Hugh Hogan
Let's Hear It for and Thank the Vendors
Street Vendor Project and VAMOS Unidos are grassroots community groups made up of street vendors organizing to protect the rights of small businesspeople struggling to make ends meet by selling goods on the streets of New York City. For years,...
This Is Activism's Moment
Nearly 35 years ago, 28 young people sat down on a windswept February evening at New York City's Riverside Church to put in motion a very different kind of foundation. It would fund edgier work at the grassroots level. It...
Sandy's Lesson: Today's Relief System Doesn't Work for the Vulnerable
Grass-roots leaders who lived through Superstorm Sandy have learned many painful lessons.We now fully understand that extreme weather in the age of climate change and global warming knows no class, race, or privilege boundaries.And in the storm's aftermath, we realized...
Climate Change and Sandy's Impact in the Age of Inequality
One clear lesson in the wake of Hurricane Sandy is that extreme weather in the age of climate change and global warming knows no class, race and privilege boundaries. Many, many communities in the New York metropolitan area need help,...
Dream Activists Made It Happen
With the stroke of a pen, the President has finally demonstrated leadership on the immigration reform front. Mass incarceration and deportations will continue. But the President has finally recognized the promise of the next generation of immigrant youth and...
Mayor Bloomberg Signs Law To Stem Deportations From Rikers Island
This post was originally published in the Huffington Post on November 22, 2011. Click here to read it on their site. Luis, an immigrant from Mexico, was still in high school when New York City Police officers arrested him. Luis...
Welcome Occupy Wall Street
Like so many others who believe deeply in the movement for equality, economic justice and peace, we at North Star Fund have been inspired by the activists organizing and participating in Occupy Wall Street (#OWS). In speaking to allies and...
Launch of Campaign for Fair and Just Policing
VOCAL New York, a North Star Fund Movement Leadership grantee, continues on a roll with another impressive victory this week. According to an announcement from VOCAL-NY, sent by Sean Barry, VOCAL's hardworking executive director: In response to mounting pressure, NYPD...
Social Justice Victory! Cuomo Rescinds Federal Secure Communities Program
Yesterday, Governor Cuomo suspended New York State participation in the "Secure Communities" program. This was a program that enlisted the participation of local police forces in immigration enforcement. Earlier this year I wrote in an editorial for The Empire...
2011 Community Gala Excels
Wow, what a night! The 2011 Community Gala last Wednesday was our biggest ever. My only frustration is that I wasn't able to talk to each and every one of the more than 450 people who were there. Because...
Getting VOCAL
Check out this event organized by VOCAL NY - Voices of Community Activists and Leaders- about the experiences of women battling HIV/AIDS in the face of draconian budget cuts by Governor Cuomo. As the flyer says, a lot of...
The Prospects for Community Power in Albany
While progressives will remain in the majority of the U.S. Senate after last Tuesday's midterm elections, there is not such good news to report in New York. Control of the New York State Senate will have major consequences for...
A Decade (Plus) of Growth -- But So Much More to Do
It's been a perplexing few weeks for those of us who believe that a better, fairer and more just New York is possible. Longtime North Star Fund grantee Domestic Workers United got the Governor to sign the Domestic Workers...
My light bulb went on ...
Last Thursday morning I experienced an empowering shift in my understanding of what continues to motivate my work at North Star Fund--and indeed why North Star Fund needs to exist. Every year, in preparation for our Community Gala [click...
Green Visions from Sunnyside
On Saturday, nearly 70 community residents, leaders and environmental experts gathered in Sunnyside, Queens to share visions of a greener future for their neighborhood. The crowed was multi-generational, and included youth as well as people who had lived in...
Department of Community Organizing
Kudos newly elected Public Advocate Bill de Blasio! Mr. de Blasio has announced the creation of a department of community organizing to help put the grassroots back in New York's democracy. Read the New York Times story here. With our Mayor...
Rapid Response, Huge Impact: Paterson Signs Anti-Shackling Bill
Last month, Tina Reynolds, the director of WORTH, wrote me asking for funding through our Rapid Response Grant program to organize a rally in front of Governor Paterson's office in Manhattan. Their anti-shackling bill was at a critical juncture, and...
Pride and Prejudice
The many stories, broadcasts and events commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion and LGBT Pride make me proud of the health and vitality of the movement for queer rights. Marriage rights are breaking out all over (give...
People Power Breaking Out All Over
My belief in people power has been renewed in recent months by the grassroots response to so many challenges and outrages - from the hamlet of Jackson Heights, Queens to the forgotten community of Pikalevo, Russia. If you missed...
Celebrating 30 Years of Funding Grassroots Movements
On Thursday, April 30, North Star Fund celebrated 30 amazing years of donor organizing and grantmaking in support of grassroots movements and activism at our annual Community Gala. For six years, I have had the honor and privilege of heading...
