STAND UP! FOR DEMOCRACY IN DC COALITION

1715 4^th St. NW Washington, DC 20001 (202) 232-2500 freedc.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Contact: Bill Mosley

Tel.: (202) 360-5414

Contact: Anise Jenkins

Tel: (202) 361-9739

Stand Up! for Democracy in DC Coalition To Observe 10^th Anniversary of Fighting for Full Democracy

Members of the news media are welcome to attend this event and to arrange interviews with Stand Up! members about the organization's ten years of activism. Call Anise Jenkins, (202) 361-9739, or Bill Mosley, (202) 360-5414, to R.S.V.P. for the event or to arrange an interview.

The Stand Up! for Democracy in DC Coalition (Free DC) will observe its 10^th anniversary as an advocate for full democratic rights for DC residents at a gala celebration, fundraiser and historic overview of the DC equality movement on Friday, Oct. 19, 6-9 p.m. The event, to be held at the historic Carnegie Library, 801 K Street NW (Mount Vernon Square Metro) will commemorate the past decade in the struggle for full democratic rights and statehood for the District of Columbia since the coalition's founding on July 31, 1997.

The event will include the presentation of awards to DC Councilmember and former Mayor Marion Barry, a founder of Free DC! movement; and Hilda H.M. Mason, former DC Councilmember and "grandmother" of the DC Statehood movement. The evening also will feature food and drink, entertainment and a bit of history about the campaign for full democracy for DC citizens.

"After ten years of struggle, Stand Up! for Democracy in DC

continues its dedication to keeping the movement for full democracy, full

voting rights and full statehood moving!" said Stand Up! President Anise Jenkins. "While democracy is on everyone's lips from President Bush to all the presidential candidates, the nation's capital remains a plantation, a colony! Let's break these chains! If we ALL stand up, we can and will Free DC!"

"To proclaim itself the world's beacon of freedom while denying equal rights to 600,000 residents, mostly dark and tan, living in its capital city is hypocrisy. It won't play much longer," said Stand Up! Treasurer Malcolm Wiseman. "Full democracy, equality, statehood, will require an intense, worldwide, Internet-connected pressure. DC will be saved, emancipated, just as we were in 1862, when our cavalry comes again from across the seas."

"If Stand Up!'s first ten years were focused on building the movement to demand full democratic rights for the District, the second ten years must be about completing the struggle," said Stand Up! member Bill Mosley.

Stand Up! was founded in the wake of the so-called "DC Revitalization Act," which stripped the elected DC government of nearly all its authority and gave the congressionally appointed "Control Board" virtually unchecked power over the District. Stand Up! - whose founding members included Jesse Jackson, Walter Fauntroy and Dorothy Height - dedicated itself to the task of building a broad-based, non-partisan coalition not only to restore home rule, but also to end DC's colonial status and to help it win the same rights as other Americans enjoy - including full representation in Congress and control over its own budgets, laws and criminal justice system.

The coalition's first major activity was a bus caravan in August to the Clinton, NC home of Sen. Lauch Faircloth, the Revitalization Act's principal author, with some 600 DC activists bringing the District's concerns directly to Faircloth's constituents. (The trip no doubt played a part in Faircloth's defeat for re-election to John Edwards the following year).

In the months that followed, Stand Up! held weekly rallies on Capitol Hill, culminating in a major rally in September in which over 1,000 DC residents marched from the Capitol to the Hart Senate Office Building to demand the restoration of home rule. Another rally in December resulted in the arrest of two dozen DC activists in front of the White House.

Although the District regained most of its pre-Revitalization Act responsibilities in 1999 and the Control Board went dormant in 2001, Stand Up! continued to pressure Congress for full democratic rights. The coalition took a leading role in the effort to free the District's budget from the federal appropriations process, holding rallies, publishing newspaper articles and sponsoring lobby days on Capitol Hill. A measure of progress was achieved last June when a House subcommittee voted in favor of DC budget autonomy.

Stand Up! also has supported its members and other activists who petitioned at the Capitol for democratic rights, some of whom were arrested and placed on trial. Stand Up! raised funds for their defense, organized pre-trial rallies and helped to pack the courtroom for the trials, all of which resulted in complete acquittal for all defendants.

Members of Stand Up! served as plaintiffs in the Adams vs. Clinton ("20 Citizens") lawsuit for full democratic rights. The coalition also kept the issue of democratic rights on the political front burner by sponsoring forums for mayoral candidates in 1998, 2002 and 2006; and in the public consciousness through a series of community teach-ins.

Stand Up's other major accomplishments include:

n Receiving the "United Nations Association Community Human Rights Award" in 2002.

n Sponsorship of a 2003 Memorial Day service, helping to call attention both to local veterans who fought for democracy abroad while being denied equal rights at home, as well as to the neglected DC World War I Memorial where the service was held;

n Organizing a District-wide outreach and petition campaign in 2003, gathering over 1,000 signatures in favor of budget autonomy which were presented to Congress in October of that year;

n Joining with other local organizations in July 2004 to successfully lobby the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, meeting in DC, to condemn the United States' denial of voting representation to the District; and

n Leading opposition to legislation in Congress to give the District a single vote in the House of Representatives (and none in the Senate) while also giving an additional seat to Utah - pointing out how such "representation" would continue to leave the District in a position of inequality while leading to a dead end for full representation and democratic rights.

Advance tickets to Stand Up!'s 10^th Anniversary Celebration are $51, or $15 for student/senior/low-income tickets. Those purchasing the $51 tickets will receive a "Free DC" baseball cap. Checks may be made payable to Stand Up! for Democracy and mailed to: 1228 Crittenden Street NW, Washington, DC 20011. Tickets also may be purchased through Stand Up's Web site, www.freedc.org. (For a tax-deductible donation, make checks payable to "DC Coalition for Housing Justice, Inc./Stand Up!").

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