Create!

Along with direct action and other forms of resistance, a transformational movement must also have a constructive program that builds new institutions based on the values that the movement aspires to achieve. These may eventually replace the old systems. From small, worker-owned cooperatives to national advocacy groups, hundreds of thousands of people around the country are working to create democratic and sustainable systems that meet the basic needs of all people.

There’s A Better Way To Make Communities Safer

April 4, 2024 Mel Duncan, Waging Nonviolence. Create! Communities, Community Safety, Nonviolence, Peaceforce

Over the past 25 years, as co-creator of Nonviolent Peaceforce, I have seen unarmed civilian protection (also known as UCP or UCP/A to include the methodology of accompaniment) evolve to the point where our teams have worked alongside local communities using evidenced-based, civilian-led approaches to prevent violence and protect civilians in 15 countries. In helping to foster a community of practice, I have witnessed dozens of small and large organizations using active nonviolent methods to create community safety. Here are three examples I find to be particularly inspiring.

Indigenous Community Care: Traditions Of Reciprocity

April 2, 2024 Crystal Arnold, Grassroots Economic Organizing. Create! Education, Indigenous Communities, Indigenous culture, Oregon

Today, Indigenous culture is sustained and celebrated in Southern Oregon through the leadership of people like Teresa Cisneros and Jasi Swick at the SOESD Indian Education program. They gather a group weekly in both Jackson and Josephine counties, and offer the chance for Native families to practice traditional ways, such as talking circles, stories, dances, crafting and beadwork. “As an Indian educator, there are two reasons that I am interested in the Offers and Needs Market: Social emotional learning and place-based education,” explained Teresa.

Phoenix Passes Ordinance Giving Workers Protection From Extreme Heat

April 2, 2024 Cristen Hemingway Jaynes, EcoWatch. Create! Arizona, Extreme weather, Heat, Phoenix, Worker Rights and Jobs

A historic new law in Phoenix, Arizona, will provide thousands of outdoor workers in the hottest city in the country with protections from extreme heat. In a unanimous vote, the Phoenix City Council passed an ordinance requiring that workers have easy access to rest, potable water and shade, as well as training to recognize signs of heat stress, a press release from the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health (National COSH) said. Vehicles with enclosed cabs must also have access to air conditioning. “People who work outside and in hot indoor environments in Phoenix suffer unacceptably during our deadly summers, with too few protections,” said Katelyn Parady.

The Hidden Potential Of Bicycles

April 1, 2024 Brian Kaller, Resilience. Create! Bicycles, Clean Energy, climate crisis, Transportation

In perhaps one of the great ironies of human civilisation, mechanical devices to truly magnify human power came along as soon as we didn’t need them. Pedal-powered devices like bicycles only appeared after coal had already begun to transform the landscape, however – mass production was necessary for the standardised metal parts — and around the same time that gasoline was first being introduced as a fuel for automobiles. We tend to forget, then, three important things about the bicycle. First, it remains the most efficient method of using our bodies, allowing us to attain higher machine speeds for longer than we would on muscle power alone – and without using any more fuel or causing any more weather to go haywire.

How Montreal Became A Year-Round Cycling Success Story

March 30, 2024 Ben Abramson, Next City. Create! Bicycles, Canada, Transportation, Urban Design

The average daily temperature in February is 26 degrees Fahrenheit, with overnight lows at 12 degrees. There are 12 days of precipitation (primarily snow). There’s a massive, 764-foot-high hill (locals call it a Mont) smack dab in the middle of the city. Who would go cycling in such conditions? Montrealers, and the city’s bikeshare program has the stats to prove it. Montreal’s bikeshare program, called BIXI, has grown exponentially since launching in 2009. With over 10,000 bikes, it has the largest fleet in Canada and one of the largest in North America.

First City-Wide Rent Reduction In The History Of New York Upheld

March 29, 2024 John Mage, Portside. Create! Affordable Housing, Housing, Legal System, New York (NY), Rent, Victory

New York State’s Emergency Tenant Protection Act of 1974 permits the regulation of residential rents (“rent stabilization”) on the declaration of a housing emergency in New York City when the vacancy rate falls below 5%, or by similar declarations in municipalities in the suburban New York City counties of Nassau, Westchester and Rockland. A “Rent Guidelines Board” then has the power to set guidelines for rent adjustments. Today about half of all apartments in New York City are rent stabilized.

Used Clothing Market In US Grew 7x Faster Than General Clothing Retail

March 29, 2024 Cristen Hemingway Jaynes, EcoWatch. Create! Clothing, Inflation, Sustainability, Upcycling

Sales of secondhand clothing are on their way to making up 10 percent of the fashion market worldwide, as environmental concerns and high prices inspire consumers to shop for pre-loved items, according to a 2024 Resale Report by online thrift and consignment shop ThredUp. The 12th annual study, conducted by analytics firm GlobalData, includes projections through 2033. Its findings are based on a survey of 3,654 consumers in the United States, as well as a survey of 50 of the country’s top fashion brands and retailers, a press release from ThredUp said.

Resiliency Hub Provides Safety, Self-sufficiency In Disinvested Community

March 28, 2024 Laurie Mazur, Resilience. Create! Disinvestment, Resiliency Hub, Solar power, Virginia

Queen Shabazz became an activist three decades ago, when her young son contracted lead poisoning in their rental home. She soon learned that “lead wasn’t the only problem out there”: her low-income, disinvested community in Petersburg, Virginia, contends with more than its share of environmental hazards — from air pollution to toxic waste. Increasingly, those hazards are compounded by climate change. As the planet warms, Petersburg is experiencing more flash floods, as well as power outages that last for days.

The Surprising Link Between Budgeting And Good Health

March 27, 2024 Carl Smith, Governing. Create! Civic Engagement, Governance, health, Participatory budgeting

The health department in Tacoma-Pierce County, Wash., is always looking for ways to improve public health outcomes. To find out what might work best, the department tried something that might sound obvious, but isn’t always done. Namely, asking members of the public for their input about what's most important. Too often, health officials are prescriptive, coming into communities they may know little about and applying a standard intervention that might not match local needs, says Benjii Bittle, director of the Public Health Centers for Excellence.

Repair Cafes:The Beating Heart Of The Right To Repair Movement

March 26, 2024 Darren Cotton, Next City. Create! Capitalism, Repair Cafe, Right to Repair, Sustainability, Tool Library

In the age of two-day shipping and planned obsolescence, we’ve come to look at the things we own as largely disposable, with devastating consequences for our environment, our communities and ourselves. Recent EPA estimates put the total generation of municipal solid waste at roughly 292.4 million tons each year. In a little over a generation, we’ve transformed from a society of “Use It Up, Wear It Out, Make it Do, or Do Without” to a society of “Dig, Burn, Dump.” Gone are the days of family heirlooms and the passing down of gifts from generation to generation.

Synergies Among Fair Trade And Cooperative Economic Principles

March 26, 2024 Gizem Bülbüller, Grassroots Economic Organizing. Create! Capitalism, Cooperatives, Fair Trade, New Economy

Cooperatives have become increasingly prominent as organizational models amid the crisis conditions facing the world. Rather than advocating for the replacement of the capitalism-based economy with an entirely new model, there’s a growing trend of critiquing and adapting capitalism. Governments, international organizations, and the private sector are now including cooperatives in their agendas, recognizing their potential to blend traditional cooperative goals with newer social entrepreneurship objectives.

Yurok Tribe Becomes First To Steward Land With National Park Service

March 25, 2024 Cristen Hemingway Jaynes, EcoWatch. Create! California, Environment, Indigenous Knowledge, National Park Service

California’s Yurok Tribe had 90 percent of its territory stolen during the mid-1800s gold rush. Now, it will be getting a piece of its land back that serves as a gateway to Redwood state and national parks. For decades, the ancient redwoods on former Yurok lands were decimated for lumber and a sawmill built to process it. Now, in a first-of-its-kind agreement between the Yurok, the National Park Service, California State Parks and nonprofit Save the Redwoods League, the Tribe will become the first to manage Tribal land alongside the National Park Service, a press release from Save the Redwoods League said.

The Struggle For Women’s Emancipation Will Always Be Worth It

March 23, 2024 Vijay Prashad, Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research. Create! Communism, History, International Women's Day, Women's Activism, Women's Rights

8 March was not always International Women’s Day, nor has there always been any such day at all. The idea emerged from the Socialist International (also known as the Second International), where Clara Zetkin of the German Social Democratic Party and others fought from 1889 to hold a day to celebrate working women’s lives and struggles. Zetkin, alongside Alexandra Kollontai of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, sustained a struggle with their comrades to recognise the role of working women and the role of domestic labour in the creation of social wealth.

Moving Into The Agrihood

March 19, 2024 Kirsten Lie-Nielsen, Modern Farmer. Create! Agrihood, Food and Agriculture, Food Security, Planned Communities, South Carolina

Outside of Charleston, South Carolina, in the picturesque marshes of the Kiawah River, sits more than 100 acres of working farmland. Seasonal crops rotate through expansive pastures, cattle graze the rich sea grasses and several colonies of bees hurry about their business. But unlike neighboring farms that focus on production for faraway markets or keep a single family afloat, the farm at Kiawah River is supporting 185 families who live in the surrounding homes. Kiawah River is an “agrihood”—a planned community with a working farm at its center.

Colorado Looks To Rental-Car Fee To Fund Passenger Rail Projects

March 19, 2024 Trains.com. Create! Colorado, Railroads, State Legislatures, Taxes

Denver, Colorado - Colorado legislators plan to introduce a bill that will increase the state fee on rental cars by $2 to $3 per day to help pay for proposed passenger rail service along the Front Range and to Craig, Colo., the Colorado Sun reports. The fee would generate as much as $50 million annually, which the state would use for matching funds for federal grant programs — specifically targeting the $60 billion for rail projects in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. “I really want to make sure Colorado gets some of that money,” state Senate President Steve Fenberg (D-Boulder) told the Sun.

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