[Imc] call for a local Chautauqua

Sun Jan 20 21:57:29 UTC 2002

The large Chautauqua is coming through Chicago this June.  There are calls
for spin offs in the region at that time.  Read below if you're
interested.

danielle

-----Original Message-----
From: Jim Hightower <alert at jimhightower.com>
To: unionyes at ameritech.net <unionyes at ameritech.net>
Date: Thursday, January 17, 2002 9:41 PM
Subject: Welcome to the Rolling Thunder Down-Home Democracy Tour 2002!

>Howdy shakers and groovers of Chautauqua!
>
>Welcome to a brand spanking New Year - the year the people take back
>the power!
>
>Thunder is rolling so hold tight and get set to get wet!
>
>Since the Hightower Lowdown featured the Rolling Thunder Down-Home
>Democracy Tour, we have gotten hundreds of inquiries from folks such
>as yourself, interested in jolting the task masters out of their
>somnolent status quo system that thinks, profit first, people last.
>Well I know I don't have to tell YOU that the sleeping beast is going
>to be politely, but firmly awoken by thousands of perceptive
>speakers, sassy musicians, passionate politicians, no-terd-takin
>cowboys, free-thinkin farmers, hard-workin waitresses, talented
>workshop leaders and a whole host of other inspired, inspiring, bona
>fide 100% honest-to-goodness just downright real folks!
>
> From Seattle to Libertytown, MD, from LaFarge WI to Memphis, TN you
>all have jumped up to say (in the words of Penny Lane from Floyd,
>VA) "we're overworked and underfunned - let's Chautauqua!"
>
>And so Chautauqua-ing we are.
>
>*  Firstly, we thank our financial supporters without whom this would
>not be possible: Working Assets, Ben and Jerry's, Mother Jones, the
>Tides Foundation, Global Resource Action Coalition for the
>Environment, Essential Action, the MacArthur Foundation, Nathan
>Cummings Foundation, Common Council Foundation, Pohaku Fund, the Gill
>Foundation and others!
>
>But don't let them get all the credit - sponsor us yourselves! Your
>donation means the world to us - whatever the amount. Just click on
>the "Donate Now!" button at www.jimhightower.com/tour and make your
>tax-exempt donation today!
>
>*  Way back in September we went up to a little place called Unity,
>Maine, where we pioneered the reincarnated Chautauqua concept.
>Community members and groups from the Alliance for Democracy to the
>Maine Organic Farmers & Gardeners Association joined together
>to "quell the corporate coup." All the organizations involved not
>only worked hard to put together this event, but also committed to
>devote 10% of their attention and energy over the coming year to
>solving the overarching problem of corporate rule. Through local
>referendums and initiatives they will challenge corporate
>sovereignty, personhood and the other illegitimate privileges they
>have usurped over the years (e.g., their rights to enjoy Bill of
>Rights protections, to demand welfare, to suborn elections, to
>dictate policy, to overwhelm local business, to own life forms,
>etc.). Speakers included Doris Haddock (Granny D), David Korten,
>Ronnie Dugger and Jim Hightower. Check out the great webpage
>www.newchautauqua.net for information about how Maine folks are
>continuing the Chautauqua spirit and listen to coverage of the event!
>
>*  Start agitating NOW! Meetings to discuss plans for the RTD2 tour
>to come to Austin, Tucson, Atlanta, and Chicago will be held in the
>upcoming weeks. Please contact the following people to get involved!
>
>Austin
>Contact: Tricia Forbes at tforbes at protex.org or 512-441-3003
>
>Tucson
>Contact: Ian Robertson at tucsonlabor at aol.com or 520-400-0305
>
>Atlanta
>Contact: Anita Beaty anitalawbeaty at aol.com or 404-659-2590
>
>Chicago, IL
>Contact LaDonna Redmond songobisi at netzero.net or 773-262-7339
>
>*  Austin, TX will be our next stomping grounds where we will wake up
>the nation and urge them to get up on the right side of the
>ideological bed. We'll have hide-tingling speakers, death defying
>acrobats (and activists), hay bale mazes for the kids and kids-at-
>heart, Hightower hot sauce, and YOU! We need geniuses and idiots,
>farmers, bakers and candlestick makers, toddlers and tykes, grandmas
>and poppas, actresses and hams, and very other type of person to be
>vendors, workshop leaders, organizers, volunteers, barkers, ticket-
>sellers, media spokespeople, etc. To get involved in the Austin
>planning, contact Tricia Forbes at tforbes at protex.org or call 512-441-
>3003. We'll be heading to Austin in March so contact Tricia TODAY!
>
>*  I get more calls from the Tucson area than almost anywhere else
>and we're getting set to do a bang-up job on the Chautauqua there.
>We'll scoot on over to Tucson in April so come join the Arizona
>Central Labor Council, Derechos Humanos, Jobs with Justice, Latin
>American Council for Labor Advancement, League of United Latin
>American Citizens, Primavera Foundation for the Homeless, Sierra
>Club, SW Biodiversity Center, League of Conservation Voters,
>Interfaith Social Justice Committee, Catholic Social Services and
>other organizations to help craft a progressive extravaganza!
>
>*  In Chicago, IL plans are underway for a Chautauqua focused on
>celebrating real farmers and real food (yes! They still exist!) to
>take place in June. The goal of this festival will be to democratize
>the food system from the planting to the processing. The groups
>involved thus far include the Institute for Agriculture and Trade
>Policy, Farm Aid, Organic Valley Family of Farms, the Illinois Food
>Safety Coalition, the GRACE Factory Farm Project, Public Citizen's
>Food Irradiation Project, the Illinois Food Stewardship Alliance, the
>Chicago Task Force on Homelessness and the Center on Voting and
>Democracy. We are also working with the office of Representative
>Jesse Jackson Jr. Contact LaDonna Redmond at songobisi at netzero.net or
>773-261-7339 for more information on how to be involved or be a
>sponsoring organization.
>
>*  In Atlanta, GA plans are underway in collaboration with Task Force
>for the Homeless, the Atlanta Central Labor Council, the Christian
>Council of Concerned Black Clergy, 9 - 5 National Association of
>Working Women, Rural Urban Summit, and others to produce a Chautauqua
>focused primarily on human and civil rights. This Chautauqua will be
>held in May and we look forward to your involvement! Contact Anita
>Beaty at anitalawbeaty at aol.com or 404-230-5007.
>
>*  The other cities we are thinking of visiting include Seattle,
>Madison, Oakland, Baltimore / DC, Boston and Minneapolis and a whole
>host of others. If you want your city to be part of the tour, please
>email info at rollingthundertour.org and ask for a
>proposal form. But, don't wait for us to come to you - roll your own
>thunder!
>
>We can't make it to every city so we are encouraging communities to
>roll their own thunder by hosting a mini Chautauqua. We will be
>compiling Chautauqua Community Superstars - communities where the
>full-fledged tour doesn't stop, but where there is enough local
>enthusiasm to put on a mini-Chautauqua by reaching out to other
>organizations and putting together an event with both cultural and
>activist concepts such as a spoken word event, a kids performance, a
>workshop on corporate dominance in your hometown.
>
>We ask that communities that are interested in doing this adhere to
>the Chautauqua spirit in that the events endeavor to bring together a
>diverse group pf people and constituencies, that they focus on the
>common thread that unites us all - the need to take back our
>democracy from the global greedheads, and that there is an effort
>made to stick together and work cooperatively with one another after
>the event so that the momentum and energy doesn't dissipate. These
>events will be publicized on our soon-to-be website and also on this
>listserve so that other like-minded people in your community and
>region can hear about what is going on around them and can get
>involved. We also want to showcase all the individuals,
>organizations, networks and entire communities that are rejoicing in
>the Chautauqua spirit. We'll ask communities to submit a photo, a
>list of the organizations involved and a brief description of their
>mini-Chautauqua and we will display them proudly at each mega-
>Chautauqua to encourage and catalyze others to take power back in
>their own communities!
>
>If you are interested in hosting a mini Chautauqua, please let us
>know the nature and details of the event so we can post it. Send an
>email to info at rollingthundertour.org
>
>*  Our list of national partners continues to grow and thus far
>includes ACORN, The National Council of Churches, Service Employees
>International Union, AFL-CIO, (SEIU), United Students Against
>Sweatshops, Ben and Jerry's, Barbara Ehrenreich, Working Assets,
>Essential Information, Tides Foundation, Representative Jesse Jackson
>Jr., Rainforest Action Network, Global Exchange, Senator Paul
>Wellstone, Public Citizen, Mother Jones, The Nation, Utne Reader,
>Alternet, Dan Carol, CTSG, Patch Adams and the Gesundheit Institute,
>Campaign for America's Future, Institute for Agriculture and Trade
>Policy, Joel Rogers, Ruckus Society, Alliance for Democracy, Center
>for Voting and Democracy, Bioneers, Ella Baker Center for Human
>Rights, Business Leaders for Sensible Priorities, Global Resource
>Action Center for the Environment, United for a Fair Economy, Public
>Campaign, Sustain, Democracy Matters, Julianne Malveaux, Greenpeace,
>Organic Consumers Association, Women's International League for Peace
>and Freedom, National Coalition for the Homeless, Organic Valley
>Family of Farms, American Medical Students Association, and many
>others in the works. To find out what it means to be a national
>sponsor and to add your organization to the list, please email
>info at rollingthundertour.org.
>
>
>That's all for now folks...but hold on to yer hats and keep listening
>for the roar...of thunder and of minds being activated......
>
>Until soon.
>Yours,
>Darci Andresen
>National Field Coordinator
>
>
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