ACORN 2008 Convention Featured SpeakersJohn Edwards "Half in Ten" Campaign Chair Former U.S. Senator, Presidential Candidate Monday, June 23
John Edwards will attend his second consecutive ACORN National Convention on June 23, 2008. At the 2006 ACORN Convention, Edwards told more than 2,000 ACORN members about his support for the organization’s campaign to raise the minimum wage and other anti-poverty initiatives. Edwards has been working with ACORN to fight poverty for years. In June 2005, he and ACORN National President Maude Hurd kicked off ACORN's successful ballot initiative campaigns to raise state minimum wages by touring five cities where ACORN was collecting signatures. In July 2007, Edwards launched his three-day poverty tour with ACORN members in New Orleans' Lower 9th Ward. He returned to the Lower 9th Ward in January 2008 when he decided to withdraw from the presidential race. Giving his concession speech from a city where the devastation from the failures of government protection and inadequate response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita are starkly evident, Edwards reaffirmed his commitment to continue fighting for social justice and equity. On May 13, Edwards announced with Hurd and other ACORN members in Philadelphia that he would chair a new ambitious anti-poverty campaign called "Half in Ten" to reduce poverty in the United States by half within 10 years. The campaign is a partnership with ACORN, the Center for American Progress Action Fund, the Coalition on Human Needs, and the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights. A proud product of public schools, Edwards was the first person in his family to attend college. He worked his way through North Carolina State University where he graduated with high honors in 1974, and then earned a law degree with honors in 1977 from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. For the next 20 years, Edwards dedicated his life to representing families and children just like the families he grew up with in Robbins, who were being victimized by powerful interests. Throughout his career, Edwards found himself on one side of the courtroom with an army of corporate lawyers on the other. Every time, they thought they could win. But they were wrong. Because Edwards beat them, again and again, on behalf of hard-working families facing the darkest moments of their lives. Through his career, he helped families overcome tremendous challenges, and earned a national reputation as a forceful and tireless champion for regular, hard-working people. In 1998, Edwards took that commitment into politics, to give a voice to the kind of people he represented throughout his career. Without taking a dime from lobbyists or political action committees (he never has), Edwards ran for the Senate and won an upset victory, unseating an incumbent Republican who was a part of the corrupt Jesse Helms political machine. In the Senate, Edwards continued to be a champion for regular, hard-working families, taking on critical issues like quality health care, better schools, protecting civil liberties, preserving the environment, saving Social Security and Medicare, and getting big money out of politics. Edwards brought his positive message of change and fighting for regular families to the 2004 presidential primaries. During the primary season he spoke about the Two Americas that exist in our country today: one for people at the top who have everything they need and one for everybody else who struggles to get by. This powerful message resonated with voters all across America. He is the former Director of the Center on Poverty, Work, and Opportunity at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
The Honorable Maxine Waters U.S. Representative, D-Calif. Sunday, June 22
Congresswoman Maxine Waters is considered by many to be one of the most powerful women in American politics today. She has gained a reputation as a fearless and outspoken advocate for women, children, people of color and the poor. Throughout her 29 years of public service, Maxine Waters has been on the cutting edge, tackling difficult and often controversial issues. She has combined her strong legislative and public policy acumen and high visibility in Democratic Party activities with an unusual ability to do grassroots organizing. Prior to her election to the House of Representatives in 1990, Congresswoman Waters had already attracted national attention for her no-nonsense, no-holds-barred style of politics. During 14 years in the California State Assembly, she rose to the powerful position of Democratic Caucus Chair. She was responsible for some of the boldest legislation California has ever seen: the largest divestment of state pension funds from South Africa; landmark affirmative action legislation; the nation’s first statewide Child Abuse Prevention Training Program; the prohibition of police strip searches for nonviolent misdemeanors; and the introduction of the nation’s first plant closure law. As a national Democratic Party leader, Congresswoman Waters has long been highly visible in Democratic Party politics and has served on the Democratic National Committee since 1980. She was a key leader in five presidential campaigns: Sen. Edward Kennedy (1980), Rev. Jesse Jackson (1984 & 1988), and President Bill Clinton (1992 & 1996). In 2001, she was instrumental in the DNC’s creation of the National Development and Voting Rights Institute and the appointment of Mayor Maynard Jackson as its chair. Following the Los Angeles civil unrest in 1992, Congresswoman Waters faced the nation's media and public to interpret the hopelessness and despair in cities across America. Over the years, she has brought many government officials and policy makers to her South Central L.A. district to appeal for more resources. She has used her skill to shape public policy and deliver the goods: $10 billion in Section 108 loan guarantees to cities for economic and infrastructure development, housing and small business expansion; $50 million appropriation for "Youth Fair Chance" program which established an intensive job and life skills training program for unskilled, unemployed youth; expanded U.S. debt relief for Africa and other developing nations; creating a "Center for Women Veterans," among others. She is a co-founder of Black Women’s Forum, a nonprofit organization of over 1,200 African American women in the Los Angeles area. In the mid-80s, she also founded Project Build, working with young people in Los Angeles housing developments on job training and placement. Expanding access to health care services is another of Congresswoman Waters’ priorities. She spearheaded the development of the Minority AIDS Initiative in 1998 to address the alarming spread of HIV/AIDS among African Americans, Hispanics and other minorities. Under her continuing leadership, funding for the Minority AIDS Initiative has increased from the initial appropriation of $156 million in fiscal year 1999 to approximately $400 million per year today. She is also the author of legislation to expand health services for patients with diabetes, cancer and Alzheimer’s disease. Maxine Waters was born in St. Louis, Missouri, the fifth of 13 children reared by a single mother. She began working at age 13 in factories and segregated restaurants. After moving to Los Angeles, she worked in garment factories and at the telephone company. She attended California State University at Los Angeles, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree. She began her career in public service as a teacher and a volunteer coordinator in the Head Start program. She is married to Sidney Williams, the former U.S. Ambassador to the Commonwealth of the Bahamas. She is the mother of two adult children, Edward and Karen, and has two grandchildren. The Honorable Carolyn Cheeks-Kilpatrick U.S. Representative, D-Mich. Sunday, June 22
Now in her sixth term serving Michigan’s 13th Congressional District, Congresswoman Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick’s hard work and thoughtful political style have earned her the confidence and respect of her peers, who have appointed her to the powerful House Appropriations Committee. She is the only Michigan Democrat on this important committee, which authorizes spending for all levels of the federal government. The Congresswoman has secured more than a half billion dollars to revitalize Michigan’s 13th District. Rev. Jim Wallis Sunday, June 22
Jim Wallis is a bestselling author, public theologian, speaker, preacher, and international commentator on religion and public life, faith and politics. His latest book is The Great Awakening: Reviving Faith & Politics in a Post–Religious Right America (HarperOne, 2008). His previous book, God's Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It (Harper Collins, 2005), was on the New York Times bestseller list for 4 months. He is President and Chief Executive Officer of Sojourners; where he is editor-in-chief of Sojourners magazine, whose combined print and electronic media have a readership of more than 250,000 people. Wallis speaks at more than 200 events a year and his columns appear in major newspapers, including The New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and both Time and Newsweek online. He regularly appears on radio and television, including shows like Meet the Press, the Daily Show with Jon Stewart, the O'Reilly Factor, and is a frequent guest on the news programs of CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN, MSNBC, Fox, and National Public Radio. He has taught at Harvard's Divinity School and Kennedy School of Government on "Faith, Politics, and Society." He has written eight books, including: Faith Works, The Soul of Politics, Who Speaks for God?, and The Call to Conversion. Wallis was raised in a Midwest evangelical family. As a teenager, his questioning of the racial segregation in his church and community led him to the black churches and neighborhoods of inner-city Detroit. He spent his student years involved in the civil rights and antiwar movements at Michigan State University. While at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Illinois, Wallis and several other students started a small magazine and community with a Christian commitment to social justice which has now grown into a national faith-based organization. In 1979, Time magazine named Wallis one of the "50 Faces for America's Future." Wallis lives in inner-city Washington, D.C. with his wife, Joy Carroll, one of the first women ordained in the Church of England and author of Beneath the Cassock: The Real-life Vicar of Dibley; and their sons, Luke (9) and Jack (4). He is a Little League baseball coach. Visit Jim Wallis and Sojourners at their website www.Sojo.net and read his daily blog at www.GodsPolitics.com .
Maude Hurd ACORN National President Sunday, June 22
Maude Hurd has been the National President of ACORN since 1990, and a member of Boston ACORN's Dorchester United since 1982, serving as its co-chair. She got involved with ACORN when an organizer knocked on her door. ACORN made an impression on her because it was the first time somebody had asked her what was an issue she saw in her community that needed to be worked on. |
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