They had realized that our members and NOC delegates are overwhelmingly populist and they were the outliers. Claims made on my podcast Tuesday about the Movement for a People's Party National Chair have thrown the future of the group into doubt Eoin Higgins Jul 13, 2022 8 1 Accusations of sexual assault and harassment against Nick Brana have thrown the future of his political group the Movement for a Peoples Party into doubt. I thoroughly enjoyed your speech, it was nice to be in the company of interesting, level-headed people. Follow him on Twitter: @Nick_Brana. Interview with Nick Brana, founder of Movement for a People's Party, conducted by Scott Harris August 26, 2020 Throughout the 2020 Democratic National Convention virtual broadcast, a concerted effort was made to project an image of party unity. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. That, at least, was my impression after I accessed the organizations super-duper, top-secret political outreach data. We had been in a consensual relationship that she had initiated. Also SUBSCRIBE to Status Coup on. While this NDA obviously would not stand up to a legal challenge, and, as will soon become clear, MPP has neither the resources nor ability to wage war in court, my experiences speaking with former members showed me how a threateningly worded legal document can serve as a powerful tool to silence people. Expect those who were removed to attack on DNC-aligned and billionaire-funded media outlets that have long sought to bring down the Peoples Party, especially since Force the Vote. Soon after the email from MPPs general counsel came informing the four board members of their removal, they lost access to MPPs Slack channel, Google Drive, and their MPP email addresses. Despite claiming to be a serious contender for third-party status in the US, the group hasnt made much of an attempt to gain ballot access around the country and appears more interested in posting on Twitter and getting Brana on YouTube shows like Jimmy Dore. Posted by. WebFrom Nick Brana, Movement for a People's Party (found in my Inbox this evening) Close. As mentioned in my previous article, the MPP requires prospective members to sign a comically onerous Non-Disclosure Agreement. Instead of running against me in last years interim chair election or this years national committee chair election, they tried to remove me through false allegations. A democratic decision-making process which involves volunteers at all levels in decisions about goals and how work is done, b. What they detailed was systemic dysfunction, a complete absence of democracy in the leadership hierarchy, little-to-no financial transparency provided, and a consistent pattern of disrespect from leadership, which manifested sometimes in ableist and racist behaviors that will be outlined in this article. During a live recording of The Flashpoint Podcast Tuesday afternoon, former MPP member Paula Jean Swearengin claimed that she had witnessed Brana attempting to force himself on the groups former executive director Zana Day. They had already begun reorienting the partys message away from economic populism and towards identity politics, a transformation that alarmed many volunteers. Their social media accounts have deployed a familiar, but still disappointing, response to criticismsmearing and attacking those making claims and accusations that are unfavorable to Brana and the group. Multiple sources told Status Coup that on Saturday February 19th, Clarke and four other board members, Thomas Royko, Todd Jelen, David Fishel, and David Schmelzer sent a petition to other members of the partial MPP board. They had already begun reorienting the partys message away from economic populism and towards identity politics, a transformation that alarmed many volunteers. Steve Coleman described to us an instance in which participants of the Slack were debating whether or not it was acceptable for white people to use racial slurs like the N word. What the hell is the G Hive? was a question I frequently asked myself as I learned more about MPP. I compared Nick Branas fledgling Movement for a Peoples Party to Ja Rule and Billy McFarlands fraudulent Fyre Festival, Martin advocated a modest, achievable party-building strategy, an online coven of demented Kamala Harris cultists and center-right pro-Hillary zealots, some of whom have run bot networks in the past, she lost her Ohio race last night to establishment Democrat Shontel Brown, See No Evil: Prison Labor Rampant in US, but Barely Registers on Medias Radar Screen, WASHINGTON BABYLON IS ON VACATION UNTIL AUGUST 23. Distractions aside, the MPPs most recent IRS filing from last Friday paints a worrying picture and provides hints as to how a group promising to take on the two-party duopoly has frittered its money away. Through multiple sources, including Clarke, Status Coup learned of an abrupt two-to- three day period between Saturday February 19th and Monday February 21st where five board members were abruptly removed from MPPs board after they had called for an emergency meeting to go over the findings of the investigation into Brana. Force the Vote, a fleeting tactic of dubious merit at the time to pressure progressive congressional representatives to force a floor vote on Medicare for All was relevant for all of two weeks, but quickly became a branding exercise for media(ocrities) like Jimmy Dore and Briahna Joy Gray. Nevertheless, Brana continued to seize upon more ambiguous statements from Sanders in order to play up expectations. ", Want more investigative reporting and unique commentary about the controlled demolition of the working class and most vulnerable? He earned his BA in sociology and environmental policy at William & Mary and lives in Virginia, outside of Washington D.C. But, weeks later, concerns mounted that one of the SICs members was leaking information to Brana. They were happening on my husbands Zoom, because MPP didnt have extra Zooms for me to use, Johnston told us, impressing the energy and time she expended organizing for the group. Follow him on Twitter: @Nick_Brana. Brana was harassed by Leftists after a #MeToo allegation, as well as other fractures, were directed at him. The lack of financial transparency and democratically elected leadership were major concerns for Renee. I am a current volunteer of MPP and a few of the people interviewed in this article were not good faith actors. The Party was founded from the ashes of the 2016 Bernie Sanders campaign, after Brana and others called for Sanders to leave the Democratic Party and run under a new populist party. WebThe Movement for a People's Party (MPP), also known simply as the People's Party, is a progressive political organization in the United States aimed at "forming a major new political party free of corporate money and influence".. Nick Brana formed the party after the 2016 presidential election as "Draft Bernie for a People's Party." Bif Crowley. But member attrition is the least of MPPs worries. Share this post. Status Coup has reviewed documents that confirm the investigation was launched in the middle of December 2021. Organization building is different than organizing. [5] In 2017, Brana formed the group out of the "Draft Bernie for a People's Party",[1] which failed to gain Sanders's support. A mean tweet? Despite The Vanguards numerous requests for comment and participation in open forums and dialogue, the Movement for a Peoples Party leadership left all requests for comment and to appear on the podcast unanswered. I was relieved. When they want to be rid of the people who ask too many questions or push for too much change they suddenly become bad actors and Democratic Party infiltrators and find themselves removed. Many members objected to such extravagant spending for a third party just getting off the ground, especially considering that MPP already had a group of artists and skilled professionals in graphic design. The Movement for a People's Party (MPP), also known simply as the People's Party, is a progressive political organization in the United States aimed at "forming a major new political party free of corporate money and influence".[4]. In a statement released by them, they cite members of the official Peoples Party Slack spreading Vaccine misinformation and harassing members who bring up the convoy being fueled by White Supremacists and being denounced by Labor Groups, as the crux of their decision. My friends, I have been accused of sexual harassment. Things are working smoothly, multiple States are preparing to launch, mistakes are being owned and issues are being resolved. The accusations come amidst a great deal of turmoil and struggle for control of He was the national political outreach coordinator with Bernie 2016. WebThe Movement for a People's Party (MPP), also known simply as the People's Party, is a progressive political organization in the United States aimed at "forming a major new political party free of corporate money and influence".. Nick Brana formed the party after the 2016 presidential election as "Draft Bernie for a People's Party." Uff da!!! The Peoples Party is a populist party. [9], In 2018, the Movement for a People's Party posted its mission statement to pressure the major parties into adopting a progressive agenda. Nick Brana - #PeoplesParty @nick_brana National Chair, @PeoplesParty_US . This comparison was inaccurate. But, as the investigation continuedand Brana allegedly retaliated against other MPP stafferstwo out of the four members of the SIC escalated their recommendations to calling for Brana to be removed as MPP national chair and board member. He was the national political outreach coordinator with Bernie 2016. Rather than work on the petition in good faith, the board, led by Nick Brana, decided to remove and purge the petitioners from the party. He was the national political outreach coordinator with Bernie 2016 and founding electoral manager with Our Revolution. Nick Brana Of The People's Party Interviews Chris Hedges They Spat So Much Truth (To Power) In This Interview I Needed A Large Towel After Hearing It. Its clear, however, that he was either lying or that the MPP had a disastrous second quarter. Had there been any actual evidence, the investigation would have concluded quickly. I can confirm that I was one of four MPP board members serving on a special investigative committee investigating accusations of sexual harassment against MPP chair Nick Brana, Regina Clarke, one of five MPP board members who was abruptly removed from the board on Sunday February 20th and Monday February 21st, told Status Coup. Sometimes the anti-Semitism is overt, other times it is more shaded. Joe Cheray, a disability activist from Topeka, Kansas told us she got booted from the organization after repeatedly suggesting that they include subtitles and American Sign Language translation as a part of their weekly live-streamed national calls. These board members wanted to convert it into a more liberal and woke party. After the rally, we'll march to the White House and deliver our demands to Warmonger-in-Chief Joe Biden. Nick Brana is the founder and national coordinator with the Movement for a Peoples Party. Renee Johnston got involved with the MPP after being inspired by the Peoples Convention in August. [12][13], On December 1, 2020, the first People's Party state organization was registered in Maine. In recent days it has become abundantly clear that the would-be third party is such a disaster that as far as musical festivals go, Woodstock 99 serves as a far better metaphor. Nick Brana - #PeoplesParty @nick_brana National Chair, @PeoplesParty_US . General strike may be our only hope for real change, elections have way too many roadblocks, This site requires JavaScript to run correctly. They even responded to Rodrigos personal story of suffering a vaccine injury, Bells palsy, by alleging that it hadnt actually happened. As far as I can tell, Campbell backed Andrew Gillum against Ron DeSantis in Floridas 2018 gubernatorial election, backed Joe Biden against Donald Trump in 2020 because he lives in a swing state, attacked Jimmy Dore and criticized MPP, FTV and M4M4A. 3. They had no closed captioning on the calls, and they had no ASL. Yep, like I said, maybe Im just a pessimist. An early signer of the petition of grievances, Pfeffer has been at the forefront of the effort to hold the MPP leadership accountable. Its cult like, Martin told me. The other two members of the SIC, who multiple sources described as pro-Brana, called for sticking to the original six-month probationary period with the requisite trainings Brana would have to take. Real Progressive The Terry Allen Show But we do it. Tuesday afternoon, former MPP member Paula Jean Swearengin claimed that she had witnessed Brana attempting to force himself on the groups former executive director Zana Day. "Nick started saying that he wanted to have sex. In my last article, I suggested that it had about $80,000 cash on hand, a paltry sum for a group pledging to run multiple congressional campaigns by the next electoral cycle. Its part of a pattern, she told me. Without a response from him, we can cite the most recent public message from MPPs Florida chapter that provides insighta tweet claiming: VICTORY DECLARED! and insinuating that the board members who had been removed over the weekend and Monday had been discovered to be liberal contractors.. These cookies do not store any personal information. Two days later, the very person whose post Coleman had tried to bring attention to was platformed on a weekly National Call. He went on to become a founding member of Our Revolution and its first Electoral Manager, where he created an endorsement plan and assembled the candidates. @nick_brana @No2NatoNo2War. People need to understand that things don't happen overnight, sometimes the path is bumpy and if you are not part of the solution, you must be part of the problem. Nick Brana Of The People's Party Interviews Chris Hedges They Spat So Much Truth (To Power) In This Interview I Needed A Large Towel After Hearing It. Hold Up, the People's Party Wants You", "The Movement for a People's Party: No program, no principles, no future", "Americans are desperate for a third major political party in the Trump era", "Progressives to Serve Bernie Sanders With Petition to Start New Party", "Draft Bernie Sanders movement plows on without the senator", "Marianne Williamson is back to talk about forming a third party", "More Than 400,000 Tune In to 'People's Convention'; Overwhelmingly Vote to Form New Party", "The Trailer: It's not 2016 for third-party candidates", "Maine People's Party plans to start enrolling members this week", "Maine Becomes First State To Register The People's Party! SIGN UP as a paid Status Substack member for $5 bucks a month. Maybe Swearengin can turn it around and lead the MPP to victory promising Ketchup Packets for All. WebNick Brana Building a major new progressive populist party in America. One volunteer described him as a boy genius and said that people much older than him deferred to him.. With nearly sixty thousand members and interviews in more than a hundred mainstream and independent media outlets, the Movement for a Peoples Party is building a coalition of labor and progressive organizations for a nationally-viable party for working people. Brana and the Peoples Party have yet to provide any evidence that there was any infiltration, or that the ex-volunteers had any ulterior motives. They removed all of Colemans access without so much as an email explaining their decision or an attempt to ameliorate the situation. In a statement released by them, they cite members of the official Peoples Party Slack spreading Vaccine misinformation and harassing members who bring up the convoy being fueled by White Supremacists and being denounced by Labor Groups, as the crux of their decision. He was the national political outreach coordinator with Bernie 2016 and founding electoral manager with Our Revolution. It also turned out that she was friends and former colleagues with Shahid Buttars accuser, who had sought to sink his congressional challenge to Nancy Pelosi, and had even tried to get us to hire his accuser. [11] Supporters viewing the convention online approved the measure with a 99% majority. G Hive is a bizarre conspiracy theory that I control thousands of people, Geoff Campbell told me. Clarke told Status Coup that the SIC originally consisted of three MPP board members. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. Mixed in with the allegations were demands for professional advancement and veiled threats to the board that she could go public and attempt to destroy the party if her demands werent met. Why Hollywood Sucks: Third Times a Charm with Dune? WebNick Brana Building a major new progressive populist party in America. WebFrom Nick Brana, Movement for a People's Party (found in my Inbox this evening) Close. Please fill out the form below to hear form the speaker and/or their representatives. Electoral Manager, Our Revolution Washington, DC peoplesparty.org Born July 5 Joined April 2013 5,131 Following 19K Followers Tweets & replies Media Pinned Tweet One of the most prolific purveyors of this conspiracy theory is a Twitter account, @bronxbolshevik1, and what appears to be a related Facebook group known as Bronx Bolshevik Bulletin. Campbell, who is Jewish, told me that @bronxbolshevik1 has tweeted about him thousands of times, posted overtly anti-Semitic memes and called him a Zionist, even though he has never made any statements supporting the state of Israel. Together we are building a major new populist party and we will transform this country. Peoples Party? Bringing together working people, movements, and labor for a genuinely-progressive people's party, free of corporate money and influence. United under the banner of the Movement for a Peoples Party, they sought to create a corporate-free third party that could make waves in both local and national elections. With this mammoth task at hand, Brana and the other unelected leadership of the MPP began delegating authority to various committees and subcommittees and geographically oriented hubs for organizing the groundwork necessary to become a real political party. I was running the New York meetings. Feb 23, 2022 | Press Releases, Statements, Updates, By Nick Brana, Chair of the Peoples Party. [16], Last edited on 17 February 2023, at 17:04, Learn how and when to remove this template message, 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries, Bernie Sanders 2016 presidential campaign, "Draft Bernie Launches 'Movement for a People's Party' Amid Explosive DNC Rigging Revelations and Record Support for a Major New Party", "The People's Party | Free Of Corporate Money", "Over Politics? I joined in immediately after watching the Convention. Mere months later, Brana and Peoples Party leadership would accuse Johnston of being a Democratic Party infiltrator after she voiced concerns. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. The petitioners wanted access to periodic, detailed information, so that people knew when they give their money, this is where why money is going, this is where my money being spent. According to Renee, this kind of financial transparency was commonplace and considered standard at all the previous non-profits for which she had worked. I spoke at some length with a former member of the Peoples Party who was part of a group that was attempting to organize things for some change. I hope people understand that when people won't work the process, then make it harder for others to do so, they create the environment for failure. He further angered it by criticizing #ForceTheVote (FTV), but what sent the party over the edge was when he pointed out that far-right speakers had infiltrated the March for Medicare for All, an action heavily promoted by MPP. There is no evidence to substantiate them. After the rally, we'll march to the White House and deliver our demands to Warmonger-in-Chief Joe Biden. I've seen not only how he abused her but how he abused other people, Swearengin said. The efforts of the petitioners to raise awareness about these issues were characterized by Nick Brana on a Jan. 13, 2021 Zoom call, a recording of which was shared with The Vanguard, as, An escalating attack against MPP and against the community. Brana then went on to say, It's taken many forms, including what is clear infiltration.. Swearengin also told me and my guest, Status Coup journalist Jordan Chariton, that Brana pressured Day to give him phone sex, even after their relationship ended. We are not failing in this organization, we are building a party free of corporate influence and financing and it is rocking a few boats. But superficial PR stunts are par for the course with MPP. She also took on the role of secretary of the Black Voters Circle, and helped orient new members into the organization. The toxicity of her comments were disgraceful and her own impatience and inability to work with other volunteers is her problem, not MPP. Whatever the case, he certainly had enough mojo to woo big speakers like Nina Turner to his August 2020 virtual convention. As a result, a fourth board member was added to the SIC. Real Progressive The Terry Allen Show Nick Brana has been working as a National Chair for People's Party for 2222 days. They were supported by contractors who abused their positions of authority in the party to attack our own volunteers, delegates, and even Ralph Nader who spoke at the opening meeting of the National Organizing Committee as sexists, racists, and white supremacists for seeking to build class solidarity. A day later, on Monday February 21st, David Fishelwho was part of the five board members who called for the emergency Sunday meetingwas removed from the board. A Florida man and former Sanders supporter, Campbell got on the bad side of MPP first for stating that, as a swing state resident, he would vote for Joe Biden. Formerly Draft Bernie, MPP was founded in 2017 by Bernie 2016 staff, delegates and supervolunteers. But I did not find this funny. Coleman interjected that it was not acceptable, and tried to draw attention to the issue by tagging Nick Brana and other leadership in a post in which he asked, Are you okay with this? After, he was called a classand race traitor. WebNick Brana is the National Director with the Movement for a People's Party, the national nonprofit at the helm of the rapidly growing movement for a new progressive political party in America. Real Progressive The Terry Allen Show We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. An attempt at humor? I said no. SIGN UP as a paid Status Substack member for $5 bucks a month. He was laughing. On Sunday February 20th, the five board members who had called for the meeting the day before showed up to the Zoom meeting. I was getting frustrated, saying no, and struggling to get away so we could leave. @nick_brana @No2NatoNo2War. It was originally called Draft Bernie for a Peoples Party. Brana claimed that according to a recent Gallup survey, 14 million people had left the Democratic party since the election in November. and 6 others. I think its important to warn people not to waste their time with this organization, one former volunteer told me. In a statement released by them, they cite members of the official Peoples Party Slack spreading Vaccine misinformation and harassing members who bring up the convoy being fueled by White Supremacists and being denounced by Labor Groups, as the crux of their decision. These board members wanted to convert it into a more liberal and woke party. My thought is this should have stayed a movement and become a party when there were millions working together for issues. Bif Crowley. According to the document, a graphic design firm known as Upstatement was contracted for the sum of $10,000 in order to give the party a little of that old razzle dazzle. He soon left Draft Bernie because a bunch of us got frustrated by our lack of voice and lack of power. Martin added that Brana made ludicrous claims, such as stating that MPP would become the nations largest party within a few short years. The Movement for a People's Party is a populist-left political party created and led by Nick Brana since November 9th, 2017. Other members of the board and I were told that any attempt to intervene in the hijacking of the partys message and purpose, including holding a party-wide vote on vaccine mandates, would be construed as retaliation against the accuser, in further acts of collusion between her and those on the board.