New blog from IMPACT! Petaluma

Check out the new blog for the group IMPACT!, based in Petaluma, CA. Go to http://www.impactpetaluma.blogspot.com to read updates from all the activities of this emerging organization in the North Bay.

IMPACT! believes in building grassroots social movements led by young workers, students, immigrants, and low-income/working class folks in our community.

We utilize direct action and community organizing: our CopWatch program regularly patrols city streets to observe the police, gives trainings on how to deal with the police, mobilizes to support victims and survivors of police violence, and builds alliances with local organizations to pressure for changes. Our Food Not Bombs program is hard at work at building relationships with immigrant day laborers with the goal of starting to organize around issues such as the impounding of workers' cars and the theft of wages by employers. In the near future we will also be implementing programs based out of the Phoenix Theater such as tutoring, organizer trainings, free literature distro, helping to build a roof-top garden, conducting grassroots fundraising to support the space, and establishing a legal clinic.

We focus on leadership development and challenging oppression: we center anti-racist, feminist youth leadership into our work. We collaborate closely with MEChA (Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan) and the Committee for Immigrants' Rights. We seek to build leadership among youth of color, as well as train young white activists to be allies and strong leaders in combating racism in the white sectors of the community. We also prioritize the leadership of young women, and challenging male dominance within the group and our movements. We hold regular "Organizer Trainings" to teach young folks how to run campaigns, plan actions, work with the media, and develop critiques of capitalism and incorporate visionary politics into our every day work.

Lastly, we are hard at work at our own organizational development: We are working to strengthen our understanding of consensus and trying to be intentional about creating a truly participatory and welcoming space. We strive to constantly rotate the roles in our organization and encourage people to step up. We believe in peer mentoring in order to support the growth and leadership of young activists. We are increasing our presence in the community through expansion of our web presence (hence, the new blog!). We also have a website, a Facebook page, and a Twitter. We engage in grassroots fundraising, (our most current success was raising $6,000 for the Phoenix Theater in just one week!), to support our organization and sustain the work. Also, we are increasing our focus on developing a collective vision for the organization that is rooted in de-centralization and autonomy, workers' power, solidarity across movements, and building a revolutionary culture that can sustain our political struggles. We are adopting a base-building strategy wherein we can mobilize and involve many more people in our organization and build the capacity of our community to resist violence, exploitation and authoritarianism.


Feel free to contact us anytime to chat. network. build. brainstorm.