[O29] Proposal for demonstration: Money for Relief, Not War

[Peter Cook]

This is an excellent idea.

The Troops Out Now Coalition (http://www.troopsoutnow.org) put out a
call for a National Day of Outrage To Demand Justice for Hurricane
Katrina Victims on Monday, Sept. 12.  To date several dozen cities
including: New York City, Buffalo, Rochester, Amherst, New Haven,
Charleston SC, Jackson MS, Miami FL, Minneapolis-St.Paul, Detroit,
Jersey City, Los Angeles, Houston, Raleigh, Washington DC, San
Francisco, Chicago, Cleveland, Baltimore, Philadelphia, San Diego,
Seattle, St Louis, Kansas City, Memphis, Milwaukee, Atlanta are all
planning activities on the day.

We have been planning for a protest at JFK for Monday, Sept. 12 at
5:00pm and would like to open it up to the Oct. 29 Coalition for
participation. 

I have attached a copy of the flyer that we are using.

Peter Cook
International Action Center
-----Original Message-----
From: O29-bounces at massglobalaction.org
[mailto:O29-bounces at massglobalaction.org] On Behalf Of Dan DiMaggio
Sent: Wednesday, September 07, 2005 10:28 AM
To: O29 at massglobalaction.org
Subject: [O29] Proposal for demonstration: Money for Relief, Not War

Hi everyone,

The disaster of Hurricane Katrina has exposed how backward the
priorities of our government are - spending hundreds of billions to
fight an unjust war in Iraq while defunding levee systems and leaving
tens of thousands of mainly poor, African-American people to suffer
and die in New Orleans.  I think that this is a turning point in
American society - "the bursting point," as David Brooks called it in
the New York Times.  Socialist Alternative would like to propose that
the October 29th coalition discuss and organize a demonstration soon
in solidarity with the victims of Hurricane Katrina to demand "Money
for Relief, Not for War."  Since this coalition includes activists
from many different anti-war organizations, a demonstration organized
by this coalition would be capable of mobilizing the largest numbers
of people, more than just demonstrations called by any of our
individual organizations (although I'm not trying to discourage that).
Such a demonstration should try to reach out to African-American
community organizations and clearly protest the racist (lack
of) response on the part of the government.  It could also help to
mobilize people for September 24th.  I think that it would be best if
this demonstration was organized soon - sometime next week - both to
give us time to organize it but also to respond rapidly to these
events.  A demonstration in front of the Federal Building would
probably be the most effective.  I think that people are looking for a
way to vent their anger at the government on this issue, and that it
is our task to organize a political response.  September 24th will be
the big one, but a united local action before then would also be good.

Can this be placed on the agenda for tonight's meeting?

In solidarity,

Dan DiMaggio
Boston Socialist Alternative
Tufts Coalition Opposed to the War in Iraq

"If there is no struggle there is no progress. Those who profess to
favor freedom and yet depreciate agitation, are men who want crops
without plowing up the ground, they want rain without thunder and
lightning. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many
waters.... Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and
it never will."
Frederick Douglass, 1857


	
		
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