The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #72621

Elizabeth Emerson, MA, Tobacco Education Program, Marin County Health and Human Services, P.O. Box 5595, Novato, CA 94948, 415-499-4216, smokefreeint@earthlink.net and Steve Quirt, Organic and Sustainable Agriculture, University of California, 1682 Novato Blvd. Suite 150-C, Novato, CA 94947.

This session describes the lessons learned by activists working in tobacco control and agricultural activism (Pesticide Action Movement). The presentation is based on interviews of activists in applying principles of compassionate detached activism while facing corporate opposition and bureaucratic intertia. Smoke free advocates faced misinformation campaigns, legislative challenges and legal harassment organized by the tobacco industry front groups. This opposition often resulted in impossible work loads. Many of those interviewed were successful due to a spiritual practice, model or teachigns such as those of Mahatma Gandhi, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Mother Theresa, the Dalai Lama, the Vietnamese monk Thich Nhat Hanh and Eknath Eswaren. Their lessons have even greater relevance now as contemporary public health activists continue to do their work with fewer resources, while out-funded by corporates opponents. This session describe how they sustained their passion in spite of overwhelming obstacles.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe strategies that sustain and unite coalitions during times of government budget crisis and corporate opposition. Develop leadership styles that inspire staff and volunteers.

Keywords: Advocacy, Tobacco Policy

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.