[AAACE-NLA] FW: Republican National Convention

[David Collings]

This message is a forward from Katy O'Connell.

David C.
________________________________

From: Katy.O'Connell at state.sd.us [mailto:Katy.O'Connell at state.sd.us] 
Sent: Wednesday, August 11, 2004 9:53 AM
To: aaace-nla at lists.literacytent.org
Subject: Re: Republican National Convention

I won't be in New York, John and the Grassroots Literacy Coalition.  But, I
will support you from South Dakota.  Great work.


Katy

Katy O'Connell

AmeriCorps*VISTA
Community Literacy Outreach of Northeastern South Dakota
Aberdeen Area Career Planning Center
420 South Roosevelt Street
Aberdeen, South Dakota 57401

(605) 626-2298

FAX (605) 626-2228

katy.o'connell at state.sd.us

 
"Keep a green tree in your heart and perhaps the singing bird will come."
-Sufi Aphorism

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-----Original Message-----

From: John Gordon [mailto:jgordon at fortunesociety.org
<mailto:jgordon at fortunesociety.org> ] 
Sent: Friday, July 16, 2004 5:14 PM
To: National Literacy Advocacy List sponsored by AAACE

Subject: Republican National Convention

Folks,

About a year and a half ago, a group of students and teachers from adult
education programs in New York City came together to form the Grassroots
Literacy Coalition. The GLC is committed to fighting for adult education
funding, building student involvement in their programs, and connecting the
need for adult education to other issues of justice and equality, so that we
can begin to overcome the isolation that the literacy community experiences.
The group has been meeting regularly, slowly consolidating our ideas and our
structure. We have a coordinating committee made up of teachers, students,
and former students. We have an active listserve (not quite as active as
this one). And we have held a number of events - a student-teacher
conference in February, a rally for literacy last month, and a demonstration
at City Hall. I've attached our mission statement below.

As most of you are no doubt aware, the Republicans are coming to New York
for their convention at the end of August. There is an enormous amount of
activity going on around the convention; rallies, meetings, and other
protests will be held every day and evening of the convention.

The Grassroots Literacy Coalition has decided to participate in a coalition
called "Still We Rise" that is helping to organize a "Poor People's March
and Rally for Justice" on Monday, August 30th. This is the day after the big
rally which has been getting a lot of headlines, at least here in NYC. The
Poor People's March, which has a permit, will gather at Union Square near
14th Street in Manhattan and march to 31st Street and 8th Avenue (near the
convention) where there will be a rally.

The rally will have speakers from the hip hop and music community as well as
activists from the different organizations who have put together this
coalition. 

We feel this is a great opportunity to get some visibility for literacy
issues and connect with folks struggling for basic human rights in other
areas like housing, health care, immigration, etc. We also thought that
there may be other literacy folks, i.e., some of you, from outside of New
York coming to participate in the protests and thought it would be great if
we could form an adult literacy contingent at the march. It would be an
opportunity to meet some other folks in person. We know for people who are
far away, a trip like this is not that likely - especially for students. But
there are plenty of cities and towns within a bus or car ride of New York
City. 

So here are the questions: Are any of you coming? Would you like to
participate in a literacy contingent at the Poor People's March? Do you
think students might be interested in coming?

We thought if a lot of people were coming we might organize some kind of
informal gathering that evening.

Here's the Still We Rise website: www.stillwerise.org
<outbind://116/www.stillwerise.org>  (at present, the platform on the
website does not include a statement on education, but there has been a
proposal made to add one.)

Peace,

John Gordon

The GLC's Mission Statement:

The Grassroots Literacy Coalition believes that a high-quality education is
a basic human right and vital for the well-being of our society. Many adults
have not had adequate educational opportunities and are therefore blocked
from participating fully as community members, family members, and workers. 

To build the support needed for a system of high-quality adult literacy
education (which includes basic literacy, ESOL, GED and computer literacy
programs) we hope to build a coalition with other organizations and
individuals who share our belief in social justice and equal opportunity and
access. We will do this through: 

*Leadership Development (helping adult educators and adult learners to
assume leadership roles.) 

*Organizing (collaborating with others in adult education at program,
community, and citywide levels; and making connections with those working on
other social justice issues.) 

*Advocacy (educating policy makers, funders, and the general public about
(a) the link between adult education and other community/cultural issues
(including civic participation, strong families, employment, public health)
and (b) the supports that are needed to provide high-quality adult education
services.