MRNY members are elevating the citywide struggle to end the NYPD's harmful and discriminatory Stop & Frisk policies.

This week, one of MRNY's youth members Tyquan is telling his story in a video New York Times exclusive. A young, African-American man from Bushwick, Brooklyn, Tyquan is one of the hundreds of thousands of people who are stopped and frisked every year by the NYPD. 

MRNY member Tyquan Brehon

Even though black and Latino men between the ages of 14 and 24 account for only 4.7 percent of the NYC's population, they accounted for 41 percent of the NYPD's 685,724 stops last year. As a teenager, Tyquan recounts being stopped as many 4 to 5 times per month.

Racial profiling is illegal, but, as Tyquan says in his video, "When you're young and you're black-no matter how you look-you fit the description."

WATCH the Video and Read More...

DREAMers on the Cover of Time Magazine

Time Magazine just revealed the cover for June 25th featuring DREAMers from MRNY's Youth Power Project! The article is a moving piece by renowned journalist Jose Antonio Vargas, who publicly came out last year as undocumented in a New York Times op-ed.

In doing so, Vargas joined thousands of youth, including MRNY members, who have revealed their status as undocumented -- asserting that they are Americans in every way but the paperwork. Together, they are letting politicians, the media and the Supreme Court know that they are going to continue to do whatever it takes to win fair and just immigration reform and pass the DREAM Act.

Check out the full slideshow here. Or you can click to see each one of our courageous young people with a quote about their hopes and aspirations: Oscar, Francisco, Guadalupe, Wilian, Erika, Yenny, and Viviana.

Be sure to pick up a copy in 2 weeks! You can also read and watch a preview of the article here.

Cleaning Up NYC's Filthy Car Wash Industry

This April, the Progressive States Network named New York a national leader in the fight against wage theft, thanks to the strong new protections for workers included in New York's Wage Theft Prevention Act (WTPA). MRNY drafted and led the campaign to pass the WTPA in 2010.

Now, we have formed a unique and powerful collaboration, WASH New York, with New York Communities for Change and with support from the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union. The new partnership is using the protections afforded under the WTPA to organize workers in New York City's notoriously exploitative car wash industry to stand up for their rights and win dignity and fair treatment in their workplaces.

Car washes are big business in NYC. Every day, hundreds of thousands of taxis, livery cabs, and privately owned cars traverse hundreds of miles of the city's roadways and the 1,600 employees of nearly 200 car washes citywide are on the job to clean them up. But in the city's car wash industry, it's not just the cars that are filthy - it's also the labor practices. Read More...

Family Defense Commission Comes to the Aid of Immigrant Detainees

In May, MRNY and community and faith leaders came together to call on the Obama Administration to live up to their promise to focus immigration enforcement energy and resources only on immigrants who pose a threat to public safety. 

It has been a year since the Obama Administration directed the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) to close deportation cases of immigrants who have never gotten into trouble in the United States. Since then, ICE has estimated that fully 7.5% of deportation cases nationally are eligible for closure after review. 

However, in New York City, of the approximately 20,000 cases that ICE has reviewed, only 1%, have been closed so far. Read More...

Voter Mobilization Swells in Long Island

Since MRNY began our non-partisan coalition voter engagement work in Long Island last year, we have contacted nearly 20,000 voters of color, helping increase electoral participation in the areas in which we are working by almost 17%.

Now we're looking ahead to other elections where our communities' voices need to be heard, and registering, engaging, and educating working-class voters of color, who for too long have been ignored by Long Island's elected officials.

Through our project, the Long Island Civic Engagement Table (LICET), an innovative partnership with New York Communities for Change, Central American Refugee Center, the Long Island Immigrant Alliance, and others, we are holding government accountable to communities of color, and are nurturing grassroots electoral participation and leadership. Read More...

Facing Cuts, Students at MRNY Fight to Save Adult Education in NYC

Every year, more than 700 adult immigrant students complete free English, citizenship, Spanish GED and computer classes at MRNY. Statewide, however, only four percent of adults in need of English classes and GED preparation are able to find seats in free classes, making MRNY's class offerings critically important. 

Now, cuts to the Federal, State and City budgets are looming and these classes are at risk of being lost. Students at MRNY are standing up to let elected officials know how important access to adult education really is. Read More...

MRNY's LGBTQ Justice Project Wins Two Awards

Last week, MRNY's Brooklyn LGBTQ Justice Project, Globe, and organizer Ivan Luevanos received special recognition from Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz for their outstanding work educating students and school staff and promoting Gay-Straight Alliances in our communities' high schools.

Earlier this year, our Queens LGBTQ Justice Project, PRYDE, and organizer Daniel Puerto received the Immigrant Heritage Award from City Council Member Daniel Dromm for their work to support the LGBTQ community in Jackson Heights and elevate the voices of transgender victims of police harassment. [Photos]

MRNY Featured in "Activist New York" at the Museum of the City of NY

Activist New York explores social activism in NYC from the 17th century to the present. Come check out this great exhibit -- featuring MRNY and many other movers and shakers in New York City's recent and past history -- on issues of civil rights, immigration, wages, LGBTQ justice, and more.

Using artifacts, photographs, audio and visual presentations, as well as interactive components that seek to tell the entire story of activism in the five boroughs, Activist New York presents the passions and conflicts that underlie the city's history of organizing. [Bonus: Join the discussion in "Four Centuries of Citizen Struggle: How Grassroots Movements Have Grown in New York" on Tuesday, June 19.]

We Made the Front Page of the NY Times!

For the first -- but certainly not the last -- time, MRNY members were on the cover of the New York Times this April when we rallied in Washington, D.C. to protest Arizona's anti-immigrant law, SB1070.

While the Supreme Court heard arguments for and against the law, MRNY members were there to let the court and Jan Brewer know that draconian measures like SB1070 and Alabama's HB 56 promote discrimination and endanger immigrant families. Click here to see us take on Brewer and read the accompanying article.

Youth Present Work at the 4th Annual Social Justice Expo

Students of MRNY's partner school, Bushwick School for Social Justice, exhibited their work at the Fourth Annual Social Justice Expo at New York University, with 300 other high school students. 

After months of analyzing and engaging with pressing social issues, students developed science fair-like projects showcasing their work to tackle topics of immigration, teen pregnancy, the environment, gun violence, tolerance, discrimination, poverty, housing, and education. Guest judges, including City Council Member Robert Jackson, college professors and non-profit leaders, gave feedback and awards. Congratulations BSSJ students! [Photos]

Center for Popular Democracy Up and Running

MRNY's new national sister organization, the Center for Popular Democracy just had its official launch! CPD is working to develop and support cutting-edge state and local campaigns for economic justice, immigrant rights and civil rights, taking our work to the national scale. 

Read more on their website: www.populardemocracy.org