Katie is a senior at American University, where she studies international relations and journalism. She comes to D.C. from Portland, Oregon and just returned from a semester abroad in Paris. Katie has worked as a communication and news intern at CQ-Roll Call Group and Washington Post's Express. She is very excited to further her experience at ONE while working with the U.S. Communications team.
Here’s a cool bit of news — our faith relations manager, Rev. Adam Phillips, was interviewed by CBN yesterday on Lazarus Sunday’s role in the fight against HIV/AIDS. CBN is one of the largest television ministries in the world, so we were honored to get some face time with them and help draw attention to our big event. Read the interview here and watch the clip:
Lazarus Sunday (which is taking place this Sunday, April 10) is a day to recognize the powerful story in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Churches all across the country will screen the HBO documentary “The Lazarus Effect” for their congregations in an effort to convey the monumental importance of antiretroviral treatments in the fight against AIDS. It’s not too late for your faith community to join — resources for Lazarus Sunday (including sample sermons, video clips, and handouts) are available at one.org/faith.
As you may have heard, ONE members dropped off a massive petition to Congress on Tuesday with more than 100,000 signatures opposing proposed budget cuts to effective poverty-fighting programs that have saved millions of lives.
But our petition drop-off wasn’t our only mention in the media this week. ONE members have written letters to the editor and editorials in cities across the country about how just 1 percent of the federal budget can save lives.
You can read this week’s media coverage of ONE members below, including Politico’s report on Bono’s visit to Congress, and ONE members’ letters to the editors of Reston Connection and Lebanon Daily News.
Bono on the Hill: Politico covers Bono’s visit to the U.S. Capitol to meet with Republicans and Democrats about the impact of budget cuts on the world’s poorest
Making Good Choices: ONE member and Reston resident Rebecca Montague writes a letter to the editor about chronic hunger and food insecurity.
Be the Change, Save a Life: ABC’s “Save One” project showcases ONE’s photo diary of two remarkable women living with HIV in Kenya who could lose necessary medication under proposed budget cuts.
Preserve Funding for Impoverished: ONE member and Annville, PA resident Violet Witter writes a letter to the editor of the Lebanon Daily News about how much one percent of the federal budget can accomplish.
We at ONE have been road-tripping across the country this past week to bring national attention to Congress’s proposed budget cuts to lifesaving programs in Africa. ONE members made headlines everywhere from Nashville to the nation’s capital, raising awareness of how just one percent of the US national budget can help save and improve millions of lives. We’ve received some serious ink for our efforts and radio airtime as well.
You can check out a sampling of our hits below, from NPR Morning Edition’s interview with ONE fellow Michael Gerson, Pacifica Free Speech Radio News’ chat with ONE Government Relations Director Tom Hart (broadcast in 150 cities), and read up on a number of letters to the editor and editorials from some of our rock star ONE members in their local communities.
Read away and let us know what you think…and if you’re interested in helping ONE raise awareness, get in touch and we’ll get you published.
Yup, you heard that right. Malian musician Bassekou Kouyaté is making a big splash in the world music scene, both here in the US and abroad. He’s on Sub Pop, the same record label as Beach House, the Postal Service and the Shins, and just last month he was nominated for Best Traditional World Music Album at the Grammy Awards.
His latest album, “I Speak Fula,” incorporates the banjo-like sounds of the ngoni — a traditional West African string instrument — into a danceable beat accompanied by beautiful vocals. His music has earned recognition from the likes of Bonnie Raitt and Eric Clapton, and on his international tour, Kouyaté was dubbed the “Jimi Hendrix of ngoni.”
Kouyaté and other Malian musicians are helping to make the country a musical powerhouse. Mali’s prowess may come from the country’s historical role as a meeting point for nomadic peoples, said the New York Times in a recent article.
Don’t turn that dial because ONE is hitting the airwaves this week on a radio station near you. We just recently launched a radio ad in districts across the US to tell Americans why this week is so important in the global fight against HIV/AIDS, hunger and childhood disease.
Our new radio ad explains how America is a blessed nation, considering there are areas of the world where people have far less than we do. Congress can continue to put our values to work by making good choices about our nation’s spending that don’t hurt the world’s most vulnerable.
Congress is now considering ways to reduce the national deficit. But we know it doesn’t take much money to save millions of children’s lives in the world’s poorest places — less than 1 percent of our entire budget. That money helps give children anti-malarial bed nets, vaccines against deadly diseases, ARVs for people living with HIV and much more.
You may have heard our message, but that doesn’t mean Congress has.
We need your help in telling Congress not to cut the foreign aid budget. Call your member of Congress at the general hotline, (877) 778-2578, or find a direct line to your member using our form. Your call will make a huge difference for millions of the world’s poorest people.
Did you hear our ad on your radio station yet? If so, let us know what you think!
As of today, February 11 will go down in history for two very important events: the day that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak stepped down from power, and the day that Nelson Mandela was freed from prison.
Mr. Mandela was freed from prison 21 years ago. He served 27 years in the Robben Island prison, located offshore of Capetown, South Africa, because of his involvement in the anti-apartheid movement. During his prison sentence, Mandela became a symbol of the struggle against racism.
While in prison, Mandela famously said, “I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society, in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunity. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and achieve. But, if need be, my Lord, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.”
He was elected president of South Africa in 1994 and became the country’s first black president. His work in social justice continues to be celebrated—he received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 for his work in liberating South Africa from apartheid rule. In 1998, Congress awarded Mr. Mandela the Congressional Gold Medal of Honor for his fight against discrimination and oppression.
In honor of the 21st anniversary of Mr. Mandela’s release from prison, Rep. Waters commented, “President Mandela is an inspiration to millions of people in South Africa and around the world, and on this anniversary we honor him and the many South Africans who put their lives on the line by confronting racism and discrimination head-on.”
Mr. Mandela’s struggle against apartheid is still important today. Mr. Mandela never lost hope that all South Africans would be treated equally, and he never compromised with the apartheid government.
With Thanksgiving just around the corner, the Bread for the World Institute released its timely 2011 Hunger Report, with an event Monday at the National Press Club, featuring USAID administrator Dr. Rajiv Shah and recent World Food Prize winner and Bread for the World President David Beckman.
As American families prepare to gather with friends and loved ones to share a large meal this week, the panelists helped to highlight the growing global food crisis, estimating that 925 million people worldwide will go hungry in 2010 due in large part to soaring global food prices.
Fortunately, the US government has recently stepped up its response to hunger and malnutrition, thanks primarily to the new Feed the Future initiative that focuses on “improving the productivity and livelihoods of smallholder farmers.” This initiative isn’t about handing out emergency food aid, but empowering farmers to get the support they need to respond to high food prices. Now, this is a cause that we at ONE can get behind!
ONE is campaigning to ensure that the Congressional budget does not cut foreign assistance programs like Feed the Future that help people break the cycle of poverty and hunger.
The Horn of Africa is experiencing its worst drought in 60 years. More than 11 million people, mostly nomadic pastoralists and farmers in south-central Somalia, north-eastern Kenya, and south-eastern Ethiopia, are severely lacking access to food.
2011 marks 30 years since the first cases of AIDS were documented. Take a closer look at the specific, achievable goals we must hit by 2015 to make this year the beginning of the end of AIDS.
As aid agencies warn more than 9 million people could be affected by a food crisis in East Africa, world leaders are failing to keep their 2009 promises to tackle the causes of chronic hunger and support farmers in the world's poorest countries.
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