I was at Waterfront Park in San Diego yesterday, March 28th, 2026, one of about nine million Americans standing up for actual and meaningful democracy for everyone in this country. Fifty-eight years ago I went to my first demonstration at a community college where I wrote for the student newspaper. I took that right to write and demonstrate for granted. I understand that now. My mother grew up under Hitler and did not have that freedom. Being able to write as a journalist or a poet or a novelist or memoirist is now under attack from our government. Creativity is fundamental to democracy. Books are being banned and burned here as they were in Germany then. I am asking you, if you can, to sponsor me as a member of the Thursday Writers group of Blazing Laptops in the annual fundraising campaign of San Diego Writers, Ink. It is the writing community I have been taking classes from for more than ten years to continue to hone my skills and share them with others. Any amount helps to support this important organization at a time when it is more needed than ever and grants and funding are cut every day to silence our voice and our connections to each other. Thank you in advance for anything you can contribute. June