New Organizing for a New America

The would-be gravediggers of the New Deal and Obamacare have just begun their furious finger-pointing exercises as they try to figure out who to blame for the results of last week’s election. For progressive activists, however, November 6 was only a milestone, not the terminus, of a long journey to increase participatory democracy and build a more equitable America. Thursday, November 15, a number of them will gather at USC to lay out the nuts and bolts of their recently concluded campaigns, as well as to articulate their next moves.

Moderated by USC Political Science professor Ange-Marie Hancock, and sponsored by the university’s Program for Environmental and Regional Equity (PERE), “New Organizing for a New America” will explain what went right in 2012 and what strategies fell short, and how to make electoral organizing count for long-term base building. Among the topics to be discussed:

• Why Florida tipped blue this election

• How Prop 30 passed in California

• Why voter suppression triggered voter engagement instead

Participants include María Blanco, California Community Foundation; Donita Judge, the Advancement Project; Gihan Perera, Florida New Majority and Anthony Thigpenn,  California Calls.

If 2008 was a groundbreaking election and 2012 was a turning point, then the stakes will only increase for activists in the near future – come and find out what lies ahead.

USC, Doheny Library Room 240; Thursday, November 15th, noon-1:30 p.m. Free, but RSVP here.