Today a number of young citizens were seen in various places in downtown Providence distributing pocket-sized United States Constitutions. The Pocket Constitution Project is the first major operation by the Civics & Arts division of Rhode Island Hope, a not-for-profit organization that seeks to increase awareness of the rights of U.S. Citizens and to keep alive hope for a better future.
The project was inspired by the group's shared experience interviewing many elected officials and public figures over the course of the last year. One question always asked of the person interviewed was: "When was the first and last time you read the U.S. Constitution?" The answer was almost invariably "high school." This prompted regular discussion as to how the American People can secure and protect their rights If they don't even know them. So, armed with several hundred Constitution booklets, the group spread out downtown and freely handed them out to anyone who wanted one.
Though the response was generally positive and several hundred copies were welcomed, they were both surprised and distressed at the number of pedestrians who turned down a handy portable copy of the American Citizen's most fundamental working documents. One man wondered aloud why at the age of 56 he should learn or even care about the Constitution at all; several others passed on grounds that they knew their rights already. A woman insisted that she didn't need one because she works in the legal field.
Rhode Island Hope will be out again braving the biting cold and wind to hand out copies of our founding documents in the near future. For more information visit their newsblog at http://rihope.blogspot.com, or tune in to their radio show on Tuesday mornings at 10:00 AM on WNRI-1380 AM.
At the request of Rhode Island Hope, pocket Constitutions were donated by the taxpayers of Rhode Island via the offices of James Langevin, Patrick Kennedy and Sheldon Whitehouse (Jack Reed's office refused to donate on the grounds that Mr. Reed only distributes them to "special constituents").
No comments:
Post a Comment