Sara Horan and Bill Davis – NWSOFA Chapter Co-Leads
NWSOrganizing for Action, Action and more Action:
February was an absolutely jammed packed month of actions that were targeted to save our American values and progressive issues.
We the people let our voices be heard loud and clear on saving the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) on fighting the Muslim ban, on protecting our environment, on women’s issues, on gun violence prevention and on so many fronts. It can make your head explode! But we have the Rx, the most beautiful and surprising thing has happened. People are no longer yelling at their TV’s and instead are making their voices heard at rallies and marches, through phone calls, letters and postcards, by signing witness slips and petitions, by tweeting and connecting on facebook. In old ways and new creative ways we are joining forces of old and new groups to show
“This is what democracy looks like!”
But let’s not forget, this is a long term endeavor so is our goal is sustaining the passion and effectiveness of our actions. Our NWSOFA Family is growing and joining with other progressive groups such as MoveOn, Indivisible, The Women’s March, Sierra and many more. OFA has at its core the goal of developing community organizers. We love having new folks join our family. Bring your passion for making a difference, your talents, and your friends and neighbors to any or all of our team events. It’s hard work but through it all it’s inspiring and on many occasions we even get to laugh and have fun!
It’s Time to Get up, off the Couch or the Easy Chair and Stop yelling at the TV and Make a Difference.
Year of the Resistance
Join the NWSOFA Team as we protect the gains we made
over the last 8 years and move our
Progressive social issues forward in 2017 … Sara & Bill
Sign up now—->
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Coming in MARCH
AT A GLANCE
IT’S GOING TO BE AN ACTIVE MONTH: SEE OUR UPCOMING
Click on image above to link to calendar
EVENTS:
Partner Event – ACLU Illinois tele-town hall conversation about immigration March 1 @ 7:00 – 8:00 pm
Partner Event – ICIRR 2017 Summit to Make The Road to a Welcoming Illinois!March 4 @ 9:00 am – 12:00 pm
Fellow’s On-boarding March 4 @ 9:30 am – 3:00 pm
Coalition Partner Event – We Want a Town Hall Rep. Roskam IL-6 Rally in Chicago March 6 @ 11:00 am – 2:00 pm
Coalition Partner Event – We Want a Town Hall Rep. Roskam IL-6 Rally in Chicago March 6 11AM-2PM
OFA Monthly Volunteer Call – National Call March 6 @ 7:00 –
8:00 PM
Stand With Women March Action Planning Meeting March 7th @ 6:00 – 8:00 PM
SWW “The Women’s March” International Women’s Day Event March 8
Climate Change Monthly Team Meeting March 14 @ 6:00 pm –
Coalition Partner League of Women Voters Film Event – Making a Killing: Guns, Greed,and the NRA
March 23 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Coalition Partner Event – Oakton Women’s and Gender Studies Program 2017 Conference- “In Challenging Times: Women, Activism and Leadership” March 24
Illinois tele-town hall conversation about immigration
NWSOFA
Partner Event:
Illinois tele-town hall conversation about immigration
WEDNESDAY MARCH 1
7:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Join Rebecca Glenberg, Senior Civil Liberties Staff Counsel at the ACLU of Illinois, and Mary Meg McCarthy, Executive Director at National Immigrant Justice Center for an important discussion about immigration
Illinois tele-town hall conversation about immigration
NWSOFA
Partner Event:
ICIRR
2017 Summit to Make The Road to a Welcoming Illinois!
March 4 @ 9:00 am – 12:00 PM
Chicago Teachers’ Union Hall-
1901 W. Carroll St. Chicago, IL 60612
On Jan 14th, 1200 of us gathered to lay out the Platform for Resistance, Unity and Respect. Community leaders like you committed to a vision to keep our cities, counties, states and nation welcoming to everyone. Since then, thousands took to the streets to oppose President Trump’s Islamaphobic Executive Order which had banned refugees from seven predominantly Muslim countries. As a result of this public pressure, the courts deemed the order unconstitutional. When we organize, we win!
Clear action steps to take immediately to advance our collective vision of justice!
Accountability sessions with our elected officials!
Public education workshops on how you can best advocate and organize to protect immigrant and refugee communities while planning together to make our cities and Illinois a welcoming state
March 4 @ 10:00 am – NOON
Willow Creek Church, Building B
67 Algonquin Rd, South Barrington, IL
Gun violence in Chicago…it’s scary, it’s different than it was even 5 years ago, and it is taking the lives of innocent children at an alarming rate! What are the answers?
Join the Diversity Outreach and Gun Violence Prevention Teams for a candid discussion with community activist Herb Dikins, Justice and Employment Services Program Manager Anne Rand, and the proxy voices of currently incarcerated gang members. That’s right…proxy voices because we’ll be getting their thoughts via survey from jail.
During the second half of our meeting, we’ll be doing a deeper dive on the Do’s & Don’ts when serving inside prisons & jails. Join us for an interactive training which will grow your understanding of best practices. Enjoy a light breakfast, and prepare to learn something new!
No Need to RSVP
ROSKAM IL-6 COALITION PARTNER EVENT
NWSOFA
Coalition Partner Event:
We Want a Town Hall Rep. Roskam IL-6 Rally in Chicago!
March 6 @ 11:00 am – 2:00 PM
Chicago Teachers’ Union Hall-
1901 W. Carroll St. Chicago, IL 60612
Representative Roskam continues to dodge his constituents in IL-6. Roskam will be speaking at a City Club meeting in Chicago at Maggiano’s Banquets on March 6th at 11:30am. Since he refuses to come to us let’s gather outside and tell him about the issues that are important to constituents of the 6th Illinois Congressional District.
If you are not able to attend please share the event with others that may be able to attend.
Representative Roskam does not represent the values of the 6th Congressional District or Illinois.
Representative Roskam stated that he supported the refugee ban and that our country was safer with the ban in place. Roskam has continued to be a roadblock for immigration reform that would bring our friends, coworkers, and family members out of the shadows.
Roskam is no friend to the environment, stating that he does not believe in climate change.
Roskam is strongly opposes to the Affordable Care Act and want to repeal it.
On the first Monday of each month, this call is open to all volunteers and will serve as a place to get updates from OFA on our issues. Please join the call if you are interested in getting more information about the work we are doing to join the call.
(Private Meeting Room is on the left when you enter)
We have Muthomi Wambu, Emily’s List Senior Director, joining us to speak at our Stand With Women Meeting on next Tuesday night!
Are you concerned about women’s issues:
reproductive freedom, economic equality, ending violence against women- to name of few?
Join us for a lively non-partisan discussion and help us enact our plan for 2016-2017 annual action events calendar to proudly and boldly Stand With Women!
NWSOFA is joining “The Women’s March” International Women’s Day in “A Day Without Women” by celebrating the often disregarded contributions that women make in our world each and every day!
The following actions are just a few of the ways to participate to show your support of women everywhere:
~ Wear Red
~ Shop at women owned businesses or at small businesses
~ Take the day off of work (as long as you will not lose your job!)
Send us your action and your thoughts on how you felt!
(Private Meeting Room is on the left when entering)
If you are interested in making a difference:
JOIN US as we discuss direction of climate initiatives and events.
MOVE THE EARTH WITH US as we review major events and changes which affect climate. We will be discussing various action possibilities, especially with other climate issue organizations.
When you RSVP, you will receive an acknowledgement and location for the meeting upon our receiving your RSVP.
If you are interested in great coffee and lively conversation and want to learn how you can take action now – to honor all victims of gun violence and make our communities safer – then come to our monthly Gun Violence Prevention Planning Meeting.
Our Agenda:
Current News related to gun violence prevention
Summary of GVP Legislation being introduced in the Illinois Legislature
Planning for GVP Actions and Events
The GVP Issues Team has been working for over 3 years to keep conversation going about gun violence prevention and to take action to change our laws with the goal of creating safer communities for everyone in our state and our nation. We hold 90 minute planning meetings typically (with some exceptions) on the 3rd Thursday of each month at 6:30 pm. If you are interested in working to reduce gun violence in America, we invite you to join us at our next meeting. SINCE SEATING IS LIMITED, REGISTRATION IN ADVANCE IN REQUESTED. Come and join us in building safe communities here in the northwest suburbs and all across America!
The Women’s and Gender Studies Program Steering Committee of Oakton Community College, located in Des Plaines, Illinois in the near-northwest suburbs of Chicago, will be hosting this one-day conference, presenting scholarly and creative work by feminist activists, writers, scientists, visual and performing artists and scholars that examines the challenges confronting feminism and the Women’s and Gender Studies discipline in the current political and cultural climate.
The conference keynote will be noted activist, writer and scholar Barbara Ransby. Ransby is distinguished professor of African American Studies, Gender and Women’s Studies, and History at the University of Illinois at Chicago, where she directs the campus-wide Social Justice Initiative. She also serves as current president of the National Women’s Studies Associatione
Hope is not blind optimism. Hope is that thing inside us that insists, despite all evidence to the contrary, that something better awaits us if we have the courage to reach for it, and to work for it, and to fight for it.
Thank You to our NWSOFA Issue Leads in 2015
Click on the above Image to see each lead and the issues they work on .._
