Dear Friends,

Please help us spread the word about a tribute to Rosemarie and Vincent Harding which will happen in Washington, D.C. on the campus of Gallaudet College on October 4th and 5th, 2002. The tribute features a dinner on Friday the 4th and a Movement reunion on Saturday the 5th. The dinner is a fundraiser for the Veterans of Hope Project, the Hardings' current work, and will include brief remembrances of the Hardings by Bernice Johnson Reagon, founder of Sweet Honey in the Rock; Jim Wallis, editor of Sojourners magazine and national convener of "Call to Renewal"; Lerone Bennett, executive editor of Ebony magazine; poet Sonia Sanchez; and former president of the Iliff School of Theology, Donald Messer -- among others. The master of ceremonies for the evening is Frank Thomas, pastor of the Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church in Memphis, Tennessee.

Please join us if you can and recommend to your organizations, churches, business contacts and others that they help support this worthy event.

The letter below provides details. Contact Ruby Sales or Cheryl Blankenship at SpiritHouse, spirithousedc@aol.com, 202.548.7640 for more information and for tickets.

Thank you so much for your help.

Rachel Harding
The Veterans of Hope Project

The "Stayed on Freedom" Organizing Committee For Rosemarie and Vincent Harding

SpiritHouse
737 Eight Street SE
Washington, DC 20003
202.548.7640

Dear Friends,

Please save the date: October 4 and 5, 2002.

The Veterans of Hope Project and SpiritHouse joyfully invite you to, "Stayed on Freedom", a weekend in celebration of the life and work of Dr. Vincent and Mrs. Rosemarie Freeney Harding, October 4 and 5, 2002 at the Kellogg Conference Center at Gallaudet University in northeast Washington, DC. The weekend will feature a fundraising dinner on Friday, October 4, honoring the Hardings and will benefit the Veterans of Hope Project, which is the Hardings' present work. Through an educational video and pamphlet series, public forums, workshops, retreats, consultations and cultural events, the Veterans of Hope Project documents and shares the transformative histories of "long distance runners" for peace and justice - passing on the values, faith and practice that have guided their lives and work. Tickets to the fundraiser dinner are $100 each. Formal invitations are available from SpiritHouse, at the address above.

We call on you, friends, to help support this event in whatever way you can. If you are able, please consider contributing a statement or letter for the program book. We want to include recollections of movement activities and personal encounters from individuals who have known the Hardings as friends, family, co-workers, students and companions on the journey. Please forward your statement to the "Stayed on Freedom" Celebration Organizing Committee at the address above by September 1, 2002.

If you are able to help us by co-sponsoring the Stayed on Freedom tribute and celebration, please consider any of the following levels of co-sponsorship:
Supporters $500 - $999
Allies $1000 - 2999
Advocates $3000 and above

All donations to the Veterans of Hope Project (which is under the fiscal sponsorship of the Iliff School of Theology) are tax-deductible. Donations will be acknowledged in the program book unless otherwise desired.

We invite you and/or your organization or faith community to take out an ad in the event's program book. All proceeds benefit the Veterans of Hope Project. Prices for advertisements are as follows:
* page $30.
* page $50.
full page $100.
back page $500.

All checks should be made to the Veterans of Hope Project. Please send checks and camera-ready design to:
Nancy Talbot
c/o SpiritHouse
737 Eighth Street, SE
Washington, DC 20003

As you may know, for over forty years, Rosemarie and Vincent Harding have been activists, historians and advisors in many of the major movements for democracy, justice and reconciliation in the United States. From their early work in the southern freedom movement with the Mennonite Central Committee, to the founding of the Institute of the Black world and now, the Veterans of Hope Project, the Hardings have had many years of association with a variety of educational, religious activist and healing-centered organizations worldwide. Their lives, together and individually, have influenced and benefited many people across the nation. Now, as they enter into their seventh decade as peacemakers, we are taking an opportunity to thank them for their tremendous generosity of spirit, their strong faith in the possible, and their prophetic vision of a more humane and democratic future for our nation. As elders and mentors to many of us, we want to thank Vincent and Rosemarie for constantly keeping their hearts and minds, "Stayed on Freedom."

On behalf of the "Stayed on Freedom" Celebration Organizing Committee, we thank you in advance for your participation and support of this worthwhile event. We look forward to meeting and greeting you in Washington, DC on October 4 and 5. Please note that all facilities at Gallaudet are handicap accessible.

Sincerely,

Ruby Sales
Rachel E. Harding
Veterans of Hope Project

Other members of the Stayed on Freedom Celebration Organizing Committee include:
Cheryl Blankenship
Francetta Hendricks
Ray McGovern
Efia Nwangaza
Gloria Smith
John Stoner
Nancy Talbot
Amy Tate

Copyright © 2002
Last Modified: August 19, 2002.
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