It was another night of fashion, fun and hope as ONE came to spread awareness at last week’s fashion-music-awareness extravaganza in Los Angeles.

The HYPE Fashion Show, hosted by fashion-awareness company Bright Lights LA was held at El Cid in Hollywood, and featured bands, DJs, and runway fashions from local designers.

ONE volunteers Sherri Bui and Luis Lopez were on hand explaining ONE’s mission and signing up a full page of new enthusiastic members!

Sherri Bui brought ONE materials and helmed the table for much of the evening. She asked me to pass along this message: “I’m really excited to think of all the new people who will now be informed and involved in fighting poverty, AIDS and climate change. The downward pressures on the developing world are truly staggering, and our voices have never been needed more. Thank you for all that you do. And thank you Luis for all your help and enthusiasm, which got others excited, too.”

I organized the fashion show in conjunction with my band Par Avion, a recent SPIN Magazine pick. Bright Lights LA, which I co-own, has more fashion-awareness shows slated for the Los Angeles area, and will continue to feature ONE prominently.

Congratulations ONE L.A. and ONE volunteers Sherri Bui and Luis Lopez!

-Paul Avion

As you know, Los Angeles became a ONE City on Tuesday in an event celebrated with Mayor Villaraigosa and Representative Maxine Waters (CA-35). This was a big moment, and the culmination of a lot of hard work from ONE members in LA and across the great state of California. Representative Waters had the following to say about the momentous occasion:

As individuals, communities, and nations, we can and must join in efforts to fight extreme poverty and prevent deadly diseases. Los Angeles is a global city, so it is appropriate that we are a “ONE City” dedicated to important global causes. Likewise, I will continue to advocate for applying American generosity, ingenuity, and prosperity to aid the world’s poor and vulnerable.

As individuals, communities, and nations, we can and must join in efforts to fight extreme poverty and prevent deadly diseases. Los Angeles is a global city, so it is appropriate that we are a “ONE City” dedicated to important global causes. Likewise, I will continue to advocate for applying American generosity, ingenuity, and prosperity to aid the world’s poor and vulnerable.

Congresswoman Waters is a co-chair of the Congressional Black Caucus AIDS Task Force. She has also, in addition to supporting humanitarian assistance to Haiti and impoverished nations in Africa and elsewhere, introduced legislation to cancel the debts that the world’s poorest nations owe to international financial institutions. We thank the Congresswoman for her continued support of ONE’s mission!

-Chris Scott

Yesterday was a phenomenal day for Los Angeles volunteers and members of ONE. LA was declared a ONE City by Mayor Villaraigosa. Mayor V. had this to say. “The declaration of Los Angeles as a ONE city is a testament to our uncompromising determination to combat poverty and preventable disease in the United States and globally. As a city, we must unite as one, raise awareness and never turn our backs on the most vulnerable members of society”.

We were also thrilled to have Congresswoman Maxine Waters, an important Congressional ally of ONE, attend and offer her support at this historic event. Representative Waters has been a tireless champion for development issues and authored the JUBILEE Act to expand the number of poor countries that are eligible for debt relief. It passed the U.S. House of Representatives last Congress but was stalled in the Senate, and she is expected to re-introduce it this year. Speaking at the press conference yesterday, Representative Waters asserted that, “As individuals, communities, and nations, we can and must join in efforts to fight extreme poverty and prevent deadly diseases. Los Angeles is a global city, so it is appropriate that we are a “ONE City” dedicated to important global causes. Likewise, I will continue to advocate for applying American generosity, ingenuity, and prosperity to aid the world’s poor and vulnerable.” We could not agree more.

Over 50 volunteers turned out for this event, including Paul Avion. Paul got this ball rolling for LA to be a ONE City some time ago. On his own, he was able to usher the ONE City declaration through the approval process and get it approved by the entire LA City Council. What a great example how one person can make a huge impact. A big thanks to Paul for all his efforts, and everyone else critical to this success.

I was doing an interview with a journalist yesterday and they asked me about what “What comes next for members of ONE in LA, was this event the end game?” The truth is no, and we don’t know exactly when the next Kerry-Lugar type bill will hit. But we know that ONE members and volunteers will be ready to make phone calls, write their leaders, and give a voice to the voiceless children in Africa. It was reiterated to me yesterday as I answered that question, that the members of ONE are the power of ONE. Whether it is volunteers raising awareness with local leaders at City Hall in Los Angeles, or ensuring that life-saving legislation is supported within the walls of Congress in Washington—the members of ONE are the power of ONE.

-Matt Higginson, LA ONE Field Organizer

Today Los Angeles officially became a City of ONE. Joined by local ONE members, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) announced that LA will join more than 130 cities across the country in the fight against extreme poverty.

We’ll have more on this exciting news later, but please take a minute to check out this great piece by LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

Today, on World Health Day, the City of Los Angeles—the “City of Angels”—is also a ONE City. We take this occasion to stand together with ONE, the campaign to fight extreme global poverty, and recognize the important role that each individual citizen can play in promoting issues of global health, development, and saving lives in the world’s poorest regions.

The struggle to overcome extreme poverty and global disease is a struggle that unites us all in our common humanity. From the ground in highly impoverished countries, to the streets of our own neighborhoods, we all must do our part to create a better and safer world for all. While no one can solve these problems alone, it is also important to remember that no one is alone in the lifesaving fight against global HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other preventable and treatable diseases. Millions of voices and hundreds of organizations, including many here in Los Angeles, are working together to save lives, increase economic opportunity and make the world a better, safer place. That’s what being a ONE City is all about.

Today is also an occasion to celebrate the recent U.S. efforts to combat global poverty which are providing results. Because of the generosity of Americans, millions of lives are being saved and newly found good will toward America is being recognized around the world. Some notable successes in just the past several years include more than 2 million people with HIV/AIDS in Africa now receiving basic medicines and beating the disease thanks to America’s commitment. That number is up from just 50,000 in 2003. Millions more are surviving malaria because of investments in simple—and remarkably inexpensive—bed nets and medicines. And in just the past decade, some 34 million more children living in the world’s poorest regions have been given the chance to go to school for the first time, opening the door to productive and hopeful futures instead of potentially desperate and vulnerable ones.

Today is also an occasion to use our voices to call for accelerating these efforts and expanding these programs that are working on the ground. In these difficult times, we must continue and strengthen the cost-effective and proven initiatives that bring stability and hope to the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people. We must match the needless suffering with the simple needs of clean water, bed nets, basic education and cheap medicines.

I commend the efforts of ONE, and all ONE members in Los Angeles that use their voice for the world’s poorest people. This is a historic day for ONE, for Los Angeles, and for the fight against global poverty and disease.

-Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Los Angeles

I have some great news! After a lot of hard work from many different people, Los Angeles will be declared a “ONE City” by proclamation during a press conference on Tuesday April 7 at 9:30am. The best part is, everyone in the area is invited.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa will hold a press conference on the steps of City Hall to declare his support for ONE and to declare LA as a “ONE City.” This is a historic event. LA is the 2nd largest city in the US, and every member of ONE should be proud of this accomplishment.

The strength of ONE extends to all levels of government, whether it be volunteers in Iowa attending campaign rallies, or municipal governments proclaiming their support for the MDG’s. ONE will continue to build the political will at all levels of government and across all partisan lines to ensure that fighting poverty and saving lives remains a priority for the U.S.

Come show your support for ONE and thank Mayor V. for adding his voice in the fight against extreme poverty and global disease: http://www.one.org/event/GeneralEvent/861

WHEN: Tuesday April 7, 9:30am
WHERE: LA City Hall – 200 N Spring St., Los Angeles CA 90012
WHO: Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, fellow ONE members, & YOU!

RSVP here: http://www.one.org/event/GeneralEvent/861

Hope to see you there!

-Matt Higginson

If you’re a Los Angeles ONE member or are going to be in the LA area on October 3rd, you won’t want to miss the regional premiere of “A Powerful Noise,” co-hosted by ONE, CARE and GOOD Magazine at the prestigious Artivist Film Festival.

This moving documentary by Tom Cappello follows four women — Nada Markovic, Bui My Hanh, and Jacqueline “Madame Urbain” Dembele — as each goes about the daily business of empowering, educating, and seeking justice in their respective societies. Weaving through locations in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Mali, Vietnam, “A Powerful Noise” tells a tale of hope much larger than the sum of its parts.

The Artivist Film Festival, running October 2-5 in LA, is the first international Film Festival dedicated to raising awareness for the Interdependence between Humanity, Animals and the Environment. The 2008 Artivist Program includes 40 films from 40 countries around the world, and ONE is excited to have “A Powerful Noise” amongst them.

You can get more information and purchase tickets for the October 3rd showing of “A Powerful Noise” here.

And you can get into the show for free by volunteering for ONE before the event. Volunteer here.

-Betsy Avila