8/12/2019 DC Vote Summer 10 Newsletter

1/2

Voice SUMMER 2010 www.dcvote.org 4

NonprofitOrg.

U.S.Postage

PAID

Washington,DC

PermitNo.2141

2000PStreet,NW,Suite200

Washington,DC20036

On the Summer Festival Scene

2010 has been an eventful year for DC Vote and our local

friends: we joined in the city-wide Emancipation Day

celebration, the Capital Pride Festival and the Palisades July

4 festivities. Upcoming events include Adams Morgan Day,

Stone Soul Picnic, H Street Festival, Black L.U.V. Festival,

Barracks Row Festival and Fiesta DC. Come join us!

Know of an event were missing or want to volunteer?

Contact Jennifer Matson atjmatson@dcvote.org or

at 202.462.6000 x18.

Save The Date! Annual Champions

of Democracy Awards DinnerMark your calendar for October 12, 2010 from

6:30-9:30 PM, when DC Vote will honor Champions

of Democracy Smith Bagley (posthumously),

Kathy Schmidt and Andy Shallal. Each will be

honored for their contributions to a vibrant DC

community and commitment to a true, full American

democracy. The dinner will be held at Washingtons

Mayflower Hotel. We hope to see you there!

DC Vote is a 501 (c)(3) educational and advocacy organization

whose mission is to secure full voting representation in Congress

and full democracy for the residents of the District of Columbia.

The VoiceDC Votes Newsletter

Editor: Leah Ramsay

Contributors: Abby Levine and Jennifer Matson

Photos: Antonette Russell and Jamie Phillips

Copyright 2010 DC Vote

Use the enclosed envelope or visit our Web site today atwww.dcvote.org to make a contribution to DC Vote.

Voice

Patrick Mara and John C

to Focus on M

DC Vote supporter at the

Ilir Zherka lead

file-in action at

Miriam Strau

signed petition to

Rev. E. Gail A

and Ilir Zherka conf

Working to End Taxation Without Representation in the

DC Vote Gets Aggressive

Happy summer! DC Vote is taking advantage of

the natural energy and enthusiasm of summer to

educate, advocate and agitate for DC democracy.

We recently launched our new campaign, Childers

for DC Mayor?, which asks Representative

Travis Childers (D-MS), one of DCs opponents

in Congress, if he is running for Mayor since he

is trying to control DCs gun laws. The ads,

which ran in print and online news publications,

sent the message to Childers Mississippi

constituents that he is focusing on DCs affairs,

not theirs. Weve said it before and well say it

again: Members of Congress should focus on the

issues affecting their states rather than

interfering in DCs local politics.

The Childers campaign follows aggressive actions weve taken on Capitol Hill,

bringing the fight to politicians in person. We held a pray-in with local religious

leaders at Senator Jon Testers (D-MT) office and a file-in at Rep. Childers office.

Both demonstrations elicited strong responses. We forced Senator Tester to meet

with us, while media watched, and he admitted he understands our argument.Rep. Childers, on the other hand, responded by calling us a radical anti-gun group

in a campaign statement.

Word of our actions got around the Hill quickly. We even received calls from

sympathetic staffers who are rooting for us! We will continue this aggressive

approach to creating consequences in DC and at home for members of Congress

who are holding DCs democracy hostage.

From the Executive DirectorAs you may know, the DC Voting Rights Act (DC VRA) moved toward a vote in

the House this April. Due to many factors, including the interference of the gun-

rights lobby, divisions locally and opposition in Congress, we supported Delegate

Eleanor Holmes Nortons decision to pull back the bill. The odious poison pill

gun amendment attached to the DC VRA made it clear that we must increase the

costs to members of Congress who oppose voting rights and full democracy for

the District. Through work with our supporters and coalition partners to expandthe aggressive campaign described above, we plan to do just that. I hope you will

join us by signing up for our email list, reading our updates and taking action with

us in person. Most importantly, I hope youll become a member of DC Vote.

Your donation will help keep this aggressive movement strong.

Ilir Zherka

Executive Director

Staff Update

DC Vote has welcomed two new faces to our team.

Leah Ramsayjoined the staff as Communications Manager

in June, bringing a variety of multimedia experience and

history of supporting DC voting rights. Jamie Phillips is

working as a summer intern while on break from law school

at North Carolina Central University, assisting with

community outreach efforts. Both bring new energy and

ingenuity to DC Votes work.

8/12/2019 DC Vote Summer 10 Newsletter

2/2

3 Working to End Taxation Without Representation in the Nations Capital

State of the Union Campaign

In January, we launched a campaign to ask President Obama to mention

democracy for DC in his State of the Union address. For the first time, we

centered our campaign around our Facebook page, asking supporters for

suggestions on the statements language and opening up the final choice to

an online vote. This resulted in a wonderful dialogue with our friends and

attracted 300 new Facebook fans.

On the anniversary of President Obamas inaugural, we announced the

winning language and shipped it, along with 41,000 petitions for DC voting

rights emblazoned with Taxation Without Representation bumper s tickers,to the White House.

Though the President did not mention DC voting rights in his speech, we

successfully raised the visibility of our cause through this campaign

votes for the language came in from 44 states, 300 more people are still

getting our Facebook updates, and thousands of people were touched by

the print, online and radio media the campaign garnered. Our campaign

eventually succeeded when the President released a statement of support

on April 16, 2010.

DC Vote License Plates in MD

DC Vote would like to give a shout out to one of our most dedicated

supporters, Larry Ottinger. This spring,

Larry designed a specialty Maryland

license plate (right) in support of DCvoting rights. He successfully

organized Maryland residents to sign

up for the new plates, meeting the

states quota. His efforts helped to

raise awareness about our cause

nationwide. Thanks for all of your hard work, Larry!

The tags will be available in the summer/fall of 2010. Interested in having

one or creating a license plate for Virginia? Email Jennifer Matson at

jmatson@dcvote.orgfor more information!

Recognitions

DC Vote is honored to be the first recipient of the Arca Foundations Smith

Bagley Memorial Grant, which supports organizations using bold, courageous

and creative strategies to advance social change.

The DC Democratic State Committee presented DC Vote with its Outstanding

Community Organization award at their 25th Kennedys-King Awards Gala on

June 7.

DC Vote Executive Director Ilir Zherka is featured in a new book, Dynamical

Leadership: Building Adaptive Capacity for Uncertain Times. Ilir has also been

nominated and selected for the 2011 Class of Leadership Greater Washington.

Voice SUMMER 2010 www.dcvote.org 2

Ilir Zherka, Aviva Kempner and Don Dinan

advocate on Capitol Hill

Volunteers prepare to visit congressional offices

at DC Emancipation Advocacy Day

University of the District of Columbia students

at DC Emancipation Advocacy Day

A proud winner of a t-shirt at a Generation Obama event

DC Emancipation Day 2010

Voting rights activists commemorated DC Emancipation Day by hitting the

halls of Congress on Friday, April 16, 2010, the anniversary of President

Lincoln freeing the 3,100 enslaved people living in DC. That act was a

precursor to his nationwide Emancipation Proclamation. It is a bittersweet

day, serving as a reminder that Washingtonians are still not fully

emancipatedwe are denied full participation in our countrys democracy.

After inspirational words from DC Vote Executive Director Ilir Zherka,

DC Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, Councilmember Yvette Alexander, and

DC Shadow Representative Mike Panetta, participants wearing Taxation

Without Representation t-shirts spread out to meet with congressional

staff in 120 House offices. Their goals: to advocate for passage of the

DC Voting Rights Act and raise awareness for DC Emancipation Day.

Our efforts were given a boost from a powerful place: President Obama

issued an official statement in honor of the holiday. He said, I urge

Congress to finally pass legislation that provides DC residents with voting

representation and to take steps to improve the Home Rule charter. Such

clear support from the White House is evidence that DC Votes past efforts

have made an impact.

Special Thanks to Jim Vance!

In April, NBC 4 reporter Jim Vance asked a DC voting rights question

during his interview with First Lady Michelle Obama. She affirmed her

and the Presidents support for the cause, which brought the issue

additional media coverage. Later that month, the President made an

official statement (see above). We thank Jim for putting DC voting

rights in the spotlight!

DC Vote staffer Jen Matson with students

from the Greater Washington Urban LeagueJim Vance anchors News 4 at 6 and 11.

DC Vote volunteers

in support of DC voting

Ilir Zherka and Delega

put the box

DC Vote found

with volunte

Delegate Eleanor Holm

and Juan Thompson at t