Help us build a bigger progressive force for change

Submitted by Bill Crosier on February 1, 2009 - 3:30pm. ::

Fellow PAA'ers, please forward the note below to folks you know in other organizations in our area (along with an invitation from you), and ask them to come to our Feb. meeting. By inviting them to tell us how we can help their groups, we can build a larger political force for progressive change in our area, while planning some fun events that everyone will enjoy. -- Bill Crosier

Houston Progressive Action Friends,

Does your organization have important goals, but not enough active supporters to get what you want through Congress and the state legislature?

Do you have trouble getting enough people to attend events, and to contact their elected officials about your issues?

Even with a new President, Congress and the state legislature will continue to receive constant pressure from business lobbyists and others to do what they want, instead of what our country needs.

The Progressive Action Alliance wants to help progressive groups in our area (including yours) to support each other more, so we can better resist the well-funded conservative lobbyists and the unfair influence they have on legislation and policies at all levels. Imagine how much more we can all achieve if we can work together to reach our most important goals.

The Progressive Action Alliance (PAA) promotes progressive candidates, ideas, and issues through action, advocacy, education, and networking. Here, we're stressing the networking aspect, so we can build a more powerful progressive force for change.

For the past 5 years, we have been promoting causes and working with issues related to:
* Peace
* Universal Single Payer Health Care
* Saving our Environment and Climate
* Civil Rights for all
* Worker's Rights
* Strengthening Public Education
* Media Reform and Election Reform
* Abolition of the Death Penalty
* and a host of other progressive issues

(See http://paa-tx.org/resolutions for a list of our most important issues and our positions on them.)

Now, for the year 2009, we have decided to attempt to be of larger service to the Houston Progressive Community.

*** Thinking globally while Acting Locally ***

With the focus on Education, Fun and Action, the PAA is beginning a planning period to attempt to deal with the most pressing issues of our city, state, country, and world.

Your group is one that we would love to work together with, hopefully in conjunction with an event or effort you are planning this year. Would you and a friend or two from you group consider joining us at the next Progressive Action Alliance monthly meeting, on the evening of Thursday February 19, to help us brainstorm and tentatively plan our goal of 12 events for the next 12 months? We want groups like yours to help us define those events -- ones that can draw in folks who don't normally attend meetings of our organizations, but where we can become better educated about our issues, socialize and have some fun with each other. Most important, we want to build a stronger progressive movement for change in our area.

We believe in your work and hope that by drawing together different groups to support each other, we all may gain from the synergy and move more powerfully towards a better world.

Please see http://paa-tx.org/node/3170 for updates, details, and a link to a map for our Feb. meeting.

Hoping to see you at our PAA 2009 Planning Meeting,

In unity,

Bill Crosier
Bart Boyce
Co-Chairs, Progressive Action Alliance