In November, ACORN Honduras hosted the Convention for the Rights of  the Child, and ACORN youth participated in the launch of the child-friendly human rights declaration at the Human Rights Commission of Honduras.

On November 22nd, ACORN Canada participated in National Housing Day by holding actions in 9 cities across the country to send a clear message to the federal government: prioritize social and non-market housing.  ACORN did this in solidarity with the Social Housing and  Human Rights Coalition.

Living Rent Glasgow took action when  members Thotha and Ramasundari were served with a shocking 38% rent increase without warning. When we demanded answers, the landlords  refused to meet, saying they didn’t “see any need to discuss it further.” So, they took action. Members marched into their offices as a group, forced a negotiation, and won! This is what collective action looks like!

 Big leap forward for ACORN and organizing, if I could be so bold as to say so, as organizers and allies came together in two great meetings in Heerlen.

The first was in a surprising venue, as the ACORN Organizing School took its show on the road in the Netherlands.   We were meeting in the actual circle where the Heerlen city council – all 37 members with name plates that signified their party affiliation – meets to do its regular business.  In classic ACORN style, we might accurately call this a sit-in, but it was by invitation, which never happens.

Ron Mayer, our longtime comrade and friend in Heerlen, who had arranged the venue for the training, briefed me earlier on the historic architecture that informed the space.  When it was built originally, Holland was 90% Catholic.  The ceiling above the desks was a giant circular glasswork.  The message of the design was that when the city directors opened the doors to come in, even without turning on the lights, God was watching from above.

So be it, more than 40 organizers, leaders, and activists from around the Netherlands as well as from Sicily, Belgium, India, and Malta, as well as Canada and the United States, went through an introduction to community organizing.  There was door knocking and of course role plays for everyone to test their skills.  We detailed the outline for an ACORN organizing drive and then jumped into issue campaigns in small groups that were tackling how to win retrofits for substandard housing, which is a global issue.  Good times with good people!

Wham, bang, within hours, back at the ranch, the rest of the organizers from around the ACORN world from France and the UK were also showing up at NIVON, where we were meeting in a giant house that serves as a dormitory of sorts for meetings, small and large.  NIVON is a large volunteer operation and so was dinner, except in our case, it was assigned to first to Scotland with the USA on cleanup, breakfast by Canada, and so on.  New Orleans will be featuring jambalaya as a treat.

When the meeting convened, we were more than 50 packed cheek-to-jowl in the meeting room, as every country gave a report on their progress.  There were the usual stars who recorded another great year.  It had been the 20^th anniversary of ACORN Canada and the 10^th anniversary of ACORN in England, for example.  Jet lag and all other obstacles took a back seat as organizers listened with great interest to the reports from new affiliates in Malta and emerging ones in Belgium and the US.  We were having our first detailed briefing, so it was fascinating.

It’s always hard to win a doubleheader, but we had managed.  To top it off, the debut of the translation equipment got high marks and the meeting venue itself even seem to be passing with a good grade.  We’ll be at this for days, so let’s hope, we’re on a roll in Heerlen!

In November, ACORN Kenya continued their community mobilization around gender based violence in Korogocho by hosting a forum for community members. They are building momentum from the hard work of the last couple months, which included community meetings, trainings, and local marches of more than 100 participants.

The Popular Struggle Coordinating Committee moved into the final month of the olive harvest in Palestine, and their campaign of support against colonial violence against the harvesters. They are working hand in hand with other local organizations such as the Center for Jewish Nonviolence, Youth of Sumud, and the International Solidarity Movement. Together, they are working to keep this sacred ancestral practice safe for Palestinians.

In November, A Community Voice hosted a training in partnership with the Claiborne Alliance for Xavier University students, focusing on the importance and practice of community organizing and outreach. Progressive Maryland voted to affiliate with ACORN, and an  ACORN Tenants Union has received support to launch in Cleveland!

ACORN Hackney started organizing in Exbury House a year ago, and after some minor wins, they interrupted a full council meeting, demanding change. This finally prompted the council to meet the residents association and confirm all their commitments for Exbury House! This is a massive win for members, but we’ll be keeping a close eye on the estate and making sure all the commitments made to our members are upheld!

CATU Ireland continued their tireless advocacy for housing rights, including a march to the Housing Executive with their demands. The housing crisis in the North is escalating at an alarming rate, and is having a devastating impact on communities. CATU is tackling this head-on through direct action and solidarity with members. Together, they have resisted many evictions of members, and as Christmas approaches, they are doubling down on the rights of the people to fair and safe housing!

Justice Ensemble, through the Alinsky Institute, organized the first National Meetings on democracy of interpellation and associative freedoms on November 28 and 29, 2024. Over 200 elected officials, local government staff, associations, researchers, and citizens came together to build non-repressive spaces in support of citizen interpellations.