Save the middle class: Big Ed wants you to march on DC

Ed Schultz, homespun radio progressive from Fargo, ND and now an MSNBC pundit, is organizing the One Nation March, to be held on October 2 at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC.

According to Big Ed's website, "The march aims to bring working people, young people, retirees, civil rights activists and many others together on the Mall to show the obstructionists in Congress that we are many and diverse, strong and that united-and we will fight together for the American Dream...

"Working people can make a difference when we rely on ourselves and act collectively. We are America. And together we can make our voices heard."

Let's fight for the middle class. DC is quite a ways from Tucson. Maybe we could have a local march?

Here are the details from Big Ed's website.

ONE NATION WORKING TOGETHER

Our nation stands at a critical crossroads. The 30-year drive for a low-wage, high-consumption society that imports more and more of what it consumes has hit the wall.

Millions are unemployed, with little recovery in sight. A record number of Americans who want desperately to work have been jobless for more than 6 months.

At the same time, Wall Street continues to roll up big profits. Banks and corporations have made off with trillions of public dollars, while small businesses can't get loans and cities are being forced to make cuts to public education and public safety, harming our children and our communities.

Obstructionists in Congress are doing everything they can to stop anything that helps working people, and they are scapegoating workers for the demise of the economy. Public sector workers are being cast as selfish, auto workers are being blamed for the troubles of the auto industry, and teachers are being blamed for an education system in need of support.

Working people are frustrated and angry-incensed by the government's inability to halt massive job loss and declining living standards on the one hand, and the comparative ease with which Republicans in Congress, with help from some Democrats, have done their best to make the world safe again for JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs and CitiGroup, on the other.

Just as we have seen through history, fear mongers in our country have seized on that anger and are working hard -- unfortunately with some success--to use justifiable anger about a failing economy to divide us.

We have to fight this hateful demagoguery that only benefits our foes, and we can't do it alone. History has taught us that the best way to fight the forces of hatred is to address the economic policies that led to our economic suffering, and that our fight must draw its strength from an alliance of the poor and the middle class-everyone who works for a living.

It is against this backdrop that we join ONE NATION.

ONE NATION is a multi-racial, civil and human rights movement whose mission is to reorder our nation's priorities to invest in our nation's most valuable resource - our people.

The organizations that have come together to form ONE NATION believe that our goal should be a future of shared prosperity, not stubborn unemployment and a lost generation. Workers should be able to share in the wealth they create, and everyone deserves the opportunity to achieve the American Dream - a secure job; the chance for our children to get a great public education and the opportunity to make their own way in the world; and laws that protect us, not oppress us.

ONE NATION is a long-term effort to reverse the dangerous economic course of our country over the past four decades. It brings together organizations from across the progressive spectrum-labor, civil rights, environmental, faith and many others-recognizing that none of us alone have been able to achieve our priorities, whether they are large-scale job creation, labor law reform, immigration reform, investing in public education or other concerns, and that we will not realize change until these priorities belong to all of us.

ONE NATION shares the labor movement's policy agenda: An economy that works for all; good jobs, fair jobs, safe jobs, and more jobs; reforming Wall Street; repairing our immigration system; quality education for every child; and ensuring that everyone in America has the opportunity to contribute to and strengthen our country. Restoring workers' rights to organize and bargain collectively is at the heart of the policy agenda.

The ONE NATION march on Washington on October 2, 2010 will charge up an army of tens of thousands of activists who will return to their neighborhoods, churches, schools and, especially, voting booths, with new energy to enact our common agenda. And on the same day, the labor movement will walk door-to-door in targeted states around the country, bringing the same message to union members exactly one month before the fall elections.

The march aims to bring working people, young people, retirees, civil rights activists and many others together on the Mall to show the obstructionists in Congress that we are many and diverse, strong and that united-and we will fight together for the American Dream.

Many of our unions are already committed to work as a part of ONE NATION. The unions of the AFL-CIO proudly join this coalition and pledge to work collectively to add our support to this great effort.

Working people can make a difference when we rely on ourselves and act collectively. We are America. And together we can make our voices heard.

Here is the FAQ about the march.
When is the March?
Saturday, October 2, 2010. We will begin at 12:00 noon and will end at approximately 4:00 pm.

Where is the March?
The March takes place on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial located on the National Mall in Washington DC.

Is the event open to the public?
Yes, this event is open to the public. This event is also a family friendly event.

Is this event open to the media?
Yes. Media credentials and other logistics information may be obtained from the ONWT Communications Office which can be reached at 202 263 4529 or by email at ONWTCommunications@gmail.com.

What happens if it rains?
The March will proceed rain or shine.

Will there be food, beverage and bathrooms available on site?
Yes, there will be portable bathrooms and water on site.

Can I bring signs?
Yes, you can bring signs that promote the values of One Nation Working Together.

What arrangements are being made for persons with disabilities?
Special accommodations will be made for persons with disabilities. Please contact ONWTlogistics@gmail.com with any questions.

Where can I stay in the DC area?
There are many hotels in the D.C. area that are close to the March event site. To learn more about union hotels in the Washington, D.C. area, visit the Unite Here website.

Additional information about Washington, D.C. can be found at www.washington.org.

Can I make a donation to support the March or ONWT?
Please send any donations by check to:
One Nation Working Together Campaign
1825 K Street, NW Suite 210
ATTN: Matt Reents
Washington DC, 20006

What can we learn from the gay rights struggle of the 1970s? Don't give up the fight!

What have we learned in the past 33 years? Apparently not much in the brotherly love category. Far too many of us are easily manipulated by hatred and fear ginned up by right-wingers and Christian zealots.

Last night I watched Milk, the 2008 movie about activist Harvey Milk (above), the first openly gay man to hold a major elected office, a position on the County Board of Supervisors.

Watching an inspiring movie like this one two years after the will-it-get-an-Oscar? hoopla allows the viewer to concentrate on the story and the multiple parallels between 1978 and 2010.

Being a woman ... ahem... of a certain age, I was a happenin' young 20-something in 1978 and remember well the multiple movements of the 1960s and 1970s, but I had forgotten Anita Bryant's anti-homosexual crusade.

A pop-singer-turned-Evangelist, Bryant led a campaign to overturn a Dade County, Florida law that prohibited discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. After that law was overturned, she made appearances in several states to help them repeal similar anti-discrimination laws nationwide. (Sounds familiar, huh? Using religion and fear of the other to divide the populace.)



Running parallel with Bryant's anti-gay efforts were Milk's gay rights efforts in San Francisco. The movie depicts Milk debating and tirelessly fighting a California legislator who backs Proposition 6, a measure that would have barred gays from teaching in California schools and would allow schools to fire gay teachers.

The parallels between the anti-gay fervor of the 1970s and the anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim fervor being promoted today by Republicans and Tea Baggers were striking. Fear, religiosity, and preservation of family and "American values" were used to paint gays as outsiders-- just as these right-wing strategies are used today to paint immigrants and Muslims as dangerous outsiders and justify discrimination.

California's Prop 6 (which eventually failed) even had witch-hunt tactics like SB1070. One of the proponents of Prop 6 says that they have "procedures to identify who's a homosexual". His statement so reminded me of Governor Jan Brewer's reassurances that Arizona's law enforcement officials can spot illegal immigrants but then she couldn't say exactly how.

Milk's speeches toward the end of the movie-- and the end of his life, since he was assassinated in 1978-- were stirring.

"I want to recruit you to further the fight to preserve democracy," he says.

Referring to "all men are created equal" in the Declaration of Independence and "give us your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breath free" on the Statue of Liberty, Milk says, "No matter how hard they try, they can't erase those words from the Declaration of Independence. No matter how hard they try, they can't chip those words from the Statue of Liberty."

What can we learn from Harvey Milk? The struggle continues. Keep fighting. Vote!

Tucson march honors Martin Luther King Jr.

Despite chilly weather and the threat of rain, hundreds of Tucsonans of all ages and races gathered on the University of Arizona mall on Monday for the 25th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day March.

Clarence Boykins, President of the Tucson-Southern Arizona Black Chamber of Commerce and march organizer, greeted the crowd on the mall.

After a blessing, speakers reminded the marchers that although African Americans have made great progress since the civil rights movement of the 1960s, there is more work to do. In his address, Pima County Board of Supervisors Chairman Richard Elias alluded to Arizona's budget crisis and the state's Republican-controlled legislature. He called upon all Tucsonans to work together to raise up the less fortunate--regardless of race.

Marchers walked, chanted, and sang their way from the UA to the DeMeester Performance Center at Randolph Park, where they heard more speeches and enjoyed music performances and fine food. MLK events continue today.

This article originally appeared in my Progressive Examiner column. Click this link to see the slide show.