More than 2,500 members of the activist group Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) will gather in Columbus, Ohio this weekend for the group’s 2006 National Convention.

Under the banner “Raising Our States,” grassroots community leaders from around the country, including a delegation from Alabama, will learn about national campaigns for better wages, fair immigration reform, Katrina recovery and stronger communities.

Delegates will also take part in a march and rally to raise the minimum wage on Monday.

The July 9th and 10th plenary sessions of the convention will be webcast live from the group’s Web site: http://www.acorn.org.

The sessions will feature a number of nationally known leaders, including U.S. Representative Sherrod Brown, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney and former Senator and Vice Presidential candidate John Edwards.

2006 ACORN Convention to be Webcast

The Locust Fork News and Blog staff will be interviewing and photographing some of the Alabama delegation Friday afternoon before they depart for Ohio.

We are also working on a package of stories with photographs to give faces and a voice to the permanent underclass being created in the Bush economy based on privatization and tax cuts for the rich. The facts will prove false the claim by the Alabama corporate media and the administration of Republican Gov. Bob Riley that the economy is booming and the unemployment rate is at record lows and all is well with the world.

© 2006, Glynn Wilson. All rights reserved.