 December 2003 January 2004
American Friends Service Committee Peacework Magazine Sara Burke, Managing Editor Sam Diener, Editor Pat Farren, Founding Editor 2161 Massachusetts Ave. Telephone number: Fax number:
pwork@igc.org Peacework has been published monthly since 1972, intended to serve as a source of dependable information to those who strive for peace and justice and are committed to furthering the nonviolent social change necessary to achieve them. Rooted in Quaker values and informed by AFSC experience and initiatives, Peacework offers a forum for organizers, fostering coalition-building and teaching the methods and strategies that work in the global and local community. Peacework seeks to serve as an incubator for social transformation, introducing a younger generation to a deeper analysis of problems and issues, reminding and re-inspiring long-term activists, encouraging the generations to listen to each other, and creating space for the voices of the disenfranchised. Views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of the AFSC. |
Putting Backbone into Progressive Politics Bill Moyer is a musician, composer, and music educator and a cofounder of the Backbone Project. He points out he is neither "Bill Moyers from PBS, or the Bill Moyer who wrote Doing Democracy. "Bill Moyer is a musician, composer, and music educator and a cofounder of the Backbone Project. He points out he is neither "Bill Moyers from PBS, or the Bill Moyer who wrote Doing Democracy."
A little more than a year ago, as a preemptive attack against going mad with frustration, I gathered a group of artist friends to start an affinity group. We've engaged in strategic bannering over our local interstate, and built puppets for last year's February 15 mobilization. Living on an island, I get at least a few hours a week to stew in my car while listening to the radio. Perhaps like you, I madly scribble my ideas onto the backs of envelopes and on scraps of paper. Late last spring, completely disgusted with all but a few individuals in the Democratic Party, I thought it might be helpful to recognize the handful that have courageously stood up to the fear-mongering and lying which are leading our country into unprecedented disaster. On one scrap of paper I wrote, "Backbone Award," thinking of my Congressional Representative, Jim McDermott. I mentioned the idea to my affinity group and it began to grow. Eventually, it became the Backbone Campaign, an effort to reward and embolden progressivism within the Democratic Party. Our ambition is to strengthen the hand of the Progressive Caucus, leading up to and during the 2004 Democratic Convention in Boston. We currently envision multiple local awards events to spread the Backbone "brand." A gala Backbone Awards event, at the National Press Club, with progressive celebrity emcees, will launch our "Platform with a Backbone." We will publish and distribute that platform to citizens and delegates across the country, in hope of having a significant visible presence within the Convention. Outside the Convention, in collaboration with artists and activists from around the country, we will deliver our Platform with a Backbone in the form of an 80-foot Backbone Puppet, accompanied by a parade of images that speak to the kind of visionary leadership we are demanding from the Democrats. As a musician, I know that when magic happens, it happens in a state of suspended judgment. Yet doubts ran through my head; it could never happen, it wouldn't work anyway, all my personal shortcomings would doom it. My affinity group helped me "put one foot in front of the other" to make the Backbone Campaign a reality. We are going forward with the Backbone Campaign, and we'd like you to join us. To start, get your local progressive organization to identify a public official in your area who has a history of standing up for progressive causes and has continued to demonstrate backbone despite these politically lonely times. The Backbone Campaign will send you a beautiful, Oscar-like Backbone Award to give them. If at all possible, take your own broadcast-quality video, do a press release and send it out to your local TV stations. Send us a copy and we'll post it on our website. Help spread the idea that being a progressive is not just a winning strategy; it's the only strategy if we intend to be proud of the country we leave to our children
For details on the broader campaign, and to find out how you can
get involved, visit www.backbonecampaign.org. 
Previous Article
|
|
|