On Saturday May 10, the Free & Equal Election Foundation hosted the United We Stand Festival at the Belasco Theater in Los Angeles. The festival was initially scheduled to be held at the UCLA campus, but was changed at the last minute. Nevertheless, supporters of all ages gathered to be a part of the event which was designed to encourage young people to become more involved with politics.
Celebrities, politicians, and civilians rallied together to support the idea that we as a united people must take back our democracy and end the two-party domination occurring in our government. They also supported fighting against the Patriot Act passed by George W. Bush in 2001 in an attempt to combat terrorist activities in the United States; however, this act has given parts of the government (such as the NSA for example) much more freedom to invade the privacy of American citizens. The festival also supported fighting against pollution, police brutality, drones of all kinds, and endless warfare.
Christina Tobin, founder and chair of the Free & Equal Foundation, was said she was pleased with the overall turnout and success of the festival. Her goal was to educate, encourage, and empower supporters to let their voices be heard instead of defaulting their political opinions to those of the two major political parties.
“My hope is to shift the power back to the individual voter through education, and I want to empower the students at UCLA; I want to empower the students throughout the United States. I want this to be the kickoff for a ten-stop university bus tour,” said Tobin. The foundation and the tour are being supported by musical icons Immortal Technique, Public Enemy, Chino XL and Wu-Tang Clan, as well as various activists, journalists, and performers such as comedian Lee Camp, authors Pamela Donnelly and David Swanson, and Dan Johnson (People Against the NDAA) to name a few.
In between performances, Tobin had organized panels of motivational speakers and politicians to encourage attendees to vote and become an active part of our nation’s political process, and educate them about some of the controversial issues occurring within our government.
In an effort to keep the positive momentum of the United We Stand Festival, the Foundation recently launched a campaign to raise money for the tour called the IndieGoGo campaign which will run through June 3. The campaign aims to raise $15,000 in 15 days to support more United We Stand Festivals as well as the development of an “Election Assistant App” which would function as a voter’s guide to inform the public of their political decisions. Donations for the festival can be made at https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/united-we-stand-fest-2015-moneystorm.
