[written by Andrea Preis]

I seem to always be angry about something these days - if it's not the war in Iraq, it's sub-prime lending; if it's not the 76ers, it's the high price of pizza. There's always a new issue in the shadows waiting to jump out and drive me crazy. But few things have pushed my buttons like the issue of the casinos and the sneaky way the legislation was passed. We the People don't want them and especially not in the neighborhoods that were chosen as sites, one of which happens to be MINE!

Luckily, I found out pretty quickly about Casino-Free Philadelphia. I signed up for a trip to Harrisburg to demand access to the documents of the proceedings which led to the decision to have casinos here in Pennsylvania; you know, transparency, the citizens have the right to know what's going on. We arrived at the statehouse, a noisy and enthusiastic group and read our demand to the powers that be, but they weren't having any of it: NO WAY were they going to let us have the information. The chairman (or king) of the Pennsylvania Gaming Control (or out of control) Board wouldn't even come out of his office to talk to us, and some of us were arrested. Citizen's right to access information disregarded, citizen's right to voice opinion denied, citizen's right to participate in democratic process refused.

In the following months our elected officials and, worst of all, our Supreme Court continued to place obstacles in our path, the media ignored us and often sided with the bad guys, in a co-ordinated effort to shut us up. But that wasn't going to happen. We kept on attending important meetings, demanding our right to be heard, and succeeded to persuade most of our city officials to do right by us. Even the newspapers started showing us some respect. We occupy the moral highground: casinos are bad for communities and will cost the city more in damage control than they will contribute in profit.

So what happened to We the People? We are alive and well at Casino-Free Philadelphia. I, personally, have gained a sense of empowerment, and discovered that I can articulate my (our) concerns (talk really loud in public places if that's what it takes to make myself heard). I can interrupt anyone who is talking crap; I can question anyone who isn't making sense; and I can call anyone a liar who is, well, lying. I don't have to smile and nod politely in agreement with people who are trying to harm me, my neighborhood, and my community. I am a citizen, resident, taxpayer, and voter and I must insist on my right to be heard if I want to preserve our democracy.

By persisting in our hard work under the enlightened guidance of our very savvy leaders, Jethro and Daniel, we will win this battle. I have no doubt about that. Then I'll have one less thing to be angry about.