Semi Truths began with a single mission: to change the world.
No, obviously not, but I am afraid that too many of my fellow bloggers substitute their WRITTEN OUTRAGE for any actual action. It’s easy to sit in front of a computer and type “Bush Sucks!”. It’s more difficult to get up and actually go out into the world and start a dialogue.
A few months ago, I attended a Town Hall Forum on Iraq, sponsored by the Charlottesville Center for Peace and Justice. There, I met David Swanson, a powerful man driven by great passions who has the ability to pull people into his own gravitational field. David invited me to join the CCPJ’s Speakers Committee, which is how I found myself helping to bring Cindy Sheehan to Charlottesville on May 17th and, improbably, why I will be up on stage M.C.ing the event…!
This is an important occasion for our community, but also a huge personal leap for me to go from posting on my blog, not really knowing who may be reading my little bits of spit and humor, to standing before hundreds of people and pissing myself.
I hope that anyone who reads this will be there on May 17. Our presence in Iraq is the most important issue facing our nation today. I invite everyone who wants to engage in a reasoned discussion about these issues — including and especially those of you who think we need to stay the course, but also people like me who feel we need to do something new — to come to the Martin Luther King Jr. Performing Arts Center on May 17, listen to Cindy Sheehan, listen to Ann Wright, rock on with Terri Allard, and most importantly, talk to your neighbors, your family, your co-workers, or members of your church, and let’s start a national dialogue on what we need to do NOW about the Iraq problem.
For more information about the evening and to download a PDF flyer, visit one of David Swanson’s many sites: AfterDowningStreet.org. Here’s the official press release:
Cindy Sheehan and Ann Wright to Speak in Charlottesville, VA
At 7 p.m. ET on Wednesday, May 17, Cindy Sheehan and Ann Wright will speak on the Iraq War and answer questions at an event in Charlottesville, Virginia, organized by the Charlottesville Center for Peace and Justice, an affiliate of United for Peace and Justice.
Cindy Sheehan is co-founder of Gold Star Families for Peace and the mother of Army Spc. Casey Sheehan, KIA April 4, 2004, Baghdad. In August, 2005, she camped out- side President Bush’s home in an effort to ask him for what noble cause her son was sent to die.
Ann Wright resigned from the U.S. State Department in protest the day the Iraq War began. She had served as a diplomat for 16 years and received the State Department’s Award for Heroism. She also served for 29 years in the US Army/Army Reserves and attained the rank of Colonel.
The event will begin with a performance by Terri Allard, a singer/song- writer with an extraordinary talent for capturing the human spirit in her songs. With power-packed vocals and infectious energy she has the uncanny ability to move her audiences to pin-drop silence.
WHERE: Martin Luther King Jr. Performing Arts Center, 1400 Melbourne Rd Charlottesville, Va.
Suggested Donation – $5.00 (No one turned away)WHEN: 7 p.m. ET, Wednesday, May 17, 2006