Ken Burns & PBS Surrender

Just received this email:

Dear Defenders of the Honor,
Great news today: PBS President and CEO Paula Kerger this afternoon sent the Defend the Honor  organizers a 3-page letter, announcing that Ken Burns and co-director/producer Lynn Novick "have decided to create additional content that focuses on stories of Latino and Native American veterans of the Second World War. The new narrative will be included in the broadcast of the series, as well as in THE WAR's DVD, Web site and educational outreach materials."

You may read Kerger's entire letter, the Defend the Honor response, and the Defend the Honor press release, at our website, www.defendthehonor.org, under NEWS/PRESS RELEASES   
(We are unable to attach those PDF documents because many of you are receiving this via listservs which will not accept attachments.)

In a letter to Kerger, our Defend the Honor core group noted that this development represents a historic moment.: "We are gratified that PBS has taken our concerns seriously and has made the decision to include, in a substantive manner, the Latino, as well as Native American experiences in The War." 

In a news release from the Defend the Honor core group, Angelo Falcon, of the National Institute for Hispanic Politics, noted: "This result was made possible by the unusually strong collaboration between the many Latino organizations and leaders that came forward to let PBS know that our community must be respected."

The core group will be meeting sometime in the near future with Paula Kerger to nail down details of exactly how the Latino and Native American experiences will be incorporated. We want to make sure that our celebration isn't unfounded.

The Defend the Honor core group looks forward to collaborating closely with the other organizations, including the  Congressional Hispanic Caucus, the National Council of La Raza, the American GI Forum, the National Hispanic Media Coalition, the National Hispanic Media Council, individual members of Congress and of both the California and the Texas state legislatures who have also led the charge.

Thank you to the thousands of individuals who have voiced their concerns and propelled this movement forward. There will be other developments in the coming weeks and we will keep you apprised. But just for today, on behalf of Gus Chavez, Angelo Falcon, and Marta Garcia, I hope you will savor the sweet taste of success.
                 
Maggie