RootsAction

RootsAction promotes a "fresh approach to defend the public interest". RootsAction was founded by Norman Solomon and Jeff Cohen.

Our country faces a far-right Republican Party that is a wholly-owned subsidiary of corporate America, and a Democratic Party whose leadership is enmeshed with corporate power.

Purpose

RootsAction is an online initiative dedicated to galvanizing Americans who are committed to economic fairness, equal rights, civil liberties, environmental protection -- and defunding endless wars.

• We will not be silent as Congress and the president continue to squander billions of dollars on foreign wars, causing destruction and hatred overseas while failing to meet the needs of the vast majority of people in our country.
• We will not stand by as people lose their jobs and homes due to Wall Street schemes abetted by both major parties.
• We will not give the Obama administration a pass as it continues many of the same policies that sparked loud protests under the Bush White House.
• We will take action -- independent of both party leaderships.

That’s why RootsAction has been strongly endorsed by such respected, independent-minded progressives as Jim Hightower, Barbara Ehrenreich, Cornel West, Daniel Ellsberg, Glenn Greenwald, Naomi Klein, Bill Fletcher, Jr., Laura Flanders, former U.S. Senator James Abourezk and Coleen Rowley.

When progressives have fallen into making excuses for corporate-approved “reforms” from the Obama White House, they’ve come across as defenders of an untenable status quo -- and helped corporate-funded "populists" of the right wing to masquerade as the agents of change.

RootsAction will mobilize behind policies that actually address the immense economic, social and environmental problems facing our country. The goal is to organize people who are already active into an independent political force, while reaching out in a genuinely populist voice to those who are not committed progressives. This is crucial for defeating the corporate-financed and media-fueled right wing, which so deftly utilizes fear, myth and outright lies.

RootsAction pledges to resist the corporatist policies of Speaker Boehner and cohorts at every turn, while confronting the Democratic Party's reflex of giving ground to extremist proposals in the name of “bipartisanship.”

Ukraine: 'Commitment to Sending No More Weapons'

Time for Ceasefire in Ukraine?

A discussion dated Sept 26, 2023 titled "Time for Ceasefire in Ukraine?" features Medea Benjamin, Helena Cobban, Ray McGovern, and David Swanson.,

"In an endless war with already a half million casualties, is it more helpful to continue it -- risking nuclear apocalypse and guaranteeing impediments to addressing climate collapse -- or to demand a ceasefire, peace negotiations, and a commitment to sending no more weapons?

A public discussion featuring Medea Benjamin, Helena Cobban, Ray McGovern, and David Swanson.

Just World Educational, World BEYOND War

Endorsers

Charlottesville Center for Peace and Justice, RootsAction.org, The Peace and Social Concerns Committee of Charlottesville Friends Meeting.

The RootsAction Team

2024

From the RootsAction website as of October 23, 2024:,

• Norman Solomon: Co-Founder / National Director
• David Swanson: Campaign Coordinator
• Jeff Cohen: Co-Founder / Policy Director
• Sam Rosenthal: Political Director
• India Walton: Senior Strategist
• Ryan Black: Organizing Coordinator
• Emma Claire Foley: Campaign Director, Defuse Nuclear War/Specialist, Nuclear Issues
• Hanieh Jodat Barnes: Partnerships Coordinator
• Jeffrey Sterling: Whistleblower Advocate
• Ricci Sergienko: Social Media Coordinator
• Bill Lackemacher: Digital Coordinator

Board of RootsAction:

• Pia Gallegos: Board Chair
• Deborah Thomas: Board Member
• Deborah Toler: Board Member
• Crystal Zevon: Board Member

2013

As of July 2013;

• Campaign Coordinator:David Swanson, helped plan the nonviolent occupation of Freedom Plaza in Washington DC in 2011. Swanson holds a master's degree in philosophy from the University of Virginia. He has worked as a newspaper reporter and as a communications director, with jobs including press secretary for Dennis Kucinich's 2004 presidential campaign, media coordinator for the International Labor Communications Association, and three years as communications coordinator for ACORN,
• Board Chair: Pia Gallegos, is a New Mexico-based social activist and has been a trial lawyer for about three decades. She fights for workers who are discriminated against in promotions and terminations or who are sexually harassed in the workplace. She has also assisted and advised many progressive nonprofits.
• Board member: Deborah Thomas, is the publisher of Extra!, the magazine of the media watch group FAIR. Over the years, she has been a publishing consultant and book designer – and has worked at various magazines, including Grand Street, Seven Days and The Nation.
• Senior Fellow / Co-Founder: Norman Solomon, founded the Institute for Public Accuracy in 1997 and was its executive director from then until 2010; he is now IPA’s president. Immersed in anti-war, social justice and environmental movements since the late 1960s, he is the author of a dozen books including War Made Easy and Made Love, Got War. He has written op-ed pieces for almost every large daily U.S. newspaper and appears often on a wide range of radio and TV outlets.
• Board member / Co-Founder: Jeff Cohen, is a media critic, writer and journalism professor who founded the media watch group FAIR in 1986. For years, he was a regular pundit on CNN, Fox News and MSNBC discussing issues of media and politics; his latest book is Cable News Confidential: My Misadventures in Corporate Media.