Calling All Activists for MLK Civil Rights Weekend in San Antonio

Got this from my friends at the ACLU here in Austin. I figured I'd better post this up before y'all think a parade with some rappers in it in Houston is such a big deal. This is a March, and will be the biggest in the nation, and it's in San Antonio and I bet no rappers show up whatsoever (and yes rappers, this is a challenge. Think about MLK for real.)

You can get a gang of information by clicking this link.

But I mean, check it out... It's real and it's right down the road.

Partnering with Neighborhoods First Alliance and San Antonio Independent School District, the San Antonio chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union will hold is FIRST annual “Know Why You Are Marching Civil Rights and Film Series Organizers Summit” (http://aclutx.org/projects/knowwhyyourem.php) in San Antonio, Texas on January 17-19, 2009.

Texas activists will get the chance to discuss, explore, think, and imagine ways to continue protecting civil rights in their own communities. During the summit, organizers from around Texas will hear from some of San Antonio’s most prominent advocates (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mario_Marcel_Salas) about how to apply the civil rights lessons of yesterday to today.

The summit will include guest speaker Al Bronstein (http://aclutx.org/projects/knowwhyyourempg.php?pid=117), lawyer to one of the most important civil rights leaders of all time, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Also, we will be showing nominated best documentary by Sundance Films Trouble the Water (http://www.troublethewaterfilm.com/) a film about real people’s hardships before and after Hurricane Katrina. Additionally, all participants will be given the opportunity to attend the wreath laying ceremony at Martin Luther King statue as well as march in the largest MLK march in the NATION!

Also this...

Organizers' Summit in San Antonio, TX.

January 17 and 18
See the full schedule.

Early registration ends January 1 and space is limited, so register now!
Reserve your tickets now

Calling All Civil Rights Activists

In the summer of 1963, the late civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. led tens of thousands on a historic march on the nation's capitol. We ask you and your fellow Texans to join us in San Antonio next month as we honor King's memory, his message of equality and why he marched.

The ACLU of Texas and the Neighborhoods First Alliance invite you to join us at the inaugural Organizers' Summit to be held in conjunction with the Know Why You Are Marching Civil Rights and Film Series in San Antonio during MLK Day weekend, January 17 and 18.

King's legacy is unquestioned. But keeping his message alive requires work, and next month's events in San Antonio gives all of us the opportunity to remind ourselves why we march, and to take that message home with us.

Events will start at noon on Saturday, January 17 with presentations by students from San Antonio's MLK Academy, Al Bronstein (attorney for King) and the Sons of Thunder Gospel Group. On Sunday, January 18 there will be a special screening of the Sundance Film Festival award-winning documentary "Trouble the Water," which tells the tale of a husband and wife trapped in New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina's flood waters.

Other events include:

* Breakfast with Tommy Calvert Jr., a community organizer and member of Neighborhoods First Alliance, and Mario Salas, community organizer and former San Antonio City Council member

* Regional organizers' meeting

* Interfaith celebration and wreath-laying

The summit concludes Monday and attendees are encouraged to participate in what has become the largest MLK Day march in the country, with attendance often topping 100,000.

Early registration ends January 1 and space is limited, so register now!

In liberty,
ACLU of Texas

The ACLU of Texas is proud to be the eighth largest ACLU affiliate in the United States, with more than 14,000 card-carrying members across our state. Sustained by a dedicated board of directors, a small staff and dozens of dedicated volunteers, the ACLU of Texas and its predecessor, the Texas Civil Liberties Union, have been at the forefront of the struggle for civil rights in Texas since 1938. Help us continue to defend the Bill of Rights - become a member of the ACLU today!