Get Big Money Out of Politics: End Corporate Personhood
Thursday, November 20, 2025, 7pm – 8pm

(RSVP BELOW)

This session is an opportunity to:

• Learn more about the We the People Amendment and how authoritarian rule and corporate rule are interconnected.
• Discover how you can help build awareness in Northeast Ohio.
• Connect with others who share your commitment to create democracy from corporate rule.

Together, we can strengthen the movement to create real democracy—of, by, and for the people.

Move to Amend invites you to participate in a virtual discussion with Constitutional Law expert Professor Wilfred Codrington III regarding what we can learn from the history of amendments to the U.S. Constitution that applies to today’s constitutional crisis.

Thursday, December 4, 2025
5pm PT | 6pm MT | 7pm CT | 8pm ET

RSVP below

Professor Codrington teaches Constitutional Law at Cardozo Law School in New York City. In 2021 he co-authored the book The People’s Constitution: 200 Years, 27 Amendments, and the Promise of a More Perfect Union.   

Please publicize among your family, friends, and fellow volunteers. The event will be recorded. 

Looking forward to seeing you there! 

Cultural Change for the We the People Amendment

tenth in the series

The Populist movement of the late 19th century was the largest democratic mass movement in U.S. history. The movement included several parallel but independent organizations of farmers in the South, Midwest and High Plains. The movement later included urban working people across the country

Among the social movements covered in this series, the Populist movement is the least recognized (dare I say “popular”) and understood. Few can name any of its organizers, strategists or speakers (William Jennings Bryan doesn’t count, as explained below). There are no Populist movement holidays, postage stamps, detailed descriptions of its activities in high school history books, or even legitimate recognition of its lessons (positive or negative) incorporated in democratic activist organizations.  

The movement’s relative invisibility can be explained by several factors. First, it was largely a rural movement that was the most active in a part of the country (i.e. the Midwest and South) not associated with the mass social movements. Second, it occurred during a period of U.S. history that was dominated by the rapid rise of industrialization and urbanization.  And maybe, most significantly, its goals of creating an authentic bottom up democracy and bringing the corporate state under popular control through democratic politics, a democratic society grounded in mass dignity, was not going to see the light of day in our dominant corporate culture, which includes reformist non-profit democracy organizations.

Move to Amend supporter Patrick McKercher has produced an important and timely documentary:

American Oligarchy: Five Fights

https://vimeo.com/1129606502

Narrated by Peter Coyote, the 39 minute documentary tells the story of the five times We the People have organized to defeat attempts to end our democracy, and what we can learn to meet the current crisis.  It uses the playbook of Hungary's Victor Orban to understand Trump’s second term – the sixth crisis we face. 

The 5 previous threats and the current one are

Watch the excellent program at

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnrbyYaH6yU

Cultural Change for the We the People Amendment

ninth in the series

The Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s in the South was a continuation of the earlier Abolitionist Movement. Its major achievements were the enactment of the post-Civil War 13th, 14th, and 15th “Reconstruction Amendments” to the U.S. Constitution which abolished slavery, established equal protection and due process under the law, and guaranteed voting rights for Black men.

Panel presentation and discussion at the
Next Systems Studies Convergence

September 4, 2025

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtsy91iCGKM&list=PLrFE8GFuZltEcMb0JntddjsEpMqS10ozd&index=14 
 

This panel includes John Mulkins, Luke Pickrell, and Greg Coleridge as they discuss democratizing the U.S. constitution, with background on our history as a democracy, the undemocratic features of the constitution, what can be done to democratize our constitution, and what can participants do to further the conversation.

Presented by Move To Amend

See all the Convergence sessions at   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUT4Q3RTbFE&list=PLrFE8GFuZltEcMb0JntddjsEpMqS10ozd&index=1

In solidarity, 

Greg, Margaret, Katie, Alfonso, Jessica, Jason, Tara, Cole, Shelly, George, Daniel, Kelsey, Jennie, Keyan, Michael & Alfonso.

P.S.  We are living through a constitutional crisis. Every generation has the opportunity to define history. Together, we must act and do our part to create a Constitution that affirms justice, a livable world and an authentically democracy Your support makes this vision real. Join us with a gift today!

Constitution Day is next Wednesday, September 17. 

The United States Constitution was signed on September 17, 1787 by 39 delegates at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. It replaced the Articles of Confederation as the document defining the new government. Educational programs are provided by publicly funded educational institutions and federal agencies to celebrate the day.

Those programs provide only superficial and slanted views. While there were many elements of the original U.S. Constitution that were indeed revolutionary and democratic, many others affirmed top down control, ingrained property rights over human rights and excluded a majority of the population. We, the People did not – and still do not – include ALL the People.

Social movements for more than two centuries have forced the adoption of amendments and established a culture that led to Supreme Court decisions that included some rights of groups who should have been originally included in the founding document.

Cultural Change for the We the People Amendment

[eighth in a series]

The United States. has been involved in 11 wars and 175 non colonial military conflicts (and counting) in its 249 year history since claiming independence from Great Britain on July 4, 1776. Today, the U.S maintains roughly 750 military bases and installation in 80 countries worldwide. There are very few years in U.S. history when its military was not engaged in armed conflict somewhere in the world.

Perpetual state-sponsored violence from the colonial era to the present day has been responded with perpetual organized movements of people for peace and against wars and colonization. This history is too exhaustive to examine in detail. Thus, this examination will focus on cultural lessons learned from peace, anti-war and anti-nuclear weapons movements beginning in the early 20th century. 

📣 Billionaires have the megaphones. We have the people — but we need to be LOUDER.

Move to Amend has a bold mission: pass the We the People Amendment (HJR 54) to end corporate constitutional rights and the false doctrine that money equals speech. Right now, we need to break through to a much bigger audience.

Many issues will never be fully resolved until this one is. We’re fighting dozens of battles: climate collapse, authoritarianism, income inequality, safe food, preserving social and economic safety net programs, gun safety – but none of these can be fully won while corporations have constitutional rights and unlimited money buys political power.

If you’ve lucky enough to have a 401k retirement plan offered by your employer, beware. Private equity and cryptocurrency interests want a big piece of it.

SUMMARY

What are we talking about?

Private equity (PE) refers to firms that make monetary investments from wealthy individuals, pension funds and university endowments in companies that are not publicly traded.

Cryptocurrencies are a form of digital currency (also called “digital assets”) that allows people to make payments directly to each other through an online system that is not controlled by any one person, organization or nation state.

What happened? 

Donald Trump signed an Executive Order on August 7 that would allow 401k workplace retirement funds totalling $12 trillion to invest in private equity firms and cryptos.

How did this happen?

Private equity corporations and cryptocurrency exchanges and their respective billionaire owners and investors donated massive sums in the 2024 political election - targeting Trump and pro-crypto Congressional candidates.

Why did this happen?

Private equity and cryptocurrencies pushed hard for these changes, to be sure, to increase their profits, but in the case of cryptos, to gain credibility. 

What can we do about it?.

If you have a 401k, communicate to your employer that you don’t want a nickel of your hard earned retirement fund invested in risky, opaque and expensive ventures.

Support enacting  HJR54, the We the People Amendment.

Labor is the only organized group that has consistently stood for worker's rights over corporate rule. Scores of economic, social and political justices have been championed by individual workers and organized working people who are members of labor unions -- sometimes working alone and other times in coalition with other organizations representing those who have been historically oppressed. 

Shaker Heights Democracy Day - September 8

In 2016, Shaker Heights voters passed, with an 82% “yes” vote, Issue 95 in support of a 28^th amendment to the U.S. Constitution, stating that:

• Only human beings, not corporate entities have constitutional rights, and
• Money is not speech, so money spent on elections can be regulated.

RSVP BELOW

Move to Amend’s effort to end political corruption and create justice and democracy by passing the We the People Amendment was among THE most important and repeated messages at the national Money Out of Politics rally on July 27 on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC.

A nearby lightning-strike and monsoon-like rain one hour into the rally led the National Park Service to cut short the event – but not before 3 people spoke, including MTA Co-Director Greg Coleridge.

Read Greg’s speech HERE

July 27th, Washington D.C. (and Nationwide) - March for Integrity 

Move to Amend is proud to partner in the March for Integrity on July 27, a nationwide day of action led by the Money Out of Politics Movement. 

The massive rally in Washington, D.C. and across all 50 states will demand an end to lobbyist gifts, congressional stock trading, and big money in politics - and to call for the passage of the We The People Amendment. More info on how to Pledge to March and join a local action here.

A Move to Amend representative will be among the speakers at the DC action.

Cultural Change for the We the People Amendment

[seventh in the series] 

The American Revolution was the first time a European colony gained independence. The new nation, based on the principles of a republic, inspired many successive revolutions across the globe. 

There was widespread acceptance, if not support, for the British monarchy in the beginning. The King or Queen was not only the head of government and the Church of England and had command of one the most powerful military forces in the world, but benefited from the widespread belief that they possessed the “divine right” to rule.

Cultural Change for the We the People Amendment

[sixth in the series] 

The modern LGBTQ+ movement is  dated to the Stonewall Riots, a spontaneous rebellion led by queer patrons – many of them people of color and transgender – against police harassment at the Stonewall Inn in New York City in 1969.

The struggle for the dignity and rights of LGTBQs+ individuals and “against a system that criminalized their love lives and outward expression” dates to the 1950’s. The dominant religious and social narrative labeled them as perverse, sinful or mentally ill. They were victims of discrimination and violence. Being outed could mean imprisonment, loss of employment, or institutionalization. Criminalized love lives and outward expression.

Stonewall represented a collective resistance to be silent and shamed, but as human beings who sought not merely to be tolerated but who demanded liberation.

Personal transformation connected to Stonewall sparked the birth of a mass movement composed of political and cultural elements. 

City of Cleveland Heights
Council Office
40 Severance Circle
Cleveland Heights, OH 44118

June 10, 2025

The Honorable Bernie Moreno
SR-284 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510

The Honorable Jon Husted
SR-304 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510

The Honorable Shontel Brown
2455 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515

The Honorable Rob McColley
1 Capitol Square, Second Floor 201
Columbus, OH 43215

The Honorable Matt Huffman
77 South high Street 14th Floor
Columbus, OH 43215

CC:
Mayor Kahlil Seren, City of Cleveland Heights
Director of Law William R. Hanna, City of Cleveland Heights

Dear Senators Moreno and Husted, Representative Brown, President McColley, and Speaker Huffman:

On behalf of the Cleveland Heights City Council, I am writing to share a summary of the 12th Annual “Democracy Day” Public Hearing, held on June 5, 2025, in Council Chambers.

This public hearing is required by a 2013 citizen-initiated ordinance titled “Calling on Congress to Amend the U.S. Constitution to Establish That Corporations Are Not People and Money Is Not Speech.” Passed by 77% of Cleveland Heights voters, the ordinance mandates an annual public hearing to examine “the political influence by corporations and big money in connection with the most recent election.” It also requires the City Council to notify elected officials of the hearing and to reaffirm the will of the voters, who in November 2013 called for a constitutional amendment declaring:

• Only human beings, not corporations, are legal persons with constitutional rights; and
• Money is not equivalent to speech, and therefore, regulating political contributions and spending does not equate to limiting political speech

At the June 5 hearing, eight individuals provided oral testimony, and one submitted written remarks. Topics included:

As we protest authoritarianism this Saturday—and legitimately condemn the many anti-democratic and unjust actions of Trump—let us also remember the tyranny of our corporate overlords who have been—perhaps more quietly but not less aggressively—eroding our democracy.

by GREG COLERIDGE, Common Dreams, June 11, 2025

https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/no-kings-corporate-power

The “No Kings Day” mass rallies and marches this Saturday across the country will be, hopefully, a political and cultural affirmation of the democratic vision that we should be a self-governing people, a vision that has never been fully realized. The events must not only reject the reemergence and expansion of authoritarianism of Trump from his previous administration. They should also acknowledge the much longer tyranny and authoritarianism of corporate rule.

Speeches, signs, chants, and petitions will undoubtedly address the numerous authoritarian actions by the Trump administration since the election. These include pardons and immunities for loyalists, the use of federal agencies against political opponents, use of disinformation and threats against elected officials, mass deportations and family separation, executive orders that trump local and state governments, government loyalty purges, crackdown on the media and dissent, and militarized response to protests – such as the overreacting deployment of the Marines in response to the largely peaceful protests against ICE immigration raids in Los Angeles.

As we protest authoritarianism this Saturday—and legitimately condemn the many anti-democratic and unjust actions of Trump—let us also remember that tyranny has many symbols. One is a red hat. The other is a corporate logo.

The No Kings Day actions are just the latest and important public resistance to Trump’s tyrannical actions that have included other nationwide demonstrations and civil disobedience, legal challenges, whistleblowers and leaks, mutual aid, sanctuary networks, state and local government pushback, worker and union actions, and campus resistance.

Yet the reality is that Trump and his Project 2025 playbook represent one form of authoritarianism that, while distinct in some respects, intersects with another deeply entrenched form: corporate domination.