In that spirit, we are recommending a couple of groups that work to support working people, and that work to support the human rights of immigrants here in the US.

African Community Education, here in Worcester, supports the growing African Immigrant population in our public schools, to make sure that our diverse African student population gets the additional resources they need to succeed in education and beyond. The organization grew out of a Saturday education program that was founded to help address the language needs of refugee students from Liberia.

With our strategy, we anticipate that we will achieve two goals: 1) provide support to children who are behind in school for various reasons, and 2) bring the community together and make it stronger.  We continue to believe that an organization rooted in the community will have better sustainability than an “outsider” organization.  Members of the African community know and understand the children’s situations better, are familiar with the educational system formerly available to the children in their home countries, and are able to better communicate with the children with their common ties.   Additionally, such members also have an advantage on a community level by interacting with the children’s parents, helping them understand the U.S. education system, and helping them be involved with the children’s education.

Despite the unique focus on community members, it is very important for ACE to also partner with various other organizations and the Worcester Public School system.  It is our goal to ensure that our services are fully in-line with the public schools and that our teachers can communicate with the children’s teachers at school to provide the most well-rounded team approach to each child’s education.   We likewise rely on local colleges and universities for the incredible support their students offer in providing one-on-one tutoring to our children.

In addition, you can support the efforts of the Boston Worker’s Alliance, a group organizing for the rights of unemployed and underemployed people in Boston. Despite being located in Boston, BWA was one of many organizations that was pivotal in ensuring the success of Massachusetts recent CORI reform victory. You can visit their site to learn more and support their work.

BWA was formed in September 22, 2005 at a large meeting of unemployed workers at the 12th Baptist Church in Roxbury. We agreed to unite for the uplift our community by building powerful collective challenges to the crisis of joblessness. Our two immediate priorities involved fighting CORI discrimination and forming a BWA temp agency.

In this organization, our members work to improve their job situations by developing the necessary skills and resources to find work. At the same time, it is clear that job training and business resumes are useless if no one is hiring. We recognize that unless we demand a societal change to have fair work for all, members of our community will be forced to compete, like crabs in a barrel, for fewer and lower-paying jobs. When we unite, we are fighting for more than a paycheck. We are fighting for jobs for our youth and stable work that we can raise our families on.

Lastly, if you haven’t already, Drop the I-Word. Visit Colorlines to sign the pledge. And if you’ve already signed it, then ask 5 friends to join you! Keep an eye out for “Secure Communities” sprouting up in your area, and make sure policy makers in your area know that your community is no place for hate. Watch this video for more information about the Drop the I-Word Campaign:

Here in Worcester, the Worcester Youth Poetry Slam is getting ready to head to the Brave New Voices national youth poetry slam on the west coast this summer. You can help them pay for this exciting trip by donating at their website:

We are traveling to the 2011 Brave New Voices International Youth Poetry Festival this July to compete, connect, represent Worcester and wax poetic with 50 teams from around the world!

We could use some help from the community! Please consider making a donation to help the team raise registration and travel funds. All told, this trip’s going to cost close to $4,500. We do our best to book paying gigs at slam enues, bookshops, libraries and schools, but this only covers part of our expenses.

You can also support Brave New Voices, the national organization that hosts the annual competition and week-long celebration of youth and poetry. If you’re not sure why this is an important contribution, try watching this video without crying:

Emerge Massachusetts is a training program to help Democratic Women run for office- giving them the tools, resources and backing to succeed in representing their communities in elected office. From their site:

Eighty-seventh in the world: that’s where the United States ranks for women in elected office, behind Mexico, China and Pakistan.  In fact, women make up just 16% of the U.S. Congress.

Massachusetts ranks in the top 20 for state legislatures, with a ranking of 18th  in the nation in terms of women in elected office.

In fact, Massachusetts has only elected a total of four women to the U.S. House of Representatives and has never elected a woman to the U.S. Senate. Only 24% of our State Legislators are women and the 2011 State Legislature has the lowest number of women serving since 1998.

Too often, women do not see themselves running for office – they don’t think they are experienced enough or they just don’t know where to start.

Emerge Massachusetts is changing that!

Sister Song is an organization that promotes reproductive justice for women of color. At a time when Black women are among the fastest rising groups of HIV infections in the country, their work is particularly important. With a decade of abstinence ONLY education, it’s difficult for many young women to get accurate information about safe and healthy sex. From their website:

The mission of the SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective is to amplify and strengthen the collective voices of Indigenous women and women of color to ensure reproductive justice through securing human rights. SisterSong is comprised of 80 local, regional and national grassroots organizations in the United States representing five primary ethnic populations/indigenous nations in the United States: Native American/Indigenous, Black/African American, Latina/Puerto Rican, Arab American/Middle Eastern, and Asian/Pacific Islander, as well as white allies and men. The Collective was formed in 1997 to fulfill a need for a national movement by women of color to organize our voices to represent ourselves and our communities. SisterSong educates women of color on Reproductive and Sexual Health and Rights, and works towards the access of health services, information and resources that are culturally and linguistically appropriate through the integration of the disciplines of community organizing, Self-Help and human rights education.

From Colorlines, Gwen Moore demonstrating the importance of both: 

This month, we chose as our national organization the Applied Research Center or ARC, which manages the magazine Colorlines, as well as the awesome blog Racewire.  They also host the upcoming Facing Race conference, but we’ll let them tell you what they’re about:

The Applied Research Center (ARC) is a racial justice think tank and home for media and activism.  ARC is built on rigorous research and creative use of new technology.  Our goal is to popularize the need for racial justice and prepare people to fight for it.  By telling the stories of everyday people, ARC is a voice for unity and fairness in the structures that affect our lives.

Regionally, we didn’t stray to far from home, featuring the Haymarket People’s Fund, a community foundation in Boston that serves the New England area. In addition to financially supporting a diverse array of social and racial justice causes, they also provide Racial Justice Trainings to organizations and individuals. This year, Haymarket is celebrating their 30th anniversary. From Haymarket:

Haymarket People’s Fund is an anti-racist and multi-cultural foundation committed to strengthening the movement for social justice in New England. Through grant making, fundraising and capacity building we support grassroots organizations that address the root causes of injustice. Haymarket also organizes to increase sustainable community philanthropy throughout the region.Haymarket believes that community organizing is the most effective strategy for achieving our vision of an equitable, peaceful and humane world. By organizing, we mean efforts led by those most affected by injustice that focus on two things: the root causes of the problems facing them and changing the institutions and structures of power that keep injustice in place.

You can give to Haymarket online, or by contacting them about planned giving or giving circles. In addition, they are looking for volunteers and Board members.

On a sadder note, January is also the anniversary of the tremendous loss of life and stability in the island nation of Haiti. Unfortunately, the massive outpouring of support and genorosity has been overshadowed at times by reports of misused funds from some larger charitable organizations. It’s critical that no one lets this stop them from donating what they can to the people of Haiti. The Washington Peace Center has a great article with a list of progressive organizations where you can donate to ensure your gift gets to people in need.