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NEWS RELEASE JUNE 19, 2009 Contact: Dick Bennett 442-4600 Sponsor: OMNI Center for Peace, Justice, and Ecology OMNI SPONSORING PROPOSITION ONE IN 2010 COMING TO FAYETTEVILLE FRIDAY JUNE 26, POTLUCK AT 5:00 PM AND FILM AT 7:00. Please help. We need coordinators for all and for the potluck and for the film. Greetings. This letter is to connect with you, to let you know about the Proposition One in 2010! Campaign (our nationwide effort to mobilize grassroots support for Nuclear Disarmament), and to ask if you'd like to help us help you, and help President Obama, get rid of nukes ASAP. We will be coming through Fayetteville in late June and hope to organize a fun, energetic informational event at a good local venue. Can you help us? Of course, we are thrilled to have a President calling for elimination of nuclear weapons. But if there is anything we know, it is that President Obama cannot succeed without the help of a mighty grassroots movement of support for Nuclear Disarmament. Like you, we know what enormous obstacles to disarmament he faces from the military, the nuclear weapons complex, the nuclear energy complex that feeds it, and the members of Congress who are ideologically and economically vested in the status quo. Proposition One Committee knows the importance of grassroots action. Our continuous anti-nuclear vigil outside the White House since June 3, 1981, founded and still inspired by William "Doubting" Thomas, has planted seeds of hope with the millions of tourists who visit the White House each year (see http://prop1.org ). In 1993, our petition drive put nuclear disarmament on the ballot as a citizen initiative in Washington, DC, and we won! As a result, DC’s Congressional Delegate, Eleanor Holmes Norton, has introduced Nuclear Disarmament to Congress nine times, and promises to do so as long as she's in office. This year’s bill in the 111th Congress is called the Nuclear Disarmament and Economic Conversion Act of 2009 (HR 1653). (Read the Bill at http://prop1.org/prop1/HR1653.ndeca.090319.htm ) Please make sure your Representative and Senators know about this bill, and ask them to actively support this legislation that would make the US a true leader towards global nuclear disarmament and economic conversion of the war machines to provide for human needs. (Solar panels and windmills, not missiles and bombs!) The phone number of the Congressional switchboard is 202-225-3121. If you achieve results, wonderful! If not, we can do more. The single greatest obstacle to nuclear disarmament is the mistaken belief that it can’t be done. We know that we can and must do more to encourage hope and action. We want to share our story and inspire others with the conviction that global nuclear disarmament CAN be achieved. We recognize that little can happen without a major escalation in public education, advocacy and action. And we are doing it now, at this moment when President Obama most needs the support of a robust citizen movement. Therefore, we are pleased to announce the Proposition One in 2010! Campaign. Our goals are simple: to inform local activists about the bill in Congress, and wherever possible to help put nuclear disarmament on the ballot in every state, city, and county jurisdiction that allows the citizen initiative. This summer, we will tour the country to visit every state in the continental U.S. that has the initiative process (and some that don’t), telling the story of DC Initiative 37 (Proposition One), and how it can be replicated across the country. Politicians pay attention to voter initiatives! When we come through Fayetteville (on Friday, June 26), we’d like to link up with you to share some of our history and our vision, and to learn about yours. Since Arkansas provides for voter initiatives statewide, we'd love to talk with other interested people in your state about what it would take to put Nuclear Disarmament on the ballot there by 2010! (Also, there may be some cities or counties which allow initiatives, and there may be other means to compel nuclear disarmament onto the ballot - or legislative calendar - through citizen action.) This is where you can help. We're looking for: * Opportunities to present our story, program and proposition to your group, others like it, and to the public at large in your area * Local venues where we could assemble, perform and organize (including already-scheduled events, like festivals or concerts in which we could play a part) * Local performers, musical artists, educators and activists (ideally with popular appeal) willing to join the fun * Contacts with friendly individuals who could provide short-term shelter for our team while we are in your area * Endorsements of Proposition One itself (and our Prop 1 in 2010! Campaign) by you and organizations you're involved with * Volunteers to help with publicity design, promotion and production of the event * And of course, donations are always helpful. As a 501(c)4 non-profit organization, our work depends on contributions from generous groups and individuals. Thank you for your time, and we hope to hear back from you. We value your help as an ally in the ongoing struggle to make our world a safer, saner, and more peaceful place. We hope you agree that this is a unique historical moment for previously unfathomable progress, and that the limits of what we can accomplish are only confined by the limits of our efforts and imaginations. And we hope you will support us by signing on to Proposition One, individually and organizationally, and in whatever other ways you can. In Peace and Solidarity for a Nuclear Free Future, Jay Marx, Campaign Coordinator and Ellen Thomas, Executive Director 202-682-4282 (DC Office) 202-210-3886 (Proposition One cell) 202-368-4690 (personal cell) PROPOSITION ONE COMMITTEE, PO Box 27217, Washington, DC 20038 Peace House: 1233 12th St NW, Washington DC 20005 202-210-3886; 202-682-4282 http://prop1.org; et@prop1.org |