Saturday, Nov 19: Protests and Rallies

This blog post contains info on 2 different protests.  

1.  For OIA! friends up in the bay, there is a protest against the passing of *Prop 9* going on, which has very negative consequences for the prison population in terms of elongating the prison terms of people incarcerated in our already overcrowded prison system.  Its passage will also likely cost the state of California millions of dollars more to be funneled into our prison system.  This protest is occurring this coming Tuesday, November 18th.

2.  Tomorrow morning at 10:30, people are gathering at city halls all over the country to protest for equal rights for all and against homophobia and discrimination being written into the state constitution.  Please find information on the protest locations below.  Below the locations you can find a letter from the Chairman of the No on 8 campaign discussing how the city hall protests were organized--it was all started in grassroots fashion through a blogger!!  :)

Prop 9 protest:

NO ON PRISON OVERCROWDING!  RELEASE ELIGIBLE PRISONERS NOW!

RALLY AND PRESS CONFERENCE
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 18TH, 8:30 a.m.
United States District Court for the Northern District of California
450 Golden Gate Avenue, between Larkin and Polk in San Francisco

On Tuesday, November 18th a Federal three-judge panel will meet in San Francisco to deal with the continuing issue of prison overcrowding. California's prisons are over 150% capacity.  We need to let them know that the only solution to prison overcrowding is prisoner release!

The overwhelming defeat of Proposition 6 sent a strong message that the public does not want to spend millions of more dollars on a failed prison system.  Proposition 9 passed, but only due to a well-funded media campaign filled with misleading information.  Unless we challenge Prop 9 now, prisoners will be incarcerated well beyond their mandated sentences.  Join family members, friends and advocates for people in California's prisons to demand:

PAROLE ELIGIBLE PRISONERS NOW!
RELEASE LOW-RISK AGING PRISONERS, INCARCERATED SURVIVORS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, AND MEDICALLY INCAPACITATED PRISONERS!
STOP THE CRUEL AND UNUSUAL PUNISHMENT OF PEOPLE IN PRISON!

INVEST IN COMMUNITIES NOT IN PRISONS!

For more information call 415-255-7036 ext. 314 or email info@womenprisoners.org

Prop 8 city hall protests:

Bakersfield City Hall
1600 Truxtun Ave., Bakersfield, 93301 - 10:30 am rally
Meet us at 9:30 am at Starbucks, 1200 Chester Ave., .4 miles South of City Hall

Long Beach City Hall
333 W. Ocean, Long Beach, 90802 - 10:30 am to 1 pm rally
Sponsored by the Center Long Beach - wear wedding attire!
Meet us at 9:30 am at Starbucks, 111 E. Ocean Blvd., .2 miles East of City Hall

Los Angeles City Hall
200 N. Spring Street, Los Angeles, 90012- 10:30 am rally
Meet us between 8:30 and 9:30 am at Libros Revolución, 312 W. 8th St. for orientation and preparation, then shuttle together or take the Redline to City Hall

Orange County - Irvine City Hall
1 Civic Center Plaza, Irvine, 92606, 10:30 am rally
Meet us at 9:30 am at McDonald's, 84 Corporate Park, .5 miles North of City Hall

Palms Springs City Hall
3200 E. Tahquitz Canyon Way, Palm Springs, 92262 - 10:30 am rally
Meet us at 9:30 am at McDonald's, 151 S. Farrell Dr., .4 miles West of City Hall

Pasadena City Hall
100 N. Garfield Ave., Pasadena, 91101 - 10:30 am rally
Meet us at 9:30 am at Starbucks, 408 E. Colorado, .2 miles Southeast of City Hall

Riverside City Hall
3900 Main Street, Riverside, 92501 - 10:30 am rally
Meet us at 9:30 am at McDonald's, 3712 Mission Inn Ave., .2 miles North of City Hall

San Diego County Administration
Gather at 10 am at 6th Avenue & Upas St., San Diego, 92103; march leaves at 10:30 am to the County Administration at 1600 Pacific Coast Highway; rally at 1 pm
Meet us at 9:00 am at Starbucks, 3801 5th Ave. & Robinson, .4 miles north of 6th & Upas

Santa Barbara County Courthouse
1100 Anacapa St., Santa Barbara, 93101 - 10:30 am rally
Meet us at 9:30 am at Starbucks, 1235 State St., .2 miles West of County Courthouse

"No one in California political circles has ever seen such a speedy response to a single political event. And it's spreading across the country. More than 10,000 rallied in New York City on Wednesday evening..." --  San Jose Mercury News, November 13

Dear Friend,

Will you be a part of "The Tipping Point" on marriage equality?

In 2000, Malcolm Gladwell wrote a best-selling book exploring how small events can catalyze seismic shifts in culture. Eight years later, you can participate in what could be one of the most profound "tipping points" in American political history.

On Saturday morning, at the exact same time across the country, thousands of people will march, rally and protest the passage of Prop 8.

I'll be at the Los Angeles rally -- will you?

Incredibly, this volunteer-run national event was not organized by a well-known institution or coalition of organizations. It was sparked just a few days ago by Amy Balliett, a Seattle woman who turned a blog post about protesting Prop 8 into "Join the Impact," a bottom-up internet phenomenon attracting tens of thousands of people.

Will you join me and the Courage Campaign community in Los Angeles for this unprecedented national protest against Prop 8? Please click here to let us know if you will meet up with us on Saturday at 9:30 a.m. before we march together to the 10:30 a.m. main rally at City Hall:

http://www.couragecampaign.org/JoinTheImpactLA

Amy Balliett didn't need anyone's permission to call for a nationwide protest against Prop 8. Instead, she posted a blog entry that is helping birth a new Marriage Equality Movement -- a technology-driven civil rights movement for the 21st Century. As "365 Gay" reported:

"This past Friday, Nov. 7, 'Join the Impact' hit the web. Five hours later, the site logged 10,000 visitors... By Monday morning, a plan had emerged: Cities around the country would organize their own efforts to coordinate a synchronized protest for Sat., Nov. 15, 10:30 a.m. PST. The movement became officially global with hits from the UK and France, and by Nov. 11, over one million visitors had come to the site."

Organized from the ground up by thousands of ordinary people just like you, this people-powered protest movement is growing exponentially by the minute, online and offline.

Can you help make this grassroots event the tipping point for marriage equality in America? Please click here to let us know if you will meet up with the Courage Campaign community on Saturday at 9:30 a.m. before we march together to the 10:30 a.m. main rally at City Hall:

http://www.couragecampaign.org/JoinTheImpactLA

This is our moment to stand strong together -- gay and straight -- and say that we refuse to accept a California where discrimination is enshrined in our state constitution.

We hope you will take this stand with us on Saturday and encourage your friends to show up as well by forwarding this message and asking them to come with you.

I'm looking forward to seeing you on Saturday morning in Los Angeles. Thank you for helping make Amy's brilliant idea the tipping point on marriage equality in America.

Rick Jacobs
Chair