[O29] Draft Outreach Letter for Oct. 29

[Huibin Amelia Chew]

below it's slightly edited but I didn't feel comfortable filling in
all the blanks (e.g. fundraising).

I like the idea of a special meeting -- I put in a reference to
setting up a meeting in the letter briefly below, although I feel
there's no need to propose a date until we know who's interested and
can work around their schedule.  for the purposes of this letter I
think the table idea can temporarily be put on hold but definitely
that issue should be raised later.

-Amee

---
Dear  _____,

Two and a half years after the brutal and illegal invastion of Iraq,
the war continues to drag on -- with a terrible toll on Iraqis as well
as our communities.

We are a coalition of activists and community members planning a major
anti-war, anti-militarism rally and march, to be held in Boston on
Saturday, October 29.  We believe this event will provide an important
forum to present public opinion and pressure at a time of this
administration's growing vulnerability.  Moreover, we also hope to
offer a platform for many of the local issues impacted by our
government's distorted priorities of military waste and imperial
expansion.  By bringing together diverse constituencies behind a
united agenda [day of action?], we hope to add force to our demands
for a realignment of the government's priorities -- while increasing
interchange and collaboration in our organizing.

The main demands of the Oct. 29 currently are [rephrase for feedback?]:
- Bring the Troops Home Now! End the Occupation of Iraq!
- Money for Human Needs, Not for War!
- Military Recruiters Out of Our Schools!

Would you be interested in taking part in a ______ contingent or
feeder march at this event?  With the input of those involved, we hope
to help coordinate immigrant rights, women of color, youth, religious,
___ contingents as are deemed fit.  We are prepared to provide
logistical support, for instance by helping arrange planning meetings,
permits, and a draft form letter that could be sent on your behalf to
other organizations, inviting their participation.

Secondly, would _[name of org]_ be willing to endorse this event, and
sign onto the attached Call to Action?  We plan to set up meetings
with endorsing groups to solicit feedback and ensure the range of
progressive interests are integrated into the event.  Endorsement
would involve
__(financial contribution).  We can provide flyers and sign-up sheets
for attending the demonstration. 

Finally, if any of your members are interested, our planning meetings
are held on Thursdays at 6 p.m., at 33 Harrison Ave., 4th fl. near the
Downtown Crossing T Station.

Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns.  More
information is available at our website, www.oct29.org.

Thank you so much for reading, and all of your time and help!  We look
forward to hearing from you, and will followup with you shortly.

Sincerely,
The October 29 Coalition
[list of members and endorsers]

On 9/13/05, gary hicks <gooberthink06 at yahoo.com> wrote:
> two thoughts: 
>   
> 1. you might want to invite, to a special initial meeting, all those to whom
> this letter is being sent, to talk out stuff. 
>   
> 2. you might want to offer literature table space to all those who
> participate, with the following proviso: that community based groups will
> get priority. 
>   
> gh
> 
> 
> Huibin Amelia Chew <hachew at gmail.com> wrote: 
> Hi,
> 
> below is a draft letter for outreach based on what Sarah put together
> and edits from me. fyi, this letter is intended to go out to a
> diverse array of groups (not just anti-war, but immigrant rights,
> community, housing, youth, women's, environmental etc etc etc).
> 
> please write feedback and edits right into it. I can't finish it
> tonight but will take another look tomorrow.
> 
> -Amee
> 
> --
> 
> Dear _____,
> 
> Two and a half years after the brutal and illegal invastion of Iraq,
> the war continues to drag on -- with a terrible toll on Iraqis as well
> as our communities.
> 
> We are a coalition of activists and community members planning a major
> anti-war, anti-militarism rally and march, to be held in Boston on
> Saturday, October 29. We believe this event will provide an important
> opportunity to raise public opinion at a time of this administration's
> growing vulnerability -- but moreover, we also hope to offer a
> platform for many of the local issues impacted by our government's
> priorities of militarism and imperialism. By bringing together
> diverse constituencies behing a united agenda [day of action?], we
> hope to add force to our demands for a realignment of the government's
> priorities -- while increasing interchange and collaboration in our
> organizing.
> 
> The main demands of the Oct. 29 currently are [rephrase for feedback?]:
> - Bring the Troops Home Now! End the Occupation of Iraq!
> - Money for Human Needs, Not for War!
> - Military Recruiters Out of Our Schools!
> 
> Would you be interested in taking part in a ______ contingent or
> feeder march at this event? With the input of those involved, we hope
> to help coordinate immigrant rights, women of color, youth, religious,
> ___ contingents as are deemed fit. We are prepared to provide
> logistical support, for instance by helping arrange planning meetings,
> permits, and a draft form letter that could be sent on your behalf to
> other organizations, inviting their participation.
> 
> Secondly, would _[name of org]_ be willing to endorse this event, and
> sign onto the attached Call to Action? Endorsement would involve
> __(financial contribution). We can provide flyers and sign-up sheets
> for attending the demonstration. Finally, if any of your members are
> interested, our planning meets are held on Thursdays at 6 p.m., at 33
> Harrison Ave., 4th fl. near the Downtown Crossing T Station.
> 
> Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns. More
> information is available at our website, www.oct29.org.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading, and all of your time and help! We look
> forward to hearing from you, and will followup with you shortly.
> 
> Sincerely,
> The October 29 Coalition
> [list of members and endorsers]
> 
> _______________________________________________
> O29 mailing list
> O29 at massglobalaction.org
> http://massglobalaction.org/mailman/listinfo/o29_massglobalaction.org
> 
> 
>  ________________________________
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> 
> 


-- 
"There are plenty of women in Fallujah who have testified they were
raped by American soldiers... They are nearby the secondary school for
girls inside Fallujah. When people came back to Fallujah the first
time they found so many girls who were totally naked and they had been
killed."

  -- Mohammed Abdulla, executive director of the Study Center for
Human Rights and Democracy in Fallujah, quoted in
http://www.dahrjamailiraq.com/hard_news/archives/newscommentary/000251.php