Voices in the Desert
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ONE Campaign Los Angeles Team Members joined others in the California desert on Tuesday, December 4th for the filming of a television ad as part of an initiative to make extreme poverty and global disease central issues in the 2008 primary election. “The ad will be broadcast to millions of people in early primary and caucus states like Iowa and New Hampshire and on cable channels across the country. Millions of Americans and the 15 presidential candidates will see it and be reminded of the power we have to end extreme poverty and global disease.”
Responding to an invitation to all ONE Members, we hoped we would be joining hundreds of LA ONE Supporters for this amazing opportunity to reach millions of people. Surprisingly, less than a dozen members of our team made the trek but the ones who did come were passionate & energetic and I feel like they felt like they were really participating in something special for ONE.
The premise of the ad is that ONE voice crying out is difficult to hear but if millions of voices cry out — those voices cannot be ignored. The images were so powerful that I was moved just watching it being filmed.
Any opportunity to raise our voices for the world’s most vulnerable, especially for the children, is an opportunity we must try to seize if we can. I do hope that in the future more of our team will realize how very important their own voice is. We were all standing around in the desert looking at each other, saying – “If only these were all members of ONE out here – imagine how different it would feel – how much more powerful it would be if all of the people here knew why they were here – what The ONE Campaign stands for – how much harder would they be crying out?” I myself was screaming to be heard. I am so thankful for the many opportunities the ONE Campaign has provided me with to raise my voice.
-Amy Quinn, LA ONE member
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The ONE Blog is a daily log of the anti-poverty movement. The site is operated by ONE staff, with frequent contributions from volunteers, members and partner organizations.
The ONE Blog updates readers daily with the latest in global development news and analysis and what ONE members and our partners are doing around the world to influence world leaders in the fight against global poverty.
The content of each post and each comment represents the views of that author and does not necessarily reflect the views of ONE or ONE Action. ONE does not support or oppose any candidate for elected office, and any post expressing support or opposition for a candidate is not endorsed by ONE.
December 8, 2007 at 10:14 pm
I think what Amy and her friends did when they were a part of this TV ad is fantastic and I hope that it will bring over to ONE many more people to join our movement to make extreme poverty history because we need everyONE’s voice to join with us in making sure that our politicians are aware of our determination to keep their feet to the proverbial fire on better funding of programs that will end AIDS and extreme poverty.
But I do have ONE thing to say to all the focus on whitebanding politicians and media blitzing.
The simple fact is that more ONE supporters have got to go back into our communities and SIGN MORE PEOPLE UP TO ONE. If we fail to increase our numbers a bit better than we are presently doing, then politicians may not respond as enthusiastically as many of them are now doing because they’ll see that we are not adding the volumes of new ONE members to our movement and thus, we may not be the strong force at the ballot box as we would like.
So while we do the media blitz, let’s remember that there is no substitute in American politics for good old-fashioned grassroots organizing!
Take very good care of each other, my friends. Blessings will always be around.
AS ONE, debbie
December 10, 2007 at 10:50 am
So true, Debbie.
Everything we do needs to be directed towards one of the 3 goals of ONE:
1. Awareness
2. Recruitment
3. Mobilization
As long as every action we take contributes to the expansion of one or more of those goals, our time is well spent.
Keep up the great work!
JoshC
December 10, 2007 at 4:15 pm
Thanks, Josh – the faster that we can get our numbers past 2.4 million members the better it will be for the People of Africa.
I will be sending into the national office next week over TWO HUNDRED sign-ups for ONE that I have gotten in the last two months in my area.
I would love to see others around the country sending in the same amount or even MORE numbers of sign-ups than mine. I hope that is going on. Strength is in the numbers.
Take very good care of each other. Blessings abound – just look around!
ALWAYS ONE in the Spirit, debbie
December 10, 2007 at 7:27 pm
Debbie:
I was out in the desert with Amy and could not agree with you MORE! Because of having the opportunity to participate in that ad, and by seeing that most of the people there with us (with the exception of the film crew) had NO idea what ONE is about, I realized that more must be done. If anything, I am more determined than ever to move forward in my community. Standing in the desert with the few ONE members who were able to make it there, surrounded by hundreds of others who were oblivious to ONE, made me realize how much more there is for us to do, one by one, until our local communities can somehow be awakened and mobilized.
Here’s to some killer grassroots movement in 2008!
December 12, 2007 at 8:52 pm
Hey Beth,
Thank you so much for understanding what I was trying to say. In no way was I dissing what y’all were doing – I just want to keep reminding us that while we whiteband politicians and make ONE tv spot ads and attend meetings with the heads of the various organizations of ONE, etc, we must still spend time doing the ONE outreach booths and other grassroots activities which are at the HEART of our movement to end extreme poverty.
I agree with you, Beth – not enough people that I meet know about ONE. More people seem to know about (RED) from the Oprah show or the various TV ads for some of the (RED) products but few people I meet have ever heard of ONE before.
That’s when I talk to them about the IMPORTANCE of signing up for ONE and encourage them to sign our petitions. But we need to really spend some more time getting our membership past the 2.4 million mark to at least 3 million by the next Presidential election!
But we have to be willing to spend some more time doing the hard work of the movement (outreach booths). I believe that we are committed enough to do just this. I have faith in my other ONE members.
Take very good care, everyONE. Blessings – not just for those who kneel.~
ALWAYS ONE in the Spirit, debbie
December 13, 2007 at 12:41 pm
I knew exactly what you were saying, Debbie, and I am with you in this 100%, as are soooo many other ONE members. This new year is going to explode with activity, I think, and I hope all of us committed ONE members can really rock our towns, cities and states! Cheers!