During the last few weeks of December and the beginning of January, most media sources publish lists of “best” “worst” or “most important” people, events, or issues of the past year. After looking through many of them for inspiration in the cause of building the kind of world I’d like to see, I found what I have decided is my favorite of these annual lists. In The Nation magazine in the week before Christmas, author John Nichols wrote an article listing his “MVPs” (Most Valuable Progressives) of 2009. Whether you agree with his list or not, it is worth reading for the wide spectrum of activists at all levels who are making a difference. These people and these efforts are important to know about. Perhaps we can get some ideas from them about what works and where we can make a difference.
Here is a list of the categories and winners in Nichols’ article (the entire article, with more in-depth descriptions of the work of the winners can and should be viewed at http://www.thenation.com/doc/20100111/nichols ):
Most Valuable Senator: Maria Cantwell (D – Washington) – for her efforts toward REAL financial reform to avoid another crisis like that one that is still devastating our economy.
Most Valuable Representive: Peter DiFazio (D – Oregon) – for his opposition to Geithner and Summers and his insistence that the government’s stimulus efforts should focus on jobs, not Wall Street and not war.
Most Valuable Federal Appointee: Elizabeth Warren (chairwoman of the Congressional bank bailout oversight committee) – for her good ideas and good policy proposals, her creativity and her tough defense of consumers’ rights.
Most Valuable State Official: Mark Ritchie (Secretary of State for the state of Minnesota) – for his calm, deliberate fairness in the recount of the closest Senate race in the country (which Al Franken ended up winning) and his insistence on transparency and accountability in elections.
Most Valuable Local Official: JoAnne Watson (Detroit City Council member) – for her defense of her hometown and its people and for her innovative ideas and controversial, successful efforts on behalf of health care, economic development, peace, neighborhood issues, and clean government.
Most Valuable National Advocacy Group: J Street - for a high-profile, remarkably successful effort to break the lock of AIPAC – the pro-Israel lobby that has pushed our government into blind support of Israel’s destructive policies. J Street is a “pro-Israel, pro-peace, pro-Palestinian, pro-Israeli-Arab” organization that has changed the way Washington talks about the Middle East.
Most Valuable Grassroots Advocacy Group: Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement - for three decades of activism on various issues, but specifically for its “activism on behalf of banking reforms that free up credit for small farms, businesses and families while cracking down on payday loan operations.”
Most Valuable Agitator: Cleve Jones – for his tireless advocacy for the civil rights of LGTB people. He led the National Equality March to demand justice and equality under the law for LGTB people.
Most Valuable Think Tank: The Ballot Initiative Strategy Center – for using direct democracy (initiatives, proposals and referendi) in support of progressive causes instead of just reacting to conservative- and corporate-sponsored initiatives).
Most Valuable Union: California Nurses’ Association - for their strong, steady efforts in support of Single Payer National Health Care.
Most Valuable Rocker: James McMurtry – for his blistering anti-Bush songs.
Most Valuable Multimedia Activism: Rethink Afghanistan – for their amazingly diverse and in-depth efforts to raise public awareness and opposition to the escalation of the war in Afghanistan
Most Valuable Non-Fiction Book: Rebecca Solnit’s A Paradise Built in Hell: The Extraordinary Communities That Arise in Disaster – for her analysis of how, when society crumbles in the face of a disaster, the best in people comes out and people are freed to form new communities.
Most Valuable Fiction Book: Victor LaValle’s Big Machine – for its “serious and nuanced debates about race, religion and class.”
As the year ends, take time to celebrate the Most Valuable Progressives
During the last few weeks of December and the beginning of January, most media sources publish lists of “best” “worst” or “most important” people, events, or issues of the past year. After looking through many of them for inspiration in the cause of building the kind of world I’d like to see, I found what I have decided is my favorite of these annual lists. In The Nation magazine in the week before Christmas, author John Nichols wrote an article listing his “MVPs” (Most Valuable Progressives) of 2009. Whether you agree with his list or not, it is worth reading for the wide spectrum of activists at all levels who are making a difference. These people and these efforts are important to know about. Perhaps we can get some ideas from them about what works and where we can make a difference.
Here is a list of the categories and winners in Nichols’ article (the entire article, with more in-depth descriptions of the work of the winners can and should be viewed at http://www.thenation.com/doc/20100111/nichols ):
Most Valuable Senator: Maria Cantwell (D – Washington) – for her efforts toward REAL financial reform to avoid another crisis like that one that is still devastating our economy.
Most Valuable Representive: Peter DiFazio (D – Oregon) – for his opposition to Geithner and Summers and his insistence that the government’s stimulus efforts should focus on jobs, not Wall Street and not war.
Most Valuable Federal Appointee: Elizabeth Warren (chairwoman of the Congressional bank bailout oversight committee) – for her good ideas and good policy proposals, her creativity and her tough defense of consumers’ rights.
Most Valuable State Official: Mark Ritchie (Secretary of State for the state of Minnesota) – for his calm, deliberate fairness in the recount of the closest Senate race in the country (which Al Franken ended up winning) and his insistence on transparency and accountability in elections.
Most Valuable Local Official: JoAnne Watson (Detroit City Council member) – for her defense of her hometown and its people and for her innovative ideas and controversial, successful efforts on behalf of health care, economic development, peace, neighborhood issues, and clean government.
Most Valuable National Advocacy Group: J Street - for a high-profile, remarkably successful effort to break the lock of AIPAC – the pro-Israel lobby that has pushed our government into blind support of Israel’s destructive policies. J Street is a “pro-Israel, pro-peace, pro-Palestinian, pro-Israeli-Arab” organization that has changed the way Washington talks about the Middle East.
Most Valuable Grassroots Advocacy Group: Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement - for three decades of activism on various issues, but specifically for its “activism on behalf of banking reforms that free up credit for small farms, businesses and families while cracking down on payday loan operations.”
Most Valuable Agitator: Cleve Jones – for his tireless advocacy for the civil rights of LGTB people. He led the National Equality March to demand justice and equality under the law for LGTB people.
Most Valuable Think Tank: The Ballot Initiative Strategy Center – for using direct democracy (initiatives, proposals and referendi) in support of progressive causes instead of just reacting to conservative- and corporate-sponsored initiatives).
Most Valuable Union: California Nurses’ Association - for their strong, steady efforts in support of Single Payer National Health Care.
Most Valuable Rocker: James McMurtry – for his blistering anti-Bush songs.
Most Valuable Multimedia Activism: Rethink Afghanistan – for their amazingly diverse and in-depth efforts to raise public awareness and opposition to the escalation of the war in Afghanistan
Most Valuable Non-Fiction Book: Rebecca Solnit’s A Paradise Built in Hell: The Extraordinary Communities That Arise in Disaster – for her analysis of how, when society crumbles in the face of a disaster, the best in people comes out and people are freed to form new communities.
Most Valuable Fiction Book: Victor LaValle’s Big Machine – for its “serious and nuanced debates about race, religion and class.”