I am very proud to announce that the Lexington High School Harry Potter Alliance Chapter in Lexington, Massachusetts has won the first Chapter Cup!

Their chapter raised $330 -  the most money raised by a single chapter for STANDfast.

They started with two bake sales at their school, where they sold brownies, chocolate chip cookies, m&m “pizza” cookies, and cupcakes to their classmates for between 25 cents and 1 dollar.

Each member of their chapter also made an individual contribution to STANDfast. They even had one member contribute more than $25 worth of pennies! And finally, they asked their friends and families to participate with them as well.

The $330 they raised will help protect the Lily Potters of Darfur and Potterwatch in Burma. If 100% of the money went to Darfur, $330 is enough to protect 110 women from being raped for one week. If 100% went to Burma, they will have protected 66 families. What an incredible contribution!

Congratulations again to the LHS Harry Potter Alliance chapter, and thank you to all of our Chapters who participated in the first Chapter Cup.

Human rights activist denied entry into Burma. This may lead one to think that the military junta in Burma does not have a liking for human rights? I mean, there’s this as well as their kidnapping of children and turning them into child soldiers, their ethnic cleansing in Eastern Burma, their brutal crackdown of pro-democracy activists and monks, and their continual arrest of Burma’s rightfully elected leader and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. Remember to check out the US Campaign for Burma to find ways that you can help.

No.

Buma’s independence from Britain 60 years ago is something to celebrate. But not by the Voldemort-like military junta who enslaves the Burmese people. During the Battle of Hogwarts Voldemort referred to himself as merciful. He was lying. And the military junta’s celebration of independence for the very country they keep enslaved is a lie. Children kidnapped and forced to be soldiers, civilians murdered, raped, and displaced in Eastern Burma, and the continual brutal crackdown of the real world Order of the Phoenix within Burma persists.

And yet the Order in Burma continues to fight nonviolently for real independence. Truth is possible. Freedom is possible. Let it be the case in Burma. Burma needs the independence from their dictatorship that the Burmese people have been working towards for so long. Let us always stand with them.

So here’s some REALLY REALLY REALLY exciting news!

The total amount of donations received from HPA for STANDFast so far is $5416.19!!!!!!! This includes all donations made between Nov. 1 until today. This included a total number of 195 donations!!!! On average that’s about 28 dollars per donation.

Depending on how you break it down, if 100% of what our 191 donors just raised goes to Burma, then we have just funded the protection of about 8 whole villages or in other words, 1083 families. If 100% goes to Darfur than we’ve just funded the protection of over 1800 Darfuri women from being raped for a week. We’re not sure how much of these donations are going to Burma or Darfur, so it will be split up in some way, but this gives you a basic idea.

I am at a loss for words. But this is bigger than last year. And this means that in total, over the last year, the HP Alliance has raised over $15,000 for Civilian Protection. This includesthe money that Wrock for Darfur raised for Civilian Protection this last August.

I want to express my gratitude to everyone that has made this possible. I want to say that we all wrock. Each of you wrocks!

And it’s not over. There is still so much good to be done through Civilian Protection it’s ridiculous. Please continue to put in your donations today and beyond at http://thehpalliance.org/civilianprotection - if you give through that url by January 31, 2009 that means that 100% of your donation goes to the on the ground program, so please do it by then!

I am overwhelmed but I can at least say one thing right now. JK Rowling said to everyone involved with the HP Alliance: “the world needs more people like you.” It’s true. The world needs more people like each of you. Thank you for being you.

With love and gratitude,

Andrew Slack and the Board and Staff at the HP Alliance

It’s hard to believe that the day has arrived but indeed, it has. STAND Fast. A day when people all over the world will be giving up luxury items and donating the money they saved. For HP fans, please give it here. Three dollars will protect one Darfuri woman from being raped for a month. Five dollars will protect a whole family in Eastern Burma. What better way to celebrate Beedle the Bard coming out tomorrow than by participating an event as part of a Dumbledore’s Army for the real world?! For questions please email standfast@thehpalliance.org

One of the things I said at the live Dumbledore’s Army meeting last night, is that oftentimes it feels like a huge barrier separates us and those who are most vulnerable. Let’s treat such a barrier as if it were no more than the barrier at Platform Nine and Three Quarters when Wizards tread before it. Let’s walk through that barrier and connect with people across the world who need our support. People who need to know that their plight is being witnessed. And that we will fight for them.

Let us send our love through this barrier today and fund the protection of these people’s lives. Please give today at thehpalliance.org/civilianprotection

Also, if you buy a copy of the Wizard Rock comp Jingle Spells today all the proceeds are going to STAND Fast.

Click here if you want to listen to the podcasts on STAND Fast. Click here to watch a video on what others are giving up.

Thank you so deeply. Let’s renew our spirits and the spirit of this world. Let’s do what we can for STAND Fast. Thank you and may the Fawkes Be With You,

Andrew
HP Alliance

Last night over TWO HUNDRED PEOPLE called in to a special number and were transported into a Room of Requirement for a special meeting of Dumbledore’s Army to discuss STAND Fast, the power of our fandom, and how each of us can make such a difference.

The instructors were me, Paul DeGeorge of Harry and the Potters, Melissa Anelli and John Noe of Pottercast, Matt Maggiacomo of the Whomping Willows, Alex Carpenter of the Remus Lupins, Brenna of Wrock for Darfur, Karen of the HP Alliance, as well as Wizard Rock bands Justin Finch Fletchley, the Owl Post, and the Butterbeer Experience. And each speaker was absolutely amazing!

From what I’ve heard, people really enjoyed the meeting and want to do more of them in the future. From my perspective, this meeting was absolutely incredible. I can’t stop gushing about it and how wonderful I feel to be in a community that is so incredible, so from the heart, so ready to make change. It was so incredibly rewarding and I feel so grateful to all of you.

Today, please give to STAND Fast and let’s make a world of difference for civilians in Darfur and Burma!

UPDATE: We should be putting a recording of the call up on our podcast feed in the near future!

Happy Thanksgiving! A couple of important Thanksgiving announcements:

STANDFast is an opportunity for all of us across the world to make a stand for civilian protection. If you’re in the US, many of you are at home with your families celebrating Thanksgiving. A great way to show how thankful we are for the people and resources in our lives is by sending a small donation to people who need it so that they may stay alive. Time and again our fandom has shown that we have the numbers and the heart and the message of love in Harry Potter so that together we can transform this world. Please talk to your friends and relatives and give even a little at thehpalliance.org/civilianprotection.

This upcoming Wednesday December 3 is STAND Fast where just three dollars protects one Darfuri woman from being raped for a whole week. And just 5 dollars protects a whole family in Eastern Burma. . Go here to learn more about how this relates to Harry Potter and how a very small donation can go a long way in helping to protect people’s lives across the world.

The HP Alliance just released two new Potterwatch podcasts about STAND Fast which you can listen to right here or by searching for HP Alliance at the Itunes store. This Tuesday night at 8:30 pm EST, the HPA will be holding a live Potterwatch conference call featuring special guests like Paul DeGeorge of Harry and the Potters and Melissa Anelli of Leaky, Pottercast, and of course “Harry, A History.” For more info, please email standfast@thehpalliance.org

When you make this donation, please do so with gratitude for the resources that we share and with love in your heart for the people of Darfur, Burma, and of course at this tragic time, the people most affected by these recent attacks in Mumbai.

Take care all and many blessings to you!

The US Campaign for Burma reminds us that “one year ago the monks of Burma led 500,000 people in peaceful nation-wide protests calling for human rights and democracy. The response by Burma’s ruling dictator Than Shwe was brutal; hundreds were killed, thousands were imprisoned, monasteries were raided, and countless demonstrators are still missing.”

This was a real world and non-violent “Battle of Hogwarts” where real world members of the Order and DA were hammered by Burma’s military dictatorship.

On September 27th, the one-year anniversary of this peaceful protest, the US Campaign for Burma is asking people to organize events for Burma “in honor of the bravery and sacrifice of Burma’s monks.

“Specifically, we are asking students to organize events on campuses, such as film screenings, educational presentations, or organizing fellow students to wear the color red in solidarity with Burmese monks. Even if you are not a student, we encourage you to still organize an event.

“Start organizing today and once you sign up through our website we will send you materials to help (video about the Saffron Revolution, fliers, and petitions).

“We hope that this event will be a great beginning to a strong campus chapter or a strong event to mobilize your community chapter. It is a year after the Saffron Revolution, but the fight for a Free Burma is stronger than ever.

Sign Up Here

“Burma’s Saffron Revolution is just the beginning. The regime’s use of mass arrests, murder, torture and imprisonment has failed to extinguish our desire for the freedom that was stolen from us so many years ago. We have taken their best punch. Now it is the generals who must fear the consequences of their actions. We adhere to nonviolence, but our spine is made of steel. There is no turning back.”

- U Gambira, one of the leaders of the All Burma Monks Alliance: Still a Political Prisoner