In The News
This is a big week for us!
We’re kicking off our annual 5-day team fundraising campaign!We’re asking you to join us as we build people-fueled political power in Iowa. 2020 has the potential to be a momentous year –for all of us. Why? Because we have so many opportunities next year at the local, state, and national level –to move the needle for clean water, for our health, for our public safety, and for climate action. We can’t let up! We need to give it everything we’ve got next year to ensure a better future – for all of us! Together we’re speaking out and building grassroots people-power like never before around bold solutions like Medicare for All, a moratorium on factory farms, a ban on racial profiling by police, and a Green New Deal. We’re uniting and energizing people, and WE WILL WIN! Four years ago, these policies were called “pie in the sky.” The establishment brushed us off. Now our solutions are taking center stage in local and national debates....
read moreOur current healthcare system vs. Medicare for All
Michael McKinley, CCI Action and Our Revolution member The current state of American health care is one of pure, unmitigated fear. Most of us live in a constant panic, afraid we and our family will get sick—not so much for having access to good care, as for not being able to afford it. The privately-owned, for-profit health insurance industry is a predatory protection racket, and it is no exaggeration to say it is bankrupting and killing us. Ralph Nader calls the immensely profitable Big Insurance, Big Pharma, and Big Hospital monopolies the “Pay Up or Die” industry. Their purpose is to make money. They do this by taking in as much money from you as they can, while paying out as little as possible for your health care, shifting its high cost onto you. They reduce their payout by restricting the amount of care available to you, by erecting barriers to you seeking and receiving care when you need it, and by making you pay as much for it as possible if you succeed in...
read moreTake Action for Clean Water!
Sign our clean water petition! Back in March we sued the State of Iowa for their inaction to protect Iowans water from factory farm pollution. We know that Iowans across party lines care about clean, safe water. That’s why we are launching our clean water petition. Sign and share the petition here! Knock Down the House – film screening Thursday August 15, 2019 6PM – 8PM A young bartender in the Bronx, a coal miner’s daughter in West Virginia, a grieving mother in Nevada, and a registered nurse in Missouri build a movement of insurgent candidates to challenge powerful incumbents in Congress. One of their races will become the most shocking political upsets in recent American history. Join us at the CCI office to watch together and discuss after! RSVP at the Facebook event here. Environmental Protection Commission Mtg. Tuesday August 20, 2019 9AM – 12PM The Environmental Protection Commission is the oversight board for the...
read moreThe People’s Voice: The convention is over but our activism is not.
From left to right: Shundrea Trotty, Patty Lovera, Varshini Prakash, and Sarita Gupta discuss the importance of grassroots politics and their optimism for the future. DES MOINES, IA – Hundreds of members of Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement Action Fund (CCI) gathered downtown on Saturday to participate in CCI’s 2019 annual convention, The People’s Voice. The convention brought together existing and new members to hear from an all-female panel discussion. Leaders in caregiving, anti-factory farms, climate, and racial justice discussed the importance of these issues and offered ways people can take action and deepen our grassroots activism. “We must rely on people, not politicians and corporations, to make a positive change,” said Varshini Prakash, co-founder of the Sunrise Movement. “During the Great Depression one year saw two million people protest and 400,000 workers strike for a day or more. We need that kind of social...
read moreWeekly updated for July 8, 2019
In last Monday’s email, we asked you to spend time reflecting on why you do the movement work you do. I had some time to do that myself and was reminded that there are two sides to every coin.As we celebrated independence, we also must recognize the land we live on is stolen land, unceded by indigenous people. As many of us enjoyed a little extra time off for the 4th of July, many more people did not. We recognize this country was built on slavery and exploitation of immigrant labor, and that a handful of very wealthy individuals continues to profit off the labor of poor and working class people. And even as we celebrate the US Women’s Soccer victory, we also must recognize the gender-based systemic oppressions that show up in their story and in the stories of other women and gender nonconforming people, including pay inequity, and unpaid labor.So we are called to this work for many reasons and we recognize that all our struggles are linked. We take...
read moreYou’re invited: People’s Voice – Iowa CCI Action’s 2019 Convention
Are you ready to make your voice heard? We believe in an Iowa where every person lives a joyful, healthy, fulfilling life—regardless of where they live, what they look like, or what their background is. But, we know our communities are under constant pressure and attack from climate change, factory farms, over policing, and lack of healthcare. We’re tired of hearing that our health, our water, and our lives must be compromised or balanced with the industries willing to trade those things for profit. We’re ready to tell a new story and write a new future. Are you? Use code FRIENDS to save $15 by July 12th. Join us Saturday, July 27 The CCI Action Convention is an energizing, inspiring, and powerful day. It’s a place of hope and action. At this event we’ll learn how we use our voices and build our collective power to turn things around – for us, our kids, and our grandkids. The day will feature: Powerful keynote, panel, and...
read moreRegister NOW for The People’s Voice: Iowa CCI Action’s 2019 Convention
Watch live We believe in an Iowa where every person lives a joyful, healthy, fulfilling life—regardless of where they live, what they look like, or what their background is. But, we know our communities are under constant pressure and attack from climate change, factory farms, over policing, and lack of healthcare. We’re tired of hearing that our health, our water, and our lives must be compromised or balanced with the industries willing to trade those things for profit. We’re ready to tell a new story and write a new future. Are you? Join us Saturday, July 27 Community Choice Convention Center833 5th StreetDes Moines, IA 50309 The CCI Action Convention is an energizing, inspiring, and powerful day. It’s a place of hope and action. At this event we’ll learn how we use our voices and build our collective power to turn things around – for us, our kids, and our grandkids. The day will feature: Powerful keynote, panel, and workshop...
read moreWhat is bird dogging?
Presidential candidates are flocking to Iowa to court our vote. But where do they stand on our issues? Bird dogging candidates is an effective way to find out where they stand on the issues and shape the national debate. Read this guide and let the bird dogging begin! When you’re ready, we have three starter bird dogging questions to take to your next event. What is bird dogging? To bird dog something means to seek out, to follow and watch carefully. When used in the context of campaigning, it means to seek out and attend candidate events and ask them specific questions on key issues you care about. The beauty of bird dogging: Imagine the impact we could have if candidates are hearing the same questions multiple times from hundreds of people. By raising the same issue at multiple campaign events, we can get candidates to address our issues. And, when candidates address our issues, it is more likely that media and other Iowans will pick up on it as well. By bird...
read moreCCI Action calls for Steve King to resign
For Immediate Release: January 15, 2019 For more information: Adam Mason, State Policy Organizing Director, 515-282-0484, adam@iowacci.org Members of Iowa CCI Action calling on racist, white supremacist Steve King to resign from office immediately Steve King’s racist white supremacist worldview is not new and it is not a secret. As Iowans we have become accustomed to writing King off as an embarrassment to our state. But King’s comments are not merely offensive; his worldview is dangerous, and he is trying to make it a reality. We as Iowans are committed to standing up against hate, standing up against white supremacy, and standing up against religiously and racially motivated violence and those who promote these evils. That is why we confronted King at a campaign event in Des Moines. This is a moral issue and a wakeup call. Many in politics and our government have spent years turning a blind eye to King’s explicit white supremacist worldview for their...
read moreWe’re raising $55K in 5 days
This week is the biggest fundraiser and friendraiser we do all year. We’re asking you to join us as we build people-fueled political power in Iowa.
At CCI Action, we're fighting for clean water, healthcare, clean energy, racial justice.
We’re fighting against the destruction we witness every day to people and issues we care about.
We need everybody in. We need you!
