With the exciting news that Kate Brock is moving on from Ocean State Action to take a policy position in Governor Chafee’s administration, I was thinking about who could be the next Director of Ocean State Action. I say this because Ocean State Action is probably one of the most important, if not the most important, progressive organizations in the state. Over the years, they have been able to shape the debate in Rhode Island, elect progressive candidates to the General Assembly, and push for more progressive policies that benefit all Rhode Islanders. Admittedly, they have not been 100% successful, but more often than not their success lies in advocacy, movement building, and adding the progressive perspective to policy debates.
Here are some of my thoughts about who (in alphabetical order).
This is not at all a full list, and I’m certain that potential candidates will come out of the woodwork for this important position. What’s top of mind for me is that I hope the next Director does NOT come at the expense of the good work being done at another organization. Whoever the next director is, we need to keep building the Progressive movement in the state.
]]>The local progressive movement isn’t losing an activist, we are gaining a voice inside of government. Kate Brock is leaving her job as the executive director of Ocean State Action to take a policy position in Governor Chafee’s administration.
In an email to OSA supporters this morning, she writes:
]]>It is with both heaviness in my heart and excitement for the future that I am writing to bid you all a fond farewell.
The past three years have been an amazing journey for me, and for Ocean State Action. We have made important changes in Rhode Island – both in the laws, and in the hearts and minds of Rhode Islanders. And we did it by walking on picket lines, rallying, collecting postcards, canvassing businesses, training new activists to be campaign managers and data geeks, educating voters on issues from voting rights to tax equity, making phone calls, and knocking doors, and we did it all together.
But now it is time for a new page in my life, and I am both honored and humbled to be joining the Governor’s policy team up at the State House. I am greatly looking forward to getting back to my roots, not the grassroots ones, but my roots in the environmental community.
It has been a privilege to work alongside each and every one of you both in the trenches of Get Out the Vote and through long, long nights at the Statehouse. We’ve done a lot together, and there is a lot to still be done.
I am proud to leave Ocean State Action in the capable hands of Kristina Fox and Mark Gray who will keep fighting the good fight. If you haven’t met them yet, send them an email or give them a call and get more involved with Ocean State Action.
And never forget the immortal words of Dr. King – “Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle. And so we must straighten our backs and work for our freedom. A man can’t ride you unless your back is bent.” Stand tall, agitate, organize, and demand progress!
According to a press release from Patriot Majority, the Koch Brothers’ right-wing agenda would hurt the Ocean State by “cutting Pell Grants by over $800 for every RI student, privatizing Social Security for RI’s 200,000-plus recipients, and take away health insurance of over 40K who would get it under Obamacare.”
Patriot Majority’s “Stop the Greed” bus – which is touring the eastern part of the country and will meet up near St. Louis with its western-states counterpart in about a month – will be at Kennedy Plaza today at 3:30.
Here’s the full press release:
]]>On Monday, September 24, 2012, at 3:30 pm EDT, Providence concerned citizens will call out the billionaire Koch Brothers who have threatened to spend $400 million this year on a “greed agenda” that will weaken America. The Koch Brothers have advocated for more tax breaks for mega-billionaires like themselves, while cutting needed protections and programs for middle class Americans.
Community leaders including Kate Brock, Executive Director of Ocean State Action, and Patrick Crowley, of National Education Association Rhode Island, will gather at Kennedy Plaza to argue that the Kochs’ Greed Agenda has been destructive to the Rhode Island middle class.
The news conference is part of a national initiative that Patriot Majority USA launched in August. In September, the group expanded its presence with a paid ad campaign in states, and with a national bus tour—complete with more than 30 stops in 23 states. More information about the campaign can be found at www.stopthegreedagenda.com.
Patriot Majority USA has a multi-year bipartisan primary purpose, and is working on economic solutions and encouraging job creation throughout the United States. Patriot Majority USA’s future legislative advocacy, in 2013 and beyond, at both at the national and state levels, is based on the goals of the Patriot Majority Action Plan. See more at http://www.patriotmajority.org
. In Providence, Kate Brock, Patrick Crowley and others will speak as part of a national bus tour called “Stop the Greed Agenda,” a project of Patriot Majority USA.