All posts by Tamara Shapiro

Home, Urban Studies

Welcome Fall 2014 JSMI Students!

We are excited to welcome incoming Fall 2014  students to The Murphy Institute this week! Below is  a reflection from Palma Dellaporta, a PSC member and a registrar at Brooklyn College, who attended the Urban Studies MA orientation last Saturday.

[The Urban Studies MA Orientation this past Saturday] was a comprehensive event that not only left me feeling like I had all the information I needed, but truly supported.The most striking aspect of the day was how genuinely interested in the students everyone was. Their interest was not only about our studies, but about our lives, what brought us to the program, and what our expectations were. The encouragement, kindness, wealth of knowledge, and the true welcome made me sure I have found my academic home for the next two years. Additionally, the diversity of my cohort is wonderful. I am energized, anxious to get to work, and looking forward to what this program will bring to my life overall.
Welcome Fall 2014 Students!
Home, New Labor Forum

Should Labor Boycott Israel?

Whose Side Are You On?

By Andrew Ross

The BDS (Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions) campaign is shaping up as one of these historical moments when everyone has to choose which side they are on. Trade unionists have good reason to know what this feels like. Labor history is punctuated with similar contests, when nuanced views on strategy have run their course and we are left with a stark moral choice. For too long, the debate about how best to oppose the occupation of Palestine has been clouded, often intentionally, by strenuous deliberations over tactics. As for those in official positions, the formidable sway of pro-Zionist lobbying has been disturbingly effective. Elected politicians have AIPAC watching their every move, and high officialdom within the AFL-CIO has the Jewish Labor Committee (JLC) to placate. As Richard Trumka put it plainly at a JLC dinner gathering in 2009: “Tonight, let me tell you that, so long as I’m president, you will never have a stronger ally than the AFL-CIO. That’s why we’re proud to stand with the JLC to oppose boycotting Israel.”

Read The Full Debate Here

Engage, Don’t Divest from Israel
By Jo-Ann Mort

Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and its continued control of movement in Gaza is unjust and inhumane. It must be ended as quickly as possible. Israel and Palestine must exist as two states side by side. How can this be achieved? I don’t believe that boycotting

Israel, or the overall BDS prescription for change, is the correct response—not for the labor movement, nor for other movements or individuals.

The current Israeli government is a right-wing government with a smattering of centrist parties devolved from a very complex—and partly dysfunctional—parliamentary system. I don’t support it. But boycotting this government will only make it stronger. That’s because the tendency inside Israel—and especially on the right—is to hunker down in response to boycotts. Poll numbers rise for the right when there are visible attacks on Israel, and savvy politicians—especially Israel’s Prime Minister—make ample use of these opportunities to strengthen their own base at the expense of the left.

Read The Full Debate Here

Photo by ☪yrl via flickr (CC-BY-NC).

Labor and Community Job Opportunities, Opportunities

Immigration Campaign Manager

About the Center for Community Change

The Center for Community Change is a national social justice non-profit organization headquartered in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1968 to honor the life and values of Robert F. Kennedy, our mission is to build the power and capacity of low-income people, especially low-income people of color, to have a significant impact in improving their communities and the policies and institutions that affect their lives.

The Center for Community Change is committed to help build powerful and dynamic movements in diverse communities across America that will be the impetus for creating a society in which everyone has enough to thrive and achieve their full potential. Inspired by a belief in the dignity of all people, the Center has been instrumental in the fight for comprehensive and fair immigration reform, a push for a bold jobs agenda, and protecting essential retirement security programs. The Center played a major role in recent positive changes to immigration laws that will keep thousands of immigrant families together. Our Housing Trust Fund Project has helped bring affordable housing to millions of people.

Position Description:

The Immigration Campaign Manager is responsible for implementing a nationally coordinated campaign with Fair Immigration Reform Movement (FIRM) member organizations focused on building the power and capacity of the immigrant rights movement and achieving state and federal policy immigration reform change. Currently, FIRM is advancing a national “Keeping Families Together Campaign” aimed at securing comprehensive immigration reform. The ideal candidate is a self-starter, experienced organizer, good manager, and strategic thinker capable of producing consistent quality work in a fast-paced environment.

Find out more here

Labor and Community Job Opportunities, Opportunities

Data Analyst

About the Center for Community Change

The Center for Community Change is a national social justice non-profit organization headquartered in Washington, D.C.  Founded in 1968 to honor the life and values of Robert F. Kennedy, our mission is to build the power and capacity of low-income people, especially low-income people of color, to have a significant impact in improving their communities and the policies and institutions that affect their lives.

The Center for Community Change is committed to help build powerful and dynamic movements in diverse communities across America that will be the impetus for creating a society in which everyone has enough to thrive and achieve their full potential.  Inspired by a belief in the dignity of all people, the Center has been instrumental in the fight for comprehensive and fair immigration reform, a push for a bold jobs agenda, and protecting essential retirement security programs. The Center played a major role in recent positive changes to immigration laws that will keep thousands of immigrant families together. Our Housing Trust Fund Project has helped bring affordable housing to millions of people. For further information please visit our website at: www.communitychange.org.

About the Center for Community Change Action

The mission of the Center for Community Change Action is to increase the profile of policy issues that matter to low-income people and people of color, as well as to educate and empower low-income people and people of color to act on those issues.

In recent years, the CCCAction and its partners have won important improvements in the social safety net, protected critical retirement security programs from the chopping block, defeated numerous anti-worker measures and mobilized communities across the country to win historic health care reform.  CCCAction has been widely credited with preventing anti-progressive forces from seizing the U.S. Senate through our work building a “firewall” with Latino, low-income and immigrant voters. Today, CCCAction is training more than 1,000 new activist leaders in swing states as we build a new movement for job creation.  For further information, please visit our website at www.cccaction.org.

Position Description:

CCC’s donor database is central to the management of relationships with its foundations and individual donors. The Data Analyst (DA) is responsible for the strategic administration and oversight of the organization’s fundraising data architecture, maximizing the fundraising and marketing potential of the donor database through strategic analysis, and effective management of donor information and relationships. The successful candidate will create, implement and manage effective policies, processes and procedures to ensure an exemplary level of data integrity in the Raiser’s Edge database.

Find out more here

Labor and Community Job Opportunities, Opportunities

Media Specialist for Ethnic Media

About the Center for Community Change

The Center for Community Change is a national social justice non-profit organization headquartered in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1968 to honor the life and values of Robert F. Kennedy, our mission is to build the power and capacity of low-income people, especially low-income people of color, to have a significant impact in improving their communities and the policies and institutions that affect their lives.

The Center for Community Change is committed to help build powerful and dynamic movements in diverse communities across America that will be the impetus for creating a society in which everyone has enough to thrive and achieve their full potential.  Inspired by a belief in the dignity of all people, the Center has been instrumental in the fight for comprehensive and fair immigration reform, a push for a bold jobs agenda, and protecting essential retirement security programs. The Center played a major role in recent positive changes to immigration laws that will keep thousands of immigrant families together. Our Housing Trust Fund Project has helped bring affordable housing to millions of people.

About the Center for Community Change Action

The mission of the Center for Community Change Action (CCCAction) is to increase the profile of policy issues that matter to low-income people and people of color, as well as to educate and empower low-income people and people of color to act on those issues.

In recent years, CCCAction and its partners have won important improvements in the social safety net, protected critical retirement security programs from the chopping block, defeated numerous anti-worker measures and mobilized communities across the country to win historic health care reform.  CCCAction has been widely credited with preventing anti-progressive forces from seizing the U.S. Senate through our work building a “firewall” with Latino, low-income and immigrant voters. Today, CCCAction is training more than 1,000 new activist leaders in swing states as we build a new movement for job creation.  For further information, please visit our website at www.cccaction.org

Position Description:

The Center is seeking a media specialist who will focus on outreach to ethnic media nationwide as the Center continues its work toward achieving comprehensive immigration reform. This will be a full time, permanent position.  A portion of time may be spent doing work for CCC’s sister organization, CCCAction.

Find out more here