09
May
Breaking Through Power: A Historic Civic Mobilization
(Beyond Pesticides, May 9, 2016) Beyond Pesticides joins a historic “civic mobilization” on May 23, 2016, alongside other citizen advocacy organizations leading in the fight to protect and improve human health and the environment. Breaking Through Power celebrates the 50th anniversary of Ralph Nader’s book Unsafe at Any Speed, which unleashed fresh energies and sparked the creation of numerous advocacy organizations leading to major consumer, environmental and worker safety protections. This mobilization, organized by the Center for Study of Responsive Law, will be held at the Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C. from May 23-26, 2016. 
Beyond Pesticides members and friends are invited and encouraged to attend this important event to help launch the next decade of public interest advocacy. If you are interested, please let us know by contacting Jen Ruocco at [email protected].
Beyond Pesticides executive director, Jay Feldman, will be presenting during the first session, Breaking Through Power: How it’s Done, on May 23, 2016. As Beyond Pesticides celebrates 35 years, we are honored to be joining the diverse group of organizations that, “over decades…have produced amazing accomplishments against powerful odds.” In addition to joining the lineup of incredible speakers, Beyond Pesticides will also be tabling.
The theme of this “citizen mobilization” will be elaborating ways to break through power to secure long-overdue democratic solutions made possible by a new muscular civic nexus between local communities and Washington, D.C. On these four days, speakers will present innovative ideas and strategies designed to take existing civic groups to higher levels of effectiveness.
The event will involve thousands of people at Constitution Hall and around the country and aims to connect 
long-available knowledge to long-neglected action for the necessities and aspirations of people from all backgrounds. The event was the subject of a full-page ad in the New York Times (see copy to right), Saturday, May 7.
Day One ”” May 23, 2016 will feature an unprecedented series of presentations by seventeen successful citizen advocacy groups of long standing, that have made great accomplishments against powerful odds. These civic leaders will demonstrate how, with modest budgets and stamina, they have improved the health, safety and economic well-being of the people and focused public opinion onto decision-makers and opponents. Through greater visibility, broader support and wider emulation, they will present their future missions and show that it can be “easier than we think” to make major changes. For the first time ever, this diverse group of fighters for justice will be assembled together on stage at Constitution Hall and show that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts when fighting for a broader democratic society. The presenters will appraise what levels of citizen organization is necessary to fulfill these broadly-desired missions.
Day Two — May 24, 2016 brings together a large gathering of authors, documentary filmmakers, reporters, columnists, musicians, poets and editorial cartoonists who will demonstrate the need for wider audiences over the mass media.
Day Three — May 25, 2016 will be dedicated to enhancing the waging of peace over the waging of war, assembling leading scholars having military and national security backgrounds such as ret. Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson, former chief of staff to Secretary of State, Colin Powell, veterans groups such as Veterans For Peace, and long-time peace advocacy associations to explain how peace is more powerful than war.
Day Four ”” May 26, 2016 will unveil a new Civic Agenda (much of which has Left/Right support) that could be advanced by engaged and enraged citizens in each Congressional district. The agenda includes recognized necessities ignored by Congress for decades and will be presented by a veritable brain trust of recognized advocates for the well-being of present and future generations.
For tickets and more information visit: BREAKINGTHROUGHPOWER.ORG.
Scholarships are available. To inquire, please email [email protected].
Source: Press Release
All unattributed positions and opinions in this piece are those of Beyond Pesticides.
