On January 5 at between 4:00 and 5:00 AM a very special bus trip will embark from Columbus, Ohio to Washington D.C. The organizers are calling it "Freedom Winter" in reference to the "Freedom Ride" in Mississippi which took place at the height of the Civil Rights movement 40 years ago.
Voters from Ohio who were disenfranchised on election day or ho had to make extraordinary efforts to vote or who were subjected to un-equal treatment at the polls will be traveling to the nation's capitol to participate in a press conference and to lobby select members of congress and the senate to encourage a congressional-level challenge to the 2004 electoral results.
Radio and television journalist will also be traveling on the bus along with a few of the organizers. The plan is to leave in the wee hours on the 5th to arrive in D.C. shortly after noon. The press conference will be held at the National Press Club in the afternoon and lobbying appointments are being scheduled for both before and after the media event.
Hotel rooms are being reserved for night of the 5th for all participants and there will be a rally the following day when congress officially re-convenes to certify the votes of the electoral college. The bus will return to Ohio that evening.
The cost of the bus and the hotel stay and possibly two meals for each participant will be covered by funds raised by the organizers. There may be some time on the 6th to visit some of the museums on the Capitol Mall as well.
Many discrepancies in the Ohio election have been discovered by journalists and by the legal team which is currently contesting the Ohio election before the Ohio Supreme Court. The litigants in that case have charged that the difference between the exit polls which showed John Kerry winning Ohio and the national popular vote and the reported vote tallies in Ohio are prima facia evidence of fraud. Additional statistical and forensic evidence points to a number of specific incidences of vote suppression, voter intimidation and possible vote tampering and this has moved the minority members of the House Judiciary Committee to hold several congressional forums to investigate the matter.
With the integrity of the vote in question the true intentions of Ohio's voters can not be accurately determined. If you are interested in joining the "Freedom Winter" excursion contact; Marty Kuhn 614 485-0243 or Evan Davis 614 946-3834 The organizers will contact you once seating allocations are determined. There is also a possibility of reserving a second bus if there is enough interest and funding available. Donations are also welcome.
Please be advised that seating and sponsorships are limited and first priority will go to Ohio voters who have signed or who will sign afadivits describing their having been disenfranchised or discriminated against in the electoral process. Voting rights are civil rights and we want "Freedom Winter" to be representative of the populations of voters who were disproportionately affected by the adverse conditions that plagued the 2004 election in Ohio.
" The Civil Rights Movement, the Women's Rights movement,
the Labor Movement, the Gay Rights Movement , the Environmental
Movement - all of them built us a road and we've got to build ourselves
a bus to go down that road - only OUR bus won't have any 'back seats" -
we all got to ride up front on that bus even if we've got to build the
thing and drive it sideways!"
Michael Zinzun, director; Los Angeles Coalition Against Police Brutality
(via Ohio Election Fraud.)
Seems to me that, along with the Freedom Riders, the presiding spirits over this powerful journey are Fannie Lou Hamer and the rest of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party and SNCC who supported them. --BG.
Images from Civil Rights Movement Veterans.
