Hey, there — tomorrow is a red-letter date! The Emperor's Bridge Campaign launched on 28 September 2013 to carry forward the call of my 1 August 2013 Change dot org petition urging the California state legislature to add "Emperor Norton Bridge" as an honorary name for the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. That makes tomorrow, 1 August 2018, the fifth anniversary of the petition that started it all — "it" being the Campaign. WE'RE CHALLENGING THOSE WHO FOLLOW THE EMPEROR'S STAR TO HELP US MARK THIS MILESTONE BY BRINGING IN THE 4,152 NEW SIGNATURES WE NEED IN ORDER TO HIT 10,000! This will be SO VERY EASY if we all work together — if every single person who has signed the petition simply gets ONE MORE PERSON to sign! A quick review... Shortly after launching, the Campaign strategically soft-pedaled its bridge-naming project. The western, i.e., San Francisco, side of the Emperor Norton Bridge had just been named for the former mayor of the city. We knew that, if we kept pushing a Norton naming in that particular moment, we risked branding the Campaign as being motivated by political animus. That would have been counterproductive. So, we leaned heavily into our research and education work, and we continued in that vein for the next few years. About a year ago, in anticipation of this year's 200th anniversary of Emperor Norton's birth, the Campaign started talking up the "Emperor Norton Bridge" again. This time, we were more proactive. We met and corresponded with state and local elected officials. In recent months, we've been cultivating public endorsements (see http://www.EmperorsBridge.org/bridge/endorsements). In our efforts to unlock support, we have used every positive-spirited appeal that pertains to the current cultural and political moment. We've reminded lawmakers that, in the 1860s and '70s, Emperor Norton defended and sought expanded legal protections for the Chinese — the besieged immigrants of his day. We've highlighted this and many other examples of how the Emperor was an early champion of the values of fairness, tolerance, self-determination and the common good that came to symbolize San Francisco and the Bay Area. :: :: :: And yet. Elected officials continue to resist taking the opportunity to promote these values by placing the Emperor's name on his bridge. In light of the state legislature's 31 August deadline for passing an "Emperor Norton Bridge" resolution, it seems unlikely that the legislature will do so in 2018. But, we have to keep pushing. So, we already are looking ahead to... 2019 — the 160th anniversary of Joshua's self-declaration in 1859 2022 — the 150th anniversary of the Emperor's bridge Proclamations in 1872 :: :: :: It still matters that we use the Change dot org petition to show strong grassroots support for the "Emperor Norton Bridge." In 2013, the petition attracted 3,800 signatures in the first six weeks. Since then, the petition has attracted an additional 2,000-plus signatures — all with very little prodding from the Campaign. Currently, the petition is at 5,848 signatures. :: :: :: Tomorrow, the Change dot org petition turns 5 years old! If every single one of the current 5,848 signatories to the petition brings in JUST ONE NEW SIGNATORY, the petition will be at nearly 11,700! Do you know JUST ONE Emperor-saluting someone who has yet to sign the petition? Perhaps that someone is you! Either way... Please commit to getting JUST ONE new person to sign the petition today! We're looking to clear 10,000 — and, in the process, to help show elected officials with the authority to add "Emperor Norton Bridge" as an honorary name for the Bay Bridge just how serious citizens of the Empire are. Cheers! JOHN LUMEA The Emperor's Bridge Campaign http://ww.EmperorsBridge.org