Mizz Erna

Last night, B. and I attended a "kick-off activity" to the Erap Resign Movement-NYC. Sponsored by a few progressive Filipino groups, I thought it was smart of them to not only use a church auditorium in a Filipino neighborhood to gather the Filipino community, but to utilize prayer in getting the message out about the current conditions in the Philippines. Instead of "preaching to the converted" i.e. only reaching out to the already "progressive" members of the community, this event presented an opportunity to reach out to people you would not normally find at protest rallies. They began with an Ecumenical service, had a choir group perform a few songs, and then the split the attendees (nearly 100) into small groups to discuss the current situation. By the end of the discussion, each group was to come up with a prayer/petition to alleviate the crisis happening. That was the most interesting part, seeing what kind of things the groups would come up with. They not only prayed for Erap's enlightenment (Ha!) but also for Filipinos, though miles away from the Philippines to be given the drive to become involved in improving the current conditions there. And of course for Filipinos acutally in the Philippines to rise up against Erap and to never let it happen again. Again. Even multi-millionaire Loida Nicolas Lewis was there (why was she the only one to get introductory applause??:) to add her 2 cents (Ha!). What a practical activist she was! Tell you about that later...