VIEW AS A WEB PAGE           SHARE

Powerful Ideas, Practical Actions         December 2011  The “YES! Breakthrough 15” issue :: SUBSCRIBE TODAY! just $15 + FREE issue :: PEEK INSIDE THE NEW ISSUE Dear Reader, We live in a moment when it is hard to have faith in the power of an individual, unless that individual has money, or celebrity, or both. The New York Times Magazine reports that it’s so hard for citizen groups to bend the ears of federal politicians they sometimes enlist the help of the glamorous—Nicole Kidman, Natalie Portman, George Clooney—just so they can get a meeting. Ordinary Americans have rarely felt more powerless. But thousands of people all over the United States are responding to crises at every level—by organizing and innovating at Occupy sites; in Washington, D.C., state capitols, and city halls; health clinics, schools, and neighborhoods. This issue is dedicated to the 99 percent and to people who aren’t looking for leadership from those with entrenched wealth and influence. We’re marking our 15th anniversary by turning our attention to 15 individuals who are creating solutions and movements that answer the economic, environmental, and political challenges our country faces. We have named them the YES! Breakthrough 15—a group of people who are shattering our sense of powerlessness. In this issue, you will read stories of individuals tackling climate change, building renewable energy and creating jobs in some of the poorest communities in the country, setting up real universal health care, pushing money out of politics, and creating art and activism that revive neighborhoods broken by economic hardship. We offer you their stories as an invitation—to break through cynicism and prove that ordinary people have real power. See what’s inside the issue, and if you’re not already a subscriber, make this issue the first in your subscription with this introductory $15 offer. :: SHARE THIS NEWSLETTER WITH YOUR FRIENDS    Best, Madeline Ostrander Senior Editor, YES! Magazine   Introducing the YES! Breakthrough 15 …   Over the next several weeks, we’ll highlight each of the 15 honorees. Meet four of them now. Will Allen: Growing Justice in Food Deserts Creating access to affordable fresh food in low-income neighborhoods. Grace Boggs: Reviving the Lost City A decades-long revolution to rekindle the soul of urban neighborhoods. Wes Jackson: A Perennial Revolution in Agriculture Revolutionizing agriculture with crops that grow like a prairie. Ai-jen Poo: Organizing Labor—With Love Battling for those on the economic bottom rung—domestic workers.   Looking ahead to Spring…   We the People vs. Wall Street We started planning an issue on corporate power last summer. At the time, many were coming to see that solutions to nearly every concern—from climate change to mass foreclosures, from the health care crisis to joblessness—are stymied by the outsized power of corporations. But what could ordinary people do when faced with gigantic corporations and government officials who all too often act at their behest? The YES! Magazine editors are planning a new issue focused on practical ways to counter the power of corporations and Wall Street. Can you help?                                           LEARN MORE… WANT TO HELP CHOOSE OUR MAGAZINE COVERS? JOIN OUR READERS PANEL TODAY   What’s New Online   7 Ways to Support the Real Job Creator: Main Street by John Cavanagh Turns out most job creation comes from the 99 percent, not the one percent. In Defense of Diplomacy by Stephen Zunes New legislation would make all diplomatic contact with Iran illegal. Stephen Zunes explains why we need to keep the lines of communication open. Time Banking: An Idea Whose Time Has Come? by Edgar Cahn Why let the availability of money determine the range of the possible? Time banks are taking off, in ways you never expected. L.A. and Occupy L.A. Agree: It's Time to End Corporate Personhood by Brooke Jarvis What’s the issue that unites the occupiers and the city they’re occupying? Getting corporate money out of politics.   Did you miss…   Highlights from the last newsletter: :: Military Resistance a Strong Brew Near the gates of Fort Lewis, anti-war veterans serve up support and solidarity (along with double-tall lattes) to their friends in uniform. :: Best Job in the Neighborhood—And They Own It How worker co-ops are expanding despite the rust-belt economy. :: Painting the Town Prosperous Urban artists revive our neighborhoods and show us how to share our gifts.   How to Get More YES!  GIVE THE GIFT OF YES! Two for $20. $10 for each additional gift. We’ll send a gift announcement to each recipient, followed by a full year (4 beautiful issues) of YES! Magazine. Order by December 15th to ensure delivery of announcement by Christmas. SUBSCRIBE TO YES! TODAY A year of YES! Magazine for $15. Plus a bonus issue NONPROFIT. INDEPENDENT. SUBSCRIBER-SUPPORTED. YES! POSTERS Choose from our many inspirational posters, including “We Have More Than Enough Power.”   Letter from the Publisher  Let’s Unstuff the Holidays by Fran Korten I longed for simpler surroundings. So I made a resolution: Each week I would move more stuff out of the house than came in.     Occupy Wall Street  Farmers, Foodies, Radical Homemakers: Time to Occupy Wall Street by Shannon Hayes “I’m usually content to live a life of protest, but the time has come to take my protest to the street.”   This Changes Everything: How the 99% Woke Up by Sarah van Gelder Introducing the movement that’s shifting our vision of what kind of world is possible—from the new book, This Changes Everything: Occupy Wall Street and the 99% Movement.   Occupy Wall Street, Beyond Encampments by Luis Moreno-Caballud As winter arrives and police crack down, how can occupiers keep their movement alive—and help it grow? Veteran activists share lessons from Spain’s Indignados.   :: MORE #OCCUPYWALLSTREET   Web Picks   PHOTO ESSAY A Vending Machine—for Bikes In Minneapolis, two entrepreneurs invented a new way of bringing bike-repair tools to cyclists on the road. YES! is published by the nonprofit Positive Futures Network   ::  www.yesmagazine.org 284 Madrona Way NE, Suite 116, Bainbridge Island, WA 98110-2870, USA  ::  Phone: 206-842-0216

   Subscribe today with this offer   |   Contact YES!

   We never sell or share our email list. To remove yourself from this list, go back to your email and click the unsubscribe link at the top.
   Manage your email subscriptions  |  If this email was forwarded to you, sign up for your own YES! newsletters