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DNC Gives Pennsylvania Democratic Party $175K Grant

Combining traditional boots-on-the-ground organizing with innovative digital and technological tools, these investments will support the DNC’s “IWillVote” initiative, which aims to reach 50 million voters by Election Day, party officials said.

Published

8 years ago

August 21, 2018

Stacy M. Brown

Chairman Tom Perez speaking with supporters at a "Come Together and Fight Back" rally with U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders hosted by the Democratic National Committee at the Mesa Amphitheater in Mesa, Arizona. (Photo: George Skidmore/WikimediaCommons)

By Stacy M. Brown,NNPA Newswire Contributor

Only 40 percent of the voting eligible population voted in the 2016 election and with midterm turnouts historically low, the Democratic National Committee has swung into action providing grants to 41 states and territories to help prevent voter suppression and other Republican-based strategies ahead of the crucial election.

In its latest bid to win control of the House and Senate, the DNC has awarded a $175,000 grant to the Pennsylvania Democratic Party.

The grant is specifically designed to help with base community organizing ahead of the 2018 midterm elections, party officials said in a statement.

The new investment in Pennsylvania is in addition to the $100,000 already awarded to the Keystone State’s Democratic Party through the State Party Innovation Fund.

Further, DNC officials said the latest round of investment includes $1.2 million for organizing in African American, Latinx, AAPI, millennial, and rural communities that will help fund over 50 organizers in 16 states, including Nevada, Arizona, Georgia, New Mexico, Tennessee, Mississippi, Florida, West Virginia, Michigan, Ohio, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Maine, California, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

Each state party is receiving funding to hire African American, Latinx, AAPI, rural or millennial organizers, who will be hired by early summer and be part of the coordinated campaign through the end of the election cycle.

“The new DNC has been working tirelessly to support our state parties, motivate voters to get to the polls, and organize around issues that matter for country’s future,” said DNC Chair Tom Perez.

“We are investing in our base communities and putting organizers on the ground across the country because we know that’s the only way we’ll win,” he said.

In total, the DNC has awarded 41 states and territories with grants through the State Party Innovation Fund.

That is in addition to the $10,000-a-month investment that state parties receive through its “Every ZIP Code Counts” program.

“This investment will help ensure that Democrats are talking to voters in every community, and make sure that activists and candidates have the new tools and resources they need to succeed,” Perez said.

“The DNC is proud to partner with our state parties to expand our engagement in all communities and support Democratic candidates running up and down the ticket.”

Recently, the DNC announced a multimillion-dollar investment, which includes a nationwide cell-phone acquisition, a complete overhaul of the party’s data for voter-registration targeting and further data investments for the party’s voter-protection efforts.

As part of the DNC’s “IWillVote” program, the DNC plans to launch a six-figure digital ad buy across the country to encourage Americans — with a focus on sporadic voters, especially those whodropped off in 2014 from 2012 — to commit to vote this November.

“We are thrilled that the DNC is investing in Pennsylvania. We need to ensure that people of color continue to have a voice and play a role in the direction of our Party,” said Pennsylvania Democratic Party Executive Director Sinceré Harris.

“That’s why we are happy to partner with the DNC to reach out to and organize in communities of color from Erie to Hazleton, Philadelphia to Reading, and places in between. Chairman Perez and Chairwoman Mills are committed to engaging these ever-important communities to ensure that we elect Democrats up and down the ballot,” Harris said.

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Stacy M. Brown

A Little About Me: I'm the co-author of Blind Faith: The Miraculous Journey of Lula Hardaway and her son, Stevie Wonder (Simon & Schuster) and Michael Jackson: The Man Behind The Mask, An Insider's Account of the King of Pop (Select Books Publishing, Inc.) My work can often be found in the Washington Informer, Baltimore Times, Philadelphia Tribune, Pocono Record, the New York Post, and Black Press USA.

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Black Press

Event Preview: ‘Fashion v. Fascism’ – A Runway Revolution Is Coming to the Bay Area

“Fashion v. Fascism” (FVF) is an upcoming visually immersive event combining fashion, music, and political theater to expose the rise of fascism in the U.S. and advocate for resistance. Described as a live “runway revolution,” FVF premieres October 3 at The Rotunda in downtown Oakland. The event will feature five runway collections spotlighting elements of contemporary fascist politics, accompanied by political theater and live music, culminating in a call to action. Organizers state that culture is a potent defense when democracy is under siege. Read more to learn about this unique event.

Published

2 days ago

September 18, 2026

BlackPressUSA Newswire

Designer Rickie Lee. Courtesy image.

By Dr. Y’Anad Burrell

“Fashion vs. Fascism” (FVF) is a visually immersive evening of fashion, music and political theater exposing the rise of fascism in the U.S. and the need to resist. Democracy is under siege, and culture is one of our most potent defenses, organizers say.

Called a live “runway revolution,” FvF premieres Oct. 3 at The Rotunda, 300 Frank Ogawa Plaza in downtown Oakland.

A play that is part fashion show, part protest, part performance art, FvF stages five runway collections spotlighting the pillars of contemporary fascist politics and the urgent need to resist: the myth of a “glorious past,” the manufactured emergencies used to justify surveillance and crackdowns, and the oligarchs and grifters profiting from it all. Runway fashion shares the stage with political theater and live music, with a closing call to action.

“We need lawsuits, ballots and mass protests, but none of it lands if we’re not also fighting for people’s imagination,” says Linda Burnham, co-producer of the show. “People are exhausted and scared. FvF will expose the absurdities of fascist mythology and ideology in ways a news headline cannot and spark new ideas about how to resist.”

“Fascism doesn’t win by policy alone. It wins by telling a story. A myth about a ‘Golden Age.’ A permanent emergency that makes cruelty seem necessary. That’s not an accident, it’s a strategy, and it works on the same terrain as culture: image, spectacle, emotion,” says Aya De León, the show’s playwright.

“Every piece on this runway translates what is happening under fascism into a feeling,” explains Erica Furlong, the FVF creative director. “One designer’s trench coat is covered in pockets stamped ‘TRUTH,’ ‘MEMORY,’ ‘HOPE,’ ‘VOTE,’ ‘FUTURE,’ because that’s literally what gets seized first, pocket by pocket, under fascist decline. Fashion can hold grief and hope in the same silhouette, and that tension is exactly what this moment needs.”

At its best, fashion is about creativity, diversity, innovation, experimentation and the free exchange of ideas. Fascism, by contrast, demands conformity and control, while suppressing dissent.

FVF was created, organizers say, because democracy should always be in style.

Featured designers include Erica Varize, Rickie Lee, Tianna Charity, Julie Wong, and Maria Flores. The evening features a script by lead playwright Aya De León, musical performances by Mindeullae Project and DJ Emancipation, and other special guests.

FvF is designed to travel. Following the Oakland premiere, FvF will extend its reach through a documentary short, a curriculum on contemporary fascism in the U.S., and a full replication playbook — design templates, script, and curriculum — so organizers in other cities can stage their own version of the show.

Get more details at www.fashionvfascism.org.

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Catch “Let’s Talk on Win-TV” for big conversations on theater, books, and Black film culture in the DMV! Featuring “Spades the Play,” “DMV Does,” and the American Black Film Festival.

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September 17, 2026

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Follow The Washington Informer and subscribe to WashingtonInformerTV for more original programming and conversations from across the DMV.

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Watch Black Press USA’s Morning Show for the headlines, the context, and the conversation behind the news.

#BlackPressUSA #MorningShow #BlackNews #KarmeloAnthony #VotingRights #USPS #Measles #ColinKaepernick #TargetBoycott #EmmittSmith #BlackMedia #BlackPress