Contact: Johanna Kichton, press@peoplesaction.org, 202.660.0605
WASHINGTON, D.C.—People’s Action today announced its endorsement of Brittany Ramos DeBarros in her bid to secure New York’s 11th Congressional District, the only Republican-held turf in New York City. The endorsement is part of People’s Action’s movement politics strategy to elect progressive champions in Republican held turf. Ramos DeBarros is running a movement politics, people-powered campaign and will work to advance the People’s Action People’s Platform once elected. Ramos DeBarros is also endorsed by People’s Action member organizations, Community Voices Heard Power (CVHPower) and Citizen Action of New York.
“Brittany Ramos DeBarros is the only candidate in this race who will fight for the multiracial working class and against the wealthy elites to make sure our government works for all of us,” People’s Action Director of Movement Politics Brooke Adams said. “We need to elect Brittany, secure this district, and save the Democratic majority in Congress.”
“I’m running for Congress because at every turn of my life, I’ve seen broken promises from leaders and systems that fail my communities. I believe there’s enough to go around so everyone can live in dignity but we need leaders who will put people and planet over profit and politics. People’s Action has been fighting to make just such a future possible and I know together we can win this race, and most importantly, win big for the people,” Congressional Candidate Brittany Ramos DeBarros said.
“As an organization that is focused on centering the voice of Black Women in legislation and electoral politics, Community Voices Heard Power is proud to endorse its own ‘Follow Black Women Project’ member, Brittany Ramos DeBarros, to represent New York’s 11th Congressional District in the U.S. Congress,” Executive Director of CVHPower Juanita O. Lewis said. “The time is now to follow Black women with a strong agenda and who are centering the issues of education, housing, and healthcare.”
“We did not find out about Brittany from an ad or an article; we found out about Brittany in our community when she organized her supporters to help clean out basements after Hurricane Ida,” CVHPower member and Staten Island Resident Dominique Bernucca-Hood said. “This is an example of the kind of tangible on-the-ground work you can make a reality when you attach your organizing to the people you seek to represent rather than to the election cycle. As someone who grew up on a block now plastered over with shiny new developments, I can tell you that this island has some of the last real neighborhoods left in this city, and Brittany Ramos DeBarros is fighting for them all. That’s why we are proud to stand with her.”
Brittany Ramos DeBarros is a proud Afro-Latina Staten Islander, community organizer, and combat veteran running for Congress in New York’s 11th District. She grew up in a deeply patriotic military family and entered the Army in order to help pay for college. DeBarros’ time in Afghanistan changed her mind about war, as she came home angry, hurt, and feeling betrayed by a system that covered up greed and corruption with the veneer of freedom. She quickly realized that these same problems were happening at home, across the country and directly within her own community. DeBarros is determined to help lead the fight to build a better, more just world; the world that we deserve.
People’s Action’s Movement Politics program recruits, runs, and elects progressives into local and statewide offices across the country. Since 2016, People’s Action has helped elect over 380 movement politics candidates. The program focuses on electing women, people of color, and low-income people who are grounded in progressive movement building with our member organizations.
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People’s Action is a national network of 40 state and local grassroots, power-building organizations in 30 states, united in fighting for justice. We operate the largest progressive rural organizing project in the country. People’s Action and its member organizations coordinated one of the biggest distributed organizing programs in rural areas last election season.