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Roger Hickey

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Roger Hickey
Alma materUniversity of Virginia
Years active1965–present
OrganizationCampaign for America's Future Economic Policy Institute

Roger Hickey is an American political activist and economic policy advocate. He has co-founded think tanks, organizations, and grassroots coalitions, including the Economic Policy Institute, Campaign for America’s Future, and Americans United to Protect Social Security.

Early activism and career

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Hickey began his career as an organizer in the late 1960s while attending the University of Virginia, working with the Virginia Students Civil Rights Committee[1] and the Southern Student Organizing Committee.[2] In 1972 he joined Clergy and Laymen Concerned About Vietnam (CALC), an organization of religious leaders opposed to the US war in Vietnam.[3] Hickey was a producer for CALC’s "Help Unsell the War" campaign, creating TV, radio, and print advertisements that expressed opposition to the war.[4]

In 1973 Hickey co-founded the Public Media Center in San Francisco.[2] As Media Director, he developed advertising campaigns for environmental groups, peace and disarmament organizations, labor unions, women's and minority education, and other public interest issues.[5] The Public Media Center won the first FCC Fairness Doctrine ruling requiring broadcasters to provide free air time for antinuclear TV spots in response to pro-nuclear utility advertising.[5]

Hickey was an associate director of the National Center for Economic Alternatives,[6] and during the Jimmy Carter administration, he—along with Mark Green and Gar Alperovitz—organized Consumers Opposed to Inflation in the Necessities (COIN),[7] which "mobilized over sixty organizations addressing the needs of consumers, senior citizens, the environment, and energy supply, as well as gaining broad support from organized labor" to support a progressive program to control inflation.[7]

In 1986, Hickey collaborated with economist Jeff Faux to establish the Economic Policy Institute (EPI).[8] Hickey served as EPI's Vice President and Director of Communications.[8]

Campaign for America’s Future

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Hickey is co-director of the Campaign for America's Future (CAF), launched in 1996.[8] CAF bills itself as a "strategy center of the progressive movement".[9] Most recently, under the auspices of CAF, he co-authored "The Solidarity Agenda", a 5-point economic agenda signed by 100 citizen leaders and activists.[10] Their statement calls for a "citizens' movement that will stand up to big money and fight for economic changes that will build a prosperous and sustainable American economy, create economic growth and opportunity for all, and reverse inequality".[11]

As co-director (with Robert Borosage) of CAF and the Institute for America's Future, Hickey also organized a series of annual "Take Back America" conferences that brought together thinkers and progressive activists, media, and elected-officials.[12] In 2008, he was a founder of Health Care for America Now!, a coalition of over 1,000 national and local organizations aimed at reforming the US healthcare system and securing health insurance for all Americans.[13][14] Working with Yale political scientist Jacob Hacker, Hickey helped promote the public option, a policy that was endorsed by candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.[15] During the Bush administration, he and CAF helped lead a campaign to stop the privatization of Social Security, called Americans United to Protect Social Security.[13] Hickey, Borosage, and others created the Apollo Alliance to advocate for a public investment program on the scale of the US Moon mission.[16] The goal of the alliance is to dramatically reduce greenhouse emissions and create sustainable jobs.[17]

Writing and appearances

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Hickey has appeared on television and radio,[18] and has written for a number of publications including The New York Times,[19] The American Prospect,[20] AlterNet, Common Dreams,[21] HuffPost,[2] The Nation,[22] and Truthout.[23] In 2001, Hickey and Robert Borosage co-edited The Next Agenda: Blueprint for a New Progressive Movement,[24] a book of essays written by some of America’s "most progressive thinkers and activists" at the time.[25]

References

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  1. ^ "Collection: Virginia Student Civil Rights Committee Oral History collection | Virginia Commonwealth University". archives.library.vcu.edu. Retrieved 2021-05-17.
  2. ^ a b c "Roger Hickey". huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved 26 November 2018.
  3. ^ Hall, Mitchell K.; Hall, Professor Mitchell (1990). Because of Their Faith: CALCAV and Religious Opposition to the Vietnam War. Columbia University Press. ISBN 9780231071406.
  4. ^ Hickey, Roger (9 June 1972). "The Media Movement" (PDF). No. 35. American report. Retrieved 26 November 2018.
  5. ^ a b Dougherty, Philip H. (30 July 1976). "Advertising". The New York Times. Retrieved 2018-08-22.
  6. ^ Josephson, Nancy (27 November 1980). "Coping with Inflation: How to Survive the Hard Times". Joplin Globe. Retrieved 26 November 2018.
  7. ^ a b Twarog, Emily E. LB. (15 September 2017). Politics of the Pantry: Housewives, Food, and Consumer Protest in 20th Century America. Oxford University Press. p. 106. ISBN 978-0190685607. Retrieved 27 November 2018.
  8. ^ a b c Payne, Erica (2009-02-23). The Practical Progressive: How to Build a Twenty-first Century Political Movement. PublicAffairs. ISBN 9780786727698.
  9. ^ "About the Campaign for America's Future". ourfuture.org. 22 September 2014. Retrieved 27 November 2018.
  10. ^ Hightower, Jim (20 June 2018). "What Do Those People Want?". Creators.com. Common Dreams. Retrieved 26 November 2018.
  11. ^ Hickey, Roger (2018-02-21). "Resistance Is Not Enough—Progressive Leaders Launch Campaign for Sustainable Prosperity to Counter GOP". AlterNet. Retrieved 2018-08-22.
  12. ^ Cillizza, Chris; Murray, Shailagh (16 March 2008). "'Take Back America' Conference Is a Chance for Democrats to Highlight Progressive Politics". Washington Post. Retrieved 26 November 2018.
  13. ^ a b Laursen, Eric (29 May 2012). The People's Pension: The Struggle to Defend Social Security Since Reagan (1st ed.). AK Press. p. 362. ISBN 9781849351010. Retrieved 26 November 2018. hickey.
  14. ^ Schmitt, Mark (18 August 2009). "The History of the Public Option". The American Prospect. Retrieved 26 November 2018.
  15. ^ Schmitt, Mark (18 August 2009). "THE HISTORY OF THE PUBLIC OPTION". The American Prospect.
  16. ^ "Apollo Alliance - KeyWiki". keywiki.org.
  17. ^ "Rise Up, The Founding Convention of People's Action" (PDF). April 2016.
  18. ^ "Roger Hickey". C-SPAN. Retrieved 26 November 2018.
  19. ^ Hickey, Roger (11 July 2009). "Don't Tax Benefits". The New York Times.
  20. ^ Hickey, Roger (14 January 2005). "A Battle Progressives Can Win". The American Prospect.
  21. ^ "Roger Hickey". commondreams.org. Retrieved 27 November 2018.
  22. ^ "Roger Hickey". thenation.com. 2 April 2010. Retrieved 27 November 2018.
  23. ^ "Roger Hickey | Truthout". Truthout. Retrieved 2018-08-22.
  24. ^ Borosage, Robert L.; Hickey, Roger (26 January 2001). The Next Agenda: Blueprint For A New Progressive Movement. Avalon Publishing. ISBN 9780813398143.
  25. ^ Borosage, Robert L.; Hickey, Roger (26 January 2001). The Next Agenda: Blueprint for a New Progressive Movement. Avalon. ISBN 9780813398143. Retrieved 26 November 2018.
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