New American Progressives seeks to include a spiritual component—self-awareness and empathy—to the political world. For too long, we on the left have focused on copying right wing tactics, such as controlling the language of debate, raising money through corporations that are not good corporate citizens, and focusing on what the progressive movement can do for certain segments of society. We hypocritically call the right tribalistic, yet we are just as tribal: what can you do for unions? What can you do for LGBTQ? What can you do for feminists? What can you do for Black Lives Matter? These are the questions that liberals ask. I think it’s a heresy of progressive thought to forget that we are men for others and that we are meant to serve, so there should the questions I like to hear about usually included the words unity or imply it unity. And the Progressive Movement has always been at its political apex when we had a candidate that just esoterically emanated the most important virtue–the virtue that defines progressivism–and that that virtue is empathy. True progress can never be made without empathy. President Obama encapsulated that empathy and he exhumed it both in a spiritual sense and rhetorically. One could feel that he genuinely believes in unity, empathy, and hope.
So our mission is to take back progressivism from the hostage situation it is in with the ideologues and dogmatists of the world. Progressivism does not require anyone to adhere to a rigid ideological platform. Progressivism is born out of spirituality. It is an approach to politics; it is not meant to adopt a dictatorial system or any sort of hierarchy.
In many ways, we can apply the lessons of the mystics and prophets of various faiths. Genesis teaches us that the ability to reason is what makes us human and a divine reflection. However, we must be careful to recognize that reason is merely a tool. It doesn’t define you. I’m the West, we let our thoughts define us. We are more than our thoughts. We have senses, we have a soul, and we have a body. It is the theme of the most common prayer, The Sign of The Cross, The Father (mind) the Son (body) and the Holy Spirit (our soul).
We aim to remind progressive people, the empathic people of the world, that this movement has its roots in spirituality, for instance, Martin Luther King Jr and his Christian spirituality.
We also allow discuss national politics, international relations, and current affairs.
May you find the joy in every breath as God says yes to you–yes you are still alive! Remember to always try to live in the now.
— Read on sbprogressives.com/about/
The New American Progressive
I grew up in the Old Harbor Housing Development in the Irish American neighborhood of South Boston. Currently, Southie has gained fame for being the home of gangsters, powerful politicians, and as the toughest inner city neighborhood in America. It is the home of Speaker of the House McCormick; but it’s the home of three housing projects as well. It’s the home of Senate President Bulger; but it’s also the home of Jimmy “Whitey” Bulger—the most infamous gangster of our generation.
I survived the streets of South Boston by learning to defend myself in a boxing gym with national champions and professional boxers. I still box to this day. I also am very blessed to come from a family that values education and demands top academic performance. Out of my Irish grandmother, who has her high school diploma, she had a daughter that put herself through nursing school as a single mom (my mother); out of four grandchildren, I went to Boston College High School founded in 1864 by the Jesuits as Boston College, and the girls went to Fontbonne Academy. Both are college preparatory schools run by the Jesuits and the Sisters of Saint Joseph, respectively. These Catholic orders inculcate their students with the belief that we are meant to be of service to others. Three of the four have Bachelors Degrees. One has a graduate degree, and I am a graduate degree candidate at Suffolk University in marketing. My BA is in political science.
I ran a multiplicity of Boston campaigns. I managed campaigns and was field coordinator. However, as field coordinator, my role was that of a campaign manager. I developed the theme, message, and strategy. The candidate and I start off with a SWOT analysis, and go from their. It requires tremendous trust for a public official to put her reputation in your hands, to trust you with their deepest, darkest secrets, and to develop a working relationship, so that the candidate does not need to be a campaign manager. Not all candidates are political scientists who grew up in politics and knew that campaigning was one of their callings.
I remember taking on a campaign managing role in one of my campaigns en medias res, and it was a campaign manager’s worst nightmare: I had an articulate, courageous, progressive candidate from a great Latino family, including a father who was a Boston Public School teacher. However, he knew not how to campaign. I proudly took over that campaign. That candidate went on to serve as the Boston Coordinator for Kennedy’s U.S. Senate bid.
I ran a presidential campaign for a labor union, and I needed to utilize my Southie street smarts to come out with the win.
I worked for the Obama ‘08 Campaign as a co-founder of South Boston for Obama. I then worked for him for a year in NH, where I got to meet and speak with him.
I served in two branches of government. I worked for the Committee for Public Counsel Services (public defenders), and, as an Adams, who going all the way back to John Adams, believed that the keystone to free society was fair and proper representation under the law for all people, no matter the court of public opinion.
I also worked in the legislative branch for a statesman named Senator Hart. I did constituent service work, which was so rewarding. I got to give back to a community that gave me the opportunity to achieve my dreams and goals.
As an undergraduate at Suffolk University where I served as the President of the Pre-Law Association and graduated with a 3.4 GPA, I was honored to be given a scholarship to study the effects of fascism and communism on Central Europe after writing a paper about my own family’s tragic experiences in Poland during Nazi occupation. I completed an independent study with a brilliant political scientist, Kenneth Cosgrove, PhD., author of Branded Conservatives, opened my eyes up to the ways in which conservatives successfully utilize modern marketing techniques to win elections. They shifted the country to the right with their use of marketing strategies.
I am currently an MSM (Masters in Science in Marketing) candidate at Suffolk University. I am proficient with Wordpress and Squarespace; Google Analytics; social media advertising campaigns; and other forms of marketing like STP (Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning).
This site will be the home of my new blog that will discuss politics and marketing.
I hope my life experience and my education in these fields creates a healthy dialogue that can lead to higher truths.
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