*On this date in 1980, The People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond (PISAB) was formed. PISAB is a national and international collective of anti-racist, multicultural community organizers and educators dedicated to building an effective movement for social transformation.
Their beginning came from a meeting at the Rev Dr. C.T. Vivian’s home in Atlanta, GA. Then, Ann Braden and others officially met to create The People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond. At this meeting, an organization for training and equipping effective community organizers who work with humanistic and anti-racist principles for social change was chartered. The original team by l983 included Jim Dunn, Ron Chisom, Barbara Major, Dan Buford, Diana Dunn, Michael Washington, and David Billings.
Core Trainers then included Maria Reinat-Pumarejo (Institute for Latino Empowerment, Puerto Rico); Kimberley Richards (Southwest Gardens Community Development Center in Farrell, PA); John Morrin (Grand Portage Reservation and Tribal Council, Minnesota); and Monica Walker (St. Paul’s Community Baptist Church, Brooklyn, New York).
