Tag Archives: PDA

Does Bernie Sanders Have ‘White People Problems’? (video)

Posted on July 19, 2015 by | 5 comments
11,000 Sanders supporters filled the Phoenix Convention Center on Saturday, July 18,2015. (Photo by Dennis Gilman)

11,000 Sanders supporters filled the Phoenix Convention Center on Saturday, July 18,2015. (Photo by Dennis Gilman)

Saturday was a day of highs and lows for Senator Bernie Sanders.

In the morning at Netroots Nation, Sanders became visibly annoyed by Black Lives Matter protesters who wanted to hear more than stump speeches from Democratic presidential candidates Sanders and former Governor Martin O’Malley. They wanted to know what President Sanders or President O’Malley would do to end systemic racism in the US. They didn’t get an answer from either candidate.

In the evening– again at the Phoenix Convention Center– Sanders was greeted enthusiastically by a mostly white crowd of 11,000 progressives cheering his economic inequality stump speech. According to news accounts, this was Sanders’ largest crowd to date.

The whiteness of Sanders’ supporters has come up before, but Netroots Nation (NN15) really brought the issue home for me.

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Posted in Activism, Budgets, Campaigns, Civil Rights, Economics, Elections, Ethics, Justice, Labor, Pamela Powers Hannley, Party Politics, Political Events, President, Primaries, Racism

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‘The Nation’ Celebrates Its 150 Year Anniversary in Tucson this Weekend (video)

Posted on March 14, 2015 by | Comments Off on ‘The Nation’ Celebrates Its 150 Year Anniversary in Tucson this Weekend (video)
The Nation

‘The Nation’ celebrates its anniversary in Tucson this weekend.

The Nation magazine is 150 years old this year, and Tucson is playing a major role in the celebration.

The Blog for Arizona Calendar has a complete list of The Nation events that are connected to the Tucson Festival of Books.

Two events worth highlighting that are not connected with the Book Festival are the John Nichols presentation at the IBEW Hall tonight and the regional premiere of the award-winning documentary Hot Type: 150 Years of The Nation at The Loft on Sunday night.

PDA/PALF Event March 14

John Nichols

John Nichols of ‘The Nation’ at a previous PDA Tucson event.

PDA Tucson and the Pima Area Labor Federation (PALF) will be hosting their traditional evening with  John Nichols tonight, March 14, at the IBEW Hall. Often it’s difficut to get into Book Festival venues with popular speakers like Nichols. The PDA/PALF event offers a unique opportunity to hear Nichols in a relaxed atmosphere. (And there’f plenty of free parking!) Doors open at 6:30 with finger foods and mingling. Nichols presentation begins at 7 p.m. The event is free, but donations to PDA are greatly appreciated. (Facebook event here.)

Hot Type Regional Premiere March 15

Sunday, March 15 is the regional premiere of Hot Type: 150 Years of The Nation with Oscar-winner Barbara Kopple and The Nation’s John Nichols in person! The screening will be preceded by a reception on The Loft patio, starting at 6 p.m. This reception is FREE with the purchase of a ticket to the film, and will feature free light hors d’oeuvres and a cash bar. (Buy tickets here.)

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Posted in Civil Rights, Economics, Ethics, Justice, Labor, Media, Pamela Powers Hannley, Political Calendar, Political Events, Tucson

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John Nichols & The Nation Are Coming to Tucson (video)

Posted on March 3, 2015 by | 2 comments
JohnNicholstucson

John Nichols fires up progressives at a PDA event.

Author and commentator John Nichols of The Nation will make his annual trek to Tucson for the Festival of Books, but this year, he’s bringing his colleagues. To mark it’s 150th birthday, The Nation is doing a celebration tour that includes several events in Tucson.

A tradition for the past several years, Progressive Democrats of America (PDA) Tucson will host a special evening with John Nichols on Saturday, March 14 at 7 p.m. at the IBEW Hall. (Event here). Nichols is a long-time friend of PDA and the founding Executive Director the late Tim Carpenter. Consequently, when Nichols is in town, he always stops by the union hall to inspire progressive ground troupes. (This event is free, but donations are gladly accepted.)

After the jump, check out the complete list of Tucson events with Nichols and other inspirational speakers from The Nation. There also will be a regional premiere of the documentary Hot Type: 150 Years of The Nation at The Loft on Sunday, March 15 (details below).

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Posted in Activism, Civil Rights, Economics, GOP War On..., Labor, Pamela Powers Hannley, Political Calendar, Political Events, Tucson, Uncategorized

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Join PDA’s Declaration of Independence from Corporate Rule

Posted on July 9, 2014 by | 6 comments
Stop Citizen's United. Get money out of politics.

Stop Citizen’s United. Get money out of politics.

Progressive Democrats of America (PDA) and allies have been working to overturn Citizens United, the dubious Supreme Court decision that opened the floodgates to let special interest money dominate and corrupt our elections.

Senate Joint Resolution 19 (SJ Res 19) seeks to overturn Citizens United by initiating the Constitutional Amendment process. The proposed amendment would restore the ability to regulate money in our elections.

Thursday, July 10, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee will vote on whether or not to send SJ Res 19 onward for a vote before the full Senate. This promises to be an historic breakthrough!

There are four things you can do starting today to help this national coalition effort succeed. 

1. Call both of your Senators today at 866-937-7983 and ask them to cosponsor SJ Res 19, if they haven’t already (full details below).

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Posted in Activism, Arizona Congressional Delegation, Campaigns, Congress, Constitution, Ethics, Justice, Pamela Powers Hannley

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PDA National Director Tim Carpenter Dies: Progressives Push ‘Forward’

Posted on April 29, 2014 by | 1 comment
Tim Carpenter

Tim Carpenter speaking at Progressive Central, outside the DNC in Charlotte, 2012.

The New Progressive Era lost a giant with the passing of Tim Carpenter on Monday, following a protracted battle with cancer.

As co-founder and National Director of Progressive Democrats of America (PDA), Tim was a force of nature. His energy and determination were contagious. He lit the room with his larger-than-life personality and his jolly smile. Tim was my friend, my mentor, and my comrade in the fight for economic and social justice in the United States and the world. Along with 1000s of PDA members nationwide, I will miss him.

I first met Tim in February 2011. It was a dark time in Arizona. Democrats were downtrodden following the 2010 “shellacking” the Teapublicans gave us in the midterm election. Arizona Republicans had won control of  our entire state government. Tucson was reeling from the recent shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords at a north side Safeway. And the Arizona Democratic Party was controlled by the No Labels Republican-Lite faction.

At the inaugural meeting of PDA Tucson,Tim’s fiery speech about progressive values and the way forward gave us hope.

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Posted in Activism, Civil Rights, Congress, Constitution, Economics, Election Integrity, Elections, Justice, Pamela Powers Hannley, Tucson

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