I’ve hijacked the listserve to toot Lanya’s horn!

Traction’s phenomenal founder and leader, Lanya Shapiro, is a finalist for a major award recognizing progressive activists.

The Maria Leavey Tribute Award is given each year by the Campaign for America’s Future. The award recognizes a progressive who is:

• A Convener
• A Persistent Advocate
• A Selfless Organizer
• An Idea Generator

If you don’t think those four traits describe Lanya, then just read the nomination statement that Traction Board Chair Celeste Richie wrote on her behalf (the statement is below).

Personally, I don’t know a single person who is better qualified for this recognition. I was at the first organizational meeting that Lanya convened to share her vision for Traction. Over the last 5 years, I’ve seen how Lanya has thrown herself fully into creating a progressive movement that draws on the talents of young people who will make a difference in the long haul.  Traction has accomplished a ton already, and will bear fruit in so many ways for years to come.

There are five finalists for the award. We need you to show how much you value Traction and Lanya by voting for her in the online balloting.

VOTING ENDS THIS FRIDAY and it just takes one minute.  Please vote today!  And then please post this as your status on Facebook and send it on to anyone else you know who will support Lanya’s amazing progressive leadership.

Thanks,

Graig Meyer
Educator, Lanya-lover, Tractivist

Nominating Statement from Celeste Richie:
Lanya is a kick-ass social entrepreneur, a tireless activist and organizer, and part of the vanguard of the modern progressive movement.  Her most recent cutting-edge endeavor is Traction, a Durham NC-based offline social network designed to turn young voters into energized and engaged activists who will, over time, power the progressive movement as volunteers, donors, board members and elected officials.

Lanya’s work with Traction hits all your notes: she worked for years without pay (persistent advocate, selfless organizer) to launch this innovative organization (idea generator) which leverages the power of community (convener) in order to create more passionate activists.

Traction has made a name for itself with creative and provocative events and collaborations, and we think deserves partial credit for turning NC more progressive in 2008.  A few highlights: Electile Dysfunction (about the Voting Rights Act), Drop Beats not Bombs, Festivus for the Left of Us, Green My Ride, Speed CandiDating, and Below the Belt: Religion, Reproductive Rights and O.P.P.  Who else would think to educate young folks about mercury in NC’s waters by throwing a Radical Sushi-making workshop?

Lanya identifies and mentors young activists and “potential” activists. But Traction’s model is about more than just reaching individuals. It’s about advancing the movement. By putting a creative spin on classic progressive issues, Traction helps the forward-thinking nonprofits with whom it collaborates to reach and engage a younger audience, something these nonprofits and the movement desperately need in order to remain viable over the next 20-30 years.  Partners include Demos, Nat’l Women’s Law Center, the NAACP, Planned Parenthood, and MANY local orgs.

Lanya is no one-hit wonder. During the three years before she started Traction, her political organizing in the Dean grassroots earned her the respect of DFA staff; when Bush brought his Social Security privatization tour to Raleigh in 2005, Lanya organized the counter-rally.  Lanya served on Durham’s Citizens’ Advisory Committee, which advises local electeds on CDBG allocation and helped transform the CAC into a force that the council/commissioners are aware of and actually listen to.  She served on the NC Democratic Party executive committee and NAACP-NC’s political committee and currently serves on our local Planned Parenthood affiliate’s Action Fund board.

Her work in 2005 to elect a grassroots-focused NCDP chair (Jerry Meek) included an event which had DNC members and over 20 members of the state executive committee listening (!) to over 100 local activists’ hopes for the party, and was covered in US News & World Report.

Maybe the secret to Lanya’s effective political activism is her solid graduate and professional training in public health and social work. She spent years designing and managing award-winning large-scale behavior change programs. While the behaviors back then were health-related (condom use, cancer screening), she applies the same social marketing expertise to promote progressive activism through Traction.

P.S. Upcoming…
Sat 5/8: Pick your own organic Strawberries! strawberries@getTraction.org
Sat 5/15: Civil Rights Walking Tour of Durham: race@getTraction.org
Mon 5/31: Memorial Day at the Eno: swim@getTraction.org
Plus a conversation group on race and privilege: race@getTraction.org, a workshop on work / life / community balance, and much more…

P.S. Upcoming…
Sun 4/11: Learn to shrink your car’s carbon tireprint: greenmyride@getTraction.org
Sat 4/17: Trip to new civil rights museum in Greensboro: gbo@getTraction.org
Sun 4/25: Return of the Potluck that Keeps on Giving (aka Freezer Party): freezer@getTraction.org
plus a conversation group on race and privilege: race@getTraction.org
and Spring means the Traction Outdoors group is back!  Write outdoors@getTraction.org to be in the loop on hikes, swims, berry-pickings and more.

P.S. Upcoming Traction events:
Thurs 3/25: ReelPolitik presents: The Good Soldier  soldier@getTraction.org
Sun 4/11: Learn to shrink your car’s carbon footprint: greenmyride@getTraction.org
Sat 4/17: Trip to new civil rights museum in Greensboro: gbo@getTraction.org
plus Spring means the Traction Outdoors group is back!  Write outdoors@getTraction.org to be in the loop on hikes, swims, berry-pickings and more.

P.P.S. Check out Jon Stewart’s epic hilarious, spot-on parody of Glenn Beck last night. (Thanks to Tractivist Carole Bell for the heads-up!)

I grew up in one of the poorest counties and school districts in the State. During my years in the Robeson County public schools, several poor school districts were embroiled in a decade-long court battle against the State – the Leandro case, which established the right to a sound, basic education for every child in NC.

I recently relocated from the Triangle back to Robeson County. Since being home, I have become increasingly frustrated by the blatant bigotry propelling the Wake County School Board debate.  The actions of a well-financed group of parents are threatening Wake’s diversity policy, which has been heralded as a “beacon of hope” for failing school districts.

My frustration spurs primarily from the weak one-legged concern raised by the “neighborhood schools” proponents – long bus rides. The anti-diversity crowd has pointed to the most extreme cases of bussing.  The truth is, the vast majority of Wake County students attend a school within ten miles of their home.

The selfish and short-sighted “neighborhood schools” supporters threaten access to equitable education for every child and the future of our communities.  That’s why the Wake Superintendent submitted his resignation and the NAACP-NC filed a complaint with the schools’ accrediting body.  “Neighborhood schools” will inevitably lead to “tri-segregated” schools: with high concentrations of poor students, students of color and students with disabilities.

Here’s what we can do about it:

Equitable education in Wake County (one of the fastest growing areas in the country) affects our state’s economy and therefore affects us all.  North Carolina cannot afford to create high-poverty schools in disadvantaged neighborhoods to benefit a few spoiled parents and their children.

So many children in this state face much harsher circumstances than simply a long ride home on the bus – including here in Robeson County where violent discipline (corporal punishment) still takes place in the schools.  It is time for us to put things in perspective and to fight for all children’s right to a sound basic education.

With love,

Beth Jacobs, J.D.
Fulltime righteous radical, founder of Brown Babies, Tractivist

P.S. Upcoming Traction events:
Thurs 3/25: ReelPolitik presents: The Good Soldier  soldier@getTraction.org
Sun 4/11: Green My Ride is back by popular demand: greenmyride@getTraction.org
Sat 4/17: Trip to new civil rights museum in Greensboro: gbo@getTraction.org
plus Spring means the Traction Outdoors group is back!  Write outdoors@getTraction.org to be in the loop on hikes, swims, berry-pickings, canoe outings and more.

As a progressive movement we have lots of reasons to care about the outcome of the EFCA and other labor battles. Wade Henderson of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights spoke about the many strong links between labor and the civil rights movement since the beginning. Union members not only earn higher wages, are more likely to have health care, and enjoy greater well-being at work, they also vote more progressively than non-union members and are active allies in many other progressive movements.

At Traction’s spring happy hour, MaryBe McMillan of the NC AFL-CIO asked us to take action on the Employee Free Choice Act by thanking Sen. Kay Hagan for her initial support of the bill. The message I got from the panel was that we need to KEEP talking to Sen. Hagan as well as our Representatives in the House to ask them to support (or continue to support) the EFCA. The AFL-CIO has one way to get in touch with your legislators here , or you can call or send a hand-written letter. Any way you do it, it’s important that we speak up now for labor rights.

Are you going to take action? Have you done it already? Let me know in a comment or email to cara@getTraction.org!

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Learn more about Trick Or Vote and make sure you sign up to walk in the Costumed Canvas this Friday, Halloween!

Pride, Traction-style, is just SO MUCH FUN! I mean, you get to check out the festival with fellow Tractivists and march together in the parade (carrying giant silver balloons that spell out TRACTION) and support an awesomely diverse community in NC.

Seriously, Pridefest is the place to be this weekend— for queer-identified and straight progressives alike! Marching in the parade alongside other groups that are working for LGBTIQ rights in our state, visiting info booths to learn more about the issues, and listening to the great speakers and musical acts are all part of this amazing festival.

Even if you’ve never been to a Pride before, or if LGBTIQ issues aren’t front and center for you, I encourage you to give Pride, Traction-style, a try. It’s my personal belief that we should support other progressives in their struggles and celebrate with them in their triumphs, and Pride is a wonderful place to celebrate some progressive triumphs.

Now that I’ve bared my Pride-lovin’ soul, I’ll get down and dirty with the details about marching with Traction in the Pride Parade…

Sat 9/27: March with Traction in the Pride Parade

NOON lineup at Duke’s East Campus

This year, we’ll have a rolling How Low Can You Vote? limbo crew, plus the giant silver TRACTION balloons and rainbows galore!

Oh, and just so we don’t show up unprepared, you’re also invited to our Pride Planning party on Friday night. Come have a drink, meet some new friends, decide what role you’ll play in our spectacular parade crew, and then stick around to watch round one of the Obama-McCain debates. Who knows, there could be dancing after…

Fri 9/26: pre-Pride happy hour (parade planning, then debate-watching) at Traction HQ

Email pride@getTraction.org to RSVP for Pride, Traction-style (Parade and/or Happy Hour).

For the next five weeks, we are the epicenter of U.S. politics! The whole world is watching. So it’s time for us to ACT, not to watch. Look for an email soon with ways to be active in this election cycle with Traction.

But on April 11th and 12th, it’s time to join your fellow Tractivists and WATCH…

ELECTILE DYSFUNCTION II
a theatrical sideshow to benefit Traction!

Some of the area’s best actors and directors* + live music + good people + good cause + democracy + food/drinks + you!

ELECTILE DYSFUNCTION II (Wrath of the SuperDelegates)
7pm on April 11th and 12th

at the Trotter Building
410 W. Geer St., across from Manbites Dog Theater
$10 suggested min. donation — tickets conveniently sold online

*featuring Tractivists from Z to A, like Zephyr Teachout, Nicole Quenelle, Jim Haverkamp, Jay O’Berski, Dana Marks and Adam Sampieri.It’s an amazing show and you know it’ll be a great party, so get your tix NOW!

More soon, fellow patriots, Lanya

P.S. To volunteer for this show (or anything else Traction), contact Cara by emailing use.me@getTraction.org.

The National Popular Vote bill would guarantee the Presidency to the candidate who receives the most popular votes in all 50 states (and the District of Columbia). It has passed in the NC Senate, and is currently in the NC House.

In less than two years, the National Popular Vote bill has been enacted into law in Maryland and New Jersey and is on the Governor’s desk in Illinois. The bill has passed 14 legislative houses (one house in Arkansas, Colorado, North Carolina, and Washington state, and both houses in California, Hawaii, Illinois, New Jersey, and Maryland).

The shortcomings of the current system of electing the President stem from the winner-take-all rule that awards all of a state’s electoral votes to the presidential candidate who receives the most popular votes in each state.

Under the winner-take-all rule, candidates have no reason to poll, visit, advertise, organize, campaign, or worry about the concerns of voters of states that they cannot possibly win or lose. This means that voters in two thirds of the states are effectively disenfranchised in presidential elections because candidates concentrate their attention on a small handful of “battleground” states.

Another shortcoming of the current system is that a candidate can win the Presidency without winning the most popular votes nationwide. A shift of 60,000 votes would have elected Kerry in 2004, even though President Bush was ahead by 3,500,000 votes nationwide.

The National Popular Vote bill would take effect only when enacted, in identical form, by states possessing a majority of the electoral votes—that is, enough electoral votes to elect a President (270 of 538). When the bill is enacted in a group of states possessing 270 or more electoral votes, all of the electoral votes from those states would be awarded, as a bloc, to the presidential candidate who receives the most popular votes in all 50 states (and DC).

The bill has been endorsed by the New York Times, Chicago Sun Times, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, and Sacramento Bee, Common Cause and Fair Vote.  70% of the public has long supported nationwide election of the president.

Additional information is available in the book Every Vote Equal: A State-Based Plan for Electing the President by National Popular Vote and at www.NationalPopularVote.com.

I’m itching to give a warm cozy hug to everyone who has volunteered with Traction. We wouldn’t be here without you! I’m naming names of you fantastic people at the end of this email.

We’ve lost count, but in 2007 and 2008 alone, over 130 (seriously) of you:
- came up with creative event ideas
- hosted or helped put together great events*
- wrote emails and blog posts
- put on two successful fundraisers (Salsa Doble and Festivus) and houseparties
- served on Traction’s Advisory Board
- helped raise funds from foundations and major donors, and
- worked behind the scenes in myriad other ways.

*like Super Fat Tuesday coming up on 2/5! RSVP: superfat@getTraction.org. (Bonus drinks and eats for rockstar monthly donors, so become a rockstar now.)

Thinking about getting more involved with Traction? I highly recommend it.

When I first volunteered, I wanted to learn how to help people take concrete action on climate change and to connect with other excited, engaged, and nifty lefties. Two and a half years later, I’ve put together a series of events helping reduce our climate impact; I’ve met close friends and a sweetheart through Traction; and I’m convinced that Traction’s upbeat, inclusive, and connecting approach helps us all bring our values into the real world. I want you, too, to strengthen and be strengthened by this amazing progressive community.

Here’s how:

(1) Party with the Events Team: Volunteer to be a mastermind behind one Traction event or to be a valued helper for an event. Or, dive headlong in: I’m recruiting Events Team members who dig Traction’s social marketing, who have a long-term eye to progressive change, and who want to get their hands in a couple of events in 2008. Email me at eileen@getTraction.org. We can chat more about what the Events Team does and about what we ask of team members.

(2) Getting cash in hand: Ooh, sexy! Derwin Dubose chairs the Development Team, and he tells me that he is all about people who know or want to know how to research and write grants, host house parties, coordinate business sponsorships, develop marketing materials, or run fundraising events (benefit concert, anyone?).

(3) The right person at the right time: Notice how I am asking for many volunteers? Notice how I am not the volunteer coordinator? Are you a schmoozer and a recruiter, someone who tracks people’s interests and skills and can match them to where they’re needed? Oh, do we need you!

Write to me at eileen@getTraction.org to step up in any of these ways. Or tell me about your special skills, like volunteer management, event planning, fundraising, grant writing, artistry, or plain old getting things done when they need it. Perhaps you want to learn some of those skills. Perhaps you have expertise we could learn from in a Traction event. Or perhaps you simply have a passion for Traction and want to get more involved. We want you too.

Take care,
Eileen
Optimist, newspaper reader, dancing fool, Events Team chair

Traction’s 2007 and 2008 Volunteer Hall of Fame includes…

Abbe Harris
Ajay Bhatt
Alison Carpenter
Andrew Pearson
Angelique Xanthopoulos
Ann Alexander
Avani Parekh-Bhatt
Aviva Starr
Bart Matthews
Becky Cary
Bernard Obi
Beth Jacobs
Bonnie McGill
Brett Altman
Brian Buzby
Bruce Bridges
Cara Wittekind
Celeste Richie
Chantelle Fisher-Borne
Cindy Whitt
Claire Jentsch
Colin Booy
Colin Cannell
Cori Princell
Cris Rivera
Damon Circosta
Danielle Doughman
Dave Zielinski
Dave Klionsky
Dave Seidman
David Love
Denise VanDeCruze
Derek Anderson
Derwin Dubose
Edd Gulati-Partee
Eileen Thorsos
Elsa Ohman
Emet Blose
Estefania San Juan
Evangeline Weiss
Floyd McKissick Jr.
Franklin Santana
Fred Foster
Gabriel Onofrio
Gary Gartner
Gene Smith
Gerick Brenner
Gita Gulati-Partee
Graig Meyer
Gretchen Cooley
Hannah Popish
Hemraj Juwarker
Howard Clement
Irv Joyner
Jack Mitchell
Jackie Richie
Jamara Knight
Jane Brown
Jane Stein
Jason Fagg
Jason Klarl
Jen Colletti
Jenn Frye
Jennifer Lewis
Jennifer Epperson
Jenny Cook
Jeremy Falcone
Jessica O’Connell
Jessica Bates
Jessica Burroughs
Jillian Johnson
Joe Costa
Julie Randolph
Julio Olmos
Justin Miller
Justin Pinder
Kate McFarland
Kavanah Ramsier
Kay Hutchinson
Kevin Tull
Kieran Ionescu
Laina Copley
Laura Hirst
Laura Gayle Donnelly
Leonor Clavijo
Leslie Peteya
Lisa Richardson
Lora Brooker
Lucy Harris
Marc Maximov
Marcia Perritt
Maria Sadowski
Mary Lindsley
Menkah Mathews
Mia Jordan
Michael Silberman
Nadya Robles
Naomi Reagan
Natasha Nazareth-Phelps
Otis Jennings
Padma Om
Patrick Lyons
Phil Marsosudiro
PJ Puryear
R. Kelly Bryant Jr.
Rachel Galanter
Rachel Fischoff
Rachel Mills
Rae Benington
Rebekah Resnick
Richard Nordan
Rob Jentsch
Robert Jentsch, Sr.
Sabrina Simon
Sarah Lebeck
Sasha Akhavi
Seth Baird
Shawn Casey
Steve Saltzman
Sujuan Upshaw
Sven Rinke
Thaddeus Bennett
Theo Luebke
Tia Black
Tim Jones
Timothy McMackin
Tobin Freid
Tyler Story
Valerie Parham-Thompson
Will Corbett
Yesenia Polanco
Zephyr Teachout

(Tell me if I missed you! We’ll mention you in an upcoming email!)

Get your tix here!

Our Third Annual Festivus for the Left of Us will have all the traditions you love: Feats of Strength, Airing of Grievances and the Pole, plus our silent auction, the Festivus Foto booth and of course food, drink, music and a boatload of Tractivists – all for a mere $10 (suggested donation).

All in all, an incredible evening of fun and community, supporting an incredible organization!

Get your tickets online now! (Earlybird rates through Nov only.)

Sat, Dec 8th from 7pm
108 Morris St. in downtown Durham

(Muchas gracias to Greenfire Development for hosting Festivus 2007!)