My Thank You Letter to Scott Walker

Dear Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker,

Thank you for your assistance in bringing together workers from every walk of life: teachers, firefighters, police officers, government employees, nurses, union members, people of faith, civil rights activists, environmentalists and many others. Thank you for giving us a reason, and a renewed commitment, to publicly declare that we stand together in solidarity to protect the middle class, and to ensure justice for workers. Thank you for helping us find our voice for democracy, and our passion for equal opportunity to the American Dream.

You see, when you and your corporate friends threatened the very fabric of our society -- the working middle-class people of America -- with your heavy-handed wrecking-ball policies, we woke up. We were not stupid; we knew this is not about the economy, or one state budget, or helping small businesses. We knew your power grab was really about weakening our voices -- the voices of millions of hard-working people, as well as students, youth, immigrants, and people between jobs. We knew it was a way to make more profits for billionaires, at the hands of struggling American families. We are awake now, and we are not going to let you take our country from us without a fight.

On Monday, April 4, we will stand together with our working brothers and sisters all over America. We will participate in marches, vigils, teach-ins, rallies, demonstrations, protests, and other events. We will take back our country, demand jobs that earn a living wage, and make our country better for all working people.

You see, we've been here before.

In 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. joined a group of 1,300 city sanitation workers who marched for economic justice in Memphis. Dr. King stood with civil rights leaders, the faith community, and worker's unions to demand justice for the striking workers. Together, they faced all who sought to suppress their free speech that day, and they won the moral battle.

The following day, April 4th, 1968, Dr. King was assassinated. We will not allow history to record that his life -- and his work -- were in vain.

Forty-three years later, Mr. Walker, you threatened peaceful demonstrators -- your own good citizens -- that you would bring in the National Guard and illegally bar the doors of the Statehouse to the people of Wisconsin. You dared to take away the civil rights of hard-working Americans -- public servants who only want their right to bargain collectively. Like the unified voices of the people's movement four decades ago, our unified middle-class will not back down. We will not be intimidated. We will not be afraid.

We will stand together.
We will fight back.
We will WIN.

On April 4, 2011, we will remember April 4, 1968. Coloradans will join the people of Wisconsin, and Michigan, and all of the other United States of America, and we will honor the memory of Dr. King with our own courage and determination to reject your political over-reach, and your attempt to steal the American Dream. We will stand together for the future of our children, and for the future of this country. Together -- firefighters, teachers, police officers, students, small business owners, sanitation workers, and many others -- will take back America for the middle class.

Why? Because "We are One."

Sincerely,
The People of Colorado

For the Colorado Event Schedule, please go to http://local.we-r-1.org. Check it frequently, as new events are being added daily. See you there.