December 4, 2006 - March on Washington to Save Brown v.Board of Education

Defend Affirmative Action! Desegregate American Education at ALL levels!

Help Organize!

This page is designed to help you get to Washington, DC on December 4, build a contingent, and become part of this new civil rights movement. For other ideas, questions, or if you run into problems, contact your local march organizer. Here is what you can do:

Organize a Contingent / Raise Money to get to D.C.!

Tools

Petition to the Supreme Court - this is also a great way to sign up people for your contingent
Fundraising Letter [Word document]
Budget for the March (useful for fundraising) [Adobe PDF file]
Flyer [Adobe PDF file]
English | Spanish
Email to send to others.
Amicus Brief by BAMN to the Supreme Court [Adobe PDF file]
Sample Resolution for organizational endorsement, financial support [Adobe PDF file]
"Fund Me" Packet - includes a letter to friends and family asking them to help you get to D.C. [Adobe PDF file]
Fundraising House Party Kit
Slogans for signs and banners
Bus Sign-in Sheet
(Coming Soon)
Chants
(Coming Soon)

FOLLOW THESE STEPS:

1. Sign people up
Get an initial list of people for your contingent. Use the petition. For more ideas on how to build up your group of people, see "Spread the Word" below.

2. Register your contingent
Register your contingent and have yourself listed on our website as a contact for your school or city. Let us know your name, city, contact info, and number of people you aim to bring at letters@bamn.com. For every busload (~50 people) you sign up, we can put a "Sponsor This Bus!" logo on our fundraising page (coming soon).

3. Plan your trip
Draw up a basic plan and budget for getting to the march (Research how long the trip to and back from D.C. will be, and research the cost of renting a bus. Call Donna Stern in Michigan at (313) 468-3398 for help on finding bus companies in your area. Look into lodging if that is necessary. Refer to the Logistics page for more information.) Consider asking people to pay for part or all of their portion of the trip.

4. Get funds
This will be the main challenge of getting your contingent together. Ask the people who want to go to help you fundraise.

This is one of the easiest and best ways to raise money! Approach EVERYONE YOU KNOW - family, friends, teachers, pastor, co-workers - get them to sponsor you and/or the bus from your region to whatever extent they can. To help you brainstorm who to ask, see this list. Ask them if they have other contacts who can give or help fund-raise. Use the Fund Me Packet to help you.

Ask local civil rights groups and unions to sponsor a bus. The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and the NAACP are mobilizing for the march - contact your local NAACP or AFT affiliate and get them to sponsor a bus from your area. Ask other local unions and civil rights organizations for support as well.

Go to your church or local religious institution; get your minister or pastor to take up a collection to sponsor you and/or a bus from your area.

Approach other organizations: school boards, city councils, PTAs, alumni organizations, university departments, diversity foundations, etc.

Organize a house party. This is the most effective way to raise money from individuals. See the House Party Packet for a step-by-step guide on how to hold one.

5. Follow-up
Start confirming who can join your contingent. If you are asking people to give, consider having them make a deposit or pay ahead of time. See the checklist of items you will want to make sure everyone brings (coming soon).

For other ideas, questions, or if you run into problems, contact your local march organizer.

Spread the Word!

Tools

Flyer [Adobe PDF file]
English | Spanish
Email to send to others.
Web Banner Ad for your webpage/MySpace page
Petition to the Supreme Court
Sample Resolution for organizational endorsement, financial support [Adobe PDF file]
Radio Ad
(Coming Soon)

Think of everyone you can get the word out to: friends, family, classmates, students at other schools and colleges, local unions and organizations.

Get organizations to endorse and give money to the march: student groups, student governments, unions, churches, immigrant rights groups, civil rights groups, city councils, school boards!

When spreading the word, make sure to mobilize students and communities who walked out and marched this spring in defense of immigrant rights. They are the people in this country most experienced in leading mass struggle.

For other ideas, questions, or if you run into problems, contact your local march organizer.

EMAIL

Forward this email to individuals and organizations! Ask them to join the march, endorse, and give money!

MYSPACE, FACEBOOK, etc.

BECOME A FRIEND of the BAMN MySpace and December 4 March on Washington pages.

Get this WEB BANNER AD to put on your homepage or include in emails to your friends. Post it as a 'comment' on all your friends' pages!

Project MySpace Saturation! Post this MYSPACE BULLETIN, complete with web banner and march information, to all your friends!

FLYER

Download the flyer in English or Spanish and use it spread the word!

GET ENDORSEMENTS AND MONEY

Get your local organizations, City Council, School Board, to pass resolutions and to give money to the march. Use this sample resolution [Adobe PDF file] and fundraising letter [Word document].

MEDIA

Get your local newspaper or TV station to cover the March on Washington and/or your efforts! (Press release will be posted soon.)

Get on your local radio show. Try to get them to interview you as someone coming to the march. Do 'shout-outs' about the march.

For other ideas, questions, or if you run into problems, contact your local march organizer.