Catalyst hits the Downtown Journal

Check-out this awesome article from the Downtown Journal about the Nat Con rally: 

http://downtownjournal.com/index.php?currentIssue=7139&publication=downtown&action=searchArchive&searchString=catalyst&searchPubs=downtown&dateFrom=&dateTo=&order=date&numResults=10&page=65&story=10287&fromArchives=fromArchives&archivePage=100 

 

Hundreds rally outside Convention Center

to promote smoke-free policies

By Joey Peters

 

Hundreds gathered from around the country Thursday to celebrate a smoke-free Minnesota outside the Minneapolis Convention Center in lieu of the statewide indoor ban.

“This is something to celebrate!” said Andy Berndt, 25, one of the rally’s organizers.

The event came as a lunch break for many attending anti-smoking seminars inside the Minneapolis Convention Center. The seminars, held throughout the day, were expected to have 3,000 attendees — more than 100 of them teens.

At noon, supporters of the statewide ban grouped in the Convention Center’s main lobby, equipped with birthday whistles and party hats. A small band played marching jazz as the crowd stormed the field a block away from the Convention Center’s entrance with excitement.

“Let me hear it if you like to breathe!” local rapper Indigo, 26, shouted to an enthusiastic crowd response. A former teen smoker, Indigo quit during her early adulthood.

“I realized Big Tobacco deceives teens and supports death,” she said. “It’s huge corporations making people sick.”

Catalyst, a youth-led education group focused on the tobacco industry’s teen targeting methods, was one of the event’s sponsors.

“I’m mainly in this for workers’ rights,” said University of Minnesota senior and Catalyst member Nic Buron, 21. “I believe everyone has the right to work in an environment that’s safe.”

Supporters from every state rallied. Many held signs that had statements like “Missouri is on the verge” and “Illinois – 68 days and counting,” requesting for other states to follow Minnesota’s example.

Comedian Rene Hicks, a lung cancer survivor, also spoke at the rally. Hicks, who contracted the disease after performing in smoky comedy clubs, was outspoken about secondhand smoke dangers.

“I’ve never smoked a cigarette in my life,” she said. “I didn’t think an hour a day in a place where people smoke would cause any harm.”

Ever since then, Hicks has been dedicated to spreading second hand smoke awareness in all ways, including comedy.

“We need to get people energized, let people know about [the facts],” she said. “Americans are good about changing things; that’s what America’s all about.”

 

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