[COMM-ORG] Direct Action Community Organizing Alive and Well

[Discussion list for COMM-ORG]

From: "Andrea Frye" <andrea at ntic-us.org>


Direct action community organizing is alive and well in America. This 
was on full display last week at the annual National People’s Action 
conference in Washington, DC. Over 600 community activists from 20 
states descended on the nation’s capital with clear messages: Save Our 
Homes and Hold Banks Accountable.



Just one year ago, National People’s Action requested a meeting with 
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. He declined to meet with us. As a 
result, National People’s Action took more than 500 people to Mr. 
Bernanke’s home to demand a meeting to discuss bold ideas to stop 
foreclosures and keep families in their homes. No answer. The following 
day the same the group of 500 people arrived in yellow school buses at 
the Federal Reserve. We reiterated our demand – meet with American 
families to discuss bold solutions to the foreclosure crisis.



Mr. Bernanke agreed to a meeting that took place on May 9, 2008. Six 
homeowners discussed the foreclosure crisis with Chairman Bernanke, 
delivering smart ideas and policy proposals he could implement without 
approval from Congress or then-President Bush. He was that if bold 
action was not taken to address the foreclosure crisis, he would preside 
over the largest economic decline since the Great Depression. Sadly, we 
were right. A year went by and 2.5 million people lost their homes.



In early March 2009, National People’s Action sent Chairman Bernanke a 
letter to request a meeting; this year the response was swift. On March 
23, 2009 eleven grassroots leaders and organizers from across the 
country met with Chairman Bernanke and three of the other four Federal 
Reserve Governors – Elizabeth Duke, Donald Kohn, and Daniel Tarullo. The 
discussion included what the Federal Reserve can do to make ensure more 
transparency and accountability from banks. We delivered policy 
proposals to make the bank bailout more transparent, increase the data 
provided under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) to support a more 
robust early warning system, and an overhaul of accountability measures 
such as the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) to include explicit racial 
justice safeguards. Both pieces of legislation were spearheaded by 
National People’s Action in the 1970s. We plan to be at the center of 
the disclosure and transparency overhauls this year.



Chairman Bernanke committed to hold field hearings in ten cities to hear 
first-hand about the struggles of everyday Americans. The field hearings 
will provide a platform to connect the Federal Reserve with the American 
people. These hearings will be a forum to share and debate solutions to 
the foreclosure and economic crisis, and to discuss smart regulatory 
reform outside the Beltway and away from the swarm of bank lobbyists in 
Washington DC.



Yes, direct action community organizing is alive and well in America.



Following the Monday meeting with Chairman Bernanke, the 600 person 
delegation went to the office former Congressman Theodore Doremus, Wells 
Fargo’s chief lobbyist in Washington DC. National People’s Action 
delivered a new report, The Truth About Wells Fargo, which shows clear 
discrimination in Wells Fargo’s lending practices. Wells Fargo is one of 
the nation’s largest lenders and the report shows African-Americans are 
three times as likely to receive a high-cost loan as white borrowers. 
National People’s Action demanded that Wells Fargo develop clear goals, 
strategies, and a timeline to ensure racial parity in its lending.



Our next stop was the headquarters of the American Bankers Association 
(ABA). National People’s Action requested a meeting with ABA Chief 
Executive Officer Edward Yingling to demand that the powerful bank lobby 
halt its opposition to the Helping Families Save Their Homes Act. The 
bill, which was passed the House of Representatives earlier in March, 
has several key provisions, but the banks are fighting tooth and nail 
against the ability of judges in bankruptcy court from modifying 
mortgages. Under the current law, this last resort is available only to 
the small minority of Americans that have more than one house, but not 
for those who live in the one house they own. This is considered one of 
the most effective options to prevent foreclosures on a broad scale; at 
least one million families could prevent foreclosure in the next four 
years if this provision was in place. More details about the action at: 
http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/protesters-force-bankers-group-into-lockdown-2009-03-23.html



On March 27, 2009 National People’s Action received correspondence from 
the American Bankers Association agreeing to set up a meeting between 
community leaders families facing foreclosure, and ABA CEO Edward Yingling.



Following the direct actions National People’s Action delegations held 
productive meetings on foreclosures, bank transparency and 
accountability with Derek Douglass at the Domestic Policy Council, Bill 
Apgar at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and Bob 
Mooney, Deputy Director of the Federal Deposit and Insurance Corporation.



Until grassroots community leaders are invited to the table in 
Washington DC to participate in the decisions that affect their lives, 
you can bet that direct action community organizing will remain alive 
and well in America.





Andrea N Frye

Communications Director

National Training and Information Center

National People's Action

810 N Milwaukee Avenue

Chicago, Illinois 60642-4103

312-676-2818

www.ntic-us.org



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