Every year members of the Oakland Progressives Party Co-Host Committee are charged with nominating and voting for Oakland’s most progressive organizations, activists and elected officials. This year, our Co-Hosts’ nominations and votes say one thing about this moment in Oakland’s progressive movement: Direct Action is Progress in Action.
We have never announced the winners of the Townie Awards before the event before. But this year’s party is unlike any other party that has ever come before it. We want to lift up this year’s Townie Award Winners before the event so that you can join us in celebrating Oakland’s most progressive organizations and activists, and their commitment to working on the cutting edge of the nation’s most pressing issues of our time.
We are proud to announce the 2015 Oakland Progressive Party Townie Award recipients:
- Eco-Warrior Townie Award will go to Movement Generation for their community of color led work to inform and support a Just Transition.
- Volunteer Townie Award will go to Eastlake United for Justice for their resident-led fight to ensure the proposed E12th Street development includes affordable housing that keeps Oakland residents in the neighborhood.
- Government Official Townie Award will go to Assemblymember Tony Thurmond, AD 15, for his leadership and commitment to fixing California’s education system.
- Youth Advocate Townie Award will go to the Black Organizing Project who is working to end the criminalization of Black and Brown youth in Oakland Unified School District.
- Townie Award of the Year will go to The Black Friday 14 who put their bodies on the line last November to bring attention to the police murder of Mike Brown. These brave activists made the national news when they shut down BART for nearly 4 hours on the busiest shopping day of the year wearing shirts that said #BlackLivesMatter.
This year’s Oakland Progressives Party is sure to be filled with powerful testimonies from this awe-inspiring group of Townie Awardees.
Be sure that you have a front row seat by purchasing your $40 general admission ticket today!