[NGLTF] Special Action Request on Hate Crimes

NATIONAL GAY AND LESBIAN TASK FORCE

From the desk of
Elizabeth Toledo, Executive Director

_________________________________________________

June 30, 2000

Dear Friend of NGLTF:

Last week, the US Senate passed the Hate Crimes Bill which would make it a federal offense when crimes are motivated by a victim's actual or perceived gender, sexual orientation, race, color, religion, national origin or disability. The bill will become law only if the President and the Senate force the House leaders to accept the bill as part of the must-pass annual defense act.

Right now, we have an opportunity to improve the lives of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people - if we act today. I’m writing to you to ask for your support of our work to end hate crimes. At the bottom of this message, there are five things you can do today to make a difference.

We must act now to use the momentum of the Senate vote to pressure the House to pass the legislation. We must act now to use this momentum on the federal level to encourage states to act against hate violence. You can be sure our opponents on the right are mobilizing their forces to stop this legislation. We need your help today.

NGLTF is the pioneer and leader in fighting hate-motivated crimes. Beginning with our Anti-Violence Project in 1984, continuing with our work to pass the Hate Crimes Statistics Act in 1990, and today as we work with activists around the country to better their own communities, NGLTF is there. NGLTF has the experience, the talent and the plan to stem the surge of hate violence. We will use your resources to:

          * Inform and motivate the GLBT community to pass the Hate Crimes Bill this year;
          * Accelerate our effective local organizing efforts to empower activists at the grassroots level;
          * Strengthen our partnerships with local and state organizations to build broad coalitions to stand up against hate crimes;
          * Leverage our experience and goodwill to forge alliances with civil rights organizations all over the country to push for enactment of this measure; and
          * Launch a public education campaign for passage of this pro-GLBT legislation.

We can act only with your help. Here's what you can do today:

          * Visit http://www.ngltf.org/hatecrimes and make an immediate contribution to NGLTF to help us implement our plan.
          * If you prefer to write a check, send it immediately to the address below.
          * Forward this email to your friends and ask them to join you by contributing to the hate crimes initiative through the web or by sending their contribution;
          * Contact President Clinton and ask him to press the House of Representatives to enact the Hate Crimes Prevention Act; and
          * Contact your Congressional representative to demand that he/she vote for passage. Visit http://www.ngltf.org/hatecrimes to send a message today.

This is unquestionably an important moment in our history and in our lives. We must act. The entire NGLTF team is energized and ready - and you are part of the team. What a great way to put the past behind us and begin the new century and a new era for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people!

Thank you for your past support of NGLTF. You are an important part of our team.

National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
1700 Kalorama Road NW * Washington, DC 20009
202-332-6483 voice * 202-332-0207 fax
www.ngltf.org * ngltf@ngltf.org
ACTION ALERT from the Human Rights Campaign
919 18th Street NW
Washington, DC 20006
E-mail
Website

___________________________________________________________________

TAKE ACTION TO PASS HATE CRIMES BILL IN HOUSE OF REPS.

The U.S. Congress is now in recess for the month of August. Congress will re-convene on September 6 to finish all legislative activity for the year before they are scheduled to adjourn in early October. The House has yet to take action on H.R. 1082, which is the companion bill to the Hate Crimes Prevention Act passed by the Senate in June. Your help is needed starting NOW to make sure Congress acts this year.

In June, HRC Action Network members used the Action Center to send over 5,000 faxes to the Senate and made countless phone calls to urge passage of the Senate bill. Senator Kennedy specifically mentioned HRC’s grassroots effort in his comments after the historic vote. We have a real chance of passing this bill in the House if members hear continuous and repeated demands for action from their constituents.

We are asking our HRC Action Network members to take one or more of the following actions:

          1. Meet with their Representative in the district during the August recess (its easier than you think)
          2. Write a letter to the editor or op-ed article for your local newspaper (we’ll provide a sample)
          3. Attend or organize a local rally (we’ll connect you with others in your area)
          4. Send e-mails, faxes and letters to your Representative through HRC’s Action Center (now and in September)

For details and instructions on the actions listed above, log on to HRC's Online Action Center by clicking on the link below or pointing your internet browser to www.hrc.org and then clicking on "Take Action!" You can also find background information on hate crimes and you can automatically send an e-mail to your Representative.

If you are using HRC’s Online Action Center for the first time, click on the yellow box when you get into the action center. Then enter your e-mail address and use your last name as your temporary password. You can change your password by clicking on “Update My Profile” at any time.

Forward this email to your friends and family and thank you for taking this important action in the fight for equality.

___________________________________________________________________

Get involved in HRC's online efforts.

Visit http://www.hrc.org and take action!

___________________________________________________________________

This special "e-mail alert" service of the Human Rights Campaign is provided exclusively to users of HRC's Online Action Center. It is designed to keep you informed of breaking news, legislative developments, and ways that you can take action. To comment on this service, or to request not to be contacted with future alerts, please e-mail us at field@hrc.org.

Subject: A Force More Powerful TV Series
Date:     Thu, 17 Aug 2000 13:26:51 -0700
From:     David Hartsough
Dear Friends,
          I wanted to alert you to this great upcoming PBS series on nonviolent movements, "A Force More Powerful" to be aired Sept 18 and 25 in the US.). It is very well done and will be an invaluable contribution to strengthening the understanding of the power of nonviolent struggle and nonviolent movements around the world. Hope you will be able to see it and encourage others to look at it and use it as a tool for understanding, inspiring, educating, and organizing. If you are overseas, check out the web site for info about how to get a copy of the video or try to get it shown on TV in your county. Thanks for your continuing good work on behalf of nonviolence, peace, and justice.

In Peace,
David Hartsough

A Force More Powerful: A Century of Nonviolent Conflict
A Brief Guide to the Television Series, the Book, and the Film
The PBS Television Series consists of two 90-minute programs showing how, during a century of extreme violence, millions chose to battle the forces of brutality and oppression with nonviolent weapons – and won. The series, made by filmmaker Steve York, tells six stories: the student sit-in movement and boycott that broke the system of segregation in Nashville, Tennessee; Gandhi’s campaign against British rule in India; the consumer boycott campaigns against apartheid in South Africa; the valiant resistance of Danish citizens to Nazi invaders; Solidarity’s factory occupations and strikes that won the right to free trade unions in Poland; and the people’s movement that challenged and eventually defeated the dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet in Chile. Episode One will air nationally on PBS at 9:00pm on Monday, September 18, 2000; Episode Two at 9:00pm the following Monday, September 25. (Check your local listings.) Available on videocassette from Films for the Humanities and Sciences, (800) 257-5126, or www.films.com.

The Book: The companion book, also entitled A Force More Powerful and published by St. Martin’s Press, is the definitive history of major nonviolent conflicts in the 20th century and is co-authored by Peter Ackerman (Series Editor and Principal Content Advisor) and Jack DuVall (Executive Producer). Tracing the century-long progression of ideas about nonviolent power and how it was applied, the book includes more detailed accounts of the six conflicts covered by the television series – and also the first Russian revolution in 1905, the French invasion of Germany in 1923, the removal of a dictator in El Salvador in 1944, the fall of Marcos in the Philippines, the nonviolent part of the Palestinian intifada, the fall of communism in Eastern Europe and Mongolia in 1989, and the people’s movements against the military junta in Burma and Slobodan Milosevic in Serbia today. To order, call Roxanne Hunte at St. Martin’s Press (800) 221-7945 ext 270.

The Feature Film was premiered in November 1999 at events at the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles, the Asia Society in New York, and the Ronald Reagan International Trade Center in Washington, D.C.. Hosting organizations included the Albert Einstein Institution, Amnesty International, Artists for a New South Africa, Human Rights Watch, UNESCO and the U.S. Institute of Peace. The film was written, produced and directed by Steve York. Since its premiere, the film has been featured at numerous film festivals, including the Human Rights Watch Festival in London, the Seattle International Film Festival, the Nashville Independent Film Festival, the Maine International Film Festival, and the Newport Beach International Film Festival. In 2000 it was screened in February at the Library of Congress at an event co- hosted by the ambassadors of India and South Africa and by the Congressional Black Caucus; in April at Colgate University, and at Rice University at an event hosted by the Rothko Chapel; in June by the International Human Rights Law Group at its annual benefit; and in July as part of the South Africa International Nonviolence Education and Training Conference in Durban, South Africa. At the WorldFest Houston International Film Festival where it played in April, it was awarded the Gold Special Jury Award, the highest honor given to a documentary film.

Educational Outreach for the series and book: The American Political Science Association devoted the cover and seven articles in the June issue of its journal PS: Political Science and Politics to issues raised by the series; APSA will also hold a panel discussion on these issues on September 1 at its Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. The National Council on the Social Studies is promoting a study guide to aid teachers in using the broadcasts and videocassettes of the series, and the World Affairs Councils of the U.S. is promoting local civic discussions of the series, with a special guide. The Council on Foreign Relations will host a special preview of the series on September 12. A global broadcast distribution and educational outreach effort will commence in January 2001, and that month the U.S. Institute of Peace will also hold a Conference on Nonviolent Power and World Conflicts, in Washington, D.C. To obtain a study or discussion guide, email your mailing address to Karen Zill at WETA, kzill@weta.com.

Coming in September: http://www.aforcemorepowerful.org

PEACEWORKERS
721 Shrader St.
San Francisco, CA 94117 USA
Phone and fax 415-751-0302
email PEACEWORKERS@igc.apc.org
see our website: www.nonviolentpeaceforce.org
*********************************************

Things undreamt of are daily being seen, the impossible is ever becoming possible. We are constantly being astonished these days at the amazing discoveries in the field of violence. But I maintain that far more undreamt of and seemingly impossible discoveries will be made in the field of nonviolence.
                     -- M.K. Gandhi **********************************************
The full story appears on this page just above this notice, which is a follow-up reminder. As I write this, the series will be beginning tonight, Monday, 9/18/00. Here is Esther's note to us [Thanks, Esther!]:

"I wrote to most of you a week or two ago alerting you to the fact that this extraordinary documentary was coming but just today discovered that it starts tonight in this area. Part one will be on Channel 9 at 9 PM. I'm sure you'll want to catch it if you can. For those of you who didn't get the original information I'll reprint it below. Ha -- as I reread this information I see that it already included info as to when it would appear here. I think in the part I didn't copy it gave another date, or maybe I just saw the date of the second part. Anyway, a couple of people asked for reminders, so here it is.

Esther

A Force More Powerful:
A Century of Nonviolent Conflict

A Brief Guide to the Television Series, the Book, and the Film

The PBS Television Series consists of two 90-minute programs showing how, during a century of extreme violence, millions chose to battle the forces of brutality and oppression with nonviolent weapons - and won. The series, made by filmmaker Steve York, tells six stories: the student sit-in movement and boycott that broke the system of segregation in Nashville, Tennessee; Gandhi’s campaign against British rule in India; the consumer boycott campaigns against apartheid in South Africa; the valiant resistance of Danish citizens to Nazi invaders; Solidarity’s factory occupations and strikes that won the right to free trade unions in Poland; and the people’s movement that challenged and eventually defeated the dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet in Chile. Episode One will air nationally on PBS at 9:00pm on Monday, September 18, 2000; Episode Two at 9:00pm the following Monday, September 25. (Check your local listings.) Available on videocassette from Films for the Humanities and Sciences, (800) 257-5126, orwww.films.com(http://www.films.com/).

The Book: The companion book, also entitled A Force More Powerful and published by St. Martin’s Press, is the definitive history of major nonviolent conflicts in the 20th century and is co-authored by Peter Ackerman (Series Editor and Principal Content Advisor) and Jack DuVall (Executive Producer). Tracing the century-long progression of ideas about nonviolent power and how it was applied, the book includes more detailed accounts of the six conflicts covered by the television series - and also the first Russian revolution in 1905, the French invasion of Germany in 1923, the removal of a dictator in El Salvador in 1944, the fall of Marcos in the Philippines, the nonviolent part of the Palestinian intifada, the fall of communism in Eastern Europe and Mongolia in 1989, and the people’s movements against the military junta in Burma and Slobodan Milosevic in Serbia today. To order, call Roxanne Hunte at St. Martin’s Press (800) 221-7945 ext 270.

The Feature Film was premiered in November 1999 at events at the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles, the Asia Society in New York, and the Ronald Reagan International Trade Center in Washington, D.C.. Hosting organizations included the Albert Einstein Institution, Amnesty International, Artists for a New South Africa, Human Rights Watch, UNESCO and the U.S. Institute of Peace. The film was written, produced and directed by Steve York. Since its premiere, the film has been featured at numerous film festivals, including the Human Rights Watch Festival in London, the Seattle International Film Festival, the Nashville Independent Film Festival, the Maine International Film Festival, and the Newport Beach International Film Festival. In 2000 it was screened in February at the Library of Congress at an event co- hosted by the ambassadors of India and South Africa and by the Congressional Black Caucus; in April at Colgate University, and at Rice University at an event hosted by the Rothko Chapel; in June by the International Human Rights Law Group at its annual benefit; and in July as part of the South Africa International Nonviolence Education and Training Conference in Durban, South Africa. At the WorldFest Houston International Film Festival where it played in April, it was awarded the Gold Special Jury Award, the highest honor given to a documentary film.

Educational Outreach for the series and book: The American Political Science Association devoted the cover and seven articles in the June issue of its journal PS: Political Science and Politicsto issues raised by the series; APSA will also hold a panel discussion on these issues on September 1 at its Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. The National Council on the Social Studies is promoting a study guide to aid teachers in using the broadcasts and videocassettes of the series, and the World Affairs Councils of the U.S. is promoting local civic discussions of the series, with a special guide. The Council on Foreign Relations will host a special preview of the series on September 12. A global broadcast distribution and educational outreach effort will commence in January 2001, and that month the U.S. Institute of Peace will also hold a Conference on Nonviolent Power and World Conflicts, in Washington, D.C. To obtain a study or discussion guide, email your mailing address to Karen Zill at WETA, kzill@weta.com.

Coming in September: www.aforcemorepowerful.org

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