Main Street Alliance Says #HatehasnoBizHere
The Main Street Alliance rallies small business owners to defend values of equality and inclusivity. Offers free signs and artwork to place in windows designating their business as a hate free safe space.
We’ve placed the content of the Main Street Business Alliance below. You can visit their website for more details and to contact them.
The Main Street Alliance is reaching out to the public and Oregon Small Business Leaders to let them know that Main Street Alliance chapters around the country are coming together with the national team to stand up for and defend the values at the local and national levels.
Last year, when Trump’s rhetoric started to target minority groups, MSA businesses around the country responded by putting up signs in their stores and business windows proclaiming that All Are Welcome Here and Hate Has No Business Here. These signs signaled that community leaders would not give in to the negative, fear based rhetoric and energy that was being promulgated on the national stage and that was unfortunately resonating with so many Americans and threatening the security of so many more. Now more than ever, reaffirming the values of equality and inclusivity — to caring for each other — is an important message for us all to be trumpeting as leaders in our communities and as stewards of your community’s meeting places — in your cafes and stores and so on. This week — and moving forward — I would encourage you to continue to make this public and visual statement. These posters can be printed on your regular printer and displayed wherever makes sense to you. If you would like us to bring you a copy, just ask and we will deliver it.
On a similar note — I would encourage you to keep an eye on our facebook and twitter posts and to re-post and amplify those messages across your social media networks. We will be posting value based messages and highlighting testimonials from MSA businesses around the state and the country.
But what else can we do?
We can do what MSA does best. We will advocate and influence public dialogue — both at the state level, as we have done before, and with a greater focus at the federal level now too.
MSA State Executive Team Members have already been on a national call with board members from other MSA chapters to discuss our response and to make a plan to react to the policy proposals that Trump has outlined for his first 100 days in office. He has discussed about immigration, deportation, repealing the Affordable Care Act, deregulating business and the fossil fuel industry — to name a few. MSA business owners across the country have a critical role to play and a critical voice to raise to push back and to protect our values and the interests of small businesses, workers, and our communities.
At the state level, I want to emphasize that Oregon can continue to push forward for positive change.
Statewide, we are calling on MSA members to stand up and be the voices in their community that close that deep divide that so many of us are feeling this week. We look to you to create a safe and welcoming space for your community-regardless of their race, ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation. If you would like to join the actions happening across our state please contact me today! We have 5 target regions and are looking for Equity Spokespeople in each, to host a community event. We need to share space with those being targeted and stand in solidarity with one another, now more than ever.
We are so fortunate to live in a state like Oregon and have the opportunity to, not just hold fast to our values, but to continue to make progress for ALL Oregonians at the state level. Progress and innovation for the time being will be the business of state governments and Oregon can and will be a leader among states.
Our agenda here does not falter. We will continue to work on issues to ensure small businesses and their employees are being supported including capital access and business development. We will continue to advocate for family and medical leave and for the expansion and improvement of health care in our state. We have a great legislature in Oregon and great relationships with so many of our legislative leaders. We can and will continue to move forward with our work locally.
Our project to develop a long term strategic economic development plan is even more important now than it was before. Oregon needs a clear direction forward and we must help to craft and drive a plan for Oregon to reduce our exposure to the increasing unpredictability at that federal level.
We want to personally thank you for being a leader with MSA-OR. We have a powerful voice in Oregon and a vitally important role both here and in partnership with the rest of the MSA chapters around the country. We are grateful for all that you do and for all that we will do together over the next weeks, months, and years.
Yours in Solidarity,
Iris
Iris Hodge
