We are looking to gather stories from communities throughout Pennsylvania that have faced harmful threats to their health and safety, but were told they couldn’t stop the harm because of state or federal laws; or were threatened with a lawsuit by a corporation that wanted to force their way in. Our stories of exploitation are definitely not confined to environmental issues; they could also apply to things like labor/worker protections, campaign finance, immigration, police/prison issues, etc. You know the multiple ways the system usurps power from the people.
Our intent is to link communities together, by showing how widespread and systemic the problems are. Nearly all communities are denied their rights on the most important issues they face. And all of our counties are affected.
Our organization, the Pennsylvania Community Rights Network, believes that changes to the state constitution are necessary in order to give our communities the legal and political tools they need to make the vital decisions regarding their health, safety, and welfare. While your group may not believe that we need constitutional changes, you are still invited to contribute your stories to our collection, as additional voices naming the system for what it is.
We are working toward publishing these stories under the title The Alarm. Our goal is to begin an ongoing project, like a People’s History. We also envision future rallies and other events to bring folks together, to demand the changes we need so that our laws protect “We the People.”
We hope you will lend your story to this collection and advocacy for a change in the present system. Please share your story: clatterms@gmail.com.
We would love to have these in the next few weeks to begin sharing with our PA Community.
Thanks for considering- and looking forward to hearing your stories.
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