PNN’s mission is to engage, educate and empower our neighbors to make our City a better place to live. Here’s what’s coming up in each of these areas:
Engage: Member Appreciation Party
Educate: Smart Girls Mentoring Program
Empower: Join a Planning Team
Member Appreciation Party
Sunday, December 8th, 4:30PM-6:30PM, 6757 Greene St.
Every one of us needs a fun social event right now, surrounded by friends and allies, as we await the surrender of democracy in the new year. That's why momentum is building for our Member Appreciation Party at Summit Presbyterian Church on Sunday, Westview St entrance, December 8th, starting at 4:30PM (so you have time to get there after the Eagles game).
It’s time to appreciate all of our members for all that you did to prevent the electoral catastrophe that happened on Election Day. So on December 8th we’re going to do just that sharing great food, conversation and companionship.
Then, most important to our sanity and the world, we will start the work of resistance once again. We held back the worst impulses of Trump 1.0, We can do it again with the sequel on deck.
There will be plenty of food and beverages, but if you want to bring a special dish of your own, or a dessert, please let us know when you sign up.
Then we'll provide you with a status report on what is being done in Philly, Harrisburg and elsewhere to protect and deflect against what will be an onslaught of authoritarian measures from the coming administration. We'll also lay out a vision for establishing a city-wide network of activists to replace the sclerotic Dem Party establishment.
This is an opportunity to hang out in a supportive environment, to share stories and concerns. Feel free to bring a friend you'd like to invite to becomes a member of PNN. Just let us know when you sign up, so we can keep a head count.
We will have more details in the next newsletter.
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Join a Planning Team
We expect that the trump regime will aggressively implement policies that will have grave consequences for members of our community, likely starting with our most vulnerable. We won't know some things until they roll out, but we can make some good guesses at what they will be. So, we need to plan our responses. And we'll need teams of dedicated activists to support and lead this work.
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SMART Girls Mentoring Program
Saturdays, November 23 thru January 25, 11AM-12:30PM, 2109 Chew Ave.
Starting this Saturday and extending through the end of January, allies at George Cannon House of Hope will be conducting a SMART Girls mentoring program at Belfield Recreation Center at 2109 Chew Ave. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound, and the topics include health and wellness education. The program is specifically meant for girls aged 12-15 years. For more information and to get your child registered, call 267-266-0862.
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Financing Philly's Future
Tuesday, November 26, 4PM, Virtual on Zoom
Public Banking Institute (PBI) Chair Walt McRee will be our guest this Tuesday on “Financing Philadelphia’s Future” (FPF). In conversation with FPF host Vanessa Lowe, McRee will discuss the challenges and opportunities anticipated for the public banking movement following the election of Donald Trump. The general public is invited to participate in this interactive discussion on Zoom.
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Democracy In Action: Citizen Testimony
Tuesday's City Hall Hearing on Chinatown Arena
Tuesday’s City Council hearing on the proposed 76 Place Arena to be built in the heart of Chinatown brought a lot of testimony from city residents opposing this arena. Among them were PNN Executive Committee member Gail Loney, and founding member Conni Billé.
This is part of their testimony:
Gail Loney.
We took [to supporting Chinatown's fight] because it can happen anywhere...and now people see it when it happens to us. We said, "if y'all sit here and don't help us and let it happen to us, you're going to be next."
Conni Billé.
This occasional-use arena promises to destroy Chinatown, transform the livable character of Center City south of Market Street, cause enormous disruption, and burden SEPTA with overwhelming uncompensated expenses.
According to testimony from experts, for six years of construction the project will at times force complete closure of the Market-Frankford El and all regional rail lines. Gridlock will frustrate commuters and impede emergency access to hospitals.
After all that, for the project to succeed, 40% of fans must choose public transportation. Currently 87% of fans drive, mostly from suburbs. The owners don’t just want to get their own arena, they want to get taxpayers to subsidize it - through exclusion from property and use and occupancy taxes - and they want to own the city’s most valuable real estate, instead of building in the present sports complex or a different location. They offered a "community benefits agreement" that had no meaningful benefits for the communities excluded from negotiations
After hearing testimony about the inadequacy of the agreement to protect Chinatown or provide any financial or social benefit to the city, while granting huge tax breaks to a couple of billionaires, PNN urges Council members to just vote NO on the take-it-or-leave it proposal.
Want to Testify?
If YOU would like to make your voice heard by City Council on the proposed arena, you can testify on Tuesday, Nov 29th or Monday, Dec 2nd by signing up here.
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This Week in History
Nov 22, 1963 – JFK Assassinated. Still swathed in conspiracy theories, on this day our 35th president was assassinated while traveling through Dallas, Texas, in an open-top convertible.
Nov 24, 1859 – Darwin Posits Evolution. Naturalist Charles Darwin published his treatise, "On the Origin of Species", a detailed account of his time on the HMS Beagle that begins to explain the theory of evolution.
Thanks for your activism!
Tim Brown, Organizing Director
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