Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid – America’s safety net – will be the issues featured on each show. Efforts to cut them, diminish them and/or degrade public confidence in them must be opposed and guests on the show will talk about how best to fight those efforts at the grassroots level.

“People Power” is co-sponsored by Social Security Works and People Demanding Action. Both are national organizations working for progressive change.

People joining Ernie Powell for the show will be organizers and leaders from throughout the country working with progressive organizations. Each show will feature both a live interview with a progressive organizer/leader as well as call in questions and comments from Ernie Powell (Host of the show).

Ernie has been an organizer since he worked with the United Farm Workers on the grape boycott and later the lettuce boycott from 1968 to 1973. Previous to that he organized against the war in Vietnam by forming “Students for Peace” at San Bernardino Valley College. He has served as a community organizer as he worked with the Church in Ocean Park through the late 70’s and early 80’s in the fight to protect and increase affordable housing. He spend 19 years as an organizer and advocacy director with AARP in California. He served with the National Committee to protect Social Security and Medicare as their national field director for two years in Washington D.C. and upon returning to California in 2013 he co-founded a new organization called “Senior Votes Count.” Starting in 2015 Ernie has worked as an organizer and consultant with “Social Security Works” in California. He has hosted two radio shows. The first was “Grassroots Corner” at “We Act Radio” in D.C. and “The Campaign with Ernie Powell” with “Radio Titans” in Los Angeles. And, he is an occasional author with “Zocalo Public Square” as well as “Huffington Post.”

Ernie is an organizer with Social Security Works. He lives in Los Angeles and is available for interviews and presentations on behalf of Social Security Works.