NATIONAL ACTION NETWORK (NAN), ALONG WITH LABOR & CIVIL RIGHTS LEADERS TO ATTACK JOBLESSNESS & VOTER ID LAWS THAT ARE THREATENING PEOPLE’S VOTER RIGHTS ACROSS THE COUNTRY ON DECEMBER 9TH AS PART OF 25-CITY RALLY FOR JOBS & JUSTICE
NATIONAL ACTION NETWORK & REV. AL SHARPTON, ALONG WITH LABOR LEADERS & COMMUNITY ACTIVISTS TO LEAD RALLIES IN OVER 25 CITIES ON DECEMBER 9TH FOR JOBS AND JUSTICE ——
ATLANTA RALLY TO TAKE PLACE AT PROVIDENCE MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH
WHO:
Reverend Gerald Durley, Pastor of Providence Missionary Baptist Church
Marcus Coleman, (Event Coordinator) Founder, Atlanta Chapter of NAN
Mary-Pat Hector, National Youth Director , NAN
Troya Sampson, Head of Leadership Committee Atlanta Chapter of NAN
Senator Vincent Fort, State Senate District 39
Nancy Flake-Johnson, CEO Atlanta Urban League
Joe Beasley, Exec Director of Rainbow Push Coalition
Alisha Thomas Morgan, Ga House Rep District 39
Helen Butler, GCPA (Georgia Coalition for the People’s Agenda)
Able Mable Thomas, Former Georgia House Rep, Civil/Human/Political Rights Activist
Gregg Fann, Exec Director Local 3, AFSCME (American Federation of State County and Municipal
Employees)
Deborah Scott, Exec Director Georgia STAND-UP (Strategic Alliance for New Direction & Unified Policies)
Ron Allen, Occupy Atlanta Organizer
Brian Beane, Founder, Mentor To Millions
Mike Render aka Killer Mike, Youth Advocate, Community Organizer/ Grammy award winning Atl artist
Shelley Wynter, Internet Radio, The Ugly Truth
Bro Andree Wideman, Worshipful Master South Fulton Lodge No. 598
Vincent Kee, CEO Solar Tronixx Tech
And Others…
WHAT:
Rally for Jobs & Justice
WHERE:
2295 Benjamin E. Mays Dr. SW
Atlanta, Ga. 30311
WHEN:
Friday, December 9, 2011 – 6p.m.-8p.m.
BACKGROUND:
Rev. Al Sharpton and National Action Network (NAN), along with partners in labor, civil rights, and clergy from across the country, will hold a rally in over 25-cities on December 9th, 2011 as a follow-up to the mass march for jobs and justice that NAN held October 15, 2011. The December 9th rallies will continue to focus on growing economic disparity, lack of employment, and equality issues surrounding our current economic state. The 25-city rallies will call attention to key issues that have not yet been remedied and will call attention to the disproportionate layoffs of Blacks, Latinos and other groups, and the growing wealth gap.The rallies will be held in cities that are most impacted by joblessness and attacks on workers rights.
In recent years, too many American families have lost economic ground. Over the decade ending in 2009, median family income fell by $3,800. And the gap between the wealthiest Americans and those with the least is growing every day, making it tougher to enter into the middle class. With African American unemployment at an unacceptable 15%, this is a clear sign that we need action-inaction is not an option. Black layoffs have only skyrocketed as the public sector – heavily comprised of a Black workforce – continues to slash jobs. And as a result, not only has Black wealth diminished, but so too has the existence of much of this nation’s Black middle class itself. Black, White or Brown – that is a startling reality that should have all of us deeply concerned.
According to a study released earlier this year by the Center for Labor Research and Education at the University of California, Blacks were 30% more likely than other workers to be employed in the public sector. And while the private sector has added 1.6 million jobs as reported in a recent New York Times piece, public employment has seen massive layoffs across the board. Whether its teachers, firefighters, police officers, or any other form of municipal work, the public sector has been under attack from Wisconsin to NJ and everywhere in between. From losing their bargaining rights to bearing the brunt of city and state budget cuts, public service employees are watching their entire life savings disappear. And because about 1 in 5 Blacks work in civil service, we are disproportionately suffering yet again during these tough times.
In the U.S. postal service alone, about 25% of employees are Black. It is precisely because of work in this industry and in other government entities that we were finally able to climb the economic and societal ladder, and eventually begin to achieve the proverbial American dream of home ownership. An entire Black middle class emerged via civil service jobs, and we are now tragically close to witnessing the greatest stumbling block to progress that will literally set us back decades. But we can – and we must – do something to halt this injustice that so clearly threatens our immediate future.
Cities where NAN Rallies are taking place:
New York City, NY
Philadelphia, PA
Cleveland, Ohio
Indianapolis, IN
Atlanta, GA
Chicago, IL
Houston, TX
Las Vegas, NV
Akron, Ohio
Memphis, TN
Montgomery, AL
Shreveport, LA
Baltimore, MD
Detroit, MI
Boston, MA
New Haven, CT
Columbus, MO
Newark, NJ
Charlotte, NC
Columbus, Ohio
For more information visit www.nationalactionnetwork.net.
