Bloomington was recently graced with the presence of musician David Rovics and spoken-word poet Attila the Stockbroker, each of whom provided their Vertigo audience with a lyrical mix of education, activism and art.

On Wednesday March 10th at the Vertigo Nightclub, APPLE (Activists Promoting Peoples Liberation Through Education) launched their No Voter Left Behind campaign, with Rovics and Attila, a glimpse of do-it-yourself democracy.

On this relaxed Wednesday evening, Bloomingtonians were exposed to a consistent pattern of rhymes and in-your-face politics. Between Attila's ranting rebel MC prose and outside agitator Rovics' urgent call to sanity, the bells of liberty were near and no ear was left unturned.

Many citizens registered to vote, while others simply sat back and enjoyed the various shades of music, poetry and information offered.

"I see it as really important to try to reclaim some power at the local level," said event organizer and Monroe County Commissioner candidate Mike Englert. "Before we can see change in the federal government, we must start organizing ourselves better locally."

Event coordinators and performers came to express the same human message and called for each and every citizen to stand up to his or her democratic duty. The message being that the burden of democracy lies on each of us as an integrated organic whole, no matter what our differences. Performers express this in the most human form known to man/womankind: the pure and raw language of poetry and music.

APPLE, which was years in the making, recently launched its first call to action through its "No Voter Left Behind" campaign, and encourages anyone working in accordance with APPLE's vision to join. APPLE supports human rights and sustainable living for everyone regardless of race, gender, class or sexual orientation.

This, therefore, places the rampant discrimination of Bush 2 at the forefront of APPLE and "No Voter Left Behind."

The campaign reflects upon the chaos of the last election where Florida voter rolls were purged, recounts were stopped and many citizens were denied voting access. The campaign hopes to ensure that this bitter pill many Americans swallowed four years ago will not happen again.

While the aftertaste of this has not left the American conscience, scandal throughout the administration's enforcement of 'compassionate conservatism' is still fresh in the mind of anti-war, GLBT, Labor and Environmental activists.

"It's a shame that we need events like this to encourage people to vote," says Rovics, "but unfortunately it's needed." Rovics and Attila sang of empires and terrorists and everyone else in between.

Event coordinators and performers encouraged the average person to practice more democratic freedoms than simply the right to vote, such as coordinating events, vigils and demonstrations as well as creating and supporting independent media for alternative news.

Many of the groups who set up tables at the event include the Green Party, Students for Justice in Palestine, Bloomington Peace Action Coalition, Boxcar Books, NoSweat and the Indiana Forest Alliance.

APPLE coordinator Bob Kendall extended an invitation for group solidarity in order to establish a dialogue and begin working right now for human rights and true democratic freedom, stating that "what we do now and after the election is more important than election day."

Deema Dabbis is a journalism student at Indiana University.