Atheists “Marching” to New Orleans for 71st Annual American Humanist Association Conference
Atheists “Marching” to New Orleans for 71st Annual American Humanist Association Conference
Gloria Steinem to receive Humanist of the Year award
For Immediate Release
Contact: Brian Magee, 202-238-9088 ex. 105, mobile: (202) 681-2425, bmagee@americanhumanist.org
(Washington, DC – May 23, 2012) – “The Atheists Go Marching In” is the message on a New Orleans streetcar advertisement to inform the city that humanists, atheists, freethinkers and skeptics are coming to New Orleans June 7-10 for the 71st Annual American Humanist Association (AHA) Conference. The New Orleans Secular Humanist Association, the local chapter of the AHA, will also be running a billboard ad near the Superdome welcoming conference attendees to town.
The streetcar ad will run through June 28. The highway billboard will run June 4-10.
Picture of ad on the street car can be found here: http://www.americanhumanist.org/system/storage/63/15/9/3148/NOLA_Street_Car_Ad_POP.jpg
The streetcar ad image can be found here: http://www.americanhumanist.org/system/storage/63/37/4/3118/Nola_ad.jpg
The highway billboard ad image can be found here: http://www.americanhumanist.org/system/storage/63/7e/e/3117/NOLA_AHADigital.jpg
The American Humanist Association’s 71st Annual Conference will feature American cultural icon Gloria Steinem, recipient of the 2012 Humanist of the Year award. The award-winning author, journalist and activist for equality is best known for her work against gender bias, abuse of children, and protecting the rights of indigenous peoples.
“Gloria Steinem’s life’s work of standing up for the disenfranchised is the embodiment of humanist values,” said American Humanist Association Executive Director Roy Speckhardt. “Without her dedication to achieving equality for all, America might still be in the dark ages.”
The others accepting awards by the American Humanist Association are host of NPR’s Science Friday Ira Flatow (Isaac Asimov Science Award), anti-war activist Debra Sweet (Humanist Heroine Award), host of Current TV’s The Young Turks Cenk Uygur (Humanist Media Award), leading skeptic and magician James Randi (Lifetime Achievement Award), student activists Jessica Ahlquist (Humanist Pioneer Award) and Damon Fowler (Humanist Pioneer Award). Actor George Takei will accept the LGBT Humanist Pride Award via recorded video message. The keynote speaker will be Herb Silverman, Secular Coalition for American president and author of Candidate Without A Prayer: An Autobiography of a Jewish Atheist in the Bible Belt.
Other speakers, including some of the country’s top authors and activists, are Margaret Downey, Marshall Brain, John Barry, Anthony Pinn, Katherine Stewart and Sean Faircloth, among others. Australian singer-songwriter Shelley Segal will also be performing.
“This year’s attendees will be not only have the vibrant city of New Orleans to enjoy, but our excellent lineup of speakers and awardees will make this a distinctively rewarding experience for humanists and atheists across the country,” Speckhardt said.
Conference details can be found on the official website: http://nola.americanhumanist.org
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The American Humanist Association (www.americanhumanist.org) advocates for the rights and viewpoints of humanists and atheists in the United States. Founded in 1941 and headquartered in Washington, D.C., its work is extended through more than 140 local chapters and affiliates across America.
Humanism is a progressive philosophy of life that, without theism, affirms our responsibility to lead ethical lives of value to self and humanity.
