Folks, this project has been growing quickly, and the larger it grows, the less time i find myself online. my apologies for not responding in full to Maximilian Forte's thoughtful post. and my apologies, preemptively, if i'm unable to post as much as i would like in the future. Maximilian wrote, among other things,

It's an American thing to think that you can divorce politics from discussions of political issues such as democracy, citizenship, and good lord, patriotism--from the article: "The directors of The September Project are determined to keep politics out of the day's events."

first, an IMPORTANT CLARIFICATION. while we were happy in general with the article (which can be read here www.theseptemberproject.org/press), the writer did make one mistake. we are *not* determined to keep politics out of the day's events. rather, we are determined to make this a non-partisan event. apparently the word "politics" replaced "partisan." so, political discussion and engagement? yes. voter registration at every US-based event? yes. a partisan event? no. the only "requirement" we are asking of host organizers is that events are FREE and PUBLIC. that's it. next, to address one of Maximilian's points about the project being an american thing. in many ways, yes, this is an american project. it originated in the US, in seattle. by far the majority -- so far -- of hosts are american: as of today, 132 libraries, schools, and universities in 28 states are taking part. and it takes place on a day -- saturday, september 11 -- that means a lot (and means different things) to many americans. that said, in many ways the project is not an "american thing": 1. it's free! when's the last time you got something for free in the states? 2. it's public! while many countries have town squares and piazzas, the american version of public space is, in general, the mall. or starbucks. for the most part, september project events are fully public and open to all people. (there are exceptions. the events planned for the Alameda County Library Youth Literacy Program at Juvenile Hall are closed to the public. the events planned at the Marine Corps Air Station Base Library in Iwakuni, Japan will be, we believe, closed to the public. although it is unfortunate that these events cannot be public, we believe that having discussions and performances about democracy, citizenship, and patriotism at correctional facilities and military bases is important.) 3. while some may argue that september 11 is an american thing, others argue otherwise. but personally, i believe that the developments that have grown *since* 9-11 -- including but not limited to the War in Afghanistan, the War in Iraq, the continued escalation of violence in the Middle East, various security/privacy measures, etc etc etc -- are anything but american. they affect us all, no? 4. it is in response to this, reason #3, that we are thrilled -- and encouraged -- that folks outside the US have organized events for their own people, addressing their own concerns, taking place in their own countries. so, when Maximilian notes, that

It's an American thing if one of the dominant questions mentioned is: "What do you like about America?"

i would answer, true, but look at the events being planned in other countries. for example: a. in the Netherlands, the University of Nijmegen and the Cultural Centre for the Arts Lux is putting on an inspired conference called "11 september en de Kunsten," which, as you can see from their web site (http://www.lux-nijmegen.nl/debat_info/11september/programma.html), addresses a number of issues, mostly from a global perspective. b. in Australia, the University of Sydney is organizing a conference called "The Italian Effect: Radical Thought, Biopolitics and Cultural Subversion" (http://www.arts.usyd.edu.au/departs/rihss/italianeffect.html) c. in Spain, El Proyecto Septiembre (http://septiembre.ciberpunk.org/) is organizing events in, so far, 6 different cities: Madrid, Valencia, Zaragoza, Melilla, Leon, and Granada. in addition to discussions and debates on democracy, they will be covering issues like immigration, civil liberties, digital liberties, and of course March 11. d. in Portugal, O Projecto Setembro (http://setembro.ciberpunk.org/) is organizing events in, so far, Lisbon, where they will engage in public discussions about democracy, citizenship, and freedom. this email is getting very long, i'm sorry. i hope that i have addressed some of your, Maximilian, questions and i hope that other folks speak out. sometimes it feels as though our voice is the other thing we have. i also hope that some of you may consider organizing events of your own. david silver www.theseptemberproject.org