In Wake of Katrina, Activists Launch ColorOfChange.org

[Nia Imani]

In Wake of Katrina, Activists Launch ColorOfChange.org

10,000 Join Black Online Political Group

San Francisco, CA (BlackNews.com) - Angered by the government response that followed Hurricane Katrina, two Black activists have launched a new, online organization, ColorOfChange.org, to give a stronger voice to Black concerns in U.S. politics. In its first month, the site has attracted 10,000 members.

The founders of ColorOfChange.org, James Rucker and Van Jones, see their early success as a sign that African-Americans and those who are concerned about Black issues see Katrina as a "wake-up call - and that they're ready to make a difference politically.

"Middle-class Black folks like ourselves got a clear dose of reality. While many of us are doing well, millions of our folks have been left behind," Rucker said. "When we saw the television screens, the emotions were almost universal. First we were sad and angry, and then we realized we had no political voice - no organized way to respond and hold government accountable. That's when we decided to start ColorOfChange.org. For too long, Black America has been effectively left out of the political discourse - Republicans are rarely on our side, and too many Democrats take our support for granted. And it needs to change."




TAPPING BLACK ENERGY: "The energy is out there. It just hasn't been tapped," Rucker said. Given simple, tangible ways to make a difference, people will act. And when they act together, it amplifies their political voice. We've seen it with MoveOn.org and were seeing it now. ColorOfChange.org members use the Internet to pressure elected officials using petitions and phone calls, and soon they'll be able to support media campaigns that call attention to issues that concern them and thereby frame the public debate. Our mission is to help Black people and pro-Black people become politically engaged and to have a renewed and strengthen political voice."

"A politician might be able to ignore one individual Black bumblebee, buzzing and complaining alone," Jones said. "But nobody can ignore a whole swarm." ColorOfChange.org is about using the web to help lots of isolated Black individuals become a massive, unstoppable swarm.

EARLY SUCCESSES: The effort already has some successes under its belt. More than 5,400 people signed the groups online petition to hold radio host and former U.S. Secretary of Education Bill Bennett accountable for his racial comments that "you could abort every black baby in this country, and your crime rate would go down."

Pressure from ColorOfChange.org and other groups stopped Republicans in Congress from using Katrina as an excuse to make massive cuts to the social safety net. And almost 1,000 have bought the "Kanye Was Right" T-shirts that put ColorOfChange.org on the map in September. (Kanye West is the rapper who said, "George Bush doesn't care about black people" during a national hurricane relief telethon.)

IMPRESSIVE FOUNDERS: James Rucker, 36, is a veteran leader of online activism. As Grassroots Mobilization Director, Rucker helped MoveOn.org grow into a powerful 3.3 million-member organization. MoveOn's mission is to return political influence to where its supposed to be in a democracy - everyday people - instead of moneyed special interests and corporations.

Van Jones, 37, is the founder and executive director of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights (EBC). Under Jones' leadership, EBC has grown from a small local non-profit to a leading organization in the national fight for alternatives to the "incarceration industry." Jones is also a leader in the push to integrate the environmental movement with other social justice movements.

In time, the duo plans to build a membership of 250,000 people. ColorOfChange.org will tackle many key issues, including economic fairness and opportunity for African-Americans.

"When TV is showing you people who look like your grandmothers and your children just dying and getting no help in the richest country in the world, you can't just go on with business as usual," Jones said. "With ColorOfChange.org, we are on the path to making sure that nobody gets left behind like that ever again."


PRESS CONTACT:
Van Jones, 415-336-7688
James Rucker, 415-505-9048
www.colorofchange.org

Source: http://www.blacknews.com