Alice Walker with Dennis Kucinich

What: "A Celebration of Light: Harnessing the Power of Our Diversity" - Fundraiser and Public Forum Featuring Alice Walker, Dennis Kucinich, and Activists, Artists, Performers and Spiritual Leaders for Sustainability and Justice.
When: Monday, December 15, 2005, 5:30 p.m. PST fundraiser dinner; 7-10 p.m. PST public forum
Where: Unitarian Universalist Church, 1187 Franklin Street at Geary, San Francisco, Calif.

Pulitzer Prize and American Book Award recipient Alice Walker, author of "The Color Purple," "The Temple of My Familiar," and "Anything We Love Can Be Saved: A Writer’s Activism," will join Democratic Presidential Candidate and Ohio Representative Dennis Kucinich to mark the 25th anniversary of his stand to save Cleveland’s public power utilities. Then-Mayor Dennis Kucinich kept a campaign promise and refused to sell the Cleveland municipal electric system to a private company, CEI, the predecessor to the infamous Ohio First Energy that earlier this year sent the nation into the largest blackout in modern history.

In celebration of the triumph of diversity, integrity, spiritual faith, and public power through activism, this event will shine a light on Dennis Kucinich and the diverse alliance of community activists, artists and performers who support him, and energize the Bay Area Kucinich campaign. Panelists include: Marie Harrison, SF Bay View correspondent; Renee Saucedo, Executive Director of La Raza Centro Legal; Van Jones, Executive Director of Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, and Gaylon Logan of Infusion-One. Randy Hayes, Executive Director of Rainforest Action Network, will host the event.

Cleveland Magazine offered this summary of Dennis's action 25 years ago: "Kucinich refused to yield to bankers who gave him a choice: Sell the Municipal Light System to the Cleveland Electric Illuminating Co. or the city will go into default. The mayor said no." When Kucinich refused to sell Muny Light, the banks took the unprecedented step of refusing to roll over the city’s debt, as is customary. Instead, they pushed the city into default. It turned out the banks were thoroughly interlocked with CEI, which would have acquired monopoly status by taking over Muny Light. Five of the six banks held almost 1.8 million shares of CEI stock; of the 11 directors of CEI, eight were also directors of four of the six banks involved. By holding to his campaign promise and putting principle above politics, he lost his re-election bid and his political career was derailed. But today Kucinich stands vindicated for having confronted the Enron of his day, and for saving the municipal power company. "There is little debate," wrote Cleveland Magazine in May 1996, "over the value of Muny Light today. Now Cleveland Public Power, it is a proven asset to the city that between 1985 and 1995 saved its customers $195,148,520 over what they would have paid CEI." He also preserved hundreds of jobs. When Kucinich re-launched his political career in the mid-1990s, his campaign symbol was a light bulb. "Because he was right!" was his campaign slogan when he won his seat in the state senate in 1994. The slogan that sent him to Washington two years later was "Light Up Congress." In 1998, the Cleveland City Council issued a commendation to Dennis Kucinich for "having the courage and foresight to refuse to sell the city's municipal electric system."

For more information: http://www.kucinich.us
For Rep. Kucinich's Schedule: http://www.kucinich.us/schedule.htm
Local Contacts: Lora O’Connor, 415-215-9353
National Contacts:
David Swanson 301-772-0210, cell 202-329-7847, fax 301-772-7293, swanson [at] kucinich.us
Susan Mainzer 213-840-0077, susan.mainzer [at] kucinich.us