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20th Anniversary Approaches

I started working full-time for the RFC on the day after Labor Day in 1990. I always mark the beginning of the RFC’s year from this point. That’s the reason why this week is special for me, and this year it is even more so because we are beginning our 20th anniversary celebrations.

The RFC has decided to hold 20 events over the next 20 months to celebrate our 20th anniversary. Extending this celebration in this manner will enable me, and in many cases, my daughter Jenn, to meet a relatively large percentage of our supporters at modest-sized gatherings where we can make a real connection. Perhaps I sound like a broken record (a quaint concept in this era of dvds), but building community is at the core of the RFC project. You are not just donors to me; you are part of a community I want to interact with as much as possible. I welcome your input and look forward to conversing with many of you during the next 20 months.

The RFC’s first 20th anniversary event is almost upon us. Jenn and I will attend a reception in Albany, NY on Sunday, September 20th between 4:00 and 6:00PM at the home of Mark Mishler and Renee Hariton. Two weeks later, on Saturday, October 3rd between 4:00 and 6:00PM I’ll be at the home of Niki Trumbo and Karen Fite in Seattle. Then in three more weeks (10/25) Jenn and I will travel to Rochester and Buffalo for similar events. We’ll close out the season with a reception in Berkeley, CA on December 5th (see www.rfc.org/events for more information, including the addresses of each event).

It will be a very busy time, and by the turn of the year we will have made significant progress toward holding 20 events over a 20-month period. But I’d like to top this season off with one more. The Bay Area is a long way to go for just one reception, so I hope to be able to “piggyback” another one. We’ve had great success with receptions and events in the East Bay (Oakland/Berkeley), but have had a much more difficult time in San Francisco, itself. The Bay Area has a massive progressive community. It is hard to imagine that we couldn’t have receptions in both San Francisco and Berkeley while we are in town.

Please help us out. If any of you live in San Francisco or if you have contacts there who might assist us with organizing a reception in the days immediately surrounding December 5th please let me know.

For details on the events that are on the docket so far, visit our Events page here.

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Terms: Albany

Under Attack

Last Sunday my daughter, Jenn, and I drove through the Berkshires to Albany, NY, on a sparkling sunny afternoon, to attend the opening reception of the RFC’s 20/20/20 program. As I’ve written here before, starting this September and ending in April 2011, the Rosenberg Fund for Children will stage 20 events over a 20 month period to celebrate its 20th anniversary. It was just coincidence that the first event took place on September 20th.

The reception was a reunion of sorts. It was held at Mark Mishler and Renee Hariton’s house. They’d hosted another RFC party for me in 1995. Many of the 40 to 50 people in attendance knew each other from a range of progressive projects and campaigns, including the defense committee for two local political prisoners. But some did not and many who attended learned about the RFC’s work for the first time. It was a very supportive crowd. We hoped to raise $1,000 after expenses, but instead we cleared almost $2300.

But it wasn’t all good news. One member of the host committee, Jeff Jones, told how he had recently become the target of reactionary attack-dogs. Jeff is the director of the New York State chapter of the environmental group Apollo Alliance. Van Jones (no relation), a former director of the national Apollo Alliance, was recently forced to resign from the Obama administration because of a right-wing smear campaign led by Glenn Beck.

Now Glenn Beck, Fox News and big oil interests, who are opposed to Jeff’s work to create green jobs in a clean energy economy, have set their sights on Jeff. In the 1960’s and 70’s Jeff was a national leader of SDS and later a member of the Weather Underground. He is being attacked as another “terrorist” who is associated with the Obama administration. To learn more I invite people to check out Jeff’s website -- www.jeffjones-strategies.com, and you can contact Jeff via email at jeff@jeffjones-strategies.com. For many years Jeff has had a consulting practice in Albany where he works primarily with environmental and labor groups, building a working alliance in the fight against climate change. Now the right, in an attempt to counter his efforts, is trying to destroy his livelihood.

While the RFC project focuses on helping children, I believe the RFC community should stand behind all progressive activists who are under attack.

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