CJJC & Grassroots Global Justice Highlights

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Here are some highlights from CJJC’s recent trip to the Grassroots Global Justice Alliance Congress, in Raleigh, North Carolina. Photos by CJJC’s Patricia Zamora. The GGJ, 2011 Member Congress, was hosted by Black Workers for Justice. GGJ is a national alliance of grassroots organizations working for peace, democracy and a sustainable planet.

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CJJC Delegation Heads to GGJ

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Categoría de nivel principal o raíz: News

[Raleigh, NC] A national conference hosted by Wake County community organizers will be putting the power of democracy into action this week. A delegation from Causa Justa :: Just Cause will be there and sending Twitter and Facebook updates!

From September 16-18, 2011, members and allies of The Grassroots Global Justice Alliance (GGJ) will be joining forces to discuss what is really needed in communities most impacted by rising poverty, chronic unemployment, climate disruption, and increased natural disasters.

Hosted by Black Workers for Justice (BWFJ), the GGJ congress brings together representatives from poor, low-income and working-class communities from all over the country, as well as workers and organizers from Mexico and Brazil. BWFJ is hosting the congress in part to highlight that the economic crisis has hit the South harder than anywhere else in the country.

The Congress was originally scheduled for August 26-28, and was postponed due to Hurricane Irene. Rather than deter Congress participants, many have noted the connection between Irene and increased natural disasters due to greenhouse-gas driven climate disruption, and have committed to redoubling their efforts.

“Irene is just another example of how both the economic and ecological crises are escalating,” says Cindy Wiesner of the Grassroots Global Justice Alliance. “GGJ is made up of many frontline communities that are disproportionately impacted by these crises. It is our families and communities who can’t afford to wait for a bold change to our extractive economy that is destroying our planet and driving more and more people into poverty here in the U.S and across the world.”

In the aftermath of Obama’s jobs bill address, GGJ is demanding job creation that is not just a short-term fix, but job creation that is progressive and visionary, rooted in the growth of new and sustainable industries that can create not only healthy living-wage jobs, but also healthy environments and a cooler planet. This requires a significant expansion in the current tunnel vision of economic thinking.

“The government has a role to play in providing good jobs and regulating destructive activities - especially in this time of economic crisis,” says Wiesner. “This means stopping destructive projects like the Keystone XL pipeline and significantly reducing the money spent on the US military - the greatest greenhouse gas emitter in the world. This would free up a significant amount of money that could be invested in constructive projects and healthy jobs, including jobs in expanded mass-transit systems, sustainable agriculture, toxics cleanup and clean water infrastructure.”

The 3-day Congress will feature testimonials from local workers including members of the Farm Labor Organizing Committee, as well as inspirational stories of progressive change from international allies including women’s rights organizer Alessandra Ceregatti of the World March of Women-Brazil and labor organizer Marcos Antonio Velazquez Navarrete of the Hemispheric Social Alliance-Mexico.

Host organization Black Workers for Justice will share the highlights of...

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