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Progress in 2008

Progress in 2008: An Invitation from the Brazos Progressives Steering Committee

Dear Friend,

We are pleased to share with you that the progressive community of Bryan/College Station is alive and well and becoming more so every day. A vibrant and growing group of progressives are working hard to make our home a better place. The Brazos Progressives (BP) organization aims to empower these individuals, businesses and organizations within our community through networking, encouragement of grassroots involvement, resource acquisition, and promotion of activities. The list below gives a sampling of the 2007 activities that BP was able to promote:

• Co-sponsorship of the African American History Museum's Blues Seminar.
• Help with expenses for the Interfaith Alliance’s meeting space.
• Co-sponsorship of Cleve Jones and the AIDS Quilt Project display at TAMU.
• Organization and promotion of the Red Wasp Film Festival.
• Help with sending a local activist to the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force's Creating Change Conference.
• Co-sponsorship of TAMU V-Day and the Vagina Monologues.
• Co-sponsorship of Homecoming and GAYla hosted by BVQueSt.
• Purchase of tickets to the NAACP's annual banquet and fundraiser.
• Organization of the BEAN Cool Cities Campaign.

Brazos Progressives is proud to have been a part of these and other events. This has been an exciting year for our organization. Membership is growing and we’ve been able to do more as a result. In 2007 we welcomed new organizational memberships from the Brazos Valley Coalition Against the War and the Texas Environmental Action Coalition – TAMU Student Chapter. In addition, we underwrote programming at KEOS, contributed to the Veterans for Peace film screenings at the Palace Theater, redesigned our website to give the organization a more professional and public face, re-launched a quarterly newsletter and participated in Planet Earth Day in downtown Bryan.

Now it is time to look forward. With your help, we can take further steps to make our community a place where progressives feel at home and progressive organizations can thrive. So we’re once again making our annual request for your help to support and sustain a progressive voice in our community by making a contribution to Brazos Progressives. Among other things, here are some of the goals we’d like to achieve in 2008:

• Provide more seed grants to organizations that could use a small financial boost.
• Promote progressive causes and Brazos Progressives through paid advertising.
• Increase local filmmakers’ participation in Red Wasp 2008.
• And, as long as we’re dreaming, we see in the future the potential for a BP office and staff working to keep progressive voices booming even when the volunteers are at their day jobs.

We know that the Brazos Valley is full of wonderful people with a progressive outlook. Brazos Progressives’ goal is to bring these people together to form a vibrant and creative community. Your contribution will help us take the next step toward achieving that goal.

Another way that we’ll achieve this goal is through our second annual Awards Dinner and progressive
celebration to be held in November 2008. We will be giving awards to those in our community who have gone the extra mile to make the Brazos Valley a more progressive place. We’ll keep you posted about the details of this exciting event.

Please renew your membership in Brazos Progressives or become a new member of Brazos Progressives. For only $10 (individual membership dues), $30 (business membership dues), or $50 (organization membership dues), you can become a part of this exciting effort in our community. We also welcome donations of any amount, as we work to ensure that progressives in our community remain active and strong.

To donate funds electronically via PayPal, please visit our "Donations" page. If you'd like to find out more about Brazos Progressives membership or to mail in your membership form and payment to our p.o. box, please visit our "Join Us" page.

We look forward to a successful year for progressives!

Sincerely,
Mary Strauss (Membership Chair) Chris Moore (Secretary)