PRESS RELEASE from the ONE Campaign
 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

August 12, 2008                                                                                                                                     

 

Kanye West to Celebrate with the ONE Campaign at Democratic National Convention

Multi-Platinum recording artist part of the ONE Campaign’s full slate of activities in Denver

 

Denver, CO—Multi-Platinum recording artist Kanye West will join the ONE Campaign at the Democratic National Convention to help highlight the opportunities the next president and Congress will have to make a major difference in the fight against extreme poverty and global disease.

 

As part of a full slate of ONE Campaign activities during the convention week, August 25—28, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and others will host an invitation-only celebration event on Wednesday night in honor of ONE to highlight America’s recent lifesaving progress in the poorest parts of the world. West will be part of the night’s program to raise awareness of ONE and its issues.

 

In addition to the Wednesday night event, the ONE Campaign will host other public educational activities throughout the week in Denver, joining its grassroots membership with public officials, policy experts, thinkers, celebrities and faith leaders. The purpose of these events is to highlight the effective, proven efforts that have already helped to heal and empower many people living in extreme poverty and to discuss the critical steps that America’s next leaders must make.

 

The ONE Campaign will hold a similar schedule of events one week later at the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis.

 

ONE’s other planned activities at the national political conventions include:

 

ONE Caregiver Project—ONE will organize a service project for volunteers, delegates and convention-goers at both political conventions. Participants will assemble caregiver kits to assist trained volunteers on the ground around the world supporting people living with HIV/AIDS.

 

ONE Panel Discussions—ONE will be part of a series of discussions at each convention featuring leading experts and thinkers to highlight how American leadership has the power to make a game-changing difference in the fight against preventable diseases and extreme poverty. Former U.S. Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle—who, for the past year, has co-chaired ONE Campaign’s presidential candidate outreach effort alongside Republican Bill Frist—will serve as a ONE representative on the National Democratic Institutes’ Poverty Panel on Wednesday afternoon.

 

ONE Bus—The ONE Bus, a fully wired, wrapped, campaign-style bus, will serve as the ONE Headquarters at both conventions. Political leaders and convention-goers will have the opportunity to participate on the bus through podcasts, interviews and other interactive events.

 

Kanye West Official Website

 

http://www.kanyeuniversecity.com/

 

The ONE Campaign Background

 

The ONE Campaign is a grassroots movement – 2 million members and growing – that is committed to fighting global poverty and disease.  

 

ONE members are passionate about this issue because they’re seeing the impact they can make by working together.  Thanks to policies advocated by ONE and the work of hundreds of organizations, millions of lives have been saved in communities all around Africa.  To cite just a few examples:  29 million more children have been able to go to primary school in the last five years; more than two million people living with AIDS were given access to lifesaving medication in the last four years; and three million fewer children around the world die each year from diseases like malaria and measles or from malnutrition.

 

Through US government investments, America is offering people in the poorest places on earth the opportunity to better their own lives, their families and their communities.  These policies have the power to not only save millions of lives, but make America more respected and more secure in the process.

 

The national political conventions will serve as a key moment to spread the message of ONE Vote ’08, the ONE Campaign’s effort to energize and engage the presidential candidates to make the fight against extreme poverty a foreign policy priority. ONE Vote ’08 combines grassroots mobilizing at campaign events with an unprecedented non-partisan team of political strategists, policy experts, security and military advisors, entertainers and influential faith leaders.

 

As a result of this grassroots mobilization and policy-level interaction, both Sens. McCain and Obama are addressing ONE’s core issues in an unprecedented fashion. The ONE Campaign applauds the candidates for releasing plans to fight global poverty and disease. These plans can be viewed at www.ONEVote08.org

 

Step by step, the ONE Campaign is making a real difference in the lives of millions of people. ONE members know that in order for the world community to find a long-term solution to global poverty and disease all of us – including our leaders –must do more.

 

ONE Vote ’08 is a project of the ONE Campaign and ONE Action. It is not endorsing or opposing any candidate, but is encouraging all presidential candidates to address these critical issues. 

 

The ONE Campaign is a global organization uniting millions of people to fight extreme poverty and preventable disease around the world. For more information on the ONE Campaign and ONE Action, visit www.ONE.org

 

The RIAA Background

 

The Recording Industry Association of America is the trade group that represents the U.S. recording industry.  Its mission is to foster a business and legal climate that supports and promotes our members' creative and financial vitality. Its members are the record companies that comprise the most vibrant national music industry in the world.  RIAA® members create, manufacture and/or distribute approximately 90% of all legitimate sound recordings produced and sold in the United States.

 

In support of this mission, the RIAA works to protect intellectual property rights worldwide and the First Amendment rights of artists; conduct consumer industry and technical research; and monitor and review state and federal laws, regulations and policies. The RIAA® also certifies Gold®, Platinum®, Multi-Platinum™, and Diamond sales awards as well as Los Premios De Oro y Platino™, an award celebrating Latin music sales and its new Digital Sales award.

 

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Contact for ONE Campaign events:  Tom Gavin

       202-552-4991

 

 

Contact for ONE Campaign/RIAA Wednesday night event: 

 

ONE Campaign:  Tom Gavin

  202-552-4991

 

RIAA:                 Jonathan Lamy

                          Cara Duckworth

                          Liz Kennedy

                          202-775-0101