Fight for the 31st STREET BUS + CTA Board Meeting

It's been a year since we won a feasibility study - the first step toward getting a bus to connect our communities, and give us access to food, hospitals, beaches, family, and so on. The recommendations to the CTA board as a result of the study are due at the OCTOBER 9th board meeting. This is big! People are important! Show the CTA we care and we mean it and we won't stop the fight!

 How you can help: 

Get on the bus - We will be gathering at Benton House (3052 S Gratten Ave) at 8:45 AM on the morning of the October 9th to take a bus to the CTA Headquarters. The bus leaves at 9:00. We will pack the CTA board room, and hold a press conference after the meeting. Then the bus will return to Benton House. Facebook Event Page Here 

Come to the meeting - If you don't want to join us on the bus you can still attend the meeting. Arrive at CTA Headquarters, 567 W. Lake Street, by 10 AM on the morning of October 9. Facebook Event Page Here 

Write a letter - Please see our blog post below for a sample to send to friends, family, elected officials and any other contacts you can think of!

Make signs - we will be gathering at First Trinity (31st and Lowe) on Tuesday, October 8, 6:30 - 8:00 ish to make signs and do something cool with the photo petitions. BYOS (Bring Your Own Scissors!)

Distribute Fliers - Fliers are attached. Please, print, post, share!  Contact info@bridgeportalliance.org for a pdf copy.

Social Media - Share the Facebook Event Page, use the Twitter Handle @31stStreetBus and @BridgeportAlly and Hashtag #31stStreetBus. Tell your friends!!!

 Questions? info@bridgeportalliance.org

Join the Fight for the 31st Street Bus

Bike and Roll the 31st Street Bus

Click here to see more photos!

 

Versionfest

Bridgeport Alliance is excited to be part of Version13: An Urban Operating System

Version Festival 13 will present projects by cultural workers, community developers, social entrepreneurs, artists, designers, boutique manufacturers, food interventionists, public space hackers, service mediaticians, urban planners, cultural geographers and adventure capitalists, to share their ideas to develop a collective hack of the current urban operating system.​ ​​

June 14 through June 22, 2013

To learn more visit http://www.versionfest.org/13.html

Help Build Strong Schools in Our Community

Community Meeting

June 6, 2013, 6:30 p.m.

Benton House, 3052 South Gratten

Three of our local schools were on the CPS closing list. Community support saved them. Now we need to make them the best in Chicago. Join us on June 6 and help build strong schools in our community.

This will be a working meeting. Please bring your lists of ideas, resources, needs and problems. We hope that you will attend and we encourage you to discuss this effort with your friends and neighbors.

Sponsored by The Bridgeport Alliance School Task Force

Bridgeport Bus to Fight School Closings!

This Wednesday, join the Bridgeport Alliance as we march against school closings with GEM, CTU and neighborhood organizations across the entire city!

http://www.facebook.com/events/441102002634744/

Where: Benton House (3052 S. Gratten)
When: Wednesday, March 27th. Meet at 3:00pm. BUS LEAVES PROMPTLY AT 3:15.

We are all very pleased that our neighborhood schools did not end up on the school closings list. Even though our schools have been spared (this time), CPS still plans to shut down more than 50 schools across the city.

At the February 6th Fuller Park meeting, the Bridgeport Alliance proudly declared we would be stand to fight ALL school closings.

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=577884305573261

Space is limited! To get a seat on the bus, please RSVP to Ben: ben@bentonhouse.org.

BA In the News

A great article in the Gazette features Jennie Biggs and Tom Gaulke:
“We parents have the strongest voices,” Biggs added. “We need to start using them.
Read it here! 

Also in the Gazette, Tom Gaulke on the systemic issues that are causing violence in our neighborhood.  Read it here!

BA in the News

Kevin Robinson on School Closings, Charters and Clout

CPS School Closings Plan Has South Side Schools Making Pitch to Stay Open

Public School Closings Could Harm Special Education Students, Critics Say

Southwest Side Braces for More CPS School Closings Forums

Ald. James Balcer: McClellan and Graham 'Should Not Close'

And, Claudia in the World Journal!

General Meeting Annoucement

Our Next General Meeting will be held:

Thursday, February 28th

7:00 pm

At First Lutheran Church of the Trinity

(31st and Lowe)



SPECIAL MEETING RE: SCHOOL CLOSINGS
Tuesday, February 19
7:00
Benton House
(31st and Gratten)

Reminder - to join our email list, please write to bridgeportalliance@gmail.com

Join us on Facebook

Subscribe to our calendar (below)

BA In the News

CPS Forum on School Closings Packs in Pershing Network Teachers, Activists

Teacher Meeting at Armour School Turns into Community Forum

Community Forum on School Closings - Bridgeport, Canaryville, Chinatown, Chicago

Elementary schools in our Chicago neighborhoods are at risk of being closed.

Join parents, students, leaders, and community members who want to keep our schools safe from school closings, and strengthen our schools for the future.

Learn what schools are at risk and what you can do about it and take action after the forum! We will attend the CPS meeting for our area immediately after the forum. A bus will leave First Trinity Church for Fuller Park and return after the action. Please contact Maria at maria@soulinchicago.org if you would like a space on the bus.

Sponsored by Bridgeport Alliance, Southsiders Organized for Unity and Liberation (SOUL), Raise Your Hand, the Chicago Teachers Union, Parents 4 Teachers, and First Lutheran Church of the Trinity.

Facebook 
DNA Info - Bridgeport Parents Plan Rally Before CPS Utilization Forum

BA in the News

Articles on the SOUL King Day Event!

DNA Info -Activists Plan ‘King Day’ Rally

Progress Illinois - Community Group Brings Together Politicians, Religious and Community Leaders In A Call For Social Justice

SOUL - Martin Luther King Day 2013

Sunday, January 13, 2013
2:30pm - 4:30pm
 3566 S. Cottage Grove.
West Point Missionary Baptist Church

This is the time each year when we celebrate the legacy of Dr. King and continue his work through community organizing. Some of the issues we will address include funding for an arts & recreation center in Bronzeville, restoring bus service on 31st Street, closing state corporate tax loopholes so we can avoid massive budget cuts to Medicaid and education, and addressing the vacant property epidemic through a land bank that will create both affordable housing and jobs.

We will be asking elected officials to make commitments on issues affecting our communities. We need to show our elected officials that their constituents are watching and that people care about these issues.

Please come out and bring your friends, neighbors, and fellow congregants!

Musical celebration and sign-in will take place from 2:30 - 3:00, with the public meeting starting promptly at 3:00.

Bridgeport Alliance will have two buses leaving Benton House. Boarding at 2PM. Refreshments will be served starting at 1PM. Rides will be given to Benton House from First Trinity Lutheran after 10:30AM worship. We will have 100 folks from Bridgeport, so get there early if you don't want just scraps.

We Will Not Go Back

As part of the ongoing "fiscal cliff" discussions, Senator Durbin is negotiating behind our backs to gut Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid -- cuts that could create depression-era conditions for millions of Americans who've paid for and earned support from these vital programs.

Join us on December 6th at noon to tell Senator Durbin that we won't go back! On December 6, we're building a Durbinville Shantytown encampment at the Federal Building to symbolize the dire consequences these cuts could have, and fight to preserve these essential programs. Join us! And bring a tent!

Come get free soup and bread every day in Federal Plaza from December 3rd - 6th!

Monday, December 3, noon: Soup and Bread line in Federal Plaza

Tuesday, December 4, noon: Soup and Bread line in Federal Plaza

Wednesday, December 5, noon: Soup and Bread line in Federal Plaza

Thursday, December 6, noon: Erect the "Durbinville" shantytown to show the world what these cuts really mean!

Enough is enough! It's time to stop unnecessary budget cuts and make corporations and the rich pay their fair share!

Demand that Senator Durbin:

Block the "debt ceiling sequester" cuts -- say no to austerity!

Reject Simpson-Bowles or any other "Grand Bargain" that attempts to balance the budget on the backs of the poor, working people, the sick or the elderly -- protect vital public programs, no cuts to Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid!

Block the extension of the Bush Tax Cuts for the top 2% -- it's time for the rich to start paying their fair share!

Support and fight for progressive sources of revenue -- impose a Robin Hood Tax on Wall Street financial speculation, tax capital gains as normal income and close corporate tax loopholes, cut Pentagon spending!

October Meeting

All apologies for the shifting meeting time.
We have rescheduled for Thursday, October 25, 7pm.
Location to be determined.
31st St. bus updates and future planning will take place, as well as discussion around revenue.

 On September 20, Bridgeport Alliance, a community group member of the Clean Power Coalition, was a proud recipient of the Illinois Environmental Council's Environmental Leadership Award for working to close Fisk and Crawford. Go team!

Community Energy Choice Campaign Launch

After a decade-long campaign that resulted in the shut down of the Fisk and Crawford coal plants, it's time to make Chicago America's greenest city. Join the Chicago Clean Power Coalition for our new campaign launch to tell Mayor Emanuel we want to power Chicago with clean renewable energy!

Thursday, October 4, 2012 Meet at City Hall, at the Clark St entrance between Washington and Randolph streets at Noon. We'll have giant wind turbines, t-shirts, signs and stickers, so you can't miss us!

On November 6th, Chicagoans will vote on a referendum to determine whether the City will have the authority to buy electricity on behalf of its residents. Community Energy Choice will put Chicago on the path to be America's greenest city by investing in a clean energy future.


Join us to tell Mayor Emanuel to commit to developing in-state renewable energy sources with the purchase of clean, renewable energy made in Illinois and a goal of 100% renewable energy to run our city. Community Energy Choice will drive job creation and create programs to save energy across all of Chicago.

See you there! If you haven't signed the petition, please sign today!



Facebook Page
cleanpowerchicago.org

31st street update - one more win on our route

Good news, dear people:

Mr. Claypool (CTA President) replied "Yes." to our ask tonight.

And he promised he meant it, right in front of the altar at First Lutheran Church of the Trinity here on 31st St. in Bridgeport :)

The Bridgeport Alliance, the Coalition for a Better Chinese American Community, and Little Village Environmental Justice Organization were all present.

We will be meeting with the director of the CTA's 6 month study re: the FULL 31st Street route, monthly.

Alderman James Balcer showed again to support BA.

One more battle won on our way to victory!

Good job, team.