Project Bridge The Gap

The TexRoots (aka the Texas Netroots) is working on a project called Project Bridge The Gap.

Annatopia at Texas Kaos has all the details here. If you have a little cash left over from holiday shopping, help out. More details from Texas Kaos below the jump:

On January 8, the SDEC will be holding a public meeting in Austin (details are in our calendar).  Originally I was hoping to set up a ride board and get a bunch of activists and reformers to attend these meetings and report on the activities (a la the public DNC hearings when Dean got elected).  Unfortunately, Glenn Smith’s DriveDemocracy is undergoing renovations and is unavailable for the moment.  I still encourage people to get to Austin if they can, and most of the TexasKAOS staff will be there reporting on the activities.  But back to Project Bridge the Gap.

On January 8, members of the TexasKAOS staff are going to hand deliver a copy of Crashing the Gate to every TDP officer and SDEC member.

What do we hope to accomplish by delivering these books?  Well, I think that CTG can be considered a grassroots manifesto for winning.  The book lays out many of the structural problems we have within our institutions and offers suggestions on how we can fix them.  Again, it goes back to understanding each other and building relationships based on trust.  Let’s face it - some of these institutionalists are scared of us.  They don’t understand what we want.  I think that anyone who reads this book will walk away with a better idea of where the reformers are coming from, and I’m hopeful that this gesture will begin a healing process that is long overdue.

Basically, if the institutionalists won’t reach out, we have to.  We have to give this relationship one more shot before we give up and take Smarty’s suggestions.  This is truly a good faith gesture and I hope it will be seen as such.

So here’s where you come in.  A few days ago I emailed Markos &  Jerome and they hooked me up with Natasha at Chelsea Green.  She kindly offered a 50% discount on a bulk purchase of Crashing the Gate.  On Saturday, I ordered 105 copies of the book and put it on my AMEX.  It cost just under $715.  I have been gathering pledges from TPA members, and right now I’m sitting at about $450.  I know it’s Christmahannukwanzaka and money is tight, but I really need to cover at least $615 of that $715 dollars.  If you can help with this project - whether it’s five bucks or fifty - my husband would really appreciate it.  =)  You can paypal the money to annatopia AT gmail DOT com.  As soon as we hit our $615 I will remove the donation address, and if we happen to go over by a few bucks I’ll put up a poll to see where the extra money will go (I’m thinking something Katrina-related).  Please donate if you can.

This is only part one of this project.  I hope to continue to post-SDEC meeting with a series of interviews with members of the SDEC.  We need to get to know them as well, and we hope to accomplish that with Project Bridge the Gap. This the first of many projects that will be launched by TexasKAOS over the coming year.  Please bookmark us and visit us often!

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