[Air-l] what are YOU doing on SEPTEMBER 11?

[david silver]

Folks,

A few months ago, I posted information about The September Project to
air-l.  These days, the project has grown quite considerably.  Please take
a moment to read this email and please consider getting involved.

david

Here is a project that might interest some of you.

The September Project is a coordinated effort to get people to gather in
public places like libraries on Saturday, September 11.  There, they will
engage in talks, deliberations, and performances about democracy and
citizenship.  We believe libraries are the best infrastructure upon which
to build because they are free, they are public, and they are distributed
across this country and most countries. We are here
http://www.theseptemberproject.org

In the States, we are working with 101 libraries, schools, and colleges in
23 states.  A map: http://www.com.washington.edu/september/map.asp
Participating libraries include public libraries, primary and secondary
school libraries, academic libraries, libraries for the hearing and
visually impaired, and juvenile hall libraries.

Spain's El Proyecto Septiembre has stretched the project outside the US.
They are here http://septiembre.ciberpunk.org.  If you do not know
Spanish, you can translate it by cutting and pasting the URL into this
site http://babelfish.altavista.com  With help from our friends in Spain,
we are in contact with folks interested in setting up similar projects in
Canada, Chile, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Uruguay, and Venezuela.
International hosts are planning events that focus on issues that matter
to them.

Our goal is to have 1000s of public spheres on Saturday, September 11,
2004.  We believe that this is a way for all of us, the people, to assume
an active and creative role in defining, shaping, and expressing what
this day means to us.  Having the events take place on September 11 --
perhaps one of the most contested entities in our times -- is a natural.

What if internet studies scholars, centers, units, and departments help
organize events?  The mode of events is up to you and your communities:
talks on freedom and democracy; deliberations on citizenship; performances
on identity and nation, etc.

All we ask is that the events are free and public.  We hope all events
will be accompanied with voter registration and encourage all US-based
organizers to work with the League of Women Voters.

I'd love to be part of a thread on air-l about what we can do.  At the
very least, please consider doing one (or all!) of the following:

1. Contact your local public, university, K-12, and/or correctional
facility library to learn what they have planned for September 11.

2. Share the idea with the organizations to which you belong --
professional, civic, cultural, religious/spiritual -- and ask them to
collaborate with their local libraries.

3. Volunteer at your local library as a speaker, performer, roundtable
participant, and/or event coordinator.

4. Post, forward, and distribute -- locally, nationally, globally -- this
message through as many channels as possible.

5. Show up at participating public spaces on Saturday, September 11, 2004.
Bring your family, friends, colleagues, and neighbors.

Thank you for your time.  I hope you all get involved and I hope we can
share ideas on this list.

david silver
www.theseptemberproject.org