Rally for the Georgia Archive

      Mom and I arrived at the Georgia State Capitol a little after 11am. A small crowd had already started to form in front of the building. We were restricted to a corralled area and the sidewalk along the street for our demonstration. After a bit there were a good number of protestors walking two protest lines and attempting to elicit honks from passing drivers and chanted such slogans as "What Do We Want? / Save the Archives / When Do We Want It? / Now." There were probably about 75 people out front, leading up to the noon speeches. There were at least three different news organizations recording video and interviewing protestors.

     When we went inside to the rotunda at noon the 50 or so chairs were already full. I'd estimate that there were about 200 attendees, perhaps more. The speakers were really effective and made strong statements. The GA Archive does not NEED to close and in fact it is probably illegal for it to close.

     Kemp has a tough job on his hands, but there are certainly alternatives to closing the archives.
I thought it telling that neither Deal nor Kemp were in attendance. However the politicians who were there certainly seemed dedicated. They encouraged attendees to keep pushing. Contact all of our representatives at all levels and educate them. There is a tour available at the Archive, which some legislators are already singed up for. Keep up the hard work because, as of right now, the Archive will close and employees will lose their jobs as of November 1st.

      Sign the petition and check out fogah.org to see what else you can do to help.