Alliance to Develop Power Members ask Senator-Elect Scott Brown: “Will your ‘Big Tent’ Include Us?”

Will United States Senator-Elect Scott Brown follow through on his promise of creating a “big tent”? Will he work collaboratively with those of us that are hurting the most in the economic crisis -- low-income people and the unemployed, African-Americans, immigrants, and families living in distressed communities? We challenge Senator-Elect Brown to join us. We challenge him to move beyond partisan politics by standing up for all families in Massachusetts and supporting a comprehensive package that will create a just and equitable economy that works for everyone.

That means boldly attacking the crisis in unemployment by creating a large-scale emergency jobs program that will address the growing racial and economic disparities plaguing our nation. We need to work together on creative solutions so that millions of unemployed Americans can get back to work with dignity rebuilding our infrastructure, repairing our schools, and revitalizing our communities.

And it means understanding that fair and humane immigration reform is integral to strengthening our economy. Fixing our broken immigration laws will help us all -- immigrant and American born workers, taxpayers and honest employers. At the same time it will lift our country to prosperity, increase tax revenues by tens of billions of dollars, and enable our neighbors to come out of the shadows and be fully integrated into our communities.

Finally, anybody who is real about fixing our economy understands we must take back our democracy from the big banks and greedy corporations that have tried to steal it. Big Banks like Bank of America take our tax dollars but refuse to invest in our communities and small businesses while at the same time draining what little we have left with predatory fees and bad loans. This week, these same bankers are announcing bigger profits and bigger bonuses than ever. It’s time to hold the bankers and Wall Street profiteers who created this crisis accountable.

We are American-born and immigrant. We are small business owners and unemployed people, low-wage workers and labor union members, renters and homeowners. We are young and old. We are voters. And we are united in our unwavering commitment to our democracy.

We are a Big Tent. And so, we ask Senator-elect Scott Brown, will your Big Tent include us?

Keya Alvarez and Andrea Goldman are Co-Chairs of the Alliance to Develop Power. Caroline Murray is ADP's Executive Director.

The Alliance to Develop Power/ADP of Springfield, MA has been successful at reclaiming social and economic power through cooperative economic development, resulting in the creation of business and capital holdings collectively valued at over $50 million. The ADP Community Economy includes 1,450 units of cooperatively owned and permanently affordable housing, community centers, worker-controlled businesses that pay family sustainable living wages, and food cooperatives that distribute 200,000 pounds of food annually. Immigrant and low wage members of the ADP Worker Center / Casa Obrera, have secured over $750,000 in restitution from unscrupulous employers. These community-owned assets – controlled by grassroots leaders and guided by principles that balance the needs of the individual, the community, business, and the environment -- contribute $20 million / year in cash flow to the local economy as well as provide the financial anchor for ADP’s community organizing work. ADP fights for just policy reform at the local, state and national levels and is on the steering committee of the MA Green Justice Coalition, the National Campaign for Community Values and the National Reform Immigration FOR America Now campaign. ADP is also a member of National People’s Action.