The People’s PA

Please read our Statement of Purpose and Values before filling out a PA Request Form!

TEENGRP-251.JPG
 
 

The People’s PA is a resource of Sound Reinforcement gear and generators, available for use by community leaders and organizers to respond to crises, resist injustice, and to amplify their voices as we advocate for Liberatory Futures, in Philly and beyond.


We are grateful to be able to offer our set-up, mobile amplification and tear down for organizers and people-powered movements for use in Direct Action, free of charge.
We also provide an on-the-ground volunteer to make sure that sound for the event runs smoothly, and leaders can focus on the work at hand. We also aspire to provide training, support and compensation for Women and Trans folks who would like to use this equipment to support direct action, and in the spirit of GRP’s work, provide an empowering and accessible space to learn and use audio equipment.

We recognize how non-profits often reinforce a dynamic of inequity around community services and care, and acknowledge the long, troubled history of nonprofits and marginalized people. By design, they contribute to the ways capitalism maintains its legitimacy, and reinforce the divide between people with immense wealth and those who suffer deep poverty/limited opportunity.  

We recognize that this isn’t a service: it is our responsibility to our community.  Further, we recognize that this offering doesn’t absolve or excuse us from the internal work our community mandates. Because GRP has chosen to utilize this structure to gain access to resources otherwise unavailable to the communities we serve, it is our responsibility to interrogate and criticize the structures, dismantle institutional oppression from within, and leverage our resources wherever possible - including fiscal sponsorship, free/sliding scale programs, stipends for participants & competitive pay for youth, and material support of community organizers.

We center the voices of QTBIPOC, anyone who has experienced systemic racism, transphobia, houselessness or has been incarcerated before anyone else.  We also believe in the power of turning up our youth! We pledge to leverage our resources to support their efforts, without expectation or reciprocity or acknowledgment. As a feminist and abolitionist organization, we will not amplify or give platform to police or law enforcement, political leaders maligned with our Points of Unity or private/public entities that contribute to the systemic violence and injustice that impact these communities. We reserve the right to turn the mic off if a speaker is being racist, sexist, transphobic, classist, or ableist or violates our Points of Unity.

Tools needed to mobilize safely and effectively during Pandemic must be accessible.
This is only one articulation of shifting power we hope to practice at our organization. This offering is a practice of community care, and we are hopeful that it will contribute to the sustainability of our work against violence, in the short and long term.



Please Note:

  • If we can’t support your request, we will do our best to direct you to other similar resources in Philly.

  • At this time, we are pausing on loaning instruments or receiving donations.