Hometown Action Alabama (Hometown Action) is an activist organization that advocates for left-of-center positions on LGBT, labor, and abortion issues, as well as the expansion of Medicare. Founded in 2018, it is partnered with the left-wing advocacy organization People’s Action. ¹ Action Network is the fiscal sponsor of Hometown Action. ²

Activities

Hometown Action opposes legislation that regulates gender identity activism, including gender hormone therapies for minors. The group opposed AL HB1, and its state senate counterpart AL SB10, which was introduced in February 2021 as the Vulnerable Child Compassion and Protection Act. The bill, which ultimately failed, would have prohibited gender transition therapy for minors. ³ The group’s website cites Alliance Defending Freedom as an opponent of transgender rights, and implicates that organization in the nationwide push for similar legislation, which it portrays as “a direct attack on transgender people.” ⁴

Hometown Action is also a supporter of the expansion of Medicare access, in part as tool for universal abortion access. ⁵ In 2019, the co-founder of Hometown Action, K.C. Vick, wrote an op-ed for Alabama.com decrying the Hyde Amendment, which prevents federal funds from being used for abortion, and calling for Medicare expansion as a tool to increase abortion access. ⁶ Vick also stated that the anti-abortion legislation passed in Alabama was a direct result of left-progressive boycotts of that state, allowing right-of-center ideas to propagate in that void. ⁷

Hometown Action opposes anti-riot legislation, calling it “anti-protest” legislation. The group has voiced opposition to AL HB2, which is set to be introduced in January 2022. This legislation would redefine a “riot” as any group of five or more people that results in personal injury or damage to property, makes it illegal to interfere with the flow of traffic during protests, and expands “incitement to riot” to include solicitation, funding, or urging others to riot. ⁸

Hometown Action endorsed the 2019 campaign of Tabitha Isner for chair of the Alabama Democratic Party. Isner, who was also a failed 2018 candidate for Alabama’s 2nd Congressional District, lost that campaign to state Rep. Christopher England (D-Tuscaloosa) on November 2, 2019. Hometown Action also endorsed 47 candidates for the state’s Democratic Executive Committee Diversity Caucus in 2019. Fifteen of those candidates went on to win seats in that caucus. ⁹

Following a controversial Facebook post by Mark Chambers, the mayor of Carbon Hill, Alabama, Hometown Action staged protests and drafted a petition in conjunction with Equality Alabama calling for Chambers’ resignation. The post (made in response to a criticism of the influence on society of gays, transgender individuals, abortion activists, and communists) stated, “The only way to change the problem is by killing them out.” Chambers first denied, then apologized for the post, but refused to resign. ¹⁰

Hometown Action staged a “die-in” on the lawn across the street from the Carbon Hill city hall. Although the mayor did not resign at that time, he would later make a negative comment about Black Lives Matter (BLM) on Facebook, and resigned after public backlash. ¹¹

Hometown Action is also a supporter of the THRIVE agenda, which unites various left-progressive action items such as fighting “environmental injustice,” widespread unionization of the work force, and “investing in Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities.” This agenda was introduced into the 116th Congress as H.R. 1102 with the aim of urging the government to take a “holistic” approach to these and other social issues. ^{12 13}

People

Justin Vest is the founder and executive director of Hometown Action. He is also the founder and executive director of Hometown Organizing Project, which focuses on small-town disaster relief and political action, including an effort to manufacture masks during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Savannah “Sav” Miles is a Harvard University graduate and frequent spokesperson for Hometown Action. Miles, who uses they/them pronouns, is the youth coordinator for the Alabama Sustainable Agricultural Network, and is the recipient of a $100,000 grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The grant will be used to provide racial diversity and inclusion training for Christian leaders in order to “reclaim Christianity for a progressive generation.” ¹⁴

Warren Tidwell is the lead organizer and field director of Hometown Action. In a speech given at a protest against the privatization of prisons, Tidwell stated that only saying the phrase “Black Lives Matter” but not taking further action in support of BLM priorities is a form of modern white supremacy. ¹⁵

1. Vest, Justin. “Hometown Action Will Join a Thousand Progressive Leaders in D.C.” Hometown Action Website.  April 25, 2019. Accessed August 16, 2021. https://www.hometownaction.org/peopleswave
2. The Action Network. “Send Your Hometown Action Delegate to D.C.” The Action Network Website. Undated. Accessed August 16, 2021. https://actionnetwork.org/fundraising/86843ea38dc90205d85e79ca9e8fec09799e92a1
3. Billtrack 50. “AL HB1.” Billtrack50.com Website. Undated. Accessed August 16, 2021. https://www.billtrack50.com/BillDetail/1247206
4. Vest, Justin. “Legislative Update: Fighting Anti-Trans Bills.” HometownAction.org Website.  Undated. Accessed August 16, 2021. https://www.hometownaction.org/legislative_update_fighting_anti_trans_bills
5. Vest, Justin. “54 Years of Medicare: Now We Need Medicare for All.” HometownAction.org Website.  Undated. Accessed August 16, 2021. https://www.hometownaction.org/on_the_54th_medicare_anniversary_we_demand_medicare_for_all
6. Vick, K.C. “Medicare for All is the Next Step in the Fight for Reproductive Justice.” Al.com Website. July 30, 2019.  Accessed August 16, 2021.” https://www.al.com/opinion/2019/07/medicare-for-all-is-the-next-step-in-the-fight-for-reproductive-justice.html
7. McCambridge, Ruth. “Boycott or Not? Many Organizers in Abortion Ban States Say ‘No.’” Nonprofit Quarterly. May 23, 2019. Accessed August 16, 2021. https://nonprofitquarterly.org/boycott-or-not-many-organizers-in-abortion-ban-states-say-no/
8. Billtrack 50. “AL HB2.” Billtrack50.com Website. Undated. Accessed August 16, 2021. https://www.billtrack50.com/billdetail/1384513
9. Hometown Action. “Hometown Action-Endorsed Candidates for SDEC Diversity Caucus.” HometownAction.org Website.  Undated. Accessed August 16, 2021. https://www.hometownaction.org/hometown_action_endorsed_candidates_for_sdec_diversity_caucus
10. Dionne, Brittany. “Ala. Mayor Posts Apology After Defending Social Media Comments on Killing LGBTQ People and Democrats.” WBRC.com June 4, 2019. Accessed August 16, 2021. https://www.wbrc.com/2019/06/04/carbon-hill-mayor-defends-social-media-comments-killing-homosexuals-transgender-people-democrats/
11. Thornton, William. “Carbon Hill Mayor Resigns After Facebook Post Over Black Lives Matter.” Al.com June 28, 2020. Accessed August 16, 2021. https://www.al.com/news/birmingham/2020/06/carbon-hill-mayor-resigns-after-facebook-post-over-black-lives-matter.html 
12. Facebook. “Hometown Action.” Facebook.com August 27, 2020. Accessed August 16, 2021. https://www.facebook.com/HometownAction/posts/our-statewide-lead-organizer-warren-tidwell-spoke-alongside-southern-climate-org/1332638726906890/
13. Thrive Agenda. “The Thrive Agenda.” ThriveAgenda.com Website. Undated. Accessed August 16, 2021. https://www.thriveagenda.com/agenda
14. Cannon, William et al. “To Serve Better/Sav Miles.” Harvard.Edu Website. Undated. Accessed August 16, 2021. https://toservebetter.harvard.edu/profile/al-sav-miles
15. Tidwell, Warren. “White Supremacy is the Elephant in the Room.” Hometown Action Website.  April 25, 2019. Accessed August 16, 2021. https://www.hometownaction.org/white_supremacy_is_the_elephant_in_the_room