About PUDE

Our Name, Our History

 

 

PUDE stands for People United for Democracy and Education

Pueblo Unido por la Democracia y la Educación

 

The name PUDE comes from the historic phrase “Sí se puede”  we can do it.

In Spanish, pude means I was able to.

 

That difference matters.

 

PUDE is not rooted in hope alone.

It is rooted in memory.

 

Our ancestors, elders, and past movements already achieved forms of political and community power that we now inherit. Voting rights, labor protections, civil rights, community survival, none of these were given. They were fought for, organized for, and defended by people who came before us.

 

PUDE exists to activate that inherited power and turn it into organized political force for this moment.

 

 

 

Why PUDE Exists

 

 

For generations, our communities have been pulled into politics through fear, crisis, and survival mode. Too often, we are mobilized only during elections, asked to choose between limited options, and then left to live with the consequences alone.

 

When political participation lacks clarity and organization, it can be turned against us. Strengthening systems that criminalize, imprison, detain, deport, and harm our people.

 

PUDE exists to break that cycle.

 

We prepare our communities politically so decisions are made with care, responsibility, and collective memory not fear, misinformation, or pressure.

 

 

 

Political Education as Protection

 

 

PUDE believes political education is a form of protection.

 

When people understand how power actually operates, how laws are written, how budgets expand or restrict enforcement, how institutions coordinate, they are harder to manipulate and harder to silence.

 

We are not interested in surface-level engagement or short election cycles.

We are building deep, permanent political consciousness rooted in the barrio, consciousness that does not disappear every four years.

 

 

 

Rooted in the Barrios

 

 

PUDE is rooted in neighborhoods, families, workplaces, and community networks across Arizona. We organize through Comités del Barrio, local formations where people come together to represent their communities, identify needs, and shape collective direction.

 

Our work is anchored by the General Assembly of Barrios, which brings together representatives from across the state every friday. Through this structure, thousands of people are organized into a shared political force while maintaining local autonomy and accountability.

 

This is not symbolic participation.

It is organized representation.

 

 

 

Sister Organizations, Shared Roots

 

 

PUDE works alongside Semillas Arizona as a sister organization. While each organization has a distinct role, both are grounded in the same communities, values, and commitment to collective wellbeing.

 

Semillas Arizona focuses on community education, organizing, accompaniment, youth leadership, culture, and collective care. PUDE carries that organized community energy into political space, engaging policy, elections, and public decision-making with clarity and responsibility.

 

Together, as sister organizations, we ensure community work and political engagement reinforce each other while maintaining independence, accountability, and integrity.

 

 

 

Engaging Power With Clarity

 

 

PUDE is not a political party.

We are not an NGO campaign.

We are not a short-term project.

 

We engage elections and policy without illusion. Voting is not liberation, but it is part of survival. When communities are not organized politically, the same systems we are confronting continue to arm themselves through laws, budgets, and enforcement powers.

 

Through our From the Barrio to the Ballot electoral program, we support candidates aligned with community wellbeing and help people from the barrio step into decision-making spaces without losing accountability to their people.

 

 

 

Our Direction

 

 

PUDE is a shared political direction rooted in:

 

• loyalty to community over party

• care over punishment

• accountability over symbolism

• long-term organizing over reaction

 

 

We work alongside organizations, movements, and political formations that share values around dignity, safety, and justice. Strong alliances are built when communities engage politics from a position of organization and clarity.

 

 

 

Where We Are Going

 

 

PUDE exists so our communities never again participate in politics only to be harmed by its outcomes.

 

We are building organized people who understand their power, defend their dignity, and shape the future with intention.

 

From memory to action.

From the barrio to the ballot.

From survival to organized power.