Blog for Take Back America 2007

The finalists for the first annual Maria Leavey Tribute Award have been announced, and the honoree will be selected by your votes. Below is the email announcement we just sent to our list of supporters.

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A few weeks ago, we asked you to help honor an unsung progressive hero by nominating someone amazing for the first annual Maria Leavey Tribute Award. You can now vote for the winner -- who will be honored next month at Take Back America 2007. Please vote for the finalist whose behind-the-scenes work and selfless service you feel made the greatest contribution to social justice.

The response to our call for nominations was overwhelming and inspiring. We received story after story about passionate and giving Americans who have done so much with so little recognition to fight for a bright progressive future. It reaffirms our belief in the prospect of our vibrant and increasingly influential movement.

Working together with Maria Leavey's family and colleagues, we've completed the difficult task of selecting 8 progressive champions to be the award finalists. Now it's up to you! Click here and vote for the finalist you believe should be honored with the inaugural Maria Leavey Tribute Award.

Just reviewing the candidate profiles will stir you to action. Consider ...

• The twenty-something fighting entrenched machine politics in Chicago.
• The interfaith organizer who mobilized Massachusetts for universal health care.
• The woman who went from battling inequality in South Africa to oil dependency in Los Angeles.
• The Minnesota activist who kept organizing back home while serving in Honduras for the Peace Corps.
• The editor of a Chicago community newspaper that actually covers -- and gives voice to -- all Chicago communities.
• The founder of a web-based activist group empowering and teaching others to take democracy into their own hands.
• The lawyer fighting for the dispossessed with no concern for payment.
• The strategist connecting low-income and people of color activists with philanthropists.

Every one of these finalists embodies the legacy of Maria Leavey, a tireless and brilliant organizer who didn't need the spotlight to make a difference, and who was taken from us way too soon.

By recognizing selfless heroes -- like Maria -- we hope to inspire more to follow in her footsteps and add more bright stars to fuel to our growing progressive movement. Please take a moment to cast your vote (before 11:59 pm ET Sunday May 27th) and recognize an unsung progressive hero.

And don't forget to register for Take Back America 2007, where you will not only find out the winner of the Maria Leavey Tribute Award, but you can help strengthen the movement to which Maria dedicated her life.

P.S. After voting, please further support your chosen finalist and Maria Leavey's enduring legacy, by forwarding this email to your friends and family, and encouraging them to vote as well! Thanks so much.