[AKidsRight.Org] Interview with F-4-J Founder / Reform - Who do you stand with?

webmaster@AKidsRight.org

Good People & People of Faith:

This message contains info on:
1. Interview of F-4-J Founder - Mr. Matt O'Connor on the BBC.
2. Reform - Who do you stand with?
3. Pictures of KRightsRadio.Com Rally in New Mexico - good turnout!

1. Interview of F-4-J Founder - Mr. Matt O'Connor on the BBC.
-------------------------------------------------------------
[We highly encourage you to read carefully and maybe study the
following. The Internet is full of 'talk'.  Mr. O'Connor and the group
Fathers-4-Justice have mounted the MOST memorable public campaign to
date on the need for Family Law Reform.

Some may not like everything they do, or the name of the group. You
might prefer Families-4-Justice....but there is a LOT to be learned in
his 'common sense' message below and a LOT to be admired in their
actions for children. - Ed.]

Submitted by: "Nick Kovats" <f4k@rogers.com>

BBC NEWS - World Edition  "Lessons from history"
Friday, 11 March, 2005, 10:44 GMT

When Matt O'Connor (http://www.fathers-4-justice.org/) decided he
wanted to protest about the one issue that mattered to him most, he
looked to history for how to go about it.  He spoke to People Power, a
BBC documentary examining what makes ordinary people want to protest, to
give his views on running a successful campaign.  His personal account
below contains some strong language.  Matt O'Connor studied the
mechanics of protest:

In any successful campaign, planning is essential. 
------------------------------------------------- 
For Fathers 4 Justice, this took up a full two years before launch
And, I believe, there are three key ingredients involved. If they are
all addressed properly at the planning stage, they will help to make
the campaign unique.

* The first is understanding the history and background of protest.  My
upbringing was steeped in the Labour party. I visited the site of the
Tolpuddle martyrs with my mother as a child, which made a lasting
impression on me, as did the miners' pickets.

It is essential to research topics such as the suffragettes, the
Trade Unions, Martin Luther King - and even people like Ned Kelly.
Only by doing this will you begin to know the mechanics of protest.

* The second ingredient is marketing. I had a day job in marketing and
PR, so I was lucky to have experience in this area.

* The third and final ingredient is money. I had to input my own
money, and invested a great deal in order to create a global brand.

As a result of these efforts, Fathers 4 Justice is now the world's
fastest growing pressure group.  In fact, if I had known at the
beginning how big it would get - we are now in Australia and the US -
I probably would not have started. It is mind-blowing.  But my view
is that if you do something, you should do it well - not half-cocked.

Protesters dressed as superheroes
--------------------------------
Superhero costumes for Matt O'Connor's group create impact There is a
marketing maxim that I work to: AIDA. It stands for Awareness,
Interest, Desire, Action.

For the awareness stage, you need publicity. Make your issue visible,
as Ghandi said. You have to start first, for the rest to follow.  For
interest, you have to be provocative and challenge people's
conditioning.  You then need to create a populist campaign to spark
the desire.

And you need to act. It might take 15 years to get an outcome after
lobbying your MP - whereas it has taken me 15 months.  We tackled
three areas: the government (when purple powder was thrown at Tony
Blair in the Commons), the monarchy (when Batman and Robin climbed up
Buckingham Palace), and theology (with a rooftop protest at York
Minster).

As Martin Luther King said, "at first they will ignore you, then they
will laugh at you, then they will fight you, then you will win".
Fathers 4 Justice is at the fight stage. We know, historically, that
we will prevail and succeed.

Humor
------
This is not a minority issue. It affects everyone in the country, and
has a global appeal. The premise is unique because the issues are so
wide-reaching.

If we dressed normally, we would have as much impact as a bus queue
But we are also unique because we use humor - and are the only
campaigning group to do so.

This is a tragi-comedy. One minute we get tears of despair and
anguish, and the next tears of laughter.  If we dressed normally, we
would have as much impact as a bus queue.

And although we are just middle-aged men in unflattering outfits, we
try to be iconic - like Mel Brooks's Men in Tights, or The
Incredibles.  Many protest groups are very earnest, but we are happy
to have fun made of us.  My personality means that if I go to prison I
might as well have a laugh along the way.

Danger
------
You need to be like a Chinese firework and get up people's noses Only
a small number of people voted for this government. People feel
disconnected, so they will rebel and take the law into their own
hands.

But to achieve anything, you need to be like a Chinese firework and
get up people's noses.  You also need bollocks - big brass balls -
because it is dangerous.

For example, we knew our recent protest at Downing Street was
dangerous; with armed police around we could have been shot.  You must
have the passion (provided you are peaceful). And even though I see my
children now, I still do this because I feel there is a massive
injustice.

If you believe in it, you will see it through.  Belief is almost
instinctive: you cannot always define it, but you know it is right,
hopefully.

And if you are wrong, let history be the judge.  

2. Reform - Who do you stand with?
----------------------------------
By the rhetoric you read on the Internet, there seems to be several
groups of parents and agendas:

* EQUAL Custody - parents went through a divorce/separation. 
* Child Abuse Reform - parents who lost kids to social services.
------------------------------
* Child Abuse Reform - single parents who lost kids to social services,
  but still don't want the other parent to be an EQUAL parent.
* Child Support Reform - folks who are getting their pockets picked.
* Father's/Mother's BEST! - groups who think primary custody should go
  to one or the other based on gender.

Not to sound discriminatory -- but maybe we all need to think about
who we want to stand with and differentiate ourselves.  This may
actually help some of the efforts grow.

Some of the group names are confusing.  There are many Father's and
Mother's Rights groups that are for EQUAL custody, but the name is a
distraction. It inhibits the other gender from buying their 'product.'

When we think of our group, AKidsRight.Org, we are hopefully folks in
the first two groups.  The Custody reform people don't usually see a
coalition with the Child Abuse parents -- but if we think at the GREAT
RIGHT level.  The presumption of fitness to be a parent, and the
protection of a Jury -- it works to solve problems members of both
groups experienced.  Limiting the power of government to interfere in
Family Life (A Civil Right's movement).

I'd like to stand with those people and have them next to me!

The Others 
---------- 
Maybe you feel uncomfortable around them. Maybe those member are more
'polarizing' in any group -- tending to pull it apart than together.
Personally, I feel 'big tent' events are bound to failure because the
people there really don't share the same goals and really just get
together to share their 'anger'.  There is nothing to build on.

And yes, I have been quite 'burned' by the Child Support system and it
does need to be fixed -- but my BIG issue is the right to be a parent
to my own children.  If I get just a 20 second 'sound bite' in front
of a National TV Camera, am I going to talk about child support?
You've got to be kidding!

PLEASE, understand you certainly have a right to pursue those goals,
and you may be correct in your desires.  But I really don't want to
stand next to you, or you next to me -- the effect helps neither of us
and just confuses the message.

Do you know what you want?
-------------------------
Do you know what they want for reform?  I know people who have lost
their kids to the system, started web sites, and posted things like a
'Bill of Kid's Right' -- here is one item I saw:

    "You do not have to choose on parent over the other - If you have
    an opinion about which parent you want to live with, let it be
    known.  But nobody can force you to make that choice.  If your
    parent's can't work it out, a judge may make the decision for
    them."

What do you think?  Maybe at first reading it sounds pretty good?  But
do you really want kids to pick their parents?  Be asked who do you
love more?  Do you really want a Judge to decide what happens?  Aren't
these all the problems with our present system?

Our goals, http://www.AKidsRight.Org/approach.htm 

Hopefully we can stand together and really be together!

3. Pictures of KRightsRadio.Com Rally in New Mexico - good turnout!
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please check the link below to the KRightsRadio.Com web site, they
had a nice turnout at a recent rally and some good media coverage:

http://www.krightsradio.com/rallypics.php

Their found Richard Farr has a LOT of media/advertising connections
and a LOT of experience in planning campaigns.  Check out their
mission:      http://www.krightsradio.com/mission.php
-- 
                                       Webmaster
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