Progressive unity, connection, and positive vision are no longer just aspirations.

from TomPaine.com:



Birth of a Movement
Alan Jenkins, TomPaine.Com
December 04, 2007


Alan Jenkins is Executive Director of The Opportunity Agenda , a communications, research, and advocacy organization with the mission of building the national will to expand opportunity in America. He is a member of the board of directors of the Center for Community Change, one of the organizers of the Heartland Presidential Forum.

Four thousand grassroots activists braved freezing rain and hazardous roads to be part of it. Five candidates for president of the United States came to express their support. The mayors of Los Angeles, Des Moines, and Trenton, N.J., took prominent roles. And four weeks before the Iowa caucuses, it has suddenly become a force to be reckoned with in American politics. It is a new progressive movement, a movement for Community Values, born last weekend in Iowa at the Heartland Presidential Forum: Community Values in Action.

The event was organized by the Center for Community Change, Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement, and hundreds of grassroots groups around the country, to launch a national Campaign for Community Values. John Edwards, Barack Obama, Christopher Dodd, and Dennis Kucinich each appeared in person and spoke separately to the crowd, while Hillary Clinton addressed the group by telephone. (Although the event's organizers had invited all candidates of both parties, no major Republican candidate accepted an invitation before the stated deadline).

The event was moderated by Cathy Hughes, founder and chairwoman of Radio One, which also broadcast the event via radio, cable, and the web, as did C-SPAN. And synchronized events were held by community organizations and congregations in Charlotte, N.C.; Los Angeles, Calif.; Columbia, S.C.; Nashville, Tenn.; Oxnard, Calif.; New York City; Bozeman, Mont., and other cities and towns.

The forum was revolutionary in at least two ways. First, it was organized not isolated issues, but around shared values and a progressive vision. And second, it featured real people—grassroots leaders from around the country—sharing their stories and asking the candidates pointed questions. .......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2007/12/04/birth_of_a_movement.php