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About DUHC
Mission
Organizational History
Program Areas
Projects & Current Activities
Who We Are
Resisting the Dominant System Program
Current projects in this program:
 • Humboldt
Coalition for Community Rights (Measure T)
In June 2006 Humboldt County passed groundbreaking legislation that
banned non-local corporations from making financial contrbutions to
local elections. We met with local community organizaters for over
nine months before launching the Humboldt Coalition for Community Rights
- the campaign committee that ran Measure T. Democracy Unlimited is
continuing to provide leadership on this project by developing materials
and offering trainings for other communities interested in passing
similar legislation, and by spearheading local education and legal
support for the new law.
Please visit the campaign website for more
information: www.VoteLocalControl.org.
This project also falls within our Building Alternatives Program and
our Shifting Culture Program.
• Support to the City of Arcata Committee on Democracy and Corporations
This is the committee that was created by the Measure F ballot initiative
in 1998 – the “Arcata Advisory Measure on Democracy and Corporations”
– which Democracy Unlimited helped provoke. This committee was
formed to address issues of democracy and corporations in an ongoing
way. Democracy Unlimited provides resources and advice to the committee.
For more information about their current work or the history of the
committee, please see the Committee’s
website.
This project also falls within our Building Alternatives Program
and our Shifting Culture Program.
• Community Issues
While our primary focus is not to fight fires, we do lend support
to coalitions and other organizations that form to challenge corporations
that try to determine our community's future. Current issues and the
primary groups we have worked with recently:
Creating & Nurturing Alternatives Program
Current projects in this program:
 • Community
Currency - the Humboldt Exchange
Humboldt Exchange Community Currency is issued by the
people of Humboldt County to increase our local money supply. Because
it remains local, this currency enhances and strengthens our local
economy. A local person is employed every time the bills circulate,
and the value never drains away to distant parts of the country
or world. Since local currencies only have value only when circulating,
participants emphasize earning and spending Community Currency
rather than saving it.
For more information please visit the Humboldt Exchange website - www.HumboldtExchange.org.
 • Humboldt
County Independent Business Alliance
HIBA is a coalition of locally-owned independent businesses, citizens
and community organizations united to support home town businesses in
Humboldt County. IBAs are a proven tool for helping maintain unique community
character, ensuring continued opportunities for entrepreneurs, building
local economic strength, and preventing the displacement of locally-owned
businesses by chains. IBAs help return decision-making ability over our
community's future to the people who live here.
For more information please visit the HIBA website - www.HumIBA.org.
 • Partnership with Green Fire Farm - Community
Supported Agriculture
CSA is a partnership of mutual commitment between a farm and a community
of supporters which provides a direct link between the production and
consumption of food. Supporters cover a farm's yearly operating budget
by purchasing a share of the season's harvest. CSA members make a commitment
to support the farm throughout the season, and assume the costs, risks
and bounty of growing food along with the farmer or grower. Members
help pay for seeds, fertilizer, water, equipment maintenance, labor,
etc. In return, the farm provides a healthy supply of seasonal fresh
produce throughout the growing season. Becoming a member creates a
responsible relationship between people and the food they eat, the
land on which it is grown and those who grow it.
Supporting local organic farmers directly through CSA is one way to
decrease dependence on corporate agriculture and decreases dependence
on fossil fuels (it makes a BIG difference when your food only travels
10 miles or so to reach your table vs. hundreds or thousands of miles!)
A share in a local, organic farm is the only share that anyone should
own!
Democracy Unlimited has teamed up with Green
Fire Farm (in Hoopa)
to offer farm fresh produce to Eureka residents, delivered weekly.
We also work to connect citizens to other CSA farms,
and to help shareholders cooperate to split shares if a full share
is too much for one household.
For more information about all the CSAs in Humboldt and Mendocino
counties, click here.
Organizing Skills
and Education Program
Current projects in this program:
• Skills-Building and Community Organizing Development
We strive to be a source of education and skills development for fellow organizers
in Humboldt County. We have brought skilled organizers to Humboldt County to
help develop our community's capacity to organize ourselves.
Past trainers have included George Lakey of Training
for Change in Philadelphia for a three day intensive “Training
for Social Action Trainers," Adrienne Maree Brown of the Ruckus
Society to discuss movement strategy,
Patrick Reinsborough of smartMeme for
a training on media and communications strategy.
• Skillshare (Building Alternatives/Developing Organizing
Skills)
Our first skillshare was such a success -- 21 workshops and over 100 happy people
-- that we plan to make it an annual event! In the words of one participant:
“[The skillshare] ranks up there in the top five all time
awesome things I’ve been lucky enough to be a part of. It was
so well organized, ran so smoothly and everybody there learned so
much...People from all over Humboldt shared their skills on a number
of different topics. Hour-long workshops included such topics as
bike fixing, Do It Yourself Tailoring, Automotive Basics & Preventative
Maintenance, Getting a Website on the Internet, Home Mead Brewing,
Self Defense and many more put on by a host of extremely talented
local people.”
- Skillshare workshop presenter, Jess McGuinty, in an unsolicited
letter to the Times-Standard.
Click here for info from Skillshare
2005 | Click here for info from Skillshare
2006 | Click here for info
from Skillshare 2007
This project also falls within our Building Alternatives Program.
In 2008 we are taking a break from this project.
Shifting Culture
Current projects in this program:
• Community Rights Outreach
Through the process of passing Measure T, we learned a great deal about
writing legislation, building coalitions and running citizen's initiatives.
In 2007 we received a foundation grant to offer support to other
communities interested in running similar campaigns. We are currently
developing a manual and documentary video, and we are available to
visit communities and provide campaign planning support and consultation.
If you are interested in bringing Democracy Unlimited to your community
to pass a law that challenges corporate personhood, please contact
us.
• Leading Workshops & Talks
We regularly lead our workshop "1st Steps in Dismantling Corporate Rule" which
offers an introduction to the history of the modern corporation and
what we can do to restore democracy. We also offer workshops on specific
issues including food security, the environment, and public education.
We offer our 1st Steps workshop locally every few months and have
traveled to many places throughout the country to lead it in other
communities as well. If you are interested in bringing a Democracy
Unlimited workshop to your community please see our Workshops page.
We have also developed an intensive weekend training/retreat called Community
Organizing for Deep Democracy that we offer once a year in Humboldt
County to the general public from across the country, and to organizations
and community groups in their localities.
We have also presented to countless classrooms in high schools and colleges.
If you are interested in bringing a DUHC presenter to your class, please contact
us.
• Lending Resource Library
We maintain a library of materials that we make available to the community
by loan. We carefully choose books that focus on social change theory,
example, history and practice. Our library also includes DVDs and audio
tapes. You
can now view our all our library books online.
If you would like to donate book or materials to the library or schedule
a viewing appointment please contact us.
• A Corporate History of Humboldt County
Ryan Emenaker, a former DUHC Steering Committee member
undertook a large-scale Masters thesis project when he was
a student at Humboldt State University. He researched the history
of corporations and people’s
movements in Humboldt County. We are currently looking for a volunteer
or intern to use his research to collaborate with us to publish the
findings in a pamphlet that will be made available to the public. This
project falls within our educational program as we feel it is imperative
to uncover the rich histories of corporate rule and the struggles against
it.
Past Projects & Activities
• Click here to see our 2005
Highlights, with information about projects and activities in
2005.
• Click here to see our 2006
Highlights, with
information about projects and activities in 2006.
• Click here to see our
2007 Highlights,
with information about projects and activities in 2007.
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