Move to Amend Reports

NOVEMBER 5, 2015

What’s it like to be the child of undocumented immigrants in the US and grow up in the shadows? We'll find out when we talk with Maru Mora-Villalpando, the founder of Latino Advocacy, LLC, an undocumented immigrant from childhood, a college graduate and social worker, who specializes in providing resources to organizations and individuals in the undocumented community. From immigrant rights to for-profit detention centers, Maru offers a firsthand account of living as an undocumented immigrant and how the undocumented community is organizing against institutional oppression.

OCTOBER 29, 2015

We’ll be talking with Michael Greenman, a Central Ohio Move to Amend coordinator and the Moderator for our Interfaith and Ethical Values Caucus, about his work connecting with communities of faith and ethical values to join the movement to amend the Constitution to abolish corporate rule.

Since 2000, Michael has focused on efforts to eliminate corporate Constitutional rights and money as speech.  As a member of the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Columbus, Michael is the lead coordinator of the MTA affiliate: Move to Amend – Central Ohio.  He recently led a team of UUs who, during the denomination’s annual gathering in June 2013, obtained the denomination’s approval to encourage congregations all around the country to focus on supporting the passage of a constitutional amendment to declare that “corporations are not persons” and “money is not speech.”

OCTOBER 22, 2015

This week features Seattle City Councilmember Nick Licata, who documented his experiment of a progressive democrat  joining the right-wing organization, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). Licata has witnessed remarkable events in Seattle during his tenure in office beginning in 1997. Find out what’s going on in Seattle, a city firmly planted in grassroots organizing, and about ALEC’s latest stunt, the American City County Exchange (ACCE).

REPLAY

This week features WAmend campaign director Gabe Meyer and secretary Cindy Black to talk about Washington State Initiative-735, a statewide ballot initiative calling for a constitutional amendment ending corporate personhood and money as speech.

For more information, visit www.wamend.org or email [email protected].

OCTOBER 8, 2015

Social change agents here and abroad are waging a tough fight to stop the massive trade deals from becoming reality: the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), Trans-Atlantic Trade & Investment Partnership (TTIP), and Trade In Services Agreement (TISA). Activists around the world, including Move to Amend have been making a lot of noise about the egregious nature of the TPP for a long time -- its secret negotiations, the 600 corporations included in that secrecy, and its implications for the people’s sovereignty in the nations involved in this deal.

If the idea of a global corporate Constitution bothers you, then tune in for a discussion with Nancy Price from the Alliance for Democracy, as we talk about the "free trade" deals of the TPP, TTIP, and TISA--which would govern more than 70% of global trade--and how you can choose to live in a trade-free zone!

OCTOBER 1, 2015

When you’re speaking truth to power, how do you make them listen? In the great American tradition, non-violent civil disobedience has been on display across the US: Occupy, Wisconsin Uprising, Black Lives Matter, and many other less well publicized incidents. In this podcast, we speak to Scott Parkin of Rainforest Action Network and Rising Tide/North America about non-violent civil disobedience and it’s role in transformative change.

September 24, 2015

Black Lives Matter has been in the headlines since July for disrupting Democratic presidential campaign rallies through elevated bird-dogging techniques. It wasn’t the tactic that was so newsworthy, but rather the white liberal backlash to the chutzpah of the black women who took center stage.

In this edition of Move to Amend Reports, we hear from Black Lives Matter organizer and activist Tia Oso, the determined black woman who took the mic--and the corporate-owned news media--by storm at Netroots Nation in July, about how direct action has helped to make racial justice a central issue for the 2016 elections.

September 17, 2015

While Donald Trump may be stealing the headlines, Bernie Sanders is on fire in the Democratic Party, gaining ground and momentum against the party’s frontrunner, Hillary Clinton. With his own brand of regular-guy populism, and straight talk about income inequality, Sanders is drawing record sized crowds in an effort to build a movement to catapult him into the White House and force needed change.

This week, we explore the potential impact of the populism surrounding Sanders’ campaign on the growing movement to pass the We the People Amendment with author, historian, and journalist Paul Street.

SEPTEMBER 10, 2015

Organized laborers have played a pivotal role in shaping workplace conditions and protecting the rights of millions of working people the world over. It is also a key constituency who we want to understand and support the We the People Amendment. Move to Amend is reaching out to labor unions and Central Labor Councils this autumn to build connections and get endorsements from organized labor and we need you to join the campaign!

This week, we talk with Move to Amend’s Labor Caucus coordinator Mike Ferner and Outreach Director David Cobb about why we need organized labor and how we connect with labor councils and unions to join the movement to amend the Constitution.

If you're interested in being part of the Labor Caucus, click here.

REPLAY

Author, radio, and TV personality Thom Hartmann talks with us about the movement to amend the Constitution and House Joint Resolution 48 -- the We The People Amendment.

Thom Hartmann is a progressive national and internationally syndicated talk-show host whose shows are available in over a half-billion homes worldwide. He's the New York Times bestselling, 4-times Project Censored Award winning author of 24 books in print in 17 languages on five continents. Talkers Magazine named Thom Hartmann as the 8th most important talk show host in America in 2011, 2012, and 2013 (10th the two previous years), and for three of the past five years the #1 most important progressive host, in their “Heavy Hundred” ranking. He was born and grew up in Michigan, and retains strong ties to the Midwest, although he and Louise have lived in New Hampshire, Vermont, Georgia, Germany, and Oregon...and now live on a boat in Washington D.C. with their new attack-cat, Fang.

Tune in to the Thom’s radio and TV programs at www.thomhartmann.com.