LatinaLista — Conventional wisdom tells us if a movement really wants to attract attention — from both the public and the media — the best place to conduct a march or rally is not Spokane, Washington but Washington, DC.
Our nation’s capital has been and will be busy playing host to people and orgs who either want to “Restore Honor” to the country or “Restore Sanity.”
Yet, the interesting thing about both of these rallies is that neither addresses restoring unity. Tomorrow in Washington, D.C. there will be yet another rally and march where the hype has the potential to overshadow the turnout.
The fact that the Progressives are organizing One Nation Working Together is already bleeding critics from extremist and conservative corners but unlike the other two rallies, this one may actually bring people together.
There has been a steady stream of emails from various organizations into my Inbox today announcing that the CEO or Executive Director of such-and-such an organization will represent their group at tomorrow’s mass rally in DC. It’s expected that over 500 progressive groups will be represented and crowd estimates are into the hundreds of thousands.
Smaller marches originating from around the city will end on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial where the main rally will take place running till 4 p.m. Speakers ranging from media personalities to students will take to the platform to address the expected throngs.
But why is everyone coming?
For three reasons: jobs, education and justice.
Garlin Gilchrist, II, Director of New Media for the Center for Community Change, and one of the organizers behind the event, said in an interview with Politic365 that:
Regarding jobs, we want to make sure that everyone who wants to work and is able to work has a job that pays them at least a living wage, that pays them good benefits, so that they can take care of themselves and their families,” he explained.
“Education, because we all know how important education is to the future of our country, to the future of our economy. We want to make sure that our education system is sound, strong and is improving, because there is still a lot of work that needs to be done in education,” he noted.
“And, finally, justice is where we bring everything together,” said Gilchrist. “So, justice means making sure that all people are treated fairly, that all people have equal opportunities to do whatever it is their dreams desire. So that means making sure that people not only have access to jobs and education, but also that immigrants are treated fairly and are really able to be a full part of this country and have a pathway to citizenship.”
“It means that we treat our environment fairly, that we no longer destroy our environment irresponsibly for corporate reasons. But we actually think about how we can work together with our environment, with this thing that God gave us, to make sure that it can treat us well, and we can treat it well back.”
The reasons behind the rally sure stand for more concrete goals than either “Restore Honor” achieved or what “Restore Sanity” may hope to bring to the table. Though progressives are organizing tomorrow’s event, their 11-point Mission Statement goes beyond left or right but strikes at the heart of what every American citizen and citizen-to-be wants from the United States — a fair and equal chance at prosperity.
