Reprint of article, “I Never Knew I was A Hippie”
(this version complete with recommendations for action)
Published in Worldwide Hippies (.com), tag: activism
March 31, 2010
by Sallie O. Elkordy
Thanks to Worldwide Hippies for asking me to share my story of activism. While I never realized that I was a Hippie, I’ve always known that I respected them. One day a conservative man, whom I had known for years, vehemently ‘accused’ me of being a Hippie. I thought, “Cool”. Proud am I to be counted among you!
My parents Mary and George Ottavino believe in helping others. They have always been active in their beliefs. My father was most particularly supportive of humanitarian causes, and my mother holds the firm belief that, “If you can, you must.” This belief stemmed from the fact that my sister, Mary Bess, who was mentally retarded, could not herself contribute.
I had wanted to volunteer for years, but was not sure how I could make a difference. I now recommend to everyone who wishes to contribute their efforts, to “follow their bliss”. I love to laugh and as a stand-up comic I had access to many other comics and performers who could help me fulfill my “mission of cheer to raise spirits, awareness and eyebrows!” and so I embarked on producing 250 comics, dancers and musicians in shows serving hospitals and homeless shelters throughout NYC. I liken my tale to the movie, “The Natural”, because it best describes being blindsided to the detriment of one’s goals, with a belated return to that pursuit, and a passion to make up for lost time. And so at the age of 33, I leaped forward (Sallied Forth, if you will) with reckless abandon to the merriment of many. I have produced 900 comedy shows thus far. We have a “Ludicrous Line-up” this April Fools Day in a Veterans’ shelter (8 comics, with special guest Professor Irwin Corey, “The World’s Foremost Authority”).
At around our 400thshow, we went non-profit as the Museum of Comedy. I did this so I could raise money to pay the many comics I had previously asked to volunteer. I refer to the Museum of Comedy as a “for-loss organization”. Some families go on vacation and others produce comedy shows in hospitals and homeless shelters. I owe a debt of gratitude to my husband Mohamed Elkordy and my helpful children Mary Elizabeth and Abbas (aka, Merry Mary and Joy Boy). Comics who have donated the most performances are Bill McCarty, Lorene Farnsworth, Brian Kiley and Bob Greenberg. I could never have pulled off 900 shows of this nature without them. Highlights have come in the form of performances by Celeste Holm at the Lenox Hill Women’s Shelter, Carol Channing at the Veteran’s Hospital in NYC, Pat Cooper at Gilda’s Club, Joe Franklin at United Cerebral Palsy and Henny Youngman as the first Grand Jester in our “Parade of Fools!” We then had the privilege of honoring all of these stars at the United Nations for the first International Comedy Hall of Fame. We also honored Bob Hope, who returned the favor in abundance by choosing me to represent him on PBS for their retrospective of his comedic contributions to the troops during WW II.
Activism is often associated with protesting, but volunteerism is activism too. Don’t allow financial constraints to restrain your earnest desire to change the world for the better. Having only a limited budget forces one to be creative, which in the short run, is a good thing. A bit of advice, which applies to everything you may ever do as an activist: don’t expect gratitude; pursue your endeavors solely to improve the human condition, with ‘achieving your goal’ as the only compensation you anticipate receiving; expect setbacks to occur frequently, but don’t allow them to diminish your enthusiasm. The most basic tenet is:
ACTIVISM REQUIRES ACTION
If you have a good idea, act on it right away!
~ Relieve a homebound caretaker of their duties long enough for them to have some fun, as do normal folks, or to accomplish a task far greater than you, yourself can accomplish. [When I read that Sandra Day O’Conner announced that she would be stepping down due to her husband’s dementia, I wrote to her and offered to care for her husband so that she could remain on the Supreme Court. I never heard from Justice O’Conner, but I had offered the only thing within my power to affect the outcome I desired to see.]
~ Make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to distribute to hungry people in your travels and throw in a couple of York peppermint patties for the “after dinner mint” experience. [When Princess Diana and Mother Theresa died within days of one and other, I saw people lay flowers, as is the tradition, out of respect for the lives they had lived. I thought about what they stood for, having seen Princess Diana take her son William, future King of England to make-shift tents within London, so he would know how the homeless population lived and having watched a documentary of Mother Theresa’s life and the astonishing amount of good she generated and thought how can we pay tribute to the lives they led? Feeding people made sense and my kids and I would make 6 sandwiches every morning before I headed off to work. Sometimes I didn’t even make it to the subway before the sandwiches were gone. A most unfortunate commentary on the need for it.]
~ Create an event that non-profit organizations can sell tickets to. [Having studied architecture and worked in the field, I asked my friends, who worked on interesting or high profile projects, to conduct tours of their designs to raise money for charity. We conducted 30 such architectural tours and gave tickets to 80 organizations, which they sold and kept 100% of the proceeds from. As with Comedy, if you wish people to volunteer their time, you must ask them to do something they would gladly do for nothing, like showing a group of interested people their designs. These tours were fascinating, and everybody was a winner. When I ran out of buildings to give tours of, I looked into what these organizations needed, and set out to broker products of necessity for them.]
~ Encourage your legislators to support important legislation.
[My favorite bill is under “Religious Freedom” on www.importantbills.com, because it would allow taxpayers who objected to war, to re-allocate their taxes to fund education (or healthcare, etc.) instead. At the time I discovered this bill, it was 25 years old and 56% of taxes were spent on war. Individuals could collectively and effectively de-fund war. The following legislation should be promoted in every State in the Union:
“Protection from Predators”
“U. S. Department of Peace”
~ Educate your legislators to discourage detrimental or dangerous legislation. [You can call them to educate their staffers, leave them a message and direct them to sources for more information. E-mail them informative websites like http://TruthAboutGardasil.org or http://www.NVIC.org . I am doing this right now, because I am fearful for children, due to currently proposed legislation to administer more vaccines, and without parental consent! An entire generation of New Yorkers could be damaged through excessive vaccination. We are currently on a
VACCINE REALITIES TOUR throughout NY State to stop this dangerous legislation. Health and nutrition expert, Gary Null kicked-off our tour, but it is Parent Activists of Vaccine Injured Children who have the heartbreaking stories to tell and they continue to speak out in an effort to educate students, parents, doctors and legislators. They are: Heather Walker of www.AlbanyVaccineChoice.webs.com, Jodi Speakman of “Stop Gardasil, Victoria’s Story”, plus Jesse Calhoun of The Ameros, who performs “H1N1”. We are asking New Yorkers to “Oppose” NY State Senate bill #S4779B. This legislation and other bills increasing vaccines have led me to writing legislation in response (which may actually have a Congressional sponsor), entitled, “ALL VACCINES ARE BANNED”. Please read it: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/all-vaccines-are-banned
*New Yorkers, Please follow the “TAKE ACTION NOW” instructions at the bottom of this page. This is of the utmost importance to your children. Thank you.]
~ Use public access television to get your message out.
my husband and children for their help with production.]
~ If you are a student, use your senior project or your thesis to improve the world in a real or tangible way. Theorizing is good, but only as a first step. You will never again have the time allocation you have as a student, for creative thought and action. Don’t waste it! Seek a real problem to solve. [I used my architectural thesis to design a Center for Independent Living for deaf blind youth and adults at Helen Keller National Center in Sands Point, NY, which was sent by then director, Martin Adler, post-Glasnost, to Russia for an actual facility for deaf blind persons upon their request. Pretty cool. Special thanks to my mother for recommending this project and to my dissertation director, mentor and friend, Professor Forrest Wilson, D.Arch., currently Professor Emeritus of The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC]
~ Conduct a Town Hall meeting to discuss issues of civic concern. Take votes on these issues, invite your representatives to attend and inform those who cannot attend of the outcome. [We had a “Responsibility in Reporting Award” for the PEACE PARTY (see last recommendation on this list) and the man who won (over 38 other nominees) had a solution to our fiscal crisis. You must see one Walter J. Burien, Jr. and his plan of ACTION. It makes sense, and is doable if people get involved. http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/512.html. The Youth “Responsibility in Reporting Award” went to two very impressive and inspiring young activists, Robert Wanek and Ryan Rettig for their H1N1 Clinic Report: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyJE_ZTbltY. I have conducted 15 Town Hall meetings thus far and will continue to do so. If you choose a topic of particular concern, do everything in your power to stay on topic until recommendations have been made to address that concern. One such topic might be the January 21, 2010 Supreme Court ruling and how it can be addressed in an effort to reclaim our democracy. Town Hall meetings are always worthwhile when people leave more informed than when they arrived. Encourage all who attend to stand-up and speak. Engage speakers whose message needs to spread. The most important forum I have conducted included 30 speakers, all representing Peace, Human Rights and Civil Liberties concerns. The event was 6 hours long and went from a church space to the United Nations. Cindy Sheehan was our “Star”, but most unfortunately, a “Gold Star”.]
~ Educate people at bus stops. [Most of the activism I have pursued has been time consuming, but this was a breeze. One night I stepped out of a restaurant and a bus pulled up in front of me. I took the opportunity to talk to the people at the bus stop about an issue of serious concern that had received only one-sided press. I gave them websites they might check out to get further informed and found that almost every person with whom I spoke, was grossly misinformed on the topic. The topic was vaccines. I feel it my moral responsibility to stop parents with children that I pass in the street, or at check out counters, and likewise inform them about the dangers of vaccines. While I do not feel comfortable with the idea of approaching strangers, I cannot live with myself for not having informed someone whose child might suffer if I do not speak up. People sense my earnest desire to protect their kids and my intrusion on their personal space is more often than not, well received. Some issue will have this effect on you eventually.]
~ Take a kid to the Theater or to a production or lecture of any kind, which will serve to enlighten them or will expand their horizons.
[We recently took a group of 18 to 21 year olds from Covenant House to see “Avatar”, which is just bursting with positive messages. We have taken homeless children to the theater and the movies at least 50 times. We have also taken homeless women to the Opera, homeless Veterans to see Chris Rock, Robert Klein, Jerry Seinfeld and “Fool Moon” on Broadway, but when you take a child to see live theater for the very first time, it’s as thrilling for you to witness the child’s enjoyment, as it is for the child to see the actual show. It’s truly a worthwhile investment of time/effort/money. How much money you spend depends on how creative you can be. Hint, movie theaters will probably not ‘work with you’ on price, but if you target a theater on a traditionally slow night and ask if you can “paper their house” (bring a large number of people to attend), you may be a winner. When it comes to “Stars”, collecting three pages worth of signatures to send with your request is almost foolproof in achieving, at minimum, a response.]
~ Help your neighbor and help yourself! [My father has always told me to purchase products “Made in the USA” to help our economy http://www.importantbills.com/6.html. Now more than ever, I believe he is right. He used to say, “You cannot consume what you don’t produce.” I have had great difficulty finding American made products. “Genius Bob” (a cab driver) suggests that if people care about this, they should write to Consumer Reports to ask them to add a column to their surveys indicating if the product was made in America. I have recently read that Mark Andol in Buffalo (whose production plant closed because his client switched to purchasing goods overseas) has opened a “Made in the USA” store. He sells goods which are 100% American made. I intend to support his effort and; if he wishes to franchise, open a store myself and in so doing, fund the Peace Party, feed my family or employ my neighbor. “Made in the USA”, in every community, could solve many problems.]
~ Start a political party to challenge the status quo, but more importantly, in an effort to gain ballot access for an upcoming Presidential election. [Twice I have done this: as a movement for peace and fairness the first time (Women’s Party in 2003-6) and again as a movement for Peace, Human Rights, Civil Liberties and Respect, the PEACE PARTY. I have run for Governor for the Women’s Party and will again for the Peace Party (anyone in NY who believes in what I am trying to achieve can ACTIVELY help me get signatures this summer). Realizing all the challenges from last time, it’s still the most direct route to real change within the established system. Anyone who wishes to do the hard work of running for Governor themselves in 2010, on behalf of the Peace Party’s principles (peace, human rights, civil liberties and respect), needs to act swiftly if their State’s Gubernatorial election is in 2010. Start by investigating the rules and regulations on your State Board of Elections website and call me at (646) 354-0699 for advice. The more States we get on board, the more likely one of us will get the required signatures (15,000-the hard part) and minimal votes (50,000-much easier) to gain ballot access in the 2012 Presidential election.]
To your health!,
Sallie O. Elkordy
*New Yorkers: TAKE ACTION NOW!
Legislation has been proposed to increase the quantity of Vaccines that
children in N. Y. STATE are required to take, or which will be
administered without parental consent. Three (3) New York
State/Assembly bills you should vocally "OPPOSE", in order of
importance (#1 being the gravest threat) are:
1) “Oppose” bill #S4779B & #A8702C ~ vaccines administered to children
for sexually transmissible diseases (STDs) without parental consent.
Vaccines are being developed for several STDs currently. As with
Gardasil-HPV, there may be a ‘series’ of shots for each disease. This
bill does not indicate a LIMIT on the number of total vaccines this
would include, nor how many STDs would be addressed, nor how many shots in a series for each, nor what determines if the vaccine is for a
sexually transmissible disease (did anyone know that Cervical Cancer
was considered an STD, for example). UNLIMITED VACCINES!
Here are the names and numbers of the Codes Committee members who hold our children’s respective fates in their hands. I ask you to call only those Senators in ‘support’ of this dangerous legislation or those who are currently ‘undecided’. This is a mere handful of Legislators, and when you consider the hundreds of State Assembly Members/Senators who will need to be contacted if this bill passes through the Codes Committee, it is well worth your energy!
Tell them to “OPPOSE” this bill, #S4779B
Currently in ‘Support’:
NY State Senators Eric Schneiderman
(Chair of Codes Committee) 518-455-2041,
Thomas Duane 518-455-2451,
Jeffrey Klein 518-455-3595.
Currently ‘Undecided’ or unwilling to declare their decision:
Senators Neil Breslin 518-455-2225,
Kevin Parker 518-455-2580,
Bill Perkins 518-455-2441,
Stephen Saland 518-455-2411,
John Sampson 518-455-2788,
Daniel Squdron 518-455-2625.
SPONSORS of this legislation (but not on the Codes committee)
are State Senator Liz Krueger 518-455-2297
and State Assemblywoman Amy Paulin 518-455-5585.
If asked if you are a constituent of any one Senator say, “I am a constituent of the Codes committee”, because all New Yorkers are, whether their own district legislator is on the Committee or not.
Give each person you call, an informative website like
or another informative website of your own choosing.
If all else fails, send them this proposed legislation. It should get
the message across:
NOTE: If this bill (S4779B/A8702C) is signed into law, take your healthy kids and get out of New York!
2) “Oppose” bill #A0778 ~ mandatory HPV vaccines (series of three shots
currently) for all children born from 1996 on.
3) “Oppose” bill #S07156 & #A10313 ~ mandatory meningococcal vaccine, Menactra. for children born after 1995, and students entering 7th grade and college.
PETITION:
Please sign this petition, "ALL VACCINES ARE BANNED", if you agree with it. This petition site sends your sentiments directly to your own legislators and gives you their telephone numbers as well, so you can follow up with a phone call (or five):
CALL the NY State Senators above and FORWARD this information to other New Yorkers. Your kids need your ACTIVISM now!
Dear Activists,
Please send YOUR STORY of activism to Joseph McEvoy of Worldwide Hippies at over50hippie@gmail.com. Here’s their publication of my story, it looks really nice http://www.worldwidehippies.com/?p=3383. You can also you contact me at Peace Party at ceaseforpeace@aol.com , subject: “Profiles in Action”, if you would like to submit your story to appear on this page. Activism has its setbacks, so please be forthcoming with helpful tips, so that the readers you may inspire can maximize their effectiveness. Thank you,
Sallie O. Elkordy
