BUILDING POLITICAL POWER

FOR THE WORKING PEOPLE OF PHILADELPHIA

Reclaim Philadelphia started in 2016, when about 35 neighbors came out of the Bernie campaign with a simple idea: this city's government should answer to the people who live here. Ten years later we're roughly 600 members across eight neighborhood chapters.

We're not a party and we're not a faction of one. We’re a political home for those who see how much the machine has exploited them — including the two parties — and are ready to fight back.

The problem isn't that the system is broken. The system is working the way the people who bought it intended. But systems can be changed, and we vastly outnumber them if we choose to organize and exert our power.

This isn’t debate or theory, this is action. Our mission is real political power. That includes immediate material wins for Philadelphians today in addition to progress on the ultimate vision of a democracy free from corruption and corporate influence down the road.

Real power requires collective effort. We will coordinate with many different types of allies. Some may be unexpected or vilified by the corporate-owned media. Some may have conflicting visions on specifics. None of that matters until we defeat the common enemy.

We are member-led and model a true democracy. ‍Where we choose to use our power is where our members choose to put their labor and money to work. All choices are made through a transparent process. Once decided, we fight for the common cause and not against each other.

We welcome everyone. ‍Reclaim welcomes all cultures, identities, and political backgrounds so long as you stand with your neighbors and against the injustices of a system that causes all of us harm. We are less effective when we isolate from one another because of our differences, and they know that and weaponize that.

VALUES

  • We need an economy built for everyone, starting with good jobs and wages, community investment, and expansive public goods and services.

  • Everyone deserves a home that’s healthy, safe, accessible, and permanently affordable. We aim to eradicate housing insecurity and homelessness and fight for high-quality housing for everyone, wherever they choose to live.

  • Physical, mental, and reproductive health services should be free and accessible to everyone in their communities. Community health also requires harm reduction, the end of gun violence, and the end of poverty.

  • We support urgent action including large-scale green public investment to fight the climate crisis, preserve our planet, and repair the damage of environmental racism. We all deserve clean air and water, healthy food, great mass transit, and vibrant green spaces.

  • Our neighbors and neighborhoods deserve the deep material investments that will help keep all of us safe, including violence interruption and prevention, crisis intervention, and support for those impacted by violence.

  • Universal free public education for children and adults is critical to a thriving democracy. We fight for neighborhood public schools with safe and modern facilities and caring staff and teachers.

  • Our values extend to everyone, regardless of immigration status. We must work to end the global turmoil caused by the United States abroad while we welcome and support new Philadelphians of all backgrounds.

  • We believe the economy should be run by all of us. Expanding and empowering the organized labor movement is essential for improving everyone’s lives in the workplace and fighting for the common good.

  • We work to defeat the racism and white supremacy built into the foundation of this country, dismantle the structures that perpetuate them, and repair the harm. 

  • We must end structures that harm women, LGBTQ people, and people who don’t conform to traditional gender norms. Gender-based oppression makes all of us less free.

  • No one is disposable. We recognize the humanity of those who do harm and those who experience it. We work to end mass incarceration and police and state violence, to abolish punitive systems, and to create lasting alternatives to surveillance and imprisonment.

“The movement that gave birth to the victory today called themselves 'Reclaim’ …Perhaps we need to reclaim our communities and get a little bit more engaged.”

— Sharif Street, in his concession to Reclaim-endorsed candidate Chris Rabb in the PA-3 US Congressional Race