From the New York Times:
This Easter Sunday, the holiest day of the Christian calendar, many pastors will start their sermons about the Resurrection of Jesus and weave in a pointed message about racism and bigotry, and the need to rise above them. Some pastors began to rethink their sermons on Tuesday, when Senator Barack Obama gave a speech about race [in Philadelphia]. ... Some ministers interviewed over the last several days said they would wait until after Easter to preach on it all, because Easter and headlines do not mix. But others said there was no better moment than Easter, when sanctuaries swelled with their biggest crowds of the year, and redemption was the dominant theme. ... Philip L. Blackwell, senior pastor at the First United Methodist Church at the Chicago Temple, said he would weave an anecdote into his sermon about a black friend of his who had been stopped by the police, who were suspicious because he was driving an expensive car, which he owned. "The church needs to be a community within which the pain can be shared," said Mr. Blackwell, who is white and leads an urban, racially mixed congregation. ... "I'm going to talk about the stones that need to be rolled away from the tombs of lives, that are holding us in places of death and away from God," Rev. Tracey Lind said. "One of the main stones in our churches, synagogues, mosques, communities, countries, world is the pervasive stone of racism. What Obama has done is moved the stone a little bit."
From the Washington Post:
Barack Obama's speech on race, religion and his relationship with the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr.offered an eloquent diagnosis of the racial divisions that still plague America. What's needed now is an equally elevated discussion, not just from Mr. Obama but from the other presidential candidates, about the proper prescription for the problems he so perceptively identified. One element of Mr. Obama's argument is that a rising tide would lift boats of every hue. "Investing in the health, welfare, and education of black and brown and white children will ultimately help all of America prosper," he argued. Yet, as Mr. Obama recognizes, that is not a complete answer to the tensions he cited. The hard fact remains that the country faces painful choices about how to address the legacy of discrimination and the persistence of inequality. ... It's no criticism of Mr. Obama's speech, though, to say that this was only the opening chapter of what should be an extended national conversation. After all, as Mr. Obama said, "race is an issue that I believe this nation cannot afford to ignore right now."
From the Evansville Courier Press:
Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign will open a campaign office in Evansville within a week, according to a spokeswoman for the Illinois Democrat. Gannet Tseggai confirmed reports by local Obama volunteers that the campaign has secured office space in the former Rogers Jewelers building located at 330 Main St. "(The campaign headquarters) will be open to anyone in the community who wants to learn more about Barack Obama and our grass-roots campaign for change," Tseggai said. "We'll be phone banking, registering voters and reaching out to the community through various events. It will be the home base for the Evansville Obama campaign." ... Evansville Tri-State for Obama, a volunteer organization, met at 9 a.m. Saturday in Central Library's Browning Room. Organizers reported 70 people attended. Volunteers soon will begin the work of converting the vacant former Rogers building into a campaign headquarters.
From WTHR:
With Indiana's primary just six weeks away and a very tight race for the Democratic nomination, grassroots efforts for both campaigns are picking up momentum. "We have an opportunity here to make a huge splash on the national scene. On May 6th, all eyes are going to be on Indiana and North Carolina," a volunteer told supporters at Barack Obama's Indianapolis headquarters. Volunteers at the campaign headquarters were handed street maps of Indianapolis before they headed out on foot to round up votes. Part of the door-to-door push included delivering voter registration forms. "We're just trying to get as many people registered as possible, because this is the first time Indiana has really counted in selecting a nominee in a really long time," said Obama supporter Dona Sapp. It's a project supporters are calling "Canvassing for Change". "These will be grassroots supporters telling their friends and neighbors about Barack Obama, telling them why they support Barack Obama," said Gannett Tseggai. "I think here in Indiana, people are tired of the divisive politics that we've seen over the last decade or so, and he really represents a change from that," Sapp said.
From the Express-Times:
In the pre-Easter quiet Friday night at Lehigh University's University Center, a group of Barack Obama volunteers were on the campaign trail. The five students asked every person who strolled by, including the cleaning staff, if they were registered to vote in Pennsylvania. ... Montes de Oca said the Lehigh Students for Obama's goal is 523 voter registration forms by Monday and they were within fewer than 100 of the goal Friday. For the past few weeks volunteers from both Democratic presidential campaigns have been running voter registration tables at local colleges and universities, and dorm storming -- canvassing dorms floor by floor, door by door. ... Alex Kadis, 20, has been working on Lehigh Students for Obama registration drives at every lunch and dinner shift the past two weeks. "It's been a lot of hours," Kadis said. "The more people registered, the more people can help his campaign." Lehigh Students for Obama volunteers plan to keep canvassing until 1 p.m. Monday, the last day residents can register to vote or change their party affiliation. It's not just local students working. Bar Johnston, a Democratic delegate who works with Obama's Lehigh Valley campaign office, said the campaign has attracted "springterns," groups of college students from the eastern seaboard volunteering during spring break. "They're traveling around like a band of Gypsies," Johnston said. "Obama has been engaging young people. He understands movements come from young people."
From the Boston Globe:
"It's a huge effort," said Seth Williams, a lawyer who coordinated Obama's petition campaign to get on the Pennsylvania ballot. "The entire focus of the field level and the grass roots is to register people to vote." State officials have already reported an unprecedented flurry of registration activity. Since local elections were held last fall, the statewide Democratic voter rolls have increased by 111,227, while Republicans lost 13,391 of their voters. That swing includes both new voters and 57,651 Pennsylvanians who changed their party identification, largely shifting from Republican or nonpartisan to become Democrats. In Montgomery County, a key suburban battleground, Democrats have added 4,347 voters since the end of February, according to figures made available by the board of elections late last week. ... The Obama campaign has called independent voters - a relatively small share of the electorate in Pennsylvania, due to the historically dominant role of party machines compared to other states - to become Democrats. Many are believed to be young voters registered under the so-called Motor Voter Act, which encourages applicants for driver's licenses to register to vote but defaults to "nonpartisan" if a new registrant does not select a party. ... At Sneaker Villa, a Philadelphia-based sportswear chain, voter-registration forms sit in a counter display near boxes of Adidas throwback shoes ... "We've given out a little over 1,000 forms," said Sneaker Villa president Jason Lutz, a Barack Obama supporter with a target of enlisting 2,000 of his young, largely minority customers to vote before tomorrow's registration deadline. "So we have a little work to do."
We do have work to do — tomorrow night is the cut-off for Pennsylvania voter registration and party changes. You can help out right now by making calls to Pennsylvania independents and unaffiliated voters using your online phonebanking tools. It only takes a few seconds to get started: Help make calls to Pennsylvania now.
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