Day 1 of Being a CODEPINKer at One Nation Working Together

October 1 Logistics

12:30 - 3 a.m.
Worked on orienting myself, getting internet installed and working, figuring out my schedules and getting my materials together for the next few days.  Finally crashed around 3 a.m. I'm still very much on west coast time.

Mundane details, but good to know information (especially for women activists of a certain age:

9 a.m. - 2 p.m.Woke up later than I should have -- 6 a.m. AZ time.  9 a.m. here.  Very glad I gave myself a day to orient and do a bit of lobbying.  I transcribed the letter to my Representative and Senators onto my computer -- wrote it by hand on the plane here.  Loaded it onto a flash drive and printed it at the business center in my hotel.  Grabbed a good breakfast.  Got a metro/city map.  Figured out the locations for shuttlebetween hotel to metro.  Got a metro card.  By the time I emerged from the metro at Capital SW stop I was sweating like mad.  We south-westerners forget how much we sweat in the heat because it evaporates instantaneously.   Here when I encounter the humidity that is always present in Washington, D.C.  my body tries to cool itself, sweats, it doesn't evaporate as it usually does when I'm in Tucson and thus my body thinks it isn't cooling off, so it bumps up the process and cranks out even more sweat.  I look like hell and I don't stay sweet smelling very long in this condition either. 

I'm glad I've had a day to adjust to everything.

As I said above, I have letters for all the Rep/Senator types from my part of AZ.  I did manage to deliver my letter to Representative Giffords today around 3.  I wasn't impressed with her staff. 

 Boy Staffer mumbles some sort of a greeting.


Me:  Hi.  I've come to drop off a letter.

Boy Staffer:  Good.  

That was it.  I gave it to him.  No "Oh, where are you from?" or  "Why are you here?"  or "Welcome to D.C. " Nada.  Zilch.  Pretty good mirroring of the way Gabby treats her constituents by her staff. 
I know D.C. is old hat to them, but here I am, a constituent who has come across the country to support working together for progressive reasons, and takes the time to write and drop off a letter, and I'm pretty much ignored.  I was hot & tired and on my way out I told the guy what I thought about how I was treated and even though I vote for Gabby only as the lesser of two evils, I do not feel she represents any of my interests, hears what I tell her in letters, petitions, and the like, nor cares.  Giffords is basically a pro-choice Republican from what I can tell. 

Then I went to a room in the Capitol Visitor's Center to a room Rep.  Raul Grijalva had reserved for use by the PDA.  On Sunday I will go into detail on what John Conyers said when he spoke to maybe 50 or so people from the PDA and associated groups. 

Will also report on the great dinner and orientation session I attended at the CODEPINK Convergence Center this evening.  

But for now I have to sleep, and tomorrow I'm on the ground all day and at Poets and Busboys in the evening.  I will be posting images here, on Flickr, and on Facebook and Twitter until I can write up things later this weekend. 

BRING OUR WAR $$$ HOME!!!

Gonna March, Gonna Dance!

The think I like about women's activism is that it is like a bouncy session on a trampoline.  I visualize it as women standing on a web or net that overlays a map of the country or globe.  As a woman here or there becomes less active and sinks to a less active level, other raise up, and some are just bouncing like mad up to sky in near manic activity.

Women's networks are amazing!

I'm going back to D.C. for a few days, the first time in almost three years, to catch up with all things PINK at the national level and to represent my family and friends in the OneNation March in D.C. on October 2nd.

 

We all do what we can, and I have to tell the current admin that we are demanding the change for which we voted and worked.  Drones are criminal. War is not the answer to anything. Education and jobs and taking care of people are what we need -- NOT corporate and mega-wealthy tax breaks and propping up the military industrial complex.  Jobs from war funding are tainted jobs.

In a way it is sort of sad as I will be missing a great Pink & Green event here in Tucson, more on that later, but I will be reporting back often from D.C. with tweets, posts, pics and more.

I will also be dancing the night away at Poets & Busboys with Alice Walker and CODEPINK supporters.

I'm staying in a hotel and if there are any snorers who don't mind bunking in a double with another snorer (major!) then contact me about rooming.   I get dibs on soaking my feet after a day of marching and dancing though!

 

 

 

One Nation Working Together - call to ACTION

One Nation Working Together For Jobs, Justice and Education for All

Who We Are

We are One Nation, born from many, determined to build a more united America – with jobs, justice and education for all. We are young people, frustrated that society seems willing to spend more locking up our bodies than educating our minds, yet still we find ways to succeed and shine. We are students and newly-returned veterans – persevering in the face of mounting debt – determined not to be the first generation to end up worse off than our parents. We are baby boomers and seniors – who saw hope killed in 1968 and will not let the dream of a united America be taken from us again. We are conservatives and moderates, progressives and liberals, non-believers and people of deep faith, united by escalating assaults on our reason, our environment, and our rights. We are workers of every age, faith, race, sex, nationality, gender identity, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and ability – who have suffered discrimination but never stopped loving our neighbors, or our nation. We are American Indians and Alaska Natives – citizens of Native nations – who maintain our cultures, protect our sovereignty, and strength America’s economy. We are the new immigrants, raising our children in the torchlight of the Statue of Liberty, while confronting the shadows that are bigotry and mass deportations. We are the native born. We inherited the divided legacies of settlers and American Indians, black slaves and white and Asian indentured servants. And yet, in this moment of shared suffering, we rejoice in newfound friendships and new alliances. We are people who got thrown out – thrown out of our jobs, schools, houses, farms and small businesses – while Wall Street’s wrongdoers got bailed out. We are families who pray every day – for peace and prosperity; for deliverance from foreclosures; for good jobs to come back to urban and rural America. We are unemployed workers – forced to watch hopes for bold action dashed – because some Senators threaten filibusters, and other would-be champions fold in fear. And yet, we are the majority – fueled by hope, not hate. We have the pride, power and determination to keep ourselves – and our country – moving up and out of the valley greed created. And most importantly – from ensuring women are treated fairly at work, to expanding health care coverage for millions– we have been victorious whenever we worked together. We have proven the only thing we need to succeed is each other. And so, on 10-2-10, we come back together – to march.

Why We March

We march for a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. We march for jobs, justice, and education. We march for an economy that works for all. We march for a nation in which each person who wants to work can find a job that pays enough to support a family. We march to create a million new jobs right away, because the national values that got us out of the Great Depression will get us out of the Great Recession. We march to build a world-class public education system, from pre-school to community college and beyond – because our nation must start unleashing the greatness of every child today. We march to end racial profiling and re-segregation– from Arizona to Atlanta. We march to defend the Voting Rights Act and the 14th Amendment. We march to advance human rights, civil rights, equal protection, and dignity for all. We march to fix the broken immigration system – because no child should live in fear that her parents will be deported. We march to ensure every worker has a voice at work. We march for green jobs and safe workplaces, so no worker will have to choose between her livelihood and her life. We march for a clean environment, so no child is ever forced to decide between drinking the water or breathing the air and staying healthy. We march to move our nation beyond this moment when a handful of Senators can block urgently needed progress – skewing our national budget towards tax cuts for the wealthy, unjustified military spending and prisons.We march for peace abroad and job creation at home. We march for energy independence, public safety, and public transportation because the nation we want to build most is our own. And on 11-2-10, we will march again – into the voting booths. We will bring our families, our friends, and our neighbors. And once the ballots are counted, we will keep organizing, we will hold our leaders accountable, and we will keep making our dream real. This movement will grow. It will put America back to work, pull America back together, and keep us moving ever forward. Join us. We are One Nation Working Together: For Jobs, For Justice, For Education, For All.

Virtual Movement Marches Forward

Turns out there is a virtual movement afoot.

Solidarity isn't just a buzzword for extreme leftiies. (You know, those folks who are even to the left of me...)

Second Life, a virtual world accessible through downloadable software similar to online multi-player games, is creating a bit of a stir in the trendy world of online life. The Peace & Justice Movement is one of the first communities to use this new world to connect, network, and advance their goals.

The recent March on Washington provided opportunity for the SL Net Roots
community (including CODEPINK SL) to stage a companion virtual march on the Capitol while at least a half a million people physically surrounded the U.S. Capitol with an unplanned route change that took the march around all four sides of the Capitol and not just the three sides that were originally permitted.

Here are just a few of the sites that covered the virtual march.

Avatars hold peace march
avatars-against-the-war/
second-life-war-protest
video_of_avatar.html
RootsCampSL
avatars-against-the-war
personaldemocracy
peace-in-the-metaverse-goodwill-toward-avs