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Join the "Healthcare NOT Warfare" campaign!
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The Brown Bag Lunch Vigils’ original aim was to get out a simple message: “Healthcare NOT Warfare.” As the attacks on progressive values and the principles of democracy, equality, and fairness have escalated, the focus has broadened.
The three-month anniversary of BP oil disaster is on July 20. July's Brown Bag Lunch Vigils are part of a week of actions that support people and the planet over corporate polluters like BP.
The BP blowout began with an explosion that killed 11 workers on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig. This catastrophe has seriously disrupted livelihoods and the future for people in the Gulf, as well as the ecosystem of fish, birds, and other wildlife in this wounded region of the U.S.
But July 20th also marks the 41st anniversary of the Apollo moon landing and Neil Armstrong's famous words, “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."
The moon landing is an example of American aspiration and ingenuity--America at its best. Just as we set landing a man on the moon within a decade as a national goal, we must demand that the federal government take action and establish a similarly ambitious goal for breaking our fossil-fuel addiction in this decade.
The Gulf tragedy is an example of corporate polluters' impact on our economy, environment, and democracy. As long as dirty energy corporations wield political influence, decisions about safety, environmental protection, and energy policy will prioritize profit--not protecting people and the planet. BP's negligence is the ultimate example of corporate arrogance, influence, and self-regulation run amok.
PDA has joined a coalition of environmental groups--including Greenpeace, Chesapeake Climate Action Network, Public Citizen, Friends of the Earth, Climate Crisis Coalition, and the Price Carbon Campaign--calling for local actions across the country to mark these anniversaries. Our message:
July's BBLV theme is "people and the planet vs. corporate polluters," with our vigils making it clear that BP's concern only for their bottom line led to this disaster--and could lead to many others unless we stop them. PDA's inside/outside strategy tells our communities--and our representatives--that we need stiff regulation and dogged oversight of the oil industry combined with aggressive action to implement existing and develop new alternative energies that will make oil an obsolete commodity.
Take or send this month's letters to your CD's representative and senators, stating the BBLV goals and what we expect from our elected officials. This monthly contact consistently sends a reaffirmed message to the representative and senators that lays down the gauntlet as our challenge to them to sign on to progressive legislation and resist corporate influence.
The BBLVs will continue to protest against the unending wars that cost us lives and treasure, and the pernicious hold over our elected officials enabled by corporate personhood. The BBLVs advocate for Healthcare for All, keeping Hands Off Medicare and Social Security, and redirecting Defense spending into our communities.
To reinforce the message that these wars are a terrible waste--at the cost of our domestic stability and for the benefit of Defense vendors and contractors--let them know how you feel about the supplemental vote in the House. See how your BBLV representative voted on the key amendments here. Choose the appropriate letter to your representatives if they showed courage in their votes for the Lee and McGovern-Obey-Jones amendments, or a letter calling them on caving in on the war propaganda and allowed funding to continue unabated.
1. Find a vigil here and sign up to join it. If you don't see a vigil near you, look below to see how to create one.
2. Create your vigil here. Most vigils are held on the third Wednesday of every month at the noon hour, but you can schedule your vigil for the time during that week that suits your chapter or group best. What's important is to hold it at the same time every month in the same venue, so there's a consistent presence that the public and your representative recognize. Write up your vigil's details for the calendar listing.
1. Every registered vigil is promoted to PDA's calendar so others can find you, and the BBLV team sends out notices about your vigil to your CD or area, complete with personalized registration links. To get those links to use in your own blasts, contact Roberta at roberta@pdamerica.org.
2. BBLV organizers receive confirmations for each participant who registers for their vigil.
1. Visit the Stop Global Waming/Environmental Issues page to find in-depth information on the carbon tax and other issues to raise with your representative and the people you encounter on the street. Download Handouts for Climate and Clean Energy Legislation for the materials you'll need for your congressional office visit. For basic guidelines on congressional office visits, download Helpful Hints.
2. It's becoming clearer by the day that our tax dollars are going over to the Defense Department rather than to the environmental and social programs we need. Go to the National Priorities Project (NPP) to find data on where your 2009 tax dollars are going, the actual cost of the wars, and the social programs your community could have funded with those tax dollars. Use these figures to make signs for your vigils. Download the PDF pie chart "Where Your Income Tax Money Really Goes" from the War Resisters League. Understand the 2011 federal budget with NPP's "Introduction to Federal Spending Priorities." Use this data when refuting the misconception that to reduce our deficit we need to "cut the fat" from Medicare and Social Security.
3. Don't forget your brown bag lunch--but take it in PDA's Windmills NOT Weapons canvas tote! Buy your at-cost, union-made BBLV materials here. Carry signs made from the Corporations ARE NOT People/Keep Corporations Out of Elections posters. Order some Windmills NOT Weapons bumper stickers to hand out at your vigil.
4. Download this July 2010 representative's letter and this July 2010 senators' letter, customize them for your district and state, and mail them or deliver them on the day of your vigil. Find your representative and senators here. When possible, schedule in-person meetings with your member of Congress or the legislative aide on environmental issues. Present the arguments for cutting off war funding and instead funding alternative energy development and social programs. Download Helpful Hints for Congressional Office Visits to prepare for your meetings.
5. See the Results of House Supplemental Vote July 1, 2010--especially on the Lee Amendment (essentially HR 3699--To prohibit any increase in the number of members of the United States Armed Forces serving in Afghanistan), the McGovern-Obey-Jones Amendment (essentially HR 5015--To require a plan for the safe, orderly, and expeditious redeployment of United States Armed Forces from Afghanistan), and Amendment #3, which would strike all military funding in the bill for the ongoing war in Afghanistan. Send them congratulations or register your disapproval--according to their votes--with the appropriate letter.
1. Report on activities and developments pertaining to your lobbying effort using the Brown Bag Lunch Vigil Google document. Check coalition partner AfterDowningStreet.org's DefundWar.org to add your update to how your legislators have voted on war funding.
2. Write about your vigils and submit them to bbv@pdamerica.org for publication on PDA's front page or your state's page. It is especially important to share what worked at your vigil and what didn't with other activists.
3. Send your BBLV photos to blog@pdamerica.org. Make sure you name your pictures with your state and CD number, as well as the names of participants. Look at others' pictures on PDA's Flickr page.
4. Send your videos in to be posted on PDA's YouTube page by contacting Bryan at blog@pdamerica.org for instructions. See video of BBLV events on PDA's Blog and YouTube page.5. Spread the word! Tell your friends about your Brown Bag Lunch Vigil on your blog, Facebook, and Twitter.
Read articles by organizers, participants, and observers:
Questions or comments? Contact the team at bbv@pdamerica.org.
