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Protecting the Rights of People & Nature From the Local Up
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Hi,
Greetings to all of our wonderful subscribers and donors! This month we’re sharing an OpEd that we just submitted to our corporate daily newspaper - "The Oregonian" - here in Portland, Oregon. We’ll find out in the next few days whether they’re going to print it or not. It’s definitely a shot across the bow regarding how our corporate state has responded to the Covid crisis and the police violence crisis and the climate crisis, and what We the People can do in response, locally.
We wrote this OpEd also with the idea that YOU could try your darnedest to get it published in YOUR local newspaper as a guest editorial. You have our permission to make whatever necessary tweaks you want to make, and then sign your name and mine to the bottom of it and submit it for publication. (And if you do, please let us know!)
Or simply circulate our OpEd to your own social networks, or email lists of friends and colleagues.
The bottom line: Get It Out There To As Many Eyeballs As Possible. Thank you!
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Paul Cienfuegos
CRUS Founding Director
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The OpEd we just sent to "The Oregonian," Portland, Oregon's daily newspaper: |
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A National Emergency Requires a Bold Local Response
We are now in the grips of multiple simultaneous emergencies:
And what are Congress and our President doing to boldly respond? Almost nothing.
We cannot afford to continue waiting for government rescue. It’s time for Plan B.
Historically, We the People established our federal government and business corporations to serve us, with duties and responsibilities to act in the public interest. Corporations were chartered "to obey all laws, to serve the common good, and to cause no harm.” Unfortunately, corporate money and power are now so entrenched in our federal and state governments that our elected leaders no longer serve the public interest.
Have we forgotten that we are We the People - citizens with tremendous Constitutional authority to govern ourselves? In this moment of national crisis, We are the leaders we’ve been waiting for. Our time to act is now. And our greatest power resides locally.
How do we most effectively organize locally? Since 1999, the Community Rights movement has assisted 200 communities in twelve states to pass locally enforceable laws. These communities were facing their own emergencies - corporations coming in and (legally!) poisoning their water supply, or (legally) dumping toxic sludge on farmland, or (legally) spraying pesticides from the air on farms and forests where people live. They used their constitutional powers to protect themselves. But first, they had to become brave, and get organized. We Portlanders can respond just as boldly to OUR big emergencies.
Portland’s City Council passed a Housing State of Emergency Declaration in 2015, enabling additional law-making authority. Our housing emergency is even graver now. Plus a small business closure emergency. And an unemployment emergency. And a police violence emergency. In a crisis of this magnitude, when state and federal governments are either unwilling or unable to protect the citizenry, local governing authority MUST be utilized to its fullest extent, even if it means challenging so-called “settled law” to do so.
- Prohibit residential and business landlords from evicting their existing tenants.
- Prohibit banks from foreclosing on Portland home owners.
- Prohibit utility companies from shutting off essential services to homes and businesses.
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Transfer upwards of 50% of our current police budget towards providing more effective community safety programs.
- Prohibit local police from responding militarily to First-Amendment-protected protests.
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Place at least 5% of Portland’s annual budget into a newly designed “participatory budgeting” process. And increase the amount by 5% each year.
Unfortunately, our Democrat-led state government continues to move in the opposite direction – taking local power from The People. In 2016, Oregon passed SB 1573, drafted by the Oregon Homebuilders Association, violating Oregon’s Constitutional guarantee of local “home rule” and self-governance against legislative interference in community affairs. Once again, Oregonians were sold out to the highest bidder by our state legislature and Governor Brown.
If We the People are committed to protecting our communities in this moment of extraordinary peril, the Oregon state government should not be allowed to reduce the decision-making authority of local governments or their residents.
A Community Rights local law-making approach is exactly the correct response to such state over-reach.
Just imagine how Portland could become a beacon of light for the rest of the nation. Imagine if other cities followed in our footsteps. Imagine if We the People began to recognize that our most nationally transformative work could be done locally.
We are living through the largest social and economic and environmental emergency since the Civil War. We the People have enormous constitutional authority (and responsibility) to act as the primary decision-makers when our government is failing to do its job.
Are We up for the task? Do We have any other choice?
Signed,
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If the Community Rights approach to issues facing your community makes sense to you, come volunteer with us. Whether you have an occasional hour to devote or if you'd prefer a more regular gig, we'd sure appreciate it.
See our extensive list of Volunteer Opportunities HERE. A few of our most urgent needs include:
• Basic editing of audio & video talks & interviews
• Researching & writing grant applications
• Creating a marketing campaign, and graphic design, for Paul Cienfuegos' upcoming book of essays
• Updating the Corporate Constitutional “Rights” Timeline.
As the CR movement continues to grow nationwide, you can help us keep growing our capacity to serve local groups by stepping up to volunteer with CRUS. We would LOVE to work with you! Please send us an email.
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Seeking Attorneys with CR or Rights of Nature Experience |
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Community Rights US is on the lookout for attorneys familiar with the philosophy behind Community Rights and Rights of Nature.
Much of our work is educating activists and community members about the myths of regulatory protection of health, air and water. Our approach entails bringing about meaningful change on a local level without getting tied up in traditional regulatory legal battles. Many of our community groups want to work with an attorney and we wish to meet stellar attorneys we can refer them to. Any attorneys interested in learning more about the community rights movement should check out our virtual training about the history and philosophy behind the movement. Send us an email to receive information about our next training.
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Essential CR News from the Web |
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Please also forward this to family, friends, and colleagues who may be interested. Thanks!
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Descriptions of the photos in this newsletter in the order they appear:
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Artist Skeez (AtliouxArt) and his mural of George Floyd, downtown Portland
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The artist Damon Smyth's mural of Breonna Taylor, downtown Portland
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The artist Damon Smyth's mural of Elijah McClain, downtown Portland
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The artist Skeez's (AtliouxArt) mural of Rayshard Brooks, downtown Portland
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