Janice

Name:	Janice
Location:	Los Angeles, CA

My personal volunteering highlight:

There have been SO many highlights in my activism with Press for Democracy. One concerns work I did on the problems with electronic voting machines. I interviewed Cal. State Sen. Debra Bowen who was not only informed on the issue, but working tirelessly for voter accuracy and a paper trail. She was running in a very tight race for Cal. Sec. of State against a very conservative candidate who had very questionable ties to voting machine co. CEOs and was doing nothing positive on this issue. Well, our interview with Debra Bowen aired in almost a dozen key cities in California, and after Debra Bowen narrowly won the election, her campaign thanked us for all of our work on her behalf. We really felt as though we actively helped her campaign, again, with almost no finances - sheer determination, hard work, word of mouth and commitment to our cause! Here are highlights from 2005-2007. (2008-2009 highlights coming soon!)

More about my volunteering with DFA:

I am a newbee to Dem. for America, but I would like to take a more active role!

More about my volunteering with progressive organizations:

Of course, I am active in my two key organizations, Press for Democracy and Vox Box Arts Collective. I am also active in Pasadena MoveOn and I have hosted 4 anti-war vigils at the Veterans Memorial in my community and have participated in calling and letter-writing parties. I have worked on the "No on 8" campaign for marriage equality and am involved in the Human Rights Campaign.

More about my work on current campaigns and issues:

There are many, but here are the top ones:
1. Bush Admin. accountability. This has kind of slipped off the radar with issues such as the economy taking center stage, but I think this issue is crucial. And now with the torture memos resurfacing and new info rising to the surface, this accountability is a necessity. I interviewed famed author and Manson Prosecutor, Vincent Bugliosi on his best-selling book - A searing indictment of the G.W. Bush, and this interview aired all over the country. I am still writing letters, blogging, making phone calls and doing whatever I can to keep this issue alive.
2. Health care is a primary issue for me, and one that affects me personally, as it does so many Americans. I have interviewed Rep. Kucinich on this matter, and Press for Democracy has done three shows on this topic. I am a very active member of Health Care for All (HCA).
3. Marriage Equality. This is also a huge topic for me, and as mentioned above, I have worked for "No on 8" here in California and am a member of the Human Rights Campaign. An upcoming Press for Democracy show is in the works on Separation of Church and State that will include this issue.
4. There are sooo many more topics, but I will stop here!

What motivates me:

1. My children. I have two very young girls and I want them growing up in a world in which "pre-emptive war" is a thing of the past and peace is a real and livable concept. I want them to live in a world in which they will not have to go without health care, as I have had to several times, and know that education is something that we as Americans value.
2. Other people's children. I look at the world as a global community, just as Martin Luther King, jr. did - we are not free until we are all free. Free of poverty, racism and homophobia.

How I try to motivate others:

The first important writing that I had published was in the African American Journal - A poem entitled "Wrath of a Daydream" about the funeral of one of my literary and political inspirations, James Baldwin. I was teaching school at the time and I brought a copy of the journal to show my students my published poem. Gordon, one of my students, looked up from the page in awe and said, "Wow, you can do ANYTHING!" I was really struggling in my life with many things at the time, and this moment became quite the defining moment in my life. At the Free Press Media Reform conferences I have attended I talk to folks about how much I have achieved with little means, and there is so much more I hope to do.

Where I see myself in five years:

I would like to be Helen Thomas! (Eventually)
Well, I would like to have an established blog and a nationally recognized interview show. I hope to continue my associations with the many groups I currently work with and promote positive change!

My suggested bumper sticker slogan for the Stand with Dr. Dean campaign:

Sick of no health care? U.S. too! PUBLIC HEALTH NOW!