Party for the Presidency Description

December 29, 2007

December 29-31, 2007 - Celebrate New Year's at the Party for the Presidency!

What, When and Where is Party for the Presidency?

The Party for the Presidency will:

UNIFY a large group of politically informed and motivated young people through an electrifying convention atmosphere featuring elected officials and candidates from around the country, consultants, staffers, interest groups, media and entertainment personalities and sponsors.

CREATE the Democracy 2.0 agenda, prioritizing the action steps that the Ambassadors will commit to collectively supporting through 2008

CELEBRATE youth activists who have been making a change in their communities by engaging their fellow citizens to identify local problems, propose specific solutions, and be a part of the implementation process

The Party for the Presidency will take place in December 29-31, 2007 at the Renaissance Hollywood in Los Angeles, CA – providing an opportunity to celebrate New Years with your fellow activists

Who are we looking for?

• Are you between the ages of 16 to 30?

• Are you working to make a difference in your community by being politically involved?

• Are you advocating for the issues you feel are most important in your community, or informing people on the importance of civic engagement and volunteerism?

• Have you helped involve your fellow citizens in community service, public policy development, or identifying and solving local problems?

If you answered yes to these questions, we want to hear from you!

If you have any questions or would like any additional information please feel free to contact Maya Enista, our Chief Operating Officer at maya@mobilize.org or 202.736.5744. We look forward to hearing from you.

A Little Surprise For the Prize-Giver

Washington Post, 11/8/07

No Rules or Exceptions Apply In Award for Child's Antiwar Essay

By Monica Hesse

Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, November 8, 2007

Behold the easy-publicity, make-ya-feel-good corporate kids' contests: The Fruit Roll-Ups $1,000 search for the funniest child comedians?! The McDonald's $2,500 prize for the most active child! And from Lego, the big kahuna: a $5,000 prize for each of 10 kids who display "creativity."

That last one's winners were announced last week, and Bethesda's Kelsie Kimberlin, 8, got the nod. The judges of Lego's first annual Creativity Awards got more than they bargained for. When the third-grader is asked to describe her winning entry to Lego's Creativity Awards, her explanation -- with just a little prompting from her dad, Brett -- is on message: "I don't want kids to lose any parents in the war."

She wrote this in her application essay, saying that her creativity came through singing songs like "Happy Springtime," a reworking of John Lennon's "Happy Xmas" with nearly 50,000 YouTube hits.

A team of judges, including novelist Dave Eggers and Wired magazine editor in chief Chris Anderson, scanned 1,000 entries, voting Kelsie one of 10 winners. Five grand for peace. Nice.

Except . . . had anyone, other than those 50,000 YouTubers, actually seen "Happy Springtime"?

"We were judging the basic creativity of the essay," says Lego spokeswoman Julie Stern.

Ah. That would mean no? Correct.

So, a synopsis: "Happy Springtime (Bush Is Over)" is more than five minutes of John 'n' Yoko footage, of birds fluttering past a billboard reading "Imagine Peace" and of beautiful children singing, cherubically, "Buuush is ooover!" which, incidentally, is also what their T-shirts say. "Bush Is Over. If You Want It." A credit at the end leads viewers to Justice Through Music, a civic engagement nonprofit run by Kelsie's father.

Pro-peace? Guilt by cherub? Having nothing whatsoever to do with Legos? You decide.

And, insert obvious joke here about the editor in chief of Wired -- Wired!-- not taking the time for a YouTube search.

According to Stern, the folks at Lego did not watch "Happy Springtime" until after Kelsie had already been declared a winner, when her proud mother, Tatiana, e-mailed the company links to the video. "I'll be honest. We were a bit surprised," Stern says.

So does Lego endorse --

"We do not endorse her message," says Stern, who says the company didn't think it could renege on an 8-year-old. "But we do applaud her creative spirit . . . and her message of peace."

Incidentally, Kelsie did not write "Happy Springtime," though she is a budding composer. Her work at Willie Mae's Rock Camp for Girls in New York this summer, says her dad, led counselors to suggest she apply for a Creativity Award. Sample catchy lyrics she penned at camp: "Feeling Rock-i-fide! Feeling good inside!"

The credit for "Springtime" goes to Kelsie's dad, musician-activist Brett Kimberlin.

In Lennon's original, the Harlem Community Choir provided backup vocals. For the "Springtime" takeoff, Kelsie recruited kids from the World Children's Choir, a McLean chorus focusing on making cross-cultural connections, of which she's a member. Sixteen children, 7 to 14, thought they'd like to sing about peace, and named themselves the Harmonic Angels.

The other kids (and their parents) have been nothing but harmonic and angelic in supporting Kelsie's windfall.

We said, 'Oh, that's so cool!' " says Diane Hinson, whose daughter, Robin, sings in the choir.

"Springtime" is not the Kimberlins' only father-daughter collaboration. Brett also enlisted the Harmonic Angels to sing in an antiwar reworking of Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall." (Kelsie and the Angels do not appear in "Exile," a music video in which Brett underwent waterboarding as an "it's definitely torture" argument.)

"All of the kids in the choir are very liberal," says Brett Kimberlin. "They wouldn't do this if they weren't in the cause."

Kelsie agrees. "I don't like Bush because he sends people to be killed," she says. And FYI, her younger sister Karina already knows all of the words to "Happy Springtime." She's 3.

So what is Kelsie planning to do with her $5,000? Record more songs, of course. Says her father, "She was just saying, 'Dad, I want you to learn this Hannah Montana song and then write the lyrics for it.' "

YOUTH HAVE A VOICE

Justice Through Music has released "ROCK YOUR RIGHTS, Volume 1" to get people inspired to participate in the political process by speaking in the language they understand, music. We are the only organization in the country using this format exclusively to get people involved, especially young voters, GENEXT voters, punk voters, teen voters, Howard Dean voters, independent voters, Michael Moore voters, disenfranchised voters, and young professionals. We believe that everyone should have a say in the democratic process and that young people will no longer be ignored. The issues that are important to these voters - gay marriage, the drug war, the Iraq war, the Patriot Act, due process, privacy, women's issues and equality - are all addressed in the DVD. Politicians in the Democrat, Republican, Green and Independent parties need to hear these young voices clearly because they are not going to be silent while America strays. These voters want lawmakers to understand that they are powerful and loud, like the music they listen to, and they will be heard. What do we hear them say? How's this for starters:

• no more building prisons;
• no more cutting student aid;
• no more denying student aid to people who try drugs;
• no more denying marriage based on gender;
• no more telling women what to do with their bodies;
• no more snooping on law abiding people;
• no more profiling people based on race or religion;
• no more wars based on lies or oil;
• no more talk of the draft;
• no more mandatory minimum drug laws;
• no more criminalization of marijuana;
• no more drug tests in schools;
• no more denying money for AIDS;
• no more denying universal medical care;
• no more Patriot Act;
• no more torture;
• no more detaining people without due process;
• no more cuts in education spending;
• no more denying rehabilitation in prisons;
• no more uncounted votes;
• no more No Child Left Behind testing;
• no more arrogance in foreign policy;
• no more unilateralism and pre-emption;
• no more raping of the environment;
• no more fear mongering and war mongering;
• no more death penalty;
• no more enforcement against medical marijuana;

Clearly, young people want the American ideal - JUSTICE! Justice Through Music is here to give them that voice. Listen up by getting the DVD!! More DVDs and PSAs will follow in short order.