United Power in the News

In the months after his father’s murder in early 1999, those months stretching formlessly between the mourning ritual of shiva and the impending trial of a suspect, Rabbi Joel Mosbacher received many messages of solace. There was one type, however, that tested every atom of clerical forbearance he possessed.

While many Chicagoans were out at their favorite pub on St. Patrick's Day, I was at a Jewish Temple with nearly 500 Muslims, Jews, Catholics, Protestants, and some non-religious people, all eager to learn what we can do together to push for accountability on gun violence. The meeting was hosted by United Power for Action and Justice, of which a number of churches in Oak Park and River Forest are members, including my parish, Ascension Catholic Church. The meeting was attended by a number of elected officials including Governor Quinn, Senate President Cullerton, and Oak Park's President David Pope.

Legislators and gun control advocates united Sunday afternoon to discuss and rally around state and federal gun control legislation being considered in the Illinois General Assembly and U.S. Congress. Progress Illinois was there for the unifying, and at points emotional, event...

Gov. Pat Quinn and Illinois Senate President John Cullerton met with community activists Sunday afternoon at a Gold Coast synagogue to support an effort to curb gun violence.
“The only way to beat a powerful lobby is to organize,” Quinn told a group of about 400 at the Chicago Sinai Congregation, 15 W. Delaware. “Early to bed, early to rise, work like hell and organize.”
The meeting was hosted by United Power, an umbrella group of religious and community organizations from around Cook County that focuses on social issues...

Every weekday Valdemar Ventura, a gentle man with impeccable manners, leaves his small flat in south London and, until July, made his way to Downing Street and the Cabinet Office, where his duties included cleaning the floors, lavatories and office of the deputy prime minister,Nick Clegg. "A good man," Ventura says. "He always said, 'Hello, good morning'." Acknowledgment matters to a workforce often rendered largely invisible. Ventura, 44, a former soldier, came to the UK from Angola 10 years ago. Now he is one of 150 Whitehall cleaners, supported by the community organisation Citizens UK, campaigning for a living wage, the minimum hourly wage necessary for housing, food and other basic needs, calculated annually.