CREDO at Netroots Nation 2017

This year, members of our CREDO Action team were well-represented at one of the nation’s largest progressive conferences, Netroots Nation. The event, which was held this year in Atlanta, brings together progressive leaders, activists, organizers and elected officials (including progressive champion Elizabeth Warren) for five days of panels, trainings, speeches and brainstorming sessions to help grow and expand our movement and work to resist the dangerous and hateful Trump agenda.

From panels featuring how CREDO’s digital organizing played a massive role in the Betsy DeVos confirmation battle to preparing for a major crisis in the Trump era, here’s a quick recap of the panels CREDO Action campaigners helped to lead at Netroots.

How Betsy DeVos Became So Unpopular

Deputy Political Director Josh Nelson joined allies in the labor and progressive communities to talk about how close coordination by digital organizers and dedicated efforts by activists, educators and parents led to outing a relatively unknown Republican donor as the wildly unpopular and unqualified pick for secretary of education.

The Progressive Response to (Predictable) Emergencies: National Security Crises and Domestic Crackdowns in the Time of Trump

For this much-anticipated panel, CREDO Vice President and Political Director Murshed Zaheed joined experts from the American Civil Liberties Union, Win Without War, MoveOn and ReThink Media to discuss ways the collective resistance to Trump and Republicans in Congress must prepare now for a future national crisis that could allow right-wing extremists to hijack the political agenda, crack down on civil rights and civil liberties, enact racist public policies and go to war.

Building a 21st Century Movement Against Militarism

The American military industrial complex is alive and well. Congress is set to increase defense spending, Donald Trump is sending more troops to Afghanistan, local police forces have access to military-grade weapons and an endless drone war is killing thousands of innocent people overseas.

CREDO Action campaigner Tessa Levine joined progressive peace organizers to discuss the left’s trouble taking on the issues of increased militarism and how innovative new campaigns can recenter one of the progressive movement’s core principles.

Trumped Up Trade: Retaking the Working Class on Trade and the Economy

Many pundits attribute Donald Trump’s phony position on “bad trade deals” during the campaign as a reason for flipping traditionally Democratic midwestern states. But his actions have not matched his rhetoric: He’s filled his cabinet with Goldman Sachs robber barons whose wealth hinges on exploiting workers, killing jobs and shipping business overseas.

CREDO’s Murshed Zaheed joined progressive champion Rep. Keith Ellison, Public Citizen’s Lori Wallach, Sierra Club’s Ben Beachy and immigration organizer Erika Andiola for a talk about reclaiming the trade issue, along with working class voters, before the 2018 midterm elections.