August 28: R.E.A.L. Event Challenging Racial Supremacism - Robert E. Lee Memorial "Arlington House"

Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.)
Contact: Jeffrey Imm, realpublic@earthlink.net

http://www.realcourage.org/2009/08/lee-memorial/

On August 28 beginning at 10 AM at the Robert E. Lee Memorial "Arlington House," Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) will be leading a public awareness event regarding the continuing challenge of racial supremacism, and proposing a new approach to encouraging racial healing in America. This will be held on the anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s and other brave black American's August 28 "March on Washington" . Our public awareness event at the Robert E. Lee memorial will be the first public awareness event ever held there.

Be part of this historical event! Join us there in solidarity to promote racial harmony and our universal human rights!

Purpose of Public Awareness Event:

Our public awareness event on the continuing issue of racial supremacism will challenge the growth and the nostalgia about our national divisions, including the nostalgia regarding Confederates that is frequently leveraged by the nearly 100 Neo-Confederate and many hundreds more racial supremacist groups in America. We have seen the tragic results of permitting such racial hate to go unchallenged by a message of love and support for our universal human rights.

We plan to call for a new direction in national healing that no longer is nostalgic about the divisions of our past, but instead focuses on what we have in common - our universal human rights and our shared national commitment to equality and liberty as a United States of America and as human beings.

At the Robert E. Lee Memorial, we will call for the United States to create a new memorial to an idea in Washington DC on the hill that overlooks the Lincoln Memorial, where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke on August 28, 1963. We will call for a new memorial to the truth of our universal human rights of equality and liberty as individuals. We will call for the creation of this new memorial - a Universal Human Rights Memorial - to provide a symbol of unity and love to replace the history of division and hate from the past. We will call for the United States government to replace the Robert E. Lee memorial of the past with a monument to our Universal Human Rights of the present as an inspiration to the future.

For more information, email us at realpublic@earthlink.net

: The Robert E. Lee Memorial in Arlington, VA - Site of Responsible for Equality And Liberty's Public Awareness Event on August 28 on the Challenge of Racial Supremacism

Directions and Logistics:

Contact:

Jeffrey Imm, Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.), realpublic@earthlink.net

: Responsible for Equality And Liberty's Jeffrey Imm Promotes Equality And Liberty Through Love as the Answer to Institutionalized Hate

Event Location:

Robert E. Lee Memorial, Washington DC (also known as "Arlington House")
National Park Service-managed area in the northeastern portion of Arlington National Cemetery

Important: Go to Visitor's Center (first):

There is no way to drive directly to the Robert E. Lee Memorial - you need to go to the Arlington Cemetery, and walk up the hill northeast to arrive. Alternatively, you can take a short "Tourmobile" ride.

Make certain that you go to the Arlington National Cemetery Visitor's Center, go to the "Information" Desk, and get a map of the area - tell them you are going to the Robert E. Lee Memorial and have them outline the walking path for you.

It is very important to have a map of the area. On the printed version of their map, the Robert E. Lee Memorial is item 15. On this interactive web-based version of their map, the Robert E. Lee Memorial is item 14.

You walk north of the Visitor's Center up Roosevelt Drive then turn right at Weeks Drive and walk up the area on Sheridan Drive past the John F. Kennedy Memorial - the Robert E. Lee Memorial is up the hill directly north of it.

Pre-Event Meetup Location:
Arlington National Cemetery Visitor's Center - 35 minutes prior to the public awareness event -- I will be near the painting of the Robert E. Lee memorial on the wall in the Visitor's Center. We will leave for the Robert E. Lee memorial 20 minutes prior to the event.

Dates and Times:

Friday, August 28 - 10 AM to 12 Noon
Saturday, August 29 - 12:30 PM to 2 PM (Saturday still tentative, depending on public interest and weather conditions)

Background on Robert E. Lee Memorial (also known as "Arlington House")

National Park Service (NPS) Website for Robert E. Lee Memorial

Travel Logistics:

Arlington National Cemetery Address:

The address for Arlington National Cemetery is:
Arlington National Cemetery
Arlington, Virginia 22211

Subway:

The Memorial is accessible by the Blue Line of the Metro subway system. The Arlington Cemetery subway station is near the Visitor Center for the cemetery. WMATA subway system provides an on-line trip planner.

Car:
Arlington House is inside Arlington National Cemetery. From Washington DC you can drive to the cemetery by crossing the Memorial Bridge. In Virginia access to the cemetery is from the George Washington Memorial Parkway.

Additional driving directions can be found in the Carpooling/ Vanpooling section.

Plane:
The closest airport is Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, just 3 miles to the south and accessible on the Blue line of the Metro subway system. Dulles International Airport is approximately 25 miles west. Baltimore Washington International Airport is located north of Washington, about 36 miles from the site.

Public Transportation
The Memorial is also accessible by the Blue Line of the Metro subway system. The Arlington Cemetery subway station is near the Visitor Center for the cemetery.

Getting Around
Arlington House can be reached by a 10-minute walk from the cemetery Visitor Center/parking area. You can also get to the memorial on Tourmobile. For a small fee you can ride a shuttle bus and hear a narrated tour of Arlington Cemetery. The shuttle bus stops at the President Kennedy gravesite, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Arlington House and then returns to the visitor center. You can get off and reboard the shuttle at any of the stops.

Rally Limitations - Important:

As the Robert E. Lee Memorial is on the boundary of the Arlington National Cemetery, there will be no use of amplified sound. Any signs brought into the area must be covered until you are at the actual Robert E. Lee Memorial itself.

We are only permitted 15 minutes to speak at the portico area ("between the cedar tree and the NE corner of the portico"), then we will be permitted the remainder of our public awareness event to speak during "between the conservatory and the south bench." See images of both below.

: Physical layout of Robert E. Lee Memorial - Portico is in front - Conservatory is on left-side

: Portico Area - Robert E. Lee Memorial

: Outside of "Conservatory" Area

: "Tourmobile" riders exiting and walking in direction of Robert E. Lee "Conservatory"

A New Beginning America Needs

It is time to end the towering of the Robert E. Lee Memorial on the hill looking down upon the Lincoln Memorial and all other symbols of freedom in America's capital city. It is time for a new beginning of a new monument to our Universal Human Rights of Equality And Liberty - which will be a symbol to generations as to who and what America really is.