2004.1.9 – ill activism

‘Tis the season to be….sick as a dog, or cat, or some type of animal.
Anything but human.
Now you know the reason for my lengthy absence. I was not out having a good time, but rather in bed for several days. The best (and perhaps worst as well) part of the flu is that you are unable to go out. You feel a strong need to stay in your room and wallow in your sickness.

This was evidenced by the fact that I stayed in my little apartment for four full days without a breath of fresh air. I didn’t even go in the hallway or down the elevator to pick up the mail. I kept myself secluded and it seemed to have worked.

So, now that I’m back to about 90% of my original health I am ready to write! I hope everyone is prepared for a great activism piece, because I’m ready to give you one.

New Year Activism 101
What can i do to make my little piece of the world a better place, you ask? Well, there are many things you can volunteer to do and even some things that you can make money doing, but I am only going to mention a few in this column, for obvious reasons. Activism isn’t the most interesting topic, but I will try my best to make it fun and exciting for you!

Reproductive Rights March
25 April 2004, Washington D.C.
You can either reserve a seat (for yourself) or sponsor a seat for another individual to attend this rally in April. The cost is only $40 and it is well well worth it. Reproductive Rights are coming under swift fire in this country of late (culminating with the signing of the partial birth abortion ban by our fantastic President) and we definitely need to do something about it. Visit the link below for the NYCLU to sign up to take the trek.

Clean Energy NOW
Join the mailing list on Greenpeace.com and be informed about actions that can be taken to gain cleaner energy alternatives throughout our country. If each of us did some conservation of our own it would go a long way toward solving our energy problems. Our dependence on oil from foriegn sources is quite unhealthy and we need to find ways to become independent of this curse.

Support Fair Trade
This is definitely a favourite of mine and once again I will attempt to drive home the point. Farmers in hot weather countries are treated terribly in the face of exporters who pay them next to nothing to pick the beans for our morning lattes. Working in the coffee industry gave me insight into the conditions that these farmers work under and things that we can do to change their plight, if only in a small way. Support fair trade campaigns, the most popular of which being the Organic Consumers Association Starbucks campaign. Focusing on one of the highest grossing chain coffeehouses in the world, the OCA establishes press releases, protests and other actions to counteract the coffeehouse money making scheme. Coffee should be about pleasure, but if the farmers are being paid next to nothing it can only be about pain.

So, that is all for now. I promise to update more frequently now that I am well again. Keep an eye out for more activism columns and
keep fighting the good fight!!!

Peace,
Hippiegrrl

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