When Democrats gather in Charlotte next week for the Democratic National Convention, they’ll be met with two large billboards pushing for an issue near and dear to many D.C. residents—statehood.

D.C. Shadow Senator Michael Brown and outgoing Shadow Representative Mike Panetta said today that they created and paid for the two billboards, which feature iconic images of the country’s founding and a plea for D.C. to be accepted as the union’s 51st state. One of the billboards will be located less than a mile from the convention site, while the second will be a mere 400 feet from the Time Warner Arena. Both will go up on August 31 and remain through the end of the convention.

“We want to make sure that the delegates leave Charlotte with an understanding that the people of the nation’s capital are not equal, and that this is un-American and strikes at the heart of our democracy,” said Brown in a statement.

Despite pleas from D.C. officials, language endorsing statehood has not made it into the 2010 Democratic platform, though some are pushing for it to be included as a last-minute amendment. According to Brown, statehood was in the platform for 16 years, and only removed in 2004. Just this week the Republican platform formally came out against granting D.C. statehood.

The billboards cost $7,500 (down from an original quote of $20,000) and were paid for by voluntary contributions that residents can make through their tax forms to the shadow delegation. In fiscal year 2011, 99 taxpayers contributed $31,732.25 to the fund, and through the second quarter of the 2012 fiscal year contributions reached $13,337.69. Ever since the fund was created in 2006, over $145,000 has been given to the unpaid, three-person delegation.

This isn’t the first time that D.C. voting rights and pro-statehood activists have tried to make their case at the quadrennial political conventions. At this year’s Republican National Convention in Tampa, DC Vote has a staffer dressed like Abraham Lincoln trying to sell the GOP on budget autonomy. In 2008, both Brown and fellow Shadow Senator Paul Strauss traveled to Denver to advocate for voting rights and statehood. While there, they hosted a luncheon that was attended by Hollywood’s biggest supporter of the cause—Hayden Panettiere.

The billboards will be accompanied by a website—StatehoodNow.org—where people can learn about the cause and sign a petition supporting it.

Billboards Final x 2