My phone rang at 10:30 am on Friday, Jan. 9. It was Sander Hicks, an infectiously energetic political activist from New York City whom I'd emailed a few days ago when I heard he'd be speaking in Albuquerque. He and I talked for 15 minutes about where he was (Amarillo, on his way to LA with fellow author Chic Migeot), being Polish (we both do it), and his plans for the next 11 days – and then I asked if he had any time in the next few days for a half hour where we could sit down on the phone and get an interview about the lecture he'll be giving in Albuquerque on Tuesday.

“Well, we're in Amarillo right now,” he said. “So we'll come by. We'll be there in a few hours.”

It was not what I expected him to say, and I was taken aback – but I somehow stuttered that that sounded fine, and to call me when he was close.

Sure enough, at 2:30 pm, he called me back and said that they were 8 miles outside town, where did I want to meet? Within a few minutes they were at the SFR office, and we headed out to the Sleeping Dog Tavern to discuss what they were up to, what will be going down to Tuesday in ABQ, and lots more.

INAUGURATE YOURSELF

What: Sander Hicks and Chic Migeot discuss their hopes and demands for the upcoming Obama administration in a cross-country tour, from LA to DC, between Jan. 10 and 20
When: 8:30 pm Tuesday, Jan. 13
Where: Albuquerque Center for Peace and Justice, 202 Harvard SE, 505-268-9557
Info: Sander at 347-446-4461
Cost: FREE

The three main talking points of the Inaugurate Yourself tour are:

• The US government renouncing violence within our lifetimes - Sander and Chic think it's possible!


• A restructuring of global economics and elimination of the “dog eat dog” nature of what we've got going now


• Government transparency with government spending, historical assassinations, 9.11, and pretty much everything else.

See the whole schedule of the tour and more detailed descriptions of the talking points here ...

And, to read the 16-page transcription of the awesome hour-long interview with Sander and Chic, keep waiting. I'm workin' on the HTML.