DC Vote Hosts 'I Am DC' Advocacy Day on the Hill to Demand the Vote

For more information contact: James Jones, Communications Director
202.462.6000 x12 office / 202.557.4864 mobile / jjones@dcvote.org

September 30, 2009

Washington, DC - DC Vote, dedicated to full congressional voting representation and full democracy for Washington, DC, will host I Am DC Advocacy Day on the Hill next Monday, October 5, to urge Congress to pass the DC Voting Rights Act (H.R.157/S.160) without harmful amendments. Following a breakfast program with elected officials, supporters will deliver thousands of postcards from DC residents demanding the vote to Democratic members of Congress who support the gun amendment that has stalled the legislation in the House.

"This event is about DC residents raising their voices and telling their personal stories of why they demand the vote," said Ilir Zherka, DC Vote Executive Director. "On I Am DC Advocacy Day, the tax-paying residents of the District will have an opportunity to put a face and a personal story behind the critical issue of DC voting rights."

"We've found these personal stories especially helpful when taking our message to the states," he added. "When people learn that more than half a million everyday people are denied the most American of freedoms—the right to voting representation in Congress—they really respond."

"DC Vote has given our DC House Voting Rights Act the many faces of our residents - here and throughout the nation," said Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC). "The October 5 Advocacy Day, featuring residents denied their rights, should make it hard for Members of Congress to resist passing the DC House Voting Rights Act this year."

• What: DC Vote hosts an advocacy day event on the Hill to allow DC voting rights supporters to demand the vote for DC and educate Congress about the danger of the proposed gun amendment to the DC Voting Rights Act.
  
  
• When: Monday, October 5, 2009 from 8:30 AM - 12:00 PM; Program from 9:00 - 10:00 AM
  
  
• Where: Cannon Caucus Room, Cannon House Office Building 345
  
  
• Who: 100+ DC residents; Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC); Marie Johns, Managing Member of L&L Consulting; Kamal Ali, Owner of Ben's Chili Bowl; Ilir Zherka, DC Vote Executive Director; Eugene D. Kinlow, DC Vote Public Affairs Director
  
  
• Visuals: Local residents wearing I Am DC; I Demand the Vote t-shirts and displaying homemade signs telling why they demand the vote in their own words.

About the campaign: The I Am DC; I Demand the Vote campaign features District residents and their stories and includes locals such as Julian Bond, NAACP Chairman, Reverend Lennox Yearwood, founder of the Hip-Hop Caucus and Dixcy, a nurse and mother. The campaign has attracted supporters from across the country and has been featured on WMATA buses and bus shelters in the District. This advertising and advocacy campaign features an online petition allowing DC residents and supporters to submit testimonials about why DC deserves equal representation.

Download the printable I Am DC Advocacy Day flyer here. (PDF 1.6MB)

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