LET’S TALK
PATRIOT DAY 9/11/2004
A COMMUNITY CONVERSATION

The people of Santa Cruz County will come together on Patriot Day, September 11, 2004 with three days of events aimed at helping us consider our values as a people and our future as a democracy.

Patriot Day Conversations will be held at many venues around the County, including public libraries, churches, school classrooms, and union and community halls. Some groups may gather at the homes of neighbors. Open to all, these discussions will be scheduled over three days, from Friday, September 10ththrough Sunday, September 12th. The discussions will focus on three main questions:

• What makes me proud to be an American, or to have made my home in America? What is there about this country that I want to be sure to help maintain and protect for the future?

• What disappoints, worries, frightens, or angers me about this country as it is today? In what ways do I think we are failing to live up to our own best values and expectations?

• What do we intend to do as citizens to help make those things better, so our young people may come to be even prouder of their country than we are today?

Each discussion, facilitated by a volunteer and recorded by a note-taker, will last roughly two hours. Notes will be compiled on-line, and in a publication registering every single idea that is generated by these discussions. In that way every participant’s voice will be heard on these vital questions, and retained as part of the permanent record.

Video Challenge for Local Teenagers: With the help teachers and videographers, local teenagers are being organized and challenged to form teams to go out on September 11th and create videos that demonstrate the three discussion questions above: examples of what’s best and what’s worst about our society, and what we can do to change things. Their efforts will be added to the Santa Cruz County Celebrates Patriot Day publication. Also, video entries from all age groups around the country are being solicited to create a documentary that is a tapestry of the Patriot Day 2004 events.

Public Library Programs and Reading Lists: The public libraries of Santa Cruz County will commemorate Patriot Day in many ways. Many will use the Patriot Day theme in story hours for youngsters throughout the month of September. Bookmark Reading Lists for both adults and children will be available with book displays at every branch.

David Harris, Bettina Aptheker, Nora Erakat, and Paul Ortiz will speak at Noon on September11th at the Del Mar Theater in downtown Santa Cruz. Their program, titled “Celebrating Dissent,� is sponsored by the Resource Center for NonViolence. Harris is a Viet Nam Resistance leader and journalist, Apthetker is a lifetime radical organizer and Professor of Women’s Studies at UCSC, Erakat, a young Palestinian-American peace activist, is now a Boalt Hall law student, and Ortiz is an organizer and UCSC Community Studies Professor.

Voter Registration: A basic right and responsibility of all our citizens is to participate in government by voting. Registering to vote is now possible on-line. Public libraries and other venues throughout the County will provide Internet access to help people register, and Patriot Day Conversation conveners will be provided with materials for registering people to vote.

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If you, your organization, or your church would like to join us—by sponsoring a discussion or by organizing some other Patriot Day project--please get in touch using the contact information below. We will register the time and place of your discussion or other Patriot Day event, help publicize it, and where necessary provide you with materials on how to facilitate a lively discussion.

Contacting the Patriot Day in Santa Cruz County Committee:

Please call the Friends of the Santa Cruz Public Library Office at 420-5790.

Who are the Members of the Patriot Day in Santa Cruz County Committee?

Convened by the Friends of the Santa Cruz Public Libraries, Inc., the Committee is a nonpartisan coalition of individuals and groups who share a love of our country and a concern for our future. It is part of a national effort called The September Project (www.theseptemberproject.org) organizing Patriot Day events across the Nation.

Deborah Barrow, Sandy Brauner, Bernard Bricmont
Patricia Carney, Cecily Cahill, Alice Davis
Dave Dodson, Eleanor Engstrand, Bob Fitch
Marge Frantz, Carol Fuller, Mas Hashimoto
Marcia Hashimoto, Roz Hastings, Carol Heitzig
Jenny Heth, Elaine Kihara, Sanam Jorjani
Fanny Lehman, Eleanor McKinney, Valerie Promise
Pat Sandidge, Sandy Silver, David Sweet
Anne M. Turner, Marion Vittitow, Larkin Wilson
Sean Wilson, Nadine Winslow, Willie Yaryan

In addition, many organizations have adopted resolutions endorsing and supporting Patriot Day 2004 activities.

Friends of the Santa Cruz Public Libraries, Inc
224 Church Street, PO Box 5124
Santa Cruz, CA 95063-5124
friends (at) santacruzpl.org
831-420-5790