May 16, 2010, the day of the now infamous SEIU protest at the home of a Bank of America executive’s home in Chevy Chase, Maryland, also included a less publicized protest at the home of a J.P. Morgan bank executive. The protests were all about denouncing the “evil banks.”
As reported by the Washington Post:
The controversy surrounds a May 16 protest organized by liberal group National People’s Action and the Service Employees International Union.
According to the NPA’s website,
National People’s Action (NPA) is a Network of community power organizations from across the country that work to advance a national economic and racial justice agenda. NPA has over 200 organizers working to unite everyday people in cities, towns, and rural communities throughout the United States. For 38 years NPA has been a leader in the fight to hold banks accountable to the communities in which they serve and profit.
In the 1970s, National People’s Action spearheaded the fight to pass the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act and the Community Reinvestment Act, widely considered to be among the most transformative public policy to grow out of community organizing.
When you open the window to the organization’s Board of Directors, their names appear under the banner of the umbrella organization, Community Voices Heard, Inc. (CVH). Then, under the tab, “Strategic Alliances,” NPA appears.
In 2007, CVH reported receiving $772,474 in donations. Their website lists categories of “supporters.” Under contributing foundations and corporations, the list below is displayed following the statement that, “CVH Would Like To Thank the Following Institutional Organizations For Their Generous Support Of Our Work.”
| Booth Ferris Foundation | New York Women’s Foundation |
| Butler Family Fund | North Star Fund |
| Center for Community Change | Oak Foundation |
| Charles Stewart Mott Foundation | Presbytery of NYC |
| Citibank Local Grants | Public Welfare Foundation |
| Daphne Foundation | Robert Sterling Clark Foundation |
| Dyson Foundation | Rockefeller Foundation |
| Elias Foundation | Scherman Foundation |
| Ford Foundation | Sociological Initiatives Foundation |
| Fund for the City of New York | Solidago Foundation |
| F.B. Heron Foundation | Taproot Foundation |
| Glickenhaus Foundation | Tides Valentine Fund |
| Hill-Snowdon Foundation | Unitarian Universalist Veatch Program at Shelter Rock |
| JPMorgan Chase | United Way of NYC |
| Mertz-Gilmore Foundation | Valentine Perry Snyder Foundation |
| New York Community Trust |
So, the umbrella organization for the National People’s Action, whose anti-banking agenda drove the SEIU protestors to the home of two bank executives in Chevy Chase, ended up co-sponsoring the protest at the private residence of an executive from one of the “generous” institutional organizations that supports their cause.
How about that!
And CVH takes money from Citibank, too. Go figure.
Thanks for bringing that to our attention, Washington Post – not.