In November 2008, Synergia sponsored the Democracy School in Grass Valley, California. Thomas Linzey and Shannon Biggs made excellent and inspiring pubic presentations before teaching the Democracy School in Grass Valley. The DVD of their presentations, taped by professionals at Peak Moment Television, is now available.

Linzey and Biggs describe how more than 100 communities have enacted laws that place the rights of communities and nature over the claimed "rights" of corporations. Their organizing stems from a new understanding of the origins of corporate power. It's a radical and inspiring approach that brings decision-making back to communities.

Linzey is an environmental attorney with Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund. Biggs is the Local Green Economy program director with Global Exchange and is the head of Global Exchange's rights-based organizing campaign.

Event sponsor Synergia highly recommends this DVD for anyone interested in corporate personhood, community self-governance, rights-based organizing, and the rights of nature (to name a few) "This new model is complex and empowering. We think it's essential for real change, starting at the community level."

In this excerpt from a longer presentation by Thomas Linzey and Shannon Biggs, Shannon describes how more than 100 communities have passed local ordinances asserting their rights over the constitutional "rights" of corporations. Shannon explains how the rights-based organizing model takes decision-making out of the hands of the corporate minority and brings it back to communities.

The entire DVD, titled Reclaiming Democracy: How Communities are saying "NO" to Corporate Rights and Recognizing the Rights of Nature is available as follows: