Causecast

At 4:00 p.m sharp this Sunday at the Abbot Kinney Festival, hundreds of individuals will freeze in place, unfurl the Shepard Fairey poster of Aung San Suu Kyi, and stand in silence for exactly five minutes to show their solidarity with Burma and raise awareness for her as the symbol of freedom.

To participate, grab your free poster(s) and some informational flyers, cruise around the festival and at 4:00 p.m. sharp stop what you are doing, stand strong and show the community her face. Then at 4:05 p.m. break your freeze, close the poster and pass out Burma information flyers to anyone around you.

Where You Can Grab A Poster:
You can either pick posters up during the week at the Causecast HQ (969 Colorado Blvd, Santa Monica), or come by the Causecast booth BETWEEN 10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. on Sept 27 on Abbot Kinney just between California and Millwood avenues. Look for the booth at the festival with the faux green grass and pink logo. If you’ll be there, please let us know and RSVP on the Flash Mob For Burma event on Facebook.

Why?
This week marks the two year anniversary of the Saffron Revolution, when Burmese monks and citizens took to the streets protesting the oppressive rule of the military junta and demanding the freedom of democratically-elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi. According to the U.S. Campaign for Burma, “the courage of the initial protesters spurred over 100,000 more to participate in the largest demonstrations to take place in Burma in 20 years.” In turn, thousands of people across the world stood in solidarity and staged similar protests for Aung San Suu Kyi and the people of Burma.

Despite this action, Aung San Suu Kyi remains imprisoned along with thousands of other political prisoners including democratic leaders, monks, journalists and human rights activists. According to a report released this week by Human Rights Watch and facts provided by U.S. Campaign for Burma and Human Rights Action Center, severe persecution of monks persists in Burma and the military continues to rape and kill ethnic women, force over 50,000 children to be soldiers in their efforts, and displace thousands of refugees.

In our effort to support the US Campaign for Burma and HRAC’s effort to free Aung San Suu Kyi, this Sunday we will be staging a Flash Mob For Burma bringing the Saffron Revolution to Los Angeles.

What’s a flash mob? A flash mob is a non-confrontational, positively socially disruptive gathering of people in a public space that attracts the attention of anyone surrounding them; it’s fun, spontaneous and impactful. Artist Shepard Fairey has donated thousands of his iconic Freedom To Lead posters to the cause and we are going to be utilizing them to raise awareness for Aung San Suu Kyi.

It is our job to stand up and use our voice to help give her the freedom to lead. If you have any questions please e-mail Jon [at] causecast [dot] org or Levi [at] Causecast [dot] org, or give us a call at 310-859-5800 x203. We look forward to seeing you Sunday!

If you aren’t in L.A. and can’t join us, here are some other ways you can get the word out about Burma, even on social media!

Check out some of the other events happening around the country this week:

Here’s a letter from the U.S. Campaign for Burma, reminding us why it’s important to take time this week to raise awareness about Burma.

Two years ago this week, thousands of monks and citizens flooded the streets of Burma protesting against military rule. The courage of the initial protesters spurred over 100,000 more to participate in the largest demonstrations to take place in Burma in 20 years.

Jeremy Woodrum and Mike Haack
U.S. Campaign For Burma