton, Speaker Paul Thissen, and members of the Minnesota House and Senate who acted to make our cities, our state, our nation more equitable.

Minnesotans who organized people in the streets, in government, or online. And the people who love and support someone who works so hard to make the world a better place.

Because of what we all won this spring, the future of our children is brighter, our unions are stronger, and love is the law.

The conventional wisdom used to be, that only what happened inside the state Capitol mattered.  If you weren’t there, then you should just wait to hear what was decided.

But this year – unlike any in recent memory –people all across Minnesota led with their own talent and creativity and changed the status quo.… Continue reading »

What’s working in Minnesota?

Posted October 29, 2013

Consider what life is like in our neighboring states in the upper Midwest.

To the south, in Iowa, farm and rural activists are fighting off factory farms at every turn.  Farther away, Illinois is continually facing a looming financial crisis.  To the west, North Dakota continues trying to limit a woman’s freedom to choose by passing the most restrictive anti-choice laws in the country.  And to the east, Wisconsin state government resembles that of Mississippi, restricting the right to vote and sitting idle as its health care costs skyrocket.

Meanwhile, here in Minnesota the list of populist accomplishments in the last 12 months is long and impressive… being the first state to defeat both the Voter Restriction and Anti-Gay Marriage Amendments, turning around six months later to pass Marriage Equality, passing historic Ban the Box legislation, Homeowner’s Bill of Rights, The Dream Act, increased progressive revenue and closed corporate tax loopholes, and expanded and strengthened health care coverage.  The list goes on.

What’s working in Minnesota that we are breaking through the same barriers that are holding other states back?

For one thing, nothing that has happened here in Minnesota has happened overnight.  For years, organizers and activists have laid the groundwork for what just recently emerged as a grassroots movement. … Continue reading »

Dan McGrath, Getting From No to Yes

Posted May 23, 2013

“This campaign has lit a grassroots fire that has swept our state. We want a politics that happens by us, and not to us… Tonight I’m so happy to say we closed the chapter on no and we opened the chapter on yes – yes to a future where Minnesota unites in active grassroots democracy.”

Remember that? Election night 2012. Against all odds, an amazing grassroots movement defeated two harmful amendments and elected a progressive majority to the Capitol. We were on cloud nine. But we also knew we hadn’t won anything yet.

But what happened next? You refused to go away. The grassroots movement that started last fall got even stronger, and won a long list of populist achievements in this legislative session. A new health care exchange that puts people at the center. Ban the Box legislation that takes a step toward closing the racial jobs gap. Fairer taxation that closes corporate tax loopholes and invests in all-day kindergarten and a stronger MinnesotaCare. And those are just the issues TakeAction Minnesota focused on most.  Our friends and allies led the way, passing marriage equality, the DREAM Act, the Homeowners Bill of Rights, the right to organize for personal care attendants and childcare workers…and on and on…and on.We… Continue reading »