UPDATE:
The Presidential Forum for Economic, Immigrant and Racial Justice has been canceled.
When we set out to organize the People's Presidential Forum, there were a lot of uncertainties. Could we raise the money we would need? Could we fill a hall with 3000 people? Could we build a program that authentically reflected all of our voices? Would the candidates show up?
Our amazing team forged ahead in the face of those questions and executed on all of those questions, save one.
Unfortunately, after months of engagement, not enough presidential candidates agreed to attend the event to make it viable. Out of respect for everyone's time and effort, the national steering committee made the difficult decision to cancel the Forum.
As an alternative, invite attendees to attend a training on building electoral power.
In it, we will look at ways to continue the presidential candidates, and ensure that they answer the questions that our committees put so much work into developing. We will also explore the OutVote app, a new technology that will help you learn which of your acquaintances are less likely to vote so you can give them a friendly nudge to do the right thing.
Even though the big risk we took on this event hasn't resulted in our original vision, we're a lot more powerful and united than when we started. I want to express my deep thanks to all the staff, volunteers, members, and partners who all worked so incredibly hard these past months. Your effort still matters.
The training will be co-located with the National Immigrant Integration Conference. You can you find out more about the NIIC and register here
National Organizing Committee
People's Action
National Partnership for New Americans
Fair Immigration Reform Movement Action
Endorsing Organizations
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SEIU Health Care Michigan
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SEIU Local 1 Detroit
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Good Jobs Now
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Genesis Church
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Coalition of Labor Union Women
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Birmingham Temple
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Street Democracy
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Emgage
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MADE Institute
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New American Leaders Project
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Fems for Change
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Restaurant Opportunity Center
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ACTION of Greater Lansing
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Washtenaw Interfaith Coalition for Immigrants Rights
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Southpaw Michigan
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Congress of Communities
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Michigan United
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We GP
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Righteous Sons
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Arab American Civil Rights League
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Monroe County Opportunity Project
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Michigan Alliance of Latinos Moving Towards Advancement (MI ALMA)
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Michigan Nurses Association
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Michigan Muslim Community Council
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Indivisible Huron Valley
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Council of Baptist Pastors of Detroit and Vicinity
FAQ Section:
Who is invited to participate? With so many people running for President, we're trying to balance having enough time for each speaker with having equitable representation. Accordingly, we will be inviting candidates who meet our threshold for viability. This is defined as any candidate who averages 0.5% in public national primary polls over a two month window between April 1 and August 30. We will be using the Real Clear Politics database to generate averages.
How will questions be selected? Our national steering committee and local organizing team will work together to develop questions ahead of time, based on the feedback we hear from our community meetings. Questions will not be accepted from the floor. Questions can be submitted from the general public via this form.
What tax status is this event? Will Democrats and Republicans be invited? This event is a 501c(3) event. We are not endorsing any candidate for office. We will be inviting all candidates who qualify for our viability criteria to attend, regardless of party.
Does the event have a cost? No, the event is free. We will gladly accept your donations here.
The forum is taking place in the same venue at the same time as the National Immigrant Integration Conference. Any connection? The People's Presidential Forum is being organized by many of the same organizations that are putting on the NIIC, and was co-located at Cobo Hall during the conference to give conference attendees the opportunity to attend. We hope participants in the NIIC are also interested in the forum. The two events are, however, legally distinct. Participation, sponsorship or endorsement of one event does not imply support.
