LAWG using Internet to end the Cuba travel ban — help by joining
Dear friends and fellow Cuba Policy Advocates,
We’ve been keeping up the pressure on Congress for months to end the travel ban on Cuba. The “Freedom to Travel to Cuba Act” legislation introduced in the House and Senate this spring now has more co-sponsors than any Cuba bill in memory. To complement our grassroots action and the ongoing legislative efforts on Capitol Hill, the Latin America Working Group and our partners in the Cuba Coalition here in Washington have started up a NEW MEDIA push. The object is to expand our reach to Cuba activists that haven’t been directly involved in policy reform efforts before.
But we need some help. What makes this tool useful is the constant updates with content from a variety of sources — all coming together in an effort to end the travel ban. You and your organizational members can lend their experience and ideas to inform others and keep the broader public interested in your organizational approach to this old problem.
The “End the Travel Ban on Cuba” campaign uses the existing networks on Facebook, Twitter, and Change.org to build support, and also to spread accurate and up-to-date information about U.S. policy towards Cuba. As the numbers grow, the campaign has evolved. End the Travel Ban (on Facebook) is becoming a FORUM. Fans are engaging in an important dialogue around difficult issues that the United States and Cuba face. For example, in response to the posting of two graphic novels about Cuban-American family drama, a sensitive discussion emerged about political versus familial loyalties across the Florida Straits. We hope to use this exchange of ideas and personal experiences to keep grassroots actions growing and to continue to bring new actors and actions to support a new direction for U.S.-Cuba policies.
So join us, if you haven’t already! Encourage members on your email lists to join as well. Please forward the message below, or something similar, to your contact lists.
Latin America Working Group
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Dear Friends and Supporters,
The movement is growing. The Freedom to Travel to Cuba Act is gaining support in the House and the Senate.
Please take a minute to support the brand new End the Travel Ban Facebook page.
Join up, suggest the page to ALL your friends, and check back for updates on how YOU can TAKE ACTION to allow “Travel for All” to Cuba.
Look for us on Twitter too! Now that the momentum is with us, we need to make our voices heard everywhere, from the halls of Congress to every corner of cyberspace.
This year we WILL make change.
Thanks for your support and check the Facebook page often for more updates on U.S. policy toward Cuba and ways in which YOU can make a difference.
ALSO, Mark your calendars! The end is in sight, but we need one more BIG PUSH to add co-sponsors and show support for ending the travel ban.
LAWG and WOLA, along with partners in DC and throughout the country, are planning a NATIONAL ACTION. On September 30th we are asking everyone to bombard Congress with phone calls supporting the Freedom to Travel to Cuba Act. That same day, more than a dozen targeted constituent delegations will do education and advocacy on Capitol Hill, so your phone calls will have a double impact. We’ll be building momentum into the fall and need YOUR HELP to strike this senseless and destructive policy.
Over the next few weeks, we’ll be putting out more information about the best way to organize your networks and community for the maximum impact on the Capitol. In the meantime, please forward this email on to your networks, members, colleagues, family and friends. And SAVE THE DATE! September 30, 2009. We will be heard.
