WELCOME PRESIDENT OBAMA!  Now Let’s Begin.

“A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.”
     – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Report from Inauguration:

The Washington Peace Letter led a coalition of peace and justice groups who wanted to expand the progressive presence at the Inauguration.  We printed up thousands of signs that read “Mr President, I hope for ____” and invited the crowds to fill them in with their own wishes for the Obama administration.  We handed out flyers and directed sign-holders to a website full of resources to get involved in the movement and turn all the hope into action.   We also organized a space at McPherson Square for organizaitons to table and to use as a gathering space to find other progressives.

Both components worked out great!   People loved our signs, they were a huge success.  It seemed like the only thing going that was interactive with the crowds and really allowing them the opportunity to think about why they were excited about Obama.  I literally heard the conversations we were hoping there would be – a mother saying to her kid “I don’t know, honey, what do YOU want the President to do?”  There were amazing things written on the signs.  I encourage you to check out the pictures of a lot of the signs – they are pretty inspiring.
 
We handed out 1000’s of signs and flyers listing organizations for people to get involved with.  This project also got great media – Maureen Dowd even mentioned it in her column in the NY Times on Wednesday.
 
Check out www.wehopeforchange.org to see the page that everyone is being directed to listing organizations to get involved with.  These signs were a way to build the movement as a whole and do outreach for all sorts of peace and justice groups.  Because of this project, the Inauguration definitely had a progressive presence and gave attentendees an opprotunity to really think about the future and what they want to do to create it.
 
Congratulations to all of us on no more Bush/Cheney!

 

Are you ready for a new President?  So are we!  We HOPE that Obama will make real change… and we are COMMITTING to making sure he does!  Having Obama for President is an amazing opportunity for the voices of the people to finally be heard and acted upon.  But real change will only come if there is an organized, unifed and LOUD movement of the people reminding him why he was elected.

Join the Washington Peace Center and the Activist Coaltion of DC (ACDC) to create a progressive presence at the Inauguration and show the world what we HOPE Obama will do from Day One.

This Inauguration Day will closely follow Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday, and it is in his spirit that we demand:

1. Immediate withdrawal from Iraq and a commitment to take care of returning veterans.
2. A halt to the post-9/11 erosion of human rights and civil liberties:  repeal the USA PATRIOT Act, end torture and restore habeas corpus.
3. Redirection of tax dollars toward real action on housing, healthcare, climate change and other human needs.

 THE VOICES OF THE PEOPLE WILL TELL  PRESIDENT OBAMA THAT WE WANT TRUE CHANGE!