Join ONE at the Dr. MLK Jr. Festival in Austin TX !

[Jamila]

This is to inform anyone here that is in Central Texas that ONE will have an info and sign up booth at the 14th annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Festival to take place at Hutson Tillotson University after the March from the Dr. MLK Jr. statue at the University of Texas.

This is to occur on Monday, 15 January 2007 (Dr. King's actual birthdate) starting at 9:00am and ending at 3:00pm.



Here is the link to the info page on the ONE site that I have posted regarding this event:

http://action.one.org/dia/organizations/one/event/distributedEvent.jsp?event_KEY=2108




Actually the maximum number of attendees have NOT been reached so everyONE is encouraged to attend. (a glitch occurred on the ONE site)





MLK Day Celebration/Festival


Come and join thousands in Central Texas as we COME TOGETHER AS ONE and honor the legacy of Dr. King while advocating as Dr. King did - for the world's poorest people.

January 15, 2007
From: 09:00 AM until 03:00 PM

Address
Hutson-Tillotson University (11th Street and Chicon) 10:00am - 3:00pm

Directions
The 2007 MLK Community March kicks off at 9 a.m. with a short program at the MLK Statue on the University of Texas campus. Thereafter, we will march to the historic Huston-Tillotson University.
I'll have more about this event and about Dr. King's Holiday as we get closer to the actual event.



If you need anymore info on this event, you can always email me at iris_lotus_blossom@hotmail.com




Take good care of yourselves and thank you for caring about the world's poorest people.

 

[Jamila]

Every year, on Dr. King's Holiday, there is a National Day of Service in which people can volunteer in some capacity in their community to make the world a better place - in memory of the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.


Here is some more info on this national action. Perhaps it will encourage you to DO SOMETHING MORE to remember Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.


During his lifetime...


Dr. King sought to forge the common ground on which people from all walks of life could join together to address important community issues. Working alongside individuals of all ages, races and backgrounds, Dr. King encouraged Americans to come together to strengthen communities, alleviate poverty, and acknowledge dignity and respect for all human beings. Service, he realized, was the great equalizer.


On January 15, 2007, as we celebrate the 21st anniversary of the Martin Luther King Jr. federal holiday, Americans across the country will celebrate by honoring the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Hundreds of thousands of Americans will remember and memorialize Dr. King by participating in service projects in their communities. Together, they will honor King’s legacy of tolerance, peace, and equality by meeting community needs and making the holiday...

“A day ON, not a day OFF.”


http://www.mlkday.gov/



LOVE AND PEACE. HOPE AND JOY. MERCY AND GRACE.

 

[Jamila]

Here is a BEAUTIFUL description of the importance of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday written by the woman who spearheaded to movement to establish it.


May she forever be at peace alongside him.


LOVE AND PEACE. HOPE AND JOY. MERCY AND GRACE.



The Meaning of the
Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday

By Coretta Scott King



The Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday celebrates the life and legacy of a man who brought hope and healing to America. We commemorate as well the timeless values he taught us through his example -- the values of courage, truth, justice, compassion, dignity, humility and service that so radiantly defined Dr. King’s character and empowered his leadership. On this holiday, we commemorate the universal, unconditional love, forgiveness and nonviolence that empowered his revolutionary spirit.


We commemorate Dr. King’s inspiring words, because his voice and his vision filled a great void in our nation, and answered our collective longing to become a country that truly lived by its noblest principles. Yet, Dr. King knew that it wasn’t enough just to talk the talk, that he had to walk the walk for his words to be credible. And so we commemorate on this holiday the man of action, who put his life on the line for freedom and justice every day, the man who braved threats and jail and beatings and who ultimately paid the highest price to make democracy a reality for all Americans.


The King Holiday honors the life and contributions of America’s greatest champion of racial justice and equality, the leader who not only dreamed of a color-blind society, but who also lead a movement that achieved historic reforms to help make it a reality.


On this day we commemorate Dr. King’s great dream of a vibrant, multiracial nation united in justice, peace and reconciliation; a nation that has a place at the table for children of every race and room at the inn for every needy child. We are called on this holiday, not merely to honor, but to celebrate the values of equality, tolerance and interracial sister and brotherhood he so compellingly expressed in his great dream for America.


It is a day of interracial and intercultural cooperation and sharing. No other day of the year brings so many peoples from different cultural backgrounds together in such a vibrant spirit of brother and sisterhood. Whether you are African-American, Hispanic or Native American, whether you are Caucasian or Asian-American, you are part of the great dream Martin Luther King, Jr. had for America. This is not a black holiday; it is a peoples' holiday. And it is the young people of all races and religions who hold the keys to the fulfillment of his dream.


We commemorate on this holiday the ecumenical leader and visionary who embraced the unity of all faiths in love and truth. And though we take patriotic pride that Dr. King was an American, on this holiday we must also commemorate the global leader who inspired nonviolent liberation movements around the world. Indeed, on this day, programs commemorating my husband’s birthday are being observed in more than 100 nations.


The King Holiday celebrates Dr. King’s global vision of the world house, a world whose people and nations had triumphed over poverty, racism, war and violence. The holiday celebrates his vision of ecumenical solidarity, his insistence that all faiths had something meaningful to contribute to building the beloved community.


The Holiday commemorates America’s pre-eminent advocate of nonviolence --- the man who taught by his example that nonviolent action is the most powerful, revolutionary force for social change available to oppressed people in their struggles for liberation.


This holiday honors the courage of a man who endured harassment, threats and beatings, and even bombings. We commemorate the man who went to jail 29 times to achieve freedom for others, and who knew he would pay the ultimate price for his leadership, but kept on marching and protesting and organizing anyway.


Every King holiday has been a national "teach-in" on the values of nonviolence, including unconditional love, tolerance, forgiveness and reconciliation, which are so desperately-needed to unify America. It is a day of intensive education and training in Martin’s philosophy and methods of nonviolent social change and conflict-reconciliation. The Holiday provides a unique opportunity to teach young people to fight evil, not people, to get in the habit of asking themselves, "what is the most loving way I can resolve this conflict?"


On the King holiday, young people learn about the power of unconditional love even for one's adversaries as a way to fight injustice and defuse violent disputes. It is a time to show them the power of forgiveness in the healing process at the interpersonal as well as international levels.


Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is not only for celebration and remembrance, education and tribute, but above all a day of service. All across America on the Holiday, his followers perform service in hospitals and shelters and prisons and wherever people need some help. It is a day of volunteering to feed the hungry, rehabilitate housing, tutoring those who can't read, mentoring at-risk youngsters, consoling the broken-hearted and a thousand other projects for building the beloved community of his dream.


Dr. King once said that we all have to decide whether we "will walk in the light of creative altruism or the darkness of destructive selfishness. Life's most persistent and nagging question, he said, is `what are you doing for others?'" he would quote Mark 9:35, the scripture in which Jesus of Nazareth tells James and John "...whosoever will be great among you shall be your servant; and whosoever among you will be the first shall be the servant of all." And when Martin talked about the end of his mortal life in one of his last sermons, on February 4, 1968 in the pulpit of Ebenezer Baptist Church, even then he lifted up the value of service as the hallmark of a full life. "I'd like somebody to mention on that day Martin Luther King, Jr. tried to give his life serving others," he said. "I want you to say on that day, that I did try in my life...to love and serve humanity.




We call you to commemorate this Holiday by making your personal commitment to serve humanity with the vibrant spirit of unconditional love that was his greatest strength, and which empowered all of the great victories of his leadership. And with our hearts open to this spirit of unconditional love, we can indeed achieve the Beloved Community of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s dream.
May we who follow Martin now pledge to serve humanity, promote his teachings and carry forward his legacy into the 21st Century.

 

[Jamila]

I would encourage everyONE who is in the Central Texas area to COME AND JOIN US on Dr. King's Holiday at the Festival at HTU because I will need all the help that I can get this year staffing the booth because I broke my leg on Christmas Eve and it is in a cast right now!


Hope to see y'all there.

 

[Jamila]

I just want to post this from the ONE blog to stress why the ONE booth at the MLK Jr. Festival will be of the UTMOST importance:


http://action.one.org/blog/comments.jsp?key=1&blog_entry_KEY=329&t=



Almost Beyond Comprehension

02:30 PM Jan 05, 2007



As people who care about global poverty, this is a moment to pay attention.



In December, Congressional leaders made it clear that they intend to extend the current "continuing resolution" (CR) for the entire year. This means that U.S. federal funding will remain at 2006 levels throughout all of 2007 - and that the global poverty movement will not receive close to a billion dollars in funding increases that were set aside for the new year.



To say that again, the CR means that a year's worth of work for almost a billion dollars in funding increases, and critical momentum for some of the greatest challenges our world faces, could all be lost.



The majority of this funding, approximately $900 million, was set aside for PEPFAR, the President's $15 billion five-year program to fight the growing global HIV/AIDS pandemic. According to Mark Dybul of the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator in a new UPI article:



"If that money is not appropriated, the program, which provides treatment for 822,000 AIDS patients in 15 focus countries, will have to stop enrolling new individuals by February...If the shortfall is not addressed, it could lead to the deaths of 110,000 to 175,000 HIV-infected individuals..."



"You can't just start up again in 2008 and bring them back. They're gone."



Additionally, pulling this expected increase means global partners will lose trust in the U.S. government's promises. "The chilling effect long-term on scale-up" says Dybul "is almost beyond comprehension."



There is additional money that Congress can still distribute into key programs for the 2007 budget. In December, ONE asked our members contacted their representatives on this issue.



Please stay tuned to the ONE Blog in the next few days for more ways you can take action.

-----------------------------------------------------------

PLEASE contact your Senators NOW and let them know that you DO NOT support the continuing resolution and that you want the monies appropriated to the programs to fight extreme poverty in the FY2007 budget that are supposed to be funded. (PEPFAR, Global Fund, MCA, etc.)


This is a matter of life and death for thousands of desparately poor African people.


It is also a disgrace by our Congress.

 

[Jamila]

Just to remind everyONE - if you are NOT staffing a ONE booth somewhere on the MLK Jr. Holiday (smile), there are still PLENTY of opportunities to find a volunteer experience in your community to help those less fortunate than you.


Go to this link and find the list of reputable organizations that are looking for volunteers on the national King Day of Service:


http://www.mlkday.gov/about/partners/index.asp



Remembering Dr. King isn't just sitting at your computer saying wonderful things about Martin.


Like Kelly said above, it's GETTING INVOLVED in DOING SOMETHING POSITIVE for the world around you - just as Dr. King did.



Hope you decide to JOIN US the Dr. MLK Jr. Holiday weekend!



Have a beautiful day - don't let it get away!

 

[Jamila]

Oh, Kelly is my friend and you don't know what she said - but she agrees with me.

I guess it's too early in the morning to cut and paste.


But you still know what I mean.


Love and Peace.

 

[Jamila]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070112/ap_on_re_us/king_remembered



King remembered during Atlanta ceremony By GREG BLUESTEIN, Associated Press Writer
Fri Jan 12, 1:38 PM ET



Georgia's top politicians linked hands Friday with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s relatives and belted "We Shall Overcome" during a joyous celebration of the civil rights leader's life.

During the ceremony at the state Capitol, officials and civil rights leaders urged Americans to spend the King holiday making real his vision of racial equality.



"Let's make Georgia the beacon of hope to illuminate the path to that dream," said King's nephew, Isaac Newton Farris Jr.

Gov. Sonny Perdue echoed his call. "It's just as much our calling as it was his," he said. "May we leave behind a trail so bright that others can see."



The governor received a standing ovation after Farris thanked him for opening the Capitol to a public viewing for King's wife, Coretta Scott King, after she died in February 2006. She was the first woman and first black person to lie in honor in what once was a seat of segregation.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Coretta Scott King and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

 

[Jamila]

This article highlights the VERY IMPORTANT reason why ONE is scheduled to be at the MLK Jr. Festival in Austin TX this coming Monday - Dr. King's birthday and his national holiday.



Have a beautiful day - don't let it get away!


http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/01/12/MNG5ENHDOB1.DTL



------------------------------------------------------------
Money to fight AIDS abroad caught up in budget wrangling

- Sabin Russell, Chronicle Medical Writer
Friday, January 12, 2007



A stalemate in Congress over financing the federal government through the remainder of the year could shortly upend progress in bringing AIDS drugs to needy patients in poor countries hardest hit by the global scourge.



At stake is nearly $1 billion in new spending for various programs to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria abroad. The Bush administration had sought the money, and both houses in Congress were inclined to support the funding, but it could all disappear by the end of February without special consideration by lawmakers whose attention is now focused on Iraq.



Alarmed AIDS activists and key congressional supporters of the international program have begun to campaign to get the money approved, but now have barely one month to make their case.

"People are sweating right now. If we don't get a correction, the whole upward trajectory goes down. Momentum will be lost, and that's the hardest thing to gain again,'' said Dr. Paul Zeitz, executive director of the Global AIDS Alliance.



Dr. Mark Dybul, director of PEPFAR, the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, warned a Washington audience last week that unless Congress authorizes the additional money to continue expanding the program, new overseas enrollment in antiviral drug treatment -- at a rate of 50,000 new patients each month -- will have to stop by the end of February.



Because of an impasse over budget priorities that began during the waning days of the Republican-controlled Congress last fall, nearly all federal spending for this year has been frozen at 2006 levels. That creates special problems for programs, like PEPFAR, that were scheduled for big expansions in 2007.



Unless the new Democrat-controlled Congress makes an exception, PEPFAR will have to stay at last year's spending level through September -- leaving no money for new enrollment after February. As a result, 350,000 HIV-positive people slated to start AIDS drug treatment, most of them in Africa, won't get their medicine. Dybul estimated that 110,000 to 175,000 of them will die.



"That's what we are talking about. It's not just enrolling people on therapy,'' he said during a meeting of the Global Health Council. "It's people who will die -- they're gone.''



Dybul also estimated that without the additional money, 23,000 children will become infected at birth because services to prevent mother-to-fetus transmission of HIV "will pretty much have to halt.''



President Bush's PEPFAR program had targeted 2007 for a major scale-up of the drug treatment program, and he had requested that spending for the year grow to $4 billion from $3.2 billion in 2006.



Because the Republican-controlled Congress adjourned with much of its budgetary work incomplete, the daily business of government has been authorized with a series of continuing resolutions that leave spending at 2006 levels.



That stopgap strategy could become more permanent, however. Democrat leaders decided that, rather than renew the contentious budget debates that went nowhere in the fall, they would pass one more continuing resolution to keep nearly all federal spending levels flat until October. They would devote their energies instead to budget battles for the next fiscal year.



However, because spending has been restricted by continuing resolution budgets since the fiscal year began in October, AIDS advocates say the resultant savings have freed up at least $12 billion that could be distributed to programs Congress chooses to support. A massive lobbying effort is gearing up in hopes that about $1 billion of that be directed to pay for Bush's AIDS and malaria initiatives, as well as to pay some $90 million authorized for domestic AIDS programs under the Ryan White Care Act.



Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, a member of the Appropriations Committee, obtained 87 signatures in two days from other House members calling for $930 million in new spending for AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria programs -- the level supported last fall by the Senate Appropriations Committee.



"If you don't raise an issue, and don't organize around what is important, things do fall by the wayside,'' she said. "I can't take that chance.''



Lee said that she has not had any direct discussions with her Bay Area colleague, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, but that AIDS has always been a top priority for the San Francisco Democrat.



Drew Hammill, a spokesman for Pelosi, said she is fully aware of the problem.

"She staunchly supports these programs, but we are also trying to achieve fiscal responsibility,'' he said. "The Republican Congress created this fiscal mess, and then punted this problem to us.''



Hammill said that a decision on the next continuing resolution does not have to be made until Feb. 15.

"We do have a little bit of time here,'' he said.

------------------------------------------------------------

Let's make sure that the Congress makes the RIGHT decision.


USE YOUR VOICE for the world's poorest people through ONE!

 

[Jamila]

Here's an email that I received last night:



Greetings Friends:

The Austin Area Heritage Council has made a
decision to cancel the MLK Rally, March & Festival on Monday, January 15th
because of the threat of icy weather.


We will determine whether to
reschedule the festival, as well as the Youth Legacy Reception at a later
date. Festival exhibitor fees will be refunded.


Thank you for your support.

Carol Wright, Chair
Austin Area Heritage Council
-------------------------------------------------------

Under our current weather situation down here, this was the best course of action for everybody's safety.

 

[Mr. BAW]

Greetings.

Sorry to hear about the postponement; when its rescheduled maybe you could just...

http://forum.interference.com/t171056.html

with the new dates to save yourself some time...

Warmly,

Mr. BAW

 

[Jamila]

The Dr. MLK Jr Festival has been rescheduled for this Saturday, 27 January 2007, from 10:00am to 3:00pm at HTU.



http://www.mlkcelebration.com/marchandrally.php



I have reposted this info on the ONE site and am trying to inform as many people of this as possible.


There will be several very good musical groups there, especially Grupo Fantasma!


If you're in the central Texas area this Saturday, please stop by our ONE booth and say hi.



We'll be there - rain or shine! (smile)



Take very good care, my friends. Blessings are always around.