We are working to change the mentality of activists, and to grow the awareness of the problem in the general public. At the same time, we are working with ethical elections administrators around the country to develop a set of best practices that we can advance legislatively.
But we will never win at the legislative level without a certain level of public awareness and support, so we are working on all fronts at once.
the seminal 'Votescam: The Stealing of America' by James and Kenneth Collier, 1992
(Image by votescam.org/) Details DMCA
JB: A big, admirable and very positive agenda. How does the book figure into the mix with your current work, Victoria? Or doesn't it?
VC: Votescam is part of the education work. And it's especially valuable because it tells a unique story that sheds light on what happened in the past fifty years since the great people's movements reached their culmination in the 1960s. Vote rigging was part of the organized backlash against those progressive movements. Jim and Ken's personal journey stemmed from the activism of the 1960s. They were old-school idealists who really believed in the American potential for transformation toward ever greater justice.
I think we have a responsibility to explain to younger generations where everything went wrong. Why are we in this dire condition today? What system of governance are we handing them? Why is it broken, and how can it be repaired?
In order to answer those questions we have to do our research, our homework. The answers are there. The solutions are also there, waiting for us to care enough to implement them.
JB: I love that "can do" attitude! What haven't we talked about yet that you'd like to?
VC: I'd like to mention another organization I'm involved with, called the Justice Action Mobilization Network (JAMN). It's a new network of activist leadership from many different issue areas. We are focused on building a fusion political movement that catalyzes around Climate Justice. Fusion means that we are bringing together many justice movements - social, economic, democratic - to form a united front. Our priority is diversity, and we are being led by people of color and many within the faith community. We recognize that climate change is going to overwhelm all of us if we don't organize effectively to change our society and priorities now. The NEIC is present in this network to bring the message that our democratic process is being rigged on multiple levels by the fossil fuel industry in order to prevent meaningful action to invest in renewable energy.
The good news is that the solutions to climate chaos are also solutions to poverty and injustice - the issues are inextricably entwined.
Again, we are moving beyond the "issue silos" that have proven to be so destructive to real social change. Our world is interconnected, and our activism must reflect that.
The first JAMN Town Hall is happening in North Carolina on October 3rd. http://www.jamnetwork.org
JB: This all sounds encouraging. Anything you'd like to add before we wrap this up?
VC: No, just a thank you for the chance to spread the information. Long live OpEdNews and alternative media!
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