Join Us Tomorrow at Noon for a Declaration of Independence

After two long years of exposing the fraud of those trying to push the predatory gambling trade upon us, the time has come for the people of Philadelphia to declare our independence from casinos.

Please join us at our launch tomorrow:

The Event: Public Reading and Signing of the Declaration of Independence from Casinos

When: Tuesday, January 27th at noon

Where: On Market Street between 5th and 6th Streets

Why: To kick-off our city-wide campaign to demand that our elected officials stand with the people and take a stand against casinos seeking to push into Philadelphia.

Two years ago, the conventional wisdom in Philadelphia was that casinos were a "done deal." Today, thanks to your dedication, things have changed. Casinos are now being seen for what they are: a bad deal for the city and its citizens. That change didn't just happen; we made it happen, together. We have shown that people working together are much more powerful than money.

This year it's an entirely new fight. Our economy is tanking due in large part to another predatory trade (predatory lending) and the "casino culture" that permeated Wall Street. Voters elected an unlikely candidate running on a platform of hope and change. Barack Obama's victory signals that We The People have a mandate to stop blindly following those pundits and politicians who limit their vision for what we can achieve together. It has shown us that we can stand up to those using disempowering rhetoric to stifle democracy. The time has never been better to organize for what we believe, to stand for what is right and to challenge what is wrong.

In his inaugural speech, President Obama cautioned those cynics — like the pundits and the opinion-makers — "who question the scale of our ambitions" by explaining that "their memories are short, for they have forgotten what this country has already done, what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose and necessity to courage." Who knows that better than you? That is exactly what you've been doing for the past two years.

And tomorrow we start the next phase by launching a new five-month campaign, the Declaration of Independence from Casinos. We have shown that the people of Philadelphia stand against casinos, and we're ready to demand that our politicians stand with us.

We need you to be there with us tomorrow at 12 noon. Take time off from work if it doesn't fit your lunch break, bring your friends, your family, your co-workers, and get to 5th and Market Street. The time is now.

—Amy, Ivan, Jethro and the rest of the Casino-Free Organizing Team

P.S. Your donations in 2008 made it possible for us to bring this fight further than most people thought we could. Despite being outspent by a huge margin, we've fought the casinos to a stalemate. This year, we're pushing to tip the balance. We need your help to do this — please make a donation to Casino-Free Philadelphia.