In honor of MLK Day, ONE member Kyle Talkington of Dallas, Texas wrote a Letter to the Editor and it was printed today in the Dallas News!
-Kim Smith
Today our nation celebrates the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. We recognize a man who not only believed in social justice, but a man who proved that when Americans believe in and truly desire something, we are willing to take great risks, share resources and spur each other on to reach that goal.
Social justice works toward the realization of a world where all possess basic human rights and equal opportunity to access societal benefits such as clean water, proper health care, and education. As Dr. King said, “All men are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality.”
I am one of over 100,000 Texans and 2.4 million Americans who have joined ONE, a grass-roots movement of people who believe in the opportunity to end extreme poverty in our own time. The birthday of Dr. King reminds me that much remains to be done both inside and outside of our nation’s borders.
The caucus just ended. 166 delegates showed up, many of them sporting ONE bands. There was a lot of excitement in the air. The final count was close with 17 delegates going to Obama and 16 to Clinton.
Jessica Vandenberg ran the Caesar’s Palace caucus and wore a ONE t-shirt. Since CNN was covering this particular caucus it was all over television (according to reports from my friends).
With a little national media for ONE, I am going to call this caucus location a success for ONE.
I am in Las Vegas, Nevada at Caesar’s palace, the site of one of the (recently contested) Democratic Party Caucus locations. The caucus is being setup as I type.
I stopped by Cashman Convention Center in Las Vegas yesterday afternoon which is the Results Reporting Headquarters. You can see table after empty table waiting for the day to begin. ONE Vote ’08 had a strong presence with banners and T-shirt clad volunteers all over the place. ONE Vote ’08 is also providing water for all the political reporters. The media should certainly know we’re here.
Now I am waiting for the first caucus-goers to arrive at Caesar’s Palace. The setup is a lot more modest, just a couple hundred people are expected (though I am not sure anyone really knows). We hope to see a few ONE members representing the fight against extreme poverty.
Nevada will be holding its first ever early caucus tomorrow morning. This is a chance for all Nevadans to play a crucial role in selecting the next president of the United States.
It is also a great time for everyone in the Silver State (and the rest of us for that matter) to look over what each candidate’s plan is for fighting extreme poverty and global disease. You can find what they have to say on the ONE Vote ’08 On the Record site.
Also, if you are going to be caucusing tomorrow but don’t know where to go, you can find your caucus location on:
Gov. Huckabee held a campaign rally at Clemson University yesterday and I met up with some great ONE members to lend our voice to the world’s bottom billion people.
During the rally, Gov. Huckabee played bass with a local band, and also had Chuck Norris and Ric Flair with him to campaign. Some of us, including Clemson student Emily Burchfield who went to the ONE Power 100 Summit – were in our ONE shirts in hopes that Gov. Huckabee would see us.
After the rally we snuck out by the campaign bus to try and talk with Gov. Huckabee. Just before they got on the bus, ONE member Chip was able to snap a quick photo with Chuck Norris and Emily spoke with Gov. Huckabee about ONE and US efforts to fight global AIDS. He thanked her for her work with ONE.
As we were leaving, we ran into FOX New Chief Political Correspondent, “Campaign” Carl Cameron – who always wears his ONE band on the campaign trail and even cut a promo for our ONE Student/ONE Vote event back in November. Check it out:
Chip and Emily thanked Carl for wearing his ONE band and told him about the work of ONE at Clemson.
At Clemson, just like to many other colleges and universities all over America, students like Chip and Emily are organizing and using their voice and talents to find ways to spread the word about ONE and let our leaders know that our generation can…and will, make poverty history.
Sen. McCain campaigned in Greenville and Spartanburg, SC, on Wednesday and I caught up with him at a few stops with some ONE members.
After a town hall meeting, ONE member Bianca was able to talk with Sen. McCain. As soon as she approached him he instantly recognized her shirt and told her how much he loves ONE. Bianca was able to thank him for his efforts to reform the Farm Bill to allow poor African farmers a chance to bring their goods to market. Sen. McCain thanked her and Cindy McCain told Bianca that she was trying to point her out to the senator during the town hall.
Sen. McCain had a few more stops in South Carolina and I hear that he ran into another group of ONE members later on in the night. Just one more event, town hall, and candidate engagement, that is making ONE a real force here in the Palmetto State.
ONE is campaigning to ensure that the Congressional budget does not cut foreign assistance programs like Feed the Future that help people break the cycle of poverty and hunger.
The Horn of Africa is experiencing its worst drought in 60 years. More than 11 million people, mostly nomadic pastoralists and farmers in south-central Somalia, north-eastern Kenya, and south-eastern Ethiopia, are severely lacking access to food.
2011 marks 30 years since the first cases of AIDS were documented. Take a closer look at the specific, achievable goals we must hit by 2015 to make this year the beginning of the end of AIDS.
As aid agencies warn more than 9 million people could be affected by a food crisis in East Africa, world leaders are failing to keep their 2009 promises to tackle the causes of chronic hunger and support farmers in the world's poorest countries.
