about 215 People's Alliance
215 People’s Alliance, an independent, multiracial collaborative dedicated to fighting for equity and justice in Philadelphia. We are parents and neighbors, teachers and students, union members and block captains, cab drivers and cashiers, small business owners and workers, working to unite a broad sector of Philadelphians to make meaningful change. We focus on the core struggles that the majority of our city is facing and fight for the progressive interests of all working people.
Racial and economic justice are at the core of our mission. We believe we must unify the whole working class, and to do so we must prioritize the sectors of the class that are providing political leadership, notably: African-American, immigrant and refugee communities; and workers in public and service sector unions. In doing so we support candidates who are progressive in statements and track record, who represent the many communities of Philadelphia, and who we know will fight for black and brown, working class communities and push a transformative agenda that benefits everyone in our city.
History of 215 People's Alliance
215PA started as an all-volunteer organization in 2015 with leadership from the lower Northeast, North, South and Southwest Philadelphia. Most of our work has centered around electoral campaigns, housing concerns and education justice. Our neighborhood chapter work includes community forums on the 10-year tax abatement in communities facing gentrification pressure and organizing Philadelphia Housing Authority residents facing displacement. 215PA led the Dump Wells Fargo campaign, which moved $2 Billion in city money out of Wells Fargo; and an independent field effort for the 2017 District Attorney’s primary election to elect Larry Krasner. Most recently 215PA supported the historical campaign of Working Families Party candidate, Kendra Brooks for City Councilmember At-Large.
In 2016, we launched the Our City Our Schools (OCOS) campaign to end the 16-year-long state-controlled School Reform Commission (SRC) and regain local control of school governance. Members in the coalition include a broad cross-section of organizations that represent teachers, parents, youth, labor and community members. After the SRC was dissolved in November of 2017, we sought to answer the critical question of how our schools will be governed. OCOS pushed for a true People’s School Board to return a voice to the people who know our schools best, to end the era of conflicts of interests and to be sure our next school board would push forward a progressive agenda for our schools. Today, OCOS continues fighting for equitably funded schools that transform the lives of Black, Brown & working class young people, their families, educators, school communities & neighborhoods by supporting their needs and desires.
215PA is also a founding member of the Alliance for a Just Philadelphia, a broad alliance of grassroots organizations working together to build a more just Philadelphia. In early 20190, the Alliance released the People’s Platform, which represents a grassroots vision for investing in the services and public institutions all Philadelphians need while divesting from the broken systems that hurt us all