Housing Justice in Bend and Cottage Grove

Dear ROPnet, Oregon has one of the highest rates of homelessness in the country, and our state has experienced a huge increase since the start of the pandemic. With hot summer temperatures spiking, not to mention the smoke rolling off wildfires and into communities, having stable housing is more important than ever.  Organizers across rural Oregon know […]

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KTA: Democracy Education for All

Background: Kitchen Table Activism (KTA) is a monthly activity by the Rural Organizing Project. The idea is that small actions can lead to powerful collective results when groups of people gather to complete the same action across the state of Oregon. ROP works to keep each KTA easily achievable so that groups with other projects […]

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Radio by and for the People

For generations, rural Oregonians have relied on community media to break isolation, share information about community happenings, survive crises, and celebrate art, music, and culture! As wealthy corporations buy up small-town papers and radio stations, human dignity leaders are working hard to support rural media makers. These partnerships allow us to amplify pro-democracy organizing, share […]

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Summer of Pride

All across the state, we are celebrating Juneteenth and Pride in living rooms, parks, and community art centers. Inclusion of all and equality for all is one of the four core pillars of a thriving democracy. In these times of culture war, public celebrations like these are a key way that organizers are holding space […]

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Native Youth Call for Dam Removal

You may have met the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR) Youth Leadership Council at the Rural Caucus and Strategy Session, or read about them in last month’s ROPnet about Human Dignity Awards. In today’s ROPnet, we want to share with you the full story of their powerful campaign to remove the four […]

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Congresspeople are Home. Let’s Talk!

WHY THIS ACTIVITY? The August recess is prime time for human dignity group leaders to meet with their members of Congress since they are home in Oregon for the month. Currently, our two Senators have frequent, open, unscripted, in-person town halls. These “real town halls” are quite different from the sterile, “tele-town halls” that representatives […]

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What happened in the legislative session?

Oregon’s 2023 legislative session ended on June 25th, and if you’re like us, it was a bit overwhelming to keep up with the flurry of headlines as our lawmakers voted on dozens of bills in the final days! Now that we’ve caught our breath, what are the big takeaways from the session? Read on for […]

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A Caucus to Remember

This year’s Caucus was one for the books! On the weekend of May 20th, over 115 people from 23 counties and two tribal communities gathered in Albany for the Saturday Rural Caucus and Strategy Session. Many of us stuck around on Sunday for the Rural Organizing Intensive. We kicked off the weekend on Friday, where […]

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